"So, tell me how you've been feeling?"
"Haven't we been over this at least ten times already? Nothing's changed since the last time we met."
"Please, indulge me."
Yoongi sighed, laying his chin in the palm of his hand as he looked out the window. The chair was soft, his small frame sinking into it slowly as he contemplated why he was always brought into this room every couple days. The small décor around the room and paintings on the walls only played into making the room seem cozy, but Yoongi had always seen right through it. After not answering the lady in front of him, she looked out the window before sighing herself.
"Please, Yoongi, I only want you to feel better, but I can't do that unless you talk to me."
"I've talked to you for three weeks now, at least three times every week. I'm done talking."
Yoongi continued to look out the window as the women in front of him sighed as she looked at the notebook in front of her. Yoongi placed his elbow on the arm of the chair, his head now fully supported in the palm of his right hand. He got lost in his thoughts, remembering how he got here in the first place.
He had lived at home in Daegu since he was born. It was obvious to his mother and father that Yoongi was different from the average boy. He wasn't as energetic, stayed away from other children, would rather stay inside than be outdoors, and he never found joy in things other children would. His mother had entered him in a therapy program since he was eight years old.
About a month ago, his mother had walked into his room, catching him in an unfortunate state. He was then immediately admitted into a mental institution, the place where he was currently housed. His mother and father always tried to visit him, but Yoongi always stayed in his room, hoping that they'd eventually stop trying to visit.
"How about this."
The woman got up from her chair, moving over to a compartment and looking for an item. Yoongi was now intrigued, looking over at the woman, his head still resting on his palm. Even if he was wondering what she was doing, he made sure that he still looked uninterested.
After retrieving the item, the woman sat back down in her seat, holding the item out to Yoongi. After looking at the item, he sighed before looking back at the window. The woman looked as if she was giving up, placing the item on the table between them. She picked up her notebook before looking back at Yoongi.
"Let's try something new. This is a game called Mikrokosmos. If you don't want to talk to me three times a week, we can make a deal."
"A deal?" Yoongi paused, now looking at the woman. "I'm listening." The woman smiled before continuing.
"If you play this game for an hour and a half on weekdays and two hours on weekends, you'll only have to see me once a week. There's a timer built into the game system, so you'll know when your time is up. And if everything goes well, we can see about lowering the amount of times we visit to once every two weeks."
Yoongi paused, as if he was waiting for some type of catch. He wasn't one to be persuaded easily, trying to figure what the woman's motives were. Even if there was an underlying motive, Yoongi found playing a video game every day much easier than seeing his counselor three times a week. He moved to face her, laying back in his chair and placing his arms between his legs.
"Fine."
"Great! I'll have someone set up the game system in your room right away, and you can play your first run through tonight. Sound good?"
"Whatever."
Even though Yoongi had always acted rude and distant towards the woman, she always held a smile on her face, at least while he was in the room with her. It was something that always bothered Yoongi, not usually in favor of having overly happy and energetic people around him.
After a couple more minutes of useless small talk, Yoongi was finally allowed to leave the room, taking the game with him. As he left the room, he was met by a security guard. Since Yoongi was classified as a high-risk patient, he was escorted everywhere he went, something he absolutely despised.
Once he reached his room, the guard left his side, allowing him privacy in his own room. While there was space for another patient in his room, no one was roomed with him. He assumed it was due to him hating company. If they wanted him to get better, they knew it would be better to give him his space and make small steps rather than big leaps of progress. He looked towards the television and noticed the new game console.
"Virtual reality, huh? I've never played one of these before."
He looked towards the game he had forgotten he'd been carrying, looking over the cover that had light pink clouds with a starry night sky on the cover. After moving the container around, he didn't see a description of the game anywhere. He sighed before placing the game disc into the console.
"Mikrokosmos. Looks like a stupid game to me. Let's just get this over with."
After inserting the disc, he moved to grab the headset. He didn't have to worry about furniture getting in his way, since there wasn't much in his room to begin with. After placing the headset on, he saw the welcoming screen to the game, pressing the "Play" button in hopes that this game wouldn't get too boring.
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Yoongi could see the appeal of virtual reality. Within seconds, he had forgotten he was in his room at all. The screen looked as if he was floating through pink clouds, calming him down as the first prompt showed up on the screen.
Welcome new player! What's your name?
Yoongi thought about entering some silly nickname, but he knew he was supposed to be taking this seriously. And even though he hated the situation he was in, he knew that being serious about this was the only way he'd have any chance of getting out of the institution any time soon. He sighed, took a deep breath, and continued. He typed his name in, hitting enter.
Yoongi! Welcome to Mikrokosmos. You'll soon meet many new people that may ... surprise you. But first, help us by answering some questions about yourself.
Do you prefer to be alone or in large groups of people?
Yoongi saw two boxes appear, clicking the one on the left. He sighed, not fond of answering so many questions, but he did his best to answer them honestly. After about twenty questions, the pink clouds turned into a starry night sky. He was now floating to the ground. The closer he got to the ground, the brighter his surroundings got. After delving underneath the clouds, he could see that it was daytime in the game, the suns rays somehow conveying warmth. He wasn't sure how the virtual reality console could do such a thing, but he wasn't complaining.
After gently landing into a patch of grass, he turned to the left to be met with a house. It wasn't anything fancy, a two-story house painted black. Yoongi thought that was an interesting color for a house, taking a deep breath before walking towards the front door. Once he reached the door, he was met with a prompt.
Welcome to your house, Yoongi! This is where you can come to relax if you'd like. People may come to visit you from time to time, so be sure to answer the door if you hear the doorbell ring. The rest of the adventure is up to you! Good luck, and have fun!
The prompt quickly left the screen. Yoongi was surprised that this was the entire intro he was given. He wasn't given any missions or quests, nothing he had to follow. He wasn't even sure what the goal of the game was. After sighing once again, he opened the door, walking inside. He was shocked, stopping in his tracks.
"Hello! Welcome home!"
Yoongi was met with a boy sitting on the couch in what he presumed to be the living room. The boy had the biggest smile he's ever seen, almost as if the boy was running off pure sunshine alone. The man's eyes were crescents, waving excitedly at Yoongi.
"Ummm ... hi?"
"It's so exciting to finally meet you! I was told someone new was going to be living here, and I just couldn't wait to meet you."
"So, you broke into my house?"
Yoongi could see the man's smile fade slightly, teeth no longer being shown. The man got up off the couch, allowing Yoongi to see that the man was a bit taller than him, the light brown hair in contrast to his black. The man slowly left the couch, approaching Yoongi slowly as if he was scared of him.
"Sorry! I didn't mean to intrude. I'll uh ... I'll leave now, umm ..."
Yoongi stepped out of the way to make the front door of the house accessible for the mystery man to exit. The man still smiled at Yoongi even though he could tell that the mysterious man was upset. Just as he grabbed the doorknob, he paused. Yoongi sighed, realizing that having the man leave wasn't going to be so easy.
"What's your name?"
Yoongi raised his eyebrows, his stare still blank and lifeless. Yoongi had always intimidated people with his stare, especially at how much life it lacked. For Yoongi, it was what allowed him to be alone, being around people never an enjoyable thing for him. He sighed before speaking up.
"Yoongi."
"Hi, Yoongi! I'm Hoseok. I'm sorry I was in your house uninvited. It ... It won't happen again. Promise."
Hoseok held out his right hand, his pinky finger sticking out. Yoongi found the man in front of him to be childish and annoying. He started to wonder why the game chose this guy for him to meet first. Yoongi stared blankly at the man, both of his arms still by his sides. He could see Hoseok's smile falter, slowly pulling his hand away. Yoongi rolled his eyes, sighing before grabbing Hoseok's wrist and forcefully pulling it towards him. Hoseok looked scared, closing his eyes tightly until Yoongi let go. When he opened his eyes, their pinkies were interlocked.
"There. Happy?"
Yoongi quickly dropped his hands, their pinkies no longer interlocked. Yoongi walked further into the house, standing next to the couch and looking around. The entire house had gray colored walls with either black carpet or dark wood flooring. After looking around, even the furniture was black. Yoongi wouldn't admit it, but he like how dark everything looked.
"Y-Yeah. Well, I guess I'll be go-"
"Why don't you stay? Help me explore this house. You seem to know more about it than I do."
Yoongi didn't know what he was doing. Normally, he would never allow a stranger anywhere near him willingly, especially someone who had obviously broken into his house. Maybe it was the way the guy smiled, or maybe it was the way Yoongi had obviously made him upset. Maybe, deep down, Yoongi didn't want to make Hoseok sad, knowing where that could lead a person if they experienced it too much. He wasn't facing Hoseok, still looking around the house. All he could hear was the door closing, and footsteps walking towards him.
"I'd love that."
Yoongi saw Hoseok standing to his left, staring off into the house. It was the first time Yoongi really got a good look at him. His hair was slightly curly, bouncing with each step he made. While his face looked slightly long, there was no denying that the man was handsome, his jaw well defined and sharp. Yoongi noticed then how close they were standing, slowly taking two steps to his right. Hoseok noticed this, a questioning look on his face.
"Sorry, it's just ... I don't like when people are too close. Sorry."
"You're saying sorry a lot. You have nothing to be sorry about."
Yoongi eyes widened for a second before he returned his expression to one of disinterest. He held his head to the floor, placing his hands in the pockets of his pants. He sighed before taking a step forward. Once he reached a certain point in the living room, he was given a prompt.
1) Move to the kitchen
2) Go upstairs
Yoongi chose the second option, hoping that his bedroom would be on the second floor. Yoongi walked slowly, as if any exercise or movement sucked all the energy right out of him. Hoseok giggled slightly before following Yoongi up the stairs, his hair bouncing with every step. Once Yoongi reached the top of the stairs, he was given another prompt.
1) Go to bedroom
2) Go to bathroom
Yoongi was relieved, pressing the first option. However before he could push it, he was met with a warning in the lower right screen, numbers now flashing red for a couple seconds before disappearing. He wasn't sure what this meant, turning around to see Hoseok about three feet away from him. Yoongi smiled slightly, knowing that Hoseok must be trying to keep his distance based on what he said to him earlier.
"I just had the number thirty flash in front of me in red print. Do you know what that means?"
"Oh, that means you only have thirty minutes left here."
Yoongi could see Hoseok's expression become more sullen for a split second, before his characteristic smile reappeared. If Yoongi had blinked, he would have missed it. It was then that Yoongi remembered his counselor mentioning the time limit before. He hadn't even realized that he'd spent an hour in the game, time passing extremely quickly in this world.
"Thanks. I'm going to check out my bedroom now."
"Okay! I think I'm going to head out now, but it was really nice to meet you, Yoongi. I hope we get to see each other soon. I'd love to learn more about you!"
"I don't know if you want that."
It was meant to be a whisper, but judging by Hoseok's expression, he was fairly certain the man had heard it. Even so, Hoseok showed a bright smile, his eyes turning into crescents once again. Yoongi could tell that they were exact opposites, but even so, the man was growing on him already.
"Bye, Yoongi!"
Hoseok left down the stairs, the opening and closing of the front door telling Yoongi that the man had left. Yoongi exhaled loudly, not realizing how much he had been holding his breath. He made a mental note to not let the boy as close to him next time. The last thing he needed was to get close to anyone or become vulnerable in front of them.
It wasn't long before he could feel the exhaustion flowing through him. Any human interaction always drained his energy to almost zero, never able to be around people for too long before becoming absolutely exhausted. He finally turned the doorknob, entering his room. The room was a dark blue, the ceiling painted like a night sky. Even though it was bright and sunny out when he got to the house, his room was mostly dark except for a small stream of sunlight entering.
After further inspection, he noticed that the curtains were blackout curtains. He thanked whoever designed this room, almost as if it were built for him. He slowly moved to the bed, realizing he hadn't taken off his shoes when he entered the house. After taking off his shoes, he slowly climbed into bed, pulling the dark blue covers over his shoulders.
He looked into the lower right hand side of his vision to see a clock pop up with only about fifteen minutes left. He sighed, deciding that he'd rather spend the rest of the time resting in the bed than exploring anything else for the day.
Hoseok. I wonder why the game decided to have me meet you first. You're kind of annoying, but ... I don't have it in me to hurt your feelings. Not yet at least. But remember Yoongi, don't let him get too close. That only puts you in danger. Now, let's sleep.
With that, Yoongi fell asleep until the timer buzzing had woken him up, alerting him that his time in the game was up. The screen was now pitch black. Yoongi took off the headset to find himself in his bed already. He sighed, getting out of bed to place the headset by the console. He then turned the lights off and moved slowly back to his bed, pulling the covers over his shoulders. After a couple minutes, he was fast asleep.
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A/N
So, Yoongi had his first go at Mikrokosmos. Will it be as simple as therapy? We'll have to see.
Here are some questions to answer if you like:
1) This fic will include Jikook, Sope, and Namjin (with one-sided Taekook). Is there a ship/storyline you'd like to see more of? I know we haven't seen Namjin yet, but I thought I'd ask.
2) How's your quarantine going?
As always, thank you all for being so patient with me and showing me so much support for this story! You all mean the world to me, and I hope this story can be something you look forward to. Thank you again for everything. Love you all! =^_^=