ATEEZ: Remnants

[Hongjoong's Dream - The Beginning]

It started with one dream. Then a nightmare. Slowly, Hongjoong began to lose a sense of reality and he couldn't tell apart what was real or not anymore. Sometimes he would hear voices, other times it was like radio static was playing in his head. He saw so many things, and yet, he didn't understand anything at all. It had to mean something, especially when he saw things repeated over and over.

He tried talking to people; to his friends, his family. The response was always what he expected. He was stressed, he probably watched a weird movie before bed, he was stressed, he was sleep-deprived, he was stressed, it was sleep paralysis, he was stressed.

He admitted that sleep wasn't really something he flourished in, and granted, he was always really busy so stress was no stranger, but these were no normal dreams. He could never let the members know, but it was the moment Wooyoung came in that he probably had the biggest freak out of his life. The next biggest was when he first met Yunho. Now that he thought about it, each time a new member came in, he freaked out. The reason? He had been dreaming about them months before he ever met them in real life. And they were all accurate. They acted just like how he saw them in his dreams. Their face, their names, their actions, it was all the same. At one point, Hongjoong really started to believe maybe he was a psychic or something. He never told the members. They already thought he was crazy enough. Sometimes, the visions helped him to get know them and better understand who they were. The artist in him appreciated the good song inspirations, or just interesting concepts he would keep in his notes sometimes. They were so clear and felt so real, writing them down became a form of therapy for him to better understand what was going on. Other times, he just had really weird and really dark dreams. Maybe it was meant to be, maybe he just really loves his members, which is also true, but Hongjoong always had a feeling that they were going to be something great together. Perhaps he was just the strange one. This definitely wasn't normal, and even worse, he was quite adjusted and was practically used to it by now.

Eventually, during one of their late night talks, Hongjoong finally opened up to his roommate about his weird dreams. He was met with the unexpected answer that Seonghwa had experienced something similar as well. But for him it had happened long ago, so he didn't really remember what had happened. As he spoke little by little with each of the members over the years, they all had some sort of experience like Hongjoong, although none as vivid as his and it seemed like none of them really remembered what happened as they were all in the far past. Hongjoong was the only who remembered whatever happened in his dreams, and he was the only that still kept having them, even till today. He had already seen everything they had dreamt about, at least what he heard from the small details that they could muster. He had seen the woman in white, the other versions of the members, the beach, the desert, the dining room, and the interesting masked men. He had heard two versions, there were the black ones with the burning eyes, and the singular one in white who covered his whole face. He couldn't tell which one of these were good or bad yet, or maybe it wasn't going to be that simple.

He was thinking too hard about this. His brain started hurting whenever he thought too much about it all; he had stayed cooped up inside his studio too long, alone with his thoughts. He already had enough on his plate leading the members, living his life as an artist, producing music, and having promotions and schedules. And now all of this wacky dream stuff? It was no wonder he sometimes couldn't tell apart reality. He honestly wasn't even sure how he was still standing.   

...

He had another nightmare. They were all dressed like soldiers about to head into battle. Patches of fire blazed throughout the land, and the buildings behind them began to crumble. Despite all the destruction and chaos he witnessed, there was not a single sound to be heard. He watched himself yell in silence and they charged toward an enemy that he could not see. And it was horrifying to watch. All hell broke loose as he watched each and every member go down. All that was left was Hongjoong, alone in the burning field, on his knees among the ash and rubble. A looming figure began to approach him through the smoke, a dark shadow that he could not make out.

...

Someone was trying to hurt them. Like seriously hurt them. Hongjoong wasn't prepared for this. He always thought so much about how the good parts of his dreams came true, but he always avoided the possibility that the bad parts could too. The staff members would always think it would be something like a stage accident, or a health-related injury, and at first, Hongjoong believed those reasonable explanations as well. But he always saw the looming figures, the shadows that laid in the background, or the flashing image of an injured member right before the injury actually happened. He should be relieved that at least they were okay in the end, and not something worse. He thought of his nightmares. Those images scared him, and he never wanted to see the members hurt, ever. But he saw it all, and he could do nothing to stop it. He shook his head, and at this point, he was going to start forming wrinkles from all his scowls. He was barely in his twenties and yet he felt like he had already lived an entire lifetime of worries. After a long day's work, Hongjoong dragged his exhausted body back to their dorm, the lights all off save a small dimly lit desk lamp in the living room; someone always left on for him when he was out late. He told them to stop doing that since there were times he didn't come home at all, but there it was, still lit. He was too tired to even wash up at this point and jumped onto their sofa in the living room. He closed his eyes and pressed against his tired eyeballs as he contemplated what to do next. 

"What should I do?" he whispered.

"That's your decision to make."

Hongjoong bolted up from the couch, the sudden voice piercing inside his head. He breaths were heavy and his bit his lip, not wanting to make a ruckus and possibly wake anyone up.

"Was that real? Is this real? Or is it my dream again?" he wondered as he scanned the dark, empty room. Nothing looked out of the ordinary. He was alone. And he was sure he wasn't asleep yet; this was still real.

"It's up to you and the choices you make. Do you wish to protect your brothers? To keep them safe? To guard their dreams?"

"Of course."

"Then come with me."

The voice was no longer inside his head, but right in front of him. It was the mysterious masked man, this one in black. It was the first time Hongjoong had witnessed his dream like this so up close. They were all coming true...which meant his nightmares were too. He looked directly at the mysterious masked figure.

"This is all real. If this means everything is real, I'm going to protect them."

And in a flash, Hongjoong's vision was filled with a bright blue light. When he came to, he was still lying on a couch, but he realized this wasn't the same couch from their dorm. He was in the middle of a decorated warehouse, filled with little memories and objects that Hongjoong recognized belonged to the members.

"I've seen this place before."

"There are countless dimensions in the world. Welcome to mine."

The mysterious shadow advanced closer and while Hongjoong felt like he should be overwhelmed by all of this, he was more concerned about the well-being of his brothers. He backed into the couch without breaking eye contact with his kidnapper.

"What do you want? What do you need me to do?"

"First, we need to go back to the beginning. Back to zero."

"What do you mean? Are you saying everything I've seen since the beginning is true? Is someone out to get us? Is it you? Who are you?"

"I'm someone you can trust."

"What makes you think I could ever trust you?"

"Because," he proceeded to remove his black mask, "I'm you."