A stranger

Daniel

My eyes slowly fluttered open, then I sat up on my bed, as I yawned and stretched. I smiled as I looked around the room which was filled with a warm glow of sunlight. I felt like this was one of the best night rest I've had in years.

Wait a minute! I don't have a bed. I looked down at the comfortable king sized bed with wide eyes, and then I also looked around the room once again. This isn't my house. Where the hell am I?

I immediately jumped off the bed, as confusion set in. I was dressed in a fluffy gray pajama, and it wasn't mine as well. Is this a dream? I slapped my cheeks, and it stung. Yeah, I definitely am not dreaming. I need to get out of here.

With that thought in mind, I took to my heels as I approached the first door in sight. I twisted the knob, opening it, and then I realized I had opened the wrong door. It was the bathroom door.

I was about to shut the door, and head to the other door when I saw the most shocking thing ever. I saw a reflection in the bathroom mirror, and it looked nothing like me.

"Jay!" I muttered in shock, as I looked at the unmistakable reflection on the mirror. The reflection of Jay was staring back at me from the mirror, his dyed red hair was all messy, but he didn't look any less hot. I turned to look back to see if Jay was by any chance standing behind me, but no he wasn't, I was alone.

So many thoughts ran through my head, but none of them seemed to make sense. I walked into the bathroom, and the reflection on the mirror was imitating my every movement.

On getting very close to the mirror, I raised my hands to feel my face, and I saw the clear difference between my real hands and the ones I was looking at, at the moment. It was white like plain paper, and it felt soft and smooth unlike mine which were just fairly light in complexion and callused.

I finally gave up on reasoning out what could actually be happening. Whether it was a dream, an hallucination or whatever, I decided not to care, and just enjoy the moment.

I smiled at the reflection in the mirror. I had always wanted to meet my bias 'Jay' in person, but I knew it was close to impossible, and now that I was experiencing this—whatever the hell it was—I planned to enjoy it while it lasted.

The sound of a knock on the door jolted me back to the present. Who could it be? My heartbeat started to race, as I warily stepped out of the bathroom, thinking twice about whether to open the door or not.

I didn't even get to decide, as the door knob twisted, and the door flung open, revealing a young man who I could recognize anytime, and anywhere. He was Ji-Yeong by name, the manager of E-Dreamers.

I couldn't hold back the loud gasp that escaped my lips at the sight of him. I covered my mouth, as I subconsciously stepped back in shock. He might just be the manger of E-Dreamers, but the popularity and influence he wielded was on par with some popular k-pop idols.

Ji-Yeong froze in his tracks, as he eyed me in confusion. "Are you okay?" He asked me in Korean.

I couldn't bring myself to respond, so I could only force myself to nod, and hummed, "Mmhmm."

He still looked at me somewhat warily, and seemed like he still wanted to ask if I was really okay, but I guess he decided to let it go. "I'm actually surprised you woke up early on your own today, and didn't make a fuss like always about your 'beauty sleep'." He said with an amused smile on his face. "Did you get enough sleep?"

I simply nodded.

"Alright then, I'll leave you to it then. I'll go check on the others. See you down in thirty minutes." He said, before turning to leave. He opened the door, and took one last glance at me, before leaving.

I finally released the breath I was holding in since Ji-Yeong had entered the room. This was starting to get more serious than I thought. I knew I said earlier that I wasn't going to bother trying to find out what was happening, and just enjoy the moment, but that was just out of frustration of not being able to give a valid reason for why all these were happening.

At this point, I was really starting to get worried. Am I really neither dreaming, nor hallucinating? Am I really in Jay's body all the way in Korea?!Then does that mean that Jay is in my body too? Nah, that's not possible. It's not like I I'm in a fantasy novel or some sort.

I knew right then that I needed to find answers, and quick, but I decided that for the mean time, I would just go with the flow and see where it goes.

….

Twenty minutes later.

I had taken a hot shower in the most luxurious, and pristine bathroom I had ever used in my life. I even felt tempted to lock myself up in the bathroom, soaking in the goodness of the hot water.

I also did my best to not look at my body, or rather, Jay's body, while taking my bath. It felt like I would be committing a crime if I had looked.

Cladded in the expensive robe I had found in the bathroom, I went to the walk-in closet in the room. There were so many clothes to chose from, and they sure were all expensive, and extravagant. I wanted to go for something simple, but looking for something simple in the closet was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

I get that he was the visual of the group, and he always had to look his best, but did he really not have one—even if it was just one—simple outfit?

Alas I finally settled on the least fancy clothes I could find. I picked a black button up shirt, and a dark blue fitted jeans.

"Jaehyun!" I heard someone call out Jay's Korean name from outside the room, almost immediately I was done dressing up.

With the time I wasted with searching for a simple outfit to wear, thirty minutes sure would have passed by in a flash. I quickly put on one of the slip-ons I saw, and took a deep breath to prepare myself for the stimulation of a lifetime.

It was hard enough to contain my excitement when I saw Ji-Yeong earlier, what more now that I was about to face the other six members of the group. I felt like I was going to squeal and yell my lungs out like a deranged fan if I wasn't careful.

"I'm coming!" I yelled back in Korean. I had never been more glad that I had taken time to learn Korean, than I was at the moment.

I combed my hands through my, sorry I meant Jay's soft dyed hair, before I then left the room.

The hallway was familiar. This was E-Dreamers dorm. I had seen so many pictures and videos of it, so I easily knew where the stairs was. I went down the stairs, and then I began to hear voices. I froze, all rational thoughts disappeared from my head, and were replaced by the urge to run down the stairs, and express how much of a big fan I was of their music. I wanted to show my gratitude to them for being there for me in my darkest times, but I knew I couldn't do that. I would only appear as Jay who had suddenly gone bunkers.

I slowly walked down the stairs, and walked into the large living room. All the six other members plus Ji-Yeong, quieted down when they saw me. My body suddenly rose in temperature, as I suddenly felt feverish out of anxiousness, and excitement. It took all the strength in me to keep my legs fixed to the ground, and my facial expression neutral.

They were all looking at me like I was a stranger who had walked into their dorms out of no where. Literally, I indeed was a stranger to them, but Jay wasn't, so the look they were giving me made me a bit confused.

"Who are you, and what have you done with Jay?" Ken asked, as he stared me down.