Caratland [Seventeen FF]

-10-

It was pink or yellow or blue. It just didn't stop changing colours. It was so bright, living up the whole storage, so that I hid better behind a replacement for a roller coaster car. I stood there frozen and surprised, maybe even shocked, but most importantly fascinated. It was a portal. Well I guessed it was a portal. It was somehow really beautiful. Like fireworks just a little calmer. Now I know why Jihoon was so shocked that day when he showed me that. If he told me I was missing out something so beautiful...

Junhui suddenly stepped in and disappeared. So did Minghao, Jisoo, Seungkwan, Wonwoo, Mingyu, Hansol, Chan and Seokmin too. Our boss and Jeonghan entered together leaving behind Jihoon. He sighed.
"Why am I still working here...?", he murmured under his breath and turned around to see me, standing behind that roller coaster car, completely immersed by the portal.
"S-Soonyoung, w-what are you doing here?", he stuttered, a shocked impression plastered on his face, but I couldn't focus on him since I was still fascinated by the beautiful scenery of bright coloured lights.
"That's what you meant...", I murmured.
"Uhm, yeah. Wanna go eat?", he quickly changed the topic. He seemed nervous. But why? I came out of my hiding place and walked towards the portal. I wanted to touch it, but Jihoon quickly stopped me. "Or we could go to the golf court. I guess you never saw it", he suggested, still grabbing my arm.
"What's on the other side?", I asked him, ignoring his suggestions.
"N-Nothing", he stuttered.
"Stop lying, Jihoon", I looked over to him, but he looked on the floor. It seemed like he really didn't want me to enter. But why?
"Did you do something bad?", he suddenly asked me, still looking on the floor.
"What? No. Well if you consider bad following you to that storage to see that portal and eavesdropping your conversations, then yes", I said.
"So little things count too...", he thought aloud.
"What?"
"You must be really sincere and friendly to people, Soonyoung", he suddenly complimented me, loosing his grip on my arm. I furrowed my eyebrows, but shook it off.
"You can do what you want. I'm not going to stop you", he sighed and turned around to go. Something was off. No, something must be off. It's the second time he tries to change my mind about that portal and usually Jihoon is the type to shrug it off, if it's not his problem. But I still wanted to know. I was way to curious about the other side of that portal. So I stepped forward.
"Wait!", I could hear Jihoon calling me, but it was too late since I was half in it. He somehow managed to grab my arm before I fully entered, making him dragged along with me through that portal.

The way to the other side was short. It were just seconds passing in that bright light.

We landed on grass. More like Jihoon fell over me since he jumped to catch on me. It was bright, a clear sky above us.
"Ow, I guess that portal can't overpower gravity", I commented on the grass. Jihoon quickly got off me, holding his head.
"Oh man, I wasn't made for such jumps", he claimed.
I looked around to notice that we were on a wide field. In the far seemed to be a little village. We were on a hill and the portal from which we came also disappeared.
"Where are we?", I asked Jihoon. He got up and adjusted his clothes correctly again.

"Welcome on the other side of caratland!"

We walked to that small village. Seemed like Jihoon was familiar with that place since he knew exactly how we had to walk.
"How can you be familiar with that place?", I asked him, climbing down some big rocks.
"Because it's mine", he simply answered.
"What is that supposed to mean?", I questioned.
"Well I can't hide it from you anymore so I'll just answer your questions:
Everyone has an own world designed for yourself. That's why we need to wait at least thirty seconds to enter it. If not, you end up in the world of the person going in before you", he explained.
"But why aren't we in my world then?", I asked.
"That's a good question and I don't have an answer for that."

"Why does everyone have a different world?", I questioned. We were passing a bridge to reach the small village. The houses seemed old, but they had a cafe so I guess it's from the modern present.
"Those worlds are parallel universes. It's like your life with all your wishes and dreams coming true, but it's the reality here. So it's different for every individual", Jihoon kept explaining.
"That's why it's addictive...", I thought aloud.

We were passing a bakery. The man inside had a bright smile plastered on his face, holding two baguettes in his hands.
"Fresh baguettes! I'm selling them for a good price! Hello young men, wanna taste some?", the man turned his attention to us.
I looked to Jihoon, but he just shrugged his shoulders.
"I'm sorry, sir. I don't have any money", I friendly refused.
"What are you saying? Your pockets are full of coins!", the man claimed. I didn't believe him until I saw my pockets and there were indeed a lot of coins.
"How did this-", before I could finish Jihoon already responded,
"I told you: It's a world full of wishes and dreams. You can imagine a horse and then a horse will appear."

We bought a baguette and sat down next to the bakery on a bench.
"That tastes great! Is it because I hoped it would taste yummy?", I asked Jihoon.
"I guess." He didn't want any of the baguette so I finished everything alone.

"Aren't there any restrictions of imagination here?", I asked him, breaking the silence.
"Well, since we're in my world you can't destroy it. Actually you can't do anything besides influence little things you touch like the form of a cup", Jihoon explained.
"And the coins? How did that happen?", I questioned. Jihoon just looked away, not answering. I grinned. "So it was you", I murmured, still grinning.

Jihoon showed me around that small village. Most of the people greeted me, but left Jihoon alone. As if they couldn't see him. The village was small, but pretty. It seemed boring, but I somehow liked the calm vibe it had.

"Why did y'all keep it a secret from me?", I asked Jihoon. We were walking to the forest next to the village.
"You know what the ying yang sign means, right?"
"Yeah of course: in bad can be good and in good can also be bad."
"Now think like this world attracts the black side of it but itself is the white part. People who have a ruff life doing bad stuff to survive are usually more likely to look for a better and happier world. Usually everyone has done something bad in his life so everyone can see the portal if they find it. That's why I was so confused when you couldn't see it", he explained. I nodded, slowly understanding the rules of this world.
"But what about the bad side of this world?", I asked. He kept quiet as if I reminded him of something. He stared on the floor and stopped walking. I stopped as well looking at him confused.
"Let's head back to reality", he changed the topic again. Even though I was curious why he blocked again, but this time I thought it would be better if I just shut up.

We walked back to the village to a small house on the side. It was abonded and shabby. Jihoon was quiet like always. There was a mirror in the middle of the living room. The floor was brittle and the wall lost it's colour. We walked to the mirror. It didn't reflect us. It didn't reflect any object. It was just a greyish tone reflecting the light.
"Can't we stay a little longer? I don't want this cool dream to end", I begged Jihoon. Jihoon looked at me with a serious glare. His eyes stared at me with a bitter note. He was smaller than me, but he looked so intimidating at that moment.
"We're heading back", he said with a deep voice. I quickly shut up after that. What was wrong? He looked back to the mirror and flicked it with his finger. The colourful portal appeared again, lightning the shabby house in blue and green. He grabbed my arm, dragging me through the portal back to the other side.