“I don’t understand,” replied Kai, fighting back the anxiety rising in his throat.

Luhan smiled, resting his hand on Kai’s shoulder. “We’re back in time. What’s not to understand?”

Kai closed his eyes tightly, trying to wrap his mind around the problem. “So let’s just say I go along with this nonsense and believe that we have somehow gone back in time and teleported into our own bodies at some point in the past. Does that mean everything we do now will change what happens in the future?”

“How am I supposed to know?”

“Well you’re the one that brought us here, aren’t you?!” exclaimed Kai, eyes flashing open. “Clearly there’s something you know that I don’t.”

Luhan’s smile vanished, leaving behind a slightly concerned expression. “No.”

“No? No what?”

“I didn’t bring us here Jongin-ah. You did.”

Kai nearly head-desked again, but Luhan wrapped an arm around his shoulder to prevent it. “What’s wrong?”

“What do you mean what’s wrong?! You just teleported us back in time and won’t even tell me how or why or what the hell we’re gonna do about it.”

“But I didn’t teleport us Jongin. I already told you. You did.”

“How the hell did I teleport us if I don’t even know how?!”

“Well,” said Luhan rather sympathetically, patting Kai’s back, “you put your hand on the glass and closed your eyes.”

“AND THEN WHAT?”

“And then we’re here,” whispered Luhan.

Kai wrenched himself free from Luhan’s hold and instead grabbed him roughly by the collar. “You’re the one that took my wrist and put my hand on the window. You’re the one that told me to close my eyes. Clearly, you’re the one that did something. I’m warning you Luhan. Stop ing with me. I’m about to lose my god damn mind, and I’m not even joking anymore.”

Luhan’s eyes filled with tears, taking Kai completely aback. No matter how much Luhan messed with him, Kai didn't have the heart to see him cry. He released his hold at once.

“Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. And if you really don’t know how we got here, then fine. But you just seem so indifferent about all of this. I would think you would care a little bit more that we just traveled back in time and are potentially changing the future.”

“I don’t care about any of that, Jongin,” replied Luhan softly, wiping the wetness with the back of his hand. “As long as I get to be with you.”

The little that was left of Kai’s anger was doused immediately by a flood of guilt. His eyes darted nervously around the busy restaurant, wondering if anyone had overheard their seemingly senseless conversation. But the rest of the world appeared to be completely disconnected from the two of them. His eyes came to rest once more on the boy sitting by his side. Luhan was looking down into his own lap, staring at the palms of his hands. Kai reached for them and took them into his own.

“Hey, you okay?”

“Yea,” replied Luhan, blinking away the sadness. “I- I think so.”

“I’m sorry okay? I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“No, it’s okay Jongin-ah. I understand. I would’ve been angry too. I guess… I guess I haven’t been completely open with you.”

Kai rubbed his thumbs gently along Luhan’s palms, tracing the creases in his skin. “Tell me.”

“Last night, before you went to sleep, you made a wish; a wish that you don’t even remember. That’s why we’re here.”

Kai’s forehead became creased with uncertainty. “How can you possibly know that?”

“I don’t have all the answers Jongin-ah. My own memory is pretty hazy, just like yours. I can only see parts of it, like pieces of a puzzle. But the past is all cloudy. It’s like I’m seeing it through a foggy crystal ball. Or I guess I can’t even call it the past anymore, since… we’re in the past, and all of that, it’s in the future.”

“All of what? What do you remember? I can’t even remember half of what happened last night. I’ve been trying so hard to rack my brain. All I remember is that you were with me.”

“Isn’t that all that matters?” asked Luhan, the edges of his lips twitching upward once more into an almost mischievous smile. But the look in his eyes was anything but trivial. There was an intensity there that made Kai break out into goosebumps. He had to look away to gather his thoughts.

“So what now? Where do we go from here?”

“I guess I could tell you, but it’d just be more of the blind leading the blind at this point.”
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