Junmyeon squints into the fog. This dream is unlike the previous, more hazy and less detailed. If Junmyeon had not grown so accustomed to being in dreams, he would never have noticed. The makings of this dream- it is slipping even as Junmyeon observes it. 

“Bye, Junmyeon.” Yixing smiles, waving. Junmyeon can see the others, a set of ten shadows, waiting for Yixing. 

“Where are you going?” Junmyeon asks, his brain muddled. “Why are you going?”

Yixing laughs and gently caresses his cheek. There is something odd about the touch. It is Yixing trailing his fingers across Junmyeon's skin but it does not feel like Yixing- the fingers are not as soft or slim. 

“They're waiting for you.” He says and Junmyeon asks his last question in frustration. 

“Who's waiting for me?”

“Your real family!” Yixing laughs and his images fades away as a whisper crawls into the back of Junmyeon's mind, low and captivating. 

“Jun, wake up.”

-

Junmyeon pushed open his weighted eyelids after a moment of weak fluttering, dazedly staring at the face above his. 

“Jun? Are you awake?” Kris asked softly, a low growl that sounded warm to Junmyeon, soothing some part of his mind Junmyeon was sure he'd stamped into little bits after Kris left. It made him sigh, though albeit shakily. Junmyeon tried to lift a weak hand to Kris's face, but he only made it halfway before Kris half-cupped his larger hand around it, guiding it gently to rest at his jaw. 

“Kris.” Junmyeon smiled. “You're actually here.”

Kris chuckled. “You scared me.” When Junmyeon blinked in confusion he elaborated. “When you got into that accident. A lot of people were saying you wouldn't make it. And when you didn't wake up, that scared me too. And then when you did wake up, you passed out on me and there was moment- I thought something had happened.” 

Kris inhales sharply, closing his eyes and pulled Junmyeon's hand from his jaw to his lips for a kiss. 

“You scared me.” He breathes out, his warm breath tickling Junmyeon's cold knuckles. “Please don't do that again.”

Junmyeon absorbed the image- Kris, looking at him like he was the world, with his lips ghosting over Junmyeon's skin. Kris, looking like he'd never left Junmyeon with barely a word, disappearing to a different country while Junmyeon tried not to die as his heart hollowed out. 

“Why?” Junmyeon whispered hoarsely. “Why would you care?”

Kris put down his hand. 

“I told you. I love you.” 

Kris leaned forward to press his lips into Junmyeon's, and for they remained like that for a moment as the taste, the shape and feel of each other engulfed them, nearly forgotten after two years. When Kris drew away, Junmyeon found that his eyes were prickling. 

“I love you too.” Junmyeon whispered, treating the words carefully, four fragile words he'd locked away inside for so long. “I loved you, but you left.” 

“I won't leave this time.” Kris said, pressing another kiss to Junmyeon's forehead. “I won'd leave you alone again, I promise.” 

Junmyeon sighed and closed his eyes, feeling less heavy, less weighted by the dark thoughts at the back of his head. He opened his eyes to find them watering, and Kris moved his hand to swipe a tear away. 

“Why is he crying?” An angry voice demanded. Kris was abruptly yanked from his vision and Junmyeon reached out a weak hand, but he needn't have worried- it was just Luhan, smacking Kris's sides. 

“What did you do? We leave to get food and you've gone and made him cry!” Luhan shrieked, and Minseok entered the picture, clamping a hand over his mouth. 

“Luhan!” He hissed. “This is a hospital!”

Junmyeon smiled. He missed this, seeing them happy and unplagued by absence. He felt someone nudge his hand, and looked down to see Tao slowly placing it over his head. 

“Junma.” He smiled childishly. Junmyeon saw Sehun lounging on the floor behind him. “Did Duizhang make you cry? Should we all hit him?” 

“Please,” Kyungsoo said. Junmyeon's vision widened as his lethargy slipped away, and saw the rest of his family settling into the available seats. “Tell us to hit him.” Kyungsoo continued. 

Junmyeon let out a weak laugh. “Well if you insist.”

Junmyeon heard Kris squawk in indignation and several people launched themselves at him, playfully hitting at his large form. 

“Junmyeon!” 

Junmyeon laughed again, feeling lighter with each moment, and looked to the side to see Yixing smiling down at him, twining their fingers together. 

“Do you feel better?” He asked. 

“Much.” Junmyeon replied. 

-

Kris, with insistent hassling of several members, slept with Junmyeon that night. Junmyeon had been against it, because Kris slept hunched over Junmyeon's bed in what looked like a discomforting position for a man of his stature. 

“I'm fine.” Kris had insisted, poking at Junmyeon's sides. “I've got you.” 

Junmyeon attributed Kris's peaceful rest to his natural tendency to sleep deeply rather than Junmyeon's presence. Well, that and the angel perched on his sill. 

“That was… not how I imagined it would go.” Junmyeon told Sowon, a wry smile on his lips. 

“I listen to what you want, not what you think you want.” Sowon said, twirling a pen. Her clipboard rested on a knee, shimmering with words in a language Junmyeon could not read. 

“You wanted your family to love you, as you have them.” Sowon pointed to Kris's sleeping form. “In your heart, he's still your family.” 

Junmyeon looked down and threaded his fingers into Kris's thin hair. “He is, isn't he?” Junmyeon says fondly. 

“What now?” Junmyeon asks and Sowon flips a page of her clipboard. Junmyeon got the feeling she was doing it to keep her hands busy, and not because she needed to read anything on it. 

“Well, first I need to ask you something.” 

“Shoot.” Junmyeon motioned for her to go on. 

“Do you regret your wish?” Sowon asked. Junmyeon became hyper aware of Kris's body, slumped over his midsection, and the warmth he was giving off, a soothing sensation on Junmyeon. 

“No.” Junmyeon said decidedly. “But there is a catch?”

Sowon nods sadly. “Heaven gives out very few wishes because wishes reconstruct worlds.” 

Junmyeon blinks. “Reconstruct worlds?”

Sowon explained. “The wish arranged for a scenario in which you would achieve your desires by reconstructing the world. In other words, it created a world in which you would get into an accident that would spur you members to evaluate how they feel about you. Now, we have to reset the world to prevent damages to reality.”

Junmyeon stills. “So this will never have happened.”

“They will remember.” Sowon appeased. “If they forgot, that would defeat the purpose of the wish. They might not remember exact details, but they will remember enough.”

Sowon looked down at Junmyeon's hand, resting on Kris's head. “He will remember the most.”

“Why?” Junmyeon sounded doubtful. 

“Because you want to. And because you want to, I'm going to give you these.” Sowon plucked something out of the air, and extended her closed fist. When Junmyeon offered his palm to her, two simple rings tumbled out. 

“Keep one and give him the other.” Sowon instructed. “They will form a bridge between the two of you, and you'll be able to form a connection of sorts.” 

Junmyeon examined the bands, one marbled white and the other marbled black. He slipped the white ring on his forefinger, feeling it adjust itself to the width of his finger. 

And idea sparked in Junmyeon's head and he slipped the ring off, reaching for Kris's hand. Sowon fought off a manic smile when he slipped the ring on Kris's ring finger. 

“Should I pronounce you married?” Sowon teased. Junmyeon turned red, but he didn't take the ring off Kris's finger. He put his own ring on in fact, on his ring finger as he did Kris's. 

Junmyeon took one last look at Kris's sleeping face. “I'll rememeber, won't I?” 

Sowon nodded. “You will. I can let you enjoy this world for a while, and you can tell me when you're ready to set it back.”

Junmyeon shook his head. 

“I think,” he said as he twisted the ring on his finger. “It's time to wake up.” 

Sowon nods and puts her pen to her clipboard. 

“Thank you, by the way.” Junmyeon adds. 

“It was my pleasure to be granting your wish.” Sowon smiles, and she checks off the final box in the form. 

The world goes white, and Junmyeon opened eyes he cannot remember closing to face the earthen ceiling of his bedroom at home. On his bedside table, his phone buzzes. Sluggishly, Junmyeon reaches for it, noting that it's the 22nd of may, and answers the call. 

“Happy birthday Jun. Thanks for the ring.”

Junmyeon laughs, happier than he's been in a while. 

“Good morning Kris.”