Work Text:
"Echoes down the hall"
The night felt haunting, the voices playing in his head sounded faint and pleading. Yejun returned to the school they used to attend, him and Noah. It was a never-ending loop of him hearing faint echoes of laughter that he remembered clearly. But everyday he seeks, the owner of the voice hides. It was as though he was thrown into another universe where Noah hides and he was meant to be the seeker.
He grew more and more anxious, more determined to find the blonde. He couldn't just give up. Years of memories feeling blurry in his head. It was as though he couldn't make out the appearance of the older. Doors opened, him entering the classrooms where the remnants of chalk dust from class was still visible to the eyes - if one squinted hard enough - and yet, nothing. He felt himself getting more exhausted, like he was hit on the head and to be thrown back to the start of the loop.
Then, there he saw. A paper plane, all crumpled up, like some sort of note meant to be given to him from the other male through a teleporter. Picking it up and unfolding the paper plane, he could not believe it. Immediately after, he heard those familiar laughter coming from the school halls again. No, he will find Noah, not just to fulfill a promise, but to ease the growing despair he had since thrown into a loop. A message from Noah, in his neatest handwriting that said: "Come find me" .
"A stage without spotlight"
Every night, like clockwork, he would follow a trail. The glow-in-the-dark stars that kids like having on their ceiling would glow bright and inviting. So he follows the same trail. The trail would lead to the same auditorium, the one where Noah and Bamby go when they attend the same class. Every time, without fail, he would just stand high above, facing the stage as the lights flicker. The flickering lights were sending a signal to find him. The same beat, the same timing between each flicker.
Tonight, he followed the same trail and reached the expected destination. However, the blonde noticed. He was observant or so he was told. He saw a mic stand, one that was never there each night he appeared in the auditorium. This time, it was different. It was there, right in the middle of the stage. The lights no longer flickering in the same pattern he had memorised. The mic stand looked like it was tied with something. He saw a sparkle.
He ran down the steps and got onto the stage to stand where the mic stand was. There it was, Bamby's most beloved friendship band tied to the stand. The blonde could not believe his eyes, his head feeling fuzzy with images in his head. The younger male's warmth was there, but why? If this was an endless loop, he wished for this loop to stop. He grew more desperate, the need to end this game was gnawing at him each growing second. A note tag that Bamby had written for Noah crumpled in the older male's palm: "I'm still waiting."
"Out of focus"
His breaths quickened as he frantically looked around at his surroundings, the tall overgrown hedges all looking familiar. Bamby wasn't counting on himself to enter this overgrown garden maze, but every loop starts with him at the entrance of the maze. Eunho's voice and laughter, soft yet distant. It felt like he was so close yet so far out of reach to him. The familiar laughter that he had come to love was bouncing off the hedge walls of the maze, but at the same time, it sounded foreign.
He came to a turn, one he realised looked unfamiliar. There a stone bench stood, a camera placed delicately on its surface with photos scattered all around - on the ground, on the bench. Each photo captured moments both Bamby and Eunho shared together but yet, the silver haired male looked intentionally out of focus, fuzzy even. Only the older male could be seen with his picture taken sharply by the camera.
His heart started to ache. It was like he was forgetting someone super important to him. He picked up every picture, but one picture stood out the most. It was the same bench, the same turn. His eyes widened as he realised it was as if Eunho had predicted that the pink haired male would be there. He turned over the image and continued to run through the maze. He will not be thrown back to the beginning of the loop, not until he caught hold of Eunho's hand. There it was at the back of the photograph, in Eunho's signature messy handwriting that said, "Hold onto me tightly."
"A rooftop without fireworks"
The sky was cloudy as ever, stars hiding just like how Hamin was hiding from Eunho. The silver-haired male came to the rooftop where he had multiple memories of watching fireworks with the younger male but slowly, the memories started feeling fragmented. Only bits and pieces of the younger were left. His voice, hoarse from constantly shouting for the younger but yet all he received were just the soft touches of wind blowing in his face, as though mocking him for being such a terrible seeker.
He decided to walk around the barricaded edge of the rooftop again, going in circles just like how every day has become a loop. He despised this game with all his heart but yet, there was nothing that he could do to break it. Suddenly, in the corner of his eye, there he saw. The sound of paper flipping in the wind, a sound so unfamiliar to the nights he was previously here. The notebook belonged to Hamin, he would recognize it anywhere.
Inside the pages were Hamin's scribbled thoughts and lyrics that he wrote. The last written page was filled with lyrics that were written and then trailed off, as though he got distracted by something. He flipped non stop, from the start to the end repeatedly, hoping that he did not miss any clues. At last, his effort was coming to fruition. At the last page, he gasped softly, tore it out and hastily shoved it into the pocket of his jeans before he carried on calling out for Hamin. A short message from Hamin that said: " Keep calling out to me."
"The reflections that passed"
His voice was described to be like a siren's. It pulls you in and that is all you need to never get out. That was what got Hamin following music down the dark and unlit corridors. Yejun's voice was like a playlist on repeat. He had been following it down the same corridor for days, months? He wasn't sure anymore. But the voice would stop before this music room. However, he felt it was different today. The voice, sounding like it was played faintly from an old cassette player, had not stopped.
He hesitated, his hand on the door knob for what felt like minutes. He took a breath and opened the door. He was relieved but yet empty that the room was void of anything but an old cassette player that seemed to have no off button to be pressed. If he can still hear the older male, why couldn't he see the other? His memories were becoming pixelated of the other, it was slowly eroded by the boundless loop he was trapped in.
The music room felt different, there was a faint warmth that he felt. The mirror surface was foggy as though there had been people in the same space he was in. There, he saw it. He looked on in surprise as the words slowly appeared more obvious. In the reflection, he saw a ghostly silhouette that looked extremely familiar to Yejun's. He turned around immediately but gone, that silhouette. He clenched his fists so hard in sheer determination. He needed to find a way to stop this game. He no longer wanted to follow rules. On the mirror were the words that Yejun wanted to convey through his music: " Let's break the rules soon."
"No more hiding, finally seeked"
Right on cue, all five of them were knocked out by unknown forces and thrown back to the beginning of the seemingly infinite loop. This time, with the same determination, their dreams were in sync and the universe aligned. This time, controlled by instinct instead of logic, they decided to find each other with their hearts. Yejun chose to stop running and looking, instead, he stood firmly and closed his eyes, to feel Noah's presence and when he opened them again, Noah was there. He took Noah's hand.
Noah and Yejun went to the auditorium before standing on stage. Then the blonde closed his eyes at the same spot where the mic stand was placed, Bamby's presence feeling real now and he held out his hand. He felt a clasp on his hand, he had found Bamby. Bamby led the three of them to the same overgrown garden maze and to where the bench was located, and felt for Eunho's presence. When he looked up again, Eunho was at the end, hands held out to pull the three of them through to the exit of the maze. Eunho was finally seeked.
The next location was the rooftop, Eunho humming the tune as written in Hamin's notebook, there was a door looking out of place so that was where they headed. Hamin chose to feel with his heart what the melody was letting him feel through Yejun's voice. Then he opened the door and in front of him were the four precious people that he had been seeking out in this unending loop. His mouth widened before the tears fell, hugging the four older males as he sobbed into the comfort of their hugs.
Their game of hide and seek had finally ended. No more missed turns, and no more locations that echoed loudly in the silence. They were together in the end, at the same place and at the same time.