Waking up, V’s house had changed entirely from the place you’d fallen asleep in. Instead of a large mushroom, you were now sleeping on a bed of flowers. V was playing an odd instrument in the corner, but you were sure he knew you were awake. One of the antennas on his head twitched when you got up. You weren’t sure what to say to him, so you sat down on a large, moss-covered rock and waited for him to finish whatever it was that he was doing.

“It’s quite a difficult problem we’re facing.” He said as he placed down the instrument. It looked like a horn of some sort, but it had strings like a guitar. “So let’s talk about what we want to do in the future, first.” He laid his hands on his lap and turned his gaze to you. You pulled up a knee and sighed, leaning your head on it.

Make sure you know what you’re trying to throw away by leaving this place. Jungkook had said that to you after you first came here. Him. You didn’t want to throw him away, nor Jimin. The Jungkook you remembered tugged on your instinct to protect him. There was no way you could leave him behind. You couldn’t abandon him a second time. Your fingers balled into a fist out of determination.

 “I want to bring Jungkook and Jimin home with us.” You said resolutely. It was either all of you, or none of you.

“Good answer. Now let’s talk about how we get there.” V smiled, gently nudging your shoulder. “You’ve got the potion for Rap Monster, so that’s settled, but how we’re going to get Jungkook and Jimin out of here is a bigger challenge.”

“But you don’t think it’s impossible, right?” You asked. V nodded slowly and sighed, moving his hand over the wall. The ivy crawled aside and revealed a carving of a group of friends. Your group of friends. They were all happy. V tapped his fingers over the image of Jungkook, who you realized now was clinging onto the image of you.

“It was hard for him, growing up here alone with Jimin. Jimin tried his best but a seven-year-old boy can’t raise a six-year-old. The good news about that is that Jungkook didn’t change his loyalties. I always got on well enough with Jimin, but Jungkook was always looking out for you. He might still want to marry you.” He grinned at you and picked up a leaf, folding it into the shape of a cup before pouring in some water. Then he handed it to you.

“And that is a good thing, because although remembering the past is very important, Jungkook and Jimin can only be pulled back home by someone who they love, and someone who loves them.” This didn’t seem like an embarrassing thing for him to say. He had always been a bit like that. You sipped from the leaf cup and leaned your head back. Someone who loved him? Of course Jungkook was your friend, but was that kind of love enough?

V seemed to guess what was on your mind and poked your forehead. You winced, but it didn’t hurt that much. V got up and opened a cupboard you hadn’t noticed underneath all of the ivy. How could he store anything here? You’d lose everything immediately.

“I will talk to Jimin. We’re close enough for me to pull him back, but Jungkook is in your hands. And I know you can do it, not just because that’s our only chance of getting out of here.” That was really easy for him to say. You’d forgotten about Jungkook for such a long time. Nine years ago Jungkook was very important to you, but that was nine years ago. Nine years ago Jungkook was shorter than you were, but he was acting the same way he had back then. Of course he was almost 70 cm taller now than he had been, but he was as headstrong as he’d been before.

“You can do it, Areum. Jungkook was able to pull you into this world after all.” That wasn’t true, you wanted to say. Jin was the one who ultimately did that. But V stretched himself out and turned back to you, dangling a familiar yellow potion in front of you. Honey juice potion, you recalled. “We all drank this in our dreams before coming here. It opened the door for us all, and Jungkook is the one who made you drink it.”

Your eyes widened as you recalled the incident. Namjoon had written about it in his dream diary before. Why didn’t you suspect it before? It was too late for that now, since you were already here. Jungkook was the person to make you drink the stuff. What was it he said after you drank it again? The next time you wake up, it’ll be here. That was exactly what happened, and you’d woken up next to Jungkook. In almost every dream you’d always woken up in the meadows where he roamed.

“I feel dizzy..” You muttered, grabbing your head between your hands as you tried to process all the information. Beside you, V hummed a familiar melody that you couldn’t pinpoint exactly. When you looked up at him, he had placed an odd hat on his head and was pulling on a coat.

“We don’t have much time, Areum. Returning home can only be done by someone who remembers their home. As long as you are here, you’re losing your memories. That’s why you have to cross over first, and quickly.” He sighed, “I don’t have enough memories left to do it, especially not on my own. But first you should go see Rap Monster.”

As he said that, the rooftop folded open and you found yourself back on the edge of the forest. The sun was rising, and the light reflected on V’s coat. It looked like it was covered in diamonds. The caterpillar winked at you and spread out his arms. The coat folded up, revealing the cloth to be much longer than it had seemed. Slowly but surely they formed into pointed wings, glistening in the light of dawn.

“H-hold up! Since when could you do this?” You almost yelped. As far as you remembered he’d never done this in your dreams. V shrugged and grinned, the wings spreading out behind his back. You took a step back and shook your head. “No! No, definitely not! Taehyung no!”

Ignoring your pleas, V started a run up and captured you in his arms before you could jump out of the way. A powerful gust of wind caused by his wings lifted you off the ground, and you screamed. V laughed as his wings thrashed in the air, lifting you higher and higher. You quickly closed your eyes shut. It was one thing to be flying on a physical object, such as clouds apparently, but being carried by a flying creature even if it was V was a horrifying thought.

Your arms that had been holding on to V desperately were starting to grow tired when the boy swerved suddenly. You opened your eyes just for a moment to see what was going on, and really wished you hadn’t done that because V was grinning just a little too happily. He was resembling Jungkook just a bit too much for your liking.

“Let’s see how well the landing goes, I’ve never done that before whilst carrying someone.” He hummed. You hoped he was joking about that, and wondered if you’d survive falling from this height. The ground was approaching rather rapidly. You closed your eyes tightly once more and braced yourself, holding on to V’s shoulders.

“Good to know you’re willing to pull me out of this world as well. I’ll count on you, then.” V’s voice hummed next to your ear. Surprised you let go of him and found that you were standing. V had landed without you even noticing and his wings were already folding around his body to form back into a coat. With a wink V patted your shoulder and walked past you. It took you a couple of seconds to turn around and follow him.

It turned out you had landed not too far from Suga’s house. As you walked you passed by the hill Jimin had taken you too. The thought of being in the air again almost made you nauseous and you quickened your pace. Soon you could hear the sounds of laughter and talking. That meant Suga’s table was filled with guests, which meant that Jimin was probably here. You glanced over at V, whose expression had become more determined.

“Just go see Rap Mon for now. I’ll distract them.” He said, gesturing for you to head to the house. You nodded and slipped into the house as V announced his presence loudly to the crowd. Before you closed the door behind you, you heard Suga react happily to the sight of him.

You’d been in Suga’s house plenty of times before in your dreams, but you didn’t know where Rap Monster slept. He wasn’t in the living room, which the house opened into. This was where you’d drank the honey juice potion, you recalled as you headed towards one of the bedrooms. Where Namjoon had encouraged you to drink it, and Jungkook had convinced you. A place where you’d been surrounded by friends.

Rap Monster was sleeping in a bed that seemed like it was made for a child. A large child, yes, but there was something about the carvings in the wood and the patterns in the blanket that made him seem a lot younger. You sat down by his bedside and searched for the potion, unscrewing the bottle. Rap Monster opened an eye and gazed at you in silence for a few seconds.

“Areum..” He whispered hoarsely, struggling to sit up. You reached out to him and moved closer to him as he sat against the wall.

“You remember me now?” Your voice trembled a little. Rap Monster nodded and patted the spot beside him. Before moving over to sit beside him you handed him the potion, which he gulped down by the time you’d sat down. After you sat down Rap Monster pulled the blanket over your legs and sighed, placing his hands behind his head. You wondered if you’d ever seen him like this in class.

There were so many things you’d all missed out on, you realized. Rap Monster seemed more at ease than Namjoon had ever been. At least in your memories. He seemed happy now. Could you take that away from him? You turned your head to observe him. Rap Monster glanced at you, grinned and flexed his biceps. It made you chuckle. This had definitely been a part of him before he came here. Maybe that was the part of him that made you want to be near him.

“I remember everything now. It’s good to remember. Hobi was here earlier. It’s such a weird feeling to see someone and suddenly feel how much you’ve missed them for years.” That was something you could identify with. Rap Monster dropped an arm on your shoulders and sighed contently. “And I’ve missed you, too. It’s good to know that it wasn’t our destiny to be awkward classmates trying their best to be friends.”

“About that. I kind of stole your dream diary before coming here.” You coughed, glancing away. “Sorry about that. I hoped it might hold a clue to where you went.”

“It did. Did you read all of it? It must have been frustrating for you. I wrote everything I could remember down but the memory never stuck around for a long time.” Rap Monster squinted his eyes. “And you did find me, in the end. Which I’m grateful for by the way.”

A short silence fell, and you knew he was thinking about the same thing you were. Did you really have to leave? He was happy here. Everyone was happy here, and you could be happy here too. At the same time, Rap Monster knew what you knew. This wasn’t right. You all ought to be back in the real world where you should have grown up together. And Rap Monster’s parents missed their son. Did your parents miss you? And the rest?

“I don’t want to leave this place without them.”

“Good. I don’t want you to leave us.” Rap Monster sighed as he ruffled your hair. You sighed as well and glanced at the small window. The glass was a bit stained and the white curtains were pulled over it, but you could see the edge of the table where the others were having a tea party. Suddenly one voice overpowered the rest of them. That could only mean that Jungkook had arrived, too.

“If I try to leave he’ll think I want to throw him away. But how could I do that to him? He’s still so young..” Your voice trembled. Jungkook was undiscernible outside, but you assumed he’d positioned himself in a tree. He always did like tree climbing, you now remembered. Those happy memories had all turned sour now. You clenched the blanket so tightly in your hands that your knuckles turned white.

“You would never do that. You never threw me away either.” There was something strange about his voice that made you look at him. His eyes seemed simultaneously deep and impenetrable. Then he slumped back against the bedrest. Of course he was still weak.

You pulled up a knee and peered out of the window. There were a lot of people here now. You could hear JHope’s voice. The sound of crashing china followed soon after he said something, and you heard Suga complain loudly. They did seem happy here. Carefully you lifted the white curtain and rubbed your hand over the glass. V seemed busy talking to Jimin now. That meant you should probably do your best as well.

“I’d better go and see Jungkook.” You sighed as you pushed yourself out of the bed. Rap Monster grabbed your wrist but said nothing when you looked at him. You had a feeling you knew what he was thinking. “Don’t worry. Either we all get out of here, or none of us do. I’m done losing my friends.”

Rap Monster nodded and slumped back in bed. You smiled and pulled the blanket back over him, ruffling his hair playfully before hurrying off to go see everyone else. Before leaving the room you glanced back at him once more. He seemed very calm in his sleep. What was he dreaming off, you wondered. You’d dreamed of nothing but ‘Home’ for years now. Were there dreams of other places here?

“Hello Alice.” A voice called out after you left the house. Jungkook was closer than you’d expected.