“Hold the fort they said, it will be fun they said.” Chorong muttered as she waved her wand into the frozen manager's face. “Well, I guess this is pretty fun.” 

Chorong looked over the manager's shoulder, still disguised as a doctor and gave Minmi a thumbs up. Minmi returned the gesture and pushed the slack jawed Tao and Luhan into Junmyeon's room. Once they were in, Chorong turned back to the manger and tapped him between the brows with her wand. 

“Go to car, drive down to the busiest road you know of and shout that you're an idiot out loud.”

The manager robotically turned around headed for the lifts. Chorong nodded in satisfaction and wiped imaginary dust off her coat. 

“Good job Chorong. Very good job.”

-

“You gotta keep our existence a secret okay?” Minmi said as she was exiting the room via portal. “This is kinda a confidential operation here.”

Luhan nodded distractedly, already settling into the bedside seat and gently linking his finger's with Junmyeon's. Tao gave Minmi a thumbs up, which she returned before disappearing with the portal. Tao looked to Luhan, who was gently smiling at Junmyeon and brushing soft locks away from his sweat-damp forehead. 

“You'll be okay Junmyeon. We'll make sure of it.”

Tao observed the blank, sleeping face of his once ‘mother’, painfully devoid of emotion and life. Tao guided his hand to Junmyeon's free hand, and rested it over his chest. 

“I'm sorry I just left like that.” Tao began. “I wish I had the chance to tell you everything, to return your love.” 

Biting his lip, Tao allowed himself a moment of openness. “Thank you, for taking care of me.” 

From underneath their hands, Tao felt Junmyeon's heart jump.

-

In his dream, a fog had invaded. 

It had besieged the made up countryside, ensnaring the townscape behind veils of thick grey. It had yet to enter Junmyeon's house, but he could imagine the vehemence of the wall of fog pressing itself into his windows. 

In his house, everyone was asleep. 

Junmyeon was awake, and it was the oddest thing, but he couldn't remember waking up. The unconscious state of the other had only come to his awareness when Yixing's name had jumped out at his fading mind, and he realised that the person he had been staring at for the past age, asleep on his lap, was Yixing. Minseok was curled into his left. By his foot, Junmyeon could see Chanyeol and Sehun. Junmyeon had trouble placing the faces at first with his weakening memory, but after a while something suddenly jumped him, sending his senses into hyperawareness. 

Yixing, Minseok, Sehun, Chanyeol, Jongdae, Kyungsoo, Jongin, Baekhyun, Luhan-

Luhan? It couldn't be. 

But it was Luhan, Junmyeon realised as the still ever so beautiful face drew near to his. Luhan was crouching down to meet Junmyeon's eyes he realised, the man having appeared from who-knows-where. 

“It's okay Junmyeon. We're here now.” 

Luhan draped his arms around him as he sagged into Junmyeon, falling into the same slumber as the rest. As Luhan settled into a dead sleep, another presence appeared at Junmyeon's empty right side. 

“Junma.” Tao giggled, looking straight at Junmyeon. “Junma.” He repeated, his brow dipping to rest at Junmyeon's shoulder. “Junma.”

As Tao also drifted off, Junnyeon scanned the heap of bodies and was visited with an unwelcome hollowness in the pit of his stomach. 

“Someone is still missing.” Junmyeon wondered to the empty air, frustrated. “But- ah, but-”

Junmyeon looked down at his family in fear. “I can't remember. I can't remember him.”

-

On the other side of the world, Sowon held her clipboard out to ‘him'. 

“Do you want to save him?”

“Of course I do.” He said. “I loved him.”

Looking down at the clipboard, his knuckles turning white with his grip, he breathed out the truth. 

“I still love him."