"-won, wake up, Hyungwon, hey..."
Hyungwon kept his eyes shut. He knew it was a dream because the voice had that faraway aura to it, like it was being filtered down like a ray of light from across a lake on the far shore.
"Hey, seriously, this kid isn't moving..."
He knew that if he opened his eyes, things would seem normal, only something would be off; the room would have five corners, or someone would have two right hands, or some small detail that he could never put his finger on, but it was there, he knew it, it was there, taunting him, poking at him.
"Hyungwon..."
Or was that what life was, a room with two corners, a person with two right hands, a reality a shade off? Was reality the thing that was making him uncomfortable?
He could never be certain.
He opened his eyes and immediately regretted it. The light in the room - he was pretty sure it had an automatic on and off time - was a dirty off-white. It made everything look suspicious, dangerous, off somehow.
"Oh, you're alive."
Hyungwon stared at the boy. He seemed familiar. But familiar from a dream, or from reality?
"Hey, say something," the boy said, his brow creasing.
"They tried to eliminate him last night," the other boy said, worrying his lip. "I know it. Check his neck for a mark, like a needle or something...and his pulse, does it seem slow to you?"
"I'm not checking his pulse," the other boy said hesitantly before looking at Hyungwon as though reconsidering.
Had he dreamed of being sent to the institution, or was it reality?
"Fine, I'll do it," the other boy snapped, reaching out for Hyungwon's neck with a hand, and Hyungwon immediately fell back onto the bed, his head hitting the concrete wall, avoiding the boy's touch.
Reality, then.
"What's his problem?" the boy - Kihyun - asked, looking over at the other one.
Wonho?
Jay Park?
Shin Hoseok?
Who is he?
"You tried to strangle him after he just woke up?" Wonho - whoever he was - asked, sounding unsure.
"I wasn't trying to-" Kihyun huffed. "Whatever. You're awake now. You have to change. We have from when the lights turn on until the first alarm to change, and then we have from the first alarm to the second alarm to get to breakfast."
Hyungwon opened his mouth hesitantly, and Wonho grimaced in sympathy.
"I'm sorry, it looks like we're just sharing this one room, so, uh, there's not much privacy for changing. Kihyun and I already changed, but, um, we could just look away or something if it makes you uncomfortable-"
"Stop babying him, Wonho," Kihyun snapped, his eyes narrowed. Hyungwon hadn't gotten a positive vibe from him yesterday, and it seemed as though the morning had done nothing to improve it. "He's what, sixteen, seventeen years old? And he's still scared of changing in front of strangers?"
"You changed in the corner," Wonho pointed out.
"To avoid most of the cameras," Kihyun hissed.
"Cameras?" Hyungwon interrupted. "In...in here, too?"
