[A / N: Guys, please don't mind the number of reads and votes, and especially the comments. It's just memories of the original story that I had and disliked and deleted. Because it's still my work, I decided not to delete the old comments hahahah.]

PART I, CHAPTER 1: The Mysterious Place

SUNNY

"Here, son." Mr. Yang led me inside the office, then pointed to the guest chair. "Sit down."

I immediately span the chair around like a kid sitting on an office chair for the first time, but Mr. Yang didn't even mind. (The first time I've been in his office during last year's book fair, he even imitated me.)

"So, I'm sure you know why I called you here." he smiled as he sat on his chair. "Your story."

I grinned and studied his face. "By that expression of yours, I'm sure you didn't understand the synopsis I sent you last night."

"Most definitely not, son." he tapped his wrinkly forehead. "Besides, a synopsis is not enough for me to digest everything."

I made a turn going to the right. "Yeah, I kinda expected this anyway. My intuition told me you're gonna call me to your office by the next day." I sniffed the room's perfume. "Ahh, I missed this place."

"Wait," he fixed his glasses. "Am I actually disturbing you at this hour?"

"No, sir." I stopped. "I am pretty much free today, as you can see. No homeworks, no group works, no projects, no meetings, no hangouts and no fr—" I suddenly recalled Mr. Yang is too enthusiastic and I didn't want to kill his energy. "No fries! Fries always distract me, I just love fries!"

That made the old author laugh. "Don't worry, Sunny. I'll treat you some fires after this appointment of ours, that's a promise."

"Really?" I showed him my puppy eyes. "You will?!"

"Of course!" he fiddled his messy white hair. "I just need you to answer my questions first."

Oof, did he suddenly went on a serious tone?

"Damn, sir." I faked a cough. "You sounded like a detective in a crime series."

He laughed again. "Did I? That's just me being serious."

"I know, I know, sir. Now, please go ask me the questions. I'm dying to know what you want to know."

"Alright," he mumbled. "Maybe I want you first to tell me how it all started."

"You want me to narrate the whole thing, sir?!"

"Do it chapter by chapter. For now, begin with the first chapter—where it started."

I snapped my fingers in a surprisingly loud volume. "Copy that, sir. But please, prepare yourself. Are you ready?"

"Absolutely," he said, and I began.

***

It was just another boring day in school. Or so I thought.

As usual, waking up late, rushing the bath, picking random clothes, leaving my hair messy and being the champion of eating for only five seconds, I made it through the day.

Since Olympus doesn't have uniforms, we could wear anything we want. So, I wore my green hoodie, my gray ripped jeans and my favorite sneakers. I grabbed my backpack, then prepared to leave my room, but then I realized I forgot something.

My skateboard!

Under my bed, I quickly pulled my Marvel-designed skateboard, and rode on it as I headed to the school.

Olympus University was just on the other side of the road. When the cars stopped, I skateboarded my way towards it, which felt cool, as always.

After ten years since its establishment, it looks like this school never changed at all. Still the same huge, colorful, palace-looking school. Yes, palace. Imagine a palace, and that's what our school is, from the outside. The gates appeared as if they will lead to heaven (actually, they will lead you to hell).

I crossed the front gate, and the the two security guards immediately recognized me.

"Hey, dudes!" I greeted them as I tapped my ID by the turnstile. "You're still here?!"

"Yes, we are!" guard Marcus said excitedly. "Never gonna leave this place. Not now. Not ever."

Guard Eric made a chuckling sound. "But how are you, kid? Still good? Still breathing?"

"Of course!" I got my feet back on my skateboard. "Life is always good, bros! Just enjoy it, and live it to the fullest. F*ck the problems. Just be happy!" I turned around and skated.

Marcus and Eric said some more words, but I didn't hear them anymore because I skated farther.

I saw some familiar faces. And some new faces.

Skateboarding my way, I just put on my earphones and listened to my current favorite song, "I Can't Stop Me" by the nation's girl group, TWICE.

Oh god, this song is a bop and the whole world is enjoying it. And don't get me started on the girls, or I'll go into crazy fanboy mode.

The people here in Olympus University are pretty much the same as ever. But wait, how come no one is talking about the tremor last night? I'm sure the whole Olympus street felt it. Anytime from now, we could feel it again.

As I got past the lobby and neared the buildings, the iconic rap part came in.

"Risky risky wiggy wigi, this is an emergency!" I rapped along, and everyone started to look at me. (Was I too loud?)

I ignored them and finished the rap. "Help me, help me, somebody stop me, 'cause I know I can't stop me.... dabeun algo itjanha, geunde gago itjanha, ileogo sipji anha, nae ane naega tto itna bwa!!"

All eyes were really on me, but who cares? I'm livin' my life, man!

When the dance break came, I made a flip trick with my skateboard, which amazed a security guard who passed by.

I kept skating, until I reached the Athena building and lined up for the elevator. While lining up, I was rapping to the next song, "God's Menu" by Stray Kids, personally one of my favorite boy groups.

I was so busy rapping that I didn't notice I was already inside the elevator a few seconds later.

Inside, I shouted "DU DU DU DU DU DU !" while also doing the arm dance.

Everyone glared at me furiously and immediately shushed me. That was the time when I realized I was losing control of my fanboying again. Stupid me.

"Oops," I smiled shyly. "Sorry."

But something didn't feel right to me.

When I stopped my own noise, it was their turn to make noise instead. Literally everyone in the elevator is talking with one another and it is getting too loud, perhaps even louder than my rap. The boys beside me were laughing too loud. Some of the girls were even yelling profane words. That kind of noise is tolerated, while my noise, which is just a fun noise, is not? Please. Make it make sense, people.

That's it. I'm tired of this hypocrisy.

"Ige uri tang, tang, tang-tang!" I shouted. "DU, DU, DU, DU, DU, DU!!!"

Again, everyone shushed me. But this time, I fought back.

"What?" I frowned. "Y'all are allowed to be noisy here, but I'm not?! Why are y'all disturbed when I make noise? I'm not even complaining when you laugh at someone's 'sexy' photos in Instagram beside me or when you say bad words about a teacher in a public place, and yet you're complaining when I'm just practically enjoying myself right here?"

No one spoke.

But the boys beside me felt somewhat embarrassed, as they kept their phones in their pockets and did not even lock eyes with one another. And those obnoxious girls I talked about also kept quiet, their eyes glued to the ground. Serves them right, I guess?!

I'm telling y'all, if I see something that ain't right, I'll fight for it. I don't care if you hate me for it, but I know what's right and what's not, and I will always stand with what's right.

And sorry to these elevator peeps, but hypocrisy disgusts me.

Lucky for them, I was in the highest floor, so they all got out before me, and their embarrassment was short-lived.

But when I thought everyone will be out and I would be alone, a girl remained.

When I noticed her, she turned and gave me an innocent smile.

"What you d-did...." she stuttered and hesitantly raised her fists. "It was badass!"

By her imperfect pronunciation, I can tell she is currently practicing English. I mean, she's not bad, but you can tell she's trying.

"Thanks," I chuckled. "Never thought someone will actually say that."

Okay, but she's kinda... cute. Her voice is cute. Her smile is cute. Her short hair is cute. And judging from her round eyes and skin complexion, she is definitely Japanese. A foreign student, I see.

The innocent smile faded from her face. "I don't really talk to strangers and to anyone, really, but for things like that, I can't just shut up about it."

Suddenly, the tone of her voice shifted from soft to cold. From finding her cute, she now scares me.

"Okay, then." I cleared my throat and looked away "That's cool."

She got out of the elevator without even looking back at me or at least waving goodbye as a manner of respect.

I managed to take a glimpse of her nametag before she left (just out of curiosity), and all I saw was L.

I was expecting Japanese characters or at least a romanized name, but that was it. L? Why L? Are you L Lawliet of Death Note in disguise?

Bah! I hate thinking about someone who's supposed to be insignificant. Forget about that weird L girl, I'ma sing to "Life Goes On" by BTS first.

When the elevator finally got to the sixth floor, I jumped towards my skateboard and skateboarded my way to my classroom, while singing: "Like an echo in the forest...."

I expected our first subject terror teacher to yell at me for being late, but wow, I'm actually on time. It is the teacher who is late this time.

As usual, I didn't talk as I went inside, because nobody really cares about me, and I have no friends in this block.

(Here's a pro tip: In college, you don't really need close or best friends, particularly in your classroom. What you need is yourself, and your own persistence. So it's completely fine to be a loner, as long as you're able to handle yourself and survive.)

There's my seat in the corner left, last row, beside the wall. My favorite spot, and also the only perfect one for me. Ever since the beginning of last school year, they never changed this seat for me. They know very well how it suits me, and no one else wants to sit here anyway.

Throughout the Literary Theory subject, I just slept. It's a boring subject anyway.

And besides, college professors don't really care if you fall asleep. If you sleep through the discussions, it's your loss. No one (save for the concerned ones) will wake you up; they'll just let you sleep as you wish, because it's your choice and responsibility after all.

As for me, I really sleep in morning classes, regardless of the subject, because well.... my body—no, okay, I'll admit it, I want it. Nevertheless, my power naps always give me the adequate energy to be attentive for the next classes that follow. And like I said, no one really cares, not even the teachers. They just let me sleep. That's what I like about college life.

But for some surprising reason, I woke up early—two minutes before the end of Literary Theory.

That's weird. I always wake up a few minutes before Recess. What happened now?

Unfortunately, my teacher noticed me. It's Son Ji-young, wearing her usual Tuesday blue blouse, dark skirt and red heels, pony-tailed long hair and the same heavy make-up. Gosh, this lady tries to have a "style," but her outfits are too repetitive.

"Mr. Lee!" she clapped her hands mockingly. "What a big surprise do we have here?! You're awake in my class!"

The whole class laughed, and I just laughed along while wiping my eyes and clearing my vision.

"Yes, ma'am." I nodded slowly. "It's a miracle I woke up early."

The laughter intensified.

My teacher played with her whiteboard marker as she walked towards my place. "Mr. Lee, I want you to answer a bonus question I just prepared for you."

"Heh," I stifled a chuckle. "Go on, ma'am. Anything."

"Hmm," she stopped. "Can you apply the feminist theory on Shakespeare's works? Oh dear, I hope you're familiar with feminism, and not to mention William Shakespeare."

At first, I thought it was a difficult question and I would not be able to answer, but my mind suddenly generated ideas in a split second.

"Ahh, ma'am...." I stammered, trying to organize my thoughts. "I think, if we're gonna observe Shakespeare's works, we can notice that his female characters are actually just like men—brave, lovesick, smart, funny. And if you really compare them to men, they are actually less emotional. Male characters are frankly emotional wrecks, and it's kinda... ironically funny. In my perspective, he made females powerful—in such a way that they are independent, prideful and free-thinkers. Instead of depicting them as weak and oppressed, he portrayed them to be strong, stronger than what we usually assume of them."

I was supposed to add more, but the bell suddenly rang.

"That's what I've noticed, ma'am." I concluded.

And as the bell continued to ring, my classmates gave me a round of applause, which may have flattered me.

Ms. Son, a teacher who has high standards in recitation answers, was actually impressed.

"Very well said, Lee." she nodded. "You're on-point, and I liked what you said about Shakespeare making females powerful, despite the usual assumption that they are 'weak' and 'oppressed.' I really liked your answer. Good job."

"Thank you, miss." I said shyly.

Okay, this is too unnerving. Everyone is looking at me as if they just found out I'm the son of the president. I was able to answer despite being asleep and missing the class, but... I don't think it's a big deal.

Ms. Son went on with her final words, and that was my signal to sleep again.

Mission success! I woke up five minutes before recess, and lucky me, our teacher for Poetry was calm and gentle. He just greeted me a "good morning," rather than bombarding me with a question. At least respect someone who just woke up, right?!

When recess came, I first went to the room of Athena's Owl, the school's publication to fulfill my duty.

The room was the same as last week. Editor-in-chief's desk in the center, and the other group tables for the other teams (news writers, feature writers, opinion writers, etc.) all around it. The same shelves with the same newspapers and magazines were encompassed the corners of the room. And of course, our logo, a fierce-looking owl, painted on the ceiling, the floor and on the walls, remains the most enticing in the room.

Only the editor-in-chief, Hwang Hyunwoo was there, sitting comfortably in his desk while reading this week's newspaper. As always, he had his uncombed brown hair, Harry Potter glasses and his stripes+skinny jeans outfit. I love this guy, though. He's one of my few friends in the school, and the first senior I have ever met and befriended. I got huge respect for him.

"Hey, hyung!"

He averted from his newspaper and smiled at me. "Oh hey, Sunny. Here for your task?"

"Yeah, actually, I'm done." I grinned. "I'm here if.... you know, you'd want to assign me a new one."

"Oh." he ran to the Feature table and grabbed a small paper. "For Feature writers, we are lacking... there!" he snapped. "We need a feature article for this week's BLM movement. Would it be okay if you're the one who takes care of that?"

"Sure, hyung." I nodded willingly. "No problem at all, I like that topic too. Been browsing about it a lot in Twitter lately."

"Alrighty, then." he clapped and smiled. "You may go. Just update me on your progress from time-to-time, okay?"

"Okay, hyung. You can count on me."

I headed next to the canteen, because obviously... I'm hungry.

By the way, dear reader, I know you're probably amazed at how we can all (except foreign students) can speak English fluently, for Koreans. Well, in case you forgot, this is an international school! At least 10% of the population are foreigners, and English is heavily integrated in our curriculum, so there's that. And as for me, I've been studying in international schools for all my life, because that's what my eomma wants for me, and I want it too! I gotta say, English is such a complicated language, but with practice, you'll realize it's actually easy.

After ordering a yummy cheeseburger, I headed to my usual loner spot in the park.

Suddenly, as I was enjoying the ambiance of the place and my me time, I noticed something in the corner right of the park—the wall is glowing.

"What the hell?"

Curious as ever, I went there and discovered that there was a door that is barely obvious due to its white color being similar with the wall's.

Should I open the door?

I looked around, and no one was paying attention to me.

Okay. Time for a risky adventure.

Wow.

I never thought there would there would be a door leading to another park. But why does this beautiful place have to be hidden?

Left and right, there were twin fountains. Grass filled the floor and stone chairs surrounded the place. There were even kiddy rides—swings, slides, seesaw and merry-go-round.

Wow. Just wow.

But suddenly, my amazement turned to fear as I realized I'm alone in a secret place. My hands started to tremble and my feet made me stop walking. Even with the sun shining luminously and the park radiating positive ambiance, I was still frightened.

"H-hello?!" I stammered anxiously. "Anyone here?!"

Be brave, you fool. I thought. You wanted this!

I did my best to continue walking and go farther. It's all grass and stone chairs all around, nothing much exciting anymore.

Until my eyes noticed the flash of a Canon camera.

I blinked and took a glimpse from afar. A guy with honey brown curly hair and about five feet and seven inches tall appeared. He was wearing a blue vest with a shirt and necktie inside—a school uniform, taking photos of the place with his camera.

"Hey!" I called and waved my hands.

I expected him to smile, but he ran away.

"Hey! I don't bite! I'm just looking for a companion!"

He continued running without looking back, until he tripped. Fortunately for his camera, his hands were able to catch it swiftly before touching the ground. The love of a cameraman for his camera is indeed more powerful than anything else.

Being a fast runner, I took this chance to catch up to him. He was slow, so I was able to reach him.

And I saw his face—he wasn't Korean. In fact, not even Asian. He was tan-skinned, and he looked.... Hispanic.

When he realized I was already in front of him, he yelled like a girl.

"Come on, man." I raised my hands in surrender. "I'm a friend. I happened to be here too, and I'm just looking for company. I'm not gonna hurt you." I raised my pinky. "Promise."

And he calmed down.

"Really?" he said in a light, almost unmanly voice. "You know this mysterious place?"

"Myster... what do you mean?!"

"You don't know?!" he gasped. "It's like a maze here in Castila. And every time I go to my locker, I suddenly end up here. I don't understand it, do you?!"

His proficient skills in speaking English made me forget he was Spanish. "Wait.... Castila? Where are you from?"

He blasted me a confused look. "Are you not from Spain? I know there are Koreans studying in Castila, but you sound as if—"

"What?" I cut him off. "You're not from Seoul?"

He crawled backwards in shock. "What is the meaning...."

My heart just descended to my stomach. My brain felt like exploding.

I cannot believe what I am witnessing right now.

Okay, what the hell is this mess? He's from Spain, and I'm from South Korea, but we're in one place?

Is this a joke? What is this? I don't understand. Why...

"Wait," I tried to think. "You said this is a mysterious place, right?"

"Yeah," he hugged his own knees as he trembled "And it... just g-got even... m-more mys-mysterious... now."

"Oh, my, god." I mumbled. "So how are we in one place, then? We're in opposite sides of the world, but we're in one park?"

"I don't know!" he shouted in trepidation. "How did you get here, anyway?"

"I opened a door," I looked around. "I was from a park, but the door led me here. To another park."

The Spanish boy froze as if something clicked in his mind. "What if we are in an alternate dimension?"

It took me two seconds to process what he just said.

I showed him my blank expression. "Sorry, but a what?"

He opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly, we heard a strange sound of a.... laser. It sounded like those in video games, but I have no idea where it came from and whether it was just from my imagination.

And suddenly, I found myself sitting in a stone bench, chewing my cheeseburger.

Out of fright and astoundment, I dropped my cheeseburger to the floor. (Sorry, little buddy.)

What just happened? Why am I back to where I was a while ago? Did I just teleport my way back here? Did someone or something transported me here? And how is that even possible? In the first place, how is everything I just witnessed possible?

It felt like I just woke up from a dream.

But why did it felt so real? It felt like I was really talking to that Spanish boy and I was really in that mysterious park.

I still vaguely remember the scenario, and how I got there in the first place.

Jeez, I think I should open the door again.

My quivering body told me not to, but I was stubborn enough to make myself go back to such a place. I wanted answers. It seemed like a strange dream, but I don't believe it. It felt real, and I have yet to find out.

Against my freezing hands and my shaking feet, I forced myself to walk towards that "mysterious place,"

But when I opened the door, I heard the same laser sound once again.

Instead of returning to the secret park, I suddenly found myself awake in the classroom, as if I woke up from another dream.

What the hell?

The old man Mr. Kim, our teacher in Anglo-Saxon Literature noticed me. "Sun-shin, are you okay? You seem so out of the world today."

"He's always been out of the world, anyway." one of my classmates commented, and everyone else laughed.

"Hey!" Mr. Kim shushed them. "Cut that out!"

"Uhh, sir." I stammered. "I think I got some headache. I might need a.... deep sleep. For now."

"But you just woke up from a nap," the girl beside me noted. "You're gonna sleep again?!"

"Quiet, Chae-in!" Mr. Kim told her, then looked at me. "Go ahead and sleep if you think that's what you need, Sun-shin. I'll just give you follow-up home works for you to catch up with the lesson."

God bless Mr. Kim's soul for being this considerate.

"Thank you, sir." I said, then immediately fell back to sleep.

***

I heard the laser sound, and found myself in the mysterious park, in the exact same spot I was talking to the Spanish boy. But I was alone. The Spanish boy is nowhere to be seen—only his camera.

I hesitated to touch his camera, thinking there might be a curse or something scarier, but my eyes saw something odd: a paper attached to the strap, with words written by a marker.

"#04," I read. "The Flamethrower."

The first one could be his class number or an important number to him, but what about the second?

The Flamethrower. What is that supposed to mean?

In the flash of another second, the laser sound came, and I found myself lining up back in the classroom. It was no longer Mr. Kim's class. When I checked my watch, I realized it has been an hour since I slept, and it is almost lunch break in a few minutes.

But I can't stop thinking about it.

Is this just a strange dream? Or is something really happening out there?

What did the Spanish boy mention again? An alternate dimension?

Could it be....

***

Introducing:

Miguel Herran as Spanish Boy

Miyawaki Sakura as Random Japanese Girl (cameo)

***

A / N:

Oh, there! The first chapter! A bit short, but that's just how it is.

Btw, I changed the protagonist's portrayer. But I'll reveal him after each of the other main characters are introduced.

Enjoy this chapter, next chapter is coming tomorrow!

~AR