pairing: BaekChenLay
length: 8575 words
A/N: This story references Catching Up (BaekChen) and Scraped Knees and Drink Splotches (BaekLay).

--

“Calling Agent Oh-Four, please report to the main terminal immediately. Repeat. Calling Agent Oh-Four, please report to the main terminal immediately.”

Baekhyun groaned loudly as he shifted around in his warm bed, loath to leave the soft blankets that were snugly wrapped around him. Slowly cracking open a sleep-crusted eyelid, he peeked at the digital clock that was sitting atop the bureau next to him and then groaned again when he noted how early it was. Certainly too early for him to be called to the main terminal.

But he knew that if he didn’t roll out of bed now, he’d face a heavy infraction for his tardiness and then Chen would make fun of him while he served his punishment. And he wasn’t going to let the younger male have the satisfaction of seeing him on his knees, scrubbing the floors until they were crystal clean again.

--

Baekhyun yawned loudly as he stumbled into the main terminal and found his two best friends waiting for him by the messaging dock. “Wazzup?” he mumbled sleepily as he walked to the others.

“Took you long enough,” Chen said with a snort. He reached over to grab Baekhyun’s shoulder and shake him fully awake, causing the older male to whine in protest.

“I’m awake, I’m awake,” he quickly said, opening his eyes as wide as they could and blinking them owlishly to prove his point. “Jeez, the universe couldn’t wait another three hours so that I could get through a full sleep rotation?”

“I mean, no one told you to stay up past two moon cycles,” Lay, the eldest of the trio, mildly pointed out as he stepped to the side so that Baekhyun could stand in between him and Chen.

“Tch, touché,” Baekhyun muttered. He then faced the empty chamber of the messaging dock and asked, “Alright, so what am I doing today?”

A holographic image of a beautiful, petite woman appeared in the chamber. Her face was youthful although there were extremely faint lines near her eyes and mouth that betrayed her true age, which none of the trio knew and dared not ask. She was a Council Leader, the only female and the youngest of the three.

“Celestial greetings to you, Elder Yoo,” all three males immediately said, crossing their right arms in front of their chests while using their left to cover their eyes out of respect.

“Celestial greetings to you, gentlemen.” She then pointedly faced Baekhyun, who had uncovered his eyes but kept his gaze lowered so that he wasn’t making direct eye contact with her. “Agent Oh-Four, you have been summoned to carry out today’s mission.”

“Affirmative, Elder Yoo. I’m ready. What are the mission details?”

Elder Yoo’s hologram fractured to reveal an expansive map that was decorated with tens of thousands of various blinking white dots. Two of the dots then changed colors; the one in the middle turned purple while the one near the top left corner turned black.

“Worlds Two-One-Two-Two-Six and Oh-Oh-Two-Three-Three have recorded new peaks of arcane energy. Our monitors have scanned both worlds for any orphic objects causing these spikes and we traced the Toxic Barb and the Black Glasses, respectively. You will need to retrieve these orphic objects from their hosts and bring them back to the main terminal. After you have returned, Elder Jo will send Lady Hwang to take them back to the Council’s Treasury.”

“Affirmative, Elder Yoo,” Baekhyun said with a nod. He was familiar with the protocol; Lady Hwang was Elder Jo’s second-in-command and usually traveled to the main terminal in his stead. “Is there anything else that I need to be aware of? Or anything specific that I should bring with me?”

“Yes, you will need to bring a Time Compass with you. Unfortunately, the two objects’ energies are affecting our scans, so the portal to World Oh-Oh-Two-Three-Three does not have accurate coordinates. We shall send you to World Two-One-Two-Two-Six first, since we have secured an exact pin for you there. Once you retrieve the Toxic Barb, jump to World Oh-Oh-Two-Three-Three. If you are lucky, you will arrive at the correct time coordinates. If not, pinpoint how far back or forward you need to go, based off of what you observe at the present, and then use the Time Compass to make the final jump.”

“Affirmative, Elder Yoo.”

“I’ll grab a Time Compass for him while he prepares for the jump,” Chen added.

“Thank you for your service, Agent Two-One. And Agent One-Oh, you will be overseeing the portal jumps as usual, correct?”

“Affirmative, Elder Yoo,” Lay said.

“Perfect. I have already transmitted the coordinates to the main terminal. The first portal will be ready in approximately one crescent spin.”

“Affirmative, Elder Yoo,” the three duly chorused.

Meanwhile, the map fractured to make way for her hologram once more. “Thank you for your service, gentlemen. The Council will eagerly await the news of your success, Agent Oh-Four.”

“I will not disappoint you, Elder Yoo,” Baekhyun murmured, keeping his gaze respectfully trained on her shimmering shoes.

“Celestial greetings to you, gentlemen.”

“Celestial greetings to you, Elder Yoo,” all three males answered back with their eyes covered and their right arms in front of their chests.

The woman’s hologram faded into nothingness, leaving the chamber of the messaging dock empty once more.

Baekhyun let out a shallow exhale as he lowered his arms to his sides. “Well, I guess I’ve got my work cut out for me, with the extra time-jumping I have to do later.”

“Eh, could be worse,” Chen said with a shrug. “She didn’t ask you to bring any combat armaments, so they’re probably harmless dimensions. You should be done in no time.”

“I sure hope so.” Baekhyun’s stomach then growled loudly, reminding him that he hadn’t eaten breakfast yet. “Well, I’m going to the dining terminal first. I’ll come back here in about half a spin to suit up.”

--

Baekhyun mindlessly whistled a ditty as he tied up his bootlaces, making sure to knot them tightly. He then adjusted his Portal Amulet so that the eye of the ruby-red jewel was open. “Is the portal ready?” he asked.

Lay sent him a thumbs-up from the upper balcony where he and Chen were standing. “Whenever you are.”

“Alright, well, I’ll catch you guys later,” Baekhyun said with a playful two-finger salute as he stood in front of the swirling purple portal.

“Try not to get lost,” Chen called out, wearing a saucy smirk.

“Aw, c’mon, have a little more faith in me. I’ll be back before the next moon cycle starts.”

Lay grinned. “We’ll hold you to it.” He then pressed a button, which widened the portal door from a hand-sized circle to a six-foot-tall oval.

Baekhyun lightly tugged the various pouches that were hanging from his belt, making sure they were secure, before waving to his friends. “See ya!” He then dove into the portal and it immediately shrunk back to its original size.

--

WORLD #21226

“Oof!” The portal had opened sideways and dropped Baekhyun directly onto a concrete sidewalk. He hissed as he gently rubbed his lower back, trying to alleviate some of the pain. As he moved his arm, he yelped again when his elbow clipped against the edge of a skateboard that was next to him. Luckily, it was nighttime, so no one had noticed him appear out of thin air. His cries of pain hadn’t attracted anyone’s attention either, which he was grateful for.

Baekhyun slowly stood up, dusting his pants from the fall, and quickly surveyed himself. He was wearing a loose black T-shirt, dark navy jeans, and white sneakers. Next to the skateboard was a gray backpack. He seemed to be a student of sorts.

Well, he could work with that, despite not having gone to school for years now.

The inter-dimensional agent then closed the eye of his Portal Amulet and tucked it underneath his T-shirt to keep it hidden and to also avoid accidentally triggering the next portal before he was ready to leave this world. After taking in a deep breath, he shouldered the backpack and looked around, wondering where he should start in his search for the host of the Toxic Barb.

Suddenly, something in his back-right jeans pocket vibrated and Baekhyun slipped a hand inside to pull the item out. He recognized the cell phone, built circa early twenty-first century in one of the non-magical dimensions. Relatively primitive compared to what he was used to, but he was familiar enough with its functions and capabilities.

There was a new message from someone.

Lu Han
Baekhyun, I need you to come to our apartment right now! Something is very, very wrong with Yixing and I don’t know what to do!

His eyebrows furrowed with concern. Oftentimes, Lay’s alternate selves went by the moniker “Yixing” so it seemed as though he was already friends with Lay in this dimension, which was always a plus. But based off of the text message he had just received—or rather, his alternate self had just received—this world’s version of Lay was currently in trouble, which would align with the arcane energy spiking out of nowhere.

Byun Baekhyun
I’m coming! Can you give me directions on how to get to you? I’ll send you my location.

He was banking on this Lu Han guy being panicked enough to overlook Baekhyun’s ignorance. Less than a minute later, the phone vibrated again. “Bingo,” the inter-dimensional agent murmured.

Lu Han had sent him a map of the campus with Baekhyun’s location circled in blue, the route traced in red, and his apartment circled in purple.

Lu Han
Hurry! He’s getting worse!

Byun Baekhyun
Be there in a flash!

The inter-dimensional agent shot off like an arrow towards Yixing and Lu Han’s apartment after placing a Booster Disk on the underside of the skateboard to artificially increase the portable vehicle’s speed. He arrived in minutes and scooped the skateboard into his arms before running into the building while also removing the Booster Disk and placing it back into his gadget pouch. Baekhyun then remembered that he had no idea which unit belonged to the pair. Luckily, there were mail slots on the first floor for every room, labeled with each resident’s name. His eyes lit up when he spotted “Lu Han & Zhang Yixing” and he repeatedly muttered, “Two-Oh-Seven,” to himself as he ran up the stairs to the second floor.

Upon locating the correct unit, he hastily knocked on the door and was met with a fair-skinned, doe-eyed boy who immediately pulled him inside. “Oh, thank god you’re here,” the boy said, nervously wringing his hands. “Something happened to Yixing and I don’t know what to do.”

“What is it? Where is he?”

“He’s in his bedroom,” Lu Han replied, pointing to the closed door on the left. “He went in there earlier, saying he felt tired and needed a nap. He didn’t look so good then, but I figured it was just exhaustion from studying. But then, when he didn’t come out for dinner like he usually does, I went in to check up on him and I found him,” Lu Han threw open the bedroom door, “like this.”

Yixing was convulsing wildly in his bed. But what caught Baekhyun’s eye were the stripes of purple liquid covering the boy’s ghostly white skin. “Oh no,” he gasped. The Toxic Barb had already made Yixing its host and was now trying to take over his body. The inter-dimensional agent had to act fast if he wanted to save the innocent boy from the deadly orphic object.

But first, he needed Lu Han out of the room.

Stealthily reaching into his gadget pouch, the inter-dimensional agent pulled out a Mind Wipe and placed it over Lu Han’s eyes before he could react. “You are going to leave this building and stay away until I leave this dimension,” Baekhyun murmured, keeping his hand pressed over Lu Han’s face.

Once the other boy obediently nodded, Baekhyun removed his hand and gently pushed the now blank-faced Lu Han out of the room before shutting the door. He then heard the sound of the front door opening and closing, causing the inter-dimensional agent to let out a sigh of relief. Now that Lu Han was gone, he could focus on the task at hand. Baekhyun did feel bad for kicking the boy out of his own apartment, but he was more of a liability at this point which the inter-dimensional agent couldn’t afford.

It was difficult with Yixing thrashing about, but Baekhyun managed to throw some immobilizing dust over the other male’s limbs. Although they didn’t still completely, it was enough for Baekhyun to be able to properly locate the Toxic Barb that was screwing itself into Yixing’s left knee. Both of his knees were scraped up, probably from a nasty fall he had taken earlier. And the Toxic Barb had most likely sensed his weakness at that moment, choosing to latch onto him as a host.

“I-is that y-you, Baekhyun?”

The inter-dimensional agent looked up into Yixing’s dark brown eyes and felt his insides twist. He had been so focused on the other male’s physical injuries that he hadn’t thought to check on Yixing’s mental state, which was arguably in much worse shape. “Yes, I’m here, Yixing.”

“Baekhyun, it h-hurts,” the Chinese male wailed in between anguished screams. “My b-body hurts so m-much. Make it s-stop! Please, m-make it stop!”

“Don’t worry, Yixing. I will!” the inter-dimensional agent gritted out as he grabbed onto the Toxic Barb. The purple orphic object began glowing more intensely and the purple rivulets began flowing more intensely, causing Yixing to scream even louder. “C’mon…” Baekhyun braced himself as he used all of his strength to pull, his heels digging into the floor, and he grunted as he felt the Toxic Barb’s resistance increase. It tried to embed itself even deeper into Yixing’s flesh, but Baekhyun refused to let it completely fuse with the terrified boy. “Oh, no, you don’t!”

Yixing sobbed as he held onto to the headboard of his bed, his body wracking with immeasurable pain from the Toxic Barb sinking even further into his knee.

“Just…a…little…bit…more!” And with a mighty heave, Baekhyun ripped the Toxic Barb out of Yixing’s left knee. The force shot him backwards and he smacked against the wall, yelling as he did, while Yixing shrieked one last time. A low moan then escaped the inter-dimensional agent’s lips as he clumsily sat up, feeling a bit woozy from the collision. But his head soon cleared and Baekhyun immediately threw the orphic object into the purple velvet pouch that was attached to his belt. With the Toxic Barb now secured, the inter-dimensional agent hurriedly stood up and ran back to Yixing’s side.

The injured boy was still as white as a sheet. Even though the orphic object was no longer using him as a host, its poison was still steadily running through Yixing’s body.

“Hang in there, Yixing!” Baekhyun fumbled around his gadget pouch before pulling out some Damp Moss and placing it over the injured male’s knees.

The magical moss began absorbing the toxins from Yixing’s body through the open wounds and the rivulets lessened by the second while the Chinese male’s skin gradually lost its deathly pale color.

Once the last droplet of poison was out of Yixing, the inter-dimensional agent scooped up the Damp Moss and dumped it into an empty canvas pouch, making a mental note to dispose it when he returned to the main terminal. “How are you feeling now?” Baekhyun anxiously asked as he knelt down, his hands tightly gripping the edge of the bed.

“A-alive,” Yixing answered with a weak chuckle. “I r-really thought I was g-gonna die for a second there.”

“Everything will be alright from now on,” Baekhyun said soothingly. “Get some rest, okay? I’ll ask Lu Han to bring you some soup later.”

“Are you—are you gonna stay with me?” Yixing looked at the inter-dimensional agent with wide, beseeching eyes.

Baekhyun furrowed his eyebrows. As much as he wanted to make sure that Yixing fully recovered, he didn’t have time. He needed to find a secluded spot to open the portal to the next world and retrieve the Black Glasses before it did any irreparable damage. The inter-dimensional agent looked at the other male apologetically before saying, “I can’t, Yixing. I’m sorry. But Lu Han will be here with you soon and he’ll take good care of you.”

Yixing visibly deflated. “Oh…okay…” Just as the inter-dimensional agent was about to stand up and leave, Yixing said, “Hold on, Baekhyun. Before you go, I—I have to tell you something important. I—”

“Wait, Yixing,” Baekhyun interrupted. He felt like a jerk for doing this to the poor boy, but it also wasn’t right to pretend that he was his alternate self, especially when Yixing was so emotionally vulnerable.

Once he left through the portal, his alternate self would return. Yixing could make his confession then. Even though it was against regulations to reveal his status as an inter-dimensional agent, Baekhyun knew that he couldn’t ruin this special moment for Yixing. And his alternate self, assuming that he reciprocated these feelings.

So the inter-dimensional agent gently caressed Yixing’s right cheek, his thumb rubbing tiny circles over the pallid skin, and softly said, “I’m sorry, but I’m not the Baekhyun that you know.”

“Wha—what do you m-mean?” the Chinese male croaked out. “What are you t-talking about?”

“I’m…an alternate version of Baekhyun. I come from a different dimension, one filled with magic. Filled with technology that far outstrips anything currently existing in this world,” Baekhyun revealed, keeping his tone calm and quiet. He then held up the purple velvet pouch that now contained the Toxic Barb. “This thing that was poisoning you? It’s known as an orphic object and it contains extremely powerful magic that would’ve killed you if I hadn’t pried it out of your knee. I came to retrieve it and take it back to my dimension.”

“Wh-what?” Yixing gaped at him, forgetting everything about his torn-up knees. “You’re—you’re kidding…right?”

Baekhyun shook his head. “I know it sounds crazy to you, but it’s the truth.”

There was a long stretch of silence before Yixing whispered, almost fearfully, “Then prove it.”

The inter-dimensional agent pursed his lips, knowing that he was magically bound not to. But he also couldn’t just leave Yixing like this after revealing so much already. The easiest way to prove his words would be to take out the Toxic Barb, but Baekhyun wasn’t going to risk it escaping from his grasp and disappearing into another dimension to find a new host. He already had another world to visit after this one and Elder Yoo had warned him that retrieving the Black Glasses would be much more difficult since he didn’t have the exact time coordinates.

Baekhyun’s eyes brightened. That was it.

“Alright, I’ll prove it,” he said to Yixing, who looked at him in puzzlement. “But you have to promise me that you won’t tell anyone about this. I’m breaking a lot of laws by revealing all of this to you.”

“Er, okay…”

With that, Baekhyun reached for his Portal Amulet and carefully opened the eye of the ruby-red jewel before activating the portal to his next destination.

A large black portal appeared right next to Yixing’s bed, causing the boy to jerk away in shock. He then hissed loudly, since his knees were still in copious amounts of pain.

“Sorry, I should’ve warned you how big it is,” Baekhyun ruefully said. “But, uh, here’s a portal. This is how I travel between dimensions.”

Yixing just looked at him, utterly speechless.

“Anyway, when I leave through this portal, your world’s Baekhyun will take my place here. It’ll be like he’s always been here. Like I was never here at all,” the inter-dimensional agent continued. “And once he’s standing in this room with you, Yixing, you can tell him what you almost told me earlier.” Baekhyun smiled kindly at Yixing, who continued to stare back at him with wide eyes.

After a few seconds, the Chinese male’s voice finally came back to him as he stuttered out, “I—I can’t believe it… You—you’re a…a…a…”

“An inter-dimensional agent,” Baekhyun cheerfully supplied.

Yixing turned even whiter.

“Hey, don’t worry,” Baekhyun swiftly said. “I know this is a lot to take in, especially after everything you’ve been through, and I’m not here to cause any trouble. In fact, I’m going to leave now. The portal won’t stay open for long and I’ve got somewhere else to be.” He waved to Yixing while stepping closer to the swirling black portal. “It was nice meeting you!”

Just before the inter-dimensional agent could dive in, Yixing asked, “You said that my…my world’s Baekhyun will be here once you leave, right?”

“Yup, right where I’m standing. He obviously won’t have any memory of you suffering from the Toxic Barb, but the universe will fill in the blanks with something logical. He’s not going to question why he’s here, if that’s what you’re worried about.” Baekhyun slightly tilted his head to the right. “Is there anything else you’d like to ask me before I go?”

Yixing shook his head. “Um, thanks, I guess. For saving my life,” he mumbled shyly. “I hope you get back to your world safely.”

“No problem. I’m just glad that everything worked out. Feel better soon and good luck!” With one last wave, Baekhyun stepped through the portal and vanished.

--

WORLD #00233

“Ouch! Not again,” the inter-dimensional agent grunted as he found himself landing face-down on a plush carpet, his mouth uncomfortably filled with synthetic fibers. He pushed himself up from the floor and hurriedly spat multiple times, trying to get the icky taste of the carpet fibers out of his mouth. He then closed the eye of the Portal Amulet and tucked it underneath his shirt, which was a white button-up this time.

But before he could properly survey his new surroundings, a warm female voice called up, “Baekhyun, are you okay? Did something fall?”

“Uh, sorry, I just accidentally knocked down,” the inter-dimensional agent hastily looked around the room for something plausible, “a textbook.” He quickly grabbed one of the thick law books from a nearby bookshelf and placed it haphazardly on the floor next to him when he heard footsteps approaching. “Nothing to worry about!” he called back.

Half a minute later, the door opened to reveal a woman in her sixties. There was a worried expression on her face as she peered in. “Okay, just be more careful.” Her gaze then moved to the half-open closet at the opposite side of the room and she let out an exasperated sigh. “Oh, Baekhyun, did you take back those giant cut-outs from Chanyeol again?”

The inter-dimensional agent stiffened, not knowing what she was talking about but also knowing he couldn’t let that show. “Uh…”

She walked in, going straight to the closet, and sighed loudly again as she pulled out three blown-up pictures from the closet. They were the heads of this world’s version of him, this world’s version of Chen, and a third male who Baekhyun assumed was Chanyeol. She lingered a few extra seconds on Chen, looking sadly at the smiling face, before putting Baekhyun’s on top and placing them back in the closet. She then turned to the inter-dimensional agent and quietly said, “I know you like having them with you, but what if Yixing finds them again?”

“Uh…”

“You know how upset he gets about seeing Jongdae, especially around this time.”

That was the moniker that some of Chen’s alternate selves went by. So both of his best friends were here—sort of. Hopefully in better condition than Yixing had been in the previous dimension. But why would Yixing be upset about seeing Jongdae?

She shook her head sadly. “I know we all grieve differently, but for Yixing’s sake, please promise me you’ll return those pictures to Chanyeol. At least until Yixing can better handle any physical reminders.”

“Um, okay.”

The woman smiled kindly at him and tenderly patted his right cheek. “I’m going to the restaurant now. You’ll be there for dinner, right?”

“Uh, yeah, definitely,” Baekhyun assured her with a tight smile.

“And your father sent word that he’ll be coming home next week!” she said, happily clapping her hands. “It’s been so long since we had dinner together as a family. Tell Yixing to clear out his schedule so that he can join us!”

“Uh, okay, I will.”

“I’ll see you later then. Make sure to take breaks while you work!”

“Yeah, I will. Bye,” he answered, nervously waving to her as she left the room and closed the door behind her. Baekhyun then let out a loud exhale as he leaned against the bed in the room and waited for his agitated nerves to settle. Portal jumps were usually timed so that the agent was alone until enough information could be gathered to successfully pose as his alternate self. He wasn’t used to acting on the fly, especially right after a jump when he was still slightly disoriented.

The woman was nice though. Most likely the mother of his alternate self. Their brief conversation had already given Baekhyun something to work with, even though he didn’t understand much of what was going on or if any of it were actually related to the unusually high levels of arcane energy in this dimension. But he had to start somewhere and this was as good a place as any.

In any case, the inter-dimensional agent was curious to know what the connection between Jongdae and Yixing was, and why it was so controversial.

Chanyeol seemed like his best bet for information about what was going on, so Baekhyun began looking around the room for a cell phone. As he searched, he also mentally documented the other objects in the room to try and discern what type of person his alternate self was.

Quite scholarly, if the dozens of thick law textbooks were anything to go by. And an art lover too, since so many paintings and sketches were hanging around the room. Baekhyun curiously looked at each one and noticed that all of them had the same sharp signature on the bottom right corner. “Jongdae must’ve drawn these,” the inter-dimensional agent whispered to himself in awe when he discerned the artist’s name. “Wow, these are amazing.”

But that still didn’t answer any questions.

It wasn’t until Baekhyun finally took a good look at the messy desk in the room that things began to click in place. And his knees felt weak as he examined all of the stuffed file folders and marked up newspaper clippings on the desk, reading every last word despite his stomach starting to churn uncomfortably.

Because Jongdae was dead.

Abducted and then brutally murdered six years ago.

The murderer had never been properly prosecuted and was still roaming free to this day. And Jongdae’s murder wasn’t the only one he had committed since then.

Baekhyun felt like hurling as he continued reading all of the research gathered on the murderer. It didn’t seem possible that such an evil person had been able to avoid imprisonment when there was so much evidence stacked against him. Then, the inter-dimensional agent’s eyes widened when he noticed the unmistakable Black Glasses worn by Jongdae’s murderer in all of the photos of the man. His alternate self had also taken note of the orphic object and made notes on it, despite not understanding its true significance.

Part of him was happy that he had located the orphic object so quickly. But another part of him was terrified of what this meant. If the murderer had become the host of the Black Glasses at least six years prior, that meant he was almost unstoppable at this point, which would explain how he had successfully evaded law enforcement for so long.

Although his alternate self had done a phenomenal job of tracking the host’s movements, the orphic object was most likely permanently fused onto its host by now. Even if he did seek out the murderer, Baekhyun knew that it would be impossible to take back the Black Glasses without any combat armaments. And there wasn’t enough time for him to make the jump back to the main terminal and return when the dimension itself was so unstable from the rising levels of arcane energy.

The inter-dimensional agent then remembered that Chen had packed a Time Compass for him. His eyes flickered back to a page containing Jongdae’s obituary and the gears began to turn in his head. Pulling over a chair to sit down in and grabbing a pad of paper to write on, Baekhyun began collating any useful pieces of information from the files about Jongdae’s whereabouts before he was murdered.

Despite how much information he had to sift through, Baekhyun was grateful for how thorough his alternate self had been. The more details he could coherently piece together, the better chance he had at pinpointing the exact time coordinates that would lead him to the juncture before Jongdae’s abduction but with the host still nearby. It was a tiny window of opportunity he was playing with, but it was his only choice; he had no other leads on the host’s prior movements.

Baekhyun feverishly scribbled away, cross-checking dozens of pages, scratching out words and circling others. His eyes trawled over his notes, memorizing every last detail.

The sky started to bleed various shades of reds, purples, and pinks by the time Baekhyun finally finished deriving Jongdae’s last known location and calculating the coordinates for his time jump. He jumped up from his seat and quickly stretched to loosen up his limbs after sitting hunched over for so long.

The inter-dimensional agent then reached into the silk pouch containing the Time Compass and flipped open its cover. “Hopefully this works,” he murmured as he carefully adjusted the device’s dial. “And…now!”

Baekhyun closed his eyes and held his breath as time instantaneously rewound six years. When he opened his eyes, he found himself still in the bedroom, but the place was noticeably messier except for the desk. There were no more file folders or newspaper clippings scattered across the brown surface. Instead, there were a few drawings next to a sticky note, reminding his alternate self to properly frame them. The inter-dimensional agent smiled fondly as he looked at the works of art, knowing that there were all made by Jongdae.

He then shook his head and lightly slapped both of his cheeks. He had to act fast. If he didn’t make it to the park fountain in time, Jongdae would get captured again and history would repeat itself.

The inter-dimensional agent quickly checked his belt, which had all of his gadgets, and then dashed out of the rom. He almost tripped down the stairs from running so fast, but managed to catch himself before he could fall on his face. There was a bike parked in the front hall that Baekhyun made a beeline for and then dragged out of the house before placing a Booster Disk on its front wheel, mounting the vehicle, and pedaling as fast as he could.

The sun was already beginning to set and afternoon traffic was much trickier to navigate, especially since the inter-dimensional agent wasn’t familiar with the roads and didn’t know any safe shortcuts to take. All he could rely on was the route he had mapped out earlier and hope that he made it before Jongdae did.

Twenty minutes later, Baekhyun arrived at the park and he paused briefly at a map near the southwest entrance to locate the fountain. Once he memorized the directions, he rapidly pedaled to the pavilion that housed the fountain. The inter-dimensional agent almost collapsed when he finally arrived, his lungs desperately gasping for air. Luckily, the place was deserted, so Baekhyun allowed himself a brief respite.

But the moment he let his guard down, a rag doused in chloroform covered his face and the inter-dimensional agent’s world turned white.

--

Amber light filtered through the black blindfold wrapped over Baekhyun’s eyes and a low groan escaped his thin lips as he stirred from unconsciousness. Rustling noises from nearby could be heard as the inter-dimensional agent gradually gathered his bearings.

His arms were tied together behind him with thick rope and his legs were chained to the wooden chair he was sitting on. There was also a leather collar around his neck that must’ve been fastened around him while he was out cold. Baekhyun then wiggled his hips and felt the comforting weight of his pouches against his thighs.

However, the chains around his legs had jangled at the same time, alerting whoever else was in the room with him. The rustling was replaced with heavy footsteps that gradually increased in volume. Seconds later, the blindfold was ripped off of Baekhyun’s face and he groaned as his eyes were pelted with rays of artificial light.

“I should have given you a higher dose,” a deep male voice commented.

Baekhyun tilted his head up and squinted. His eyes then widened upon realizing that he was staring straight at Jongdae’s murderer, the host of the Black Glasses. “You!” he rasped. Even though the inter-dimensional agent had planned to let himself get caught, he hadn’t accounted for the other man’s frighteningly chilling presence, most likely amplified by the Black Glasses.

“You seem to know who I am, even though I have no idea who you are,” the host said, his voice tinged with amusement. “Not that it really matters, although it is disappointing that you got in the way of my original target. But no matter, I’ll just grab him next time.”

“What do you want with him?” Baekhyun growled while rocking forward against his restraints, even though he knew that it was futile.

The host just laughed. “He must be a friend of yours if you’re getting this worked up. Good to know.”

Baekhyun sent the older man a deathly glare, which was promptly ignored.

“If you really must know, I need him. His essence, to be exact.”

“Huh?”

“After I found these wonderful glasses, I gained the ability to scan a person’s life essence,” the host said while walking away, heading towards a large metal cabinet. “And your friend is a very special human in that his life essence has never been tainted,” he continued as he rummaged around the cabinet. “So I’m going to capture him and drain his essence for my own use.”

“No!”

“Yes,” the older man evenly replied. He returned with a long rope and then clipped it to the collar around Baekhyun’s neck. “Your essence, on the other hand, isn’t nearly pure enough for what I need. But I did find something very interesting when I scanned you.” The older man smiled slyly as he tapped the right temple of the Black Glasses that were perched on his nose. “You’ve got magical circuits in your body.”

Baekhyun clenched his jaw.

“And your circuits are quite powerful,” the host glibly continued. “Not that they saved you from getting captured, but it’s not their fault you’ve got rocks in your head instead of brains.” He then bent down to unlock the manacles covering Baekhyun’s ankles. Once the shackles and chains were kicked aside, the older man tugged on the rope connected to the collar. “Up!”

Baekhyun eyed him warily, unsure of what was happening, as he slowly stood up from his seat. His knees wobbled and his wrists throbbed from the ropes chafing them.

“Now follow me,” he ordered, yanking Baekhyun after him.

The inter-dimensional agent stumbled forward, unable to control his jelly-like limbs. “What—”

“Stop asking questions, you freak,” the host barked as he turned to grab a fistful of Baekhyun’s hair and then ruthlessly pulled upwards, “or I’ll knock your teeth out.” The older man punched the left side of Baekhyun’s jaw before letting go. “Annoying brat,” he muttered under his breath.

The inter-dimensional agent panted several times, slightly reeling from the unexpected hit, before glowering back at the older man. “Kill me then,” Baekhyun challenged in between pants. “In fact…why haven’t you…already?”

The host narrowed his eyes and roughly grabbed Baekhyun’s chin. “I said, stop asking questions,” he hissed before spitting on the inter-dimensional agent’s bruised face.

Despite his instincts screaming at him to flinch away, Baekhyun refused to show any weakness and staunchly continued to level a fierce glare at the older man.

After a few seconds, the host suddenly pushed Baekhyun down to the floor and squarely kicked his chest, causing him to yowl and curl in on himself. The host then used his foot to push Baekhyun onto his back and mercilessly pressed down. He wore a dangerous grin as he leaned forward and said, “It’s because I can still use you. Even though your essence isn’t ideal, if it’s combined with the magic extracted from your circuits, I can use that to power myself while I continue collecting pure essence from others. Maybe if you’re good, I’ll let you be there for your friend’s last moments and you can watch his life drain away in this very basement.”

Baekhyun’s eyes flashed angrily.

Jongdae. He had to protect Jongdae. And not just Jongdae.

He had to protect all of the innocent people that were eventually going to be murdered by this madman.

The host raised an eyebrow, as if sensing Baekhyun’s burning resolve, and then chuckled. “Seems like you’ve got a bit of a hero complex,” the older man loftily commented. “Too bad you won’t be saving anyone like you hoped to. But if it’s any consolation, the magic from your circuits will be saving me plenty.” He then turned around, threw open his arms, and inhaled deeply. “Ah, now let’s—”

Seeing an opening with the older man’s back turned, Baekhyun lunged for the host’s right ankle and sank his teeth into the flesh above the bone, causing the older man to howl and kick the inter-dimensional agent away. Baekhyun flew across the room and collided with a large ornamental vase that shattered upon impact. Despite how much his body throbbed with pain, the inter-dimensional agent shoved his bound arms against a jagged shard and cut himself free. He then used the same shard to slice through the collar around his neck and then tossed both items aside.

But there was little time to celebrate his new freedom.

The host charged at him, giant fists raised, and began pummeling Baekhyun without abandon. Any other time, the inter-dimensional would have found it easy to overpower the other man. After all, situations like this were what he had trained for his entire life. He would never lose against a normal human from a non-magical dimension.

However, the chloroform attack from earlier had dulled his senses and his body was battered to pieces from being thrown like a rag doll. His blows against the host were barely making a dent, whereas the older man only seemed to get stronger and stronger by the second as the Black Glasses glowed brighter and brighter. It took every last bit of Baekhyun’s concentration to match each blow and defend himself from any surprise attacks.

He slightly faltered when the host landed a heavy hit across his sternum, and the older man took this opportunity to grab Baekhyun by the neck and squeeze. The inter-dimensional agent thrashed around while desperately gasping for air. He tried to kick the host’s face, aiming for the Black Glasses in particular, but the older man easily dodged each attempt. Although Baekhyun still continued to struggle, his strength was fading fast. His face was beginning to turn blue and his mind was starting to haze over as the choking intensified.

Then, the host dropped Baekhyun like a bag of bricks and sneered as he watched the inter-dimensional agent cough loudly and clutch his chest while his lungs hungrily drank in fresh air. “Now, would you like to do this the easy way or shall I make things more difficult for you?”

The only response he received was another fit of coughing.

The host lazily kicked Baekhyun’s hunched back, smiling in smug satisfaction when he heard another pained gasp. “You talk big, kid. I was expecting you to put up more of a fight, but I guess you’re just an itty-bitty kitty-cat without claws,” he taunted in a high-pitched voice before stomping numerous times on Baekhyun’s lower back. “Such a shame that you’re so weak,” the host added while stepping back. “I might’ve reconsidered solely using you as a power source. In fact, if you weren’t so pathetic,” he snarled, “we could have become an unstoppable team.” The host then turned around and began walking away with his hands clasped behind his back. “At any rate, I’ll still make use of the magic from your circuits. And then it’s bye-bye to you.”

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a sudden scraping sound of wood against the floor and the host turned around at once, only to find a chair being launched straight at his head at light-speed, powered by a Booster Disk that Baekhyun had secretly implanted onto the piece of furniture during the older man’s nasty monologue. Unable to evade the speedy attack, the host instantly crumpled to the ground.

Before the host could straighten up, Baekhyun grabbed the older man’s head and ripped the Black Glasses off of him before kneeing him squarely in the face. The host let out a strangled gasp before unceremoniously falling to the floor, completely knocked out.

Baekhyun then staggered backwards a couple of steps before also collapsing onto the floor, completely drained of energy, with the Black Glasses in hand. He carefully placed it into the black velvet pouch hanging from his belt and tied it up, preventing the orphic object from escaping into another dimension.

Once that was done, the inter-dimensional agent stayed slumped on the floor, even though he knew that the host wouldn’t stay unconscious for long and that he needed to leave as soon as possible before the mad brute did wake up. Baekhyun’s breath came out in short, shallow spurts and it felt like his body was covered in flames; every inch of him was burning with pain and it took every last bit of his fraying self-control to not yowl in anguish, lest he accidentally rouse the comatose host.

As he laid there, his chest rose and fell with every excruciating breath he took. It would be so easy to just open the portal back to the main terminal right then and there, to escape now that he had fulfilled his objective.

But Baekhyun knew that he couldn’t endanger his alternate self like that, especially when he knew that the host was completely capable of murder. As long as this maniac was freely walking around, neither Jongdae nor this world’s Baekhyun were safe.

So after a few more minutes of rest, the inter-dimensional agent gingerly pushed himself up from the floor and stumbled out of the basement, making sure to keep his footsteps light and soundless. He scoured the first floor for a landline and let out a sigh of relief once he found one in the kitchen; he had been afraid that they would be obsolete in this dimension.

Baekhyun quickly dialed the emergency number and told the operator to trace the call before giving her a succinct account of how he had been held hostage and beaten by the host, as well as the host’s original plan to capture and murder Jongdae—without the essence extraction details, since that was a sure-fire way to be disregarded as a prank caller. She assured him that law enforcement was already on their way and he profusely thanked her before hanging up the call.

With that taken care of, it was time to leave.

It took every last bit of Baekhyun’s waning strength to leave the property and walk far enough away so that his alternate self would be a safe distance from the host, in case anything went wrong with the dispatched law enforcement. The inter-dimensional agent found an empty room in a coin karaoke establishment that was open twenty-four-seven and he walked in before lying down on the soft couch for several heartbeats in order to catch his breath again. The pain had increased ten-fold during his walk and his head was starting to swim.

Home. He had to get back home.

It took him a few tries to fish the Portal Amulet from underneath this shirt, since his vision doubled and he kept missing the chain. His fingers also slipped numerous times as they tried to open the eye of the ruby-red jewel. A large white oval then appeared in the middle of the karaoke room once he managed to successfully activate the portal back to the main terminal.

By now, his mind was beginning to fog up and before he knew it, Baekhyun gracelessly fell into the swirling portal, his eyes rolling up into his head.

--

Baekhyun gasped sharply as he came to, his eyes bulging out while sweat beaded across his forehead. “Chen!” he cried while mindlessly clawing at the air.

“Whoa, easy there, buddy. I’m here.” The youngest of the trio looked down at him with concern etched across his thin face as he knelt down next to the fatigued inter-dimensional agent. “What’s wrong? Did something happen out there?”

“N-no, just—I—you—”

“Hold on, let’s get you to the medical bay first,” Lay said, swooping in to hook his arms under Baekhyun’s armpits and help the younger male up from the floor. “You’ve got bruises all over you. Chen, grab his legs for me, will you?”

“I’m on it.”

Luckily, the medical bay was right next to the main terminal, so it wasn’t long before Baekhyun was safely resting on a cot while Lay rummaged through the cabinets for a sheet of healing patches.

Chen rapidly inputted Baekhyun’s information into the medical bay’s patient log before returning to sit in one of the chairs next to the cot. “You really took a beating,” he grimly observed after he removed Baekhyun’s shirt. The youngest male’s eyes trailed over the numerous purple and black contusions that covered Baekhyun’s pale body. “What happened?”

The wounded male let out a ragged breath as he tried to shift into a sitting position, but was immediately stopped by Lay, who had returned with the healing patches. “Don’t move yet,” the eldest ordered as he carefully peeled off the first patch from the sheet. “You can talk while I put these on you though.”

“Okay.” Baekhyun exhaled loudly as a cooling sensation steadily spread through his battered body. His mind was feeling much clearer now that he was safely back in his dimension and his best friends were by his side, safe as well. “There weren’t any problems in the first world. I extracted the Toxic Barb,” Baekhyun pointed to the purple velvet pouch that was sitting at the edge of the bed, “from the alternate version of Lay. Piece of cake, just like it always is.”

“But the second world?” Lay’s voice was low with concern and he placed another healing patch on Baekhyun’s lower torso over a particularly dark bruise.

Baekhyun bit his lower lip as he stole a glance at Chen, who was looking at him worriedly. Several seconds of silence passed before he finally said, “Well, the alternate version of Chen in that world was already murdered by the host of the Black Glasses when I first arrived.”

The youngest immediately paled. Although it was common knowledge that their less-capable counterparts could die of unnatural cases, it still didn’t make hearing such news any easier.

“Luckily, I…I was able to go to the past, but the Black Glasses had already tainted its host beyond madness. He was—” Baekhyun involuntarily shuddered as he relived those horrible moments, trapped in that suffocating basement with Jongdae’s murderer.

Chen started Baekhyun’s arm in an effort to soothe the distraught male. “Breathe,” he softly murmured.

Baekhyun inhaled deeply and tried to focus how Lay was carefully flipping him onto his stomach so that the eldest male could tend to the bruises on his back. Once his heart rate returned to a slower pace, Baekhyun brokenly continued, “The—the host did this to me. I—I let myself get captured in place of Jongdae to protect him and so that I could also get the orphic object. And I’m—I’m lucky that he—he didn’t have his gun or—or a knife on him. He just… He roughed me up a bit. The Black Glasses made him really strong.”

Lay took a moment to look over his shoulder at the black velvet pouch before softly asking, “It’s imbued with Dark energy, right?”

“I—I think so. None of the other orphic objects have ever given us this much trouble, except for the Dark affinity ones.” Baekhyun shuddered again.

Chen’s expression deepened into a fierce scowl. “The Council has always dispatched us a group for those since they’re so strong and unpredictable. Why would they make you go solo this time?”

“I wish I knew. Elder Yoo did mention that the scans were affected by the two objects’ energies, so maybe they couldn’t determine the Black Glasses’ actual power level and they thought it would be okay to send me alone…” Baekhyun trailed off, his voice filled with doubt.

“Well, that was completely irresponsible of them. You could’ve died!” Chen ranted.

“I agree. I’m going to file a grievance and have Lady Hwang take it back with her when she comes for the orphic objects,” the eldest male said, leaning back after placing the last healing patch over an egg-shaped bruise on Baekhyun’s right upper arm. “You’re not some expendable agent that they can just throw into the field all willy-nilly,” Lay added as he helped Baekhyun rotate onto his back again.

“I mean, technically, I’m—”

“The best inter-dimensional agent that’s ever worked for them,” Lay firmly stated.

The ends of Baekhyun’s lips curled up. “Thanks Lay. But you and Chen are better than me.”

“Any other day, I would gladly accept that admission,” the youngest male said. “But today, I’ll concede the title of ‘best’ to you, Baekhyun. I doubt I could escape from an encounter with a Dark host with less than bruises, especially if I didn’t have any combat armaments on me.”

Baekhyun chuckled. “By the way, thanks for being here with me as well,” he said, his eyes shining with gratitude.

Chen grinned and ruffled the older male’s fluffy black hair. “Of course, any time, buddy.”

Lay tucked the blanket securely around Baekhyun, who sighed happily, and then picked up the two velvet pouches containing the orphic objects. “We’ll be back in a few spins, after Lady Hwang picks these up. Are you okay being in here alone until then?”

Baekhyun yawned loudly and nodded, his eyelids already beginning to droop. “Yeah, I’ll…be fine…” he sleepily answered. “See you…two…soon…”

“Rest well, Baekhyun,” the other two murmured, fondly watching the exhausted male drift off into dreamland before tip-toeing out of the medical bay.

♈♈♈

A/N: I officially reached 100 stories in this collection! Thank you so much for reading all of these stories and sticking me with as I reach this milestone! Even though it took me almost four years, I'm so excited to finally reach this point! I've been working on this story every day for the past week to release it in time for Baekhyun's birthday and I hope you all enjoy it! Hopefully it doesn't take me another four years to reach the two hundredth story, haha, so I'm going to do my best to be more consistent about writing. I think I've been unconsciously pressuring myself to write really long one-shots, which ended up stressing me out, so I'm going to go back to writing fun short drabbles that aren't plot-heavy.

Anyway, I hope you all are staying safe during this pandemic! Wash your hands, stay inside, practice social distancing, and keep your spirits up! It's a hard time for everyone, so please take care of your physical and mental health! Once again, thank you so much for reading! Subscribe, comment, and/or upvote if you're enjoying this collection! See you soon with the next update!