CW: Mentions of psychiatric disorder, pills

Jaemin seemed to be uncomfortable, that's what Renjun thought as he approached the pink-haired male. It was comical, he thought, the way the other's hair stood out. But he knew deep inside that it meant danger. They might get caught due to him.

Shaking off his thoughts he took the seat beside the male who seemed to be in deep thoughts from hearing all that. He might be questioning everything, their credibility perhaps. But renjun wanted to let the male know he was there for him and he too had been in his shoes.

"Hey...," renjun started as he could sense the male stiffen beside him, his posture shifted a bit as he stared back. Renjun, Jaemin tried to recollect his name, was the one who was assigned to guide him.

"Jaemin... Right?" a small nod, that's what he received.

"Hey, don't be scared. We wouldn't hurt you..., " sensing the tension he spoke out as Jaemin nodded once again his eyes scanning the group. Taeyong so far seemed to be the leader. He looked annoyed, Jaemin could tell as his eyes were burning holes on the poor male who he thought was Mark.

"Is he always like this?" Turning to Renjun, Jaemin inquired as a small chuckle fell from his lips.

"Taeyong is the one who keeps us all together. If it weren't for him we would have been separated and by now got killed" the boy seemed to have a high appreciation for their leader, the pink-headed thought. It was evident in his eyes, the way those sparkled when he gazed at the male was enough to tell.

"Oh, Jeno!" Renjun swiftly got up from his place running over to the male who reached there panting, his dress disheveled and his hair a mess. It wasn't this worse, Jaemin knew, as he had taken a liking for the other's sense of style.

Now that he was looking a small blush crept up his cheeks as the male unexpectedly turned to meet the gaze of his, his eyes devoid of any emotion. Turning his head away Jaemin got up walking towards the leader.

As he neared the group of men he could hear the male named Yuta pointing out his worry,"... isn't this dangerous for us? To have an additional member whose hair resembles that of a highlighter?"

He was talking about me, Jaemin thought as he cleared his throat grabbing their attention. Taeyong seemed to shoot a silent glare at the male who seemed to be less bothered nevertheless the fact that the said male heard him though he didn't know to what extend.

"I can dye my hair if you want..." Jaemin knew it was a lie. He had dyed his hair pink not too long ago and he liked it on him. But with the image of Renjun's eyes lingering on his hair and Yuta's not-so-secret comment on it, he knew he had to comply to survive. They seem to be the only ones to get him out of the place which he now knew wasn't a fragment of his imagination.

"How so? There are no dyes available with us and it's, even more, riskier to break into one of the shops available" Yuta retorted as Jaemin pressed his lips into a thin line, his eyes capturing those of the leader's who seemed to be thinking hard about something.

"Do we have any hoodies in stock?" He asked as Mark nodded his eyes falling back to the male shift tent they had created.

"Pass him those. His hair is too much of a distraction." With that the male turned on his heels, Yuta following suit as Mark stood beside him, a small tap on his shoulder snapping him out of his train of thoughts.

"Your name is Jaemin right?"

A small nod. He could see Mark was pleased with his response as he smiled widely before throwing his arm around the younger male taking him off guard.

"We have a few hoodies though I'm afraid they wouldn't be of much help other than to cover your hair."

Jaemin, though confused, would soon come to know what the male had meant as his eyes fell on a pile of clothes, the worn-out hoodies sticking out. They were in a terrible condition, with few cuts here and there as he wondered how long had they been stuck in this parallel universe for it to turn out to be like that.

"I know it looks awful but here, this one's better. We haven't used this much." Passing a teal-colored one, Mark went back to digging through the clothes, Jaemin standing there awkwardly his hands clutching into the hoodie tight. Mark was right. They hadn't used it much. It was evident from the way the fabric felt on his hands.

"Can I ask something?" He started as Mark hummed turning back to face the pink-haired male.

"How long have you guys...been here?" Jaemin didn't know whether it was appropriate to ask but judging by the actions of the older it was safe as Mark nodded. He seemed to be thinking and Jaemin waited.

"Quite a long time I can tell though I'm not sure about how long it has been... Taeyong and Yuta found me lying on a ditch near a portal. That's where we've begun our journey from. Neither of us has wondered about time. Our focus is on how to escape."

Jaemin nodded, biting his lip nervously before turning back to the stack of clothes. He wondered how the crew had managed to collect the clothes despite landing on to the space with nothing but the clothes they had worn before entering so.

"We've obtained this along with other stocks through winning the challenges. When we reach each portal there'll be a new challenge awaiting us. It could be a scenario from someone's dream. Could be filled with all sorts of creatures. The best we can do is fight them off and hide."

"Is that why we're hiding right now?"

"Yes, after we win a challenge the chances of us being in danger is high. Their troops will be out here lurking in the dark waiting for their chance to pounce on us. I've heard from Taeyong once that they had thrown him into a dungeon when he got captured by the mastermind's men. He said it was a struggle to escape from the hell hole. So now all of us are on the run trying to hide from them,"

It made sense. The panic that rose on their faces when Jaemin introduced himself, the coldness he felt when Yuta was referring to him, and the not-so-subtle wary glances from their leader Taeyong despite asking Mark to provide him with one of the hoodies. They were afraid of him taking him for one of the mastermind's men.

He couldn't blame them. Now that he knew what it took for them to survive. Will there be a day when he will say the daylight?

"Are you Okay, Jaemin?"

Jaemin shook his head, getting rid of the thoughts before looking back at Mark who had concern written all over his face. Perhaps there might be a Mark and Renjun he could count on in their crew when things went downhill.

"Y..yea..."

"You didn't sound convincing. But let's see... can you fight?"

The answer was clear as daylight, no. Though he had taken a few classes of taekwondo the male was sure those wouldn't help him to survive in the wild. Mark seemed to have understood it as well as he patted his back before smiling.

"It's okay! Yuta will train you. He taught me the basics when I was new here. And yea, we have Renjun to teach you how to handle a rifle"

Renjun with a rifle? That wasn't something Jaemin had imagined. Perhaps he might have judged the male based on his looks and concluded.

"Can I ask you something more?" After a prolonged silence Jaemin turned to the male who seemed to be busy tidying the clothes.

"Sure Jaemin"

"How did you get in?"

As if time had stopped, Mark froze in his place, his hands barely moving and his eyes never leaving the fabric that laid pliant in his hands. Jaemin gulped visibly knowing it was a mistake to ask him. Nevertheless, Mark returned to his old self passing him a small smile before his hands began working on the clothes.

"Before I came here... I was being diagnosed under a psychiatrist. Mr. Kim, you might know him since he's quite famous in Seoul, a reason why we came back from Canada. Due to an event that happened in my life, I had been facing nightmares a lot... he had prescribed certain drugs and you could say... that might've led me to this... When I woke up I was laying on a ditch."

That's all he said as Jaemin hit himself, guilty for asking the male about something he was not comfortable with. Bowing he turned to Mark.

"I'm so sorry Mark. I didn't want to make you uncomfortable."

"Hey don't be... Well, I'm heading back, Taeyong must've prepared our food."

TBC
Look who's here after eight months :)
Had been going through the author's block welp.

How have you all been?

Also, the book might contain triggering topics so this is your cue to leave if you're uncomfy. So yeah that's for today. Hopefully, I'll be updating this along with the rest.

Plus I haven't proofread it so there might be grammatical mistakes