Chapter 2
Departure

MC awoke with a start, sitting up abruptly with her heart beating wildly. What had happened? Why was she on her couch and where had this blanket come from? Her head started to hurt trying to process her surroundings when a voice caused her to jump.

"Oh! You're finally awake!"

MC whipped her head around to see the same blonde haired boy from before and she froze in place. He took a step back cautiously before speaking again.

"Uh, hello. Glad to see you're okay now," he said, eyes darting downwards nervously. "You fainted earlier so I, uh, put you on the couch. I thought it would be better than leaving you down on the floor..."

MC stared at him as he avoided eye contact. Glancing downward, she realized the blanket covering her was the one from her bedroom and her cheeks flushed.

"You went in my room?" She said with a bit of embarrassment.

"Ah! Well, you see, you looked cold and I couldn't just leave you like that. So I got you a blanket. I mean, I already don't know what's going on and I'm apparently intruding in your home. I didn't think I could make it much worse." He said with a nervous smile. She felt her heartstrings tug but had to snap herself out of it. Now was not the time to be falling for this stranger's trap. Whatever that may be, however, she wasn't exactly sure.

"Who are you?" MC asked. She stood up from the couch and stared at him suspiciously.

"I told you my name is Yoosung Kim. I don't get why you won't believe me." He said, reaffirming his earlier statements.

"That's impossible. Yoosung isn't even a real person! Why are you dressed up like a video game character inside my house? Were you the one that made my phone explode?" She said, pointing towards her busted phone on the floor. Or, at least where it should be. Her eyes widened in surprise when she noticed it had disappeared. "Wh-where'd it go?"

"I put it on the table over by the window." said the Yoosung impostor waving his hands, trying to calm down the frantic girl in front of him. He swallowed thickly, hoping he hadn't made her more angry with him. He was still so confused and needed to ask her some questions. If she wasn't calm there was no way he'd ever be able to get any answers from her about where he was, or why everything looked... so different. Was there something wrong with his eyes?

MC looked over and sure enough her broken phone rested safely on top of the small table by the window. Of course, it was still shattered to pieces so she didn't know why she cared so much. Probably because all of the photos of her crush were on that phone. Would they even be salvageable at this point? She looked back to the 'Yoosung' impostor in front of her.

"Why do you keep calling yourself Yoosung? How do you know about him? Did you hack into my phone?" She asked again, feeling brave. She didn't know where this sudden courage was coming from. The adrenaline from earlier still seemed to be pumping through her.

"No, I don't know anything about hacking how could I do something like that? Maybe Seven but not me..." he trailed off before clearing his throat. "But I was serious, that's my name. How would I not know about myself? What's that even supposed to mean? I don't know what else I can say to make you believe me!" He insisted. After a moment his eyes lit up, hands diving for his pocket.

"What are you doing?" MC asked, taking a step back. Her courage from earlier had flown right out the window. She expected him to pull out some kind of weapon but was relieved to see a wallet slip from his pocket. After fumbling through the slots the man pulled out a card, jutting his hand out towards her. MC looked down at his hand suspiciously before slowly moving forward. She snatched the card from his hand before jumping back away again, wanting to maintain a safer distance.

"See? Right there. That's my student I.D. It has my name and everything on it. Do you believe me now?" He asked hopefully. MC looked at the card in her hand and her eyes widened. It really did look just like Yoosung's student I.D. She looked back up at him in surprise before looking back down. The only difference was the picture. His face no longer looked like a creation of pen and paper but of an actual photo, perfectly matching the face of the man in front of her.

"But, how... how are you here?" She started, her face scrunched up in confusion. This didn't make any sense.

"I don't know, one minute I'm playing LOLOL and I go to turn on my messaging app and now I'm here. It feels like I just flew a mile right into that wall over there." He said gesturing behind him. "Now I don't know where I am and I think my heads messed up because everything looks so weird. Everything's so saturated and... bumpy." MC saw him stare at his hand, clenching and unclenching.

Her eyes drifted back to his student I.D. and noticed a small piece of paper poking out from behind it. A picture of two people looked up at her, a smiling brunette boy and a golden blonde haired woman. It was almost a picture perfect replica of the photo in the game. Yoosung and Rika in the flesh. It looked so genuine.

"You... you really are him aren't you?" MC said, her face filling with wonder. She looked positively in awe. This was really happening. She didn't care if she was dreaming. If she was, she hoped to never wake up again.

Yoosung smiled in relief. His shoulders slumped as he threw his head back.

"Aaaah, finally I've convinced you!" He said happily before looking back at her. "But, why do you sound like you know me? Have we met before? You kept saying something about a game? My head hurts."

MC froze in place, her mind going blank. What was she supposed to do in a situation like this? She was having a hard time coming to terms with her situation as it was. Did she really have to explain to a character that he was from a video game? Though, she didn't think she could really call him a character anymore. A sudden urge overwhelmed her and she found herself stepping forward.

"H-hey now, what are you doing?" Yoosung asked worriedly, frozen to the spot. There wasn't much he could do with the wall behind him as the girl came walking forward. She raised her hand and he felt his stomach clench. He had a sudden thought that she was going to slap him. With no other options he snapped his eyes closed and waited for the pain to come.

Instead of pain, however, he felt a soft hand cup his cheek tenderly. His eyes opened in surprise. As he looked down at the girl who so openly touched his face he felt his cheeks heat up. Her smile confused him and he felt very embarrassed all of a sudden.

She couldn't resist any longer and flung her arms around him, hugging him tightly with a laugh.

"Oh my god, you're really real! Really really real! I can't believe it!" She cried in happiness, squeezing the daylights out of him. He had no idea how to react to this. This woman had almost killed him with her brush earlier and now she seemed like she had never been so happy to see someone in her entire life. Maybe he had hit his head harder than he thought.

"Um, okay. I... well." He couldn't seem to articulate a complete sentence with this girl's arms wrapped around him. What was he supposed to do? He had never had a girl who wasn't a family member do this to him. Much less a girl he didn't even know.

MC seemed to gain composure over herself and abruptly let go, backing away with a mortified look on her face. Yoosung stood stock-still on the spot. He was very unsure of what to do.

"Oh my goodness I'm so sorry! I don't know what came over me I just, you don't understand, I never thought something like this would happen to me! You're really real, you're actually standing there in front of me and I just, I couldn't help it" she stuttered out in embarrassment.

"You must be so confused right now. I don't even know what to say to help. This is so complicated.." She trailed off, biting her lip and looking to the floor thoughtfully. After coming down from his emotional shock at her sudden embrace, Yoosung blurted the first thing that came to mind.

"Well, first maybe tell me where I am? Where are we? I know we're in your home, I don't know how though, but still." He said. His eyes locked on her's, desperate for answers. He looked like he really would believe anything she told him right at that moment. She had to stifle a laugh.

"Were in Franklin city." She said simply.

"Franklin.. city? I've never heard of that at all what part of South Korea are we in?" He asked. A quizzical look pulled at his features.

"We're not in South Korea, Yoosung."

"What? Then where on Earth are we?"

MC had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing. She knew it probably wasn't very nice when the poor sweet boy was about to have a heart attack but she couldn't help it. He looked so adorable.

"We're in North America. The U.S.A." she explained. The look of bewilderment on his face was too much and she burst put laughing.

"Wait what's so funny? You can't be serious! How could I be all the way over in America, I don't even have a passport!" He said, panicking slightly. "I can't even speak English!"

"But you're speaking it right now!" She laughed.

Yoosung had to stop for a moment to process what she had said. Realization dawned on his face and his mouth slacked open.

"You're right! I've been speaking English this whole time, and, you've been speaking English and I can understand you!" said Yoosung, pointing at her wildly. MC couldn't help but nod and giggle. Before she could explain further however a knock at the door quieted her laughter. It felt as if she had been drenched in ice water.

Before Yoosung could say a word he found his mouth covered by MC's hand. Muffled noises of protest poured from beneath her hand. She looked at him seriously, a sense of worry on her face.

"Shhh! You have to stay quiet." She warned in a hushed tone. "Go, go into my room and hide in the closet. No one can know you're here. Go, go, go. I'll explain after."

His brows knitted together in confusion before he agreed uneasily. MC felt a small sense of relief that he was still as trusting as ever. She didn't think any of the other boys would go along with this so easily. After another knock, slightly louder than before, sounded from her door she pushed Yoosung in the direction of her bedroom and went to answer the second unexpected intrusion of the night. When she was sure the coast was clear she opened the door to reveal a short portly man with a scruffy face looking at her in disapproval.

"There was a noise complaint at the front desk. Do you have any idea what time it is? What in blazes are you doing up here that you couldn't answer my phone calls?" He said in a harsh, angry whisper. The apartment's landlord didn't look at all pleased.

"Oh uh, actually I don't know what time it is, I'm sorry. And as for my phone well, it... broke." She replied gently so as not to anger him further. It didn't seem to work.

"Excuses! Then if your phone's broken why was I hearing voices coming from behind your doorway? You better not have anyone in there with you, you know this is supposed to be a one person room." He said sternly. She could feel her stomach drop a few feet.

"Nope, no, no ones here. Just the uh, T.V. I turned it off because I was about to go to bed. Work in the morning and all that." She said, laughing nervously. Her landlord eyed her suspiciously before waving it off.

"Whatever. Well, you better not have another complaint anytime soon or I swear there will have to be some consequences." He warned, waggling a finger at her. MC gave a half-hearted smile in return.

"Don't you worry Mr. Jameson I promise I'll try to keep the noise down." She promised "No more annoyances from me."

"Good. Now if you'll excuse me, some of us are trying to work. Don't make me have to come up here again." He said before turning around and walking off down the hall. MC let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding and closed the door. A small thump sounded as her forehead came to rest against the wood of the door. Every inch of her skin prickled with anxiety as she tried to calm her nerves.

After giving herself a moment to breathe she headed to the back of the apartment towards her bedroom. She opened the door slowly, looking around the room.

"Yoosung, are you in here? You can come out now he's gone." She whispered loud enough for him to hear. A moment passed before the closet door slid open to reveal a slightly disheveled blonde hiding inside.

"Who was that?" He asked as he stepped out, dusting his shirt with his hands.

"That was my landlord. I'm not supposed to have other people living here so I couldn't let him see you." She admitted.

"He sounded mean. I could hear him all the way back here." Said Yoosung. He looked a bit taken aback "What would have happened if he'd have seen me?"

"I probably would've been kicked out." she shrugged.

Yoosung looked dumbstruck.

"Just because someone was at your place late at night?" He asked incredulously.

"Yeah, I live close to a college around here so they get pretty strict with the living conditions." She admitted. "It's the only thing I could afford though." A small silence filled the room giving her a sense of unease.

"So, you probably have a lot more questions for me I bet?" said MC, changing the subject. It seemed to be the perfect thing to say as Yoosung grasped onto it immediately.

"Oh yes!" He said excitedly before MC shushed him. Right, he thought, the noise.

"Yes, sorry, I do. But, isn't it getting late? I feel a bit... odd... being here so late. We barely know each other and well, I'm a guy." He looked embarrassed as his gaze shifted to the side. "I shouldn't be here this late, I shouldn't even be here at all. But I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I don't know where to go." He looked very conflicted with himself.

"Well I mean, I don't really mind. You can stay here for the night and I could explain everything tomorrow if you'd like." She suggested, also averting her gaze. Her cheeks darkened at the thought and she really hoped he wouldn't notice.

"St-stay the night?" He faltered. "I really shouldn't. It wouldn't be right." The look of embarrassment was plain on his face.

"I don't really know what else to do though." MC admitted. "I know things are probably super weird for you right now and being alone with a girl you barely even know probably isn't making anything any better. But this is really the least I can do. Especially after I almost attacked you earlier."

"I can't really blame you, I would've been scared too. Actually, I am scared. But I feel exhausted from everything that's happened. Maybe you're right." said Yoosung. He looked uneasily over at the bed. "B-but I should really sleep on the couch."

"Oh no, yeah of course!" She said, waving her arm dismissively. "But, wouldn't you prefer the bed? I could take the couch. Even under the weird circumstances you're still my guest." Her face flushed as she imagined him sleeping in her bed. She wouldn't lie, it wasn't entirely generosity that had her offering up her room.

"There's no way I could do that to a lady." He insisted, cheeks tinged a light pink. "Plus it's... A little embarrassing. Really, it's fine."

It seemed there would be no other way. MC bit her lip in thought before conceding.

"Okay, but let me get you a pillow at least. You can use the blanket I left on the couch. If you need anything, anything at all, you can feel free to wake me up. I wouldn't mind."

A small smile crept onto Yoosung's face.

"Thank you, that's very kind of you." He said as MC handed him one of her better pillows. Their fingers brushed gently as he took hold of her offering and MC felt her insides churn. She yanked her hand back in surprise. A questioning look crossed Yoosung's face.

"Oh it's really no problem." She said quickly. She mentally berated herself for letting her emotions loose. Things may be confusing at the moment but that didn't change the fact that the object of her affection was really truly alive. And to think he'd be staying the night in her house! It was definitely hard for her to try and act normal. She didn't want to scare the guy.

"No I'm really serious, why would I lie about something like this?"

"Come on Yoosung, you really can't expect me to believe a story like that. Are you sure playing all those games hasn't messed with your head?"

"No Zen, really I mean it! I'm in some city called Franklin over in America and I have no idea how I got here! Could you please contact Seven? I can't get a hold of him."

"Fine, I can try but I don't think he'll believe me. Even I don't believe it."

"It doesn't matter I just need to talk to him;;"

"Alright, alright. Chill out."

"Oh, I have to go Zen. I think I heard the girl moving around in her room."

"Yeah, sure you did Yoosung. Alright I'll talk to you later."

Yoosung sat up on the couch, his phone clutched in one hand as he pulled the blanket off with the other. He had just spent the last hour it felt like messaging his friend and trying to explain what had happened to him. Of course, he didn't believe him. Though why would he? Yoosung may be naive but even he wouldn't be able to take a story like his own seriously.

He figured it was worth one more shot and pressed the chat room button. His phone buzzed in protest and stayed on the same main screen. He let out an agitated whine and flopped back down onto his back. That feature of the app hadn't been working for him since the fiasco from last night. It was a wonder he could still message people privately. He really needed to talk to Seven to get this bug fixed asap. As usual, unfortunately, he was impossible to get a hold of.

The sound of a door closing caught his attention and he looked to see the girl from the night before walking sleepily into the living room. His presence seemed to surprise her and she let out a squeak, her eyes growing wide.

"Uh, good morning!" said Yoosung, looking back at her upside down as he laid on the couch. He quickly sat up and turned to face her. She rubbed her eyes before taking another long hard look at him.

"So it wasn't a dream..." She mumbled to herself.

"What was that?" He asked.

"Oh nothing. So uh, how'd you sleep?" Said MC, changing the subject.

"Fine. Well, as fine as I could have anyway." He admitted. A yawn escaped him and he stretched before standing up.

"Would you like some breakfast?" She asked as she headed towards the kitchen. He gave her a surprised look. "Just, before we get back into all of... this mess."

He thought about it for a moment but his stomach ultimately decided for him. A loud growl gurgled from his midsection causing MC to giggle.

"Uh, yes please." He laughed.

The meal was spent in an almost uncomfortable silence. Neither party quite knew how to broach the subject they both were trying so hard to wrap their heads around. Eventually, it was Yoosung who spoke up first.

"So, um, actually you know, I never did ask for your name." Said Yoosung, looking up from his plate to the girl across from him.

"My name's MC. Sorry about that, I didn't really think about properly introducing myself before. I was a little... caught up in other things." She replied. Yoosung nodded his head in agreement.

"Though, I have to ask, why didn't you believe me when I tried to tell you mine? You mentioned something about... me not being real. I think." He said, twiddling his fork around in his hand.

"Well, that's actually really complicated. I don't really think you're going to believe me when I tell you." She said.

"After what's already happened I don't think anything would surprise me now." He laughed.

"Well, see, the thing is... you're kinda... sorta... wellimprettysureyoureavideogamecharacterthatcameoutofmyphone." She said quickly. Her eyes flickered up to Yoosung's who looked positively confused.

"Uh, come again?" He asked with a laugh. "I didn't quite catch that."

"Sorry, sorry." She said and took a deep breath. There really was no way around this. "So, you know how my phone was completely destroyed and looked like something had exploded out of it?" Yoosung nodded, waiting to hear the rest. He didn't see how this had anything to do with him though.

"Well you see, I'm pretty sure that something was, well... you." Said MC, looking up at him through her hair nervously, waiting to gauge his reaction.

"You're saying I came out of your phone?" He asked skeptically. MC nodded seriously. Yoosung stared at her for a moment before breaking out into a fit of laughter. MC looked surprised. This wasn't the reaction she had expected at all. It took almost a full minute before Yoosung managed to calm down. He cleared his throat.

"No, okay, really what did you say?" He asked again. This was going to be harder than she thought.

"I'm serious!" She insisted

"There's no way something like that happened! There's got to be a different explanation!"

"Look, as far as I know from what I've been able to piece together, you came out of my phone from a mobile game called Mystic Messenger. I know it sounds stupid and insane but is anything in this situation anything but?" She said seriously. Yoosung went quiet. His face crunched up in thought and he frowned.

"Here, look, I can show you proof. Let me get my... oh right, my phone's broken." MC sighed with a deadpan look across her face. "Here, come with me."

The bright light of her laptop screen lit up their faces as she clicked her way onto the Google search engine. She had warned him on their way back to her room to be prepared for anything he might see. He didn't seem entirely convinced yet of her story but was willing to see what she wanted to show him. Even if her idea sounded absolutely ludicrous.

After a few quick clicks of the keyboard he read out what she typed: 'Mystic Messenger'. She gave him a quick glance before uncertainly pressing the enter key. Hundreds of links flashed onto the page along with dozens and dozens of pictures. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Those were pictures of him and his friends! What were they doing all over the internet? Some of them didn't even look like photos at all however. They looked almost as if someone had drawn them. Did someone really draw pictures of him and his friends?

MC clicked the search bar again and typed in a different query. Yoosung read his own name on the screen and gripped the hem of his shirt tightly. Before he knew it results were appearing all over the page with his name plastered over every single one of them. Concept designs, Wikipedia links, fan art, all things with his face and name squashed into the result stared him back in the face. His eyes widened and he couldn't stop himself from grabbing the mouse from MC. He clicked one of the links of a blog talking about a massive bug report involving him.

"A severe bug has come to the attention of many users of the game 'Mystic Messenger' late last night. It seems that, without the knowledge of Cheritz, one of the characters seems to have all but disappeared from the game. Yoosung Kim, available in the casual story of the game, seems to be no longer playable. All of his texts and calls have been reduced to nothing but gibberish and static noise. Many users are upset and have been mailing Cheritz about this bug. However, Cheritz has yet to respond or make any comments on our recent epidemic."

Yoosung stared at the screen, reading the text over and over again. He could see a photo of himself looking back at him from the article. Another photo showed him grayed out among his friends. It looked almost like it was a screenshot off of someone's phone. Or maybe, that's exactly what it was.

"Yoosung, are you alright?" Asked MC, realizing that he had begun shivering beside her. Tears had started to roll down his face as he read the article again, eyes darting to every picture of himself he could see. MC started to worry and reached out a hand to touch his arm. He shrunk away from the contact, muttering something to himself before taking a shaky breath.

"Yoosung?"

"I need to leave"

"Wait, what?"

He didn't respond a second time, tears continuing to stream down his anguished face. He looked as if a single touch would cause him to shatter into a thousand tiny pieces.

"Yoo-" MC started but it was too late. He was already out of the room, bolting towards the exit.

"YOOSUNG! Where are you going? Wait! It's dangerous out there!" She yelled, running after him. He wouldn't listen.

"Yoosung, please!" She pleaded, standing in front of the main door to her apartment. "Don't leave."

"MC, please move." Said Yoosung, choking back tears.

"But, where will you go? You don't know where anything is. You'll get lost, or hurt or-" she rambled on, pressing herself closer to the door.

"What does it matter? I don't... I don't belong here. I'm not even a real person so why would you... why would you care? I can't stay here. I need to leave. Please." The look in his eyes made her heart split in two. She couldn't do a thing to help this poor man. What had she done?

Before she could reply she felt herself being moved gently away from the door. She couldn't will herself to put up a fight. This was all her fault. The last thing she heard was a soft muttering of apologies before the soft click of a closing door.

He was gone.