Junmyeon hates children. Maybe hate is a strong word. Junmyeon dislikes children with a passion, and he decides that he dislikes them with a stronger, fiery passion when his colleague's child starts disturbing him at work, like how he always does in the evening after he's picked up from kindergarten. 

He would have done something about it if not for the fact that Minseok is his senior, and that the head of department allows it, just until Minseok can find someone who can babysit his child. Junmyeon feels sorry for Minseok, having to juggle a demanding career and a hyperactive child without a wife, but it still doesn't lessen the dislike when he's disturbed.

"Ahjussi ahjussi ahjussi, Junmyeon ahjussi," the five-year old chants as he tiptoes on his tiny socked feet to peek at what Junmyeon is working on.

"Yes, Baekhyun," Junmyeon says, his tone already bordering on exasperation. Baekhyun doesn't seem to notice, because he keeps on bouncing next to Junmyeon. He remains as cheerful as ever, his small eyes forming crescents when he steps on Junmyeon's feet because he can finally see what his ahjussi is working on.

"Ahjussi, whatcha doin'?", Baekhyun asks as he extends a tiny hand towards the stationery holder on Junmyeon's desk.

"Work," Junmyeon replies, pauses his work so he can push Baekhyun's hand away.

"Can I work too?", the child asks, his spirit still not dampened by the rejections and curt replies.

"No."

"Okay! I will draw!", Baekhyun exclaims running away. Junmyeon sighs in relief. "Hm good, go draw."

But it's short-lived; the toddler comes back with a chair in tow and before Junmyeon can say anything, he's already pulling his dad's empty swivel chair to Junmyeon's desk and climbing on it. Junmyeon doesn't have any time to process what's happening before Baekhyun is crawling on his work-desk and his worksheets are torn.

When he does process it though, the entire accountings department can hear a frustrated yell, proceeded by a child's cry.

Junmyeon hears the rapid footsteps before he sees Minseok in his line of vision, an apologetic look on his face. This is not the first time Baekhyun has caused Junmyeon trouble, but this time Minseok's child didn't just ruin a simple shirt or a pen. He ruined the worksheets he's been slaving over the past couple of weeks.

“What did he do this time, Junmyeon?," Minseok asks in a soft voice as he picks up his crying child, careful not to aggravate Junmyeon, then he whispers to Baekhyun, gently rocking the boy, “Shh, daddy’s got you.”

Instead of answering, Junmyeon picks up the torn worksheets and shakes it in front of Baekhyun's blotchy red face angrily.

"Did you know how many nights I've worked on this? Did you?!". His voice is now a few decibels higher than normal, and if everyone weren’t looking before, they are now. Baekhyun cries get louder, obviously not used to being scolded in such a way.

"Jun-", Minseok tries to intervene.

"Almost a month!", he yells, his tone almost hysterical. He recalls the countless nights spent hunched over his laptop in his room, the scattered papers all over his apartment and the gastritis he got when he drank too much coffee and ate too little food, all for the torn worksheets he’s holding in his hand. Now he has to redo all the calculations. Maybe not all, but the fact that it's due the day after tomorrow makes everything more stressful.  Junmyeon looks at Minseok and repeats in a defeated voice, "a month."

The whole department is quiet save for Baekhyun's sniffles until Minseok tries to placate Junmyeon again. "Junmyeon, he didn't mean it. Didn't you, Baekhyun?" A nod. "Say sorry to Junmyeon ahjussi, go on," he says encouragingly, wiping Baekhyun's tears away with his thumb.

"I-” a sniff, “I’m sorry, ahjussi," he stutters out and holds out his tiny hand to shake Junmyeon's as a sign of apology. Junmyeon sees some of his coworkers smiling at the cute gesture but he won't have any of it, he's had enough of children, especially Baekhyun. He slaps Baekhyun's hand away and ignoring Minseok's (and everyone else's) look of shock, he stomps to the toilet.

He pushes the door open with unnecessary force and rolls up his sleeves before splashing water onto his face. He feels hot all over, and his face looks red and splotchy too, like Baekhyun's. Junmyeon shakes his head. He refuses to think of the child who's caused nothing but pain to him.

The slow creak of the door opening causes him to snap his head towards it. Yixing. Junmyeon groans inwardly, he's kind and helpful, but he doesn't need any of Yixing's life advices, not now. "Yixing, I- Just let me be alone," he pleads.

"Hyung, Baekhyun is crying," Yixing says, ignoring his plea.

"I know, I made him cry. Didn't you see?", Junmyeon says as he splashes water on his face again. He’s starting to feel hot.

"I did, why did you get mad at him, hyung?"

Junmyeon is getting increasingly frustrated. He just said he saw the scene, and now he's asking why he got mad at Baekhyun?

"You saw it," Junmyeon says through clenched teeth "He tore my worksheets, the most important one."

"That's not what I saw. He was trying to get a pen, that's what I saw," Yixing says, his voice composed like always.

Junmyeon runs his fingers through his blonde hair, the styled look now replaced with a messier one. The amount of exasperation he's feeling towards Yixing and Baekhyun should be impossible. Having had enough of today's events, he storms out of the washroom, but he catches on what Yixing says before he's out.

"You shouldn't discourage children from exploring, hyung."

He doesn’t get Yixing and his mind at all.

✦

On the way home, Junmyeon stops at the park. It’s near enough to his apartment complex so he doesn’t have to walk far, but also far enough from the centre of the city to be largely empty. He doesn’t need people, not now.

He sits on a bench overlooking the pond, the ducks quacking at the sight of a human, excited at the prospect of food. A duckling waddles over to him and he picks it up, setting it next to him. He cracks a tiny smile when it attempts to jump onto his lap.

The ducks here are friendly, which is why Junmyeon always brings a packet of bread for them. He places a piece of it near the duckling and his smile grows wider seeing it gobble it up before looking up at him. Animals are good, they don’t cause trouble like humans do. Junmyeon loves animals.

As he feeds the other ducks, scattering pieces of bread, he starts feeling unsettled, like someone is watching him from behind. He slowly turns his head, not wanting to appear nervous, but no one is watching him. No one is even in the park except him.

He ignores the feeling, but he hurries up nevertheless, whispering a "Goodbye" to the ducks before he walks home, the unsettling feeling at the back of his neck getting worse. Junmyeon turns around often during the long walk, and still, no one is following him. He now regrets taking the long way home.

Once he's in the apartment complex, he forgoes the lift and runs up the two flights of stairs, too scared to even attempt to look composed. He doesn't dare to look behind him as he unlocks the door and as soon as he locks it behind himself, the feeling disappears. He turns the lights on for good measure and leans against the door, sliding down to the floor.

That night, he feels it again when he's in bed. Someone's watching him, but it can't be anyone, he's the only one in his room! Muttering words of encouragement to himself, he switches the ceiling light on and picks up a book on self-help, trying to lull himself to sleep. He doesn't fall asleep until dawn.

✦
Junmyeon bolts up in bed when he feels the rays of sunshine on his face. , I'm late, he mentally curses before throwing the covers off his body and makes a move to get off the bed. Before he gets to do so, he notices that his legs are shorter, way, way shorter and these blue bedsheets aren't his usual grey ones. In fact, he doesn't even have blue bedsheets.

Panicked, he looks up and feels the blood pound in his ears when the room he's in is completely different from his own. The walls are painted lavender and the thin curtains are fully drawn, showcasing the remarkable view of a lake outside, glittering under the morning sun. In the horizon, there are only lush greeneries and mountains, not a single building in sight, not even a hut.

I must be dreaming, he thinks and his hand immediately flies up to his face, slapping his cheek. His palm is softer, he notices. And it also hurts. He tries again with the other hand, and it hurts as well.

I'm not dreaming, he comes to a conclusion, horrified. He must have been kidnapped. Junmyeon rolls over and gets off the bed. His mind is running through all of the possible suspects for his kidnapping when he realizes that the world seems bigger now that he's standing on the floor. The whirring in his head stops when he spots his reflection in the oval shaped  mirror on the wall.

He's not himself, but in a way, he is himself. He's shorter, just a bit taller than the bed he just got off from, and everything about him is small, from his face to his limbs. His hair is still the same platinum blonde though, he notices. But that's not important, he berates himself. What's important is he has shrunk overnight. He's now a child, and he's in a different place.

He's at a loss. He's so sure that this was a dream, but the red marks on his cheeks say otherwise. For the first time in a long time, Junmyeon doesn't know what to do. He wants to go back, but he has no idea what's even happening, and he can't even do anything about it. He feels heat at the back of his eyes and his lower lip wobbles. Helpless, he lets out a sob and it breaks the dam of tears pooling in his eyes.

He's sitting on the floor with his legs sprawled, tears streaming down his now chubby cheeks and high-pitched whines and sobs coming out of his mouth. He doesn't want to cry, but he can't help it because he feels so helpless. His sobs get louder to the point that he doesn't pick up on the rapidly approaching footsteps outside the wooden door.

"Suho?," a familiar voice calls out and he snaps his head towards the voice. His sobs die down and his eyes widen when he sees who it is.  "Yixing," he sniffles out, tiny fists hitting the carpeted floor, "help me!". He's even more horrified when he hears his own voice, so tiny and squeaky, and more hot tears escape his eyes. But Yixing can help, Yixing always helps.

"Yixing?", the man asks, bending down to gently pick Junmyeon up, his thumb gently wiping away his tears. "Did you have a nightmare again, baby?"

Junmyeon's muffled sobs get louder because his last hope of knowing where he is and what is happening is now crushed. He's not even Junmyeon anymore, he's this baby Suho, and this Yixing isn't Yixing.

"There there, Suho," not-Yixing coos, resting Junmyeon's small head on his shoulder, rubbing his back softly. "It's okay, you're okay."

It's not, Junmyeon wants to scream because this situation is anything but okay, but not-Yixing's shoulders are warm and the hand on his back is very comforting and not-Yixing smells very nice, like a cool spring breeze, he can't help but snuggle into his neck and sniffle quietly.

He's about to drift off to sleep when he hears tiny footsteps running towards this room and the door bursts open, jolting him awake. He looks up begrudgingly from his comfortable spot because the hand rubbing his back has stopped, and sees a boy about his size (and probably age) with large ears and large eyes look up at them with a worried look on his face.

"Lay, what's wrong with Suho?", the boy asks. Lay? Is that this not-Yixing's name?

Junmyeon almost clutches not-Yixing's shirt when he's about to be put down-- this boy seems taller now that he's not up there. "Poor Suho had a nightmare," he explains to the child. He's about to protest with an 'I did not!' when he's engulfed in a hug, this time by the boy. He looks at not-Yixing for help, obviously uncomfortable with this position, but he only receives a warm, doting smile in return. Junmyeon is fidgeting; the hug is too tight, the boy is too warm and he doesn't smell like not-Yixing.

"It's okay Suho! It's just a dream!", the boy exclaims when he pulls away, much to Junmyeon's relief-- the hug was getting too tight. It's okay, Junmyeon. It's just a dream, he repeats to himself, but deep down, even he knows that this is not a dream.

"Very good, Chanyeol. Now, help Suho wash up before breakfast, okay?," not-Yixing says in a warm tone, bending down to their level to lightly pat the tall kid--Chanyeol's head.

"Okay, Lay!" So his name is Lay. Junmyeon looks up at him for help, not wanting to be taken away from the only familiar face and into the hands of a strange elfish boy, but Lay is already turning around to walk out of the room. He looks at the retreating back with a pouty look on his face.

He feels a warm, sweaty hand hold his smaller one and he frowns, snapping his head to look at the boy-- Chanyeol. "Suho, let's wash up," Chanyeol exclaims cheerfully with a smile so wide Junmyeon has to avert his gaze to their feet. Despite being in a child's body, he still dislikes children. He might even dislike his own body because of the helplessness it brings, he thinks as he remembers how he's turned into putty in Lay's arms.

Now that he's no longer a softie, he recalls how angry and confused he was, so Junmyeon pulls his hand away and glares at the taller boy, whose eyes widen to almost comical proportions. "Let go of me!", he says. He's surprised when instead of crying like Baekhyun always does when yelled at, Chanyeol just blinks and pouts before attempting to hold his hand once again, which he avoids by slapping the outreached hand.

This time Chanyeol falters. "Suho?", he tries in a soft, confused voice.

Junmyeon gets increasingly frustrated because he is also confused, much, much more confused than Chanyeol is, and he wants to scream at the boy. He's prepared to scream out "I'm not Suho! I don't know you!", when he feels the warm hand on his again, not holding it like before, but just touching. 

The touch is different from before; it's... warmer. Not the suffocating kind of warm, but the warmth that's associated with the breeze on a windy summer day, when it's warm enough to go outside and play with kites. It warms him up from the spot where Chanyeol is touching all the way to his chest, chasing away all the frustration and anger from his heart.

He opens his eyes that he didn't even know were closed and he just gapes at Chanyeol, who's looking at him with a questioning look, but he can see the hope in his eyes. He did this, Junmyeon realises. "Suho?", Chanyeol tries again, softer this time.

Junmyeon doesn't know what to respond with, so he just settles for a nod, not pulling away this time when Chanyeol holds his hand properly.

"Let's wash up."

✦

Junmyeon learns a lot during breakfast. First of all, there are other occupants in this place, which is actually a cottage, seven more, in fact. There are three adults, and the rest, including him, are kids, and judging from how the adults cater to the children, he assumes that this is an orphanage. He casts a brief look at Chanyeol, who's busy stuffing his face with scrambled eggs, and immediately feels sorry for how he treated him. He, out of all people, would know how being an orphan feels like.

What’s more surprising is one of the adults look exactly like Minseok, and he behaves the same way too: gentle words, gentle gaze and no-nonsense attitude. He misses Minseok. Even though this Minseok is Xiumin here, he can’t help but feel drawn to him like how he did with Lay. Maybe it’s the familiarity. He secretly thanks whatever deity that forced him here that Baekhyun isn’t here. 

He doesn't talk to any of the other kids, but he picks up on names like Luhan, Chen and Kyungsoo, though he doesn't know who those names belong to. He eats silently, only looking up from his food to glance at Chanyeol and Lay.

From the dining room, also furnished in a very simple, homely manner, he can see the view from the front of the cottage. It's a large, open field with flower bushes scattered around it, surrounded by trees. The kids must play there.

After breakfast, one of the adults calls up two kids, Sehun, a pale, blonde boy, and Kai, an also blonde, but darker-skinned boy, to help them clear the table. Another adult ushers the other kids outside and he finds himself in the field, not knowing what to do, while the others are already chasing each other and laughing. What's the purpose?, he thinks, it's not very productive. Not at all.

"Suho?", a gentle voice calls from behind and he turns around, already accustomed to being called that. He has no idea why he's called that, but since he doesn't have any clues as to how to get out of here, he plays along.

It's Xiumin. "You're not playing? Usually you'd be joining them," he says.

"I...," Junmyeon mutters, trying to think of an excuse. He needs to fit in, no one would believe him if he suddenly blurts out that he's not who they think he is, they'd think he's just having nightmares, like how Lay did. And how does one exactly explain that they don’t children and they’re just very uncomfortable being around them? "I'm feeling kind of sick," he says.

"Fever?", Xiumin asks as he crouches down to his level, a slight furrow between his eyebrows. Junmyeon nods slightly. "I think so," he says with a pout, shuddering internally. He's never used his looks to influence someone before, despite constantly getting compliments from random people.

Xiumin reaches out a hand to Junmyeon's forehead and he freezes at the touch. Xiumin's fingers are cool, very cool and it's spreading from his forehead to his whole body, and when he retracts his hand, Junmyeon is left feeling refreshed, as if he just got out of a cool river on a sunny day, and he steps back after he gets his bearings in check again.

He must have had a very confused look on his face, because Xiumin chuckles and holds his hand, the cooling sensation coursing through his body again. "I forgot that you've never had a fever before, I cooled you down, like what I'm doing now, see?"

A few turning gears in Junmyeon's mind click. So that's what's he's been feeling before, from Lay and Chanyeol. Then he wonders if the other kids can do that too, evoke feelings just from touch. He wonders if he's capable of doing so too.

"Can I do that too?," he asks in a curious tone, and Xiumin smiles. "Of course you can, but yours aren't as strong as mine, even though you can cool people down too."

That's not fair, he thinks as he frowns. "Why not?"

Xiumin chuckles and taps a cool finger on Junmyeon's nose. "Because you're still a baby.", he explains, and his point is proven when Junmyeon lets out an involuntary huff. He's turned around to face the others and he feels a slight push on his back. "Now go play with your friends."

Friends, he thinks, what a foreign term, but he walks to the group of laughing children anyway, his eyes automatically looking for Chanyeol. He's easy to be spotted since he's the tallest, and he's holding a purple dragon plushie, whose tiny wings seem to be fluttering. He's supposes that he should feel surprised, but after all that's happened, and it's only morning, he can't find it in himself to be surprised even if a real dragon suddenly pops up.

They're playing tag, and he joins along, just because Xiumin is watching, not because he wants to. That’s just silly.

✦

Junmyeon plans to explore the place after lunchtime, so he'd get clues on how to escape this world, but he's halted when the children are ushered to a carpeted room full of toys: dollhouses, toy bricks that look like Legos, plush toys. He wants to get out, but Lay is watching over them, so he plops down next to him, far from the other children, especially Chanyeol who seems to be too energetic now. He carries a soft rabbit plush over, just so Lay won't ask.

But he does, much to Junmyeon's dismay. "Suho, why aren't you playing with your favourite toy?", Lay asks.

Junmyeon mentally curses children and their tendencies to have favourites. "They're all the same," he mutters, his tiny fingers tugging on the bunny's ears.

Chanyeol happens to walk by that moment and overhears what he just said, pausing from running away from the flying dragon plush toy. The dragon collides with Chanyeol's back and rolls to the floor, eliciting a loud laugh from Chanyeol who picks it up and pets it softly. Junmyeon looks at his bunny and wonders why it isn't hopping.

"They're not the same! Look at Yifan," Chanyeol says, walking closer to Junmyeon so he can see the dragon properly. Yifan reminds him of a tinier version of Dibo the Gift Dragon, just angrier. He's very tempted to say "So, what about Yifan?", but he holds his tongue. Chanyeol doesn't deserve it, he chants in his mind, reminding himself that they've done nothing wrong to him and that they're orphans.

"Yifan looks the same as the other dragons," Chanyeol continues, pointing to a couple of similar looking dragon plushies in the corner which aren't moving. Yifan's wings flutter at the comment. "But it's the time that I spent with him that makes him different."

Junmyeon wants to scream. It's still a plushie!, he feels like saying, orphan or not. These kids are downright stupid, in his opinion. But then he feels the lulling sensation again, coming from his back where Lay is rubbing slowly.

"Yifan and the other dragons came with Chen, two years ago. Chanyeol helped comfort Chen and he gave him Yifan to say thank you, because Chen didn't know how to speak back then," Lay supplies as he continues Junmyeon's back. "He's Chanyeol's first gift."

Junmyeon looks at the other children, only now noticing they're playing with toys that seem to have a life of their own and he understands. His bunny doesn't move because it's not important to him.

He's bitterly reminded of a blue toy windmill, just made out of a drinking straw and paper, sitting in one of the boxes he has at home; it's the only colourful object he has in his monochromatic life, and even that was stored away. He remembers that it was the first toy his mom had taught him how to make, and how he was lovingly congratulated with a kiss on the cheek when he showed it to her, despite how shabby and messy it looked.

He thinks they're stupid for favouring certain toys over the others, but he kept his toy that's almost as old as he is. Maybe he's stupid too, or maybe he's also a child. Maybe he's both.

✦

Junmyeon gives up trying to explore the place, because he has no idea where to even start, but he has reached the conclusion that this world, the world he's in right now, isn't the real world. To assume that he’s been somehow teleported into an alternate universe is just too far-fetched, but the assumption that he’s in a dream is also untrue. 

Junmyeon sighs. He's never been a great fan of fantasy or science fiction, nor was he very good in physics, so he's at a loss. Yet again.

Thankfully, this time he doesn't burst into tears, because Lay is not here to comfort him if he does. Only Kyungsoo's here, and even though Kyungsoo looks nice enough, Junmyeon notices the glare he directs at Chanyeol for accidentally making Chen cry. But Chanyeol deserves it though, because nobody wants Chen to cry. Everyone's hair are sticking up at odd angles just from his wails.

Junmyeon tries writing down the possible ways to escape, but his hand-eye coordination is still not on par with his mind, and it all comes out as random scribbles. Luhan, the pretty, pink-haired kid, suddenly pops up next to him with Kai, and says his drawing his beautiful. "Can I keep it?", he asks, the paper suddenly floating up to his hands.

"Uhm... Sure," he says, he’s pretty sure that despite his poor handwriting skills, the scribbles don’t look like a drawing. He has no idea what Luhan sees on this piece of paper. "You draw pretty bees, you should try drawing butterflies next!", Luhan says before walking to the wall, sticking the paper to the wall without any adhesives.

Junmyeon rubs his face with his tiny palm. These kids are weird, he thinks. He picks up the yellow crayon he's been using and places them in the box he found. He gives up trying to be logical; nothing is making sense in this place.

"Suho, let's play tag!", he hears the familiar loud voice call out to him-- Chanyeol. He turns around, about to decline, when Kai, who's been standing next to him, grabs his wrist and he's suddenly being dragged very quickly out of the cottage. When he lets go, he's feeling disoriented and he has to sit down on the grass.

"Oops, sorry," Kai apologises, "I thought you were Sehun. You have the same hair." We do not, Junmyeon thinks.

"Kai! You left me!", Sehun shouts from the door, running to where they are. "Sorry, Sehun." Sehun huffs before dragging Kai to the middle of the field, waiting for the other kids to come out.

"Suho!" There it is, he groans internally. Chanyeol never seems to leave him alone. Junmyeon wonders if Chanyeol is as close to Suho as Sehun is to Kai. Probably. He also wonders how Suho behaves, if he is shy like he is, or if he's loud like Chanyeol.

Junmyeon turns around and Chanyeol is there, beaming down at him like he's never been happier to see the grumpy, blonde kid and reaches out a hand. Junmyeon looks at it before tentatively placing his own in it. Chanyeol is warm, like before, and the frustration melts away again. If this happens often, he'll warm up to Chanyeol in no time, literally and figuratively.

After playing tag, and being 'it' two times, which is unfair because Yifan can fly and Jongin can run very fast (it's not his fault that his legs are short!), Junmyeon is all but ready to collapse on the sofa, but Kyungsoo gently coaxes him off it with soft words. 

"Come on, Suho." 
"Let's shower, baby." 
"You can sleep on the bed after a bath."

Junmyeon finds himself trudging to the bathroom on autopilot. Kyungsoo bathes him while humming under his breath and it feels like no time has passed at all after he's done. The next thing he knows, he's already tucked in the bed he woke up from this morning. He falls asleep to the sound of Kyungsoo's voice singing a familiar lullaby.

✦

"Junmyeon."

Junmyeon smiles, he knows that voice, he doesn't have to open his eyes to know who it belongs to. That voice belongs to the only person he's ever loved, the most kind-hearted person he's ever known, the one who always sings him a lullaby at night, the one whose laugh feels like the first chirping of birds in spring.

"Mom."

"Junmyeon, dear, wake up," the voice coaxes.

Junmyeon opens his eyes, and he's greeted with darkness. There's no mom. There's no one. The emptiness and solitude hits him like a freight train. He's alone. Even in another world, he's still alone, he realises as he starts feeling the telltale heat behind his eyes. He doesn't try to stop it, and in a few seconds, he's sobbing again, tears dampening the pillow underneath his head.

He's hiccuping when the door cracks open and Chanyeol's head pops in. "Suho?" Junmyeon doesn't have any energy to be snarky and he just wants to get rid of the emptiness, so he calls out weakly, "Chanyeol".

Without any other words, Chanyeol climbs up the bed, Yifan the flying plushie trailing along. He envelops Junmyeon in a hug and instantly, the emptiness inside him is filled with warmth and he stops crying. It feels so, so much better.

After minutes of just being hugged by Chanyeol, and being poked by Yifan's soft snout, Junmyeon stops sniffling. Chanyeol pulls away and beams at him, and even in the dark, Junmyeon can make out his bright smile. "Don't be sad, okay Suho? My friends shouldn't be sad!"

"Friend?"

"Mhm," Chanyeol nods, "Yifan is your friend too! See, he's comforting you."

He's right, the toy is now on his shoulders, poking it with it's snout and front paw. His touch doesn't bring any warmth like Chanyeol's, but it still fills Junmyeon with warmth. He's never had any friends before, other people have always been an obstacle in his way, but now, surrounded by warmth, he falls asleep with the thought that maybe friends aren't that bad.

✦

Junmyeon bolts up in bed when he feels the rays of sunshine on his face. , I'm late, he mentally curses before throwing the covers off his body and makes a move to get off the bed. Before he gets to do so, he notices that something purple was flung off the covers and onto the floor. He gets off the bed and picks up the object, a purple dragon toy plush.

Then he remembers, and he drops the immobile toy in shock. Junmyeon looks at himself, and his eyes widen when he sees that he's back to his own body again, and he's back in his room, which could only mean that he's back in his world. With that realisation, he panics because he's late for work.

After brushing his teeth, he quickly puts on his office wear and bolts out of the house, but not before placing the toy on his bed again. He doesn't get a chance to dwell on what happened the day before, or according to the calendar on his phone that shows the same date as the last time he’s been in this world, in his dream. 

He's late, but no one reprimands him at the office. Minseok only raises an eyebrow when Junmyeon sighs in relief as he sat down on his chair. He turns to Minseok. "Hyung, do you know anyone named Xiumin?", he asks.

Minseok's eyebrow rises higher and shakes his head. "No, why?"

He wants to get Minseok to touch his forehead, but he holds himself back. That was just a dream, he chides himself. He's convinced that what happened was a dream, but the toy plush in his room tells him otherwise.

Junmyeon is so deep in thought that he doesn't even heed the worksheets he obviously has to work on, nor does he notice Yixing when he comes up to his desk. "Junmyeon-hyung." He snaps his head to look at him and the similarity is so striking to Lay, he almost reaches out to touch his hand. Almost.

"The new intern is here," Yixing says and Junmyeon's eyes widen. He's been so engrossed in his dream-teleport adventure thoughts, that he completely forgot about the new intern who he has to be in charge of. He blinks before getting off his seat.

He's making his way to the boss' room when he hears Yixing say softly, "Suho doesn't get nightmares anymore." Junmyeon pauses in his tracks and turns around, but Yixing only has a look of confusion on his face. "Yes?"

"Nothing, nothing," Junmyeon says, and he continues to walk, blinking away the images of his dream. 

He misses the twinkle in Yixing's eyes.

Junmyeon knocks on the door and opens it when he hears a "Come in.". The new intern turns his head around to look at him and Junmyeon almost falls over because--

"Hi, I'm Park Chanyeol."

He stops at the door, just blinking at the new intern before looking at his boss, who gives him a quizzical look. This Chanyeol looks exactly likethe kid Chanyeol in his dreams, just older, and much, much bigger. It’s impossible to miss those large, elfish ears and big eyes. He's confused, and apparently, so is everyone else. He needs a day off, he decides, everything is getting so overwhelming and he needs to be given time to sort out his thoughts.

"Junmyeon, are you okay?", his boss, Mr Cho, inquires. His voice sounds like he's genuinely worried for his most prized employee.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. I just need to... I'm fine. " he blurts out as he sits down on the seat next to Chanyeol, who, even in this world, is a lot taller than he is. At the worried look he receives from both Mr Cho and Chanyeol, he shakes his head and plasters on his professional smile. "I'm fine, I really am," and before Mr Cho can inquire further, he looks at the intern and he extends a hand.

"Hello, I'm Kim Junmyeon."

The intern smiles that familiar bright smile, the one that makes Junmyeon avoid looking at his face, and he shakes his hand. Junmyeon snaps his gaze up to Chanyeol when he feels the warmth surging in through his hand up to his chest and all the way to his head. He doesn't feel overwhelmed anymore, he doesn't feel confused anymore. Everything feels just right to him.

"Hi, Junmyeon, please take care of me and let's be good friends," Chanyeol says cheerfully.

Friends, Junmyeon thinks as he remembers how a smaller Chanyeol had called him his friend. He nods.

✦

"What the , Kim Junmyeon."

Junmyeon taps the pause button and looks up to see Minseok covering his mouth with his hand, a guilty look on his face. "What?", he asks defensively.

"Yeah, what, daddy?", Baekhyun, who's sitting on Junmyeon's lap, imitates. He obviously missed the slip up, much to Minseok's relief.

"When I said 'make sure he doesn't get into trouble', I didn't mean play Barbie games with him. Baekhyun's a boy!", Minseok says.

"Baekhyunnie can be a pretty boy," a deep voice interjects, causing all three of them to look at the source. Chanyeol makes his way over and hands a file to Junmyeon. "Completed and sent," he says with a wiggle of his eyebrow.

Junmyeon smiles and thanks Chanyeol, who pinches Baekhyun's chubby cheeks. "Fine, whatever, just no make up games, I don't want him bugging me for eyeliner or anything for his birthday," Minseok mutters, sitting down on his chair again.

"Oh yeah, your birthday is coming up soon, right?", Chanyeol asks Baekhyun, who could only nod and shows his hand, palm forward, indicating that he’s turning five.

"Junmyeon-ahjussi and I will come to your birthday party okay?", he asks again, earning a big smile from Baekhyun.

"Guys, you're forgetting me," another voice says. "I didn't, Yixing," Minseok says, "only these two did."

Junmyeon laughs. "I didn't, too. Only Chanyeol did," he says, causing the intern to frown. "Put all the blame on the intern. Very professional," Chanyeol says, but his words have no bite.

Junmyeon smiles at the scene. Ever since that very realistic dream four months ago, his smiles are getting more genuine, and he's also made an effort to be friends with Yixing and Minseok, which isn't that hard thanks to his social butterfly of an intern. But the most he's achieved in the past four months is he's gotten over his dislike of children.

He's happier now, and it's not because of his promotion, nor his newly bought apartment. He's happier now because the toy windmill is no longer stored away (it's now on the wall of his room), he's no longer alone, and he's made friends. You can't see friendship, but you can definitely feel it, and that's what's important, Junmyeon realises.

"It's the time that I spent with him that makes him different."

Junmyeon still remembers those words, and he looks at the older version of the person, who's still teasing Baekhyun, then he looks at Yixing and Minseok.

They're all the same person they were, but to Junmyeon, they're not the same.

It's the time that I spend with them that makes them different.