꧁When Minho woke up with a pounding headache, the last person he expected to see in the foreign, crisp white room was Kim Seungmin, sitting in an armchair by his bed.

The younger boy offered a surprisingly bright smile, yet it made Minho feel rather uncomfortable. It didn't help that he definitely wasn't in the clothes he'd put on previously -his lilac hoodie was nowhere to be found, only a grey t-shirt that clung to his body too tightly, obviously not his size. He just hoped the boy didn't see anything he wasn't supposed to, anything he could bring up later.

When he moved, it stung, and he lifted his arm, noticing bruises and cuts, already taken care of. One of them seemed to have bled through the bandage, staining the white sheets crimson. A wet towel, probably used to soak his forehead, was on the bedside table.

"It was about damn time."

Minho looked up at Seungmin, and all he could do was blink, confused by the statement. "Time for what?" He tilted his head. "For me to wake up? How long was I out?"

"Yeah, that too." The boy replied vaguely. He then checked his wristwatch and narrowed his eyes, mouthing something to himself, as though calculating. "Two days."

"Two days?!"

"Well, forty eight hours and twenty minutes, but I didn't know you wanted to be that exact."

Minho frowned and turned his head, gazing through the window. The sky was rosy pink, pale clouds revealing the sun which could only be seen at the horizon. It was dawn.

"But the last thing I remember..." Minho paused. He didn't have to tell Seungmin what exactly he was doing, lurking around the burned down home of his dead crush. He didn't need to make himself seem even creepier. "I was walking down the street and... it was late at night. It couldn't have been forty eight hours."

Seungmin simply raised his eyebrows. "No, you came through at 5 a.m."

"Came through?" Minho repeated. "Through what? What the hell happened?"

He stared at the younger boy, whose smile remained intact. Minho couldn't help but hiss at the pain in his skull as Seungmin's warm eyes stared right back at his, as calculating as always.

"Now, why don't you tell me what exactly you were doing in the Lee's old house?"

"I went to—" Minho stopped himself. "How did you know where I was? Are you spying on me or something? Please, don't turn into another one of those stalker ex-boyfriends. I thought you and I cleared things up ages ago."

Seungmin shook his head. "I found you there. And no, I'm not a stalker. I don't really care about anything that revolves around you, to be honest." His expression never faltered. "But you were gone for quite a while, and to see you back... I must say I was surprised when I saw you lying on the concrete."

"What do you mean? You literally saw me on Monday, in math."

"Right." The younger boy only nodded, lips pursed and eyes locked with Minho's still. It was only after Minho averted his gaze, not feeling too comfortable, that Seungmin stood up and started walking around the pale room. Minho took the chance to examine his surroundings.

What seemed like a hospital room was actually nothing of sorts. It was just blindingly white, the sheets, the tiles, the walls, the shelves, hell, even the picture frames which held photographs of Seungmin with his family. There was one of him and Jisung, though Minho didn't remember the two ever being particularly close, and one of Seungmin and Minho.

"When was this?" He grabbed the photo from the bedside table and took a closer look. Judging by the way his hair looked, all ashy with purple tones, it had been taken a few years prior. Still, it didn't help him remember taking the picture in the first place.

"Oh, summer camp, junior year." Seungmin chuckled. "Two weeks before you broke up with me. Hyunjin took the photo. He's amazing at this stuff, isn't he?"

Hwang Hyunjin? Summer camp?

Minho never went to summer camp. He spent that summer with his mum and Chan back in Gimpo. He never took the picture.

He groaned. "Ah, my brain hurts."

Seungmin sighed and walked over to the door, opening it. "Where are the damn painkillers? He should be back by now."

The irritation in his voice startled Minho, who could only stare as Seungmin closed the door again and returned to sit down by the bed.

There was this unexplainable uneasiness, like something clutched his airway and wouldn't let go. It wasn't exactly suffocating, more like the knowledge of his breathing space being limited to minimum. It made him weak, disabled, and most of all, vulnerable. He hated it.

"Seungmin?" Minho muttered. "What happened to me?"

He watched as Seungmin leaned back in his chair, skinny arms crossed over his chest. He never averted his gaze from Minho's as he spoke, loud and clear.

"You went through. It was only a matter of time, but you did, as I expected. And now you're kind of stuck."

"S-stuck where?" he stuttered, clutching his chest, as though it would somehow untangle his air pipes and provide them with air. "What's going on, Seungmin?"

"Tell me, what's the last thing you remember? And don't lie this time."

Minho shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut. "I don't know! I was there and then... I heard a voice. It-"

"Whose voice?"

"It was her voice, Seungmin. Clearer than ever. It was like she was actually there, calling me." He sighed. "And then I saw a light, and she was standing there and..."

"And you went through?"

"What?" He frowned.

"The light, I mean." Seungmin nodded, eyes still on Minho's. "You went through the light?"

Minho felt dizzy. Staring into the younger's eyes, he absentmindedly nodded. "I went through the light."

He broke out of it when Seungmin stood up and started pacing again. It took him a moment of blinking for his surroundings to look clear again, instead of the blur they had been moments before.

The sound of the door opening made him look up, and he spotted a boy as he walked in. His beige turtleneck clung onto his slim body, making traces of muscles noticeable through the fabric. His sharp features softened into a smile and he placed a glass of water and a pill on the bedside table, before sitting on the other side of Minho's bed and rubbing his back. Minho ignored the unexpected physical contact from a complete stranger —since the boy's hand was nowhere near the massive scar on his shoulder blade — and grabbed the glass without a word, his dry throat thankful for feeling refreshed by the water again. He carefully clutched the pill in his hand, making sure the two boys didn't see him.

"It was a portal to our dimension."

Minho was glad he'd already lowered his half- empty glass away from his lips, otherwise, he would have choked. And the confusion was back again. His voice wasn't over a whisper as he let out a small, empty laugh. "What?"

Seungmin didn't laugh, though. He stared out the window and nodded slowly. "You heard Dahye's voice, coming from here. It was never around you, back at home. It came from here. From our side."

"What are you talking about?" Minho glared at the younger. "Are you out of your mind? You're totally out of your mind. Where's my phone?" The boy beside him held out the device and Minho grabbed it without a word, unlocking it and dialing Chan's number. "I don't need you to play nurse with me, I'm out of here."

He put the phone to his ear, waiting to hear Bang Chan's warm voice and laugh with him about two delusional boys who thought it would be funny to drug him and make him believe some crazy shit. But the voice on the other line wasn't Chan's.

"The number dialed does not exist. Please, try to dial again."

Minho blinked and did as the operator said, dialing once more, then two more times, then once again. He ignored Seungmin's laughter as he typed in Jisung's number next, only to receive the same message. He had no more luck calling Changbin. He glared at Seungmin.

"What is this supposed to mean?"

"That number of yours is absolutely useless here, the contacts too. You'll need a new one." Seungmin cocked his head. "Oh, come on! Don't tell me you never read Sci-Fi, because I know you used to. You know, the parallel universe stuff. A passage to another world where things are all upside down and strange? Does it not ring a bell? None of your friends' numbers are valid here, your phone can't call another universe, dumbass."

Minho said nothing.

The strange light he'd seen that night was no hallucination. It was not the effect of alcohol or anything of sorts. But was it actually a door to another world?

Minho simply glared down at his fidgety hands. He could breathe again, the strange burden weighting down his chest was gone, as though it had never been there in the first place, and his headache had dulled down. However, Seungmin's statement took it to a whole other level of perplexity.

Parallel universe?

Did things like that actually exist? How was he supposed to believe something like that? The only reassurance he had was that it came from Seungmin and, no matter their history together, he kind of still trusted the boy. If it had been anyone else telling him this, he would have probably freaked out. For example, if the nameless boy who sat beside him, still trying to comfort him by running his gentle fingers through his hair and rubbing his back, somehow succeeding in never touching the ugly scar, told him something like this, Minho would call him crazy. Seungmin, on the other hand, had his trust, despite their differences.

"So... you're telling me that I'm in an alternate universe?" Seungmin simply nodded and Minho frowned. "But so many things don't make sense now. Is there... another me here?"

"Trust me, if you look past the whole unknown-supernatural-appearance thing and try to understand what's going on, it will all make sense. It's a fact."

"You should let him relax," Minho heard the boy beside him mumble, his voice sweet. "He's been through a lot."

Seungmin ignored the statement and still held eye contact with Minho, expression blank, eyes narrowing ever so slightly.

"Relax," the word rolled off the younger boy's tongue in such a delicate way that Minho closed his eyes right away, his eyelids heavy, as though he hadn't been lying unconscious only minutes ago. The boy beside him started massaging him, pressing his cold thumbs against the hot skin connecting his neck to his shoulders and Minho sighed. "Does it help?"

"Mhm," he simply mumbled and leaned further back, helping the boy reach him easier. He could hear Seungmin's slow, relaxed breathing, and the distant chirping of birds, those who were still around. The ticking of a clock somewhere in the room made the atmosphere even more hypnotising.

Minho almost felt like drifting off, until he felt something warm drip onto the back of his hand.

"I told you so many times, Jeongin, you never listen." Seungmin's tone was still surprisingly calm as Minho's eyes fluttered open and he saw a drop of blood on his skin. Looking up, he faced the boy who was wiping his bloody nose with the back of his sleeve.

"My bad," the boy —Jeongin, Minho established —whispered sheepishly, grabbing the damp towel from the bedside table and wiping the crimson liquid off the older's skin. "I-I wasn't careful enough, I'm so sorry."

"The pill is in his hand, take it," Seungmin said quietly, and Minho frowned.

Jeongin's hand was still clutching onto Minho's. His dark eyes met the older's, silently asking for permission to take his medicine, and Minho nodded, for suddenly, he didn't need it anymore. His pain was gone.

He also handed him the water he had kept for himself and grimaced when the boy drank it— the blood dripped down his lips and the inside of the glass, turning orange when it blended with the few final water drops at the bottom. Minho sighed —the boy had spent his precious time comforting him, and the least he could do was help out a bit. So he grabbed the towel and made Jeongin cover his nose and lean forward.

"You alright?" He raised his eyebrows and the boy blinked sheepishly, before finally nodding, cheeks burning.

Minho heard Seungmin chuckle and looked up. The boy was, indeed, smirking —a sight Minho rarely got to see. He silently questioned the younger's behaviour, only to receive a dismissive wave in response.

"You're being unusually sweet, we're both just surprised."

"And that's funny?" Minho deadpanned, his words sounding more like a statement than a question. Seungmin just nodded. "You're one crazy bunch."

He was about to lie down again, when the sound of the doorknob turning echoed through the room again, and in walked two people whom he recognised straight away.

The one who walked in first, the short, yet buff boy, had his usual leather jacket on and when his eyes met Minho's, Minho smiled, but he frowned. "Hello."

"Binnie," Minho breathed out, almost in relief, ready to rush into his friend's arms, something he did almost never with Changbin. He stopped, however, once he saw the puzzled look on the boy's face.

"Sorry, do I know you?"

Minho's grin dropped slowly, his shoulders slouching. This wasn't his Changbin. This Changbin had no idea who he was.

He glanced at Seungmin, who only had an I-told-you look in his eyes. Minho sighed. "You don't."

"Oh my gosh!"

Minho flinched at the sudden shout, noticing the other boy who walked in. His eyes widened. "Yongbok?"

But he looked nothing like Lee Yongbok he knew.

First of all, the boy he knew for years didn't smile so brightly. At least, not since his sister died. His smiles had been small and tight, as though tears would start rolling down his face any moment. This Yongbok's smile didn't only reach his eyes, but it seemed to reach his heart, his soul, every fibre of his being. This Yongbok was happier.

The leather jacket he always sported was nowhere in sight. There was no black jeans or gelled back hair. The light blue jeans he wore were ripped at the knees and thighs, revealing his tanned skin. His bright pink sweater was a bit too big on him, the only contrast being the even brighter letters on it ('On Wednesdays we wear pink') and a collar of a baby blue shirt peaking out at the top. Minho could never imagine Felix sporting rainbow hair, yet amongst mysterious lights, voices of the dead and parallel universes, everything was possible.

"Hyung!" He grinned as bright as the sun, and stepped closer, wrapping his arms around Minho, who froze. "I can't believe you're here."

Minho had spent all these years he'd known Felix avoiding his bone-crushing hugs the best he could. For all he remembered, he'd never received a single one, thankfully. But as the young boy pulled away, his eyeliner, peach coloured eyeshadow and tinted lips now on full display, Minho saw that this wasn't the boy he knew.

"Easy there, he just woke up," Jeongin mumbled from beside them, finally putting the bloody towel back down.

Felix gasped suddenly. "Shit!" He backed off. "Shit, shit shit, shit. You're not supposed to be here."

Minho smiled softly. "And you're pretty damn slow at putting the pieces together."

"No, I mean... not now. Not when she's here." His gaze turned to Seungmin apologetically. "I didn't know—"

Minho saw Seungmin angry for the first time. He stood up, fists clenched as he glared at Changbin. "You told him nothing? I called you for a reason!"

"Since when are you not using honorifics with me?"

Seungmin ignored Changbin. "It doesn't matter. We have to do something. Lix, hurry and go take her somewhere."

Minho inhaled sharply. Her?

In a world where his best friend didn't recognise him, a random kid named Jeongin somehow did, could there be more differences? If he had been to summer camp with his boyfriend and got his pictures taken by the boy he disliked, if a sad little playboy wasn't so sad anymore, could something else be different?

He froze, jaw going slack as he stared at the boys around him. His voice was calm, surprising even himself. "The fire never happened, did it? She's alive?"

He needed no confirmation, for Felix was too late to go and do what he had been told. The one and only Lee Dahye walked right into the room, her smile dropping the moment her doe eyes met Minho's.

A/N:

*le gasp* oh my god they were roommates

lmfao sorry

but yes, i love this chapter so much hehe. dunno, there's just something about it. it does seem like a filler but there's too much foreshadowing and hidden info - obviously not so hidden anymore - and it holds too much importance to the plot and it makes me happy~

btw sorry i just had to add minmin divorced couple lmao it just felt right ya feel me

anyways, how did you like the chapter? any ideas or thoughts?? what do you think about the characters introduced so far?? seungmin? jeongin? others??

please let me know if you have any questions and take care of yourselves, love ya <3