Treasure tales

Junkyu #7: New World

Rringg...rring...

"Hello?" Hyunsuk said as he picked up the phone. He could distantly hear the muffled voices of Haruto and Doyoung in the background.

"Hyunsuk," Came the panicked voice of Jihoon. He was panting very heavily. "I came over to visit the HQ today, and I found Junkyu and Rin slumped over. They're breathing, so they seem to be asleep. But, I cannot wake them, no matter how hard I try."

"Maybe they're just really tired? Tell me more about the general situation," Hyunsuk immediately enquired.

"I last saw the two of them yesterday," Jihoon continued. "Haruto, Jeongwoo and I were all there. There's a mug next to Rin with dried up coffee stains. I think she made the coffee yesterday and didn't wash it."

"Could it be that Rin simply came earlier than you and the two somehow fell asleep?" Hyunsuk asked skeptically.

"Can you see Rin doing that?" Jihoon asked angrily. "That girl loses her head over her studies twenty four hours seven days a week. To randomly fall asleep in another man's house, no less. Sure, this is our HQ, but..."

"...Plus Junkyu's sleep improved recently," Jihoon panted, suddenly sounding resigned. "To just fall asleep out of nowhere like that...he'd usually go on a sofa or a bed, at least."

"...I get it," Hyunsuk said, keeping his voice low. He breathed, trying his best to remain calm. "This is not like them. I'll be over soon.

I blinked. I was suddenly back to that strange world with cyan grass. I looked around in panic, only to see Junkyu napping peacefully next to me. A minute later, he rubbed his eyes and stretched.

"Here again?" he shrieked as soon as he noticed his surroundings. He drooped and covered his head with his two hands. "To think I was finally free of it...I spoke too soon...noooo...."

I rubbed my head, feeling confused. How did we end up here again? The previous time it was because I had fallen asleep trying to soothe him. This time though? The last thing I could remember was the two of us having a conversation that any friends would. Well, maybe it's more like potential friends in our case. The next, we ended up here?

I looked around me, suddenly realising that this world, however it is, was still a place where information could be attained. My A levels though...but the issue of Junkyu's nightmares, and his mental health was more urgent. I couldn't bear to see him suffering anymore.

"We should probably find out more about this place," I told him. "No going back to sleep, will you? Oi, Junkyu!"

"I hate this place," Junkyu whined, curling up. "Don't you remember that horrid cheesy quicksand thingy? Let me out of here! We can't say for sure that sleeping won't work this time if we haven't tried!"

I squatted next to him. "If this is something that happens often," I told him seriously. "We need to find out more about this place. We might understand why it's haunting you so much. It just occurred to me, so."

"You do it alone," Junkyu grumbled.

I sighed and stood up. "Fine," I huffed. "I'll see you around. In the HQ later, perhaps." I was about to leave when I felt a hand tugging at my shirt. I looked downwards. Junkyu had sat up.

"I'll go," He said. He was still pouting. "You're a girl. I can't let you wonder around such a strange place alone."

"Who said I can't fend for myself just because I'm a girl!" I growled at him, and roughly pushed his hand off my shirt.

Junkyu scratched the back of his head. "It's not t-that," He said awkwardly. "I just...want to protect you...if I can." He coughed, clearly embarrassed. "Noo...I mean..." That adds manly Junkyus to the list of Junkyus, I privately thought. He stood up and brushed his pants. "In any case, you're here because of me. Trapped in a dream that I'm haunted by. You might not be able to go back without me. We can't be sure, since we don't know exactly how this works."

He had a point.

Junkyu took a few steps, then turned around and offered me his hands. "Let's hold hands, at least," He told me.

I stared at him, utterly shell-shocked by what had just come out of his mouth. Junkyu seemed oblivious to what he just said.

Then when he realised, redness spread across his face. "That's not what I meant!" He said, horrified by himself. He gaped. "How messy! I just thought that if we were to sink into that weird stuff again...just hold my arm or something!"

Still baffled by the situation, I took hold of his arm. What he said made sense, after all. The previous time, when we sunk into that liquid, we woke up. There was no guarantee we would wake up this time. We might just end up trapped in it for a long time. In this world, it was important that we don't lose each other, since we were each other's only allies.

We walked awkwardly. Somehow, this time, we made it into the marketplace safely. Although, what came after did not make me pleased in the slightest.

"Aww, what a cute couple, look at how the girl is clinging on to her boyfriend like that!" Several old women selling a variety of things(fish, fruits, wares, you name it) gushed loudly. I was annoyed. Was every old woman in every world this nosy?

"Ah, no," Junkyu immediately denied it every time. His cheeks was dusted a little pink. "She is my...um..."

"Younger sister," I fibbed dryly. "I may look old but I'm actually only 12. I'm really scared of the real world and I need my big brother's protection."

Junkyu immediately let out a muffled sound. I turned to glare at him. He was clearly struggling very hard not to laugh. Was what I said that funny?

"Ah, so it happens that this is my first time in this part of the...place despite being a local. Could you tell me where we are?" Junkyu said politely. I was surprised by how courteous he suddenly seemed. I had seen a lot of Junkyus. There was the slightly crazy and goofy one that Treasure knew and loved. There was the slightly awkward, distant one with people he barely knew. Then there was this when he needed to get serious. His public face was polite, courteous, and gentlemanly.

"First time?" The old woman we were asking(she sold street food) seemed surprised. She appraised the two of us. "Are you a noble? You sure are dressed oddly, though. I heard nobles have to abide by a strict dress code."

"We snuck out," Junkyu said quickly. "We had these outfits made so that our family members wouldn't recognise us. Or anyone sent to look out for us...haha..."

"We tried to base it off the more normal wear but seems like we failed," I quickly chipped in. "We have barely seen the normal world, after all. It was based off some fairytale, but I guess we were misguided in our designs..."

"Oh, you poor things," The old woman murmured comfortingly. I was honestly just glad that our blatant lie had worked. "What kind of strange fairytale is that though? Maybe it's something only the nobles know. This is the Zadyr marketplace! I hope you enjoy your time here! I heard that a noble's life is really restrictive, so enjoy your freedom. If you come by later, I'll even give you some free soup. They taste different from the food the nobles eat, but no less delicious."

The two of us thanked her gratefully, and then we went on our way. This lasted for the entire day, but we did stop by the woman's place again to get free soup as our only meal of the day as we did not have the currency the place used.

"I'm so hungry," Junkyu moaned sadly at the end of the day. He rubbed his stomach. "I had instant noodles in my house." The two of us were sitting on a patch of grass, staring over the city. This world so far was alot like those ancient civilisations I read about in books, with nobility, merchants, and bustling marketplaces. I was tired and hungry, but at the same time, I was intrigued.

Junkyu sighed forlornly. "Rin, what if we cannot go back? I miss the other members of Treasure..."

"We should start begging for money, like the homeless people we've seen," I told him. "We can start by tearing our clothes and smearing our face with dirt to look the part. The first priority is to stop feeling so hungry and fatigued. Then, we can probably look for jobs. Although...I think the only available ones to us here are blue-collar jobs. A huge downgrade from the life we're used to."

"You don't have to," A cool voice said above us. Junkyu and I looked up with a start. It was a tall man wearing sunglasses, a fur coat(in this weather?), and black jeans. I blinked, struggling to fit this man's clothing with the rest of this world.

"It's..." Junkyu said in horror. "Bigbang?"