Switch

"Hyeon, why are you sleeping? We're on now!" a familiar voice said above him, panicked.

Hyeon opened his eyes but was blinded by the shining ceiling lights. His troupe's team captain held out a bo-staff to him. "Let's go! Everyone is waiting for you!"

The announcer had just called Arashikai Bōjutsu to take the floor. Hyeon hesitantly stood up and took the bo-staff, looking around with confusion. His leader ran out on the mat to join the rest of the group.

He felt like a lot of time had passed but he was here at a competition. This was some serious déjà vu.

Hyeon went out there, too, getting to his assigned spot. The crowd hushed followed by the music. He knew this song. His muscles knew what to do as he jabbed the air with his wooden pole, performing several complicated spins and backflips. Ah, the next part would be his solo, a part given to him for being one of the best in the country. His fans anticipated his performances. The music sped up as he pretended his mates were 'enemies,' fighting them off one by one before resuming with the rest of the program.

He was supposed to be serious. Instead, he smiled. This was his happy place.

When they finished, his team ran off the mats and hugged, knowing they were going to win first place.

The environment changed.

Hyeon was now driving the company's van in the dark. He was sleepy because it's been hours of driving on the boring highways. The other troupe vehicles in front of him took an exit onto rural roads which would lead them back to Toronto. As instructed, he followed them, staying last.

Another few hours passed of nothing. Literally, nothing but a few lights to illuminate the endless vast of nature reserve vegetation. Was this really their only option to Toronto from the States? Going through Detroit's immigration center would've been easier and less creepy.

Hyeon couldn't exactly put it into words, but the hairs on his nape have been standing up for the past thirty minutes. Like he was being watched. The dark forest on either side of them didn't help either. With everyone sleeping in the van, it felt like he was alone.

His eyes kept drooping from the lack of sleep. He should wake up someone else to take over–

Hold on. There weren't any other cars in the front and since they were at the tail end, no one was behind them either. When did the other vans disappear?

*Did I take a wrong turn? I must have. I was on autopilot for a while.*

The road was getting dangerous, too. There were cracks and based on the railing, they were probably high up somewhere.

"Hey," Hyeon said, trying to wake up–

A huge moose stood in the middle of the road. He gasped. Where did that come from?! Not being able to stop in time, the van struck the animal, smashing the front. The impact caused them to topple over with screeching wheels…

…and crash through the weak rails. Their van went tumbling down the mountain.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hyeon groaned. His head was bleeding heavily from smacking his head against the window. Everything hurt. There was a piercing pain in his chest. There were probably some broken ribs. His vision was blurry before he could focus on the things around him. The crushed van's lights were still working, so this helped faintly illuminate their surroundings. They were at the bottom of a steep mountain. Did they really fall from that height?

Hyeon lifted his sprained arm to feel the passenger seat. One of the troupe's teenage members was sitting there. "Are you okay?" he wheezed. Yep, a rib punctured his lung.

The passed-out fifteen-year-old was seriously injured, covered in blood and broken glass. Thankfully, he was wearing his seatbelt.

But were the others wearing…? No one usually wore seatbelts when they weren't in the front seats.

Hyeon whipped around, ignoring the sharp pains in his body.

Including himself, there should be seven people in the vehicle.

*One…two…three…four…*

Three were missing somewhere on the mountain. The other two were there, a high school girl and a member who was approaching his thirties. Both were dead. Their expressions were forever terrified. The souls in their eyes were gone.

The scene changed.

Hyeon hid under his blankets as his adoptive parents banged on his bedroom door to let them in. He had locked it, not wanting to see or talk to anyone.

He was scrolling through the countless messages under his SNS posts. There were so many hate comments because the final verdict of his trial wasn't announced yet. That wouldn't be until tomorrow. His eyes developed a habit of concentrating on those than the supportive ones.

*Wow, Hyeon should've died, too.*

*He literally killed kids.*

*RESIGN!*

*Murderer!*

*He wasn't that talented anyway.*

Having enough, Hyeon impulsively deleted every account he had, despite having over half a million followers on each one. His sponsors were going to flip. Maybe sue.

He threw his phone across the room, crying until exhaustion finally took over. The shadow man he saw during his sleep paralysis episodes haunted him more after this.

The background changed.

"Hyeon, why are you sleeping? We're on now!" a familiar voice said above him, panicked.

Didn't…didn't he just do this?

It's okay.

It was his happy place.

Switch.

Hyeon was now driving the company's van in the dark. He was sleepy. Perhaps he should wake up someone else to take over. Watching nothing zip by them was making him tired, and he hadn't slept in three days from their rigorous schedule.

Wait, were they lost?

The car crashed into a moose, making them fall over the cliff. Dead bodies were strewn everywhere.

Switch.

His haters were relentless. Perhaps he SHOULD go die. Why was he the only one still alive after that? How was that even possible?

Switch.

"Hyeon! We're on now!"

Switch.

Van plummeting down the mountain.

Switch.

Reading the internet comments.

Switch.

Switch.

Switch.

Switch.

Switch.

Switch.

Switch.

Switch.

Hyeon was driving in the dark, lost in thought because everything felt the same. Déjà vu. Something was wrong, but he didn't know what. Also, where were the other cars? His anxiety skyrocketed because he sucked at directions and there wasn't civilization for miles. How could he be so careless and zone out?

*Don't let them fool you,* a voice suddenly whispered in his head. What an odd thing to think about. Fool who?

There was a moose on the road. Proceed to hit the big animal. Roll to the bottom. Hyeon woke up in agony. He wanted to make sure the kid in the seat next to him was fine, but he stopped himself. Instead, he watched the smoke wisping off the van's damaged engine.

*Huh,* he hazily thought. *For being so gigantic, it didn't do that much damage.*

It should've flattened the entire front – just a small deer alone could total a car, so imagine an adult moose that weighed just as much as the company vehicle itself.

*Don't let them fool you.*

There was that voice again.

Hyeon sat up straight up and gripped the bent steering wheel. His eyebrows furrowed. He couldn't look away from the frontside, coming to a realization. If he had actually hit a moose, the whole van would be destroyed. Hyeon should be dead.

It wasn't a moose he saw that night – it was an entirely different animal, or two animals he should say. What had appeared that tragic night were two monstrous black birds. Hyeon assumed they were crows, but it happened so fast to get a good look at them. And they weren't ordinary crows; they were just as tall as he was, if not taller. That was why he had lied in his statements because the police would've come to the conclusion that he was on drugs or simply insane from the incident.

So…why was he suddenly remembering a moose?

That wasn't right.

That's not what had happened.

*What's going on?*