Doomed

Jay

Thud! Went the sound of a bag filled with clothes, which had been thrown at me by a furious, and strange looking woman. She was speaking to me in fluent English, and what I understood from all she was blabbing on about, was that I owed her rent, and refused to pay. What kind of nightmare is this, and when is it going to end?

I had first of all woken up on a hard tiled floor, which made my back ache so bad. I rubbed my eyes in confusion as I observed my surroundings. I almost shuddered in fright at how shabby the room was. My room at the dorms was three times the size of the room I was currently in, or maybe even more. Where the hell am I? I wondered as I quickly got up on my feet.

Another shocking sight followed. The clothes I was putting were something I would consider as rags. I was even tempted to rip the fabric off my body in disgust, but my mind was flooded with more important thoughts at the moment. Have I been kidnapped? I mean, with the kind of fame I had, it wasn't entirely impossible to be a target for kidnappers. But then the security was really tight at the dorms, that it would take a huge number of armed men to be able to break through.

Amongst us—I and my fellow teammates—I was the one who spent the most time in bed. I never joked with my night rest, as I always wanted to look my best, but even with that, I wasn't a deep sleeper. Any slight movement or noise, and I would be jolted awake, so I was baffled by the chance of me really being kidnapped. Were the others kidnapped too?

I looked around once again, and this time around I noticed something else. There were so many posters around the walls of the room, many of them were posters of our group, but most of them were posters of just me. I didn't know how to feel about it. It was either the person that had put up all those posters on the wall, was a really big fan of our group, or the person was just straight up crazy. I was really starting to believe the latter.

Having had enough of observing the room, I decided it was time to find my way out of this shit-hole. I went over to the door, and turned the knob, but the door didn't budge, confirming my thoughts of being kidnapped. I immediately began banging the door. I'd rather face my abductor so I could know their reasons for abducting me and negotiate, than spend another minute in that room. It felt like the walls were closing in.

To my utmost relief, the door finally gave way, but as I was about to step out, a woman stepped in instead, with two intimidating looking men behind her. I subconsciously stepped back, as I raised my hands to show that I wasn't looking for trouble, and without thinking I said, "Annyeonghaseyo!" which in English means hello.

I froze in shock at how my voice sounded strange and different to my hearing, and I also noticed how the woman exchanged glances with the two men behind her, before looking at me with creased brows. "What?!" She said to me in English, shocking me. Paying more attention to their faces now, I could also see the clear difference between the average Koreans and the people standing before me. They looked nothing like Koreans.

The woman moved closer to me, as she jabbed her finger against my chest. "Were you planning on running without paying me my rent?" She questioned me, while l stared into her blue colored eyes which were pretty close.

Wait, her eyes! I could see a reflection of someone's face in her eyes—a face I wasn't familiar with. I jolted back with a start. "Who the hell was that?" I spoke in English this time, while pointing a finger at her.

My English wasn't so good, but it had improved a lot since I started taking English lessons, and with Devon's help too.

"I need a mirror!" I said as I looked around the room, frantically searching for anything that could serve as a mirror. That was when I spotted a battered phone on the floor. I didn't give much thought to how the phone looked, and just picked it up.

The screen of the phone reflected the same image I had seen in the woman's eyes. The face I was looking at didn't look like an average Korean, talk more of looking like me. My skin which was porcelain and spotless was now just medium-light in complexion. "What's going on?" I muttered to my self in Korean, and then a second later, I faced the other three people in the room.

"What have you done to me?!" I yelled.

The woman moved back, wariness written all over her face. "I think he had finally lost his mind." She said and then faced the men. "Get him and all his things out of my property.! This is not a mental asylum."

The men immediately moved as she spoke. I gauged them as they got closer to me, and I was sure I could take on them. I hadn't spent years learning Teakwondo just to be manhandled by two intimidating men. Whether this was a dream, or reality, I was going to show them that I wasn't one to be messed with.

As they got closer, I spun around, intending to give a spinning hook kick, but as I spun and raised my leg up to deliver a powerful kick, I staggered backwards, and ended up falling butt first against the hard floor, making my body feel disorganized for a moment. Not only has my face, voice and body changed, I have also lost my agility and strength? This body felt so weak and malnourished.

My thoughts got cut short, as I got pulled roughly by the two men. They forced me up on my feet, and easily dragged me out of the house. Dread immediately washed all over me. Are they planning to end me?

I got dragged until I was finally out of the dark building, and could finally see the sunlight, then before I could realize it, I had been pushed so hard, that I lunged forward, crashing into a trash bin at the side of the road. Gross!

"Don't you ever try to step foot in here ever again. Next time I see you, you might end up without limbs." The woman said at the top of her voice, and then threw a bag of clothes at me. Followed by the battered phone I had seen earlier, a wall clock, and ripped posters.

What kind of nightmare is this, and when is it going to end?

"You can get the rest of your things when you are ready to pay me. Except for the home theater. What was I even thinking when I gave it to you?" The woman rambled on.

I ignored the woman's words, as I tried to take in all that had happened within a short time. The throbbing pain on my back and butt felt too real to be a dream, but I kept telling myself, wake up already! It's just a dream, I just have to wake up and then I would be back at the dorms.

I sat there waiting patiently for the time when this nightmare would be over, but nothing happened. The woman and her boys already left, and I was all alone in the street, still seating next to the spilled contents of the trash can which was stinking so bad. As time went, fear began to seep into my bones. I think I'm doomed!