"James... James," Ken poked his shoulder, calling him lazily, "what's the answer for dis one?"
"That's just the first number of the work sheet," Nathan said.
"Shatap, I ain't good at trigonometry,"
It was 8pm and the four of them were doing their homeworks at the dining table. Just like any group of friends, these guys would obviously prefer to work together instead of shutting themselves inside their rooms to work alone, but just like any other, not everyone has equal contribution in a group study.
Unfortunately for James, he was the smart-ass among them. So far, he had received more questions from his three friends than the questions on the work sheet itself.
"Guys.." James said softly, "you guys should try doing it yourselves before asking me. I also need to finish these..."
Phil and Nathan could still do these themselves but Ken. Ken just can't answer a single question. Their school was filled with lots of retards, but Ken wasn't one of them. He just doesn't give a sh*t about school.
"Oh," something reminded Nathan, "is Daniel alright now? He hasn't came out since this morning."
"Just let him rest till the morning, he'll be alright," Ken told them.
"Let's just gather all the answers for the homeworks, we should just let him copy for once," Phil suggested.
"Good idea, while you're on it, I shall copy too," Ken agreed with a stern voice.
"No," Phil replied coldly.
"Fak," Ken dropped his head on the table, "K guys, good night, I'll "work" on it tomorrow morning."
And just like that, Ken disappeared from their sight.
Nathan sighed, "Daniel's room's locked. I wonder how he's doing."
"Ok lady," Daniel complained with his altered voice, still strapped with chains in his owl form, "I don't know what's ur deal, but dis is quite rude of you to lock a guest here for 30 minutes straight."
"What do u mean?!" Ye-rin raised her voice, slowly losing her shock and fear towards this strange creature, "I never invited you into my head!"
Daniel sighed in hopelessness, his head dangling down on his neck like a corpse. Then a smart idea popped and he clenched his eyelids, focusing on something.
His body shrunk under the cloak as the empty cloth glided down before dispersing into dust, vanishing in thin air.
Daniel flew off the chains in the form of a normal owl. The small bird flapped his tiny, silent wings, circling around the library before gliding down, shifting back to an owl man.
This time, he wasn't wearing a cloak. Instead, the slender, winged figure was wearing a 19th century formal suit, a perfect look of an old-fashioned gentle... owl?
His midnight-blue blazer was curved at the bottom, making him look like a penguin and an antique bowler hat was there to cover his feathery head.
Without saying a word, Daniel took a random book off a shelf. Up above on the shelf, a label was written "Ideas and brainstorms".
"Hey! What ar-" Ye-rin shouted.
"Plans for novel," Daniel read aloud, "in chapter 4 of The Music Box, an owl-person will be introduced as a new supporting character."
"Interesting.." Daniel commented.
Upon smiling at the book, knowing that he had finally discovered what the hell this girl was doing, his forehead wrinkled.
He read the same phrase again.
"In chapter 4 of the... Music.. Box?" Daniel read slowly.
"THE MUSIC BOX?!?!?!" he shrieked.
Ye-rin gasped, startled by the sudden scream. She whimpered in fear, stepping back away from the owl-man.
"Oh sh*t, I overreacted. I broke character for a sec there."
"I didn't expect this. That new web novel is written by a girl my age? She must be really talented!" Daniel thought.
Daniel closed the book and put it back on the shelf. He coughed, clearing his voice.
"I apologize for my rudeness, Ms. Park," Daniel continued, "I was just slightly, flattered.. to be the reference of this new character of yours."
"Huh?" Ye-rin titled her head, confused with the strange reaction this thing had.
"Well then, I apologize for the intrusion. I will disappear from your sight so don't worry about seeing me ever again," Daniel excused himself, "well then, I shall now take my leave."
Daniel spread his wings and flew towards a window to get out of the castle. In order to keep the act, he needed to leave her mind in a way that makes more sense, which from his opinion would be leaving the castle to get off her sight first.
The situation got a bit too awkward. In the first place, he was only curious about her drawing, but things were getting offhand. Well now that he got what he searched for, he didn't have anymore reason to stay there. Anyway, he wasn't even friends with this girl, Daniel had no business with her. At this point, he had felt too bad to be tricking her into thinking that he was actually some supernatural being.
Ye-rin didn't say a word. She just watched the spirit shrink away as he got closer to the window but soon after, she changed her mind.
She waved her hand and suddenly somekind of wall lighted up in every window, blocking Daniel's way out. There was an invisible barrier.
"What the-" Daniel took a step back from the windows.
The windows were seemingly opened, exposing the daylight into the library but as he tapped onto the thin air, the empty space reacted to the contact with flashing lights concentrating on the spot Daniel was touching before it vanished back into an unseen wall.
"I have questions," Ye-rin said calmly.
Daniel however, did not seem fond of the idea of staying any longer. At that point he had been off his body for more than half a day. His body was back at home, practically in a state of coma.
"I guess I have no other choice," Daniel muttered to himself, before closing his eyes.
Even if he was trapped in the library, he could still escape from her mind but as soon as his eyes closed, an unstoppable will forced his eyes to open as if something was pulling off his eyelids.
"Sh*t! What's going on?" Daniel cursed to himself.
"Last time you transformed, you had to close your eyes. I'm not sure if that was a thing but just to make sure," Ye-rin said with an open palm directing at Daniel, "I won't let you do that this time. My mind, my rules."
Then she clenched her hand into a fist and pulled back her arm. In an instant, Daniel was squeezed by seemingly nothing and he was dragged like a rollercoaster before coming to an abrupt stop, just a few inches from her face.
Daniel gulped, staring intently with having no idea what was going on. Ye-rin no longer had any trace of fear in her fierce, frowning glare. Her eyes were so black like the dark side of the moon yet they were so, enchanting.
"Now, let's start with your name," Ye-rin showed a smile that one would make before torturing.
While the others are still dealing with their sh*t, Ken laid down on his bed, staring up to the heavenly beam of his smart phone in the room that was engulfed by darkness. He had a warm smile on his face, but not one that he usually has. It was different.
>>>How about we go to that new Pâtisserie? :)
<<< sure
<<< that sounds great
>>> hmmm. How about 4pm?
<<< okey
<<< i dont have anything to do the whole day so im pretty much free any time
>>> I'll come by your place then.
<<< oh no its alright, i can come to pick you up
>>> Oh.
>>> You haven't told them haven't you?
>>> It's been a while you know.
>>> I haven't seen them for years too. Maybe it's about time you tell them.
<<< yeah ok
<<< i will.
>>> Ok.
>>> I'm gonna finish up my homework now.
>>> I've been procrastinating because you..（>﹏<)
<<< (´⌣`ʃƪ)
>>> And you. Don't forget to do yours!
>>> （♯▼皿▼）
Meanwhile...
"I c-can't tell you that.." Daniel stuttered.
"Where are you from? What can you do?" Ye-rin interrogated him with a list of questions.
"Can't tell you that either.." Daniel said slowly, sweat rolling down his feathery forehead.
She pressed her lips together with a stern expression as she sighed quietly.
"Is he actually a spirit?" Ye-rin thought to herself, "that would explain everything though. I'm sure I'm not going insane or anything."
"She doesn't know I can just get off her head right now. The problem is that I can't close my eyes because she thinks that's how I shape shift," Daniel thought, "since I can still shape shift, I only have one way to escape."
Daniel planned to shift himself into gaseous particles to escape from her sight, somewhere in the library. Then he can force himself to wake up by knocking himself out so that his consciousness can return to his body.
"Alright. Now!" Daniel thought as he disintegrated into dust, blown off from his solid form.
The sparkling dusts whirled around like a swarm of wasps, shooting away far into the shadows.
"Stop! I'm not don-" Ye-rin yelled.
Daniel disappeared into the maze of towering bookshelves. After speeding far enough, he drifted up like a bursting rocket. As he reached the ceilings, the dusts gathered into a concentrated point, forming back into his original, human self.
He flapped his limbs around, floating in mid air for a split second before gravity dragged him back with great speed.
He cut through the wind as he dived down, the air piercing against him like invisible blades and he met the ground. Just like that, everything went pitch black.
Daniel opened his eyes with a blurry sight. A dim light was shining from a window next to him. He was laying down on a bed.
"Phew. Finally, I'm back," Daniel muttered to himself as he scratched his eyes, raising himself from the bed.
Upon clearing his vision, his heart dropped like an anvil. He felt cold sweat on his back. Something was wrong. He was, not back. The room was different. It was someone else's room.
As he looked around, he scanned to find clues. The room was slightly bigger than his, filled with a single bed, a desk and a cupboard. The look of the room seemed to have a better quality than his. He snatched away the curtains, revealing the busy cityscape of morning Seoul. Cars commuting like migrating flocks and pedestrians filled with footsteps. Everything, seen from up above. He was in an apartment unit.
"I'm pretty sure it hasn't been that long," Daniel analyzed, "how is it day already? Where am I?"
Then a small framed picture on the desk caught his attention. He took a closer look. It was, a picture of a family. And the girl in the picture was Ye-rin
His heart thumped harder as if it was gonna explode. What the heck was going on?
"How the hell did I get here?" Daniel murmured in shock, "is this someone else' mind?"
Daniel was startled as he heard muffled voices from outside of the room.
He cracked open the door to get a look.
"What the-" Daniel thought, giving a puzzled look at the sight infront of him.
Outside the room was the living room. He saw Ye-rin sitting on the couch, tying her shoes, all geared up with her bag and school uniform.
She was talking to a middle aged man sitting beside her with a newspaper and a glass of coffee. It was safe to assume that that was her dad.
"Dad, aren't you gonna get ready for work?" Ye-rin asked.
"Mmhm," her dad nodded, "just one more article and I will get going."
"Hurry up dad, or you'll be late!" Ye-rin told him, "I'm gonna go ahead to school now."
She stood up and pecked a kiss on her dad's cheek, "Ok, I gotta go, byee."
"Be safe," her dad said, his eyes still fixed to the newspaper.
She was chatting cheerfully with warm smile on her face, a sight that Daniel find a bit odd.
After she left, there was only the old man, sitting quietly with all his attention focused on his newspaper. His face was a bit wrinkly with a rimless circular glasses on the edge of his nose. He seemed ready for work with his office shirt and striped tie.
After a few minutes, the middle aged man gave out a slow, trailing sigh.
"Ok.." he said as he dragged up his beer belly to stand up.
The man staggered slowly, taking his suitcase and jacket before sailing off for work.
Then suddenly, the surroundings changed. Daniel found himself somewhere else out of nowhere.
The large room was filled with ringing telephones, chattering of reports and flipping of papers. The room was a maze of short grey walls, dividing one desk from another. It was a busy office.
Daniel could only stand with a puzzled face. However, nobody seemed to notice his existance. He was just there like a ghost.
Then an elevator door opened. Ye-rin's dad walked out with a group of office workers, some carrying stacks of documents.
"Good morning, sir," said one passing worker.
"Good morning, Mr. Park," said another.
Everyone in the room had this man as their superior. He walked through the pathway between desks towards an office at the opposite end. This was a man with power and authority but he was also humble and mannerful as he bowed down repeatedly, greeting back every single worker who passed by.
As the office door was shut behind the man, he walked closer, paying attention to the label on the door.
"Manager Park Chan Hyeok" it says.
"There's no mistake. The world is focused on this man, Ye-rin's father," Daniel observed, "everything that happened here is logical and realistic, unlike in Ken's mind. Other than that, it appears that everything I see is a chain of events, or maybe, a chain of memories. I'm positive I'm inside his mind, but is it possible that, he is currently, dreaming?
I knocked myself out but I couldn't return to my own body. How do I get back?"