Fanfic: Down the Rabbit Hole [1/7]
SHINEE'S BACK AND IT'S MORE EPIC THAN EVER TTㅅTT This had to be said. And I'm writing Infinite lol OTL x"D
No but really Sherlock didn't do it for me that much and Lucifer was still my fave song but Dream Girl might beat that ;A; Love at first listen and the album is great too sobs I'm so proud ;^;
A/N: I swear I'm not doing drugs. Sungyeol flying on a flamingo is a perfectly normal thing. Enjoy the fic :D I'll try to keep updating frequently, I'm so full of this idea I hope it'll go smoothly :'3 And yeah WooYeol is legit my brand new otp in Infinite (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ
Down the Rabbit Hole [1/7]
- Fandom: Infinite
- Pairing: WooYeol, MyungJong, YeolJong (later in the chapters)
- Genre: supernatural, AU, romance
- Rating: PG-13
- Words: 2,251 this chapter; 16,919 in total
- Summary: Which includes two ghosts roaming freely between the Underworld and the world of the living and a group of five humans which attract these two stalkers although they do not know about them, mostly.
"Ghosts seem harder to please than we are; it is as though they haunted for haunting’s sake -- much as we relive, brood, and smoulder over our pasts."
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When he woke up there was blinding light everywhere, shimmering and shifting colours from yellow to green. Soon he realized it's just a play of his own vision and opening the tightly shut eyes replaced the light with complete, impenetrable dark.
“If it isn't our weakling finally waking up,“ resounded somewhere close to him.
He looked around, trying to glimpse something in the pitch-dark world. There was absolutely nothing to see, but he quickly realized he can feel the things around him. They were however somewhat incomplete, shapeless and colourless.
“Where am I?“ he formed a sentence, letting it slide through his mind rather then escape his lips. Come to think of it he wasn't actually sure if he had any lips.
“Underworld. Realm of the dead. You can call it however you want.“
It might have been a dream, but the word dream felt so vague he couldn't really tell. So did the past happenings, all of them felt hazy and empty. With every second he felt more and more blank, as if someone was sweeping the floor where all the memories were scattered.
“They call me Sneezy. And don't you laugh at that nickname or I'll guarantee you're gonna hate yours.“
“I have a nickname?“ He felt puzzled. Remembering stuff seemed harder with every sweep of that imaginary broomstick.
Sneezy laughed. “Of course you don't, you just came here. That's why I'm going to give you one, silly.“
“I came here... from where?“
“I said we're in the Underworld. That means, obviously, you came from the world above. You really are a dumb one, aren't you? I figured out things way faster.“
He glared at his new teasy friend. “I'm not dumb, I just don't remember anything.“
“Yeah no one does. Except for some tiny triffles. Anyway, you're called Dopey from now on. Like it?“
Dopey shrugged his shoulders, or at least he thought he did. Everything was so different down here. He wondered why was that so when he didn't even remember how things were up above to begin with.
The tiny triffles everyone manages to keep in their minds when they die grow like fertilized plants the moment you get into the world above. Dopey watched the little girl laboriously stand on her tiny feet, balancing and trying to take the first steps. It was sort of like learning to walk. When he first opened his eyes into the darkness down there, he couldn't remember anything and felt confused. But then he went up to the world his previous self probably knew better than anything and thousands of memories came back.
“I found out that if you watch children you start to remember way more things than if you watch adults.“ Sneezy was suddenly sitting next to him, legs stretched out and arms supporting his body.
He was skinnier and more handsome than Dopey expected him to be. He was quite sure someone as nosy and mischievous can't be this perfect. It was only in the other world, as the dead called it, where you could see the ghosts wandering around in their original forms.
“Why don't we remember ourselves though?“ Dopey wondered.
Sneezy bent his lips downwards. “I don't know. They want to keep us from what we knew as living people. Otherwise they wouldn't keep the Book of Names out of limits.“
That fully caught Dopey's attention and he averted eyes from the cute baby. “Book of Names?“
Yet again, Sneezy started explaining. “When you die and fall down there, the first thing they do is tick you off in that book. It covers all the living people and the dead, I've heard it's infinitely huge and locked up somewhere safe.“
“Say how about we break into that somewhere safe and check our names there? I want to know who I am.“
“You don't need to tell me twice,“ Sneezy smiled slyly, eyes narrowing.
As much as strolling through the world felt exciting, watching unknown people and walking through unfamiliar places brought him no joy. No matter how many memories filled him up, he still felt empty.
“By the way,“ the sly boy let his eyes slide from Dopey's head to toes, “you're quite my type with that tall figure of yours.“
Before Dopey could oppose the sudden attempt at flirting, Sneezy disappeared. He sighed, muttering something to himself and then reluctantly followed him. If he remembered it correctly, all he had to do was close his eyes and let his body loosen. In a split of a second, Dopey was falling through tunnels and tubes, blurry objects passing him in a speed of light, making him feel dizzy. He had to admit that going up was incomparably better then this.
Lee Sungyeol. He weighed the name, tasting it and wondering how it sounded when someone close to him called it out.
“Dopey, hey Dopey! I found myself too,“ shouted the excited Sneezy with hands restlessly smoothing out a crumpled page. "Nam Woohyun, Seoul, South Korea.“
Sungyeol stopped the ruminations and looked back at the page with his own record. "Hey we're from the same place!“
They weren't left much time to rejoy other than bright smiles that could be only felt deep inside their beings. The rashly closed door suddenly opened, without any warnings such as rustle or voices somewhere close, yet far enough to give them time to think. Underworld didn't work as the world above after all; you couldn't really hear things here and they were too absorbed into the search to feel anything suspicious.
That day Sungyeol and Woohyun found out that even down here something like police exists. And it wasn't the type of justice that would let you know all your rights and give you a chance to call a lawyer.
“Eighty percent,“ was their sentence. “And you can be lucky you're not sent right away.“
Frightened and paralyzed, Sungyeol didn't dare to ask what this verdict meant. Judging by the horrified feeling Woohyun was giving out it wasn't good and that made him even more scared to actually ask. It wasn't supposed to end up like this. They had a perfect plan, a plan that took them months to create.
Woohyun was the first one to break the silence they were suddenly left with. “It must have been Flopsy, that jerk. He definitely sold us out.“
“Why would he do that? He wanted to know his name too.“
“Where do you think will some of those eighty percent from each of us go?“
Sungyeol attempted to make a frowned expression, not too sure if he succeeded or not. Judging from Woohyun's sigh he obviously did.
“Eighty percent of happiness, that's what the verdict meant. Happy thoughts are what lifts us if we want to go there,“ Woohyun pointed towards the imaginary sky. “If you lose your happiness, you can't go up, it's simple as that.“
“Oh so it just means we won't be able to go up for a while? That's not such a bad outcome.“ He felt relieved. Sungyeol would never take back what they did, he was happy he'll have a place to go and a real name to be called by. However price is what matters with every risky plan and for a moment he feared it will outbalance the gains.
“The more time you spend down here, the sooner you'll die." Woohyun sadly smiled. "Yeah, ghosts die too.“
Sometimes he wished Woohyun was a newcomer like him, not really knowing much about the dark world other than what he's been told by the officials. But he's probably been here ages before Sungyeol came or at least sufficiently long to know stuff.
“You really know how to ruin one's mood don't you.“ Spitting that Sungyeol dejectedly walked away.
Getting back the lost happiness wasn't as hard as he thought. Weeks and months spent in the world of the living filled in the blank spaces. He learnt the basics of human lives, not memorizing them but rather reviving them in his emptied mind. That allowed his vision to get a lot better in the Underworld. Sungyeol didn't fully understand the connection between these two worlds and how it affected their abilities. Surprisingly enough Woohyun only shrugged his shoulders when asked.
Desperation that hit him hard the day they were sentenced to temporary imprisonment in the Underworld slowly drifted away. His urge to stay hidden in a dark corner away from others also worn off and Sungyeol decided to stroll through the ghost land.
Because of the desire to go up more then stay in the gloomy world down here, he realized how little he knows about the Underworld. Except for all the information they gathered to find and break into the safe place guarding the Book of Names he knew basically nothing.
As he walked, a flamingo flew over his head, startling him to the point he tripped over his own feet, even though he probably didn't have any. A ghost standing next to Sungyeol shot him a haughty glare as he grabbed the flamingo's legs and soared high with the bird carrying him.
“Is this like a common way of transportation?“ Startled boy asked into the air, becoming a centre of attention and fleeting smiles.
He laughed with them and then bravely caught hold of another pair of those long straight legs that flahed slightly above his head.
Despite the fact there wasn't supposed to be any air in the Underworld, Sungyeol would swear he felt it ruffle his hair, his whole being.
“Woohyun-ah! Look at me, I'm flying! Woah!“ They were too high for him to just jump down and he realized he has no idea if ghosts can die in accidents like these and no intention to find out. “How do you get off this thing?“ he shouted down.
Woohyun grinned, amusedly watching Sungyeol and his flamenco flew over him and further away. “Grab its wing, that way he'll know you wanna get down!“
Finally safely on the ground, Sungyeol breathed out deeply. “Woah that was something! How come I didn't know about this before, I'd use it everyday.“
“There are better things,“ Woohyun pointed out. “Like fluffy bunnies serving you coffee. Or those evaporator things that-“
“There's coffee in the Underworld?!“
Woohyun could swear Sungyeol's eyes became sparkly and the smile plastered on his face was somewhat creepy.
The cars passing by and crowds of people crossing the streets were a bit boring compared to flying flamingos and bunnies serving the most delicious coffee Sungyeol has ever tasted. Nevertheless when he breathed in the damp summer air, a wave of eagerness ran through his body.
“Home,“ one of them would say, spreading arms to take in the large crowd passing right through their invisible entities.
The city of Seoul looked like one huge factory, streets humming, people everywhere. Judging from the stalls on the sides of each street, this seemed to be a shopping district. It looked like a tiny maze made of shops, stalls and crowds. Street sellers were luring customers loudly screaming into microphones, the place full of smell of various street food.
Sungyeol drooled over honey pancakes being served into paper cups. “Just why can't we eat any of these? It's so cruel to let us smell all this when we can't take any.“
The torture didn't stop for another while, until they finally found their way out of the shopping maze. Across a lively main street they aimelessly walked through places that might have been their home.
“Do you feel anything?“ Woohyun suddenly asked, half curious, half frustrated. They were standing on top of a short bridge, looking down onto the perfectly clean stream.
“Cheonggye Stream,“ Sungyeol vaguely answered.
“You remembered?“
“No, it's written there,“ the tall boy waved his hand somewhere in front of them. “I just wondered if we can read it because we're Korean or because it works like language, which becomes universal when you're a ghost and you simply understand everything.“
“Oh.“
Woohyun hoped for more. Memories, feelings, familiar places and faces. But it was just another city, quite different from the ones he'd seen so far but nothing else. Woohyun felt his heart drop and his feet lost its ground. Knowing way too well what's going to follow, he refused to give in.
“What are you-“ Sungyeol tried to protest against his arm being forcefully pressed but was soon silenced by Woohyun's lips tightly enclosing his own. If he had any references to compare, it felt different. Ghosts could touch each other, but their bodies weren't warm. To Sungyeol the kiss felt almost like licking a tasteless ice-cream.
He didn't resist though, letting Woohyun's fingers smoothly run through his fuzzy hair and tongue intruding into his mouth. Sungyeol traced his soft cheeks before letting go, their breath brushing over the skin.
“It worked,“ Woohyun pleasedly remarked, observing his feet firmly glued onto the stone pavement. “Hey kissing you actually makes me happy, we should do it more often.“
Sungyeol burst into a series of incoherent babbling. “You - just because - you just do as you please, you - idiot.“ Side-eyeing the shorter boy's sweet lying smiles, he added: “And you're welcome.“
→ next chapter
P.S. to all the silent readers, I'd love you to death if you left just a one sentence (or heck one word) comment pretty pretty pretty please TTㅅTT tbh I never thought I have any silent readers because I think my writing sucks but.. when I found out I do I'd really love some encouraging comments sobs. don't mind me I'm just being my low self-esteem emo self