Kai's POV:
If I'm being honest… my life wasn't tragic. It was just exhausting.
You ever wake up one day and realize you've been the adult in your house since you were 14? I have. For over 6 years.
Dad died of an illness when I was around 8 years old. Mom didn't last long after that. Not physically or emotionally. She tried for a while, really did. But one morning, she just… didn't come back. No note, no goodbye. Just gone.
So it was me and my two little brothers, staring at an empty kitchen table. No one would help us out of this mess.
It was hard. I had to pay rent and attend school at the same time. It was almost impossible to get a job. No one will hire some 14 year old.
I remember one day in class, we were filling out these dumb "career goal" sheets. Mr. Ozawa, my homeroom teacher, noticed mine was blank.
He made me come by the teacher's lounge to see him.
- Mr. Ozawa: "Why did you leave your career goals blank?"
"I just… I don't really see the point. I have brothers. I want to take care of them."
- Mr. Ozawa: "Well, you need to have a career to do that."
"I want to work from now. I want to help them right now. That's all I want."
He didn't push after that. Didn't ask questions, didn't call anyone.
Just nodded. The next week, he offered me a job after school. He said he needed help organizing things around the classroom. Really, I was more like an errand boy, but he paid me. Even sent food home with me sometimes.
I never told him how much that meant to us.
He probably saved us more than he'll ever know.
I thought about telling to police about our situation. To get help. But I was afraid. I didn't want my brothers to be taken from me.
That's why I say my life wasn't tragic. I chose to bear this. I chose to live for my brothers. I chose to take care of them. I chose the stress, the sleepless nights, all of it.
Because no matter what happens…
I will never be like my mother.
I will not abandon my family.
Which is why it's pretty damn stupid that after surviving all that, I ended up here. One second I'm sitting on the toilet scrolling my phone, and the next everything goes pitch black. No pain. No noise. Just nothing.
When I wake up, I'm in this… hellhole. Cold floor. Headache. No signal. Pants half off.
Not exactly how I imagined my afterlife, if that's what this is.
I still have no idea what's going on. But whatever it is, I don't really care. The only thing I'm concerned about is my brothers safety
I wonder… how they are doing.
- ???: "Kai… How are you enjoying yourself?"
Now this guy is speaking to me. He does NOT look right, almost like someone tried drawing a person from memory and messed up the angles.
"Who the hell are you?"
- The Dreamer: "I'm someone who made all this possible. Call me the Dreamer."
Now that makes me laugh. I can't contain it and start gripping my side.
- Kai: "The Dreamer? Dude, that's a shitty name!"
- The Dreamer: "I think it is fitting. After all, I can make your dreams reality. Everything you want can be yours. All you need to do is accept my proposal."
What the hell is this asshole talking about?
- The Dreamer: "You seem skeptical."
"Obviously! So, is any of this real?"
- The Dreamer: "Of course it is. All of this is a reality that exists. I am merely allowing you an entry into this new world."
"Ayden already warned me about you."
That seems to trigger him.
- The Dreamer: "He was ungrateful of my gift. He was weak."
I glare at him.
"Why do you do this? Why me?"
The Dreamer tilts his head at an angle a real person's neck shouldn't bend.
- The Dreamer: "My power is something magnificent. I want to use this for those who deserve it. Those who deserve a new life. People like you."
I take a step back. His words sound genuine, but his body language says otherwise.
What the hell does this guy want from me?!
He smiles. It's thin, too wide, and it never reaches his eyes. It's almost like he heard what I was thinking.
- The Dreamer: "I'll give you a choice. Stay here, with your family. Take care of your brothers. Live with them."
He disappears from where he stands.
And suddenly he's at my ear, voice dropping to a whisper colder than the floor beneath my feet.
- The Dreamer: "I even brought dear old mother back. Isn't this what you wanted?"
My entire body jolts back. I shove him off instinctively, but his words dig into my skull like claws I can't shake off.
I should be happy. Right? I should want this. I should want to run to her, hold her, scream, cry, something. But all I feel is… wrong. Heavy. Like someone dropped a stone into my chest.
Can I really stay here?
Is it okay?
My mind goes blank for a moment. No breath. No thought. Just a white static buzzing under my skin.
Then a single name cuts through it.
Ayden.
He came here. Found me. Warned me.
Why would he do that, unless—
My voice comes out low.
"Before I decide anything. Tell me. What did Ayden see in his dream?"
That seemed to bother him, as his weird smile drops instantly.
- The Dreamer: "A family he wanted but never received."
I freeze.
So Ayden… gave all that up.
The life he saw. The one he wanted. He abandoned it just to reach me.
And suddenly everything falls into place, a smile forming on my face.
This isn't my family.
Ayden's POV:
He's taking too long…
I have a bad feeling about this…
The moment he stepped out, a pressure started behind my eyes. It's almost like my mind is screaming at me to help him.
I feel distressed and uncomfortable.
Is this the soul link Alice talked about?
Either way, I stand up quickly and make my way to the exit.
When I open the door, I see the joining hallway, leading to the front door. The air is heavy.
The front door is lightly cracked open, and I can hear voices on the other side.
My thoughts are racing.
I push down the gut feeling and keep moving, not even bothering to shut the door behind me.
As soon as I push it fully open, I see him. The Dreamer. And Kai is standing there, his middle finger raised, shouting at him.
- Kai: "All I want is to be with my brothers. So why don't you just fuck off already!"
I'm taking aback by what I hear. I thought I'd have to argue. I thought I'd have to convince him.
I underestimated him. Kai is a strong person.
The Dreamer lifts his head toward me.
And instantly, every instinct I have twists into a knot.
It isn't the way he looks at me, but something about the world around us, like he clicked a pause button on everything around us, just to look at me.
His eyes lock onto mine, and I swear the space between us bends inward for a heartbeat.
His grin widens too fast, too sharp. Almost like a predator finally spotting its prey.
I feel watched.
Not by a person.
By something that has memorized what a person is supposed to be.
My hands go cold.
My legs stiffen.
In that moment, I understand.
if he wanted to, he could kill me with a thought.
He says something low, too quiet for me to catch, leaning onto the balcony railing.
Then he commits.
No hesitation. No fear.
He just leans into the open air and drops off the fourth-floor balcony like gravity means nothing to him.
I lunge forward on instinct, checking the ground below. But there is no body.
For a second, the world is silent.
Then Kai exhales.
Not scared. Not shocked.
Just… done.
"Kai?"
He doesn't look at me right away. He's staring over the railing, expression unreadable.
Finally he speaks.
- Kai: "How do we get out of here?"
"Don't you want to say goodbye first?"
- Kai: "No… I feel like I'll change my mind if I go back in there. So, how do we do this?"
We both stand in silence for a moment and I look toward the balcony.
"…The same way he took."
He looks towards the balcony, and quickly looks back at me in what I assume is fear.
- Kai: "Are you serious…?"
I don't say anything and just nod.
He takes a second to process the information and stares off at the city. I join him, leaning on the railing.
After a few minutes, he speaks up with a hesitation I haven't seen in him before.
- Kai: "Is this… how you got out?"
"…Yes."
- Kai: "I see…"
His face shifts, his eyebrows furrow and his already solumn expression turns into something tighter, more complicated.
Is he… sad?
Why would he be sad? It's not like I suffered or anything. I just… did what I had to.
- Kai: "Alright. So I should just, do it then?"
"I guess."
He stands onto the railing, fear and uncertainty clearly etched onto his face.
- Kai: "Are you 100% sure I will not die? Like without a shadow of a doubt?!"
"I mean… I did it a different way, but it still would have killed me if I wasn't dreaming."
- Kai: "Is the fourth floor high enough?"
"You better hope it is."
- Kai: "Ok, ok. I'm not gonna die. I'm not gonna die. I'm not gonna die…"
His voice becomes a shaky mantra under his breath as he stares ahead.
I don't tell him how much my hands are shaking too.
He goes quiet.
Then he moves.
I don't watch.
The world jerks sideways and something inside my mind tears.
A white-hot pressure slams through my skull. I stagger back, clutching my head.
It feels like a cord is being yanked out of my chest and spine all at once, like the link between us is being ripped loose.
My vision blurs at the edges. I can't tell if I'm standing or falling.
The pain isn't just physical. It's like a piece of me is being peeled away.
"Kai—"
I choke out, but the name shatters in my mouth. I heel over and throw up on the floor.
I'm left gasping, knees hitting the floor, fingers digging into the balcony tiles.
Behind me, I hear the door get pushed open.
- ???: "Kai?"
A woman's voice. Fragile. Already trembling.
I turn my head.
She stands in the doorway, hand over her mouth, eyes red and wet.
His mother. Or the version of her that belongs to this world.
Our eyes meet, and she flinches, like she can feel something is wrong just by looking at me.
"Ma'am… He's—"
- Kai's Mom: "I… I saw. I saw all of it. I heard all of it."
My gut twists as I hear her broken words.
She steps out slowly, as if the air itself might shatter.
Before I can say anything, she speaks again. Quieter. Almost dead.
- Kai's Mom: "That man came to me first."
"…What?"
The word escapes me between shallow breaths. I'm trying to keep calm, but the pain is becoming unbearable.
- Kai's Mom: "He brought me back here because my son was gone."
She swallows hard.
- Kai's Mom: "In this world… my Kai is dead."
This truth shocks me.
Dead? How?
- Kai's Mom: "His death wasn't an accident. They haven't announced anything yet, but… I know. That thing killed my boy…"
Tears begin to flow down her cheeks as I try to process what I'm hearing.
He killed Kai…?
Through the pain, anger begins to boil within me.
That motherfucker! I swear I'm gonna end him. I don't care what it takes!
She continues again.
- Kai's Mom: "He told me to return home. To be with my family. To be with my new son. When I saw him again, I thought I'd been given a miracle. But that wasn't my son. Not really. He didn't belong here."
She comes closer and gently grabs my sleeve, like she needs to hold onto something solid before she collapses.
Her voice is still shaking.
- Kai's Mom: "Please… Take care of him. Wherever he goes. Whatever this is… don't let him be alone."
Even with my head still throbbing and my thoughts spinning, that hits something deep. I force out the only words I can.
"I promise."
Her shoulders sag with relief.
The world around me starts to blur, colors washing out to white. The hallway, the balcony, the city. Everything melts like wet paint.
Her voice echoes one last time, distant and soft.
- Kai's Mom: "Thank you…"
Then it all disappears.