Water has never been so painful before. Water was supposed to be soothing. Cool. Not burning.

But the feeling doesn’t last for long and Kyungsoo can now open his eyes enough to see the glistening blue all around him. Time seemed to be slowing down, magnifying each reflecting drop of water into a blob of light. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the beautiful scene around him, despite the slow pain in his lungs. There was no flashing of his whole life. No voices telling him to hang on. Just the beautiful blue all around him. He feels light. And peaceful. The water seems to create a soft music, lulling him to sleep.

If this is what death is like, Kyungsoo didn’t mind dying after all.

He closes his eyes with a light smile just as he felt someone pull on his hand.

* ~ *

He could feel someone slapping his cheeks. It stung. Wincing, Kyungsoo groans and immediately feels water coming up from his stomach. He let himself cough up all the water clogging in his system before finally opening his eyes. His throat still hurts and it takes him a while to focus on the worried face close to his own. It was a guy who, from the looks of it, is around the same age as him. Kyungsoo would have observed his face, if not for the obnoxious pink hair stealing his attention. It was too bright. Frowning at the blasphemous hair, he managed to croak out “Your hair is hideous”.

The said guy’s face immediately broke into a loud laughter, the worried look dissolving. His laughter is obnoxious too. Kyungsoo winces at the loud booming sounds. But at least the guy moved away from above his lying body. Kyungsoo struggles to sit up, even with the help of the still laughing boy. Kyungsoo finally lets himself have a good look at the boy’s face. His eyes reminded him of almonds. Almonds with a slight eyeliner. The button nose and the thin lips go well with his face which was as clear as a summer sky. He was still laughing, making his mouth look like a rectangular box. And somehow, even with all these weird combinations, he is pretty.

He was drowning, if what his memory holds is true. This boy must have rescued him. Just as he remembered, his eyes suddenly felt heavy. The boy seemed to notice this as he tightened his hold on Kyungsoo’s back. “You’re tired. Hold on.”

He pulled out a small glass bottle of blue liquid from his pocket. The bottle, no, the vial, seemed to be about the size of Kyungsoo’s pinky finger.

“Here, drink this”.

Regarding it suspiciously, Kyungsoo looked back at the boy. “What’s this?”

“I’m not trying to poison you, if that’s what you are worried about. Just think of it as an energy drink” the boy answers, smiling in reassurance.

Not really having the strength to argue, Kyungsoo nods and takes the vial and proceeds to gulp down the content, hoping his seeming rescuer is not trying to kill him. It tasted sweet, but nothing like the sweets he is used to. Before he even brings the vial down from his lips, he felt energy seep through his body. It was instant and dare he say, magical. His eyes are wide open, only now taking note of his surroundings.

There was a lake, the same one he somehow ended up drowning in, near them. But that was about where the familiarity ends. Instead of the green clearing amidst the greener forest, he finds- well, he finds himself gasping in shock to begin with.

They are lying on a white ground. It almost seems like sand but now that he notices, the particles are bigger, almost like sand balls. He lets his hand touch the ground and grips a few of the balls. They dissolve into finer blue grains and fall onto the ground. And right before his eyes, the blue grains collect together to the nearest balls and turn white again. Kyungsoo lets his mouth part as he stares at them in shock.

He looks up to see what seemed like trees far away. They did not look quite like the trees he knew though. The trunk, or at least that was what he supposes it is, is green in color. In place of leaves, there were balls of all colors attached to the trunk. What was even shocking is that the balls seem to roll open, revealing a green core, every few seconds. They open and close like they are living, breathing creatures. But that can’t be, right?

The trunks all have different shapes too. Some are straight, some are spiral, some even look like they are folded neatly to shorten the height. Kyungsoo looks up to the sky to find two suns. Both look smaller than the sun he knows. He stares at his surroundings in wordless wonder, trying to make sense of everything.

The boy observes Kyungsoo looking at everything and chuckles at his face. “You’re not dreaming. It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” His face is wistful as he looks at the landscape along with Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo turns to look at the pink haired stranger, a frown in place. “What is this place?”

The boy turned to him with a smile. “This is Elyxion” he simply says.

Kyungsoo raises his brows in question.

“Oh!”, the boy exclaims, “It means paradise where only chosen ones may enter. The lake you fell into is the only way to enter Elyxion from earth.”

“I… I accidentally fell in when I was exploring the area and I couldn’t swim no matter how hard I tried” Kyungsoo recollects, trying to ignore the near-death experience.

The boy throws him a sympathetic look as he nods. “That was because you were chosen to come here. You couldn’t have escaped the lake no matter what.” He then beams at Kyungsoo. “But lucky for you, I got the signal and came down to rescue you!”

Kyungsoo looks to the boy, bewildered. “You got a sign that I was coming? How?”

His rescuer only chuckles at him.

“Why was I brought here?” Kyungsoo tries again after a pause.

The boy shrugs nonchalantly. “Beats me. I guess you’ll find out when you do.”

Kyungsoo can’t deny the reality of this all. He can touch these things and he can feel pain too. If this was a dream, it was a very realistic dream.

Now, Kyungsoo is a logical person. So, he decided to do what any logical person would after weighing his options. Accept it and gather information first. There would be signs if it’s just his imagination. For now, there seems to be no imminent danger.

“Fine, I don’t seem to have any other choice”, he says in defeat, making the guy show all 32 teeth.

“You’re still wet, we need to get you dry first before we go anywhere”, the boy points to his damp clothes hung to the body.

“But before that, look!” he turns his head towards the lake. Kyungsoo follows his field of vision and looks to the lake too. He doesn’t see anything special though.
Confused, he looks back at the boy only to find him still staring at the lake expectantly. He turns back again to see if he has missed anything, only to notice that the day is growing darker. The two suns are setting and there seems to be no moon in sight. Kyungsoo looks at the pink haired boy in worry.

“Shouldn’t we head somewhere now? It’s growing darker” he asks, shivering a little at the sudden cold atmosphere.

The boy only shushes him and nudges him without looking away. Kyungsoo turns back with a sigh and the sight that greets him sends goosebumps all over his body.

The sand, or the white balls on the ground which he doesn’t know the name for, are glowing. They grow brighter every second as the sky grows darker. Kyungsoo looks down to where he is sitting and sees that the sand under him is glowing now too. The whole ground around him is lit up with a bright, slightly bluish light. The leaves on trees, the little moving balls are lit up too. Except, the lights are of rainbow colors due to the balls’ different colors.

He was in awe. It straight up looked like the art he has seen sometimes in museums and the internet. Everything was lit up, all around him.

“Wow!”, was the only thing he could say.

“I know, right? It still looks as beautiful and enchanting as the first time I have seen it”, the boy says with a proud smile.

“Come on, let’s get you dried up” he finally says, pulling the still amazed Kyungsoo along. “ What’s your name by the way?”

“Kyungsoo. What’s yours?” Kyungsoo asks as they head opposite the lake on a small trail in the middle of the weird woods.

“Baekhyun. My name’s Baekhyun.”