When Hongbin started to feel more than just care for the Dark Hakyeon, he began to wish for just a little more. He knew the other’s story and wished to go back in time in order to be there for the Dark Hakyeon before it was too late.

And Dreamscape made that wish come true. It granted him that one wish in which  Hongbin have been hoping for ever since he fell in love with the Dark Hakyeon.

‘Hongbin-ah?’

Someone with a rather familiar tone and voice called for his name…

‘Hongbin! Wake up!’

The other began to shake him.

Who is it? Hongbin tried to open his eyes through the haze as he slowly regained his consciousness.

‘Lee Hongbin! Kong-ah!’

Hongbin jolt awake finally and came back to his senses.

‘Where am I?’ Hongbin sat up as he tried to adjust his vision and make out his surrounding.

‘Thank goodness you’re awake!’

Hongbin finally saw the older as his visions became clear. Immediately, he couldn’t control his emotions and held onto the other tightly. He was getting emotional just recalling what had happened just now through the dream sequence.

‘Hongbin-ah?’ The older sounded rather confused at why Hongbin was acting that way.

Just as Hongbin was about to reach in closer to give the older a kiss, the other stopped him.

‘Woah! Hold it Lee Hongbin!’ the older held out his hands and covered his mouth, rejecting the boy's kiss. ‘I’m not the Dark Hakyeon!’

‘Dark… Hakyeon?’ Hongbin grew confused for a second. He isn’t the Dark Hakyeon? Then who would look just like…

Then, Hongbin realized it.

‘H-Hakyeon-hyung!’ Hongbin cried out.

He grabbed onto his leader, as if it was too good to be true, and held the older as tightly as he could.

‘Hyung! Hakyeon-hyung!’ Hongbin couldn’t control his tears of relief and his emotions were rushing from within. ‘Are you really my hyung?’

Hongbin could not believe it. Is the Hakyeon in front of him really the oldest and the leader of VIXX, who he’s been missing for so long?

As if the younger’s tears were contagious, Hakyeon also began to cry.

‘I miss you Kong-ah!’

The two spent minutes crying and sobbing, both in disbelief but also relieved that this was real.

‘Are you really Hakyeon-hyung?’ Hongbin couldn’t help but keep asking for confirmation.

‘Yes, yes I am!’

After awhile, the two finally calmed down and told each other what was happening. Hakyeon told Hongbin what had happened between him and Taekwoon while they were inside of Dreamscape.

‘If Taekwoon-hyung pushed you back to the real world, why are you still here?’ Hongbin asked as they were obviously still within the strange world.

‘Same reason as you guys. I can’t just leave Taekwoon here alone. As much as I miss all of you and the real world, there’s no way I’m going to have one of us missing again. I can’t allow that to happen,’ Hakyeon said.

Just because Hakyeon missed s didn’t mean that he was willing to abandon Taekwoon again. Although he was forcefully pushed through the mirror by Taekwoon, he struggled to get back. Hakyeon can’t return to the real world, not yet at least. After being on the other side of the mirror and refusing to go back to reality, Hakyeon was stuck in between the world of dreams and reality. Even though the light of the exit was just in front of him, Hakyeon refused to go towards it.

It might have been foolish of him to return to Dreamscape once more, and it could have been his last chance of ever escaping again but he knew that it would have been much worst if he had returned home alone. Hakyeon has already gone through more than enough to realize that 'escape' was not the answer.

As he turned back to where he came from, he ended up in a different part of Dreamscape. He was far from the mansion and far from knowing exactly where he was. As Hakyeon tried to look for a way back to Taekwoon, he stumbled upon Hongbin who was lying unconscious on the ground. Hakyeon was skeptical at first about whether it was an illusion or not but as he saw the tears in Hongbin’s eyes and crying out for the Dark Hakyeon, he knew that the younger was real.

Hongbin also told Hakyeon the story about the Dark Taekwoon and how urgent it was for them to convince the real Taekwoon to go back home. Because as time continues to tick, both the Dark Taekwoon and their vocalist’s lives would be in danger.

‘Hyung, do you hate Taekwoon-hyung for trapping you here?’ Hongbin asked.

‘Hmm, hate is a rather strong word. You can say I was disappointed at first. But I saw how much he had fallen and now, I just want things to go back to normal. The longer I’m trapped here, the more I begin to worry that I would eventually forget about what the real world actually looks like. Some days, I even fear that I would forget how you all look like or sound like. It’s as if I would get used to being here in a place of nothingness.’

‘Hyung…’

‘But… I’m worried for you as well.’ Hakyeon looked at the younger in concern. ‘You and the Dark Hakyeon…’

‘You know about us?’ Hongbin asked.

‘Mhmm. I saw the two of you from one of the mirrors here. You love him don’t you?’ Hakyeon took a pause and swallowed his worries. ‘If I return… won’t he disappear forever? That’s as if… I’m taking him away from you and-‘

‘You’re not! Don’t think like that!’ Hongbin stopped him. ‘He and I both knew since the beginning what our relationship would turn out to be. But we were happy enough to be able to spend the remaining times we had together.’

‘But you’ve never loved someone before right? Isn’t he your first love?’

‘He’s not.’

‘What?’

Hongbin sighed.

‘You know, I loved you hyung. Not just as a friend or family but I really loved you. I thought that no one in the world would ever be able to replace how I felt about you. At least, not until I met the Dark Hakyeon anyways.’

‘Past tense huh?’ Hakyeon cracked a slight smile. ‘I guess there’s no need for my rejection then? But how will we convince Taekwoon to go back with us? I’ve tried everything I could already…’

‘He needs to be able to forgive and accept. He’s the key to open up Dreamscape or his heart just one more time. He needs to be able to find the desire to go back to the real world. But of course… that’s easier said than done.’

Both sighed at the same time.

‘So you met the Dark Hakyeon before he disappeared during his childhood?’ Hakyeon asked as they continued through Dreamscape.

‘Mhmm.’

‘How do you feel about that?’

‘I don’t know. It’s weird to be honest and even now I can’t really understand why I was able to see it. Even if I’ve been wanting to meet him since the beginning of time, it doesn’t feel like I was able to change the past or do anything in particular for him.’

‘Kong-ah, you should give yourself more credit. I know how important you have become to the Dark Hakyeon and you’re also the reason why he was able to change. Your love for one another is the reason why he was able to remain innocent and find kindness in his heart. Imagine if none of you guys were able to accept him, he would have definitely ended up growing to hate even more to the point that he could no longer return.’

‘You really think so?’

‘And you don’t?’

Hongbin shook his head. ‘No, you’re right hyung. Thanks.’

‘Anyways, let’s hurry and find the others before the Dark Taekwoon disappears.’ Hakyeon said and both ran forward.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake and the sky was growing dark. The light above was falling apart as if the sky was shattering and collapsing on them.

‘What the!?’ Both of them was terrified and frightened by the earthquake.

‘Hyung! What’s going on?!’ Hongbin shouted as he tried to keep his balance.

‘Something must be happening to this world. We need to escape now!’

Both of them ran away as quickly as they could away from the collapsing grounds but there was no use.

Everything was starting to fall apart.

‘Hakyeon-hyung!’ Hongbin yelled.

Just as he was about to reach out for the older, the ground split apart and separated the two.

‘Kong-ah!’ Hakyeon couldn’t make it in time to hold onto the younger. Before they knew it, the world had collapsed.

The world of Dreams was finally falling apart but what happened for it to change?

~

The rumbling stopped and everything remained still once more. As he opened his eyes once more, he shot up from his spot to look for the younger who got separated from him.

‘Kong-ah!’ Hakyeon looked around for the other but Hongbin was nowhere to be found.

Oh no…

‘Cha Hakyeon?’ Someone said.

Just as he turned around, Hakyeon was surprised. It was as if he was suddenly seeing his own reflection…

‘What? Me?’

The doppelganger shook his head.

‘You’re the Dark Hakyeon?!’ Hakyeon ran up to the other to confirm. ‘No way… but why are you here?’

‘We came to look for you remember?’ the Dark Hakyeon said.

‘I know. Kong told me about it but… that’s right! Kong! Is he okay?’ Hakyeon began to worry. ‘The ground broke apart and we got separated and-‘

‘He’s fine. Don’t worry. Him and the others are all fine. They’ve returned to the real world.’

‘Real world? Really? Wait, what about you? Why are you still here then? Shouldn’t you go back too?’ Hakyeon asked.

‘No. I don’t belong there.’ The Dark Hakyeon smiled a bit. ‘He’s finally forgiven and accepted me.’

‘He?’

‘The final agreement for bringing you back, do you still remember it?’

Hakyeon nodded.

‘Because he’s forgiven me and can finally accept the real world once more, the both of you can return. As for me, I can finally move on. I’m free now.’

‘But wait! What about Hongbin?’

‘Don’t worry about us. We will be fine. The most important thing is that you’ll finally be able to return.’

‘But…’

The Dark Hakyeon suddenly gave him a hug. A strangely familiar and warm, comforting hug.

‘For the longest time, I have only resented the first Hakyeon who took away my life and body. I thought that I had lost everything because he became the light that I could not. But you, you’re different. You threw yourself away for the sake of others, even for someone like me. That’s why, I’m happy that I’m finally able to meet you face to face.’ The Dark Hakyeon looked at Hakyeon and smiled in relief. ‘Please. Please look after Lee Hongbin for me as well.’

‘But you should be the one to look after him too,’ Hakyeon sniffed and cried.

‘Don’t worry. I will. I’ll always be there to look after him and think of him. All of our meetings mean something in this world. It is fate that bound us together and allowed us to cross one another’s paths. That’s why, even if everything reverts back to normal, I am sure that I will meet him again in another universe. So until then, promise me that not only will you take care of him and the other members but also yourself. Because I know that your happiness, Cha Hakyeon’s happiness, is also the happiness of your members.’

Hakyeon wiped away his tears and nodded frantically.

‘I promise. I will.’

~

Bzz. Bzz.

What is that noise?’

Bzz. Bzz.

Ugh. Make it stop. He tried to ignore it.

Then, suddenly a loud crash from nearby could be heard. He woke up in shock to see where the noise was coming from. He looked around and realized that he was back in his own room.

His bed, the pictures on the walls, his CD collection and his gaming computer… but how?

The last thing he could remember was being inside of Dreamscape and looking for the two oldest with the other members. But just as he thought he was reunited with Hakyeon, they got separated once more…

Bzz. Bzz.

Hongbin glanced to his side and noticed his phone was vibrating from a received message. He picked it up to see what it was about.

[Meeting with Sejun-hyung at 7 tonight]

It was from his manager.

Hongbin was confused as he read the message over and over again. Then, a loud crash could be heard from outside of his room. He got worried and left his bedroom to see what it was about.

‘Ow!’ The younger bumped into someone as soon as he opened the door to the hallway. ‘Jaehwan-hyung?’

‘Yah! Kong-ah! You’re alive!’ Jaehwan came out from his room from across his. ‘We got separated and was looking like crazy for you!’

‘I’m glad you’re okay hyung. Where are the others?’ Hongbin asked.

‘Right behind you.’ Both Wonshik and Hyuk came out of their rooms as well.

‘Then… we’re back in the real world?’

‘Seems like it,’ Wonshik said.

Then, he glanced around to see that there was still two others who were missing.

‘Hey, where’s-‘

Just before he could continue, another loud crash could be heard as if something had fallen onto the floor.

‘What the heck?’ Wonshik jumped in surprise.

‘Let’s see what it is,’ Hyuk said.

The four of them headed out to the living room to see what the commotion was all about. As they stepped into the room, they saw two rather familiar people cleaning up the place. Or at least, attempting to.

‘Soo-ah, can you pass me that broom over there?’ The caramel-toned boy asked as he tried to reach up the shelves and wipe the dust from it.

‘I would if you stop throwing things you don’t need onto the floor. You could have just pass them to me,’ the girl was annoyed.

‘It’s fine, it’s fine. I need to make room for the trophies and frames anyways.’ The other said.

Soo-ah sighed and passed him the broom.

‘Just be careful up there,’ she said. ‘You sure you can handle it? Why not just let the kids do it once they wake up instead? Sanghyuk is taller remember?’

‘Shh! I want to make sure the place is spotless and looking new once they wake up.’ He insisted.

‘Well, aren’t you a responsible leader? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of you cleaning up the place before. I thought Lee Hongbin is the one who is obsessed with cleaning.’ She teased.

‘I can’t always make him do the cleaning. He’s gone through too much. He needs to relax. Anyways, can you put this in the box over there near the counter until I find a place to put it?’ He handed her one of the trophies from the shelf.

As the four of them watched the two clean up and converse with one another, Hongbin was struck with realization. Are they still in a dream? Or is this real?

‘Hyung…’ Hongbin felt choked and almost in disbelief. Neither have noticed the four younger who was watching them from the hallways as they were too busy doing cleaning duties.

Hongbin looked to his sides and saw the other three’s eyes growing teary. That’s when he realized that everything was real. They were back but it wasn’t just that, the oldest have finally returned as well.

‘Ha-hakyeon-hyung?’ Hongbin almost felt too afraid to call out the other’s name.

The small tanned boy turned around to see who it was and as he saw the four familiar faces finally awaken from their slumbers, he smiled.

He got down from the ladder and dust himself to look presentable. Slowly and carefully, he approached them with a smile.

‘I’m back.’ He said happily.

‘Hyung!!’ Hyuk cried out loud and dashed towards Hakyeon in an instant. ‘Hyung! Hakyeon-hyung! I- I missed you!’

The youngest couldn’t stop his tears at all. He didn’t know what to do as he held the oldest in his arms.

‘Hyogi-ah, you’re hugging me too tightly. I can’t breathe,’ the older laughed.

‘Hyung! Hakyeon-hyung!’ Hyuk didn’t want to let go.

Hakyeon looked at the other two who were awkwardly standing there with tears in their eyes as well. He opened his arms.

‘Jaehwan-ah. Wonshik-ah.’ He said.

The other two joined in both in happiness and in tears as they held tightly onto their leader.

Hongbin’s mind didn’t know what to think of the situation. He was too happy and moved to do anything. Hakyeon who saw the younger frozen in spot, smiled and made room just for Hongbin. ‘Come here.’

‘Hakyeon-hyung,’ Hongbin made his way slowly into the group hug, ’I thought I lost you for real.'

Hongbin cried and cried again.

‘Gosh, when did my members become more of a crybaby than me?’ the oldest said in a sarcastic tone.

‘Are you really back? Back for real this time? I’m not dreaming right?’ Jaehwan asked.

The older nodded.

‘For real this time and I’m not going anywhere again without any of you. You’re going to be stuck with me for the rest of your lives.’

‘Haha. That doesn’t sound too bad at all.’ Wonshik wiped his tears away on the leader’s shirt.

‘Five grown men crying in one another’s arms. If your fans saw this, I bet they’d be confuse for sure, thinking that you guys won a Daesang or something.’ Soo-ah said as she also teared up from the scene and watching the reunion.

‘Soo-ah, when did Hakyeon-hyung come back? What happened?’ Hongbin asked.

‘All of you actually came back since a week ago but Hakyeon woke up first. He was going to clean up the place before you guys wake up. He had a lot of catching up to do as well,’ she told him.

‘Catching up to what?’ Jaehwan was confused.

‘Practice duh. I’ve been gone for so long and you guys performed on so many stages already that I have to retrain myself again! Plus, I took a listen to Fantasy and was talking about the choreography with Sejun-hyung the other day. You guys are going to love it!’ Hakyeon said in excitement.

‘That’s right! We were all in Dreamscape and… and… Taekwoon-hyung! Where’s Taekwoon-hyung?’ Hyuk looked around for the missing vocalist. ‘Did he come back as well?’

‘He’s not back yet…’ Hakyeon sighed.

‘What? But that can’t be! He’s forgiven the Dark Hakyeon and all of us already right?!’ Hyuk was worried. ‘Don’t tell me we were too late and the Dark Taekwoon disappeared already before we could get Taekwoon-hyung back.’

‘No, that’s not it Hyogi-ah.’ Hakyeon patted the boy on the head to comfort the younger. ‘You’re right about Taekwoon forgiving all of you guys. I know that for a fact since it was the Dark Hakyeon that told me it before he left.’

‘He… left?’ Jaehwan gulped.

‘Mhmm. He said he was finally able to move forward now that Taekwoon have forgiven him and that I am finally back.’ Just then, Hakyeon glanced at Hongbin in a worried look but Hongbin reassured his leader with a smile and telling him that he was fine.

‘Then, why isn’t Taekwoon-hyung back yet?’

‘I’m not sure of that either but he is alright. We should all wait for him and do our best until he comes back to us okay?’

‘And the Dark Taekwoon? What happened to him? He said he was going to find Kong when we got separated… did you see him?’ Wonshik worried.

‘No. We haven’t heard anything from him since Hakyeon returned,’ Soo-ah said. ‘There hasn’t been any signs of him from the Heavens either. But I do know that your Taekwoon is safe and sound.’

‘How are you so sure of that?’

‘That’s because you guys still remember him.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Not just you guys but your fans, your family and everyone still remembers who Jung Taekwoon is. If he really was gone from the world, then his existence would have been erased from your memories as well. But the fact that you all still remember him means that he’s still alive and somewhere in this world, waiting to come back.’

‘Thank goodness.’ They sighed in relief.

‘Anyways, there’s still much for me to catch up before that happens so you guys need to help me out okay?’ the oldest patted the members on the back with a bright smile.

It almost felt like forever since they’ve seen their leader smile so happily.

Cha Hakyeon, the leader of VIXX and the oldest of the group, have finally returned.

* * * * * * A/N * * * * * *

I wasn't intending to release a new chapter yet but I was having such a wonderful day that I thought I'd update anyways! ~~~ Those who follows me on Twitter might know why I'm so happy today xD 

We're getting close to the end though~ I think I'll really miss this series once it's over. *clenches my heart*

It's okay, we still have my NBIN fanfic!