hydra | svt

CHAPTER NINE.

wonwoo

the scent of freshly washed linen floods my senses as i open my eyes; everything is blurred and my head pounds as i force myself to sit up in this unfamiliar bed and as promised, my memory lays intact. to be sure of this, i quiz myself on random facts about the members, from what colour their powers are to what jeonghan was wearing the day we left. judging from the solid grey iphone x resting haphazardly on the bedside table, the year is no different than from when we left but to be sure, i check the date. confusingly, the language seems to be in english and it takes me a while to navigate to the settings and shakily switch to korean. now in a language familiar to me, i explore the phone's documents and data, where everything seems to be brand new: but the messages and mail are both empty. obviously, there must be an apple id or an email i can trace and so, as i rub the remaining sleep out of my eyes, i check the icloud settings.

my eyes widen and i exit the app accidentally in a panic, my slender fingers refreshing it nervously. but i am not being deceived. the email registered is:

yuoRmsiSonstRtasnOw@svtcloud.com

at a first glance it obviously seems like a foreign language or something but upon closer inspection, i realise that it's a code only i am able to crack.

"wonwoo, thank you for coming so promptly. i trust that you are alone?" the mage asks, his tone neutral but foreboding. i nod silently at sit across from him in his study. i had been summoned without warning and it had definitely been easier than expected to slip way unnoticed: when there are thirteen of you cramped into one small house, it's not really regular routine to do a headcount every five minutes, if you know what i mean.

"this may seem incredibly random, but i want you to know about this," the mage continued, the warning tone still evident. at the time, i'd no idea what was going on and blindly nodded along, acting a lot more confident than i felt inside. the mage pulled out a pristine piece of paper and lay it out on the desk between us. i noticed how there wasn't a single wrinkle in sight as he pointed to the first line of words, with his fountain pen, printed in stark black ink.

tihs is a cdoe taht may seem cofunsnig at a frsit galcne.

"you may notice the order of the letters is rather off; you are a bright boy. you can still read it, correct?" i nodded again, my throat as dry as sandpaper.

"that's good. i want you to read this code at least once a day. i will send you regular and frequent letters containing paragraphs of this code. don't worry, they'll just be some excerpts from books i've read but i want you to try writing it too. reply to me, if you can. the letters of the word can be in any order as long as the first and last remain the same. for example," the mage scribbles something in the margin of the page, his handwriting spidery and thin.

joen woowno.

he instructs me to read it aloud to him. he nods thoughtfully before sliding the pen over the desk.

"you have a go."

-

my vision returns to me so quickly, my first assumption is that i simply slipped back into dreamland. but this is proved wrong when i realise i'm still sat up with the phone in my hand, hick blanket surrounding me. the screen has become a black mirror and the phone is incredibly hot in my hand but i grip it tightly and scribble out the email on a scrap of paper.

"your. mission. starts. now," i recite to myself, copying down the translated code underneath; no doubt this is the first of the mage's many clues for me. sighing, i'm about to haul myself out of bed when there's a faint knock on my door.

"wonwoo? it's time for school sweetie."

i'm momentarily shocked, the soft voice another addition to my chain of unusual events. i've been a part of seventeen for as long as i remember; i hardly recall any parental figures in my life as i was growing up, especially a maternal one. the voice that filters through the crack in the door is melodic and thoughtful, yet somehow strict and firm: it's everything i expected a mother to sound like.

"u-uhm sorry mom, i'll be down in a moment."

the words flow awkwardly off my tongue as i try and mimic a sleep-deprived teenage boy. it seems to work because soon i hear footsteps pad away from the door and the rhythmic thumping of someone going downstairs. i let out a breath of relief before making quick work of my bed hair and pyjamas, opening the closet to discover clothes eerily similar to my own back at home.

i continuously refer to 'my old life' as 'home' but was it really? isn't this also me, just in a new universe? unsure of how to refer to my life with the mage and seventeen, i push away all thoughts of them completely and focus on making it downstairs without looking too uncomfortable, which is near impossible if you're as lanky and as socially awkward as me.

"where's your backpack?" are the first words that leave my mother's mouth as she dishes up a small bowl of kimchi and rice. her perfectly plucked eyebrow is arched in my direction as she busies herself with the washing up and i offer a quick smile before putting on my best acting.

"oops, i-er- must've left it in my room," i stumble out, tripping over my own feet as i launch out of the dining chair and back up the stairs, where i enter my room in a flurry.

"fuck, too close," i mumble, my mind recounting the look on my mother's face. i scramble around the room to find the said backpack, eventually spotting it's black straps under a pile of clothes. i pull it out, surprised by the lightness of it and sling onto the desk, rooting through it's contents; it's practically empty, except for a plain black notebook nestled amongst food wrappers and broken pens. i chuck the trash away in mild disgust and flip through the notebook. every page is plain and it's obvious that it's new. i run my fingers over the leather and on the back, i feel a a familiar indentation. in the light, seventeen's logo is revealed and i almost drop the notebook. can i just have one normal day please?

_________________________

guess who updated again

oops! it's a filler!