"It's a long story, Bubbles."

Saying that felt like an understatement. It wasn't only a long story, but one I didn't know whether Esther would believe. Esther might have looked the same to many people, but I could see the toll my disappearance took on her. She had lost weight, looked bone tired and a lot more emotional than what was normal. I hated that my twin had gone through so much because of me. Esther was the stronger one of the two of us; she was the one who comforted me, not the other way around.

"You know, we scoured the rainforest for weeks looking for you but there was no trace of you. Not your backpack, any of your clothes torn or scattered... not even any footprints that matched your shoes. It was some Harry Potter Platform 9¾ disappearing shit that you pulled, Squish. One minute you were standing at the top of the stairs, and then... Poof!

"I had no idea what to tell everyone. I mean, who would believe me if I said you vanished into thin air in front of me? I had to lie. I said that you fell off the stairs and that I couldn't find you after that." Esther took a breath from her long rant, tears once again staining her cheeks. "The phone call telling Mum and Dad that I had been the one to lose you was the hardest one I've ever had to make. Even though no one blamed me for your disappearance, it didn't change the fact that if it hadn't been for me inviting you, you would never have gone missing in the first place."

My heart broke watching my twin break down into inconsolable tears. I had thought of her every day that I was away, but it seemed that she was holding onto guilt that wasn't hers. It was no one's fault that I had gone through the portal—especially since we had no idea they even existed in the first place. I reached across and grabbed one of the sandwiches; not because I was hungry but so that I would have something to do with my hands.

"Wait, how did you get here?" I began to tell her about Ray and how he'd offered me a lift, but Esther cut me off. "No, I don't mean at my house, I'm talking about how you got here to Australia. Your passport was still in the locked safe in our hotel room, and your luggage was there, too. And because I am your Power of Attorney, I was able to find out that there had been no replacement passports issued in your name."

"This is gonna sound like I'm nuts, Bubbles, but please listen and keep your mind open, okay?" I requested while placing the mangled sandwich back on the plate. I grabbed hold of Esther's hand, took a deep breath and sent out a silent prayer. I hoped that she could be receptive to hearing the truth.

As I told my sister about the fact that the staircase in the Costa Rican jungle was actually a portal that transported me to a parallel universe, the disbelief on Esther's face slowly began to transform the more I spoke. I told her about how I found I was in Daegu when I came down the stairs, and that a fortune teller had told me about the fact it was another universe. I was worried that it would make me seem crazy as I spoke about the other universe. Esther, though, never looked at me like I was losing my mind.

"Wow, it sounds so much like Lerina Garcia Gordo's story," she said as I finished. I had told her the truth about my journey. Instead of telling her the details about Seed Bearers and my being assigned to one, I said that I had been taken into a kind person's home, where they looked after me very well.

"Who? I've never heard of her."

"I was watching something on YouTube of her a few days ago actually. She's a woman who claims that she had woke up one morning in an alternate universe." Esther began tapping on her phone at a frantic pace before she handed me the device. On the screen was an article about the woman she was talking about. Lerina's experience, while different to my own, was quite similar in some ways. While there was no talk about staircases or portals, her story was similar to mine, yet it sounded like she'd been to a different universe. What was also different to our stories was the fact that she had been doing nothing out of the ordinary when she claimed that she'd been transported into another universe.

I wondered if the universe sent Esther the video, maybe as a way for her to understand what I went through. The logical part of my brain reminded me that my sister, a freethinker, could be classified as a 'conspiracy theorist' in some ways. Where my brain was more creative and could visualise and manipulate abstract ideas to create pieces of edible art, my twin saw things deeper than the surface level to where she was able to see the world for what it was. Esther often said that she was able to see through the 'lens of bullshit' and look at the bigger picture.

"I get what she said about how the other world changed in subtle but definite ways." Lerina's description of the new world reminded me a lot of how Jimin's universe was different to mine. "If it wasn't for the fact that there were no motor vehicles—cars, planes, buses or anything that needed an engine to run—I'm not sure how long it would have taken me to figure out that the place I was in wasn't the same Korea we have here. 

"Instead of being called North and South Korea, though, it was known as the Greater Kingdom of Korea. The Korean War had never happened, so the countries were united as one. And, instead of McDonald's being the fast food joint, it's Samsung's!" Esther's jaw dropped when she heard that fact. Seeing as the food chain has over 40,000 restaurants around the world, the majority of people living in our universe knew of the place. "I was taken to one and the food is surprisingly good. Much better than Macca's, too. That's not even the craziest thing, though. I bet you'll never guess who the President is..."

"I hope it's Kim Namjoon," she replied without a second guess. I shook my head and told her to try again. "Umm, judging by the look on your face, I'm thinking it is someone that we know here. So who would be a person I'd never expect to be President? Is it G-Dragon?"

Esther started prattling off names, although she never guessed the correct one. "The President of the Great Kingdom of Korea is Psy." Esther's jaw dropped the same way mine had when I heard that fact. With each point of difference between the two universes, her face turned from a sceptical one to that of a full-blown believer. It felt so good being with my sister again, even if I had been talking about my trip the entirety of the two hours since I got here.

"So, what about the people there, Squish? You said you were taken into a nice family's home but what were the others like? Did you recognise anyone? Do they have idols and K-pop over there?" I knew she had caught my flushed cheeks. She immediately started to probe me, trying to get the answers to the many questions that flowed from her mouth.

I needed a moment of peace to gather my thoughts, so I grabbed one of the now slightly stale sandwich triangles and shoved it into my sister's mouth. I giggled as her lips formed an indignant pout around the food, which only made her huff more.

I took the moment of silence as she chewed on the food to pull together a plan in my mind of what I wanted to say, and what I would keep to myself... for now. I knew that I had to be careful. Even though I felt that my sister believed me, what I was about to say could make her decide to throw me into the loony bin.

"So, there is one big difference between the Great Kingdom Korea and our South Korea. For you to understand it, I need to tell you the backstory and history, okay?" Esther looked confused, and if I was in her place I knew I would be, too. She grabbed hold of her cold mug of coffee, which had been made about an hour ago, and slumped further into the couch to get more comfortable. "I apologise sorry if I don't get this quite right—I have to translate what I read about this in Korean and the stories that were told to me. It might come out a bit funny in English but I'll try my best to get it right." I could see my sister bite her lips as she tried to hold in the question about how I was able to understand the written and spoken Korean language.

"You know how many Asian countries had a royal family or an Emperor who ruled throughout history? Well, the Greater Kingdom of Korea was different seeing as they did not have only one family who ruled the land. Each province had different families that were in charge. The common connection between them was that royal blood ran through their veins.

"About 250 years ago, a virus was bioengineered. I don't know how they were able to do it because the records sort of stop and start. The people who created the virus released it in a manner that everyone in the country was infected. It seemed that there was a two-pronged objective. Some historians claim that because of what the virus did, one or more of the royal families were the ones who commissioned it.

"The details were often very difficult to understand. The gist of it, though, is that all men who did not come from royal families were rendered sterile. Only those who had royal blood flowing through their veins were the ones who could procreate. They were known as Seed Bearers. The virus also changed the hair colours of any babies produced by the royals, which made it easier to identify the males who were able to reproduce."

"Oh my fucking god," Esther whispered from beneath her hand that was covering her mouth in utter disbelief. "That is taking birth control to a whole new, and very disturbing, level."

"Yep. But it gets worse." I didn't have to see the look on my sister's face to know she was wondering how exactly this could get any worse than it already was. Huffs and grumbles of anger came from her side of the sofa as I told her that only Seed Bearer infants were kept by their parents while girls and the sterile males were given to the 'common folk' to raise. After I outlined the general purpose of the Allocation Ceremony, I looked at my sister. Esther's face was flushed, her hands were clenched, and her nostrils flared with each breath she took. Where I ran from my issues, my twin was a fighter. She was angry and ready to fight someone.

"That's fucking gross! What kind of sick and twisted society is this? I hope you cracked the shits over this!" Esther was seething as she placed her mug down so hard I was surprised it didn't shatter into a million pieces upon impact. She paced around the room, lost in her thoughts. My blood ran cold as she turned to me. In a voice that was too calm for all the anger her body was displaying, she said, "Please tell me you stayed far, far away from this crock of shit."

I looked away. I was unable to bear seeing the disgust, horror or judgement on Esther's face when my silence told her that I had been one of the women who had been assigned. "I hope you ran away before that sick prick did anything to you, Squish. I'll do my block and punch the shit out of him if he did."

I shook my head and tears streamed down my face. I couldn't handle her vilifying the man I loved like that. Jimin was so kind, loving and caring; if he did anything to hurt me in any way, I knew he would never forgive himself.

"I love him." My whispered words were so quiet that Esther didn't hear me. When she came and sat down beside me, she asked me to repeat what I had said. I told her with more confidence than I had ever felt before that I was head over heels in love with the man I'd been assigned to.

"Why? He's a sick prick. I bet is only concerned with getting a root!"

Shaking my head, I assured her that he wasn't. "He's the sweetest man I've ever met, Bubbles. And in fact, he was the one who asked me if we could hold off from having sex until he knew that I didn't see him for the colour of his hair."

My sister scoffed again but with a little less bite to her bark. "If he's so wonderful, why couldn't he come here with you then? Didn't want to give up the lifestyle he had back there?"

I was sick and tired of hearing her badmouth Jimin, even though she had no idea it was even him that I'd been assigned to. It had been a long and emotional day. My sister being like this was making me second-guess my decision to even come back here.

"He couldn't come because he is already in this universe and people would freak out if they saw two of him here." I slapped my hand over my mouth, in shock that my mouth had let that slip so easily. I hoped that Esther wouldn't pick up on the poorly hidden connotation of him being a well-known figure.

"Elenor Bennett, how do you know he is here?" Esther never full-named me unless I was keeping things from her or unless she was furious with me; it seemed like today it was for both of those reasons.

I grabbed her phone off the table and unlocked it; I was thankful that she had not changed the password. I jumped onto Google, typed in my Seed Bearer's name and scrolled until I found a photo of him with his signature blonde hair. I locked the screen and threw the phone into her lap as I stood from the couch. "That's why. Now, I'm going for a shower."

From where I stood in the doorway of the single bedroom, I heard her gasp and yell out, "Park-fucking-Jimin is the man you spent all these months with?!"

୧‿︵‿๑︵‿୨💜୧‿︵‿୨💜୧‿︵๑‿︵‿୨

I spent far longer in the shower than I ever had. Between the incredible water pressure, the hot water and the comforting smells of my favourite shampoo, conditioner and body wash, I was like a wrinkled puddle of goo when I stepped out. Once again, I was thankful that my sister hadn't gotten rid of any of the things I left at her place. My eyes welled at the feeling of wearing my own clothes that I'd left here. It was another reminder that I was back in my old life and away from the version of Park Jimin that I had fallen in love with.

I walked out of the bedroom and over to the balcony off the kitchen that overlooked Esther's small backyard. I leaned against the wooden railing and looked up at the moon and stars. Were they the same ones that I could see in the other universe? Or were they part of another galaxy that looked a lot like this one? If it was the same moon, I wondered whether my Jiminie would be looking at it, too. If the time zones in his universe were the same as they were here, the moon would have been creeping up from the horizon. It was 9pm here, so if he was in the same time zone as Korea, it would be 8pm for him.

"You miss him, don't you?" Esther murmured as she came to stand beside me. Water welled in my eyes. As a tear streamed down my cheek, signalling the release of the floodgates, I turned and sobbed into her shoulder. It was a different level of comfort being consoled in my sister's arms compared to Jimin's. Where he would hold me tight and whisper loving things into my ears to let me know that I was safe and it was going to be okay, Esther's hand ran over my hair the way I always liked. While the man I loved and my sister were both symbols of home to me, I didn't feel a stronger pull towards one than the other. I was so confused.

'How am I meant to choose which universe is home for me?'

A knock on the front door had me spinning in fright like a spooked animal. Esther giggled. She said it was the pizza that she'd ordered since we could both do with some comfort food. My mouth salivated upon smelling the greasy goodness that was our favourite Hawaiian pizza. She had even ordered it with mushrooms, chilli flakes and extra pineapple.

I swear that the first slice disappeared without a trace. One second, I was admiring the beauty that was the pizza in my hand, and the next moment there was only a slight trace of grease on my fingers. Only the lingering heat that made my tongue and lips tingle was proof that I had eaten it. I may have gone to an exclusive culinary school, but I still craved a good piece of fast food now and then.

"Can I ask why you left him if you love him so much?" Esther asked after our third slice each. I could see that she had wanted to say something earlier but didn't want to overwhelm me again, which I appreciated.

"So, you know how I told you that the female assigned to a Seed Bearer was there to have that man's baby?" Esther nodded mid-bite, the grease on her lips glistening in the light from her movement. "Well, what I didn't tell you was there were consequences if she wasn't able to have a baby."

I mimed with my hand the cutthroat gesture. "Shit, that's fucked in the arse," she whispered, and I watched as her eyes bulged when she realised. "But you can't..."

"I know."

"Did he know? I mean, did you tell him?"

I laughed as I remembered how Jimin took finding out not only that I wasn't from his universe, but that I could never provide him with a child. I told Esther about those two days. Each had started as the days where I thought I was going to die but had become ones where my relationship with Jimin had blossomed. I also told her about how we had decided to find a surrogate as a workaround for my fertility issues. Esther saw the issue of the baby's race right away. She was gobsmacked to learn that I only had 25 days in this universe to figure out what my heart wanted. I could see the masked sadness that flitted across her eyes when she realised that I might not stay here.

"So, what are you going to do, Squish?"

"I don't know," I sighed, leaning back on the arm of the couch. My belly was full and happy, but my heart and mind were full of longing and uncertainty. As I stared into space and ran my fingers through my hair to rid any knots, I voiced my thoughts. "All I know is that is Future Nell's problem to sort out. I thought I would visit our GP and see if there's anything she can suggest. But first, I need to go to my home, and then I want to see the family. I have been missing Nana Betty's hugs, so we have to go see her. I have to make sure to keep quiet on the whole 'being in a relationship with another universe's Park Jimin' or she might try and come with me if I return to him."

I heard silence in the room and when I looked over at Esther, it was to find her silently crying. "Nell, Nana Betty died while you were away."

"When?" was all I could ask. My heart broke hearing that the last grandparent I had—my favourite one at that—had passed away and I hadn't been here to say goodbye. I knew it was a possibility since her breast cancer had turned terminal with the way it had spread throughout her body. However, a big part of me hoped that she would still be here to greet me with open arms as if I'd just seen her yesterday.

"S-she had a stroke in her sleep about a fortnight after you went missing. It's why I had to stop searching for you and return home. Our family was lost and devastated. You'd disappeared and Nana Betty was gone."

Now I understood why Esther felt such incredible guilt over my disappearance. Not only had she been the one to take me to Costa Rica and the jungle where the stairs were, but she wasn't here to say goodbye to our grandmother for the both of us. As I scooted over to her side of the couch and embraced her in my arms while she cried, I remembered the dream that I had—the one that felt different to all the others.

"I think... I think she came to see me in my dreams," I whispered, still not able to believe it completely. It was the only thing that made sense, though. "To say goodbye, I mean. I thought it was a dream memory of the day she and I were talking while we baked. It was the day after I found out about Daniel Flynn cheating on me. But now... Thinking about it, it was different. As she was about to go, Nana Betty told me to do what makes me happiest and that everything will work itself out. I thought she meant my teenage love life. But, now I think she meant Jimin because she said it with the most radiant smile I'd ever seen on her face."

"Sounds just like Nana Betty. I bet she was lingering in the hope she'd see her beloved Jimin. She wouldn't care if he was from a different universe," Esther said with a giggle as she rushed into the other room.

I grew a little confused as to why she hopped off and ran to the kitchen. She returned shortly after with a bottle of single malt whiskey and two shot glasses. Taking the glass that she had poured until it almost overflowed, I turned to Esther. "Here's to Nana Betty. May she rest in peace with Grandpa Jack." Clinking my glass with my twin's, I downed the shot and grimaced since I wasn't used to liquors that weren't soju anymore.

One shot turned into many more. Soon, I found myself tipsy and laughing, reminiscing with Esther about times we'd spent with Nana Betty. "Crap," I said in a volume that was way too loud, startling both myself and my sister. "What happened to the cat?"

Esther giggled as she scrolled through her phone. When she found what she was looking for, the device was thrust into my face so close that I couldn't make out anything. I grabbed it from her as she poured more drinks. My eyes widened as I took in the series of photos in an Instagram account that my brother had made for Baron Richard Flufflebum. It turned out that he and Christof had adopted Nana Betty's beloved pet. I was shocked to see the feline acting so loving and not devil-like in the pictures and reels. My jaw dropped watching the video where my brother-in-law stated that Richard, as they called him now, wasn't a fan of females and that living in a household with only males had brought out the cat's soft and loving nature.

"Wow, I don't know whether to feel happy for the little guy or betrayed," I joked as I exchanged the phone for my shot glass.

"I know! I think Nana Betty was the only sheila Richard could love, but he sure is a cat-hoe for the blokes." Esther yawned, reminding both of us how late it had gotten. "You can either crash on the couch or share the bed with me. Tomorrow we will go to Mum and Dad's so we can get some of your things before I take you to crash at Aiden's."

I nodded, not really paying attention until the last thing she said caught my attention. "What? Why is my stuff at Mum and Dad's? Why isn't it in my house?"

"Squish, you were gone for four months. Your lease expired during that time and your landlord wouldn't renew because you weren't there. We couldn't throw anything away. Dad shifted some things in the big shed around so we could fit everything in there." So much had changed here that it felt like my life in this universe wasn't my life anymore. "It's going to be okay, Squish. You're home. Safe and back where you belong."

'Yeah, I might be back where I came from, but where do I belong really?'