‘Jaehwan-hyung, wake up!’

A familiar deep voice called out to him.

Jaehwan woke up to the younger’s voice and slowly sat up.

‘Ow~’ Jaehwan rubbed the slight bruise on his head and all around his body. ‘Where are we?’

‘I don’t know but it seems like we’ve been separated from the others.’ Wonshik told him.

‘You’ve got to be kidding me…’ Jaehwan sighed.

‘I hope they’re okay.’ Wonshik said.

‘Yeah. Com’on let’s figure out where we are.’

‘Okay.’

The younger also got up and followed closely beside Jaehwan.

The last thing the two of them remembered was falling into the ground that the Dark Taekwoon had casted below them. It was a trap and the two of them could not get in touch with neither Soo-ah nor Hongbin.

Without being able to see much of where they were at the moment, the two of them decided to walk only forward and hope that they would eventually come across something to help them out.

‘This place is never ending…’ Jaehwan started to complain.

Wonshik nodded in agreement.

‘Just how far have we walked? Ever since we got into this whole Dreamscape thing… we’ve been walking around in circles until something eventually happens.’

Dreamscape was a strange place.

Though it is a dream, it was one where those that visited did not have as much freedom as they thought they would. It could possibly be the fact that they were not the owners of the dream and were limited to what they could do inside of it. At times they could change their settings but other times, they could not. They feel powerful one minute and helpless the next.

The two of them tried to see if they could focus their minds and create a different setting but nothing happened.

After several failed attempts, Jaehwan decided to give up and just walk forward. But then, the ground began to shake furiously.

‘Woah!’ Jaehwan got nervous. ‘Don’t tell me we’re going to fall again!’

‘Hold on to me hyung!’

The two of them held tightly onto each other in case they got separated again. But moments later, the ground settled down and the rumbling stopped.

Their setting was beginning to change and light up. Vibrant green grass grew from both sides and a pebbled pathway appeared beneath them. It was leading them to somewhere.

Right up ahead, a long staircase appeared before them. It was so tall and reached so far that the two of them could not see the end of the path.

Both looked at one another to decide what to do next.

‘Let’s go.’ Jaehwan initiated and pulled the younger forward.

The two of them followed the path up the never-ending stairway. Though they do not know what may lie ahead, it was the only path to take.

‘I hope nothing happens while we’re on this thing…’ Wonshik worried as they walked too far up to turn back.

‘Don’t jinx it!’ Jaehwan hit him on the head.

‘Sorry…’

After a long and tiring walk up the stairs, the two finally reached the top of the clouds. The sky was bright and blue, and as they reached the top floor of the stairs, the two were in awe by the sight of clouds below them. They could no longer see what was behind anymore.

‘Where are we?’ Jaehwan asked.

Wonshik shrugged as he was still trying to catch his breath.

Suddenly, a door appeared in front of them. The same door they saw earlier before they went into the replica of the Underworld.

‘Should we go inside?’ Jaehwan was anxious. ‘What if we run into that Taekwoon-hyung again?’

Wonshik swallowed in fear just thinking about it but there was no other choice.

The two of them opened the door and stepped inside.

~

The place they were expecting to see after they went through the door was not what they had in mind at all. The two of them had stepped into a rather large room filled with books.

It was like a library that probably had hundreds of floors above them.

‘Woah…’ Jaehwan looked up at the never ending ceiling of the library. ‘I wonder how many books are in this place.’

Wonshik did not answer. He was too absorbed at his surroundings to even pay attention to the older.

‘Huh?’ Wonshik said as he found something.

‘What is it?’ Jaehwan came up to see what was going on.

‘There’s nothing on these pages…’

As they flipped through several books on the shelves, they realized that all of them were blank pages. There was nothing written on any of these books. It was as if they were just here as a prop for the setting. It could possibly because none of this were actually real and that they were just in a dream after all. After realizing that there was nothing on any of the books in the library, the two of them decided to go through another door in the room aside from the one they came from.

The door led to another corridor filled with more books.

‘What is this?’ Wonshik asked as they finally reached the end of the hallway.

‘Don’t know but wow…’

The two of them were standing in front of a huge golden mirrored-like globe that was sitting at the center of the room. The sculpture was so extravagant and beautiful that the two did not really know what else to say.

They could not take their eyes off of it.

Then, they heard sounds from behind them. Children’s laughter could be heard and approaching them from where they were before. As the two of them turned around to see who it was, they saw two boys coming their way and approaching the globe. One was pulling at the other to follow him closely behind.

‘That's…’ Jaehwan was surprised as he realized the awfully familiar face on the boys that were approaching them.

‘That’s me behind… when I was a kid.’ Wonshik said.

‘Yeah. The other one is me!’

‘What is going on here?’

The two children ran around the library in delight and happiness, they were very enthusiastic about the books and treated the place as if it were their playground. They could not see their older selves though and simple played amongst themselves. Then, as the two children were happily talking away, Wonshik and Jaehwan realized what was going on.

‘They’re… us from our previous lives.’

‘Yeah. Seems like it.’

As the two watched their younger selves talk about Gods and the Heavens, they could not help but smile at their carefree younger version. It was as if they had nothing to fear nor worry about as they played together. It was as if the two of them were watching time move fast forward, the children were slowly growing up as well.

Soo-ah did mention that both Wonshik and Jaehwan knew of one another in their previous lives because they were both born from the Heavens and were once Gods that lived above. Could this be their story of their previous life?

‘One day, I’m going to become King of the Heavens and bring mortals their freedom.’ The younger Wonshik said in a determined voice as he looked up at the large globe.

‘You’re crazy. Even if we both become the Kings, something like trying to change the laws of the Universe is impossible.’ The younger Jaehwan commented.

‘We won’t know until we try.’

‘But I thought you respected your father.’

‘I do but not in a way where the Gods can manipulate mankind. This just isn’t right…’

‘Wonshik-ah…’

‘I’ve decided though.’

‘About what?’

‘There’s something I’ve been looking into recently. Humans call it witchcraft. It’s something they discovered and has the ability to perform magic and spells without relying on Gods’ powers. I want to do some research on it. Maybe that will help me do the things I need to without relying on my abilities as a God.’ He said.

The younger Jaehwan looked at the latter in a sad and uncertain expression. He could see the dangers that such a practice could bring to the latter’s lives but did not question or argue about the decision. He held onto the other’s hands and both looked one last time at the globe. The two of them finally disappeared from the room, leaving only their current selves alone once more.

~

‘You’ve always been such a righteous person, our Wonshikkie~’ Jaehwan patted Wonshik on the head.

‘Heh.’ Wonshik couldn’t help but feel a bit proud of himself though. Despite how long it has been and the fact that he had probably been reincarnated multiple times already, Wonshik has never changed one bit.

Moments later, the gigantic globe started to glow. An image finally appeared on it, looking down at the room where the six of them along with Soo-ah was in.

The real world.

‘That’s!’ Jaehwan said in surprised.

‘Us! This is reflecting on what’s happening in the hospital right now?’ Wonshik asked.

The two of them watched them and the other members still sleeping soundly together inside the hospital room. But they noticed something strange on Hongbin and Soo-ah’s faces. The two of them seems to be in a panic and rather distressed about something.

Since neither of them could get in touch with Hongbin or Soo-ah, the two did not know what was happening in the real world.

~

‘This place is seriously like a maze!’ Hyuk commented.

‘…’

‘…,’ Hyuk sighed. ‘Hyung, are you really going to be like this and not say anything to me? This silence is really starting to kill me here…’

‘Why are you calling me hyung?’ The other wondered and confused.

‘Huh? Why? Well that’s because not only do you look exactly like Hakyeon-hyung but you’re actually someone much, much older than I am?’ Hyuk said to the Dark Hakyeon.

After falling into the black hole, Hyuk found himself separated from the rest of s and stuck with the Dark Hakyeon instead.

‘Aren’t you afraid of me?’ The other Hakyeon suddenly asked.

‘You want me to be honest?’

The older nodded.

‘Yup! I’m scared. But maybe because you look exactly like our Hakyeon-hyung that I’m not as scared as I thought I would be. Honestly, our leader looks even scarier during our dance practices if we made a mistake.’ Hyuk said.

‘… Sorry.’

‘Huh? About what?’

‘About that time… just… about everything.’

The Dark Hakyeon thought back at what he did during the incident for Chained Up.

Hyuk looked bewildered at the Dark Hakyeon’s sudden apology and as he saw the latter’s dejected expression, he didn’t know what else to say. Except, he was rather empathetic with this Hakyeon’s situation. Once he heard of this Hakyeon’s story, Hyuk could not find it in himself to hate the latter. Rather than fear, Hyuk almost felt as if he should take care of his fragile older brother.

‘So, how long have you been watching us from Hakyeon-hyung’s dreams?’ Hyuk tried to change the subject.

‘A little after you guys went on that survival show to debut.’

‘Woah! That’s like more than four years ago!’

‘Yeah… back then, your Hakyeon was already feeling a bit down and insecure with himself. That’s when me and the other Taekwoon was able to get inside his dream. He was the oldest amongst the trainees and even trained longer then anyone else. He had a lot of responsibilities and constantly doubted his positions.’

‘Hakyeon-hyung did?’

The Dark one nodded.

‘But it got better after he became a part of VIXX though. He was a lot more determined with his role as the leader and was trying to be more mature. He wanted to give the group and you guys everything he could. He wanted to make VIXX a trend.’

‘I didn’t know…’ Hyuk suddenly felt bad that he was never able to understand his leader’s feelings deeply enough. He was always spoiled by the older and given all the best he could ask for. Hakyeon had a lot of weight to carry while being the leader of the group and he tried his best to keep his smile in front of the younger members as well as their fans.

The Dark Hakyeon realized that Hyuk had a sad and gloomy expression on his face.

‘You can apologize to him after we get him out. Talk with him and help him carry some of that weight off him. Give him a helping hand or something.’

Hyuk nodded in agreement.

‘Thanks hyung, I will.’ Hyuk said. ‘But aren’t you afraid as well?’

‘About what?’

‘… About maybe disappearing after Hakyeon-hyung returns to his body?’ Hyuk didn’t know why but just the thought of this Hakyeon disappearing was saddening to him.

‘It’s fine. I’m used to not being noticed. No one even knew I existed for so long that it’s really nothing unusual for me.’

‘That’s not something you’re supposed to be used to!’

The Dark Hakyeon was startled by the younger’s sudden outburst. Then, Hyuk began to tear up.

‘What… are you crying?’ The Dark Hakyeon didn’t know what to do.

Hyuk grabbed onto his cuffs.

‘I know we barely know each other but I don’t want you to disappear either. You’re also Hakyeon-hyung to me. Maybe we can find a way where you can exist… or stay with us as well as our Hakyeon-hyung.’

'That's...'

Hyuk’s sincerity and thoughtfulness moved the Dark Hakyeon’s heart.

The younger was always thinking about others before himself, just like his leader.

Despite the fact that the Dark Hakyeon almost harmed him before, the youngest did not bear a grudge against him. Rather, his heart was filled with purity and innocence.

The Dark Hakyeon didn’t know how to respond to such kindness. He’s never been treated with such care before but he was thankful.

It was the first time in his life where he felt like wanting to cry. But rather than from sadness, it was from gratitude instead.

‘Thank you.’

* * * * * * A/N * * * * * *

Jaehwan and Wonshik's part is a shoutout to my second Side Story in 'The World of Us.'