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na jaemin's pov
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My head was hammering. Pain seared through my abdomen. My vision was blurry and a wave of nausea rolled over my head, causing me to gag. When I tried opening my eyes, all I could see was a bright, white light and fuzzy blobs of colour. I blinked, but that only caused another wave of nausea to roll over my eyelids. I immediately stopped, grimacing.
Where am I?
I let my eyes drop and could pick up muffled, familiar voices. In my ears, I could only hear my own heartbeat and the grumbling, concerned voices, but even listening to a noise made me want to throw up.
"He's waking up." It was a low, hopeful voice.
My eyelids fluttered and instantly, a sharp pain sliced through the back of my head. I winced and clutched onto my head. As soon as I did, my abdomen clenched harshly and I gasped, agony lacing my every breath. When I looked down, I found my entire midsection bandaged, blood seeping through the white material.
"You're up." When I looked around me, I found two blurry shapes around me. I blinked quickly, but that only resulted in a hot white pain flashing before my eyes. Tears brimmed my eyes as the excruciating pain radiated through my helpless body.
"Take it easy, rookie," another voice, a little gruffer voice told me, pinning me gently down back onto the bed. "You've been stabbed, it's going to take a while to heal."
"I-I...what?" I exclaimed, trying to remember. I desperately tried grabbing onto the random thoughts that were jumbled up like jigsaw puzzles in my brain. Slowly, I started placing the pieces together. Jaehyun...psychopath...knife...death...
"He's in shock." An all-too-familiar voice commented. I wanted to shake my head to clear the blurriness, but I knew that if I did, I would be greeted with another wave of agony. Eventually, the fogginess cleared up and I could see two men. One sitting, one standing.
"Do you remember anything?" the man that was standing, the one with broad shoulders and slim face asked me. "Anything at all?"
"I-I...kind of...I was stabbed, I saw visions...I don't know...where am I?" Sweat was pooling down my skin, sticking to my shirt.
"You're in the nurse's quarters," The broad-shouldered man deadpanned. "Yes, you've been stabbed. By one of our members. Which is kind of outrageous, considering we're all on the same side."
"I-I...I never said that I was on the same side as you," I stuttered. "Who are you? Why am I here?"
"He's completely wiped out," The broad-shouldered man sighed. "Okay, rookie. I'm Doyoung. You were in a forest. With a girl. Named Yeon Narae. You're in the 1:27. And you're...a detective. Jaehyun. Jung Jaehyun. He stabbed because you were rebellious and wouldn't listen. Your friends are here as well," Doyoung looked at me as if everything he said was obvious. "Does any of that ring any bells in there?" He gestured to my head.
"Kind of. I clearly remember Jaehyun. And...Y-Yeon Narae...she's my sidekick...we were-" I paused and a wave of realization crashed over me. "Oh my god, where's Narae? Is she okay? What the hell, I completely-"
"Narae is fine," Doyoung deadpanned. "Well, not really fine, but she's in prison, according to-"
"WHAT?!" I shrieked, but the hammering pain in my head came again, making me groan. "She's in prison? Why? What happened?"
"It's Taeyong's command that Narae be in prison and it's also his command that you should be in the 1:27. You can't possibly go around and avoid his rules, rookie." Doyoung spat.
"Can you please call me by my real name? I hate that term, rookie."
"No."
"I hate you."
"Likewise."
"Then where's...Taeyong?" I struggled to remember where I heard that name. Whenever I heard his name, I could only feel static electricity spark my brain, then disappear. "It sounds really familiar..."
"That's because you met me before," I heard an icy cold voice beside me. A little farther away, seated on a stool, was an extremely familiar face. "Lee Taeyong. You've seen me before. Like, today. Before you got stabbed."
I shook my head. "N-no...not today. I feel like I saw you...way before that."
Taeyong glared at me in a way that could freeze me. "You're probably mistaken," he snarled and stood up. "There's probably a thousand other Taeyong's out there, rookie. You probably met some other Lee Taeyong."
"No, I saw you in my dream-"
"What kind of bullshit are you even saying, rookie? I didn't know you existed until now, got that?" He left the room, clearly frustrated. "Rest and recover. We don't need another man dying on us."
I was left with Doyoung, who was intently examining me. An awkward silence filled the blinding room.
"What does he mean by another man?" I asked Doyoung, hoping to get some answers.
Doyoung shook his head and glared at me. "Forget it. It doesn't matter now, anyway."
I curled my lip in disappointment, but I knew that it definitely mattered.
