Caratland [Seventeen FF]

-16-

I woke up in my bed again. This time I knew that it wasn't a dream.
"He woke up", I heard someone. I straightened up and took a look at my surroundings as I saw Jihoon, Seungcheol and Chan who sat on the floor.
"What are you doing here?", I asked them. Seungcheol looked to Jihoon, who passed the look to Chan. Chan then sighed.
"You passed out as we came back", he then said. I passed out again...
"Well, since he woke up I'll go back to work. It's 11AM by the way, so get ready for work y'all", Seungcheol said and left my room.
"I need to fix the safety of the roller coasters so I'll go too", Chan claimed and left too. Now only Jihoon and I remained.
"Are you okay?", he asked me.
"Yeah, I guess", I answered.
"I think it's better if you don't visit the portal for a certain time. Last time you passed out too", Jihoon thought aloud. I nodded. Maybe he was right. I should stay in the real world for a while. But why do I keep passing out?
"Did you also faint after recovering your world?", I asked him, but he shook his head. I'm getting headaches from all those theories about this world...
"You can stay here for the day", he then said.
"Are you sure? Isn't it a lot of work?", I asked.
"Before you came I also did it alone so I guess I'm gonna be fine", he shrugged his shoulders and left. I sighed and fell back on my pillow. At least I can keep sleeping.

The day passed slowly. It was boring in my room without anything to do. At lunch break Minhyuk came into my room, surprised that I was in there and not at the amusement park. He spoke a lot, but I rather listen to that than being alone.
In the evening Jihoon and Jisoo came over bringing me a bento box. I was surprised to see Jisoo, but it was still nice to see him too.

We were sitting in a circle on the floor of my room. I was the only one eating, but they stayed till I finished.
"Jisoo, Chan told me that you're from America. Why are you even here?", I asked Jisoo with a full mouth. Jihoon and Jisoo suddenly switched looks. Jihoon cleared his throat, while Jisoo looked elsewhere. Not again...
"You don't need to tell me if it's another secret", I sighed. I may have sounded a little annoyed at this point. They stayed quiet for a moment.
"No, it's not a secret. I just wanted to start over again", Jisoo said. I didn't know if I should question it or not, but decided to stay quiet. Silence fell again. I quietly finished the box and looked to them.

"I think I go to the others again", Jisoo said and got up.
"I go back to my room", Jihoon said.
"Are you going to stay here?", Jisoo asked me. "You can come with us. I could show you my world then", he added. I looked at Jihoon who shook his head. Yeah, he was right. I shouldn't go since I might pass out again, but on the other hand Jisoo suggested that I see his world and I was so curious. As naive as I was I answered: "Yeah, why not." Jihoon just sighed.
"Well, then see you two tomorrow", he bid goodbye and left.

I changed myself into some casual clothes, with which you could go out and followed Jisoo to the portal.

At the storage was no one.
"I guess they all already entered", Jisoo thought aloud. The portal shone in a light blue colour. "You first", he said, pointing at the portal. What a Gentleman...

As always the way was short and with one blink we appeared on the other side of the portal. We were in a city with big skyscrapers and modern houses. The sky was clear blue and the sun shone brightly. The portal also disappeared.
"Hey, Jisoo. Do you know why the portal disappears after we pass it?", I asked him.
"I don't know. Actually no one knows much about this world. Only Seungcheol's brother can you explain things. Maybe he knows why you can't see your own world", he shrugged his shoulders. So I need to talk to Seungcheol's brother.

We walked down the streets, which were filled with people. You could barely walk properly. I followed him to a luxurious apartment in the 15th floor. He opened the door and revealed a pretty designed apartment.
"Sit down", he pointed at a couch next to the red grand piano. I sat down and waited for him. He came back with a bottle of wine and two glasses.
"Is that real wine?", I asked him.
"As real as things can be in this world", he responded and sat down on the couch in front of me.
"You're world is so luxurious. The opposite of Jihoon's and Chan's world", I commented and looked up to see a big crystal chandelier light.
"I know. Minghao always comes over to drink a glass of wine with me", he said.
I tasted the wine and it tasted weird. It was sweeter than I expected it to be.
"The wine tastes weird", I said, furrowing my eyebrows.
"The wine tastes like you want your wine", he laughed. I don't know if I wanted my wine to taste like bong bong, but well.

"Jisoo", I started after a while. He showed me how to drink wine properly and then silence fell. He looked at me, signaling me to continue. "What happens to the people who got devoured by this world?", I asked him. He was quiet for some time. He swirled his last sip of wine in his glass and drank it.
"Seungcheol's brother says that the corpses fill up the lack of people in worlds", he explained.
"So the people we see in those world are-"
"Yes, people who got killed by the world", he finished my sentence. "But it's only a theory", he added. I nodded. I hope it's only a theory...
"Can you die in your world? Like not because you stayed too long, but for other reasons?", I questioned.
"I don't know. Never heard of something like that. But I think it's not possible unless you really wish to be run over a car", he shrugged his shoulders. I nodded.

The more I know about this world, the scarier it gets. But the less I know, the more I want to know. It's a vicious cycle...