Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Jisung, despite his vehement protests the year prior, was at university. 

Studying music, of course, because there was never any question of doing anything else. He’d been shocked to get in; his final exam grades were abysmal despite last ditch efforts to cram everything in, and he’d never taken any musical instrument exams. All he’d had was some messy demos he’d made on Chan’s laptop, hoping that his talent would be enough.

It was, somehow. Not only that, but Hyunjin was there with him, studying dance. That had come as a surprise to Jisung, but considering the amount of time they’d spent arguing before they’d got together, there was a lot of catching up to do in terms of getting to know each other.

Seungmin had debated going too, but then decided to just drop out of full time education. There were still portals and glitches he occasionally needed to deal with, as gatekeeper of this world. He spent most of his time staring at his laptop screen in Minho’s shop - something was going on between them, but it was hard to say what .

Felix had also considered taking his exams early, since technically he was the right age to begin university, although he’d ended up in the year below at school due to some screw up when he transferred from Australia. But he decided to do his last year of high school to stay with Jeongin, who everyone was still worrying about. Jeongin had recovered well from the incident, but his mental health was still suffering. A side effect of being possessed and attacking your friends, would be Jisung’s guess.

Changbin was taking a year out, and Chan had graduated. The two of them were working on music together, and making plans to travel as well. 

So in the end, it was just Jisung and Hyunjin together. Left to their own devices, mildly venturing into adulthood. Or as Seungmin put it, being on a “disgustingly lovey-dovey honeymoon”. 

But in reality, they were taking things slow. Jisung had learned more about Hyunjin in the past few months than ever before, the two of them opening up to each other in the excessive amount of time they spent together. University was also a lot of work, which Jisung tried to focus on as well. Even if he didn’t study he usually scraped by, just by being a musically inclined person.

Even when hearing Seungmin’s complaints about glitches or details about Minho’s latest high tech project, the world of powers, shadows, and the multiverse seemed so far away from Jisung now. He didn’t struggle to control his power anymore, and he barely used it anyway.

His life felt vaguely normal. Good, even. And it hadn’t been that way in a long time.

-

“I’m scared of the dark,” Hyunjin confessed to him one evening. They’d been hanging out in Jisung’s dorm room, drinking cheap beer bought from the university store and attempting to study. Key word attempting. They’d spent most of the time making out.

“I mean, isn’t everyone?” Jisung murmured in response, carding his fingers through Hyunjin’s hair. He’d grown it out, which resulted in Jisung petting his head like a dog just because it felt so nice .

“No, I mean,” Hyunjin looked up at him from where his head rested in Jisung’s lap, “I can’t sleep. At all. I can’t even turn my light off, cause… No, it’s stupid, nevermind.”

“It’s not stupid.” Jisung replied, only just restraining himself from saying ‘I’m the stupid one, remember?’, somehow grasping that this was a serious conversation. “Do you know why you’re scared?”

Hyunjin nodded. “Remember what happened last year?”

“Oh. Oh, Hyunjin.” Jisung bit his lip. “I’m sorry…”

“It wasn’t your fault.” Hyunjin said, looking stern. “Don’t give me crap about fighting better. I can tell that’s what you’re thinking.”

Jisung rolled his eyes. Sometimes Hyunjin was like a mind reader. “Yeah, okay, fine. But I’m still sorry… It was kinda my fault you got involved in the first place.”

“If you hadn’t dragged me to the station we probably wouldn’t have even got together.” Hyunjin laughed. “Nothing like trauma to bond over.”

“Mm.” Jisung hummed. “Honestly, I haven’t really thought about it all since it happened. Once it was over, I was just so relieved. I just moved on, I guess. If I’d known it was still bothering you I would have done something about it sooner.”

“Well,” Hyunjin grinned, “What are you gonna do about it?”

“That’s your ‘give me kisses’ face. Uh, Hyunjin, this is not that sort of problem. If you can’t sleep at night, you need actual help. Not… me.”

“But I trust you.” Hyunjin leaned his head against Jisung’s chest, burrowing into his hoodie. It was adorable and Jisung couldn’t help but smile. “I feel safe with you.”

“Then…” Jisung felt his face heat up, “Okay, do not take this the wrong way, but do you want to try sleeping here tonight?”

Hyunjin’s head shot back up, a blush spreading across his cheeks. “Han Jisung!”

“I said not in that way!” Jisung protested. “Just… You know,” he cleared his throat, “If you feel safe with me, then…”

“Yeah. I’ll try it.” Hyunjin pursed his lips. “But… are you okay sleeping with the light on?”

“I’m fine! Chan’s not lying when he says I can fall asleep anywhere. And even if I don’t sleep, it’s just one night.”

“Okay.” Hyunjin smiled that beautiful smile and Jisung’s heart melted.

He took a final swig of beer, and stood up to get ready for bed. His legs wobbled a bit, but he was glad to know he hadn’t gone over his limit and got fully drunk. He didn’t want a repeat of fresher’s week, where he… well, he liked to pretend it had never happened. Somehow drunk Jisung was even worse than drunk Hyunjin.

It wasn’t weird to lie in bed with Hyunjin. The two of them had boundaries - they were taking things slow. And tonight was about Hyunjin actually getting some sleep that he desperately needed. That was the only thing Jisung cared about right now.

It didn’t take him long to fall asleep. Turns out he could sleep with the light on, and probably when staring directly at the sun. 

Also, he had a feeling that he could sleep anywhere if Hyunjin was beside him.

-

Jisung woke up to his phone ringing. Groaning, he rolled over and accepted the call.

“Hello?” 

“A portal’s opened up on your campus. It’s a strong one, so just stay in your dorm, okay?” Seungmin’s voice said over the phone.

“Okay,” Jisung murmured, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, “Hyunjin, did you-” He broke off, not seeing his boyfriend anywhere in the room. “Hyunjin?”

“Jisung,” Seungmin said again. “Someone’s just passed through the portal. I’ll call you back. Stay where you are.”

He blinked. His heart rate sped up.

Okay maybe it was a bit much to jump to conclusions, but Jisung’s head was only thinking of two things. Hyunjin wasn’t here, and someone had just passed through a portal.

He had to check. Just to be sure, he had to go down there and check. 

(Little did he know, Hyunjin was at the university store buying milk, because Jisung didn’t have any and he’d be damned if he ate raw cereal.)

Somehow, as he walked out of his dorm building, he knew where the portal was. It was like some kind of sixth sense within him, a gravitational pull. Perhaps that was how he’d found the other portal so easily the first time.

Past the performing arts building there was a small outdoor amphitheatre. Shimmering just above the steps was a door shaped hole. Jisung looked through, catching a glimpse of some sort of city. It looked grey and gloomy, there were rain clouds hanging from the sky menacingly. 

Danger, his mind whispered as he stared at it.

He wasn’t scared of danger itself. He was scared of Hyunjin getting hurt. If his boyfriend was in there right now, Jisung would do just about anything to get him out. Adrenaline was like an old friend at this point, and he welcomed it as it began coursing through him.

“Fuck it all.” He muttered. “I’m gonna find you, Hyunjin.”

He ran headfirst into the portal. He felt his surroundings change as he passed through, his reality morphing into a different universe. 

He stood in the grey city, in the middle of the road. There were no cars, it was eerily empty. He shivered as a cold droplet of rain hit his nose. 

It was almost… dystopian. Like what the end of the world might look like if everything wasn’t on fire. It definitely didn’t seem safe, which only made Jisung panic more about Hyunjin possibly being here. He didn’t know anything about this place, only that it was giving him incredibly bad vibes.

There was a strange whoosh of noise behind him. The portal began glitching, a kaleidoscope of colours. 

And then it disappeared completely.

“What the fuck-”

He was knocked flat on his ass. By what, he didn’t know until he looked up.

In front of him was Chan. He was surrounded by shadows, they twisted and flickered, and somehow Jisung knew that it was Them . 

“Fuck!” Jisung yelled as the shadows rushed towards him.

(Somewhere, in another universe, Seungmin was very angrily looking at another anomaly in the magnetic field of the earth. Somehow, it had Han Jisung written all over it.)

Chapter Text

“You’re possessed, Chan, snap out of it!” Jisung said desperately. 

“Possessed?” Chan laughed, a cold mirth in his eyes that didn’t suit him at all. “You think that the shadows could have control over me?”

Oh. Oh no. Not good, not good, very bad. This was not the Chan he knew, this was… an alternate reality because of course it was , he’d just jumped through a portal.

“Where’s Hyunjin?” He asked, because that was why he’d come here in the first place.

“Dead. You should be dead too. I killed both of you.”

Jisung ducked as a shadowy tendril reached out for him. It was really hard to think when he was in the middle of being attacked. But if Chan thought he had killed both of them, then that had to have been their alternate reality selves, right? Hyunjin had to be safe, Jisung’s Hyunjin, he couldn’t be dead. He wouldn’t be.

“I’m fucking immortal- son of a bitch!” He had tried to stop his thoughts spiralling by telling a joke, but then a shadow hit him right in the abdomen, and he was sent sprawling onto the ground. He got to his feet, electricity sparking across his skin. He didn’t want to fight Chan, but this wasn’t his Chan. This was another Chan, a clearly evil one. And it creeped him the hell out.

“Idiot.” Someone hissed behind him, grabbing his shoulder and pulling him into an alleyway. “Quickly, this way!”

“Huh?” Was all Jisung said in response as he was dragged along by a stranger. He ran, though, propelled by a strange feeling that it was someone he could trust.

“I’m not letting you die.” The stranger responded. “Now, come on, quickly.”

Jisung continued running, his mind racing. It would be a lie to say he didn’t know what was going on; it was almost a parallel of what happened a year ago, only somehow worse. But there were missing pieces to it, he didn’t know the full story. He had a feeling the stranger might be able to fill him in.

They ran down the streets of this strange city in silence, passing through dingy alleyways and desolate parks covered in litter. Everything seemed to lack life here.

Finally the stranger spoke, pointing to a metal door on a building. “In here.” He pushed it open, and Jisung went inside, where there was a dimly lit staircase surrounded by graffitied walls. The stranger followed, the door screeching shut behind him.

“You probably want to know what’s going on.” The stranger said, as he began descending the stairs.

“A little bit,” Jisung admitted, following behind, “But I’m not exactly new to this stuff. Sentient shadows are trying to destroy the universe. Something like that?”

“You’ve… dealt with this before?” The stranger asked. “And what do you mean by sentient?”

“They had a mind of their own. They possessed my friend. But… I think it’s different here.”

“I’ll just start from the beginning, then. What I know about it, anyway. I’m in contact with this world’s gatekeeper - do you know what that is?” Jisung nodded. “He noticed glitches appearing a few weeks ago. At first they were just that; glitches. He destroyed the source and they went away. But it got worse over time, descending into what’s happening now. We’ve got portals opening up all over the place, and plenty of people dropping out of them. We only discovered recently it’s because this Bang Chan guy is tearing up the fabric of the multiverse, using the power of those shadows. He’s killed everyone who got in his way, and anyone that’s fallen through until now… You’re the first one we’ve been able to save.”

“Oh.” Jisung could see heavy guilt on the man’s face, an unshakeable emotion that he knew all too well himself. But never to this extent. 

“We’re almost there.” The stranger said after a tense silence. “It’s a safe place where I’ve been hiding out with a few other people. If you have any questions there’ll be plenty of time to answer them in there.”

Jisung bit his lip. He wanted to ask about Hyunjin, if the stranger had seen him… but well, if he had then that would mean Jisung’s boyfriend was dead. And that wasn’t an answer he wanted to hear, he couldn’t.

“Maybe not right now.” He mumbled. “But, uh, what’s your name?”

“Kang Younghyun. And you?”

“Han Jisung.”

Younghyun looked at him suddenly. “That name’s on our list of deceased.”

“Yeah, I heard…” Jisung grimaced. “From Chan.”

“He spoke to you?”

“Well… I spoke first. It’s… a long story.”

“Like I said, we’ll have plenty of time to talk. The entrance is just over there.” Younghyun pointed at a door at the bottom of the stairwell.

Jisung watched as Younghyun performed a series of knocks on the door, clearly some sort of code hidden within the rhythms. The door opened.

“Brian, you arsehole!” A man emerged almost immediately, punching Younghyun on the shoulder.

“Don’t call me that!” Younghyun responded.

“Don’t run off without warning! Dude, you could’ve died. Bang Chan was on full rampage out there. I would’ve gone too but Sungjin locked all the doors ‘cause he said he wasn’t letting me break my leg again running after you.”

“I didn’t die. I actually saved someone.” He gestured to Jisung.

The new stranger’s eyes widened as he noticed. “No way.” He whispered, staring at Jisung. “I take it back, you’re amazing. How’d you pull it off?”

“Grabbed him and ran.” Younghyun replied. “He was doing alright by himself when I got there, instead of…”

“A body on the ground.” The atmosphere became more solemn.

“Yeah. There’s a reason for it, a whole story apparently, that we’re gonna need to sit down and hear.”

“I’ll get the others then. Living room?”

“Yeah.” Younghyun’s friend disappeared, and he turned to Jisung. “Sorry about him, he’s… Well, we spend a lot of time cooped up here. But anyway, come in. It’s not much but it does the job.”

Jisung ventured inside, taking in his surroundings with a mixture of awe and pity. It was underground, so the air had a slight musty dampness to it, and the only light source was artificial, from the lights on the ceiling. The walls were fairly bare, and the ground had exposed floorboards, haphazardly covered up by tattered rugs.

Right now they stood in a hallway, with several doors branching off into different rooms. Although it was gloomy, and full of dust, the place somehow felt very lived in.

“Through here.” Younghyun showed him to a door at the end of the hallway, leading into a living room of sorts. There were two couches and a coffee table, which was covered in paper - mainly typed out documents, but also some grainy photos that looked like they’d been taken from security camera footage. It was like… evidence, of some sort.

They sat down and didn’t wait for long. The man from before returned with three others, who looked at Jisung with equal bewilderment and interest.

“Well,” One of them said, “Let’s get introductions out of the way first.”

Everyone looked at him, so Jisung began to speak. “My name’s Han Jisung. Younghyun saved me from the shadows and took me here. I have a power that lets me manipulate electricity.” Jisung said with a small bow, feeling very… watched.

The first guy whistled. “That’s pretty neat. I’m Jae, I’m the guy who makes things. Like guns and stuff.”

“My name’s Dowoon. I can control gravity.” He demonstrated by floating about an inch in the air, and then lowering himself down again.

“My name is Wonpil, I’m the gatekeeper for this world.” Maybe it was the whole gatekeeper thing, but Jisung found that he looked a little bit similar to Seungmin.

“And I’m Sungjin.” The last one spoke, his dark eyes gleaming in the light like tiny galaxies. “My power is creating holographic shields, and I’ve been appointed leader of this… operation, for some reason. The operation in question being fighting against Bang Chan. Unfortunately, saving you is probably our first success. Most people who get close to him… don’t make it out alive.” 

“You mean…” Jisung’s head was spinning, not just from the onslaught of names he was meant to remember, but from the reality of the situation finally setting in. “He really has killed people…”

“You seem familiar with him.” Jae raised an eyebrow. “Care to share?”

“Well. I’m from an alternate universe, you know? And back there…” He felt tears prick at his eyes. “Back there, he’s my best friend.”

“Oh. Oh christ. Someone get the kid some tissues.”

-

“It closed. It closed?” Seungmin felt like tearing his hair out. “Of its own accord… I swear to god, Han Jisung… You had better not have…”

“Hyunjin texted me saying ‘went to get milk, now Jisung’s missing?’.” Minho said plainly. “Is it safe to assume the worst here?”

“Seungmin, had he just woken up when you called him?” Chan asked.

“I dunno, probably.” Seungmin still stared at the screen as if the anomaly would appear again if he stared hard enough.

“That’s when his brain is in like, hyper anxiety mode. If you told him a portal had opened up nearby…”

“But why would he go through it? Without even calling Hyunjin first?”

“Hyper anxiety mode.” Chan supplied, his face looking grave. “He wasn’t thinking straight.”

“We need to find him. Is there a way to reopen the portal?” Changbin asked.

“No!” Seungmin cried. “There is a way, but it’s extremely fucking dangerous.”

“We don’t know where he is right now, he could be in any universe, he could be in danger, so riddle me this: is forcing open a portal more dangerous than what he could be stuck in right now?”

Seungmin shook his head. “But we don’t know where he is. You don’t understand the risks involved here… We can’t rush into anything, I need to observe the data and see if I can track where the portal was coming from. He could be in danger, but we can’t do anything hasty to save him until we know where he is.”

Changbin nodded reluctantly. “Fine. But I won’t wait for too long.”

“Hopefully you won’t have to. Minho, do you have any coffee? I’m gonna need to constantly monitor this until I get a better understanding of what happened.” 

Minho wordlessly disappeared into his kitchen, returning with a steaming cup of black coffee. He gave it to Seungmin with a sharp look. Seungmin returned the look with equal venom, rolling his eyes as he took a sip from the mug.

“Seungmin!” The door of the shop swung open, a frazzled Hyunjin running in. “Please tell me he’s safe.”

“I don’t know. The portal closed.” Seungmin said blandly, ready for the incoming slew of questions he’d just answered for the others a few minutes ago.

“Can’t you… reopen it?”

Seungmin sighed. “Not here. The connection between where he went to and our universe has disappeared completely. If we attempted to recreate it, it would be incredibly unstable.”

“So you’re just gonna give up?” Hyunjin’s face twisted into anger, it looked unbecoming on him. It was like an echo of the stuck-up boy he had once been before he let anyone see beneath the surface of that facade.

“No! What I’m saying is we need to be patient. If we wait, another portal may open up. A natural one that isn’t forced by us. And there’s also the possibility of Jisung finding his way back of his own accord.”

Hyunjin did not look reassured. He grit his teeth, walking into the backroom. The door slammed shut behind him with a loud bang.

Seungmin stared after him, biting his lip. “I don’t think he… or any of you, in fact, understand how lucky we were to get out alive last time. The multiverse and the connections within such an intricate system are dangerous things to mess with.”

“Then we’ll be careful.” Chan said, putting a hand on Seungmin’s shoulder. “Let us know when you find anything out, okay?”

Seungmin nodded in response, squinting at his screen for anything, any sign of where Jisung could be. But the energy remained constant, this world had not started pulling Jisung back yet. A portal wouldn’t open until it did.

They wouldn’t find Jisung until it did. Never before had Seungmin wished so hard for the very problem he was meant to prevent.

-

Hyunjin didn’t exactly know how he’d ended back at the abandoned train station. It had been calling to him again, just like the first time. But this time there wasn’t a bad feeling accompanying the pull, there was just… a need to be here. He’d been trying to clear his head back at the shop, but found he couldn’t just stay still doing nothing. His mind was rushing with ideas and theories, thinking how can I save him, and somehow he ended up here.

Maybe because this was the last place where his boyfriend had jumped through a portal.

It was empty now. No creepy wind blowing, no remnants of the battle that took place here. No train or portal. Just an abandoned train station, with a rotting platform.

The tunnel that the train had passed through was dark, full of twisting shadows. Hyunjin couldn’t look at it without remembering. The feeling of being consumed by the darkness, the foreignness of it invading his body, cocooning itself around his mind. It was here where it had happened, this was the source of his nightmares and yet he stood here once more.

Jisung was gone, possibly in another universe . The person Hyunjin had truly felt safest with.

The portal at the university may have closed, but that didn’t mean game over. Not to Hyunjin. He would search every universe until he found his boyfriend, he would do anything to find him. Jisung had risked his life last year to save Hyunjin. It was time that he did the same.

He reached behind his back, pulling a pistol out of the waistband of his jeans. He’d swiped it from Minho’s back room earlier. It had been a year since he’d held one of these, but it no longer felt alien. It felt at home in his hand, a way to protect himself without relying on supernatural power or anyone else.

“Sorry, Seungmin…” He mumbled as he reached out with one hand towards the edge of the platform where the air shimmered slightly. Traces of the portal were still there, and if he interacted with it… it might open again. He could still feel the presence of it, the tug in his gut that felt dangerous but exhilarating. 

The air began rippling slightly around his hand. It was almost parting like a curtain, making way for him. He felt an edge, a handhold of some sort, and grabbed onto it. And with all his strength, pulled it apart.

Rip.

A misshapen tear had appeared in the air. Through it he saw the purple field that haunted his dreams, the start of everything.

It was still there. It was still there, and that meant he could find Jisung.

Chapter Text

It took a while for Jisung to recover from what could only really be described as a mental breakdown. In front of people who were basically strangers to him.

“Sorry…” He mumbled as he wiped the last of his tears away. “I’m okay now. I think.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Wonpil said softly. “This can’t be easy for you at all.”

“No,” Jisung laughed wetly, “But, you know, I always cope by avoiding my emotions and pretending they’re not there. So! I’m going to swiftly change the subject and tell you guys about what happened to me a year ago.”

He got some concerned looks, but no one interrupted as he began to talk. He started pretty much from the beginning, not feeling inclined to leave out details. These people needed as much info as possible if they were up against the same foe.

“What have you guys done so far? To stop him…” Jisung asked once he was finished. “Are you the only people fighting?”

“Right now all we can focus on is rescuing people. And we’re not stupid enough to go looking for a fight with him just yet. But there are people who have fought him.” Jae said.

“The vigilantes.” Younghyun continued, nodding. “The government’s been silent for a while, and we’re a millisecond away from anarchy. A group of individuals decided to deal with the problem themselves.”

“Do you know who they are? These… vigilantes?”

“We know two names. One of them was the alternate you. The other was called Hwang Hyunjin. Both are dead now, that’s the only reason we found their identities.”

Jisung swallowed. Being reminded of his boyfriend’s death in an alternate universe didn’t do favours for the mess of anxiety writhing around inside him. 

“How many others are there?” Was it possible that all of them had fought against Chan?

“At a guess, I’d say three. But they keep their identities well hidden, and our camera footage is pretty unreliable. It’s hard to figure out their numbers for sure.”

“Are there… any identifying features? For any of them?”

“We know that at least one of them can teleport. But it might not be a power. From the little footage we have, we definitely saw two different people teleport. It could be technologically influenced.” Jae said.

The one and only... teleport-man, sang a voice in Jisung’s head.

“ You saw two people teleport.” Younghyun corrected. “I still think it’s too low quality to tell.”

“Anything we know about them is guesswork, really.” Sungjin said. “At one point it looked like their numbers doubled, but it was more like… each of them was suddenly cloned, or something. And the ‘clones’ kept flickering in and out of existence, they didn’t seem tangible. It was like…”

Invisibility would not be nearly as useful, added the voice.

“An illusion.” Jisung breathed. “Okay. I think I might know who two of them are. Lee Felix and Kim Seungmin. Who respectively can teleport and create illusions. It’s got to be them, if Hyunjin and I were working alongside them.”

“More of your friends?” Wonpil asked.

“Yeah. And Seungmin is my world’s gatekeeper. He’s gonna fucking kill me when I get back.”

“You seem intent on helping us here, and I’m not about to refuse it, we need all the help we can get.” Sungjin said. “But… do you actually have a plan for getting back to your world?”

“I… don’t know.” Jisung admitted. “To be honest, I came here on purpose. I,uh… I thought my boyfriend had gone through the portal so I panicked and went after him. But I haven’t seen him at all, and… you guys would’ve noticed if someone else had come through. Basically I’m an idiot. But I do want to help you whilst I’m here. I can’t just turn my back on this.”

“The first step forward then, would be getting in touch with your friends. The vigilantes.” Sungjin’s expression became one of thoughtfulness, of planning.

“Right. And how will we do that?” Jisung bit his lip.

“There’s certain things that’ll trigger an appearance from them, small-scale attacks. We just need to be in the right place at the right time, and maybe they’ll show up too. And then… maybe you can try talking to them. Even if you’re dead in this world, they would be familiar with you. They’d trust you.”

“And they’ll take kindly to their dead friend coming back to life?”

“Well…” Jae hummed. “It’ll shock ‘em enough that they might not attack straight away.”

“The plan could do with some tweaking as it is right now.” Sunjin said.

“But it’s not a bad start.” Wonpil responded. “I don’t think it’s kind to emotionally manipulate them, but through us contacting them they would have to talk to you at some point anyway.”

“What if they think he’s faking it though?” Dowoon asked. 

“Technically I would be.” Jisung muttered sourly. “Just because they’re parallels of my friends doesn’t mean they’re the same people. I doubt I was either.”

“Your face, at least, will be familiar to them.” Younghyun said. “Every time we’ve tried to talk to them they disappear. If your presence can stall them, for just a moment, then we have an opportunity to talk to them and ideally, we can eventually work with them. Because Sungjin is right, we need all the help we can get if we want to stand a chance against Bang Chan.”

-

As soon as he stepped through the portal, a wave of exhaustion hit him, and Hyunjin almost collapsed. His knees fell onto the purple grass, and a cloud of dirt rose up from where they’d landed. He took a moment to catch his breath, looking out at this different world.

The mirror still sat in the centre of the field, tranquil and undisturbed after all this time. Although he wasn’t certain time worked the same way here, everything felt slower, almost unmoving, like a snowglobe left to collect dust.

This wasn’t where Jisung was this time. Hyunjin didn’t need to scour every inch of the field to confirm it, he could just feel it. But this world, the mirror in the centre…

It still called to him, there was an energy that buzzed around it, just like the air at the edge of the platform from which he’d torn open a portal. Maybe it was something to do with the magnetic energy Seungmin talked about, the anomalies and fluctuations. Whatever it was in scientific terms, Hyunjin could feel it, and he was certain that such energy represented the pathway to another world.

He got to his feet, and began walking to the centre. The grass brushed against his legs, phantom touches that made shivers run down his spine. But he wasn’t afraid; at the edge of the field, the trees cast no unnatural shadows. 

This place no longer housed danger, but rather… a gateway. A world in-between.

Would the mirror act as a doorway to other worlds? Hyunjin stared at his own warped reflection, surrounded by deep blue skies. He could almost imagine himself… sinking through the glass.

He reached a hand out, and the closer it got, the more energy he could feel. It was buzzing around his fingertips, like a thousand electric shocks, the feeling of it exuding raw power. 

This felt like the right way to go to find Jisung.

He stepped towards the edge, and let himself fall. He didn’t hit the mirror, he went through it, falling and falling. The wind rushed past him, his heartbeat pounding in his ears, and he shut his eyes.

Take me to Jisung, He thought, Just take me to him. And don’t let me die when I finally stop falling.

Wind. Heartbeat. Thunder. 

He continued falling. And wondered if this had been a terrible idea after all.

His descent began to quicken, air pressure pushing against him, and gravity relentlessly pulling him down. There was an awful plunging feeling within his stomach, a mess of anxiety writhing around and making him feel sick.

He opened his eyes, and saw the grey skyscrapers of a city rushing up to meet him.

He fell past one, seeing his own reflection in the glass windows, time slowing down for just a moment. For just a moment, before he inevitably hit the ground.

He stopped falling faster than he anticipated. His body hit something, and the impact coursed through him, and he waited for a moment. His heartbeat was still going.

He was still alive. And currently held in someone’s arms. Someone who had caught him.

“How the fuck are you alive?” Minho whispered, his eyes blown wide.

“Because you caught me?” Hyunjin said. “And holy shit, thank you-”

“Nope.” Minho cut him off. “Try again. I saw you die a few weeks ago. And now you’re falling out of the sky? How on earth do you explain that?”

Hyunjin blinked, taking in a deep breath. “Probably with words?” He chuckled, because it was something Jisung would say.

Minho’s eyes narrowed, and he punched Hyunjin in the face.

-

After wrapping up their planning for the day, Younghyun had commented on the dark circles under Jisung’s eyes, saying that he looked exhausted. And he wasn’t exactly wrong, but Jisung honestly hadn’t even noticed until he mentioned it. Travelling through a portal must have taken a toll on his body; or maybe it was just the emotional exhaustion.

Younghyun showed him to a spare room, suggesting that he got some rest. Which was a brilliant idea if not for one slight problem.

Jisung had been lying in the bed for what felt like hours now. Tossing and turning, his mind consumed by worries and useless thoughts. Mainly about how stupid it had been for him to come here.

Insomnia was suddenly being a bitch, but he waited it out, hoping that his fatigue would eventually override it. He’d slept in far more ridiculous places just fine.

He didn’t remember falling asleep, but he did remember dreaming.

“So you think there’s a multiverse?” He murmured. He was lying on a rooftop, gazing up at an empty night sky.

“Yeah. And somewhere out there is a world better than here. We can find it.” Chan’s voice said beside him. “We can get away from here.”

“With the others too?”

“Of course.” Chan smiled warmly. “We’ll all go together. We’ll start over and have a new life… Maybe we’ll work on music together…” His face lit up as he talked of such a distant dream.

A bang echoed through the silence of the city, but Jisung didn’t flinch. He was used to the fighting here, used to living in hell. He found hope in Chan’s earnest theory, he was sure that he would do anything to escape from this life.

And he was pretty sure Chan would too.

Jisung awoke with a gasp. 

Shaking, he sat up, wiping tears off his cheeks that he hadn’t even known were there.

That hadn’t felt like a dream. It felt real.

Like a memory.

He breathed in slowly, trying to get his heart beat under control. Trying to calm himself down, and think about what he had seen.

“Wakey wakey!” The door burst open, Jae strolling in with an impressive bedhead. “There’s a new portal we’re gonna check out before it disappears.” He switched the light on, and paused when he saw Jisung’s face. “Hey… you alright? Homesick?”

Jisung sniffed, rubbing his eyes. “No. I’m… fine.” The light flickered. A betrayal of emotion revealing the lie. “I’m fine.” He repeated, and the light brightened, staying on. 

It didn’t go entirely unnoticed by Jae, who raised an eyebrow, before sighing. “Alright. Bathroom’s over there, just… be quick and then we’ll head out.” He walked out, making his exit much more quietly.

Jisung stood up, watching the bedsheets crumple to the concrete floor around his feet. He stepped over them, and entered the bathroom Jae had pointed out. The light turned on as soon as he stepped through the doorway, showing a modest toilet, sink, and shower crammed inside. The bare necessities. 

He showered in lukewarm water, eyes tracing the dirt-encrusted cracks in the tiles. The world began fading in and out of focus, and eventually he tore his eyes away, turning off the stream of water and stepping out. He could have spent an eternity in there, zoning out, but there wasn’t time for that.

When he was finally ready, he pushed open the door of his room, tentatively stepping out into the hallway. The light above him sputtered, as he tried to remember where the living room had been. He walked down a little bit, before trying a door on his left.

It swung open with a creak, and his eyes were greeted with the dusty couches. Sighing in relief, he sat down on one of them, not realising he had company.

“Sleep well?” Said a deep voice from above him.

Jisung let out a high pitched shriek, arms and legs flailing about in panic, causing him to topple over the arm of the couch and land ungracefully on the floor. He looked up.

Dowoon sat cross-legged on the ceiling, snickering at Jisung’s fright. Somehow his hair remained flat on his head, like gravity didn’t apply to it. Well, gravity didn’t apply to Dowoon as a whole, really. Jisung hadn’t forgotten persay, but he’d put it in the back of his mind before he’d been brutally reminded.

He got to his feet, brushing himself off. There was definitely a bruise on his leg. “Is that how you greet everyone in the morning?”

Dowoon shrugged. “Jae said he didn’t want to deal with babysitting duty, and well… I got bored waiting for you.”

“Babysitting duty?” Jisung spluttered. “I’m not a kid…”

“You’re younger than all of us. Makes a nice change for me, at least.”

“How’d you know how old I am?” He raised an eyebrow.

Dowoon floated off the ceiling, manoeuvring himself back down to the floor. “We have a whole file on you in this world, as one of the only vigilantes we know. That includes like, a birthday and stuff.”

“That’s not creepy at all.” Jisung muttered. 

Sungjin’s head poked through the door, and he nodded at them. “You’re ready, good. Let’s head out.”

They left the base the same way they’d entered, up the dark stairwell. As they climbed the steps, Jisung noticed that they all carried guns. They weren’t like pistols or rifles, they were wider, and looked like some kind of sci-fi laser shooting machine. It made sense, considering that none of them had any particularly offensive powers.

When they emerged into the street above, Wonpil held up a tablet-like screen. It looked similar to Seungmin’s laptop; there were pulsating waves moving across the screen, and a bunch of other stuff Jisung didn’t really understand. He assumed it served the same purpose of detecting portals.

“This way,” Wonpil turned left out onto a larger main street, “And… it seems to be above the ground, in the sky.”

They walked along for a little while longer, and Jisung had to take in how empty everything was. There was just the echoing sound of their own footsteps, not another soul in sight.

Until he saw a dark… wisp of something. Swirling blackness, taking on the shape of… an almost humanoid figure, but smaller. It looked like a bad imitation of a cartoon ghost, gliding around, with little arms hanging down. 

“What the hell is that?” Jisung mumbled.

“That,” Younghyun raised his gun, “Is a ghoul. They’re parts of the shadows that Chan split off. They’re not as powerful, but if they go unchecked for too long they can manifest into something stronger.”

“How do you get rid of them?”

“Just go with full force. We never know what exactly does them in, but we keep hitting until they disappear.”

The ghoul drifted towards them, claw-like hands raised up. It was fast, but not as fast as the shadows Jisung had faced before. He braced himself, hearing the clicking of guns into place. His hand held a fistful of lightning, just beneath the skin. All he had to do was let it out at the right moment-

There was a hiss behind him, and he was pulled onto the floor, hitting the concrete with a thwack. He scrambled to his feet to see another ghoul floating around him, making very disturbing noises. Even more disturbingly, it had teeth , which were bared at Jisung in a snarl.

Glancing around, he saw that more ghouls had appeared by the others as well, and gunshots were already ringing out as they fought them. (And he had totally been right about the guns, they were shooting blue lasers).

“Looks like I’m handling you on my own, then.” He said, feeling a shiver run down his spine. “Now, Gregory, your brother was a right piece of bullshit to deal with back home, so let’s make this quick, okay?”

The ghoul whined in response, and swooped down towards him. He reached an electrically charged hand out to grab it, and… huh. It was actually tangible.

“Fuck yeah,” He grinned, “Electrocution time, baby.”

He let his power consume it, sparks fizzing outwards like a mini firework. It had been so long since he’d fought with his power, and he almost, dare he say, missed it. It was an exhilarating feeling that was so easy to get high off, just letting loose with no limits. Younghyun had said to go with full force, so Jisung didn’t hold back.

As the ghoul dissipated, his head felt like it was splitting in two. He shut his eyes, feeling himself sway where he stood as the pain washed over him.

The world seemed to fade away for a moment.

“Shadows?” Jisung asked.

“They’re not normal…” Chan replied. “They’re different, somehow.” His face hardened in determination. “And I think they might be the key to getting out of here.”

“Jisung!” Younghyun was leaning over him, where he lay on the floor. The ghouls had all disappeared.

When had he collapsed? And what the hell had he just seen? Another… maybe-memory?

“I’m okay.” He mumbled, sitting up. “I… If I’m meant to be dead in this world, me being here alive must be fucking things up, right?”

“That’s one way of putting it.” Wonpil said, gazing out at something in the distance. Jisung followed his line of sight and saw it.

A glitch.

Jae shouldered his gun, his face grim. “Well, let’s go take care of it. Although… maybe you should rest for a bit, Jisung.”

Jisung could still hear the voices from the memory echoing in his head. “Yeah, maybe I should… You guys go ahead, though, I’ll be fine on my own.”

Sungjin pressed a small radio transceiver into his hand. “You can use this to call us if there’s trouble. We’ll be back in a bit, and hopefully we can still check out the portal if it’s still there.”

Jisung nodded, and watched the five of them walk off. He wasn’t too bothered being on his own; if he was being honest, he really needed a moment alone with his thoughts to figure out what was going on. 

Twice he had had these… visions of himself talking with Chan. Nothing he remembered ever happening in his life, but they were real, they had to be. And they seemed to fit in all too well with what he knew about this different world.

Was it possible that he was seeing the memories of the Jisung in this world? That version of him was dead, but… somehow his life was flashing before Jisung’s eyes.

“That’s gotta be a bad omen…” He muttered.

Distantly, he heard voices. Were the others back already? He stood up, to see what was going on, and froze when he saw four unfamiliar masked figures, holding weapons and dressed in all black.

“Hey, there’s someone over there!” One of them shouted. And his voice sounded suspiciously like Changbin.

Jisung didn’t know if he had been incredibly lucky suddenly or if this was eventually going to screw him over. People don’t take kindly to their dead friend coming back to life, afterall. But one thing was certain.

It looked like he didn't need to search for the vigilantes. They were going to find him .

“What the fuck…” Maybe-Seungmin said as the four of them drew closer, finally taking in Jisung’s face.

“Hi?” Jisung responded.

-

“Are you sure I’m dead?” Hyunjin panted, wiping the blood off his lips.

“I saw you get brained on the pavement. So yeah, I’m pretty sure.” Minho spat. “Were you falling out of a portal just then?”

“Yeah.” Hyunjin admitted.

Minho grit his teeth, making a low noise in his throat. “Fucking hell, whatever. Look, we can’t have this conversation out here. Follow me, I’ve got a place where we can talk.”

He led Hyunjin through the dark streets, full of lifeless shops with rats scurrying out of the entrances. They didn’t see a single other person along the way. This city was lifeless and apocalyptic. 

They climbed up a fire escape, and through a window into a… surprisingly decent apartment. It wasn’t lavishly decorated, but a small cat figurine on the coffee table was all Hyunjin needed to know it was Minho’s place.

“It’s nice.” He said uncertainly as they sat down on the couch.

“Yeah, I’m not doing small talk.” Minho replied. “You’re from another world, aren’t you? Don’t play fucking dumb with me.”

Hyunjin nodded. “I panicked when I first got here, sorry for not explaining properly… I mean, I had literally just fallen out of the sky, so can you blame me?”

Minho scowled, not at all responsive to Hyunjin’s attempt to lighten the atmosphere. “How did you get here?” He growled.

“There was a place where a portal had previously existed. A train station. I went there, sort of… on a whim. I could still feel the energy, so I… grabbed onto it and tore it open.”

He left out the purple field. He wasn’t entirely sure why.

Minho whistled, looking intrigued. “With your bare hands, huh? There’s gotta be some sort of repercussion for that.”

“I hope not.” Hyunjin grimaced. “I came here to look for Jisung, from my world. Do you have any clue where he is?”

Minho’s face tightened. “No. Haven’t seen him. In this world he’s dead too.”

“Oh.” Hyunjin bit his lip. “Maybe you can help me look for him…”

“That’s not a good idea. You being here isn’t a good idea.” Minho looked angry and conflicted about something. His eyes were darkened with some emotion beyond Hyunjin’s understanding. “Look, you should leave, okay. Before…”

“Before what?” Hyunjin prompted.

Minho hesitated, his hands shaking and expression fractured. He ran his tongue between his teeth, glancing at the door. “What’s your world like?” He asked in a small voice.

“Um, good…? I guess?” Hyunjin replied. “What are you… What’s going on?”

“Are we all alive there?”

“Yeah… Why are you asking me this?”

Minho looked at the door once more, laughing softly. It wasn’t a happy laugh. It was tinged with pain, and sadness. “I’m a terrible person…” He muttered.

“Minho…” Hyunjin said, his voice rising in volume. “What’s going on here? Explain it to me.”

Minho stayed silent, avoiding Hyunjin’s gaze. His breathing sounded uneven, and he was still shaking. A minute went by, the air between them clogged with tension.

And then the door opened, someone walking in.

“I thought you’d be here,” Chan smiled, “Hyunjin.”

Chapter Text

“I caught him falling out of a portal.” Minho said, standing up as if he meant to leave the room. “Did you see it, or something?”

“No, I…” Chan looked at Hyunjin with an… intense look. His voice became quieter, as if he was thinking out loud, and Hyunjin could only catch part of what he was saying. “...both … must be…”

“Chan,” Hyunjin said sharply, cutting off the muttering, “What’s going on in this world? Everything feels off, and Minho told me that Jisung and I are dead here… How did that happen? What’s going on?”

“You both died in an accident.” Chan said without hesitation. “This world has become a hotspot for portals opening up, and that brings a lot of dangerous things with it. We don’t know what it was exactly… but it killed both of you.”

A loud bang echoed through the apartment. One of the bedroom doors had just slammed shut behind Minho walking inside.

“Is… he okay?” Hyunjin had felt disturbed by Minho’s behaviour this whole time.

“It’s hard seeing someone you thought was dead.” Chan replied. “He’s just upset.”

“That’s… He seems more angry, if anything.”

“Tell me about where you came from. Your world.” Chan said suddenly.

“I don’t know what there is to tell,” Hyunjin was bewildered by the question for a second time, “It’s normal. There’s not much to it. Unless you count when we had to fight against these sentient shadows a year ago…”

In a split second, the air became colder. And even though the lights were on, the room seemed to become darker, somehow. Chan was strangely still, and staring at Hyunjin unblinkingly.

Instinctively, Hyunjin stood up as a shiver ran down his spine. “There’s something you’re not telling me.” He said.

Chan tilted his head. “It’s nothing.”

“It’s clearly something! Why are you lying to me? I don’t know what the hell is going on here, but I just want to find Jisung and go home!”

“Jisung?” Chan raised an eyebrow. “Why would he be here?”

“Because he’s an idiot, and I’m an idiot too, because I went after him. So if you’re not gonna tell me what’s going on, can you at least tell me if you’ve seen him?”

Chan hummed, sitting down on the couch. “I haven’t seen him.” He then gestured to where Hyunjin had previously sat. “Sit.”

The air was still cold.

“No.” Hyunjin said, shaking his head. “I need to find him. I’m sorry.”

He began walking towards the door, when something grabbed him from behind. A wisp of shadow, clinging onto his jacket harshly.

“I’m sorry too.” Chan’s voice was emotionless. “I can’t let you go.”

Darkness, falling, consumed by the infinite nothing. The memory was alight inside Hyunjin’s mind again, as was another one.

It was a conversation he’d once had with Seungmin.

“There’s an infinite number of worlds. That means there’s a world where none of us met, or a world where we’re a fucking idol group or something. Whatever you can think of, it exists.”

“What about a world where we’re evil?”

“Well, duh. I just said it can be anything.”

Falling into the darkness. How stupid had he been to not have his guard up? To trust a familiar face just because it was familiar? 

He was shaking, overwhelmed with fear. But slowly, he reached into his back pocket, fingers enclosing around the pistol. He had to find Jisung, which meant he needed to get out of here. He needed to fight back.

He turned to face Chan, hands behind his back, hiding the weapon. He’d probably only have the element of surprise for one shot, so he had to get it right.

“You know, I thought we could do this without anyone getting hurt.” Chan said disappointedly.

“You were wrong.” Hyunjin replied.

Bang.

There was a smoking hole in the wall behind Chan. He’d missed.

“You-”

Hyunjin pulled the trigger again. No hesitation, because any moment you weren’t shooting was a moment that the gun could get knocked out of your hand.

A larger shadow rushed towards him. He shot again, and backed away towards the front door, ducking to avoid the blow. He kicked the door open, the impact shooting through his leg and making him hiss in pain.

Dodging the shadows and fighting the fear that made his whole body tremble, he ran. Through the corridor, down the stairs, tripping over his own feet in his attempt to lose his pursuit. He clung onto the pistol desperately, feeling it dig into his skin, but trying to save the bullets and not lose it.

He burst out into the streets, still running and feeling the darkness pursuing him. His footsteps echoed hauntingly, there was no one in sight, why was no one here? No one to help him, just himself. All he could do was keep running and shooting, fending for himself. How could he get out of this? 

Jisung briefly appeared in his mind, body wreathed in sparks of lightning. And that made an idea begin to form in Hyunjin’s head.

“You can’t run for-”

Chan’s voice had rung out, but Hyunjin, without looking, simply fired another shot behind him and cut him off. He needed to think, keep thinking until the plan was fully fledged. He could do this, he could get away. He had to.

“An unfortunate incident involving hair curlers and a swimming pool.” 

Think.

“I straight up got electrocuted and walked out like it was nothing.”

Hyunjin had no powers. He was a normal human. But he could still find a way out of this, he would do it out of sheer willpower.

He ran towards a shop with a neon sign, it was still on and glowing a luminescent green. It flickered, and a smattering of sparks flew out and landed harmlessly on the pavement. Hyunjin gritted his teeth in determination as he drew closer to it.

He raised his pistol up, aiming at the sign. He fired the shot.

The ground shook from the resulting explosion, but he kept running, trying to use the smoke as cover. He didn’t know if Chan had been caught up in it or not, but at the very least it had to have slowed him down. Hyunjin could only hope.

It took a while for him to be sure that he really wasn’t being followed anymore, when the only sounds he heard was his own breathing and footsteps, no sign of shadows or Chan shouting at him. He looked behind himself every now and then, and after turning one more corner, concluded that he’d escaped for now.

He collapsed behind a dumpster, heart hammering against his chest. He had to be safe, he was certain he’d shaken off Chan. The adrenaline would take a while to die down, though, and the fear probably wouldn’t go away at all.

He took a handful of spare bullets out of his pocket, and began reloading his pistol.

-

Jeongin had been going about his day as usual. You know, still slightly on edge with anxiety because that never really went away, but he’d thought that after a year of not seeing anything, with his friends’ constant reassurance, his nightmares would remain as just that.

He’d been on his way to Minho’s shop; everyone tended to meet up there in the afternoons when they had time. It had become a regular hang out spot. He hadn’t thought anything was wrong, because why would it be?

He only saw it out of the corner of his eye at first. So he brushed it off, simply thinking it was his mind playing tricks.

But then the shadow moved, and he could see it clearly, a rippling black cloud just above the pavement. If it had eyes, it would be looking straight at him.

His heartbeat was thunder in his ears. His hands were clenching and unclenching, trying to shake away a phantom sensation.

He’d always known they’d never be gone.

But he’d hoped they’d leave him alone.

Still, he had thought he could fight his fear.

He was terrified, he had no hope of dispelling the feeling.

His heart felt cold, like the icy shackles were closing around it again. There were strings falling from the sky, headed towards him, pinched in the wispy fingers of his puppeteer. He remembered the feeling of being trapped in his own mind without any control, he could never forget such a thing. 

He could never forget hurting his friends.

He took in a deep breath, it passed through him, the oxygen just enough for him to think clearly. He was scared out of his mind, but he wasn’t helpless. He wouldn’t let himself be that way again.

“Chaos.” He spoke its name. The shadow stopped rippling. “Get out of this universe.”

“I am everything.” It whispered in response. “I am you.”

“You are nothing .” Jeongin replied, feeling the tremor in his voice betray him. “There’s no place for you here.”

“Let me in.”

“No.”

“Let me in.”

“Never.”

“It would be so easy to let go.”

“I won’t.”

“You can’t fight me.”

“I can try.”

Jeongin breathed in again, keeping his gaze on the shadow. If this was another battle of wills, he wouldn’t lose this time.

“Oh, that’s just a cherry on the fucking cake!” Jeongin turned to see Minho running towards him. With his metal hand, he grabbed the shadow and crushed it into dust.

“Thanks…?” Jeongin said uncertainly. “Uh, what are you doing here?”

“Seungmin’s going batshit insane, I had to get some air.” Minho said. “Lucky for you, eh?”

“Wait, what’s going on?”

“Have you not looked at your phone?”

“I was in class.”

Minho rolled his eyes. “Jisung, the idiot he is, went through a portal. And Hyunjin, predictably, has gone after him. The best part is that the original portal closed, and Hyunjin somehow opened a new one. So yeah, Seungmin’s doing his nut. After I made him a cup of coffee and everything.”

There was a loud pop as Felix appeared beside them. “This is bad, isn’t it.” Was all he said. Minho did finger guns in response.

Jeongin stared at where the shadow had been. How had it got here? Through the portal Hyunjin had opened? Or was there more to it, something bigger going on?

“What are we gonna do?” Jeongin asked.

Minho barked a laugh. “Probably something stupid.” He said. “We should probably tell Seungmin there was a shadow…”

“A fucking what ?” Seungmin stood just outside Minho’s shop, face absolutely livid. “Tell me you’re fucking joking.”

Minho grimaced. “Nope. But hey, the gang’s all here now. Sort of.”

Seungmin seemed to go through all the five stages of grief within a single second. “Great.” A pained smile formed on his face. “This is great. Why don’t we just grab some more coffee and pretend everything’s fine for a minute?” Never before had Seungmin ever looked like such a mess . Everything about his expression screamed that he was done with life.

“I think I’m slightly scared.” Felix stage-whispered.

“Yeah, I preferred when he was shouting.” Minho replied.

“I mean, I’m down for a Starbucks.” Jeongin shrugged. “Why not?”

-

Jisung stepped forward, holding his hands above his head. Immediately the vigilantes honed in on him, fists and guns raised.

“I just want to talk.” Jisung said carefully.

“Jisung?” Came a familiar voice from behind one of the masks.

He nodded once. “Yeah. I promise I can explain…”

There was a loud pop, and suddenly he was pulled into a tight embrace. Hesitantly, he lowered his arms to reciprocate.

“I missed you.” Felix whispered, the sound muffled behind his mask. 

Jisung felt a pang in his chest as he thought of his friends back home waiting for him. 

“Me too.” He murmured.

“Great, lovely, very touching.” Changbin said. “Can we resume this reunion somewhere safe? There’s ghouls lurking around.”

Felix pulled away, and nodded. He turned to face the other three. “Let’s go to the old bowling alley.”

Jisung thought of his new allies in this world, but then remembered the radio transceiver that sat comfortably in his pocket. There was a lot that he needed to explain right now. He’d be able to call them over in a bit, after convincing these guys they could be trusted.

“Um, lead the way, then?” He said tentatively.

He followed the four of them as they led him through the streets, everything strangely silent. Once again, Jisung was struck by how empty it was. They hadn’t seen a single other person. The city was dead, and it felt intensely wrong.

They reached the bowling alley in a short amount of time, and entered through the glass doors at the front, unlocked and creaking as they walked through.

They weaved through an arcade in front of the lanes, full of dusty games with pictures of cartoon characters staring with lifeless eyes. A few claw machines had been smashed, glass scattered around the floor. The doors at the bottom where money would be held swung open in the breeze.

His friends led him to a lane at the end, where they finally settled on the benches, taking off their masks. They looked the same, if not more tired. Jisung sat down too, and found his eyes drawn to an empty gumball machine, before realising everyone was staring at him expectantly.

Right. He needed to explain what was going on.

He took a deep breath. “There’s no easy way to say this… I’m from a different world. I’m not the exact Jisung you knew.”

“Yeah, I kind of figured.” Seungmin said, although disappointment was evident on his face.

“What brought you here, then?” Changbin asked, leaning back. “Let me guess, you did something-”

“Incredibly stupid, yes,” Jisung finished, “But that’s irrelevant. I want to help you guys before I try to get back, especially since I don’t know how to get back.”

“No.” Jeongin said. Where he sat, his face was hardly visible in the meagre light.

“What? What do you mean, ‘no’?”

“He killed you. I’m not gonna watch that happen again. I can’t.”

“That’s kind of… I get where you’re coming from, but also…” Jisung struggled to phrase it in a way that wasn’t… offensive to the memory of himself in this world. And jeez, that was a mouthful. “Don’t take this… in the wrong way, I don’t mean to… Look. I can handle myself. Back in my world we fought the shadows before.”

Jeongin leaned forward, his eyes cold and angry. “It’s not about the shadows! You didn’t fight him , did you?”

Jisung looked down, swallowing. Memories fought to resurface within him. “No. No, I didn’t.” He looked up, angrily. “I fought you , Jeongin, and it was hell but we got through it so if you think I’m going to hesitate because of who I’m fighting, then you’re wrong. I’ve been through this shit before.”

They all seemed taken aback by the different version of events.

“Did you kill me?” Jeongin asked, looking slightly less annoyed, and more interested.

“ I didn’t, Minho had a good shot at it- Hang on. Where is Minho?”

“Ah, jeez.” Changbin groaned, putting a hand on his forehead. “Figures he didn’t show himself.”

Jisung was suddenly very much dreading the answer he was going to get. “Um… what does that mean.”

“He’s working with Chan.” Felix responded sullenly. 

“Oh.” Jisung said. “That’s… shit.”

“Yup,” Changbin agreed, “It is. How are you gonna prove that you can really help us? Minho shows up at the fights too, you know. How are you gonna prove you can handle fighting against both of them?”

“Well, for starters, it wouldn’t just be me.” Jisung replied. “When I first arrived here this guy kinda saved my ass. It turned out he’s part of a group a bit like yours, they’re trying to fight against Chan. They know about you guys, and wanted to contact you for ages. They wanted me to try to catch you before you disappeared, since I’m… you know, me.”

Seungmin raised an eyebrow. “Well, you succeeded there.”

“I really think if all of us work together we can beat him.” Jisung said. “I don’t know if you’ll take my word for it, but I trust those guys. And they can fight well too.”

“I’m not even sure if we can trust you wholeheartedly, and you’re asking us to trust a bunch of strangers?” Changbin scoffed.

“Okay.” Jisung bit his lip. “Okay, then. You don’t have to trust any of us. But I think we should work together. I’ve got a radio I can contact them with… you guys can talk to them if you want.”

Wordlessly, Seungmin grabbed the radio and switched it on. There was static before a voice rang through.

“Jisung, is everything okay?” Younghyun said. “We got rid of the glitch and we’re on our way back-”

“The old bowling alley.” Seungmin spoke into the transceiver. “One wrong move and you’ll regret it.”

Static again, and a click. “Where’s Jisung?”

“I’m fine!” Jisung raised his voice so it would be heard. “Catching up with friends!” He hoped they’d get the memo.

“Okay, we’ll be there.”

Seungmin switched the radio off and looked at Jisung. “You better hope you’re right about them being trustworthy.”

“I am,” Jisung replied, grinning, “You’ll see. And maybe you’ll stop acting like I’m bringing a bunch of serial killers here.” 

There was a hollow silence where normally his joke would be followed by laughter or someone telling him to shut up.

A quiet sigh came from beside him. “I still can’t believe you’re here.” Felix murmured. “You’re exactly the same… But also different.”

“No,” Changbin replied, as if realising something, “He acts like Jisung before the war, he’s not different. It’s just been so long since then that we’ve forgotten what that was like.”

“War?” Jisung said softly, feeling very alienated. “Is that really what this is?”

“It’s what it feels like. All eight of us used to be together, but we’ve been torn apart by everything that happened. We keep fighting, but it never seems to end.” Changbin’s voice was weary, and his face looked older than he really was. He looked tired .

Jisung fiddled with his hands. “Actually, there’s something I want to ask you guys, since you knew Chan before… the war. Did he always act this way? Or is it like… it doesn’t feel like it’s really him anymore?”

“Why would you ask that? I would’ve thought the answer was obvious.” Changbin said bitterly.

“Back home, Jeongin wasn’t acting of his own free will. He didn’t want to do any of the things he did. The shadows were possessing him. I just… I was wondering if it was the same with Chan.”

“He’s not possessed.” Felix said quietly. “He’s just lost his mind. Gone crazy. Maybe the power of the shadows influenced that slightly, but at the end of the day he’s doing this because he wants to.”

“Why? What…” Jisung swallowed, still struggling to see how it made sense for Chan to act that way. “What changed him?”

“I don’t know what your world is like in comparison, but even before all this, our world was no ray of sunshine.” Seungmin said. “Crime was rampant, you couldn’t walk down the streets without fear of losing your life. The government fell apart, they don’t even really exist anymore. We grew up fighting for the right to live, you only got food if you were strong or quick enough. Even despite all of that, Chan had hope.

“When he learned about the existence of other worlds, he thought we might be able to escape from here. He became obsessed, dedicating all his time to researching it, trying to find a way to open portals that would work. I think eventually he forgot why he was doing it in the first place. He took control of those foreign shadows, and started using them in his experiments. But it always went wrong, and someone else paid the price. People were losing their lives because of what he was doing.

“So we told him to stop. He said he understood that he had hurt people, but that the next time he would get it right. Minho believed him, but the rest of us had made up our minds. We used our powers to try to stop him. And he fought back with the shadows.

“It went on like that for a while. And then we lost you and Hyunjin. And after you guys died, Chan actually opened a portal. His mind was already so twisted, but I think… he thought that his success was the result of your deaths. So he killed more people. More portals opened up, and people began falling out of them. Chan killed all of them, I don’t know why. He’s never satisfied, he just keeps causing endless bloodshed. All for the sake of opening a portal long enough for him to pass through it.

“I don’t know why Minho’s still with him. Maybe Chan has promised him a perfect world to escape to. One where we’re all alive, and he can pretend that none of this ever happened. A world where we’re happy. But I don’t think somewhere like that exists.”

“It does.” Jisung said quietly. “My home… we’re all okay, there. We’re happy. Sometimes things happen, but we get through them. I just… Chan is so different here. I can’t wrap my head around it. Is he really the same guy who nagged me to go to school?”

“People change in different circumstances. Different worlds.” Changbin said. “He’s not the same as he was before all this, and he’s got too much blood on his hands. We’re going to stop him, no matter what our past with him was. There’s no redemption anymore, not when he’s this far gone.”

It was just at that moment that the bowling alley door swung open, and Jisung saw five familiar faces. Unfortunately, they seemed to be having a bit of a staredown with his friends.

The tension was punctuated by a bowling ball sailing through the air towards the five newcomers, courtesy of Jeongin. Dowoon held up a hand, and it slowed down, eventually suspended in front of him. The stares resumed.

“What the hell?” Jisung yelled. “Can you chill , why are you immediately attacking them?”

“You didn’t tell us your ‘friends’ were the people who’ve been stalking us, Jisung.” Felix raised an eyebrow.

“Wait, you knew about that?” Jae exclaimed. “And we weren’t stalking you-”

“Everytime there’s a fight you show up on the scene afterwards!” Changbin huffed. “We didn’t even have time to mourn our friends’ deaths because we had to run away from you guys!”

“We were never going to hurt you.” Younghyun said placatingly. “And I am sorry about that.”

“Sorry, my ass. I don’t trust you, and I have no clue why Jisung does.”

“Uh…” Jisung stammered, all eyes suddenly on him. “Younghyun saved my life. And like I said before, these guys want to help fight Chan.”

“They’ve been a great help so far.” 

“We were doing what we can in a world like this. We didn’t want to fight until there were actually enough of us to do so. That’s why we’ve been trying to get in contact with you.” Sungjin explained. “It would’ve been suicide to go charging in with no plan.”

“Yeah, we realised that, thanks.” Seungmin’s voice was cold.

There was a tense silence.

“Okay, are you all done?” Jisung sighed, feeling very awkward. “Okay, good. Let’s forget about the whole ‘stalking’ and whatnot, and just move forwards. For both of you guys, you need as many people on your side as possible. We need to fight together, don’t you see?”

“I hate the fact that you’re right.” Jeongin grumbled.

“You’re welcome.” Jisung winked. “I knew my charisma would come in handy.”

“Don’t give yourself too much credit,” Changbin said, “All you did was state the obvious.”

“I will give myself as much credit as I want to, thank you very much.” Jisung huffed. “Now, uh, I guess you guys need to exchange information right? And we should… make a plan?”

“You’re doing great.” Younghyun gave him an overly encouraging thumbs up, grinning. 

Although tension still lingered in the air, everyone calmed down and began discussing how to move forward. Jisung felt very drained by it all, and wished everyone would tone down their trust issues. It would take time, though, so all he could do was wait it out.

Chapter Text

The cafe was fairly quiet, and the six of them got a table and ordered coffee. The tension in the air was undeniable, and everyone’s nerves were on edge. 

“They spelt my name wrong again.” Jeongin mumbled to break the silence, not liking how depressed everyone was acting. They were all clearly thinking the same thing, but stewing in anxiety wasn't going to do anything to help.

“Curse those baristas.” Changbin replied. “Okay, I don’t like the fact that our two main idiots aren’t here.”

“That’s why we need to bring them back.” Chan said. “Seungmin, you finished with your two coffees?”

“Not yet but I’m starting to feel the caffeine buzz and the consequences of my actions. But anyway, let’s get started. Hyunjin went through a portal at the station.” Seungmin had pulled up a map on his computer. He took a sip of coffee, pointing at the screen. “The magnetic energy is unstable around there again.”

“And do you think he went to where Jisung is?” Felix asked.

“I reckon he did, purely because of where he went first. The station, and the portal that exists there. Where they are… it has to be one of the mirror variations. Annoyingly, Hyunjin proved that by going through the Inbetween.”

“What the fuck does any of that mean?” Changbin asked.

“In simple terms, a mirror variation is a world linked to ours through certain similarities - those worlds are accessed through the Inbetween, which is just an… intermediary dimension. It’s where Hyunjin and Jisung went before, that purple field they talked about. A mirror variation is not a direct parallel, nor an opposite. It’s a variation, which means some things are crazy different and others are scarily the same. It narrows down our target from infinity to… less infinity.”

“Brilliant.” Minho said dryly.

“How can there be less infinity?” Felix questioned, his eyebrows furrowed.

Seungmin shook his head. “I’m not explaining that right now, your tiny brain won’t be able to handle it. Anyway, if I can figure out how Hyunjin actually managed to pinpoint Jisung’s location amongst that, then we can do that too and drag their asses back home.” 

“What about the shadows?” Jeongin fiddled with his cup. “There was one here, I saw it.”

“By going through portals, Hyunjin and Jisung have weakened the divide between our world and others. That shadow was able to slip through, and others may continue to do so.”

“I don’t have my powers anymore.” Chan said. “How will we get rid of them?”

Seungmin gazed out the window, his face pensive. “I could be wrong about this… but if the shadows are coming from the same universe Hyunjin and Jisung are currently in… We could follow a shadow, and if it gets pulled back, we might find out where they are.”

“But what if they attack us?” Changbin asked.

“Did it?” Seungmin turned to Jeongin. “Attack you? The one you saw.”

Jeongin shook his head. “No. It was just floating there. I think it knew that I had been a host before, and was going to try to take control of me again. But I fought back, and then Minho got rid of it. Whilst it tried to possess me, it didn’t actually try to hurt me.”

“And they’re weaker without a host.” Chan tapped a finger on the table. “If it comes down to it, we should be fine.”

“So we’re going to follow one, then?” Changbin said. “That’s our plan?”

“Not all of it. Considering how shit I am at my job already, breaking the rules one more time is not exactly all that unappealing right now.” Seungmin bit his lip. “I think we should go to the station, and figure out how Hyunjin opened a portal there. Maybe we can open one as well…”

“You sure changed your mind quickly.” Minho grinned. “What gives?”

“Oh, I just realised the balance of the multiverse is fucked anyway, so we may as well try and get our friends back.”

-

Hyunjin felt his head begin aching as he finally managed to stop gasping for air. He still sat on the ground on the alleyway, hiding and trying to think of what to do. How to find Jisung.

He got a strange sense of deja-vu as a tabby cat walked past him, tail swishing from side to side. It made him think briefly of Minho with fondness, and then trepidation as he remembered that he was not the same in this world. And neither was Chan. And it hurt to think about it.

The air grew colder, and the cat leaped up on top of the dumpster he was hiding behind. Hyunjin scrambled to his feet, raising his pistol shakily. A shadow drifted round the corner, and he waited for more to follow, but there was nothing else. Just a rippling cloud of darkness, that if he squinted his eyes, looked like it had teeth .

“I’ve been told to tell you…” Came an inhuman hiss from the shadow. 

Hyunjin tightened his grip on his pistol, seeing it more clearly as it floated towards him. It had taken on a ghost-like form, arms ending in small pointed claws and a head-like shape at the top. It didn’t have a face but it seemed to be looking at him.

“Go home.” It moaned.

Hyunjin shot at it, but the bullet just seemed to pass through.

“Have to go home.”

“I’m not going anywhere until I find Jisung.” Hyunjin replied sharply. “Where’s Chan?”

“Find?” The shadow almost tilted its head.

“Where’s Chan, if there’s a shadow here then he has to be here. Where is he?” Hyunjin couldn’t believe he was actually having a conversation with the floating black mass of shadow. It sounded ridiculous.

“Not here… not me… find ,” It said more firmly.

Hyunjin let out another shot, but it was futile again. It wasn’t worth wasting anymore bullets.

“Go home.” It repeated. “Told to tell you…”

“No.” Hyunjin growled. “Leave me alone.”

“Not hurt… find. Friend …” The last word was a rattling sigh, echoing through the air far longer than it should’ve.

“Go away.” Hyunjin muttered, starting to walk down the street. He couldn’t fucking stop to rest for one moment, he couldn’t even have that luxury, no .

“Go home…” The voice said, but the shadow didn’t follow.

Even though he wasn’t being pursued, Hyunjin did not feel comforted. There was a heavy weight on his shoulders, a creeping sensation of fear. Nothing felt right in this world.

He had only been walking for a little bit when the pain in his head worsened, and he began swaying on his feet.

He was frantically fighting against shadows, dodging their blows and trying to think of a way out of this situation. He felt his focus drift, especially when he saw something out of the corner of his eye.

Jisung, pinned down by shadows. They clawed at him, and the only noise was the screams of agony as the streets were painted with red.

Hyunjin began shrieking, running towards him, no thoughts in his mind.

And something slammed into him from the side. He was knocked to the ground, his head hitting the pavement with a loud crack.

He heard ringing in his ears.

And then nothing.

He sat up, gasping for air. He had just… died . He had felt it. And yet he was still here, his heart was beating erratically in his chest and his hands had scraped against the tarmac, stinging as blood trickled down his palms. The pain was a very sharp wake up call.

“You both died in an accident.”

They clearly hadn’t. Hyunjin didn’t know why he had seen that, that memory from this world, but it was no accident. It was the shadows, puppeteered by Chan.

He shivered, wrapping his arms around himself. He sat here alone in these empty streets, phantom pain in his head nearly driving him insane. He didn’t like this world, not one bit.

He had to find Jisung and get out of here as soon as possible.

-

“If you guys just like, tie me to a utility pole I’m sure I can keep electrocuting him until he passes out. Although it doesn't actually take much shock to knock someone out. I did that to you once, Seungmin.” Jisung maybe wasn’t entirely taking the whole making a plan thing seriously, mainly because everyone was struggling to think and he wanted to lighten the mood.

“I don’t even want to know.” Seungmin shook his head. “There’s a lot of things that we can do with our powers individually, but all of them rely on us being stronger than we are right now.”

“That’s why it would be better if we all fought together with our powers combined.” Sungjin said. 

“But if that doesn’t work then we all end up dead and no one’s left to fight against him.” Jeongin rebutted. 

Piercing through their conversation, a loud creak rang out. The air went cold, and Jisung turned to see the door swinging in the breeze. Through it, slipped a shaking ghoul, muttering and moaning terrible sounds. There was something off about it, it wasn’t like the others… Its form was more solid, it was darker; it was probably more powerful, too.

“You were followed.” Changbin said sharply. 

“No, we would’ve known.” Wonpil murmured. His eyes were wider than usual, in… fear? Or something else that Jisung couldn’t pick up on. “It’s one of the worse ones…” 

“Well, you clearly didn’t know. You’ve got no hope of fighting against Chan if you’ve got ghouls trailing behind you.” Changbin’s tone was accusing and cold.

“Just leave it, we don’t have time to be pointing fingers.” Younghyun raised his gun, resting it on the top of the bench. He faced it towards the arcade, which the ghoul was listlessly drifting through.

“What the hell are you doing?” Seungmin shouted, his jaw clenched. “We can’t fucking fight it! You’re gonna make it worse-”

“No, I’m going to kill it!” Younghyun pulled the trigger and a flash of blue light shot out. It collided with the ghoul, knocking it into a pool table. “If we all go at it we can take it down!”

The ghoul remained still. And then one of the cues levitated above the table, encased in a shadowy barrier. There was a feeling in that moment, a rising adrenaline, where somehow Jisung knew what would happen before it did. But his mind moved ten times faster than his body.

The cue shot towards them, and nailed Jisung in the stomach.

“Fuck,” He gasped, falling to his knees and clutching the point of impact. It burned .

“You have to stop this!” He shrieked, tears building up in his eyes. “Chan, you’re killing people!”

Chan looked down at the floor. His face seemed half encased with shadows, eyes not visible. “You’re right. I am. I never meant to.”

“So stop this.” Hyunjin said from where he stood beside Jisung. 

Chan lifted his head. “But I’m nearly there. I’m so close to the answer, I’ll find a way out of here. I know I can. I can feel it within my reach, just a little longer and I’ll get there.”

“And how many more people will have to die for that to happen?” Changbin growled. “I’m not gonna turn a blind eye to this. No, this stops now, Chan.”

“I’m sorry.” 

“We know, but it’s okay. We’ll just do what we can-”

“I’m sorry that you think I’m going to stop.”

If there was ever a moment where it felt like the world was ending, it was this.

Jisung opened his eyes, lying on the floor. For a moment all he heard in his ears was ringing. And then a terrible screaming sound.

The ghoul was on a rampage. Objects were flying left and right, shadows were swirling around like vultures above his head. He could hear gunfire nearby, and sitting up, he saw his friends fighting desperately.

“Jisung,” Whispered a voice right next to his ear, as someone pulled him down behind the bench. Felix looked imploringly at him. “We’re getting out of here, okay?”

Looking more closely, Jisung realised it was only Younghyun and the others fighting. His friends from back home weren’t in sight apart from Felix.

“We need to fight…” He said, but Felix tugged on his arm.

“No. That thing is too powerful.”

“But we need to help them-”

“No! We’re going!”

Jisung shook his head, shaking. “I won’t.”

Something in Felix’s expression seemed to break slightly. He looked on the verge of despair. And at the same time he must have known he would never be able to talk Jisung round.

“Please…”

Jisung didn’t have time to answer as a shadow knocked into both of them, sending them tumbling down one of the bowling lanes. He untangled his limbs from Felix’s, panting heavily, and shot lightning at the shadow, watching it fizz and consume it.

“Go.” He said to Felix. “I can find you again.”

Felix looked at him tearfully, and the next second he was gone.

Jisung stood up, gathering electricity in his fists, and tried to get an idea of the situation with the others. He ran up the lane, and crouched behind the bench again, peering over.

Just in time to see Jae get slammed into a claw machine. A yellow haze appeared around him as Sungjin stood in front of him, shooting at the ghoul making its way towards the two of them.

“Incoming!” Dowoon yelled, as the pool table floated over, and crashed down on top of the ghoul. Sungjin had expanded his shield to cover himself as well, and the debris bounced off the protective bubble.

The ghoul rose out of where the table had landed, looking relatively unscathed. “That’s… bad…?” It hissed. “Stop… that…”

There was a whoosh as blue light soared towards the ghoul, hitting it in the head. And again, and again. Younghyun and Wonpil were both advancing on the ghoul, guns blazing. Younghyun was limping slightly, his face contorted in pain.

Jisung had wasted enough time being unconscious. He needed to help them.

“Hey, asshole!” He yelled, standing up so that he was in full view of the ghoul. “Take some of this!”

He ran towards it, raising an electrically charged fist, and swinging right into the ghoul. The world seemed to tilt for a moment, and Jisung stumbled forwards as his fist fell through the swirling darkness.

“What-” He broke off as a shadowy hand enclosed around his throat.

“Kill you…” The ghoul snarled. “I… think…”

It burned again. It was like having a fire lit on the surface of his skin, he began choking as the pain seeped inside him.

He could hear the others shouting his name, the gunshots ringing out, the hissing and groaning from the ghoul. His own breathing and heartbeat were so strikingly loud in his ears, fear making him lose control over them.

A high pitched whistle pierced through the noise, growing louder and louder. The doors were wide open, and through them, something flew through the air.

Right towards him.

The object collided with him and the ghoul and instantly exploded. He felt the shockwave course through his body, he went flying backwards, hitting the floor with an impact that nearly knocked him out. His ears rang from the sound of the explosion, but as he coughed, it slowly faded.

Smoke was everywhere, a thick, bitter fog coating the entire place. He couldn’t see anything, just grey.

“Hey…” He groaned, pushing himself up off the floor. “Guys? Are you okay?”

He was met with silence, and wondered if his hearing had been damaged afterall. Because surely, if he had been hit by it, but was okay, the others had to be too, right? 

He slowly crawled forwards, squinting to see something, anything through the fog. He felt a cold breeze, and saw the door in front of him. It almost looked like a figure was standing outside it, but he blinked and there was nothing there.

“Jisung?” Came a shaky voice from his left. He could just about see Younghyun half standing, leaning on a machine and breathing heavily. “You…”

“I’m okay, are you?” 

“I’m fine, but you don’t look okay. Can you stand?”

Jisung frowned, his body throbbing at the thought. His throat still burned slightly. “I… don’t know, to be honest.”

“I’ll float you.” Dowoon appeared, and Jisung felt himself lift off the ground. Behind Dowoon, Sungjin held an unconscious Jae, who was bleeding from his forehead. Wonpil was ripping up some of his shirt to bandage the wound. Everyone looked bruised and battered, the fight leaving a brutal mark. 

“Is the ghoul gone?” Jisung asked, still not able to see much through the smoke.

“Yeah.” Sungjin croaked. “It was that bomb, it… got rid of it. I wonder who threw it in. They kind of saved us.”

“Maybe it was one of my friends.”

“It also could have killed us.” Younghyun countered, pushing himself to full standing height and limping over. “Let’s head back before anything else can try to.”

Chapter Text

“Ow…” Jae moaned from where he lay on the couch.

“Are you okay?” Wonpil frantically asked. “Do you need painkillers? I’m sure if we go out we can find some-”

“Leave him.” Younghyun cut him off. He sat with his leg propped up on the coffee table. “He’s overreacting. And it doesn’t matter if we’re all a little worse for wear right now. What matters is how badly we cocked that up, and how we’re going to fix it.”

They had reconvened back at the hideout, currently in the living room. Jae had a bleeding head injury and probably a concussion, Younghyun’s ankle seemed to be sprained, and the rest of them all had bruises and aches all over. Jisung could still feel phantom shadows around his throat.

“Why didn’t they stay and fight?” Jisung mumbled, fighting back tears. He knew that his friends were good people who would risk their lives for any stranger, back home at least. But in this world, they only seemed to look out for themselves.

“You passed out pretty much immediately.” Sungjin said. “They wanted to take you and get out of there. We started arguing with them; at that point Younghyun was pretty deeply engaged with fighting the ghoul, and couldn’t just back away. We started giving him backup, and Felix started teleporting the vigilantes away one by one.”

“Huh. Didn’t know he could do that.”

“We thought he was going to take you too. It means a lot that you stayed to help. Even if none of us got rid of the ghoul in the end.”

“I did what I thought was right. I just… I thought that my friends would have done the same.”

“You know getting thrown into a claw machine isn’t exactly on the top of everyone’s bucket list.” Jae said pointedly. “But in all seriousness, I can’t blame them. They were just trying to make it out alive. Sungjin talked all that shit about not rushing into things without a plan earlier… But we’re just as fucking reckless.”

“It only takes one person to go charging in.” Sungjin added, looking at Younghyun. “Not that I’m mad at you. You had assumed the vigilantes would fight with us.”

“But they didn’t,” Dowoon spoke up, “And probably trust us even less than before.”

“I think they still trust me, though. I’m sure if I find them again I can try to talk them round.” Jisung said. 

“They might not even agree to meet again,” Wonpil pointed out, “Since they think we led that ghoul there. While we’re on the subject, have any of you guys seen a ghoul act like that before?”

“Is that not normal?” Jisung inquired.

“No. They don’t normally speak. At least not coherently.”

“It might be because it was a powerful one.” Younghyun mused. “Although if it’s that strong to start developing a consciousness of its own, that just shows further how lucky we were to get out alive. We really do need to be more careful from now on.”

Sungjin nodded. “No one goes anywhere alone. Even if our only shot at talking with the vigilantes again is to send Jisung out, it’s too dangerous.”

“But…” Jisung winced. “They kinda hate you guys. Surely I should go talk to them by myself?”

“It’s too dangerous. There’s nothing we can do about it unless we reach out to them again. But we all need each other in order to win this battle, regardless of any misgivings about working together. There’s no other way. They’ll have to realise that.”

“We should wait until we’re all healed a little, but then we need to head out to find them. Sooner rather than later.” Younghyun said. “Is that okay with you, Jisung?”

He opened his mouth to reply, but then his vision blurred.

He wasn’t dead yet. Even though the shadows had clawed at his insides, and his blood was spilling out onto the ground, he somehow clung onto consciousness. He could barely feel anything other than the pain.

Across from him, he saw Hyunjin. Just lying there, unmoving. His head stained red.

The battle had ended a long time ago. Dust lingered in the air, and the burning smell was fading. He couldn’t see a living soul in sight.

Why was he still alive? Why was he still suffering?

“Stop crying.” A voice said from above him.

“They’re dead, Chan… How could you do this?” The second voice was full of pain, shaking on every word.

“They’re dead. In this world. But when we escape we can find them again. Don’t you dare mourn for them. Just keep moving forward.”

Jisung slowly, ever so slowly moved his mouth to form one word. 

“No…” He whispered.

Chan had walked away, but Minho lingered, standing in front of him. His face was wet with tears, but there was something in his eyes now. A desperate kind of fire.

Jisung tried to move, to talk, to do anything. But he was struggling to see, everything was going dark. He couldn’t feel a thing anymore, not even the pain.

He opened his eyes and felt a tightness in his chest.

“Are you okay?” Sungjin said gently from where he sat across from the bed. They must have moved Jisung here whilst he was unconscious.

Jisung felt like his throat was locked up, constricted from movement. Just like in the memory, he didn’t feel like he was capable of forming words.

“You know,” Sungjin continued, “I meant to ask about your fainting spells. Why do they happen?”

Jisung opened his mouth, breathing for a moment, before finally answering. “This might sound crazy… But when I pass out I see his memories. The Jisung from this world.”

“Oh.” Sungjin’s eyes widened.

“I just…” Jisung sniffed, blinking away tears. “I just died . I felt it. His last moments…”

Sungjin swallowed, a grim expression on his face. “It’s not safe for you to be here. I guess we didn’t think much about it, because we were happy to have saved someone and glad to have the help, but you’re in danger just by being in a different world. We don’t know what could happen to you.”

Jisung bit his lip. “A black hole is the extreme thing, right? I guess that’s the sort of endgame, or at least that’s what Seungmin implied when explaining it to us. I don’t know how long it would take to get to that point…”

“There are a lot of terrible things that can happen before that.” Wonpil stood in the doorway, his arms crossed. “Glitches themselves are harmful to anyone who comes across them, and this thing you’re having with the memories… That sounds like the line between this world’s Jisung and you is being blurred. Your life is very much in danger right now. If you are no longer of a different world, but of this world, then circumstances will adapt to fit you into your role in this reality. You could end up dead just as a way of balancing things out, and that would be your endgame.”

Jisung swung his legs over the side of the bed, standing up, and put on a forced smile. He didn’t like talking about death when he had literally just experienced it. “I’m sure that won’t happen. I’m built different, I can get through this. Another risk to my life isn’t anything new.”

“No.” Wonpil’s voice was firm. “I think we’ve taken advantage of you long enough. You need to go home.”

Go home.

Jisung felt the smile slip off his face. “But… I wanna help you guys.”

“You’ve done enough.”

“Nothing’s changed! If anything I’ve made my friends hate you more than they already did. I’ve made everything worse.”

“If that’s how you really feel, then go home.”

“I don’t even know how to! And I can’t, anyway! Not until I’ve fixed this.”

Jisung started walking out into the corridor, heading for the door that led to the stairwell.

“Hey, where are you going?” Sungjin yelled. “Jisung!”

Jisung ignored him, pushing his weight against the door to swing it open. The metal scraping against the ground was like nails on a chalkboard. He went through, taking the stairs two at a time, and feeling a grim satisfaction as the door crashed shut behind him.

His body ached and protested at him - he was in no state to be running anywhere. But neither were the others, so they wouldn’t follow him.

As he burst out into the fresh air, he had only one choice of where to go. Retracing his footsteps to the bowling alley, he would find his friends and talk them round.

He would fix this.

-

“Wow. Nostalgia.” Jeongin said sarcastically as they all stood on the empty platform. 

“You know, you don’t have to be here.” Seungmin said.

“We’re all having such fun, though, reliving our traumatic memories.” Minho faked a smile. “Oh my god, Jeongin, do you remember when I stabbed you? Good times.”

“I swear to god…” Seungmin pinched the bridge of his nose. 

“Hey, I think there’s still a blood stain.” Jeongin sniggered, pointing at a suspicious brown mark on the floor. 

“Why didn’t we all go to therapy again?” Chan said in an undertone.

“We’re too broke.” Felix replied. “Also humour is a perfectly healthy coping mechanism.”

“It really isn’t .”

“What are we supposed to do then?” Changbin walked up to the edge of the platform, raising his hand up. “The air is shiny over here, does that mean anything?”

“It means don’t touch it.” Seungmin smacked his hand away. “Where the hell are your self-preservation instincts?”

“They never existed. You know how it is, I live life on the edge.”

“You live life like a two year old. Don’t touch something if you don’t know what it is, and that applies to everyone. I need to figure out how we’re actually going to do this without dying.”

“I thought we were just going to rely on copious amounts of luck.” Felix hummed. “It’s what worked before.”

“Yeah, no,” Chan interjected, “Seungmin is right. We need to be more careful.”

“Portals are generally caused by a concentration of electromagnetic energy, which is incredibly unstable if we interact with it. I don’t tend to go around opening portals, but I’ve closed a few. They react very volatilely to interference. If there’s nothing to absorb the impact it can go terribly wrong.” Seungmin explained. “So that’s why we don’t touch it.”

“Couldn’t I just absorb the impact?” Changbin suggested. “It’s kinda my whole thing.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” Chan said.

“I got pretty good at absorbing Jisung’s electricity after a while. And it didn’t kill me, so…”

“Let’s say theoretically you can absorb the impact from the portal.” Seungmin said. “That energy will still be stored inside of you, and will explode outwards at some point. We can’t reliably say we have somewhere for you to get rid of it without causing great damage.”

“Well, what do you have in mind, then?”

“I don’t know.” Seungmin furrowed his eyebrows. “I need to think. What I don’t get is how Hyunjin opened it… realistically, if he reached a hand out to touch that energy, he’d be blasted to kingdom come.”

“Maybe it’s the power of true love.” Minho grinned. “Being whipped for someone means you can avoid consequences?”

“Or it could be rich boy privilege?” Felix hummed.

Jeongin snapped his fingers. “He just gave the multiverse overlords a shit tonne of money! Right?”

“It says a whole fucking lot about all of you that Minho’s theory is more likely.” Seungmin rolled his eyes. “There are no multiverse overlords . Just impartial energy that can’t be bribed or swayed by lovesick puppy eyes. Trust me, I’m frustrated that we don’t know what Hyunjin did, but rather than dwelling on that, we need to figure out how we can open a portal.”

“We need to counteract the impact, right?” Chan said. “If you can figure out an estimation of what sort of force we’ll be facing, we can try to send an equal amount at it. Theoretically, they would cancel each other out.”

“And what would we use to send out that impact?” Seungmin asked, looking intrigued by the idea.

Changbin flexed his fists. “Look, man, I am right here. Let me absorb something else, and I’ll send it right back at the portal.”

Chan looked worried, but turned to Seungmin. “Would it work?”

“Potentially. I know how to close portals, so if for a moment I think Changbin’s in danger I’ll step in. Is that okay?”

Changbin nodded. “Fine. We’ll probably have to do a bit of trial and error to get it right.”

“I have a question!” Minho said, raising his hand. “What’s the backup if both of you are in danger?”

“Run the fuck away.” Seungmin answered.

“Uh, how about no? Really I was just asking for the sake of asking. We’d all end up trying to help and you know, maybe die, or destabilise the multiverse even further.”

Chan sighed, but didn’t argue with the statement. “Glad we’re all on the same page, then.”

“I’m so touched.” Seungmin said without an ounce of sincerity. “Let’s just get started. I’d say we need about 500 punches from Minho’s metal arm to equal the impact.”

Changbin groaned. “That’s gonna fucking hurt. Okay, come on, hit me with it.”

Minho wore an apologetic smile on his face as he rolled his shoulder back. “I’m not gonna go easy.”

“The rest of us are counting.” Seungmin continued. “No slacking, we’re doing it out loud and together so that we get this right.”

The scene that followed probably would’ve looked really weird to anyone who didn’t know what was going on. Especially the number chanting. It probably looked like a very weird cult.

“I feel like you might have some pent up anger, Minho.” Changbin said breathlessly after they reached the five hundredth punch. “Have I ever pissed you off?”

Minho shrugged. “No? I mean, you are just kind of… how do I say this… You’re very punchable.”

Changbin stared incredulously at him. “Wow. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome!”

“So. What do we do next?”

Seungmin bit his lip. “Okay. Trust me on this one. I think it should work. You need to punch the shiny air.”

“You said not to touch it.”

“Yeah, but we have insurance now. And again, I will drag you back in a millisecond if it goes wrong.”

Changbin nodded. “Okay. Okay, here goes then.”

He raised his fist, swinging it at the shimmering air. For a moment it looked like nothing had happened, until Changbin stumbled back a little bit.

The air began rippling more, starting to take the shape of a small portal, steadily growing bigger. It started emitting a high pitched ringing noise that was rising in pitch.

And then a glitch of colours flashed from the portal.

“It’s unstable, get away!” Seungmin yelled, and Changbin stepped back from the forming portal. Seungmin stepped towards it, about to try to close it, when…

“Seungmin…?” Came a quiet voice from the portal, just before it closed with a bang.

Silence fell over everyone as they stared at the empty air in shock.

“That was Hyunjin…” Jeongin murmured. “Right?”

“Yeah,” Chan said hoarsely, “That was his voice.”

Seungmin let out a deep breath. “So he’s in there. We know that for sure now.”

-

The arcade looked like it had been hit by a hurricane. Machines tipped over, everything smashed up and the stench of smoke lingering in the air. On the patterned carpet, there was even a dark stain that looked like blood.

Hyunjin gripped his pistol tighter, inhaling sharply. What had happened here?

Had… Jisung been here? Was it his blood?

He heard footsteps, and ducked behind a vending machine, tucking himself out of sight. Someone had just walked into the arcade. And for all he knew, it could be Chan or Minho.

“Jisung?” An unmistakable deep voice called. “Are you here? You… you said you’d find us again.”

Hyunjin held his breath. It was Felix. 

Should he reveal himself to him? Talk to him? He was clearly looking for Jisung. Did that confirm that Jisung had been here? Should Hyunjin ask?

But then he remembered Chan in this world. His shadows. Minho’s betrayal, in leading Hyunjin to him. How he’d barely gotten out alive.

He had no idea what Felix was like in this world. No idea if he could trust him.

He put his hand over his mouth, desperately trying to be as quiet as possible. To not be found. 

There was a loud pop, and Hyunjin finally exhaled in relief.

Cautiously, he peeked out from behind the vending machine. The arcade was still devastated, and there wasn’t anyone else in sight. Felix was definitely gone.

As he started walking around once more, a glint caught his eye. Just in front of the lanes… 

There was a faint shimmer in the air, something rippling. Something was happening. The incessant humming of energy…

The air… glitched .

“It’s unstable, get away!” A voice rang out. It sounded like Seungmin.

Was this another portal?

“Seungmin…?” Hyunjin called, reaching a hand out towards the air.

He withdrew it quickly as a small electric shock struck the tips of his fingers, and watched in despair as the shimmer faded and disappeared. His ears hadn’t been deceiving him, he’d heard Seungmin’s voice. After such adamance about not opening portals, was he trying to open one himself? Were the others actually looking for Hyunjin and Jisung?

Something brushed against his foot, and he nearly jumped a mile in the air. His heart pounded, and he took a deep breath when he saw what it actually was.

Some kind sphere with engravings on. It looked kind of sci-fi, like some sort of technology he didn’t understand. Some parts of it were tinged brown, looking as if they were burnt.

Hyunjin kicked it aside, shaking his head. Nothing in this world made sense to him. Nothing felt right.

He started making his way out, unnerved yet again.

He wouldn’t go far. Because something was telling him Jisung was nearby. Knowing him, he would be wherever the action was. If he hung around for long enough, they would surely be reunited.

Chapter Text

“It’s okay, I’ve got you.”

Jisung caught himself just before he fell to the floor. He knew the voice that was ringing out in his head and he didn’t want to hear it right now. He’d been walking for ages now, and couldn’t seem to find his way back to the bowling alley.

He kept going but the world turned hazy again.

“The storm will be over soon.” Chan said. “You’re okay, Jisung. I’m right here.”

He hit the pavement haphazardly, grazing his arms where they’d broken his fall. Why was this happening right now? All these memories plaguing him. Why couldn’t they leave him alone?

He tried to stand up.

“Jisung, you need to trust me.”

He tried again.

“Jisung.”

His grazed arms were stinging and he whimpered in pain.

“Jisung!”

“Go away!” He yelled at the floor, tears pricking his eyes. 

Someone tugged on his arm, and he was pulled into a hug. It was warm. It felt like home.

“Hyun…jin…?” He murmured in confusion.

“Sorry,” Felix replied as he pulled away, “Not quite. Are you okay? What happened? Why’re you out here all alone?”

Jisung struggled to find the words as he stared into his friend’s imploring eyes. “I… Everything went wrong because of me.”

“Why would you think that?” Felix said incredulously. 

“I don’t know. I was only trying to help but I messed everything up.”

“Did you… get rid of the ghoul in the end then?”

“Not exactly. We weren’t faring well. But there was like, this bomb or something, that someone threw in and it got rid of the ghoul. That wasn’t you guys?”

Felix shook his head. “No.” He paused. “Your friends are all okay, right?”

“Yeah… But I kind of had an argument with them and ran away. Felix… why did none of you stay to fight?”

Felix chuckled bitterly. “When you spend most of your time fighting, you learn to avoid it when you can. I know it’s selfish but the only people we can properly look out for are each other. In a world like this you have to prioritise who you care about.”

“Oh.” Jisung mumbled. “I guess that makes sense.”

“I’m sorry, for what it’s worth. The instinct to protect people I care about tends to override anything else.”

“It’s fine. I mean, we all got out of it alive, so… I guess there’s not much else to say.”

“Are you sure you’re okay, though? You seemed pretty out of it when I found you.”

“I’m good, I was just really lost.” Jisung lied. “I was trying to get back to the bowling alley.”

“That’s miles away.”

“Yeah. I got lost.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re okay. Do you wanna come back to our base? We have hot chocolate.” Felix grinned. 

Jisung perked up. “Really? You’re not just trying to lure me in?”

“No, mate, I’m serious. You look like you could do with a warm drink to calm you down.”

“Okay, then. Which direction do we head in?” Jisung got to his feet.

Felix laughed. “Give me your hand. There’s a much easier way.”

As soon as their palms touched, there was a loud pop. Jisung blinked, and suddenly he was somewhere entirely unfamiliar.

“Home sweet home.” Felix gestured in front of them to a building.

The windows were smashed in, half of the roof was missing, and the walls looked like they’d crumble with one gust of wind.

“That’s an abandoned building.” Jisung said, raising his eyebrows.

“That’s what it looks like. Seungmin made that illusion.”

“Woah. He holds up the illusion all the time? Isn’t that exhausting?”

“What isn’t exhausting?” Felix replied with a bitter chuckle. “Come on. It’s way cooler on the inside.”

“And you promised hot chocolate!” Jisung added.

“Yeah. That too.”

Felix pushed open the doors, and they stepped inside.

Jisung was met with a wide open space, the size of a warehouse. In one corner was a pair of sofas in front of a coffee table, and next to that seemed to be a large collection of weapons, all stacked up in boxes, and some hanging on the walls. There was another corner dedicated to medical supplies, but there was something specific that caught Jisung’s attention.

There was a small table off to the side, with several framed pictures laid out on top. He found himself drawn to it, walking over to get a closer look.

The largest photo was of all eight of them, posing on a rooftop. Everyone looked happy, making stupid faces and poses. The frame was cracked in several places, as if it had been thrown against the wall. 

A few other photos were of the six vigilantes, evidently when Jisung and Hyunjin had still been alive. There was something different in everyone’s faces, they looked more hardened, more… lost. But they were still smiling. Jisung’s other self looked exactly the same as he did, and yet somehow it was like he was looking at a stranger. There was no light in that boy’s eyes.

Beneath the framed photos was a collection of battered polaroid photos of him and Hyunjin. In most of them, they were looking at each other and not at the camera. The photos were arranged in a semi-circle, and in the middle lay a cluster of forget-me-nots. Jisung’s chest twisted at the sight.

“I miss him.” He murmured, and then realised his mistake. “Sorry, that was really stupid to say-”

“It’s fine.” Felix cut him off, gently adjusting a picture that was slightly askew. “I understand. And we’re gonna get you home.”

“Yeah, but I need to help first.” Jisung said. “I… I left the others because I wanted to find you guys and talk you round. Cause we all need to work together. I don’t think I can go home until everything is fixed.”

Felix sighed. “I really want to argue with you, but I’m not sure I’d get through that stupid selfless heart. Regardless, we don’t know how to get you back anyway. But we can start working on it.”

Jisung hummed. “Maybe.”

Felix seemed to be lost in his own head for a moment, as he stared at the photos. But then he turned around with a smile. “How about I make you that hot chocolate?”

Jisung grinned. “With marshmallows. Like, enough to spill over the mug.”

“Sure.” Felix walked over to what looked like a kitchen area. “Just don’t get a sugar high.”

A door to the side opened, and the other three walked through. “Felix, who are you talking- Jisung!” Changbin’s expression was one of relief when he laid eyes on him. “Jesus christ, Felix, why didn’t you tell us he was here?”

“Because it’s more fun this way!” Felix’s voice rang out from the kitchen.

“Are you okay?” Seungmin asked gently.

“Yeah, I’m fine? Why would I not be fine?”

“Because we left you there…”

“Oh, hey, no, that’s water under the bridge. Seriously. I’ve talked about it with Felix.”

“Did you kill the ghoul?” Jeongin asked curiously.

“Uh, no, turns out I have a mystery saviour? There was this bomb that someone threw in, and apparently that wasn’t you guys?”

“A bomb?” Something in Jeongin’s expression shifted.

“Yeah, it got rid of the ghoul, but even though I was right next to it, I was fine.”

“What did it look like?”

“The bomb? Does it really matter? I don’t remember, I was mainly glad to be alive.”

“Okay, the marshmallows might be a little bit stale, but you asked for them.” Felix came back holding a mug and passed it to Jisung. “Here you go.”

“Thanks.” The warmth spread quickly to his hands, and already he felt a little bit more at ease.

“Wow, Felix, busting out our marshmallow stash?” Changbin said incredulously. “I thought we were saving those.”

“It’s a special occasion.” Felix replied.

“Me?” Jisung pointed at himself. “I’m a special occasion?”

“Yeah!”

“Man, I can picture it now: International Jisung Day. Everyone celebrates my existence in the form of hot chocolate and marshmallows.”

There was another one of those silences where instead of telling him he was being an idiot, the four of them seemed to be glad to hear such a stupid joke, eyes full of sentimentality.

“Anyway!” He said loudly. “How have you guys been doing? None of you were hurt, right?”

“No. These days we tend to prioritise getting out of things alive.” Seungmin said. “But we shouldn’t have left you there-”

“I told you, it’s fine. I get it.” Jisung took a sip of the hot chocolate, hoping that the tension in the air would ease.

“So. I’m guessing you’re here to smooth things over?” Changbin asked.

“Yeah.” Jisung nodded. “You’ve gotta hear me out, they’re really nice people, they don’t mean any harm. We need to work together.”

“There was a ghoul following them and they didn’t realise.”

“And the same thing probably could have happened to you! There’s no use blaming them for it. Please, just give them a chance.”

There was a silent discussion between the four vigilantes. Somehow they managed to communicate only through weird, intense expressions. Jisung watched with bated breath, not having a clue what they all were saying.

Finally, Changbin gave their answer. “Fine. One more chance.”

And then Jisung blacked out again.

“Okay everyone, be ready!” Changbin pressed a button on the camera, and quickly ran into the frame. There was a bright flash as the photo was taken, and they were all toppling over each other as they relaxed from the goofy poses.

“Ow, that was my foot!” Hyunjin complained, gently shoving Jisung’s shoulder.

Jisung stuck his tongue out. “Deal with it.”

“Only if you kiss it better.”

“Ew!” A cry came from Jeongin. “They’re gonna kiss again! Chan, stop them!”

“Come on, guys, there’s a child here.” Chan said solemnly. That earned him a thump from Jeongin.

“I want ice cream!” Minho suddenly loudly announced. “Let’s go get ice cream!”

Jisung squinted at the lights beaming over him, but they were quickly blocked out by four concerned faces peering down at him.

“You’re awake!” Felix exclaimed, big eyes swimming with worry. Behind him, Jisung could make out a smashed mug on the floor. “Are you okay? You passed out!”

“Yeah.” He chuckled, but something was stinging in his eyes. “I’m used to it.”

“ Used to it? ” Changbin bellowed. “Just what the hell was that, Jisung?”

“Shit…” He mumbled, unable to fight the tears falling down his face. It was hard to reconcile this furious concern with the carefree boy behind the camera. All the memories in his head were swirling around, getting mixed up, so much that he couldn’t convince himself that he hadn’t actually experienced them.

A feeling of grief, that Jisung wasn’t sure was entirely his own, was twisting inside of his chest.

-

There was a silence where everyone stared at where the portal had been.

“Let me try again.” Changbin said, clenching his fists. His head was pounding, and he was swaying where he stood, but he’d be damned if he let it stop him.

“No!” Seungmin yelled.

“Why not? He was in there, Seungmin!”

“You could have fucking died!”

“Yeah and our friends could be in danger right now!”

“No, just… just stop, okay? Look at yourself, you’re barely standing up.”

“He’s right.” Chan put a hand on Changbin’s shoulder. “You overexerted yourself.”

“Right.” He muttered in response. “Is it the hero complex again?”

“Yeah.”

“Uh, guys…?” Jeongin said, pointing at something on the ground. “What the hell is that?”

It was spherical, about the size of a tennis ball. Grey metal plates glinted in the meagre light, engraved with something that Changbin couldn’t make out. 

“What the…?” Minho crouched down beside it, looking closer.

“Don’t touch it,” Seungmin warned, “We don’t know what it is.”

Minho ignored him, and picked it up.

“Minho, you idiot!” 

“It’s fine,” Minho murmured in response, his voice strangely calm, “It’s safe.”

“And how do you know that?” Changbin asked.

Minho held up the sphere to all of them, and pointed at one of the engravings. “That’s my signature.”

“It’s yours?”

He shook his head. “No, I don’t know what it is. I didn’t make this.”

“Then put it down .” Seungmin said. “It clearly came out of the portal.”

Minho ignored him again, and gently pried off a small hatch on the side of the sphere. He looked at the insides for a moment, before breathing out. “Oh…” He said. “It’s a bomb.”

At that point, everyone else seemed to make a collective decision, rushing forwards and knocking it out of Minho’s hands. There was a tense silence as it bounced on the ground a few times, rolling along the platform before just stopping at a wall.

“It’s already detonated, calm down.” Minho said exasperatedly.

“Then you should have said so!” Chan cried.

“I was going to, but you all attacked me.”

“Because you were holding a bomb .” Felix said in a strained tone.

“Eh, in my metal hand. No big deal.”

He was met with looks of disbelief all around.

Seungmin shook his head. “Well… at least it didn’t explode. But that doesn’t mean it’s not still dangerous.”

“Would it cause glitches?” Jeongin asked.

“Yeah. We need to find a way to send it back.”

Changbin’s muscles twinged again as a reminder of how exhausted he was. “You know what, this time I’m actually not gonna volunteer.”

“Wow, you found your common sense.” Seungmin remarked dryly. Changbin hit him on the arm.

Somehow Minho had managed to pick up the sphere again, and walked to the edge of the platform. “I say we throw it at the shiny air and see what happens.” He said nonchalantly.

“That’s not a terrible idea. I mean, it should want to go back where it belongs.”

“How can a metal ball want anything?” Felix stage-whispered.

“Ghosts.” Jeongin replied seriously, nodding his head.

“I‘ll turn both of you into ghosts if you don’t shut up.” 

“That’s great, I’ll just haunt you by singing trot songs. You know, the whole time I was possessed I had Love Battery stuck in my head.” He started humming it under his breath.

“Oh my god.” Seungmin groaned. “Minho, just throw the bomb before I lose my mind.”

Minho did as he said, and the ball went soaring through the air. To everyone’s surprise, as soon as it touched the shimmering air, it phased into it, disappearing.

“Huh.” Seungmin gaped, clearly not expecting it to work.

“Well, that’s one problem out of the way.” Chan said. “But we’re still back to square one with actually opening a portal.”

“Honestly, I’ve got nothing. But everyone else is free to suggest good ideas.”

No one said anything.

“I’ve got a really stupid idea?” Jeongin offered.

“No, I don’t even want to hear it.”

“It might be good!”

“Stupid and good cannot possibly coexist with each other.”

“That’s insulting to like, everyone here. We’re all stupid.”

“Can I please take a nap?” Changbin finally asked.

Chan nodded. “I think we need to crash back at the shop for a while and recharge.”

“ My shop,” Minho complained as they all began climbing the steps out, “That shockingly isn’t a youth hostel for broke students.”

Chapter Text

Chan was dreaming.

He dreamt of rooftops and promises, portals opening and closing with the crack of a gunshot, blood staining the streets. Darkness and shadows. He waded through memories, all flashing by too fast to remember. But the feelings stayed, the despair, the determination. 

And then he saw Jisung’s dead body and he knew that it was his fault-

“Wakey wakey!” Someone yelled in his ear.

He groaned rolling over, which unfortunately resulted in him rolling off the sofa he’d been lying on. He hit the floor painfully, but it was one hell of a wake up call.

“Naptime’s over.” Minho announced, nudging him with his foot.

“How did I even,” He was in Minho’s apartment above the shop, “Get here?”

“You kinda conked out as soon as your head hit the ground, so I graciously carried you upstairs and decided to let you sleep for the first time in ten years. But on second thought, you look worse for wear, so maybe you’re allergic to sleep.”

Chan remembered, as everyone was lazing around the shop, he’d decided to just lie down for a bit, but then… Yeah, he’d passed out, hadn’t he?

“I’m okay.” He said unconvincingly. He was not okay. He wasn’t really sure what he’d been dreaming about, only that it was terrible, and his fault. 

And the shadows had been there. He’d felt them.

“Sure thing, buckaroo.” Minho helped him stand up. “Do you need Jeongin to go on a coffee run?”

“Whoa, we don’t let Jeongin do coffee runs anymore, Minho.” Chan protested.

“I know, I know, because he might get possessed, blah, blah. Do you want the shitty coffee I've got here?”

“Mhm.” He yawned. “Oh, yeah, how’s Changbin doing?”

“He got the privilege of my slightly more comfortable bed, and I’m gonna leave him for a bit longer because I think, unlike you, he actually gains energy from sleeping. Everyone else is vibing downstairs.”

“Vibing,” Chan repeated incredulously. 

Minho handed him a steaming coffee mug, “Drink up, we’ve got to listen to another Seungmin lecture about the multiverse.”

“You mean we need to figure out a plan.”

“Same thing.”

The coffee definitely helped wake him up, and make him more alert. He started feeling guilty that he’d wasted time sleeping when his friends needed him… but then he also knew they’d punch him for not taking care of himself. 

He put the mug down when he was finished, and let out a sigh. “Right, let’s go hear that lecture then.”

Minho groaned. “Spare me. OI, CHANGBIN!”

Chan raised an eyebrow. “What happened to letting him rest?”

“If I have to suffer through it, so does he.”

A very sleepy Changbin emerged from Minho’s bedroom, with an impressive bedhead. “Why?” Was his weary response. “Why can’t you wake me up like a normal person?”

“Uh,” Minho gestured at himself, “Do I look like-?”

“You okay?” Chan asked, noticing that Changbin did not look well rested at all.

“I don’t know,” Changbin replied, “I was having some kind of dream, it… it wasn’t good.”

Chan felt his heart in his throat. “The shadows?” He ventured, his voice quiet.

“Yeah, but… not our ones. I don’t know, it was hazy.”

“Okay,” Minho cut in, “I don’t know when you guys became psychic, but knowing Seungmin it is a tool that he will want to manipulate for his own gain after some thorough scepticism.”

“You mean, I welcome any helpful insight that might help us find our friends?” Seungmin was halfway up the stairs, looking up at them with his arms crossed. 

“Uh, who said you were allowed up here?” Minho complained.

“Me, deal with it. Let’s go down and start discussing our next move.”

“Lectures,” Minho whispered despairingly. 

-

“So you… see his memories?” Jeongin quietly asked once he was finished explaining.

Jisung just nodded, struggling to find words now. His eyes kept straying to the cracked mug on the floor, focusing and unfocusing at the mess he’d caused. He had been grappling with how surreal everything felt ever since he’d got to this world, but not anymore.

Everything was vivid now. Just like those memories.

Too vivid.

“I don’t like it.” Changbin said sharply. “It’s not… It’s not right. You’re not from here, you’re not supposed to know… any of what happened.”

“What is that supposed to mean? What else happened?” Jisung questioned. “You gave me a summary before I saw the brunt of it myself.”

“With details omitted.” Changbin continued. “There are some things you shouldn’t know. You don’t want to know them.”

“Careful.” Jeongin muttered warningly.

“I know, I know.”

Jisung threw his hands up in frustration. “Uh, I’m pretty sure I do want to know whatever secret you’re keeping, since I’m caught up in all of this regardless.”

“It’s not worth knowing.” Changbin shook his head. 

“Let’s just… resume the previous conversation where we left off, yeah?” Felix said. 

Jisung sighed. “Right. That. We should find them and talk it out.”

“Any idea where they might be?”

“Well… I have no sense of direction, but I can try to find the base?”

“No time like the present, right?” Jeongin stood up. “Let’s go, lead the way.”

They headed off down the streets, weapons in hand, and in Jisung’s case, just his hands. He was reassured that it was simply a precaution for any danger they might encounter along the way, and not something to be aimed at his friends. 

If he didn’t get horribly lost, he was feeling quite hopeful that things were looking up, and he was fixing what he’d messed up. And if they became allies, and everyone fought together and dealt with this world’s shadows, then he’d even start thinking about going home. But not until he knew everyone would be safe.

He was still shocked by the lifeless nature of this world. He hadn’t been here long enough to be used to it, really. He expected to see other people walking down the streets, to hear sounds other than their own footsteps and breathing. But there wasn’t a single thing, not even a bird in the sky.

The silence was eerie.

But after a few wrong turns and trekking through alleyways, it was broken.

“Jisung!” Younghyun and the others were running towards them. “Thank god, we finally found you!”

“What made you think running away was a good idea?” Jae added.

“Hi, yeah, that’s my bad…” Jisung mumbled. “I got caught up in the heat of the moment. But my whole point was that I needed to fix this rift between you guys, so here we go.” He gestured vaguely at the others behind him. “We need to talk it out.”

“Right. We’re sorry.” Sungjin bowed his head. “For everything. For following you, for leading that ghoul to the bowling alley, for not talking before jumping into action… We’re really sorry. But we need to work together.”

“No, I…” Felix glanced at the other three. “We’re sorry too. Jisung talked to us about the situation, and… we realised how selfish it was to just leave you there.”

“Truce?” Younghyun held a hand out.

Changbin stepped forward and firmly grasped it. “Truce.” He repeated. “Let’s end this shit.”

“And get Jisung home.” Felix added.

Jisung grimaced. “Yeah. Sure. But that’s not that important-”

“We aren’t having this conversation again.” Wonpil said. “It’s not safe for you to be in a world that isn’t your own. Getting you back is just as important as dealing with the problems here.”

“You’ve gotta let me fight, though, I can’t just sit back for the sake of my own safety. I won’t . And you can’t make me.”

“Trust me, we know.” Changbin sighed. “But you have to stick close to us, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Good-”

The shadows from the buildings seemed to grow darker, and elongate. And the air became cold.

Jisung shuddered. “Is he here?” He whispered.

“He’s nearby,” Felix murmured, “But there’ll be-”

He teleported across the street, just avoiding a shadowy claw that swiped at his head.

“Ghouls.” He finished.

Suddenly they were surrounded by the strange shadow creatures. They glided around like vultures circling their prey, biding their time until they found an opening. Jisung braced himself, letting his fingers spark, and preparing to dodge the moment one came near him.

With a loud hissing noise, a ghoul surged forwards in his direction.

He ducked, shooting electricity out at it. The ghoul just seemed to absorb it, lightly sizzling as it phased into the darkness. So it was one of those ones, then. The big bad scarier ones.

It was relentless as it attacked him. Claws sharper than anything he’d ever felt before. It was only made of shadows, but it still scraped him, leaving stinging cuts with blood seeping out. And that was when he was dodging as well. It was only a matter of time before he wasn’t quick enough, and the shadows sunk into him properly.

A strange noise suddenly filled the air, like a pulsating siren. And the ghoul stopped attacking Jisung, rising up as if following the sound.

And it started gliding away.

Jisung didn’t know what possessed him at that moment, but he was so angry, so pumped with adrenaline.

“Get back here, you bitch!” He yelled, and began sprinting after it.

They weaved through the streets, following this noise as it got louder and louder. Time warped, so much that Jisung didn’t know how long he’d been running for, nor did he notice when the ghoul slipped away.

It was gone. Out of his sight.

“Shit.” He cursed, and came to a stop. He caught his breath, and realised he’d ended up somewhere familiar.

The bowling alley.

It was empty, still in the same state of devastation. Jisung stared at what was left of the doors, a morbid dread sweeping over him like a tidal wave.

As an icy breeze stirred the air, a small object rolled out of the doors. It was spherical, and had some kind of intricate mechanism engraved on its sides. 

“Oh, I think that’s… mine.” A voice said hesitantly.

Chapter Text

“We need more force,” Seungmin said, “And then we can get the portal to stay open long enough.”

“That’s great and all,” Changbin said, rubbing his arm where it still ached, “But five hundred punches was a lot, even for me. The power nap hasn’t magically made me fine.”

“I never said you’d be doing that again. But on the topic of your power nap: you and Chan had some kind of dream?”

Changbin shook his head. “I don’t remember it. But it was something to do with the shadows.” Just vaguely dreaming about them had left him feeling shaken.

“Well, could you try to remember it?”

“It was to do with Jisung as well.” Chan added, frowning. “But that’s all I can really tell you, as well as the fact that I woke up with a really bad feeling. Like… the world had tilted on its axis.”

“That’s because you fell off the couch.” Minho said helpfully. 

“Yelling at people is not a nice way to wake them up,” Changbin retorted spitefully, “I don’t blame him.”

“Next time I’ll just let you sleep through the world ending, then.”

“Are the stakes really that high?” Felix questioned, his eyebrows furrowing.

Minho levelled him with soft glare. “Can you imagine living in a world without them? We’ve been running around like headless chickens for long enough. Seungmin, whatever your fucking plan is, let’s hear it.”

Seungmin nodded mutely. “Let’s put the dreams to the side, for now. We won’t get anything out of them. If anything, it suggests some sort of connection or overlap between our world and the one Jisung and Hyunjin are stuck in. That’s dangerous, and yes, actually world threatening, but we can use it to our advantage.”

“How do we even know that Hyunjin went to the same place?” Chan asked. “We know that he is somewhere - we heard his voice - but there’s nothing pointing towards Jisung being in the same place.”

“You’re technically, right, but… I’ve been going over it in my mind, trying to figure out how Hyunjin got there. If there is a link between that world and ours, a weakened divide, then it’s only logical that he ended up in the same place. It wouldn’t have been possible to go anywhere else, I don’t think. But for us, for some reason, it’s different. It’s not so easy. I just wish… we knew what he did to get there.”

Minho made a noise in the back of his throat. “You said the world was a mirror variation, right?” He exclaimed. “Some things are similar, some things are different?”

“Yes.”

“Then… we can guess that a version of me exists in that world. That bomb that came through the portal had my signature on it, I’m the only person who could have made it. What if what’s stopping us getting there so easily is the fact that there are duplicate versions of ourselves existing there? I’m willing to bet it would fuck with the multiverse if there were two of one person in the same place at once.”

Seungmin’s eyes widened. “It’s all about balance. That’s it. We shouldn’t exist there as more than just one person. It would tip everything over the edge.”

“But then how did Jisung and Hyunjin get through?” Changbin reiterated.

“Maybe they just don’t exist there.” Minho shrugged. 

The air temperature seemed to drop as they all mulled it over. Like a cold draft was wafting in through an open window, or something…

Jeongin stood up, his face pale as he looked towards the door. “Shit, there’s a shadow again! Fuck off , you piece of shit!”

The darkness swirled outside the door, but it did not move inside. 

“Ah,” Seungmin commented, “My plan B. How convenient.”

“What do you mean?” Jeongin questioned.

“Remember what I said about the shadows before? It doesn’t belong here. We can follow it back to where it does belong. If we’re quick, we can slip through after it, without getting blasted to hell.”

“This is the opportunity you’ve been waiting for, isn’t it? Whilst we’ve all been running round in circles.” Minho murmured.

Seungmin nodded. “As much as ‘fuck around and find out’ can be an effective plan, this works better.”

“Then let’s go.” Changbin opened the door, and watched as the shadow began slowly gliding along the street, just like how rain clouds passed harmlessly over the sky. Looking at it made him feel sick. “Now.”

-

Jisung turned to see Minho looking at him uncertainly, his hand half outstretched.

“It’s like a flash bomb, but quicker. I designed it as a countermeasure against the shadows. It packs a bit of punch, though. I’m sorry about that.”

“You saved us back there?” Jisung gasped, his heart hammering against his chest.

“Jisung…” Minho’s voice was soft as his gaze raked over him. “You’re really here, huh?”

“But… you’re working with Chan.” Was all Jisung could say in response.

Minho swallowed, his throat bobbing. “Not by choice.” He said hoarsely. “I believed in him at first, but then… then he killed you. I wanted to back out, but I was scared. I knew he’d come after me if I did, and he’d probably kill the others too. I thought I’d have a better shot at protecting them if I stayed with him… Keep your enemies close, or whatever. Or maybe I’m just a coward.”

“You’re not a coward, you saved my life. I can’t even imagine what you’ve gone through. I… I’m sorry. That I died, even though that wasn’t me, it sort of was as well. I, um… I think I have his memories. Small parts of them. They pop up in my head from time to time, with no warning. Like in the middle of a fight, which is extremely helpful and needed. Not to be insensitive, but there is a time and a place for stuff like that.” 

“You’re exactly the same…” Minho mumbled. “I bet you’re the same Jisung in every world.”

Jisung frowned, unused to this side of Minho. He was emotional - vulnerable, even. 

“Are you obsessed with cats in this world?” He laughed, trying to loosen the atmosphere. “Because then I’d say you’re the same too, despite everything.”

“I suppose I am.” He smiled wryly. “There’s a group of stray cats I visit and feed. I used to drag you along as well sometimes… I’d considered adopting them but they’d be in danger now if they were close to me.”

“You’d protect them with your life, though.” Jisung sniggered. “Wreak havoc on the world because someone threatened your cats.”

“I’d do that for you as well.” Minho said quietly, a small smile on his face.

“Oh, um… thanks?” 

“I may as well just say it. Uh yeah, there’s something in particular I need to say to you.”

Jisung tilted his head in confusion. 

“I never got to tell him, so I’ll tell you…” Minho’s face was contorted with grief. “I love you, Jisung. I always have. And you never felt the same way, and that’s fine. You love Hyunjin, and that’s fine.”

There was thunderous static in his ears. 

“I…” He swallowed, unable to find the right words, even though he so desperately wanted to say something. “Minho…”

“I said it’s fine. You don’t need to say anything. I just… I have the feeling all of this is going to end terribly, and I need to get it off my chest before that happens.”

“How do you know that the me in this world… that he didn’t love you too? You never asked him-”

“And I never can, so it doesn’t matter now, does it? Besides, he was in love with Hyunjin. They were inseparable. Which reminds me… Has he found you yet?”

“Huh?” Jisung gaped.

“Hyunjin. Yours,” He clarified, “He went after you.”

“What?” Jisung shrieked. “Why would he- That’s so dumb- Why couldn’t he just wait , for god’s sake..” He trailed off his tangent when he remembered his own reason for coming here originally. “Oh. We are both so dumb.”

“That’s what he said.” Minho helpfully supplied.

Jisung ran a hand through his hair, gritting his teeth. “Where did you last see him?”

“Running away from Chan.” Minho sighed. “He made it out, I know that much because Chan came back empty handed and immediately began trashing the apartment. But I don’t know where Hyunjin ended up.”

“He could be hurt.” Jisung mumbled in concern.

Minho snorted, his eyes narrowing. “He had a fucking gun. I wouldn’t count on it.”

“Yeah, well, a gun didn’t do shit last time!” All Jisung was seeing now was Hyunjin’s body collapsing, the tense ambulance ride, watching him lay unmoving in a hospital bed. “I need to find him but where do I even start -”

“Start by calming down.” Minho said softly. “He’s likely hiding right now, so rather than looking for him, you need to let him find you . Of course, if you do anything that broadcasts your location, Chan will likely appear as well.”

“That’s fine… I reckon I can handle him. Or at the very least I can run away.”

Minho pursed his lips. “If you’re sure. Look, I don’t think I can say anything to stop you running headfirst into danger, but just… Be careful.”

“What about you?” Jisung countered. “I heard that you sometimes show up to fight. Whose side will you be fighting on?”

“My own side.” Minho replied. “I don’t want to watch you die again. So that's what I’ll be fighting for, if that answers your question.”

Jisung grinned. “Okay, I’ll do my best not to die.”

Minho smiled back at him. It was unlike any smile Jisung had seen on him before, no snarkiness hidden behind it. His eyes lit up with a strange fondness, it transformed his face into something soft and caring. 

And then the smile faltered.

Minho turned around, and stepped in front of Jisung, as if shielding him from-

A shadow had sliced into Minho’s abdomen like a dagger. The shadow drew back, and blood began pouring out of the wound, Minho turned his head to look at Jisung and there was blood spilling out of his mouth as he tried to smile again, his eyes filled with tears.

“Traitor!” Screamed Chan as he walked into the alley. “You traitor! You were never on my side! You liar!” His face was twisted by rage, and tears streamed down his cheeks.

Minho stumbled, and Jisung caught him, lowering him to the ground, holding him and trying desperately to staunch the bleeding with his hands somehow. The blood kept flowing out of the wound, through his shaking fingers.

“Jisung…” Minho whispered. His lips were stained red. “You have to… run away…” His voice was weak and broken.

Jisung shook his head, taking in shuddering breaths. “I can’t…” He cried, his voice breaking. 

Minho’s face was so pale, his body was becoming limp. Still, he lifted a hand to clumsily grab onto Jisung. “Run away… and find Hyunjin… You can… look after… each other… okay?”

A shadow swept towards them, and Jisung ducked as it flew over his head. He lifted his hands from the wound, watching the blood seep out and seeing his own hands covered in it. He tried to breathe, but his lungs were fighting against him.

Minho’s eyelids fluttered. “Go home…” He said softly, so quietly. “I’ll be there…”

Jisung’s body was lifted off the ground and slammed into a wall. He squirmed against the shadows holding him in place. 

And when he looked into Chan’s turbulent eyes, he made his choice.

A spark. And another. Dancing across his skin. 

He was sobbing in grief and agony, he was crying and mourning and every emotion was hitting him at once. And they were begging to be let loose.

The electricity gathered inside him, building up with every cry. Each tear became fuel for the energy.

Find me, he thought desperately.

He roared, and the electricity exploded outwards.

He felt himself fall to the ground, and felt the recoil course through his body. The echo of the explosion rang in his ears as he lay still for a moment.

He opened his eyes to a cloud of dust hanging in the air. He got to his feet, not sure of his surroundings anymore, not able to see a thing.

But he began running. He began running because he was going to find Hyunjin.

And they were going to go home. Even if the whole fucking world forbade it, they would get home.

Chapter Text

Hyunjin flinched when he heard the explosion.

He could feel the aftershock from it underneath his feet, the sound still echoing in his ears. And in the sky, he saw sparks.

Sparks.

His feet began moving before he could think. Even if he was running straight into danger, if there was a possibility of finding Jisung he would follow it. He had to, he would find him.

The air was thick with smoke, and the further he went, the more there was. He knew he was going in the right direction. At least he hoped.

He turned down an alleyway, and he heard it before he saw it through the fog.

Someone was running towards him. His skin was crackling with the light of electricity.

“Jisung?” Hyunjin breathed.

Jisung barrelled into him, wrapping his arms around Hyunjin in a desperate, clumsy embrace. He was crying, and Hyunjin vaguely felt the tears on his shoulder.

“I found you.” Jisung sobbed.

Hyunjin held onto him, not wanting to ever let go. “I found you first.” He murmured, burying his face into Jisung’s hair.

“Jisung!” A voice shouted, as several people were running towards them. Hyunjin recognised his friends in a few of the faces, but still didn’t know who to trust after Minho had double crossed him. He didn’t know them, they weren’t his friends, not in this world.

Shakily, he pulled his pistol out and pointed it at them. “Stay back!” He yelled, breathing unevenly.

“Where the hell do you think you’re pointing that?” Changbin shouted incredulously, but stopped moving along with the others. They were all staring at him with wide eyes, like they couldn’t believe he was there.

“Hyunjin, no.” Jisung tugged his arm down so that the gun faced the floor. “I trust them.”

“Do you really?” Hyunjin said in a stilted tone. “Because so far in this world, I met Chan and Minho, and they tried to kill me.”

Jisung went silent suddenly.

“We’re not with them.” Felix said firmly. “We’re fighting against them. You two from this world were too, it’s… how you died.”

Hyunjin thought of the dream he’d had, and his eyebrows furrowed. Carefully, he put his pistol back in the waistband of his jeans. “Okay.” He said. “Okay, now someone needs to explain to me what the hell is going on. Why the hell was my boyfriend running away and crying when I found him?”

“We were fighting some ghouls, but Jisung… You ran off. What happened?” One of the strangers asked.

Jisung was trembling, but he spoke. “I… I met Minho… and…” He broke off.

“What did he do to you?” Hyunjin said softly, his mind already a raging inferno.

“He didn’t do anything!” Jisung yelled. “I talked to him, he was on our side, he always was, he was trying to protect everyone! He didn’t want to help Chan, he wanted to protect you guys! But then, then Chan appeared and he called Minho a traitor, and he, he protected me, I think, he stood in front of me, it went by so fast, and he told me to leave and I didn’t want to, but then Chan attacked me and I didn’t know what to do, but I fought back and I ran away-” He stopped again, breathing heavily.

No one spoke a word in the silence that followed.

“Minho’s dead.” Jisung eventually said, his voice choked up.

Hyunjin didn’t know what else to do, so he pulled Jisung into his arms again. It had been too long since he had held him, he didn’t want to let go. Everything seemed all too real now; death looming over them in this unforgiving world. They needed to get home.

“I’m sorry, Jisung…” He murmured, as his boyfriend shook in his arms.

“He told me to find you. And to go home…” Jisung said in an almost bewildered voice. “He…”

“Oh…” Hyunjin breathed, as a shiver ran through him. “Oh. I believe you. I… there was this shadow that appeared to me. It didn’t hurt me. But it spoke. It told me to go home…”

“You think Minho sent it?”

“Yeah.”

There was a bright flash in the sky, followed by a deep rumbling of thunder. The dark clouds that had always lingered looked like they were about to let loose.

Jisung clung onto Hyunjin tighter. “I want to go home… I want Chan…”

“Hyunjin, is it?” One of the strangers asked, a sympathetic look on his face. “Our base isn’t far from here. Let’s take him inside before it starts pouring.”

Hyunjin took a deep breath, and nodded. Jisung would be safe. He trusted these people, so Hyunjin had to believe in that, and escape from the oncoming storm.

-

The shadow led them back to the station. Of course it did.

“Maybe we should just camp out here.” Jeongin mused, as he dragged his feet along the concrete floor. He was scuffing up his shoes, but he didn’t really care about that right now. “It’s clearly the place to be if you’re into interdimensional travel.”

The shadow itself had stopped moving, swirling near the edge of the platform, just before the line, as if it were a commuter late for work. The aura it gave off was still cold, but not hostile. It seemed to just… want to go home.

Jeongin didn’t know how he figured that one out. Maybe he was empathically attuned to shadows now. A fun, little souvenir left over from his time being possessed. 

“I understand your point,” Seungmin replied, “However, it’s not good to linger in spots like this. Keeping watch from afar is always the better option. But for now…” He focused his gaze on the shadow, frowning. “Let’s see what it does.”

“It’s waiting.” Jeongin said.

Everyone stared at him.

“No, don’t ask me why I know that. I think we can all guess it has to do with the thing starting with ‘possess’ and ending in ‘ion’.”

“So what, you’re a shadow mind reader now?” Minho raised an eyebrow.

“They don’t really have thoughts… But I suppose. I don’t know, I don’t exactly come across them in my day to day life so surprisingly, I didn’t realise I could… get vibes from them.”

“Get vibes?” Changbin said exasperatedly.

“I don’t know how else to describe it, leave me alone.”

“Makes sense to me.” Felix shrugged. “Just like how you get vibes from people, too, right?”

Seungmin seemed to become simultaneously more and less distressed by the revelation of Jeongin’s newly uncovered talent. He looked between the shadow, and Jeongin, and back again a couple of times, before finally speaking up. “Can you tell what it’s waiting for?”

Jeongin shook his head. “No, but like… from context clues, can we not assume that it’s the portal? Train-portal thing? To the inter-between?”

“Inbetween,” Seungmin corrected, “And yeah, I think so too, I just wanted to check how far this… ‘vibe sensing’ goes.”

“I’m guessing there’s not a portal timetable anywhere round here?” Minho glanced around jokingly. “I mean, how long is it going to wait? How long are we going to stand here watching it? Because I will pitch a tent if you say longer than twenty minutes.”

“I don’t know…” Jeongin murmured. 

It turns out, not long.

The shadow glitched, a mess of colours and light, swirling and jerking around. Jeongin felt a pull in his gut, something was coming, faster and faster, nearly, almost, now .

With a terrifying screeching sound, something materialised in front of them.

“The train ,” Chan breathed.

Through the windows, the purple field was visible, and the bright sunlight shone even brighter as the doors hissed open. The shadow slipped inside, and the doors began beeping, indicating they were about to close.

“We’ve got to go through. This is our only chance,” Seungmin raised his voice determinedly, “We’re walking through those doors! Just remember… The Inbetween is dangerous. It will pull you in with the promise of paradise, but you can’t give in to it.”

“Let’s go.” Chan said, and broke into a run, headed towards the doors. Everyone followed suit. Just as they passed through the portal, the whole world shifted.

-

“I see.” Hyunjin simply said once the others had finished explaining everything to him. He felt bad for taking up their attention when they clearly needed to grieve, half of them holding back tears that were long overdue. The air of this dingy living room was soiled by the whirlwind of emotions raging inside it. Jisung had curled up on the sofa, and eventually fallen asleep. Hyunjin sat next to him, a protective arm laying on top of him.

Changbin laughed bitterly. “You guys should really get home. What happened today has proven that it’s too dangerous here. I don’t care that you dealt with it before, it can’t have been on this scale. You need to go home.”

“I know.” Hyunjin replied. “I came here to bring him home. I should’ve known he would be stupid and try to help you out.”

“You know, he has helped already.” Seungmin said. “He found us some allies. It was a bit of an uphill struggle at first, but I think we stand a chance now. And I mean that not including either of you two.”

“I want to help fight…” Came a soft murmur, as Jisung’s head rose up and he blinked at them sleepily. 

“Sung…” Hyunjin spoke hesitantly. “We can’t.”

Jisung gazed at the wall, his eyes unfocused. “I want to help.”

“Don’t you want to go home?” Hyunjin felt his tone become harsher. “Everyone is waiting for us back there. I know you’ve had other people with you, but I didn’t. Do you know how lonely, how… fucking scared I was, Sung? Now that I’ve finally found you, we have to go home. It’s not safe to stay in another world, Seungmin drilled that into our heads far too many times, but he’s right.”

Jisung didn’t reply for a moment, and then, “What do you think Chan would do?”

“Huh?” Hyunjin gaped at him as the rest of the room was stunned into silence. “What do you mean?”

“If, if he was in a different world, and had to fight against one of us. What do you think he would do?” 

Hyunjin bit his lip, thinking about it. “I’m not sure… I don’t think he would be able to just leave. But I’m not sure he would have the courage to fight against his friend either. He’d… probably try to talk them down. Make them see reason.”

“I did try that…” Jisung murmured. “Didn’t work, of course. And if I had kept trying I probably would’ve died.”

“What’s the conclusion you’re trying to reach here? That you’re doing better than Chan would in your place?”

“Chan always tries to do the right thing. But sometimes he takes it too far. He can’t back down from an issue, he can’t just leave it alone. So if he could only choose between fighting and leaving, he’d stay to fight.”

Hyunjin looked at how determined Jisung was, the fire in his eyes. He had always looked up to Chan. He wouldn’t back down, because the two of them were similar in that aspect. They didn’t give up. And Hyunjin could tell that right now Jisung wasn’t going to give up.

“Okay. We stay on one condition: if at any point a portal back home opens up, we go through it. We can’t let the opportunity slip through our fingers.”

“How would that happen?”

“The others back home are trying to find us.” He explained what had happened in the arcade. “I heard Seungmin’s voice. It sounded like they were trying to open a portal.”

“They can do that?”

“I think so. I don’t know. But we can’t waste their efforts when they succeed.”

Jisung nodded. “Alright.”

Chapter Text

In the Inbetween, the wind was whispering.

Look. Listen. Understand.

Felix felt the world around him fade away.

-

Jisung was looking at the photos again. Lately, he’d been quieter than ever, staring into the distance with a blank expression. He’d been the closest with Chan out of all of them - they’d practically grown up together - so he struggled to turn his back on the past the most. He held a photo frame in his hands, so tenderly, gazing down at the picture of all eight of them on the rooftop. 

Felix didn’t know whether to talk to him. He more than often had Hyunjin beside him, providing silent reassurance. But it was heartbreaking to see the once happy couple become so sombre.

They all were, these days.

The warehouse door opened, Jeongin and Changbin staggering through. Jeongin’s left leg was gushing out blood.

“Minho’s fucking bombs…” Jeongin panted.

“Hey, just sit down,” Changbin pushed him into one of the chairs in the medical area, “Which painkiller?”

“Something strong. Knock me out.” Jeongin’s face was screwed up in agony.

Felix teleported over to them, “How can I help?”

“It’s shrapnel,” Changbin explained as he handed Jeongin a couple of pills, “From one of Minho’s bombs. Pick a piece, pull it out, disinfect, stitch it up, and bandage for good measure.”

Looking more closely through the blood, Felix could see several small bits of metal embedded into Jeongin’s leg. He was already bleeding a lot, and when they were pulled out it would be even worse.

“That’s why we do it one at a time,” Changbin said, pulling on a pair of plastic gloves, and handing a pair to Felix. It was as if he read his mind.

“We still got food,” Jeongin murmured feverishly, “In the bag by the door. So not a total failure of a supply run.”

“That’s not important right now.”

“Were you injured as well?” Felix asked Changbin as he slowly pinched a piece of shrapnel, tugging it out. 

“No,” He coughed, “Just inhaled a lot of smoke. Can’t do much about that.”

“A ghoul scratched his shoulder,” Jeongin snitched, just before his eyes slipped shut as the anaesthetic took hold.

“Then we’ll deal with that afterwards.” Felix replied.

“I’ll help,” Jisung’s voice was quiet, but firm, “Is it the left shoulder?” He’d walked over without them even noticing.

“It’s not urgent, Jisung,” Changbin said, “It’s fine. We don’t want it getting too crowded over here.”

“I want to help.”

Felix leaned close to Changbin, and whispered in his ear, “He’s in one of his moods. Let him help.”

“Okay, fine.” Changbin said loud enough for them both to hear.

The door creaked open again.

“You left groceries on the fl- shit, what happened?” Hyunjin ran over immediately. There was a crash as Seungmin dumped the ammunition boxes on the floor, joining them.

“Bomb,” Changbin grunted. He was trying to stitch up one of Jeongin’s wounds, whilst Jisung was simultaneously dabbing his shoulder with a cotton bud soaked in alcohol. Every few seconds, he winced, clearly not happy with the distraction.

“It’s okay, we’ve got it handled,” Felix tried to smile reassuringly at the two who had just come in, “You can put the ammo away, and the food too.”

“If you say so.” Seungmin exhaled slowly. “At least we all made it back.”

“Not everyone’s back, there’s only six-” Jisung began, and trailed off. His face just looked confused, and it broke Felix’s heart. He tried to focus on cleaning Jeongin’s wounds.

Hyunjin pulled him aside, “Jisung. Hey, no, come on. They’ve got it handled, they said so.”

“I was helping…”

“It’s okay. It’ll be okay, I promise.”

“I’m sorry,” Jisung was crying now. Felix couldn’t see, he refused to look, but he heard the way Jisung’s voice changed, his breaths becoming shaky, “I was lost in my head again. I just wish they were still with us…”

No one else breathed a word. The whole warehouse fell deathly silent, the air as cold as ice. It felt like a knife being stabbed into each of their hearts, and twisted, over and over. Jisung was saying what they all wanted to say, but weren’t brave enough to. It was better to forget who they were fighting than acknowledge it and face that pain.

The first sound was Hyunjin’s shuddering sob, “I know. I do, too. But they’re gone, Jisung, we can’t pretend otherwise. And I know you spend ages staring at the photos, reminiscing - and I don’t think we should forget the past, but, but we’ve got to keep fighting! Jisung, you can’t fight if you’re caught up on all these ‘what ifs’.”

“I don’t want to fight him, Hyunjin.” 

“Then do you want to die?” Hyunjin’s voice grew louder. It was descending into a fight, now. “You don’t think Chan would kill any of us, if it came down to it? He’s already proven there’s no line he won’t cross. No one else is fighting, it has to be us. We have to fight, because if we don’t, everyone will die. The whole fucking planet. He’s going to tear it apart.”

“I KNOW!” Jisung screamed. “I know, stop acting like I’m stupid!”

“Well, you’re saying that you don’t want to fight him!”

“Because I don’t! I never said I wouldn’t!”

“Then you need to fucking snap out of it! I can’t lose you, don’t you get it? Everytime you go all quiet and in your own head, it feels like you’re not here anymore!”

“Guys, maybe take a breather, yeah?” Felix said.

“Yeah.” Jisung replied. “Yeah, I’ll take a breather. Outside .” He started walking to the door.

Seungmin followed after him, “Okay, then I’ll-”

“Alone.”

“Jisung, no. I’ll go with you, it’s not safe.”

Jisung picked up a gun, “Happy? I’m not so incompetent that I can’t shoot a few ghouls. I’m not gonna die like five minutes from base.”

“Jisung, just let me go with you, I won’t even say anything-”

“I don’t need your protection! Just leave me alone!” He stormed out, and the door shut with a thud.

Hyunjin trembled where he stood, crying even harder. “Seungmin, please go after him.”

“Yeah,” Seungmin replied, “I’ll hide myself in an illusion.” He grabbed a radio and headed out.

An hour later, they’d long since finished treating Jeongin’s wounds, but the younger boy had begun to stir. As soon as he woke up, he seemed to sense the skewed atmosphere.

Felix and Changbin were trying to stay busy, sorting through the supplies, taking stock of what food they had and planning meals for the week. Hyunjin was pacing up and down the warehouse, his worry permeating into the air like poison.

“Hooray, I lived,” Jeongin muttered, “Where’s Jisung and Seungmin?”

Hyunjin stopped pacing, looking at him, “They’re out.” He said.

“Why are you all acting like something bad has happened?”

“Because I fought with Jisung,” Hyunjin admitted, “He stormed out. Seungmin went to keep an eye on him.”

Felix paused where he was stacking tins on top of each other, his stomach restless with anxiety, “It’s been a while since they left. Maybe I should-”

He was cut off by a staticky crackle from a radio on the side.

“Guys,” Seungmin’s voice sputtered through the radio, “Get here right now-” He frantically rattled off directions, “Jisung’s trying to fight Chan on his own. I’ll do what I can but we need fucking backup- shit! ” Crashes were heard in the background.

All of them were equipped and at the door before the message even ended. Even their barely conscious youngest.

“Jeongin-” Felix tried.

“Fuck you, I’m high on adrenaline, this shit is numb, I’m going, you’re not making me stay behind and if you do I’ll never forgive you.”

And that was that.

They made their way through the city, running like their lives depended on it. In a way, they did. Jisung’s did.

All Felix could feel was a sinking dread in his stomach as his feet pounded across the pavement, like something was going to happen, something bad. Something worse than all that he had already been through. He could feel blood pumping right to the tips of his fingers, every nerve alight with fear.

“Felix, you should go ahead,” Changbin said, “We’ll catch up.”

Felix took a deep breath, and nodded. He teleported to a side street near where Seungmin had directed them to, and ran to the edge of it, peering round the corner to see shadows and lightning tangling together like a storm cloud brought down from the sky.

When he looked closer, he noticed that the street rippled with the hazy effect of illusions.

“Took you long enough,” Seungmin whispered in his ear, pulling him into an alleyway, and he became visible like ink bleeding onto a canvas, “Right now I’m making all of Jisung’s movements delayed to Chan, but we need an actual plan, we need to get him out of here.”

“I can be a distraction,” Felix replied lowly, “I’m pretty good at that. The others are on their way - what if we got Jeongin to stay here and protect you, and that way you can really focus on making a stronger illusion? Make it seem like all of us are fighting. Then we can all get out of here.”

Seungmin nodded, “I’m running low on fumes, but I think I can do it. We need to be quick, though.”

“I’ll see how close the others are-” Felix broke off, as something rolled into the mouth of the alley beeping. “Seungmin, grab onto me!”

Seungmin’s hand gripped his bicep, but on his other arm, he felt the cool sensation of metal against skin.

Minho’s eyes were cold and unfeeling. “Go ahead, teleport away. But you’re taking me with you.”

Felix yelled, trying to pull his arm away, but it was no use. Minho’s grip was unwavering.

The beeping grew faster.

“Seungmin, run!” 

Seungmin didn’t run, instead pulling out a gun and pointing it at Minho, “Let go!”

Minho laughed, “Oh,” He crooned, “Are you going to shoot me, Seungmin?”

“I said let go!”

Minho’s grin grew wider, “Too late.”

BANG .

Felix was thrown backwards by the impact, landing on the ground painfully. 

Through the smoke, Minho was still standing, unharmed, as he looked down on them. “You two just stay here.” He said quietly.

Felix coughed, pushing himself up on his elbows, “Seungmin?”

“I’m here,” Seungmin croaked, materialising next to a wall he was leaning on, breathing heavily. There was a cut on his cheek oozing deep red blood. 

Felix glanced back to the mouth of the alley, only seeing smoke. “Minho’s gone.”

“Let me help you up,” Seungmin held out a hand, pulling him to his feet.

“Thanks,” Felix breathed.

“I’m sorry. I should have just shot him.”

“Don’t apologise. Come on, we’ve got to just get to Jisung and get him out of here. Screw the plan, I don’t care if we’re in plain sight. I’ll teleport all of you with me if I have to.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, that could kill you. I’m okay, I still have strength to keep up some illusions. I’ll cover us as we go in, but I don’t think I can hide Jisung from Chan, not when his full attention is on him.”

Just as Felix and Seungmin were about to creep onto the battlefield, they heard footsteps behind them. The others had caught up, breathing heavily from running so fast. Jeongin looked on the verge of passing out.

“Where’s Jisung? What’s the plan?” Hyunjin asked, raising his eyebrows at both of them.

“Jisung’s still fighting Chan, he’s holding out for now. I can hide us in an illusion.” Seungmin said. “But someone needs to distract Chan so that Jisung can get away.”

Changbin clenched his fist, “I’ve got something up my sleeve. Leave it to me.”

“Okay, then let’s go.”

They all crept onto the street, blending into the scenery as if they weren’t there. 

Felix turned his attention to the confrontation happening, his heart in his throat as he saw how exposed Jisung was. There was no easy way out of this but he’d be damned if they didn’t find one. The only problem was that they were relying on Seungmin’s power too much, and he was already weakened from the explosion.

“If you came with us, it wouldn’t be like this,” Minho said. He was standing on the edge of the street, fiddling with a metal sphere.

Jisung wiped blood away from his nose, “Why escape from a rotten world when you’ll only bring the rot with you? You’ll be murderers forever. You can’t erase the lives you’ve taken.”

“Yes, I can.” Chan said nonchalantly. “Each world is a fresh slate. If you’re dead here, you’ll be alive somewhere else.”

“Oh, why don’t you just kill me then?”

“Gladly-”

Chan was punched in the jaw by Changbin, who broke out of Seungmin’s illusion, and he was sent tumbling to the ground from the force of it.

Changbin grinned, shaking his hand, blood dripping from his knuckles, “Been saving the impact from one of Minho’s bombs. Hurts, doesn’t it?”

Chan got to his feet, wiping the blood from his face. “You can’t win this fight. I could kill all of you, right now. I don’t need to see through Seungmin’s illusions. I’ll just wipe out this whole street.”

“You’re not going to do that,” Jisung said, “You couldn’t. You may be a murderer but I know deep down somewhere you still care, Chan.”

“Jisung, don’t,” Changbin murmured, “Run while I’ve got him distracted.”

“No matter what world you travel to, you won’t find me there.” Jisung continued, ignoring the warning, “I won’t be the same. If you kill us, you will lose the last shred of humanity you have left. Just think about that.”

Chan smiled, eerily. “You’re right, Jisungie. There is still a part of me that cares.”

“Listen to it. Please .”

“Attachment is a burden. It’s been holding me back all this time.”

The shadows swirled, round and round, like a tornado. It grew larger in size, sending gusts of wind through the air, and suddenly the illusion covering the rest of them broke, as Seungmin staggered back from the force of it. His face was pale, and his hands shook.

“Chan, please…” Jisung begged.

“We need to go,” Felix said, “Forget about fighting, let’s just go!”

It was too late, as from the tornado a shadow reached out towards Changbin, grabbing him and tossing him across the street. And then more shadow tendrils emerged, heading towards each of them like vipers poised to strike. 

Felix teleported to dodge out of the way, and he would have continued doing so. But he froze as a certain sound reached his ears.

Jisung let out a bloodcurdling scream, shadows tearing into him like the claws of a monster. He was pinned to the floor, defenceless as his blood spilled onto the ground.

“JISUNG! NO!” Hyunjin shrieked, running towards him, but with terrifying accuracy, a shadow solidified, knocking him to the ground. He landed headfirst on the tarmac with a sickening crack, blood pooling around his head.

Another shadow headed for Felix, and he teleported out of the way out of instinct. Get out, get out, get out, his mind screamed at him, Save them.

Everything around him was a blur, he had tunnel vision. 

He appeared next to Jeongin, scooping him up with one arm. “Felix, what are you doing?!”

He grabbed onto Seungmin with the other arm.

Changbin was the furthest away, staring at Felix with dawning horror in his eyes, but he was there in a second, hooking a leg around him, making contact. 

And then just like that they were no longer on the street. They were back at base.

Felix collapsed to his knees immediately.

“WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO?!” Jeongin screamed, “WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?”

Felix opened his mouth, and vomited onto the floor. Everything was spinning. The world didn’t feel real anymore. 

Jeongin was shaking him by the shoulders, “GO BACK, GO BACK THERE RIGHT NOW-”

“Jeongin, no,” Seungmin sobbed, pulling him away.

Changbin put a trembling hand on his back, not saying anything. Felix looked up at him, hardly able to see through his tears, but he collapsed into his arms, whispering over and over, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry… ”

Changbin just hugged him, as if he never wanted to let go.

-

With a gasp, Felix fell onto the purple grass of the Inbetween, suddenly back from whatever that was. 

Some kind of vision. Or… memory.

As he got to his feet, he looked at the others beside him - their eyes were wide, and watery. They all looked just as disorientated as he felt. Had they seen it too?

“Well,” Minho let out a forced laugh, “Uh, what now? Cause I seriously want to get the hell out of here.”

Seungmin strode through the grass slowly, his legs trembling slightly, “I don’t know. I- I thought we’d all be fighting the urge to stay here, not the other way around. Something’s wrong.”

“I don’t think we’re welcome here,” Jeongin murmured.

“That was the other world, wasn’t it?” Chan asked, his voice hoarse, “The one Jisung and Hyunjin are stuck in.”

“They’re fine,” Seungmin replied, without confidence, “They have to be.”

“I don’t know what you guys saw, but they weren’t fine,” Changbin said shakily.

“Let’s just keep going. We can’t give up.”

No one argued, and so they began their journey through the purple field. Up ahead, it looked like there was some sort of shape rising out of the grass. Circular and shining in the sunlight.

As they drew closer, Felix realised it was a huge mirror, just lying in the grass. Something about it seemed charged with energy, like everything in this place, but the mirror seemed to scream out more, it seemed to beckon them to come closer. Daring them to.

Together, they all peered into the mirror. Inside it was their own reflections, only different. They looked older, wearier. Like the weight of the world was slowly crushing them.

DING!

The sound made Felix jump. He turned around, to see an elevator, its doors opening.

“No,” Chan said before anyone spoke, “No, we can’t go in there.”

“Why not?” Felix asked. “It could take us to them.”

“No, it won’t because last time- Changbin, back me up here, you remember what happened-”

Changbin walked over to the elevator, running his hand along its side. He knocked on the metal, and it rang hollowly. “Seems normal. Hang on, Jeongin, come over here. Use your shadow vibe thing.”

Jeongin raised an incredulous eyebrow, but approached the lift, tilting his head. “There’s no shadows. I’d know.”

“It could be a trick.” Chan said.

“I think it’ll take us out of here.”

“But we don’t want to leave, we need to find them!”

“Maybe this is how!” Jeongin shot back. “Seungmin, what do you think?”

Seungmin was still looking at the mirror. He didn’t respond.

“Seungmin?”

“Something in there…” He mumbled.

Felix tried to see what he was looking at. It didn’t look like a mirror anymore, it looked like ice, opaque and murky. It had fogged up, and lines began to form on the condensation, as if drawn. Eventually they formed a word.

Paradox.

The letters turned dark and wispy, the shapes rising out of the mirror like smoke. One brushed against Felix’s arm, and he jerked back, as it stung like fire. “Guys…”

“We’re not welcome here.” Jeongin repeated. “We need to go.”

Behind them, the elevator was still there, doors open. Waiting.

They all began running to the doors, all except one. Seungmin stood still, staring at the smoke as the colour drained from his face.

“Seungmin!” Felix yelled, teleporting back over and dragging him along.

The smoke grew darker. No, not smoke. It wasn’t smoke anymore. It was shadows, and it began to chase them.

The others were already inside the elevator, screaming at them, “GET INSIDE!”

The doors began closing.

Felix ran faster, and he used all his strength to push Seungmin ahead, through the doors. Everything started happening too quickly. The gap was too small for him to fit through, it was pressing painfully against his and Seungmin’s hands, where they were linked together. It would crush them, surely.

So Felix did something very stupid, and he let go.

Chapter Text

Jisung dreamed of the shadows. They hid behind every corner, they drifted through the air like fog, they bled out of the clouds and marred the sky until no light remained. The world was consumed.

“Jisung.” He was shaken awake by Hyunjin, who looked at him with worry written all over his face. “It’s… They found another portal. This might be it.”

Jisung swallowed, nodding as he sat up. “We can do this.” He murmured. His mind reminded him of the memory of bleeding out, of everything fading and entering cold nothingness. 

“Sung?”

“Huh?”

“You zoned out. What’s wrong, what is it?”

He shrugged, trying to look unbothered. “Nothing. Just, you know… remembering the feeling of dying.”

Hyunjin gently took his hand, lips quivering. “I remember it too. It was terrifying, not only dying but losing you at the same time… We won’t let it happen. We’ll get through this.”

Jisung nodded numbly. “Yeah,” He croaked.

“Remember our promise? If we can go home, we go. No matter what, even if it’s mid battle. Okay?”

“Yeah. I know.”

They convened in the living room of the base, which was now considerably more crowded than when Jisung had first been there. Wonpil had his tablet open on the table, which displayed a map with several pulsating red dots on it.

“There’s more,” He said, “About five have opened now, I think. One of them might lead you two home, the question is which one.”

“Wherever we show up, Chan will too, won’t he?” Jisung asked, his mouth dry.

“I think so,” Changbin nodded, “We need to be ready to fight.”

“Hyunjin,” Jisung said, as a thought occurred to him, “How did you get here? The portal I went through closed.”

Hyunjin laughed sheepishly, “Ah. That. I went to the train station.”

“But the portal there didn’t lead here, it led to that purple field-”

“Yeah, I went there-”

“Purple field?” Wonpil interjected, “The Inbetween?”

“The what now?” Jisung raised his eyebrows.

“It’s an intermediary dimension that links parallel worlds. It’s safe to say our two worlds are parallel, so it would make sense. It’s dangerous to go there, you know.”

“Believe me, we know,” Jisung murmured, “I’ve been there before too. Got stuck in a lift and Hyunjin fainted out of fright-”

“I did not faint , I knocked my head and none of you thought to check for a concussion.”

“Huh, is that why you thought we kidnapped you?”

“You did kidnap me.”

“We rescued you, really. I could have left you there, you know.”

“Then you would have missed out on the valuable experience of trauma bonding.”

Wonpil cleared his throat. “I’m not going to ask. But Jisung’s point still stands, regardless: you can’t just pick a universe and go there. It doesn’t work like that, even from the Inbetween.”

Hyunjin sighed, “I don’t know how I did it. I just… I wanted to find Jisung. That’s all I was thinking about. And my gut told me to jump through the mirror, which ended up maybe being a bad idea because I fell through the sky-”

“What?” Jisung said sharply.

“Minho caught me.” Hyunjin’s voice lowered. “And I was here. I really don’t know why.”

“The power of love…?” Jae ventured in the tense silence that followed.

“That’s a nice idea, but…” Wonpil shook his head. “I don’t think it’s possible. We’ve already established that reality isn’t collapsing in on itself because you two are… filling a gap, so to speak. That might have had something to do with it, but still, there’s got to be a million parallel worlds that you both died in.”

“I guess I was just lucky,” Hyunjin murmured, unconvincingly. 

Jisung hummed, a suspicion worming its way into his mind. “Well, maybe it’s a question for later. Back to the portals: if one of them is the right one, it should be pulling us back, right? Wait, hang on - Felix, you can teleport with other people, I keep forgetting.”

Felix nodded, “Yeah, why?”

“Wait, really?” Hyunjin said in awe.

“It’s really cool,” Jisung replied, fighting a grin, “But anyway, if it wouldn’t be too difficult, could you teleport us very quickly to each portal to like… test the vibes?”

“Yes, but…” Felix grimaced, “I can only really take one person with me at a time.” His face clouded over, “I did take more than that, once, but…”

“He was vomiting for days,” Changbin said quietly.

“That can still work, if you take just me-” Jisung began.

“No,” About five people said at the same time.

“You’re not going just the two of you,” Hyunjin scowled.

“It’s way too dangerous,” Jeongin added, “I know Felix can teleport away but Chan is fast, and if he separates you…”

Jisung sighed. “Fine. But if we do this the long way, we’ll all be in danger.”

“That’s the point,” Younghyun said gently, “We’ll have each other’s backs. There’s strength in numbers.”

“Which portal should we go to first, then?” Wonpil asked, “They’re all just as dangerous.”

“The one in the park,” Seungmin said decisively as he glanced at the map, and then hesitated, “If everyone agrees with me. I think it’s a good location if a fight does break out. The trees provide natural coverage, and that’s useful to work into my illusions. The more I have to work with, the better.”

“Okay. Let’s do this.”

-

“FELIX!” Chan yelled, banging desperately on the doors. The elevator shuddered into motion, jerkily moving down. He tried prying the doors open, but it was no use, they wouldn’t budge.

Seungmin had sunk to the floor, cradling his shaking fingers. They were bent at an odd angle that was sickening to look at, “It’s all my fault…” He said.

“No,” Jeongin said softly, “Don’t be stupid.”

“We should never have come here. I don’t even know what I’m doing anymore, and now we’re paying the price.”

“No one said you needed to know everything,” Minho snapped, “Look, I know you’re like, disgustingly smart, but you’re still human.”

“I let go.”

“Yeah, because your fingers are broken .”

Chan rested his forehead against the cool metal wall, as the others continued debating fault and guilt. He still felt trapped in that vision. Jisung and Hyunjin, dead at his hands. And now Felix was left behind.

He didn’t like being inside the elevator. He didn’t trust it, he didn’t trust the Inbetween. This was where Jisung and Hyunjin had almost died last time, he could still hear Jisung’s terrified voice through a phone call echoing in his mind. 

What was worse was that without his power, he was defenseless against the shadows. He couldn’t protect anyone this time.

The elevator smoothly came to a stop. But the doors remained closed.

“What…” Chan muttered, once again trying to force the metal open, but to no avail. “Great. Now we’re stuck here.”

“I think the mirror was a portal,” Seungmin said.

Everyone turned to him, waiting for him to elaborate.

“We couldn’t have gone through it, though. That vision that we saw…” His voice shook, “It was of the other world, where alternate versions of us exist. But Jisung and Hyunjin don’t…” He took a deep breath, “The writing on the mirror was a warning to not go any further. Two versions of the same person existing at once would create a paradox.”

“If we can’t go there,” Chan said, “How are we supposed to save them?”

Seungmin’s lip trembled, “I don’t know,” He said quietly.

“Hm,” Minho hummed abruptly, “Does anyone have keys or something sharp?”

“I do,” Chan fished his house keys out of his pocket, “Why?”

Minho took them, and turned to the button on the wall that said ‘hell’. “So the doors won’t open - then we make them open. I’m sure I can figure this out. There’s a hatch here,” He pointed below the button. “I don’t have a screwdriver, so I’ll make do with these.” He waved the keys in the air, and pointed the sharp end of it into one of the screws of the hatch.

“What are you doing?”

“We go find Felix,” Minho said simply, “That’s the first step. Let’s not get caught up in what happens next until we know he’s safe.”

He unscrewed the hatch, and began fiddling around with several wires inside, humming to himself. He was so calm, and level-headed, despite everything that had happened.

Chan sighed, and squeezed his shoulder, “Thanks.” He said quietly.

Something inside the hatch sparked, and the elevator shuddered.

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” Changbin questioned.

“Nope,” Minho replied, “But I’d like to see you do any better.”

“Touché.” 

“Maybe we don’t have to go there,” Seungmin said. He still looked deep in thought, not able to relax.

“Seungmin, Minho’s right, let’s focus on right now,” Chan said.

“I mean, we could find the right portal, but we don’t have to go through it. We just need to make them come back.”

“Seungmin,”

“We could throw something through, like a note… or…”

Jeongin flicked him on the forehead, “Stop it. You’re trying to distract yourself from your emotions by thinking about a plan.”

Seungmin scowled at him, “I was getting somewhere with that. And I’m not distracting myself…” He said unconvincingly. 

The elevator shuddered again, and then it began to move upwards.

“I so know what I’m doing,” Minho said proudly, grinning, “Let’s go find Felix.”

“You had no idea it would move, did you,” Changbin said flatly.

“I don’t know what you mean, this was all part of my plan,”

“Is it even going back to the field?”

“Let’s find out,”

The doors slid open, and sure enough, the purple meadow was before them once more. It looked different, though, wisps of shadows snaking through the grass and clinging to it like morning dew.

“Felix!” Chan yelled. He couldn’t see him anywhere, the field was empty of any signs of life.

Jeongin tentatively stepped out into the grass, crushing the wispy shadows beneath his feet, “Oh, this is fine. They won’t hurt us.”

“They were going to before. What changed?” Seungmin breathed.

Jeongin shrugged.

“You’re really helpful, you know that?”

“Felix!” Chan yelled again, cupping his hands over his mouth, trying to ignore how they shook, “Where are you?”

There was a quiet popping sound.

“Oh, good, you made it back. I found the portal, I think, but the shadows won’t let me near it.”

Felix stood behind them, calm as ever, as if he hadn’t just been left in a dangerous, shadow infested realm. His skin was flushed, as if he’d just been for a light jog, nothing more.

Chan wrapped his arms around him, maybe squeezing a little too tightly, “Don’t do that, don’t ever do that again!” He berated as his heart sang with relief.

“I’m sorry,” Felix mumbled.

“Why did you let go?” Seungmin asked shakily.

Felix smiled, “I wanted you to be safe. Shit , your fingers…”

Seungmin waved his concern away, “I’m fine. What do you mean you found the portal?”

Felix pointed at a corner of the field, “It’s over there. I can’t go too close to it, though. The shadows were getting angry. Just like when we got too close to the mirror.”

“Mm,” Jeongin hummed in a sort of agreement, “We can look, but we can’t touch. It’s like being in a museum.”

“How fortunate for us that I predicted this,” Seungmin said dryly, “We just need to… throw something in it, not necessarily ourselves.”

“How do you know that will work?” Changbin argued, “They might not be even anywhere near the portal on the other side.”

“It’s better than doing nothing!”

“I’m not saying it’s not! But I just… I wish there was more we could do. We can’t just sit here waiting…”

Chan nodded in agreement, “We’ve come this far, and apparently broken all the rules in doing so. What’s a few more?”

“This is different,” Seungmin replied, “This could kill us.”

“The paradox? If we’re in the same world as another version of ourselves?”

“Yes. It’s not even about the balance of the multiverse anymore, it’s about staying alive. And we can’t be risking our lives to that extent. It’s too dangerous.”

“Uh…” Jeongin sounded nervous, “How dangerous exactly?”

“Were you not listening?!”

“No, it’s just…” He pointed towards the portal, “Minho.”

Somehow, Minho had managed to walk over to the portal without any of them realising. And he stepped through, disappearing.

Chapter Text

The portal was a shimmer of grey and blue, colours rippling like the waves of a river. Hyunjin couldn’t see what was on the other side, he couldn’t tell if it led home. It was possible that it did, and yet…

When he looked at it, something in his gut twisted, telling him no.

A cold wind blew through the air, as a mass of shadows materialised in front of the portal.

Chan strode out of the shadows, his head held high, “I have to say, I wasn’t expecting such a welcome party.”

A crack rang out as Hyunjin fired a bullet at him. It was blocked effortlessly by the shadows, clattering loudly on the ground of the otherwise silent battlefield.

“You told me about your world, Hyunjin. You said it was good,” He laughed, “What an impossible thing. But it’s true isn’t it? You came here from a dream, an ideal world.”

“I don’t want to talk to you,” Hyunjin hissed, “You have one last chance to walk away from this, or I swear, I’m putting my morals aside if it means I can get Jisung home. I’ll kill you if I have to.”

“I do want to talk.” Chan said amicably, “See, I figured it out. The reason I was never able to leave this world. It would cause a paradox, two versions of the same person existing somewhere at the same time. An impossible thing, an impossible world - but I can make it possible. All I need is your help.”

“Why the fuck would I help you-”

“You say you’ll kill me? Go ahead. Do it.”

Hyunjin’s hands were trembling around his pistol, his mouth dry as he tried to figure out what was going on. Jisung put a hand on his shoulder, silently supporting him.

“Kill me. Kill the me that currently exists in your world.”

Hyunjin laughed incredulously, “You’re insane, you think I’d actually do that-”

“If you do it, I’ll be able to leave this world, and everyone here will live.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Jisung said, “You don’t even know what you’re saying. If our world is so good then why on earth would we ever want you there?”

“Because if you don’t accept this offer, I’ll kill all of you.”

All of them met eyes, hardened determination on their faces. If they were going down, they’d go down fighting. That much was clear.

Jisung clenched his fists, his whole body crackling with lightning, “Bring it on. I’m not alone this time.”

“Pity it won’t make a difference.”

-

Jisung hated fighting Chan.

Not because this man was wearing the face of his best friend, no, he was steadfastly ignoring that. He hated it because it was ridiculously difficult to fight him. The shadows moved differently in the control of someone who truly understood them, not just a power but like an extension of Chan’s limbs, intuitively responding to his every thought.

Of course, the taunting didn’t help either.

“Are you that eager to die?” Chan said as more and more shadows surrounded him, like ink spreading across a canvas, blocking out the light.

“I won’t die again,” Jisung said firmly, “I’ve got people waiting for me back home.”

“Too bad you’ll never see them again.”

Darkness.

He was drowning in it. Falling, hitting the ground. 

Was this what Hyunjin had felt a year ago?

He couldn’t breathe. It crept into his lungs, like tendrils placing roots to grow a parasite, a curse. It smelt like the wind in that purple field, like a sick kind of poison, seeping into his bones. It made him dizzy, so much that he wasn’t sure he’d be able to get back up.

For a moment, he was certain that everything was all over.

But then the spell broke.

“Oh, hey, Chan,” A familiar voice said, “Whatcha doing?”

“Minho?” Chan whispered.

“That’s so crazy, I saw you like five minutes ago, but you weren’t killing people, that’s so funny. Different worlds, eh?”

“You’re from their world, too. You’ve come to save them? That’s too bad.”

“No, I’ve come to save you.”

“What?”

“See, you look like you could use a good knock round the head.”

Through his blurred vision, Jisung saw a metal fist swing, and as it made contact, the shadows released him, and he fell to the ground.

It was Minho. Minho from home, not the broken ghost he was in this world, but the weird guy with a metal arm he had come to love like a brother. And he was alive, and breathing, and Jisung’s chest twisted painfully despite the relief he felt to see it.

“You know,” Minho hummed, “Flash bombs were on the right track. But shadows need light to exist. If I take away the light, where will that leave you?”

Chan struggled to get to his feet, chuckling, “You can’t take away light. Not entirely.”

“You’re lucky I stopped back home before coming here,” He fished two silver pens out of his pocket, “I had time to get these.”

“Your tricks won’t work on me, I know exactly how you think-”

“Oh, really? What am I about to do, then?”

Chan laughed derisively, “You only do one thing, you explode things, you destroy them. That’s all you were ever good for.”

Minho whistled, “Ooh, low blow. Gonna have to talk about that one in therapy. Sure you don’t want to pack it all in and go home?”

“You can’t beat me. You never will. There’s no point even trying.”

“Okay. Have it your way.”

Minho pointed the pens towards Chan, clicking them. 

Chan screamed as two red lights hit his eyes. The shadows moved, as if to protect him, but the lasers cut right through them.

“No light,” Minho said softly, “Not for you. Not anymore.”

It finally clicked in Jisung’s head what Minho was doing. He was blinding Chan with the laser pens. Taking away his ability to see - would it work? Did the shadows only operate based on what he could see? If his eyes could no longer take in light, would they cease to exist?

Chan’s screams were haunting, as they all watched in horror. The shadows seemed to stop protecting him, instead swirling around aimlessly for a while. And when Minho turned off the lasers, they moved back to Chan like a predator about to pounce on its prey. 

As he lay helplessly on the ground, the darkness began attacking him.

“They’ve turned on him,” Jeongin said quietly.

Jisung felt his stomach lurch, thinking of how he had previously died in this world, how it had felt to be torn apart, “Shouldn’t we…” His voice became choked up, lost in a memory again, “It’s a terrible way to die. It’s so painful.”

Felix put an arm around his shoulder, “I’m sorry. We can’t stop it even if we wanted to. I wish… I wish we could.”

“We gave him so many chances,” Seungmin added, “At this point I just want it to be over.”

And it was. The shadows disappeared, and all that was left was silence.

Minho pocketed the pens, pursing his lips. “That wasn’t an easy thing to do. But still. Here we are.” He grinned, “Come on, you two idiots, I’ve come to drag you home.”

Jisung ran up to him, hugging him, “Minho,” He cried, “You’re here-”

“Yeah, I’m here, I don’t really like it, though, so I’m thinking we should get out of here.”

“How did you know what to do?” Hyunjin asked. “You just showed up and knew you had to fight Chan?”

“I had a dream,” Minho replied, “I don’t know, there must’ve been some toxic hallucinogenic fumes in that purple field. I mean, what kind of grass is purple anyway?”

“You went to the Inbetween?” Wonpil said, concerned.

“Yeah, everyone else is waiting there. So we should probably, head back, you know, before Seungmin has an aneurysm.”

Jisung looked at the portal that Minho had emerged from, “Is that the right one?”

Hyunjin nodded confidently. “Definitely.” Jisung wasn’t sure why he was so convinced.

“There’s only one way to find out,” Minho said cheerfully.

“Before you go, Minho,” Changbin said, and took a deep breath, “We forgive you.”

Minho raised his eyebrows, “Don’t know what you’re talking about but okay. It’s nice to know you’re short in every universe, though.”

Changbin bristled, “Oi,”

“We’ll miss you guys,” Felix said, his eyes watering, and the atmosphere became more solemn. Jisung felt his chest twist at the thought of leaving them behind in such an awful world. But they couldn’t come with them. It wouldn’t be right, two versions of the same person existing at once. He had a feeling Chan was right about that much.

The silence was disrupted by a shout.

“Minho!” A familiar voice came from the portal, “Let go of me - MINHO!”

An outstretched hand reached through the portal, and then so did Seungmin’s head. He seemed to be fighting against something, like someone was pulling him back. His whole body was shaking and blurring like TV static as he struggled to break through. 

“I found them,” Minho said smugly, “You don’t look so good.”

Seungmin’s hand twitched, and turned into a glitch of colours for a moment, “Paradox,” He said offhandedly, and looked at the others behind them, “I’m so sorry. I really shouldn’t be doing this.”

The other Seungmin was just staring in disbelief, and clutching his stomach, “I feel sick.”

“This is so weird…” Jisung stage whispered.

“Don’t talk to each other,” Wonpil said, “You’ll make it worse.”

“You didn’t have to come after me, you know,” Minho said, scowling.

“I’m sorry, you’re the third of my friends to go gallivanting off to another world, so quite frankly, fuck the balance of the multiverse. You also didn’t say shit, you just dove right in, so yeah, I’m going to go after you, asshole.” Seungmin’s hand glitched again, and he held it out to them, “All of you, hold on to each other, just in case.”

“This is it, then,” Jisung smiled at his friends from another universe, feeling a little bittersweet, “Thank you guys, seriously.”

“No, the thanks is yours,” Younghyun said sincerely, “Hopefully things in this world will start looking up.”

There was a retching sound as the other Seungmin began puking into a bush.

“That’s our cue to go,” Seungmin said, and walked back through the portal, dragging the rest of them with him. Jisung caught one last glimpse of them all, and then everything shifted around him, as he passed through the rippling portal. It sent shivers down his spine, the sensation akin to a cold gust of wind. 

And then he was face to face with the purple field once more.

Hyunjin squeezed his hand at the sight of it, “Almost home.” 

“Nah,” Jisung grinned as he saw four people running towards them, “We’re already there.”

He’d like to say he kept his composure but he was sobbing, as he threw himself into his best friend’s arms, “I missed you, I missed you so much.”

Chan held him close, rubbing his back. “Me too. Don’t ever do that again.”

He was home. He was safe. It was the best feeling in the world.

“You, young man,” Changbin was berating Hyunjin mid-hug, “Are the biggest lovesick idiot I have ever met.” His eyes were shining with life, with hope. 

“They’re both dumbasses,” Seungmin commented with his usual zeal, “I can’t believe you didn’t break the multiverse. I can’t believe we didn’t break the multiverse getting you back.” 

“Yeah, you just broke your fingers instead,” Minho quipped, and Seungmin scowled, cradling his hand to his chest.

After about ten million more hugs from everyone, Jisung met eyes with Minho, and time seemed to slow down. Sure, he was traumatised by evil Chan as well, and would definitely talk to him about it later, but some people were harder to have serious conversations with. He had to be quick off the mark or he’d never get the opportunity. And Minho would just judge him for looking at him like he was a ghost.

“Hey,” He tugged on his sleeve, “Got a moment to talk?”

Minho raised an eyebrow, but nodded. “What is it?”

They moved away from the others, out of earshot. Jisung was fighting to keep his tears at bay, and pulled him into another hug. He needed to feel the warmth from his body, hear his heart beating. He needed to rid his mind of the boy who’d bled out in his arms.

Minho awkwardly patted his shoulder. “Okay. Cool. This is happening.”

“I…” Jisung sniffed as he pulled away, “I watched you die in my arms.”

Minho’s expression softened a little. Like an echo of himself from another world. “Hey, that wasn’t me. I’m here, aren’t I?”

“He- You- He knew that. We’re not the same as our alternate selves, that much is obvious. But there’s something that ties us together. Like… a soul, or a spirit. An energy. His… last words were ‘Go home, I’ll be there’.”

Minho was silent, but then said, “Sometimes I dream about dying. Not a nightmare, I’ve never been afraid of it. It’s just like… slipping away.”

“Slipping away?” Jisung questioned. It sounded like what he’d experienced in that memory.

“Hey, I don’t really talk about it, but… Being born without an arm led to a whole other bunch of stuff that was fucked up in my body. I ended up having a ton of operations as a baby, and my parents told me they nearly lost me. Sometimes I think I’m just remembering that, in the dreams. And every time I do, I remember how lucky I was to even live past infancy.” He paused. “If I died right now, I wouldn’t have a single regret. That’s just how I live.”

“Minho…”

“Don’t mourn for him, or- me, I guess. Because if you believe every version of ourselves has the same spirit, then that’s not what he would’ve wanted. Life is so… fickle. You don’t know when it will end. He would have died without regret. So don’t mourn the life he didn’t get to live. I’m not the kind of person who fixates on the future.”

Jisung felt his lip trembling, and went in for another hug again. “Thank you…” He murmured, “I’ll try to remember that.”

Minho laughed, the vulnerability disappearing like a switch had been flipped. “Don’t expect my words to help too much, what you really need is a therapy session with Chan. Or fuck your boyfriend, I don’t know. Whatever makes you feel better.”

“Yeah, sure.” Jisung said, and then narrowed his eyes. “Hang on.”

“What?”

“Just to check one other thing…” Jisung said slowly. “Minho… you’re not in love with me, are you?”

Minho pulled a face, and retched. “What the fuck? No.”

Jisung sighed. “Thank god. Tell Seungmin you like him, then.”

Minho’s eyes widened for a second, and then a death glare appeared on his face. “Han Jisung, I’m going to fucking kill you.”

“It’s not my fault you guys act like a married couple. I can’t believe I wasn’t invited to the wedding.”

“Married?” Minho scoffed. “Then how the fuck do I file a divorce?”

“Who are you married to?” Seungmin, speak of the devil, had sidled over.

“Oh, you naive little grasshopper.” Jisung shook his head. “Do you not remember the day you took your vows?”

Seungmin seemed to catch on to what he was implying. “I’ve changed my mind. How do I send you back?”

“Nope, this is a receipt free purchase,” Jisung grinned, “You’re stuck with me. And each other. Now kiss!”

They both stared at him incredulously.

“Or… maybe later.”