“My dear, please do not cry. It doesn’t suit y-you”, his grandfather said barely above a whisper, which made Jongdae cry even harder. The pain in his chest ripping his heart into thousands of pieces as his body shook violently.

His grandfather, his last family member, was dying right in front of him, while he was holding his limp hand. It was only a matter of minutes until his grandfather would fade away from this world and Jongdae was afraid.

He was horrified.

He didn’t want him to die.

It was way too early for his grandfather to go and he was way too young to live alone, without anybody beside him.

He was only seventeen.

How was he supposed to go on on his own? How should he keep living with nobody left by his side?

No. He didn’t want that.

It hurt too much.

So much that his body twitched uncontrollably and he squeezed his grandfather’s hand even harder.

His grandfather felt it and looked into his grandson’s watery eyes.

But instead of beginning to cry too, he just smiled warmly at the boy and shook his hand gently to get the boy’s attention.

“Jongdae. You are going to be okay. I know that. Don’t be sad about me leaving this world. Because I’ll always be by your side. I’ll always be in your heart, my dearest grandson. Remember that. Remember that there is always more than you actually see and know. You only have to take a closer look to notice it and you’ll understand. Not everything is, what it seems to be”, the old man muttered, feeling how his consciousness slipped away with every passing second. So he hurried to say his last few sentences.

“Future will come and it won’t be easy for you. And you might try to run away, to hide and not believe it. But you will make it. I know it. You are strong and have a warm heart. You’re not alone, Jongdae. Remember that. Never. You just need to have faith”, his breath hitched, making him cough roughly as Jongdae sobbed louder.

“I-I love you my dearest grandson....”

“Me too, grandfather”, Jongdae whimpered, “P-Please….I-I don’t want to-”, he chocked, not being able to continue.

Yet, his grandfather still smiled at him.

“You know, although you are crying, you look beautiful. Just like a k-”, he coughed harshly as he closed his eyes shut.

He was going to die now.

He felt it.

But not before he said one last sentence to his beloved grandson.

“Y-You a-are….g-goin...g t-t-to…..b-be a gr-rea-at k-k-….i-in…..g”, he whispered, before his grip loosened and his breathing stopped.

Jongdae was frozen, his eyes glued onto his grandfather as he tried to realize, what was happening.

Suddenly something beside him beeped, startling him out of his trance as he looked over to the source.

It was the heart rate monitor.

The line completely flat.

Jongdae’s eyes widened as his heartbeat quickened, horror filling his body.

“No”, he muttered as he looked over to his grandfather again.

“Nononononononono…. NO!”, he screamed as he dashed out of the hospital room and into the corridor. Looking around in panic as his body began to tremble.

He sunk down and began to cry painfully loud. Sobbing as his heart clenched in pain.

“HELP!”, he screamed on top of his lungs.

“Please, help me!”, he shouted again as he tried to recognize something in his blurred vision.

But he couldn’t.

It only got worse as his body began to shake more violently. His breath hitched and his lungs hurt as his head began to spin.

It was too much for him.

And the next moment his vision went black.

-

“Grandpa!”, little Jongdae giggled as his grandfather lifted him up in his arms.

“Hey there, my little one. How are you? Have you behaved honourable?”, his grandfather smiled as Jongdae nodded frantically.

“Yes, Grandpa! I have! I have even finished my homework”, the little boy smiled as his grandfather laughed heartily. “Exemplary, my dear. I guess that should be rewarded. What do you want?”, the man asked and Jongdae made a thinking noise, before his face lit up into a bright kittenish smile.

“I want to hear more stories about the Prince of Caprcra!”, he wriggled around excitedly in the man’s arms, who laughed even louder at his wish.

“I think you mean Carpricra, my dear. But well, then I’ll tell you….”

Jongdae snapped his eyes open and he shot up as his head got dizzy.

He closed his eyes again and inhaled deeply, before he opened them again to adjust them to his surroundings. When he looked around, he recognized that he was in his living room, lying on the couch.

Suddenly realisation washed over him and his eyes became teary again as he remembered, what had happened….

His grand father had died….

As soon as he thought of the words he began to cry brokenly, loud sobs escaping his mouth as he balled his hands into fists. Curling into himself. Trying to shut reality out.

But it didn’t work and it hurt only more everytime the thought of his grandfather’s death.

It ripped a black hole into his heart, which everything in. Making him feel empty and full at the same time.

He couldn’t bear it.

It hurt too much.

He wanted it to stop.

To cut the feeling out of his chest.

“Jongdae”, he heard somebody say and he flinched. He turned his head to his right side and saw his three friends staring at him with worried expressions. That just made him cry harder and he held his arms out to clutch onto Baekhyun as he buried his face into the older’s sweater.

Screaming on top of his lungs as whimpering sobs escaped his mouth and his body shook erratically, while Baekhyun said nothing. The boy remained silent and just enveloped the small quivering male into a close hug. Bringing him even closer, like he would want to protect him from the cruel world.

And he really wanted to, really.

But it was impossible.

He couldn’t deny the truth, although he certainly wanted to. So he just did the best thing he could that moment and that was being there for Jongdae.

Baekhyun looked over to Luhan and Kyungsoo, who were awkwardly standing beside him. Not knowing, what to do as they exchanged puzzled stares. ‘Make something to eat. I am sure Jongdae would want to eat something, after everything that has happened’, he mouthed to them and they just nodded and began to prepare the food.

He then looked down to the sobbing boy again and his heart clenched.

The older couldn’t stand it to see his friend, the one he should protect from such pain, this hurt. But he also couldn’t blame him, since he himself was grieving about the loss of Jongdae’s grandfather. He had lost an old friend and Jongdae had lost the last beloved one he had had. He knew, how the boy felt. He himself had lost his family and he knew that no words would be able to make it better. On the contrary, words would only make such situations worse and so he remained silent.

Letting Jongdae cry his soul out. Letting him whimper and scream into his sweater until there were no more tears left to be cried.

-

After the four boys had eaten, Jongdae had received a box of them. It was a heritage of his grandfather and he knew, what was inside. But the younger didn’t want to open it, because it brought all the happy memories back and he couldn’t stand it. He couldn’t open the box and face the item inside it.

Not yet.

So he had just pleaded his friends to leave him alone to have some time for himself.

But that didn’t help him and he cried every day for two whole weeks. Because the pain in his heart was just so ing unbearable. It felt like he would have been shot over and over again and the tightening of his ribcage only made it worse, because that way he wasn’t able to breathe properly anymore.

The crushing pain and his pounding heart practically suffocated him, took his breath away and he gasped as only more tears escaped his eyes. Making his vision a blur and his mind chaotic.

He couldn’t concentrate on one simple thing. He couldn’t even stand properly anymore, because his body was shaking, all of his muscles twitching severely and he crawled over to his bed and hid himself under the blankets. Trying to shut the world and the terrible reality out.

But it had no use, because the picture of his grandfather dying in front of him flashed through his mind over and over again. And with every following time his little whines slowly turned into hoarse yells as he rolled himself into a small ball. Hugging his knees tightly to his chest as he panted. His chest contracting and cutting his breath off as his vision turned black another time.

And it went on like that for two whole weeks. With him just lying in his bed, not moving a single muscle until it became absolutely necessary.

But he hadn’t thought of his friend’s opinions and views, who, by the way, stormed into his apartment on Tuesday of the third week and forced him to stand up and to bath himself and scolded him that it couldn’t go on like that.

And although he had rejected and fought against them at the beginning, he had given up at the end, because it had no use to fight a determined Kyungsoo, Luhan and Baekhyun.

So he washed himself, while his friends tidied up his flat, before they sat themselves on the couch and waited for Jongdae to finish.

When he then entered the living room, with all his friend’s eyes glued on him a weird and suspicious feeling formed in his gut. Telling him that something was totally wrong or that something bad was going to happen. And the blank and serious expressions on the boys’ faces also weren’t helpful to make that feeling go away.

“Sit down. We have to talk”, Baekhyun said with a cold voice and Jongdae gulped, his heart beginning to pound hard as he sat down with shaky legs in front of the three boys. Pressing his lips together nervously as he mustered them. Each one looking into each other’s eyes.

Their facial expressions changing from angry to sad to serious to nervous, almost like they would be….communicating, which only irritated Jongdae even more.

When then suddenly all three of them looked at him, he flinched and began to sweat from the tension that lingered between them in the air. Only making the situation more uncomfortable for him as it had already been.

“We have to tell you something your grandfather would have normally told you at the age of eighteen. But now that he is dead, things have changed and we don’t have that much time left”, Baekhyun said with a calm tone, face still stern, although his eyes were mixed with all kinds of emotions. Implying that he was actually really edgy, maybe even anxious as the other two males just nodded in affirmation, having the same look on their faces and Jongdae felt his heart clench.

Firstly, because of the still very strong pain due his grandfather’s loss and secondly, because the way his friends acted alarmed and worried him more with every passing minute. He fidgeted as Baekhyun spoke up again. Looking deeply into his eyes with such a meaningful and fierce expression that it made Jongdae shudder.

“What we are going to tell you know, will may sound insane and beyond impossible, but it, in fact, is the truth. But we know how humans think, how their brains work with all their prejudices and doubts. The human kind always needs evidence to believe. It is their natural instinct to do so. So, to make sue that you will believe us, we will make you see it with your own eyes. So, do you still have the box we gave you?”, the older asked and Jongdae nodded cautiously.

“Okay, bring it over here”, the taller almost commanded and Jongdae instantly did, although he still was confused as hell. All his thoughts swirling around in his head as that distressing feeling in his heart only grew, when he brought the box over to them.

He sat down again and put the box down in front of them.

“Open it”, the older said and Jongdae complied, even though everything in his body was screaming at him not to do it. Yet, something else seemed to take control over his body and he opened it and was being faced with a very familiar thing his grandfather used to show him.

A crystal.

An aquamarine, which shimmered blue, yellow and slightly white. It was pointy at the tip and had some edges on its sides. It was also permeated with thin white and golden lines. He remembered it inside out, like it would have been a part of his own body.

Because his grandfather used to tell him stories about a planet, named Carpricra, where such crystals would have to find their carrier. Where the crystals would grow and glow in different colours, each one symbolizing another power with other characteristics. And when one crystal had recognised its destined owner, it would fuse with them, when they matured.

Jongdae had loved those stories and could never get enough of them. His grandfather had told him so many of them with so many details, almost like they would have been…..real memories.

And suddenly a thunder rumbled in his head as an idea came to his mind, which made his hackles raise and his body shiver. It seemed to be impossible, almost insane to him, and yet, he still thought about his idea’s possibility.

What if those stories were true and not just some normal fairy tales?

“They are true”, a voice said, breaking into his mind and startling him out of his thoughts. He looked up, only to be faced by a dearly smiling Luhan and his eyes doubled their size as his jaw dropped.

“Have I said it out loud or-”

“-can I read other people’s minds?”, Luhan finished the question for him and nodded his head, which made Jongdae’s body stiffen, when the realisation suddenly hit him.

A seemingly impossible realisation.

Luhan had just read his mind.

There was no other possible explanation of why the boy would have been able to complete the sentence he had been thinking inside his head.

And that sent shudders through his body as he brought his defenses up. Ready to fight or flee, if it was necessary as he felt fear and horror creeping up his spine. Making his breath erratic and his heartbeat uncontrolled.

Maybe he was just a psycho and going insane and all of this was just imagination or a dream, Jongdae thought as he felt his emotional situation worsening.

Luhan noticed this and immediately turned his expression into a calming and soothing one. Trying to show Jongdae that he had nothing to be scared of. But before the gesture had time to even take the slightest effect on the boy, Baekhyun had spoken up and turned Jongdae’s attention towards him.

“It is true. Luhan can read minds and control them, too. He has a telepathic power. All of our people can read minds, but only, when they really try, otherwise they cannot, but Luhan just has to look at a person and immediately knows everything about her. So that makes him quite special, but his main power is the ability to move or control objects, if he wants to, so he also has mainly telekinetic powers. I, on the other hand, can control light and Kyungsoo can control earth. And yes, that is the truth, even if you don’t believe it. At least not now, but it is the truth. You may think that we are crazy, even insane, but no, it is true. All of that is. The stories your grandfather has told you are true. Everything.

The planet, the crystals, the lost prince, all of that is true, Jongdae”, he said composed as he deeply looked into the younger’s questioning, doubting and lost eyes. But there was also something else inside them.

Hope….and….belief.

When Baekhyun saw that, he huffed slightly.

“But it seems like you know that yourself, right? Something inside you tells you that we are right. That everything your grandfather has told you is reality and that you just have to remember it. Isn’t that correct? But somehow you keep suppressing it and don’t want to realize it. Yet, deep inside, your heart is affirming my words and telling you to accept it.”

And when Baekhyun said this, Jongdae’s inner conflict blew up. His heart and head fighting against each other, because, yes, on the one hand….he somehow just knew that Baekhyun was right. That all of this wasn’t just fantasy.

But on the other hand, his head was shouting that this was complete bull and insane. That people didn’t have supernatural powers and could travel through dimensions in the universe. That this was simply unimaginable and impossible.

And normally he would listen to his head, but somehow the feeling in his gut was stronger and flooded his system. Making him feel sick and nauseous and his head dizzy.

Jongdae buried his head in his hands and shook his head, whispering silent “No”s as he felt a foreign energy rising inside his body. Filling up his veins with electrical shocks that made him twitch and his body feel heavy and painful. It made him want to scream. He felt his breath halt and tears building in his eyes as his lips quivered from the need to shout.

But his voice didn’t come out and the next moment he was distracted by a virulent blue light that shined through his fingers. Making him peek up and what he saw made his mind go blank.

Because right in front of him was the crystal. Flying in the air as it shimmered in a blueish, white-yellow colour. Yet, that wasn’t the only thing that shocked him.

What shocked him even more was that this little crystal was flying towards him and he felt anxiety radiating through his chest. Making him want to run away or to slap himself to wake up from this terrifying nightmare.

Problem was that he couldn’t move a single limb and was being glued to the spot. Making him weak and unable to move as the crystal came closer and closer to his ribcage. Making even more flashes radiating through his body that became even more painful.

But it stopped shy of his chest and Jongdae held his breath. Hoping that it would stay there and that he would be going to wake up right now.

Instead, the crystal only began to glow brighter until it almost blended him, before it flew right into his chest.

And then he felt the tip of the crystal merging with his chest and he cried out in pain. Writhing and trashing around as he tried to rip the crystal out of his ribcage. Pulling at it with full force with his two hands, but the thing just went deeper and deeper into him. Making him scream and sob, tears escaping his eyes as he felt his body being filled with electrical shocks. Making his muscles twitch as his head quivered.

His vision became a blur, when the whole crystal disappeared inside him and made his body go numb and him, on top of that, unable to move. A hammering pain radiating through his brain as he felt his world spinning. It turned into the colours of the galaxy and its nebulas with shining colours and he felt how he slowly lost consciousness.

But before his mind completely drifted away he could hear a voice.

It was Baekhyun’s and he could swear that he had never heard a voice more clear.

“He’s going back home. Going back to our dimension. Don’t worry, we will follow you as soon as possible and find you my prince.”

And then he fell, fell and flew deeply into the universe as he saw millions of galaxies passing him before his eyelids closed.