In Your Dreams (A DahMo Fanfic)

4: Stranger danger

I'm not impressed. This just looks like a Garden of Eden. There's nothing unique about this setting.

"Really creative," I say.

"Think of it as my version of your pagoda," Dahyun explains, picking a rainbow apple off a tree.

"I don't know, just looks like a garden to me." Sorry, it is what it is. Why waste good dreams on something so pedestrian?

Dahyun scoffs. "Oh would you rather something like this?" The landscape slowly shifts into a chaotic mess of pop culture characters floating around a psychedelic backdrop.

"Stop...I think I'm gonna..." I say before gagging.

With a snap, she reverts it back to the serene garden. "Thought so. Now, shut up." Dahyun pats the grass beside her.

"How did you change something like that so quickly?" Seriously, a feat like that is very taxing on the mind.

Dahyun shrugs. "I dunno, it's really easy for me. Would you like me to do it again?"

"No! Stop it," I plead, vehemently shaking my head as she laughs.

"Momo-ssi...have you tried dreaming within a dream?"

The fuck? "Eh? You mean like Inception?"

Dahyun raises an eyebrow. "What? Inception?"

Oh, you've gotta be kidding me. "You haven't seen that? The movie wherein they hijack dreams...like the one you keep doing to me."

She looks around for an answer. "Nope, never heard of it."

"What?! You should at least know who Leonardo DiCaprio is...right?"

"Leonardo who? Sorry, doesn't ring a bell," Dahyun nonchalantly says while munching her apple.

What the? Which rock has this girl been living under? Resigned, I ask, "Anyway, to answer you, no. I haven't tried that. As if it's possible anyway."

"Would you like to try it?" She hands me the apple.

I eye the fruit, wondering what her intentions are. "Do I need to to eat that? You're not drugging me, are you?"

Dahyun's irritating smirk shows up again before throwing a rock at me. "You're. In. A. Dream. How am I going to drug you?!"

Well, that makes sense. Don't be an idiot in front of a dumbass, Momo. Reluctantly, I grab the apple and chomp at it. It tastes like...marshmallows? (Or at least my brain is telling that.)

Dahyun reaches her hand out to me. "Come on, I don't want to be blamed if you ever get lost. These things can get a little messy if you're careless."

Wait. What does she mean by "messy"?

Despite my apprehensions, I hold onto her hand. Upon contact, the ground wipes away into a void. If I have to make it comprehensive, it looks like the garden shifted into a galaxy, if that makes sense. Dahyun glances at me and smiles (No, not that annoying smirk of hers).

"Okay, I'll take you to the first level." she says. The stars around us move down. Or are we the ones moving up? I'm not so sure now. "Wait, I meant the second," Dahyun clarifies with a chuckle. "What you've been exposed to all this time is just the first level. Sorry."

***

What greets me is an accurate (I assume) representation of life in the Joseon period, like the ones we see in dramas or textbooks. "Dahyun-ssi, you really have a knack for creativity, don't you?"

"The second level consists of actually pre-made constructs of all the information you've been exposed to—think of it as dreams with a very solid foundation. Watch this." She pulls something off her hanbok: coins. It really looks like the real thing. Yes, I saw some of these in a museum back in high school.

"Okay, how is this any different from the first level?" Again, I'd like to reiterate the lack of awe on my part.

She shakes her head. "I'm sure you're well aware how fragile the first level is, that's why a part of you always has to maintain control."

I nod, trying to anticipate her next words. "So, you're saying you don't need control in this level?"

"Well, yes, but actually, no. I'd consider this level as somewhat sentient. It's like an actual world that I built with minimal effort, since we've been getting history lessons about this period since we were kids," she replies as we stroll along the busy marketplace. The citizens bow to her like she's some sort of royalty.

"I don't get it—is this like a real functioning world?"

Dahyun nods, patting a child who just handed her a flower. "Momo-ssi, not that I'm advising this, but you could basically live here. Eat, sleep, start a family, whatever—it's possible. Time moves by itself here."

What the fuck? Is this even possible? "So, if this is like a real world, does this mean you have no control over this place?"

A group of imperial soldiers suddenly storm the market and circle around us. They halt and point their spears towards our heads. I try to manifest a weapon for myself, but it keeps fizzling out.

"Great job," I turn my gaze to Dahyun. "We're about to be arrested. Or worse, killed," I add as they inch towards us.

"Hey, we didn't do anything," I cry out to the guards.

Dahyun suddenly bellows in laughter. Her deep cackling spreads to everyone around us, like being in an obnoxious echo chamber.

"Relax," she says. The soldiers go at ease and continue with their march as the villagers go about their lives. "Control? I have it here as well." She then manifests a sports car out of thin air, mesmerizing everyone in the vicinity.

***

"You look so shocked," Dahyun notes as we quickly traverse the plains.

"Something doesn't make sense—why couldn't I manifest even a sword back then?"

A smug expression paints over her face. "You haven't even been to other levels of your own subconscious. How do you expect to do something here in mine?"

"If this world is as sentient as you say it is, aren't you afraid of losing control? What if the people here start revolting or something?" I ask, looking at the farmers going through the hay with their sickles.

Dahyun's expression drops. "This...this isn't the first world I created—Egyptian, Medieval fantasy, even feudal Japan...I had to get rid of them."

We stay silent for a few minutes, her face serious all throughout. All of these still hardly make sense to me—how accurate are these constructs? Why did she have to destroy them? Is this some sort of time traveling?

"How...did you manage to control this one, then?"

Dahyun turns toward me, the car still driving itself. "You're not ready for it. It takes exposure and mastering the last level."

The third level? What more could you want from being a god of actual worlds? "I want to see it. Take me to the third level."

She hums and looks at her wristwatch. "What time do you clock in at work?"

"Uh...9:30 a.m., why?"

"Well, you're about to be late for your job."