After settling down again, the six boys gathered around together as the Dark Taekwoon decided to finally reveal his state. He took off his jacket and shirt to show them what was remaining of his body and his time.

Both his arms have gone transparent up to his shoulders and even parts of his waist trailing down to his knees were gone. This explained why he was reluctant to wear any shirts that might have shown his body during their promotions.

The members swallowed in horror to witness what was actually happening to the Dark Taekwoon.

‘Is… there really nothing we can do?’ Wonshik asked.

The Dark Taekwoon had already revealed his story and why he was disappearing to the others. Finally, he grew to trust and rely on the younger members of VIXX to tell them everything that needs to be told.

He shook his head.

‘The fact that my body have lasted this long is a miracle in itself. Ever since the first Taekwoon died, I should have disappeared along with him. I was a part of him and he was the one who created me. He was the reason why I exist in the first place.’

‘But what about our Taekwoon-hyung? He’s still alive right? So you shouldn’t disappear right?’ Hyuk asked.

‘Unfortunately that is not how my body works. I am creation of the shadows from the first Taekwoon and not yours. With him gone, my time was going to run out eventually. But there is one thing we have to worry about with my time running out. As you now know, this body is actually Jung Taekwoon’s. If I were to disappear, it means that your Taekwoon will have no body to return to and he will really be trapped inside of Dreamscape forever.’ He warned.

‘No way! We can’t let that happen!’ Hyuk gasped.

‘Is there no way to bring Taekwoon-hyung back then?’ Hongbin asked.

‘He is the key to opening his own heart and accepting reality again. If he is unable to forgive or have the desire to return, his soul will forever remain inside of Hakyeon’s dreamscape. That is the place in which he can be with your leader after all.’ The Dark Taekwoon told them.

‘But Hakyeon-hyung wants to come back! He’s trying so hard to figure out a way to do so… and to think that Taekwoon-hyung is the key for both of them to be released from the dream…’ Jaehwan said.

‘Even if Cha Hakyeon wishes to return, if Taekwoon cannot open his heart to accepting the truth, neither will be able to come back.’

‘How can we get Taekwoon-hyung to accept and come back to us though?’ Wonshik looked quite dejected as well as the others for feeling powerless.

It’s my fault that they’ve lost their precious vocalist... the Dark Hakyeon started to think to himself.

‘It’s not your fault,’ Hongbin glanced at the other at that instant to know exactly what the Dark Hakyeon was thinking about. ‘If it’s anyone’s fault, then we’re all equally as responsible as you for this to happen in the first place.’

‘Hongbin is right,’ Jaehwan gave a comforting pat to the Dark Hakyeon. ‘Each and every single one of us here was at fault for not being able to see what was happening and even though we saw it, we were too cowardly to find a solution for it. We made the wrong decisions and neglected those around us because we have been taking what was given to us for granted. Both Hakyeon-hyung and Taekwoon-hyung loves us as much as their own family yet none of us spoke out for them when we saw that a problem came up between them. We thought that things would return to normal as long as we gave it time but we were wrong. If we had just stepped in sooner and cleared out all our misunderstandings, none of this would have happened.’

The others also agreed.

‘You and I have both been through a millienia of hatred and sins. We only learn to greed and seek vengeance as well as the thirst for power. It took us so many twists and turns in order for us to finally see our faults but what matters now is that we’ve learned our lesson from all of this,’ the Dark Taekwoon said. ‘I know you’re the type to blame yourself easily for everything that happens but we’re no longer strangers. We’re bonded by an inevitable fate in which we now equally share the responsibilities and accepting our mistakes. Each one of us is responsible for making things right and returning things back to how it was before.’

‘You…’ the Dark Hakyeon was speechless as he had never imagined the Dark Taekwoon to give him such a speech. ‘But what can we do though? We can’t get inside of Dreamscape to talk with Taekwoon and convince him to return.’

The members gathered to think of anything in order to resolve the conflict but they were all too powerless at the moment to do anything.

‘We can try going into each other’s dreams and find the door in which leads into Cha Hakyeon’s Dreamscape within another member’s dreams.’ The Dark Taekwoon suggested.

‘We can do that?’ Jaehwan asked.

‘It’s risky and almost impossible unless the relationship between the two people are strong enough for a link to be formed. But from the stories I’ve been told, it is definitely possible even for stranger’s to enter another stranger’s dreams as long as their previous lives were strong enough for them to connect. If they can do that, then it should not be impossible for the six of you because of the strong and everlasting bond you have created together.’

‘Wait,’ Wonshik said.

‘What is it?’

‘If we’re talking about bonds, don’t we need that red string? Did you forget that the red strings of fate were burnt during the time Taekwoon-hyung disappeared?’

The rapper was right.

The red string that became burnt to ash when their vocalist started to resent the real world and burned his ties with s in order to stay behind with his beloved.

‘Is it possible at all to regain the bonds that was severed?’ Jaehwan asked the two Dark ones.

Both the Dark Hakyeon and the Dark Taekwoon was unsure. Neither have had formed bonds with others before so they didn’t know how it worked in the first place.

‘One second,’ Hongbin said as he took out his phone.

He decided it was time to call Soo-ah a call as she is the one who is most knowledgeable about fates and bonds.

‘Hey, I need to ask you something,’ Hongbin said and put his speakers on from the phone in order for everyone to hear.

Hongbin explained to Soo-ah what was happening and what they were planning to do. She was quite shocked at the Dark Taekwoon’s situation nor did she know that he was going to disappear one day because the first Taekwoon had passed away.

‘As regards to the red strings, we have no way of bringing back Taekwoon’s bonds with you guys because he’s trapped within Dreamscape. But there is one other way,’ she said.

‘What is it?’

‘Create a new set of bonds between the six of you.’

‘Six of us?’

Including the Dark Hakyeon and the Dark Taekwoon.

‘Yes. Ties where the six of you can finally accept one another and forgive. As long as you can vow to cherish your bonds for all eternity, the bond of fate will be formed.’

The members looked at the Dark Hakyeon and the Dark Taekwoon and several thoughts appeared in their minds. After all, much has happened between the six of them and their beginnings were not all that great.

‘Is there no other way?’ The Dark Taekwoon was skeptical about such a bond being possible.

‘This is the only method. No other.’ Soo-ah said firmly.

‘But how will we know when that bond is formed? We don’t have time…’ Wonshik asked.

‘That will depend on you all. Once you have formed a bond with one another, a new string will appear between the six of you. When that time comes, you will know.’

The six of them were to build a bond from scratch. A bond in which their beginnings were of nothing but sadness and anger. It was an obstacle in which all six of them had to get through, together as six.

~

The studio was blasting with music late that night, like all other nights. But Wonshik could not stay focused on his creations nor could he pay attention to the tracks that were playing in the background.

It’s almost as if he couldn’t hear the loud noises as the thoughts in his mind was much louder.

Is it really that easy to forgive someone who almost took the most precious people away from his life? It even took him a long time to actually accept the Dark Hakyeon even though Hyuk and Jaehwan accepted him right away. So what about the Dark Taekwoon in which Wonshik still has no idea whether or not the other was telling the truth?

Maybe the other is just lying about his time running out?

Wonshik say in front of the computer with a pen and paper trying to write down lyrics, any sort of lyrics for their next track. It has been proven a rather difficult task for him. He couldn’t think of anything as he thought about the two Dark ones more and more.

Ring. Ring.

It was Taekwoon. The Dark Taekwoon to be exact.

Wonshik stared at the called ID, troubled as to whether he should pick it up or not.

Ring. Ring.

‘Hello? Wonshik finally gave in.

‘… Are you in your studio right now?’

There was a slight pause from the other side. Both of them were awkward.

‘Uh, yeah I am.’

‘I… want us to talk about something. Wait for me.’

Talk? About what? Wonshik worried. Should he tell the others about it just in case?

No, he didn’t want to concern the others. He decided to stay strong and see what will happen for the time being.

After half an hour later, the Dark Taekwoon arrived at Wonshik’s studio. The moment he stepped into the studio, he was greeted by the loud music from within.

Wonshik had deliberately turned it up a bit in order to feel more relaxed and calm about the situation and this ‘talk’ the Dark Taekwoon wanted to have with him.

‘Are you working on the next album?’ the Dark Taekwoon tried to talk over the music.

‘Yeah. I am.’ Wonshik’s reply was short. He couldn’t meet the other in the eyes.

‘How far have you written?’ the other asked.

Wonshik didn’t want to show the other that he was no where to being finished. He couldn't even decide what the first word of the song was.

The Dark Taekwoon noticed the pile of papers all over the desk and the trash bin filled with scraps of discarded lyrics.

‘Sorry.’ He suddenly said.

‘Huh?’ Wonshik was surprised.

‘There’s no way I can ever make it up to any of you for everything that I have done in the past. Maybe this is the reason why even he left me behind as well…’

He? Who is he talking about? Wonshik noticed the fallen expression on the Dark Taekwoon. He suddenly looked so lost and abandoned.

‘Are you… really going to disappear?’ Wonshik wanted to confirm.

‘…’

The silence answered Wonshik’s skepticism. The other could not be lying. The silence and the solemn expression on the Dark Taekwoon’s face, even Wonshik could tell that the other wasn’t lying about it. His time was really running out.

‘How… much time do you have left?’ Wonshik asked.

‘I don’t know. It’s something even I cannot predict. When the first Taekwoon died, I should have vanished along with him as well but instead, because I was banished into Limbo that I was spared. But I have used much of my powers already travelling through Dreamscape that my body can no longer handle it.’

‘What happens once you disappear?’

‘Who knows? I am the darkness and the shadow that was created from nothingness. It is only right that I revert back to being nothing.’

‘And you’re okay with that?’

‘What choice do I have?’ the Dark Taekwoon sighed. ‘Either way, I have already experienced enough of what it means to be alive. I once did everything for the Taekwoon who created me, now that he’s gone, what more is there left for me to do? To live for? Even now, it feels like a fantasy. A dream of being alive.’

The he that the Dark Taekwoon was talking about, thinking about, was referring to the first Jung Taekwoon.

Wonshik was beginning to learn more and more about the Dark Taekwoon as the two of them talked in his studio late that night. It wasn’t just sympathy that Wonshik felt for the other but rather, he wanted to hope and wish that he could have been there in the beginning to stop the tragedy from happening. If only he could turn back time or go back into the past to prevent any of this from happening in the first place.

‘You still keep this around with you?’ the Dark Taekwoon noticed a certain notebook inside of Wonshik’s backpack.

Wonshik took it out to show the other. It was the first Wonshik’s book that is filled with spells and magic. It is an heirloom passed down from his ancestors in which Wonshik felt that he had to keep it safe around him.

‘I do,’ he said. ‘Do you know what the first Wonshik was like? My previous life?’

‘He’s quite the strange one. He had the powers to control from the Heavens yet he did not want anything more to do with the Gods. He fell in love with the mortal realm and looked for everyway he could in order to turn against the Gods. Eventually, he threw away his identity as the descendent from the Heavens and pursued in witchcraft instead. That book you’re holding is only a small portion of the centuries of research he has done in the past. From what I know, much of his notes were burnt in from this world in order to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands.’

The Dark Taekwoon told the rapper that he once thought of his previous life as a formidable rival.

As Wonshik heard more of the past from the Dark Taekwoon, he was slowly becoming more and more inspired to write. He grabbed his pen immediately as an idea suddenly came to his mind.

‘Help me with this,’ Wonshik asked the Dark Taekwoon.

‘Me?’ The Dark Taekwoon pointed at himself.

‘Mhmm. The next song. I’ll need all the help I can get from you. It will be a song that tells people of our past and of your story from beginning of time. A dream, a story, and a Fantasy.’

* * * * * * A/N * * * * * *

Fun Facts:

• I usually decide when to release a new chapter if I get 200+ views :)
• I write all drafts of each my chapter on my phone whenver I'm on the bus, break during work or even taking a bath ~ I can't sit properly to write a chapter... I hafta be doing other stuff haha (also cuz I work 1 full time job and 1 part time ~)
• There is a total of 60 Chapters for this fanfic (all have been finished, just waiting for a good timing to release them *teases you all*)