"Minho...MINHO! It's just a dream! It's not real! Listen to me! Jonghyun is fine! He's right next to you! AH! I wish you could hear me! Minho~" Jinki yelled in his sleep. His dream was connected to Minho's and as the dream went on, it became more disturbing and painful. Minho's mind created images of Jonghyun being beaten, of his mother dying, of himself being burned in a fire. Jinki desperately wanted to calm his soulmate down. Jinki imagined he was running with Minho, hoping Minho would somehow feel his presence, but eventually, Minho's dream filled mind blocked him out. Jinki woke up, disturbed...and cold. He felt a pressure unerneath him. He was feeling. He could feel the cold tile of an unfamiliar room under him. He felt his own eyes...a pair of real eyes open, whisps of hair...eyelashes were brushing against his...

Face. 

His had skin, a weird leather, almost. Rough on the elbows and knees, but soft on the back of his hands. His eyes. He could feel them pulsating and growing larger with each breath he took. His nose. He could smell.  His back. His legs. His fingers. He could feel. Jinki began to erratically move all of what he could feel. He had a...no he couldn't. Could he? Could he really have a body? Was he a human? Was he breathing? Did he have nerves? Did he have a heart? Jinki squeezed his eyes shut and tried with all of his might to lift a heavy newfound arm off the cold tile and onto his new heaving chest. He felt his brand new fingers touch his chest and shuddered at the fact that he could feel skin and a beat. Like a drum. A really fast drum. Was this his heartbeat? Beating for the first time for Minho, for real? Was he actually a human?

He wigled his weird looking toes that had shields of hard nail over them. He laughed nervously as his new bones cracked as he began to move them around for the first time. He kept touching his chest to feel a live heart inside. He wasn't glowing. He wasn't a floating ball without a face. A face. He had a head and a face and hair. He must have one. He moved a shaky, heavy hand to his head and felt a soft, silky material. He took a handful of it and tugged on it. Pain. He felt pain. Really human pain. Although he had felt pain and saddness and other emotions as he guided Minho in their early years, he was breathing and living it the way Minho and Jonghyun did. It hurt. That was the first time something physically hurt and Jinki wasn't sure whether to scream or cry or laugh or hide. 

Common knowledge indicated that humans walked around. Jinki moved his feet to a flat position and a large shiver ran through his entire body upon feeling the floor against his new feet. He then closed his eyes and waited. As a young conscience, they just floated as they pleased without thinking about it. Humans, could not float. They had to think and exert energy to get up and go. Jinki wasn't sure he was ready. After a few frusturated moments of lying there without moving, Jinki saw the door to the unfamiliar room open and in came a stream of silver light flowing in. It was the guardian. 

"My, my. Jinki. You are so grown up! Sorry about the room change, my boy. We moved you to this room because you were tranforming mid-sleep and we did not want to disturb the others. How do you feel?" The old robed man asked. 

"Weird. Strange. I can move." Jinki said, still astounded. 

"Yes, my boy you can. By the looks of it, you are perfect for Minho, why just look at you." The guardian said, The guardian carried a mirror with him and offered it to Jinki. With tentative, shaky hands, Jinki grasped the cold elegant silver frame of the tarnished mirror and held it up, shutting his eyes shut as soon as the mirror was lifted to the level of his new, unfamiliar face. 

"Look at yourself. You are handsome with nice eyes and a strong figure. You are a good height and your soul radiates kindness. Look, Jinki." The guardian urged. 

Jinki opened his eyes, feeling a drop of water...sweat, that ran down his forehead as a side effect of his nerves. Jinki opened his eyes and almost dropped the mirror. His breath hitched as he looked at his face. A heart shaped face, noticeable cheekbones, long, thin eyes, blonde hair swept to the side, and eyes, grey eyes and long eye lashes. His skin was pale and he was a balanced combination of slim and strong. Jinki practiced moving his full lips, noticing his eyes crinkled at every facial movement. 

"Do...you think Minho will like this? Me?" Jinki asked the guardian, feeling a wave of anxiety wash over him. 

"Jinki, you would not be his soul mate if you were not meant for him. You are his lifeline, his best friend and his love and he doesn't even truly know you yet. Have faith." The guardian reassured Jinki. The guardian began to walk away, his footsteps echoing. Jinki began to panic. He didn't know what to do now that he was like the way he was. 

"Wait! What do I do now?" Jinki asked, eyes wide. The guardian chuckled and just simply said, "Contact Minho." Jinki's eyes went even wider as he thought about it actually being the day he was going to talk to Minho. 

The guardian left saying there was something else he had to attend to and that Jinki would be okay. He also left Jinki with clothing, white cotton pants and a light blue fleece. To Jinki, it just looked like cloth with random holes, but he thought about the fact that humans wore clothes and that he could not be when he first contacted Minho. It was crazy to think that Minho would really talk back to him and that he would know that Jinki was his conscience and soul mate. It terrified and excited Jinki. 

Breathing heavily, Jinki sat up against a wall. He curled his somewhat stocky legs into himself, feeling his stomach fold with worry. He felt a weird feeling at the base of his neck. Water. Jinki was nervous sweating but how could he know he was capable of that? He had never sweat before, or felt his body react to what he was feeling. It was strange and scary. Jinki took numerous deep breaths. He wanted to see if he could contact Minho. Since Jinki could not see him, he had no idea where Minho was. Usually his reference point was Jonghyun. Since Jinki and Minho had not talked to each other for real yet, Jinki really didn't know much about Minho's surroundings until he could feel what Minho was experiencing. 

Jinki closed his eyes, which he thought were quite weird to have and thought. He could feel his forehead creasing as he tried to make a connection with Minho. In his mind, he could see a tunnel. A black tunnel. The only way Jinki could actually communicate with Minho was if a light blue line appeared and led him through the tunnel until he could see white light. That was the path that connected their two minds and feelings. When consciences first advise their soul mates, before the soul mate is aware of their consciences, the light blue line is faint and can often get interrupted. The connection was no where strong enough to overcome Minho's block outs. Jinki was worried that Minho was having one right at that moment, until a blue line appeared. The corner of Jinki's lips turned up a bit, in a first smile. The path zig-zagged through the tunnel, significantly brighter than it had been before. It went on for a long time, sometimes fading a bit. But finally, after a long time, Jinki could see white. His heart felt like it was going to fly out of his chest. It was a whole lot of white for a while until he could see the chalky washed black board of a school classroom. His vision flashed a bit, a series of jumbled images began to come. A head of rich auburn hair, a silver chain bracelet, it didn't make sense to Jinki at all. 

Seeing the black board, Jinki knew Minho must be in school. 

Minho was sitting at his school desk when he felt a shiver go up his spine. Every few minutes or so he would get a pain in his head. He would just scrunch up his face to try to block the almost stabbing pain in his head. Eventually, it became too much. 

"Exscuse me, may I go to the nurse? My head is aching." Minho asked politely, his deep voice causing some of the girls in the class to giggle and others to whisper. 

The teacher sighed and let Minho go. Minho was an above average student, but missed or left class often due to his mother or an issue with Jonghyun. The teacher was often worried about him. Minho was walking briskly to the nurse's office, as to not waste time. He figured a couple of pills and he would be back to normal. He missed class already, he didn't want to miss more. Again, a wave of pain hit Minho, but this time, much more severe. Minho began to sweat and shake. His heart was pounding and his breathing became labored. Jonghyun was across the school in a different classroom, so he was of no use at the moment. After a few more strides, Minho's bony kneed buckled, sending him to the floor. No one was in the hallway, of course. Minho had learned that 99% of the time, one was there when you needed them. So to not be in the complete middle of the hallway, Minho dragged himself to the nearest corner under the linoleum staircase, his school uniform pant cuffs lifting at the motion, giving him painful tile burn on his ankles and shins. Minho was breathing heavily as he looked in front of him, eyes heavy and in a daze. He was numb and in pain at the same time and felt sicker than he ever had before. Minho felt around in his uniform, for something, anything that could help him. 

And he found it. A small, clear bag of miracle pills. Extras he assumed. He had seen what they do to his mother. The high, the crash. But they made her able bodied for a time. Taking the risk of choking and gagging while dry-swallowing the pill, Minho brought a single round to his lips, when all of a sudden, he heard a voice. 

"Minho, don't." The voice was soft and smooth. Like silk. Minho knew that sickness can cause a number of crazy mind-related things to happen. There was no one in the hallway and Jonghyun's voice sounded nothing like that one. Minho had assumed he officially had gone insane. Not sure what else to do, he answers the voice. Jinki felt the pain Minho was feeling caused by their mental paths finally connecting. It hurt like hell. 

"Are you talking to me?" Minho spoke into open air. Would this craziness respond to him? 

"Oh my god. You talked to me." Jinki said in disbelief. "Minho. It's you right? You're Minho?" Jinki asked, not sure if this was true. Minho's voice was all he heard, and yet it was all he needed to reaffirm how in love Jinki was. 

"How do you know who I am? Who are you?" Minho asked, looking at the ceiling. 

"Minho. My Minho. Oh my god. Thank you for talking to me. Finally." Jinki exclaimed, overcome with happiness. Jinki brought his new knees closer to his chest and tried to calm himself down. 

"How do you know who I am?!" Minho demanded. 

"Will you believe me if I told you?" Jinki asked, worried that Minho would reject him entirely. "If you listen, I can help you." Jinki added, hoping the broken boy would listen to him. 

"Let me take my pills first." Minho said, reaching for the bag again, hands shaking, forehead sweating. 

"No don't do that! You have seen what they do to your mom. Please. Minho. Don't take them. They aren't miracles." Jinki pleaded. Minho stopped suddenly. 

"How do you know about my mom? And the pills?" Minho asked, beginning to panic that he was being stalked. 

"It may take me a while to explain. You believe in right and wrong right?" Jinki asked Minho, trying to find a good lead in to his explanation. 

"Yes. Most of the time." Minho answered shortly. 

"Good. And do you know why you know right from wrong? Why when you face something you can feel how right or wrong something is? Or how confusing it sometimes is, but in the end you make a decision?" Jinki asked. 

"You sound like Jiminy Cricket." Minho scoffed, his dry throat transforming his sarcasm into a full-on coughing fit. 

"Oh my god. Minho. I'm so sorry I caused you to get sick like this! You have head pain, right? I can feel that you have head pain. It hurts." Jinki whimpered, feeling guilt and pain. 

"You did this to me? What the hell are you? I can't see you. But I can hear you. No one else seems to be running out of here with debilitating migraines, so it must be just me. I'm dead and you're an angel, or you're that...voice...inside my head..." Minho trailed off. Suddenly all those years, he didn't know it at the time, but for some reason Jinki's voice was so familiar and comforting. 

"Yep. That's me. The voice inside your head. I'm Jinki, your conscience." Jinki finally revealed. 

"How old are you?" Minho asked, out of the blue, trying to process what Jinki had just said. "Wait...you're just my imagination, you don't age." Minho corrected himself. 

"Actually, I'm almost twenty. I was born a few years before you and as a conscience, I die, like everyone else." Jinki explained. 

"But how can you? You're just a voice!" Minho laughed and coughed more, shaking his head. Minho then felt a sharp pain through his skull, as if someone was sticking a knife into his head. Minho in air and tried not to yell in pain and as he did so, he heard Jinki cry out in pain as well.

"You felt that?!" Minho exclaimed, tucking his legs closer to his knees, eyes wide. 

"Of course. When you're in pain, I am in pain. Our minds are connected because I am the someone that guides you through what is right and what is wrong." Jinki tried to explain. "Once your human that you are guiding gets to a certain age, consciences becomes humans. I am as human as you are, weird leathery skin and all. I even have parents, believe it or not. I don't know if they are near to being angels and had me, or the guardian found me and my parents adopted me." Jinki said, smiling, thinking about his family. 

"When we are human, we can really connect with you and actually talk to you. Before, I was just a voice that you didn't know about. All those decisions, whether to run away, beat someone up for hurting Jonghyun, not go to school, I tried to help you make the right decisions. Today, I turned human so I wanted to talk to you for the first time. For real."

"So, you're alive. On this planet, right now? And you're talking to me...as my conscience?" Minho asked, trying to find some sense in what he was relaying back to Jinki. 

"Yes. But...I'm actually more than a conscience. To you. And you are more than a subject to guide to me." Jinki began, taking a breath and waiting for Minho to respond.

"What do you mean?" Minho asked, coughing a bit, wincing at the throbbing pain in his head. 

"Do you believe in soul mates?" Jinki asked Minho. Jinki shut his eyes quickly in embarassment. He didn't know what else to say. 

"I don't know. I guess everyone ends up with the person they're meant to be with." Minho said, confused. 

"Have you ever thought that your moral compass, that voice in your head, could be the voice of the person who you are meant for?" Jinki asked, eyes clenched and forehead creased in anticipation and mutual head pain. 

"No." Minho said, looking down, trying to think about that concept. Then it hit him. "Are you saying we're..." 

"Yes." 

"But I'm..." 

"My soulmate." Jinki interjected. 

"But.." 

"Minho. I feel your pain. I feel your happiness. I'm the only one who can contact you like this. I transformed into a human when you came of age for the reason that I am meant for you. You will never have another soul mate. It's me." Jinki explained, his voice wavering at the end, worried Minho would hate him, spurn his existence, laugh in his face. 

He didn't. 

"So how does that work? Do I get to see you?" Minho asked, his heart beating, his whole being curious and intrigued by the prospect of having someone meant for him. 

"There's a test. For you and Jonghyun. His soul mate and conscience is my best friend, Kibum. We have been watching over you two in tandom, which makes this a very unique journey since you two will be going on it together. Basically, we will go somewhere, anywhere, and you two will try to find us. This is to prove that you are our soul mates. This is because pure love comes from emotional connection, not solely physical attraction. The interesting thing is, I cannot see you. I have very little knowledge of what you look like, other than your height and haircolor. Kibum can see you and I can see Jonghyun..." Jinki said. 

Minho in a long breath between his front teeth. He wasn't sure if he should let himself accept this information. However, he was having a pleasant conversation with this Jinki. He wasn't fighting anyone for the last of the miracle pills. He wasn't running after Jonghyun who would just get up and run. He wasn't having a nightmare. He was comforted and soothed by Jinki's voice. 

"If you're my soul mate and conscience, then why don't I know you? Sometimes I do things that aren't good, but I don't have the right or wrong conflict in my mind." Minho said. The sweating died down and his head hurt much less than it did before. 

"Unfortunately, until a certain point, you are not aware of me at all. And...there are situations, really bad ones, where your mind blocks me out completely. The path that connects our minds goes dark and I can't see or feel or do anything about you. I am sorry that is the way it is, but I always think about how I could have been there." Jinki sighed, feeling sadness take over. Minho suddenly felt extremely sad as well, close to tears. 

"So...all the times I have been beaten or get hurt or sick or angry, you feel it? Did your friend...um...Kibum feel when Jonghyun was beaten when he was younger?" Minho asked, not sure if this was okay to ask. 

"Yes. We feel it all unless you block it out. We prefer that you don't block us out though, that path until we meet is the only thing I have of you. Actually, when Jonghyun had his ribs broken, we were just glowing lights. Kibum started to scream and turned this horrifying red color. So we feel." 

Minho was about to say something else when Jinki interrupted him. 

"Hold on a second. Someone is coming." Jinki said, a little worried. The footsteps rapidly coming towards the room Jinki was in made his heart race. 

Jinki looked to the door which suddenly swung open to reveal a tall, lanky boy with porcelain skin, greyish feline eyes, significant eyebrows, one of them having a horizontal scar going through it, pastel purple hair as fluffy as clouds, and a large white sweater and baggy pants. Jinki had no idea who it was until he opened his mouth. 

"I turned into a ing meat sack." The boy said with a low, smooth voice, a bit accented. Jinki would recognize that voice and the swearing anywhere. 

"Kibum!" 

A/N: I cannot apologize enough. I don't have the heart to tell you why I have not written in so long, but I have reasons and I am sorry if I let anyone down. I am back and will be updating some other stories as well on my own pace. I hope you enjoy and I love you all <3