Well I didn't mean to upload this so late, but unfortunately I've had essays to be writing for uni recently, ugh -_- So I realised something the other day - I seem to make the Taemin in our world kinda cold and a bit mean to Seungri, and I have no idea why, because Taemin is my bias in SHINee, it's weird *shrugs*

Credit for the concept of the first scene goes to allie18 - thank you very much, I really hadn't thought of it :)

Seungri hopped from foot to foot as they waited to go on stage. This was always the part that annoyed him; having to wait to see their fans and get on with it. There had just been a group on, but there was one more to go that they were setting up for.

He heard Jiyong laughing at him from behind him. "You're always so impatient Seungri," he said. "Calm down! We'll be on in a bit."

Seungri continued to fidget. "But I want us to be oooon," he whined. This prompted the others to laugh at him too, Seunghyun even imitating the way he bounced in anticipation.

As the group currently onstage finished being set up, their music began to play loud through the speakers.

Out of habit and muscle memory more than anything else, he began to dance along without even thinking about it. He twirled, and stepped sideways as he'd practised a thousand times. He hummed along as he did so, enjoying himself. It was only when he heard the laughter that he stopped what he was doing, and he'd been dancing for a good minute at that point.

He stopped, and looked behind him. All four of them were laughing.

"W-when did you have the time to learn that?" Youngbae wheezed out.

"I don't know if I should be jealous, you danced that better than you've danced to our songs for years," Jiyong said with tears of laughter in his eyes.

Seungri blushed. Of course, he he shouldn't have known the dances to these songs so well. He didn't continue to dance, but instead chose to watch SHINee's performance through the curtain. It was thin, and he could see them all quite clearly through it.

It was strange, watching them perform without him now. The choreography was so familiar, and yet different, being adapted for a smaller group.

"Seungri's fanboy tendencies strike again," he heard Jiyong tease from behind him. "Look how he watches them. How long did you spend practicing, huh?"

Seungri couldn't help but laugh - of course, that's what it must have looked like to them. "I swear I didn't spend much time practicing," he protested. "My dancing wasn't that good."

"Don't pretend like it wasn't," Seunghyun argued. "That was a lot of effort you put into it, you Shawol."

Seungri sighed. Clearly he wasn't going to be able to live this down.

**

This time it was Jonghyun who opened the door to the dorm. It made a contrast to the times Taemin had let him in, and they'd walked up in silence. "Welcome!" Jonghyun greeted loudly with a smile. Seungri smiled back, and stepped in. "I'm so glad you could make it Seungri! I was kinda worried you might not, what with being so busy and all."

"Yeah, I was so glad I ran into you, it was a of luck really." They'd only made plans to meet up the day before, after running into each other after their performances at the concert. Jonghyun had seemed so excited at the prospect of having him round again, Seungri just couldn't say no. They quickly walked up the stairs - Jonghyun seemed especially eager to get back to the dorm.

"Do you want anything to eat?" Jonghyun asked as they stepped into the dorm. It felt odd to Seungri to essentially be offered food in what he'd come to consider his own home. He shook his head, and went to sit down.

"Where are the others?" Seungri asked.

Jonghyun shrugged. "I have no idea. I think Minho and Jinki are enjoying going out on a free day, and Taemin and Kibum are..." He waved his arm vaguely in the direction of the bedrooms, "somewhere." As he did, Taemin happened to walk through in his pyjamas. Perhaps if Seungri hadn't spent so much time around Taemin in all states of dress, it would have seemed odd, but he didn't so much as bat an eyelid at it. He made himself some breakfast, and left again, waving at them as he did.

Jonghyun pretty much pretended Taemin wasn't there, and continued to talk. "How did the concert go for you last night? I was upset I didn't get to see you guys on stage."

"Yeah, it was good. The fans seemed to love it, and that's what matters, right?" He laughed. Jonghyun laughed too, but Seungri's mind was already moving on to other things. "So what about that book you talked about last week?" Seungri asked. It was the main reason he'd come over - he really wanted to know if it could give him any insights.

Jonghyun began to giggle. He ran out of the room, and Seungri began to wonder if he'd made the right decision in asking Jonghyun to show him. Eventually, Jonghyun hurried back into the room, holding a thick hardback book. He plopped it in Seungri's lap with an expectant look on his face.

He opened it to a random page.

...many speculate about the existence of parallel universes. However, some think that it is the result of the brain placing false memories inside itself, causing the victim to believe that the world is different to how it truly is. Others believe that...

"Um... wow, this is a lot," Seungri laughed.

Jonghyun laughed too. "Yeah, it is. I've been reading through it for the past few days, and I'm only a third of the way through! It's so good though, I've been reading it in all my spare time."

"I'm glad to hear it," Seungri said. He looked back down, and turned to another page.

There is no known reason for travel between universes. There are some who suspect that there are travellers who have nefarious intentions... Seungri skipped ahead a bit. ...no known reason for travel between universes, nor are there any certain theories about the mechanics of...

It seemed as though there would be no answers this book could give him about his own situation. That was disappointing. Seungri looked back up at Jonghyun and sighed. "But why do you like parallel universes so much? Don't you think it would be weird to go to one?"

Jonghyun shook his head. "No! I think it would be so exciting! Why would it scare you? Afraid you wouldn't be able to keep up?" He laughed, and nudged Seungri's side.

Seungri kept a completely serious face. "Yes."

Jonghyun looked confused. "Huh? Why not?" Seungri sighed. What had he started? Surely he'd regret telling anyone here about this. He couldn't, could he?

He looked around the room suspiciously. Jonghyun might believe him, due to his fascination with parallel universes, but he still couldn't risk anyone else overhearing.

"I..." he began. Would this really be a good idea? After all, he had no proof in this world. He took a deep breath to steady himself. He could feel his heart beating fast out of nervousness - this was quite a different situation to the one he'd been forced to tell the other Jonghyun in.

He leaned forward. "I've been to a parallel universe multiple times."

Jonghyun laughed. "Good one Seungri. I wish I had too. I -"

"No," Seungri interrupted. "I really have. It's not that great."

Jonghyun eyed him, and looked like he was about to say something. However, he was interrupted by Taemin walking back into the room, dressed this time. "Are you two still at it?" He asked with a smile. Both Seungri and Jonghyun jumped a little, and sat up from their close position.

Seungri was the one who answered - after all, he already knew the revelation of him having been to a parallel universe; Jonghyun was probably still busy being shocked by it. He laughed. "Just a little bit," he said.

Taemin went to sit down opposite to them. "So I was wondering," he began. "I saw you yesterday at the show. How come you knew our dances so well?"

Jonghyun was distracted from his musings at this. "Huh? What happened yesterday?"

"Did you not see?" Taemin asked. Jonghyun laughed, and shook his head. "Well you missed out then. If only I'd filmed it - the Seungri knowing all of our dances!"

Jonghyun laughed more. "Wow, I really did miss out!" He exclaimed. "Would you do it again?" He asked Seungri.

Seungri shook his head quickly. "No way." If he were to do that, it would give away just how many practice hours had gone into it, and he couldn't risk anyone other than Jonghyun seeing that.

Jonghyun pouted. "I'll force you to do it one day," he joked. Taemin laughed, and clapped Jonghyun on the shoulder.

"Well, I'm on my way out," he said. "I'll be back tomorrow. It was good to see you, Seungri."

"You too."

As soon as Taemin left, Jonghyun's face turned serious again. "You want to explain yourself?" He asked.

Seungri shrugged. "I told you. I've been to a parallel universe."

"If this is a joke because you know this my hobby, I swear I'll... well I don't know what I'll do, but it'll make me mad."

"No, it's not, I wouldn't do that to you. Look," he leaned closer to Jonghyun again. "A month ago, I woke up in a parallel universe. It was really difficult to adjust, things are... the same, but different there. It's not an experience I'd wish on anybody, although I've enjoyed my time there."

Jonghyun frowned. "But a month ago was when you started to talk to us," he mused. Seungri nodded. "Are those two things connected? How is the other world different?"

"They are connected, yeah. In the other world, I'm... I'm a part of your group."

Jonghyun seemed more surprised than Seungri thought he would be. "You're a part of SHINee there?" Seungri nodded. "Wow...That's a little unbelievable, but if you're telling the truth - which I'm still not saying you are - that's so cool... and weird."

"It's true, I swear. What was Taemin just telling you?" Seungri was sure he could prove it in this world too.

"That you were dancing to.... our... songs..." Jonghyun frowned. "So if you were able to dance to our songs well, and you started talking to us a month ago, when you first went there.... " He looked up at Seungri. "I might just believe you."

Seungri couldn't believe that that was the only evidence he'd needed to convince Jonghyun, and he clapped a few times in excitement. He then began to regret it as Jonghyun barraged him with questions.

"What am I like there? What are the others like there? What are your members - Bigbang, I mean, like there? Is there anything else that's different there? Do any of them know? How does it all work?"

Seungri didn't even know where to start. "Um...I don't know how it works. Shouldn't your book have something to say about that?"

"Oh... yeah. Well I've not seen anything about it in there yet. Answer my other questiooons." Jonghyun poked Seungri in the thigh a few times to drive his point home.

Seungri laughed. "I'm answering, I'm answering. Uh, you're pretty much the same there. So are the rest of you, I mean, I wouldn't have been so eager to be friends with you here if you weren't. For the most part, the other world is the same, but there are a few differences."

"Like what?"

"Well," Seungri dug his phone out of his pocket. "They don't have iPhones there. It was pretty handy when I told the Jonghyun of the other universe."

"Is that the only person you told?" Seungri nodded. "Why did you tell him?"

"He was getting suspicious of me." Seungri rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "In my defence, it's very difficult to not mess up when you're pretending to be someone else. There were so many things I didn't know."

Jonghyun laughed. "Was it really that bad?"

"Well it was enough to get Jonghyun - the other one - to see how weird I was being. Although in some of the cases... let's just say I had an excuse for finding the situations weird."

"Tell me tell me tell me tell me," Jonghyun chanted.

Seungri laughed. "Well the other world's Taemin has a crush on the other version of me, for one."

Jonghyun's mouth fell open. "Taemin had a... yeah, that's weird."

"You have no idea."

"Wow... well what about your members? There's a Bigbang there, right?"

Seungri shook his head. "Nope."

"What? How come?" Seungri shrugged. He didn't know the events that had led up to things being so different, he couldn't answer that question.

Jonghyun shook his head slowly. "This is so unreal," he murmured. Then louder, "I'm so jealous."

"You're jealous? How could you be jealous?" Seungri asked incredulously. He'd tried to tell Jonghyun why parallel universes weren't so great after all, and this is what Jonghyun came up with?

"I'm sorry, Seungri, I totally get what you were saying, but... the idea still appeals to me. Sorry."

Seungri sighed. "No, it's okay, I get it."

Jonghyun nodded. "Good, now tell me more."

And so Seungri proceeded to tell him anecdotes from his time in the other universe. Jonghyun listened intently to his every word, enthralled by what he had to say. It seemed that he could count on Jonghyun in both universes.