My body felt frozen having only my hand be the distance between us our bodies. Not to mention, I was even able to remain calm the best I could when a light shade of pink colored his cheeks. He looked down as if to avoid my eyes and backed away before placing his hands on his cheeks. He seemed surprised. "So it really is true.." He mumbled to himself. "We were lovers.."

It was my turn to blush as he said this shyly. I guess him saying it for the first time in Taemin's voice made me feel giddy. However, I frowned when replaying his sentence again in my head. "No.." I said as gently as I could. "We weren't lovers."

His eyes widened slightly. "We weren't?"

I shook my head, which had immediately brought disappointment to his face. "B-But.."

He looked at me. It didn't help seeing him have so much hope in those eyes of his. "But?"

"I..I feel that I did love you..in that way. And that you did too."  

I could only gulp. "How would you know? I told you already you're not Taemin-"

"I am Taemin." He cut me off. "That's why I know my own feelings, including those of the past."

I couldn't not believe him. When he said all of his words they were all sincere. I didn't know whether or not to trust what he said, because I still couldn't tell if this was real or not. I couldn't differentiate if this was all in my head or if it was actually happening. "It can't be you!" I shouted, aiming those words more towards myself to keep myself sane. I thought that maybe I must have been hallucinating.

"But it is."

"No..it's not. This isn't real. You're not real! Taemin is in the hospital, currently resting and you're..you're just in my head-" Something-or someone-held my hand, and it wasn't the guy identical to Taemin. When I looked down to my right, I saw the same little girl from before. She was looking at the 'Taemin' with a serious concentration on her facial expression, and didn't let that stop her from crushing my right hand which she had hold of.

"Umma said I can't go home yet." She let go when she said this and looked at me.

It took me a few seconds before I realized if it weren't for her, I wouldn't be feeling this crazy right now. "Y-You-It's you! What have you done to me? Why did you give me that teddy bear? Now this thing that looks like Taemin-"

"This thing is Lee Taemin!" She shouted to me, surprising me considering how she was a little girl.

I was honestly freaked out as hell. "W-Wha-"

"He is his spirit Minho. And I happen to be a spirit as well." She pulled up her sleeve, revealing a white colored silk that was tied around her wrist. "You see? How else would I get into your house? I'm not some superhuman." Freaked out. Like I said, I was really freaked out. So as of right now, I was just about ready to pass out.

"But you gave me the teddy bear..we-we touched hands! I can't touch spirits!" I reasoned.

She rubbed her temples, "No, but spirits can touch humans." I couldn't get this all in my head. I really couldn't. Everything in this situation was not helping me at all, especially since this little girl just kept going on with her words and practically just kept slamming all this information into my already messed up head. "Look, it's my fault that I didn't tell you everything before. I realized that me giving you the teddy bear wasn't the answer to everything. I'm supposed to help you throughout this whole thing."

"Wait." Taken aback with the different voice, both the little girl and I turned to face the other, who I was now sort of convinced was actually Taemin's spirit. Then again, what can I really think when the same girl who had disappeared like thin air in the hospital had practically poofed back in my house? "It's you.." He approached the little girl and carried her high enough so they were now the same height. "You told me to follow the silk tied on my wrist, and I came here. You said I'd find the answers but I found nothing that I could even consider the solution to my problem. Right now all I feel is.." He looked at me for a split second. "Is pain and love."

She sighed in frustration, which seemed more towards herself than to us. "Yeah, I know I know. I'm really sorry. It's just that apparently Umma told me more than just find the nice man, give the teddy bear, then tell the one he's connected to, to follow the red silk." Her tone was a lot more different when I had first talked to her. Before in our first encounter, she had seemed like a lost little child in need, but now it's as if she's an adult living in a child's body.

"What do you mean by more?" Taemin asked.

"What I mean is, what I did was only part of the first step of solving this mess you two have."

"Wait a minute wait a minute, just wait a single minute." I stepped in again. "How am I supposed to even tolerate all this? How am I supposed to believe that this is all real and happening right now? I could just be going completely mad for all we know!"

She rolled her eyes at me and disappeared. I had then fallen to the floor from the shock of having her appear infront of my face. "You want proof? I'll give you proof." I was afraid. I was genuinely scared of what would happen, and I had every right to be so.

Suddenly, I heard myself screaming in pain as something seemed to be burning a trail on my forearm. It was such a horrid experience. I felt as if something was ripping my skin mercilessly. By the time this excruciating pain had diminished slightly, I was panting heavily and was on my knees while desperately clasping my arm in my hand. I was in so much pain that I didn't even see how Taemin was kneeling near me while asking me repeatedly if I was okay. I couldn't respond to him even if I wanted to.

My eyelids felt heavy, and I didn't know why but I couldn't help feeling dizzy. Everything was spinning around me, and I couldn't tell if it was just me, or if the room was getting darker by the second. But the last thing I saw, was Taemin's worried eyes and silent moving lips before everything before me went pitch black.

-

I woke up feeling sore in just my left arm. I was on the couch, laying on my back. I don't really remember ever falling asleep on here. But I genuinuely wish that was how I remembered passing out. Instead however, I was only reminded of what happened earlier by seeing the teddy bear sitting there on the floor. I looked around to scan my household, and saw no one else in here but me. Confused, I stretched my arm out to retrieve the teddy bear into my arms and thought to myself maybe it really wasn't real. That maybe it was just my imagination after all. However, as soon as I looked at the stuffed animal in my arms, something caught my attention. At the crease of where my elbow and bicep laid, a patch of light skin stuck out like a sore thumb. With wide eyes, I removed the teddy bear from my embrace and saw this light skin trail down all the way to my wrist.

It was a huge scar, not to mention that it's width wasn't even near inferior to it's length. "What the.." 

"You're awake?"

Surprised, I looked up to see it was Taemin. . It was real. "Y-You're here.."

He nodded. "You've been out for a while."

"A while?" I asked in confusion.

"Yeah..two days."

"Two days?!" I instantly fished my phone out of my pocket, "." There were hundreds of texts from Yuri, and some other people. I'd say the number of texts I got was less than to the number of miscalls I received. "What..What happened to me?"

Taemin approached me and sat down, letting me notice how he brought me a cup of water. I could also tell he was trying to keep some distance between us with how far he chose to sit. "Well..the little girl gave you that so you wouldn't keep questioning if we were real I guess. It's a fresh scar that'll last for who knows how long, but as long as it's there, she said you should know we're here. It was bleeding a lot at first, but she managed to patch it up herself."

"So..you're telling me this is all real?"

"I guess so."

After he said that I looked down at the teddy bear and at my scar. Many thoughts filled my head, but what stuck to me the most was the question that I had been meaning to ask now that I have woken up. "Do you..remember anything about us?" I said softly.

He looked up at me and averted his eyes back to the floor almost immediately after. A moment of silence filled the air between us until he spoke. "Not much.." He started to touch the red piece of silk tied around his wrist. "I can feel the love though..and the pain."

I wanted to hug him..I wanted to tell him I'm sorry. However, I knew sorry couldn't make up for it. The pain I saw in his eyes was something I wish I could wipe away with the wave of my hand, but I knew I deserved to see this. I deserved to feel crazy and have all these misfortunes come upon me for the way I had treated Taemin. "I'm sorry." I told him either way. It was the only thing I could think of doing. I didn't exactly know how to feel about talking to a spirit.

"I don't think..I'm mad at you at all. Well at least it doesn't feel like it." With his translucent hand, he placed it over his heart and did that thing where he had concentration stamped all over on his face.

"I know..you're not mad, or that 'Taemin' from the past isn't mad..because that's not what I'm sorry for." I bit my lip after saying this. "I'm sorry for just how much pain I've caused you."

He scooted closer to me and came to look solid. "I don't know exactly what happened..but I know there's no love in the world that doesn't come with pain." He touched the ring on my finger, "This ring, it isn't one meant to bind us together as a married couple is it?"

"N-No.." I whispered in shame.

He hit bullseye and had me at the verge of tears as he only continued to speak with such kindness in his voice. "You know..right now it hurts a lot. Deep down somewhere, I know what's going on, but I guess the me outside doesn't want to remember any of it for the sake of my heart. Deep down, I know I should be furious. For some reason though, there's just no anger at all." He laughed softly. "I must really love you a lot."

I felt like sobbing at his words."But I don't deserve it..not even a single piece of it. Whether or not this affection of yours is as a friend, brother, best friend, or a lover, I don't deserve to even witness it."

He smiled softly, making my heart beat a mile a minute. I don't even remember the last time my heart skipped like this, or the last time I saw Taemin smile. "I probably don't care if you deserve it or not because right now, all I want is to love you more than anything. And I feel as if, if we work together..we'll get through all this."

Before I knew it, a very soft feeling of warmth caressed my cheek. He was wiping away my tear, but I couldn't even feel his finger. All I felt was my tear being smeared away. "I don't think there is anything to get through. No..there shouldn't be anything to get through."

He sighed at my answer. "You know, maybe this is the reason."

"Huh?"

"The little girl..she said the moment we were reunited I should have been able to return back to my body. But I didn't."

I blinked several times. "W-What does that mean?"

"That means there's something keeping me from going back." He looked at me straight in the eyes. For a second, I could have sworn I saw a sign of sadness, but it was gone the second it came. I didn't know if I imagined it.

"Am..I the reason?"

He smiled softly. "Who knows.." He put a hand over mine. "For all I know it could be me choosing not to go back because my reality is something I want to avoid." A pang of guilt and pain shot me at his words. It made me think, that this could have possibly been all because of me. "But I know that couldn't be it. Meeting you here, in a different universe of mine doesn't seem to change anything in the past me. I still feel happiness when I'm with you. How could I avoid that precious gift from you?"

"B-But..but you k-k-k-.." That was weird. I couldn't continue my sentence. It was like something wouldn't let me. Taemin furrowed his brows at my words and tried to figure out what I was trying to get out of my mouth. "You k-k-k-." Once again, I had tried, but it just did not come out.

All of a sudden, Taemin turned his head towards the door. Before I could process anything there were knocks on my door. "Minho? Minho, are you there?"

Those voices sounded all too familiar, and if it weren't for their worried tones I wouldn't have felt tempted to open the door. I turned to Taemin instantly to tell him to wait in my room, but to my displeasure, he was gone. He poofed away just like the little girl, and I didn't know if it was because I was finally back to reality, or if he just hid himself for my sake. Despite that, I ran to the door and opened it right away. I was harshly welcomed by three pairs of arms which squeezed the air out of my lungs from a hug that caused my back to collide against the floor. "O-Ow-"

"Minho!" On my body, the three familiar heads of hair from my hyungs were on my chest.

"We thought you died!" Onew said to me, making me smile very slightly.

"Mianhae.." I said quietly.

The three quickly got off of me, pulling me up with them and continuing to hug me tightly, one by one. "Where have you been.." Jonghyun asked since he was the last to hug me. "We were worried sick."

"Seriously Minho, Yuri was especially worried. She wouldn't stop bothering us and asking us where you were. We had a feeling where, but we obviously couldn't tell her about it." Kibum said.

"Thanks..and sorry about this whole thing." I apologized and bowed slightly. Then out of nowhere, Onew grabbed my arm before pulling it up to his face with the widest eyes I've ever seen him do.

"M-Minho-" He touched the scar on my arm, shocking me with how he could actually see it. "D-Did you do this to yourself?"

I shook my head and instantly pulled my arm away, "N-no! I swear I wouldn't do this to myself. You know how I feel about these kind of things."

"Then who did this to you?" Jonghyun asked suspiciously.

"I-uh don't really know." I lied as I touched the scar with my own hand. "I think I've had this for a while but forgot about it." The three questioned me with their eyes, but pushed away my false words as I had asked them how the hell they found this face.

"We knew about this place from before. I followed you this one time when you and Taemin were alone, so now I'm lucky it's the same place as before."

"You followed Taemin and I home, Kibum?"

He nodded. "I always felt this kind of protectiveness with Taemin..so I couldn't help it."

I looked at him for a good minute, and normally I would have scolded him for being a nosy guy but I was kind of more than glad he and the others came here. I was starting to question if I was sane after all. I guess the spirits are real. If the other three can see this scar, it must mean that I really wasn't going crazy. "It's okay..I'm sure I would have done the same." I said. "But..do me a favor yeah?"

They looked at me in sync and seemed to be reluctant in agreeing with my favor. I knew that whether or not they wanted to follow it, that I would be okay with whatever decision they'd make. Because either way, I knew well enough I deserve the painful consequences that would come from each end of the choice I make. I waited for a while to brace myself, and breathed slowly. "Please, don't tell Yuri about this place. I don't want her to come here..I don't want her to see me like..like this. Eventually, I swear I will reveal everything to her. But as of right now, I just don't have the strength to do that. I can't even look at this place without breaking down at just how horrible I was towards Taemin, how much more do you think I can handle if I were to tell her now? It's not fair..and it's not even close to right for me to hide this from her. I know that..but I can't help it. The things going on right now is just so overwhelming for me."

"Did something happen?" Onew asked me, his warm hand on my shoulder. I was close to tears at the moment, but I held it in desperately for the sake of myself not looking stupid in front of them. Not only did I not want Yuri to see me like this, I didn't want them to see me in this state.

"N-Not really. It's just that not long ago I was called into the hospital being informed that Taemin woke up but went back into his coma." I found myself wiping my eyes with my sleeve. "It's the worst feeling knowing I could be the reason why Taemin won't try to come back."

"Minho..don't be like that." Jonghyun quietly said.

I bit my lip and sniffled. "We said our goodbyes. We said our I love you's before he had lost consciousness in my arms, but what if even after that, he doesn't want to come back anymore? What if he gives up because he feels coming back will just have to be facing me and my wife again? What if-"

A gentle hand had covered my mouth, silencing me completely since I had realized I was crying a river now. Kibum, whose hand remained on my mouth until I stopped talking, smiled softly with tears slightly in his eyes. "Gwenchana. I promise you, we won't say a word to her until it's necessary."

Looking at his comforting smile, I couldn't help but reflect the same action with tears in my eyes. I could honestly say that I wouldn't know what do to right now without these three. Although I've brought them into things they should have never been a part of, they still support me. They support me with the love that I lost the second I had proposed to Yuri. I remember how disappointed they all were, even Jonghyun. I didn't know him very well back then, but it seems  even through those circumstances he too only saw me with Taemin. I was surprised. And even now I'm just as shocked that Kibum and him have gotten quite close. If he had managed to get Kibum's trust, then there's no doubt I can't not trust him.

There was no one else besides these three who had gained my full trust, and I was more than thankful for that.

-

After a few weeks of me going back to the house, Yuri was different. Indeed, she had changed a lot. She didn't speak to me much about what she was thinking of. I could tell she had a lot to tell me, but for some reason she just wouldn't. So because of that, I didn't talk to her unless she spoke to me. I was tired, and as each day passed, I felt like I was really crazy because I never saw Taemin in the house again. I didn't know what to believe anymore. But as I looked at the scar that would surely remain on my arm for years, I would be reminded that it was all real. It had happened, and could happen again as long as I had kept coming back to our house. Slowly, but gradually, our house was starting to patch up nicely. For some reason, the things in there stopped being touched or broken. So I had come to learn that if I fixed the broken with something new, it would keep it from doing it's same routine again and again.

As days passed, the frequency of my nights spent in our house increased, and Yuri stopped texting and calling. It was then I knew she was becoming angry with my actions, but I just couldn't find it in me to stay at my place where my wife slept. I didn't feel at home at all. It was only here which felt like home. It was the scent of Taemin that made me fall asleep. Once I had spent at least four days in a row sleeping here, I had managed to snap Yuri's temper and was soon bombarded with her texts and calls which forced me home. As soon as I arrived, I was faced with none other than the woman herself.

A look of mixed emotions was on her face once I had come inside of the house. With just one glance, one could easily tell most of these mixed emotions running through her face was filled with anger. "Where have you been?" She had tried to say this kindly to me, knowing how I hated it when people raised their voice. But I knew her all to well to be fooled by that fake tone.

"My old place with Taemin." I replied bluntly.

There was a glint in her eye I couldn't quite put my finger on, so I pushed the thought of it aside when she became even more furious. "Why are you always there?"

"Because I miss Taemin."

"Okay, but four whole days Minho? And you don't even call back-" 

"I'm sorry. I truly am. I just fell asleep that's why and once I woke up, I didn't feel like doing anything. I just feel so miserable without him. You know how much Taemin means to me."

She balled her fists to hold herself down, but for some reason this only made me aggravated with how artificial she was being. "Is that why you've been away from home so much? Because of Taemin?"

Without any desire left to lie to her in this moment I simply nodded. "Can you blame me? Taemin is and has always been precious to me."

And finally, I saw that she had burst. I had clicked the button that triggered the opening gates of her hell. "Ugh! Taemin Taemin Taemin!" She spat, "It's always Taemin! For god sakes Minho, I'm your wife! I should be your first and only priority, not Taemin! When this whole thing first happened, I was fine but now you're just going too far. You're supposed to stay home here and go to work. Not mourn over yourself in that house Taemin and you used to live in. Get over yourself Minho, Taemin is in a coma, and won't ever wake up unless some miracle happens! So you could do us all a favor and get off of your to earn some money for this family!" Once she had finished, she was panting slightly. I who was inwardly enraged by her words remained quite and waited for her to calm down.

"Is that all you have to say to me?" She didn't reply, but instead averted her eyes to a different spot rather than my eyes or face. "Well, then I can clearly tell now you don't care about Taemin one bit. I can see, that you never favored him even when I first introduced you to him."

"No, that's not what I'm saying Minho. I'm saying you've always put him over me. Ever since he came back into your life, I've gotten pushed over and treated like a second choice. For god sake, that corpse is able to get more of your attention than I do!"

Fury took place in my words as soon as she said that. "He's not a corpse! He's alive and breathing! He just happens to be in a coma. Do you know the difference between those two? The only reason why I've been like this now is because the second he had come back to my life he was already half dead! You can't even come close to understanding the pain of holding someone dear in your arms as they're bleeding to death! Maybe this is why you were pushed over so much-because of all the people, I expected you to understand the pain I had seeing him in my arms in that state!" I lied. Of course it was a fact that she'd never understand, but I wasn't truthful when I said I expected her of all to understand. To be truly honest, I expected her to be the last person to understand my pain. She would never know kind of sorrow my heart is drowning in.

"I get that he means a lot to you. I understand that seeing him in your arms like that was probably more excruciating than to what words can describe, but it hurts me too Minho!" She started tearing up at her own words, but gained no sympathy from me. "It hurts to see you always thinking of him! You're always worried about him, always going to your old house and sleeping there instead of sleeping here with your wife whose obligation is to help you through this, not just to watch you go through it!"

"Since when did I ask for you to help me? I never asked you to heal me. I don't want to be healed, because if I am then that would only mean that I can't care for Taemin anymore." What I really meant was if I was to heal, I wouldn't be able to love him the way I do now.

"You didn't have to ask, because I'm supposed to do it either way."

"And when has that ever been something you just had to do?"

"Since I became your wife!" She shouted.

"Then, as your husband, I'm saying that I don't need your help on this."

"You don't need it or you don't want it?" I looked at her in silence, able to see how she was crying now. There were no sniffles from her, no sobs, but just water coming out of her eyes and tracing down her cheeks. I could see her mascara starting to run, which I never understood. Why would she even need to wear make up around me, more so at home? With or without, it wouldn't make a difference on how I felt about her. "If anything, I'd say you were in love with Taemin." She said in a tone of slight disgust. She was right alright, but I showed no sign of it as she glared at me through her tears.

"If Taemin was in your place right now, even he would be able to understand me."

She scoffed as she wiped her tears away, "Well sorry for not being Taemin." With that, she walked away and locked herself in our bedroom upstairs. I remained still, only letting my chest rise up and down as I breathed. I didn't feel hurt at what she said, because I too am sorry she isn't the person who I should have married. The only thing I felt for her was guilt. Guilt for not telling her who I truly loved, and just clearing all the mess I've made.

"Taemin-ah..I'm going mad." I whispered, rubbing my temples. I needed him. Whether it was his spirit or just his unconscious body at the hospital, I just needed him here. I needed his comfort to be okay. But I knew as of right now, I was all on my own in fixing this. I was nowhere close to being ready to tell Yuri everything, nor did I want to. However, I knew the more the clock ticked, the heavier the pain would be to carry. I now knew it wasn't if I was okay with it, or ready to tell her, I needed to tell her whether I liked it or not. And I was willing to do it if it meant helping this whole situation with Taemin and I.


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A/n: Herro my friends, how was this chapter? We've gotten more of a taste on the fantasy part of this story, and I must say I find it fascinating (: It's really my first time writing a fantasy-ish story, so it's a new experience for both you and me as we go. Once again, I'm sure I've done this for god knows how many times, but I'm apologizing for the delay~ You should all know by now it's because of school. My teachers just don't understand the concept of rest! :D So there ya have it, the big fat evidence of why it takes me forever to update this story. I'm actually wondering if I should debut my other story, because I really want to write it. (It's a jongkey fantasy~) Idk, if you guys want me to, just ask and I'll consider putting it up ^^ ANYWHO, I hope you like this chappy! Let me know what you think in the comments, It helps author-nim a lot! Happy reading my lovelies!