Alternate Universe Timeline #2: 2022

RAVN jerks awake, his eyes snapping open. He finds himself sitting behind the wheel of a car. His personal black SUV. He gasps, drawing in air. There's no trace of sand, his throat isn't even itchy. It's almost like the sand tornado earthquake event never occurred. He can see his hands on the wheel of the car, the red bracelet looped around his wrist still.

"Youngjo! Ya, hyung, are you okay?"

RAVN slowly turns his head to the right and finds Seoho sitting in the passenger seat, concern etched on his face.

"I'm fine. I guess I'm hallucinating or something..."

"Well, you did doze off for a few minutes. You said to me 'Hey, Seoho-ya, let's go home, because it looks like it's about to storm.' You took off to the car, got in and just passed out on the wheel," Seoho says. "I was trying to wake you up, but you wouldn't stir. You just kept murmuring, 'I won't lose you again.'"

RAVN stares at him. "I...I don't know...shall we just go ahead and get home?"

Seoho turns and settles into the seat, his seatbelt taut over his chest. "I'm starving. What do you think for dinner?"

RAVN chuckles, finding the car key jammed in place and ready to go. He gives it a nice firm twist to the north and the engine cranks to life. "I don't know...what do you want?"

Seoho gawks at him. "You never ask me, because I always say 'I don't know' or name something that you don't want."

RAVN places his foot on the brake and shifts the car into drive. "Well, this is a different case."

"You're acting like it's my birthday or this is my last day alive," Seoho chuckles.

RAVN gulps, but moves his foot to the gas pedal and begins to drive them away from the beach.

"But, if you insist, how about Galbi?"

RAVN nods. "Galbi works." He pulls onto the main road, leading back into Incheon and then into the heart of Seoul.

RAVN feels his heart beginning to race in his chest. And his vision suddenly clouds over. He hears a scream, a screech of tires and then the thunderous sound of a collision. No! He shakes his head and clears his vision. Once more, he sees cars flying by him as they keep on the road that leads into where the dorm is.

RAVN chances a glance away from the road and his surroundings to check on his precious passenger. Seoho is on his phone, rapidly typing away into one of the famous k-pop apps known as Weverse.

His eyes snap back to the road, when there's a screech of tires and then a blur in his left peripherals. Then he feels the wheel jerk and the car coming out of his control. RAVN screams, Seoho screams.

There's a rather gentle nudge and then the car they're in skids off the road and nosedives into a sharp embankment. RAVN is thrust forward against the wheel, but manages to stay conscious.

Seoho screams and there's the foreboding sound of shattered glass.

Then all is silent and still.

After a few seconds, the sound of shouting and sirens floods RAVN's ears. He cranes his neck to see Seoho's lifeless body, half penetrating from the windshield. Blood is everywhere, cakes along the edges of the jagged glass of what is left from the windshield.

RAVN moans and, shakingly, unhooks his seatbelt. Then he crawls from the wrecked car and, exhaustedly, slumps on the ground.

People are running towards him, the car...

He can hear someone shouting. A male. "One's alive, minor injuries. The other...?"

Another, a female, shouts back, "Dead. Killed on impact."

RAVN's eyes water. How can this be? He saw this happening too? How could he not stop it?

Someone aids RAVN to his feet. He can see Seoho's limp, bloody body being stretchered and rushed to an awaiting ambulance. Another is sitting and waiting for him. The back opened up. He is sat down on the back bumper and his wounds are tended to.

His injuries should be way worse than just a nasty gash on his forehead, a few cuts and scrapes and soreness to his muscles.

Unlike Seoho...

Three days later,

RAVN is still feeling sore from the car crash. But his wounds have healed to simple bruises, red marks and minor-looking cuts. He stands before a mirror, looking at his reflection. "You!" he growls at himself. "You killed Seoho-ssi. You killed your friend, your bandmate. YOU DID!"

He lunges out and punches the mirror, shattering the glass on impact. His knuckles hurt, but not as much as his heart and his mind do.

RAVN staggers backward. It's like a switch flips inside of him. He glares at the shattered mirror and then slowly drags his eyes around him, taking in his dorm room. On a desk to the side, a simple dark purple phone sits screen down with a rose pattern etched into the back of it. RAVN cocks his head to one side.

"Come at me," RAVN chuckles and walks over to the device. He places his hand on the phone and instantly time freezes all around him.

He swivels his head around. "What the-?"

The phone vibrates under his hand and as soon as it does, the images of his dorm room dissipate from sight.

Then he is flung backward, finding himself sailing through a swirling optical illusion. The speed is enough to knock the wind out of him and he finds his vision darkening to black once again.

Then the numbness settles in, paralyzing his body.