She was slowly brought back to consciousness by the most beautiful laughter in the world - the laughter she’d come to know and love so entirely and completely.

 

It was her laughter - its owner was the owner of her heart, her sunshine and moonlight. He was that lovely spring song you could always hear at the back of your mind while you were walking down the road of memories. He was the person you’d find behind you if you turned around on a sunny day, his grin brighter than the brightest star.

 

And he was hers, so completely hers that she often found it hard to believe he was real. Even at her semi-conscious state, she could imagine his now probably overgrown hair swaying in the wind, refusing to stay at the place she’d combed it into.

 

She’d once put a pin in his hair and laughed like a maniac because it was beyond entertaining and cute. And so handsome that her mind kept spinning for hours later, but she would never admit that. Though he knew.

 

He knew everything - what she said and especially what she didn’t. He’d come up to her and spin her in his arms until she screamed at him to stop, and then he’d spin her some more, peppering her cheeks with kisses as light as his hands on her. Feather-like, like the touch of the wind at her nape when he decided it was too hot for her.

 

She would’ve stayed in the grass, enjoying June’s sun and the breeze he’d sent to her forever, and she wouldn’t have minded staying that way because he was laughing, always laughing, the sound echoing in her head, bound to stay there forever. Bound to stay with her soul, protecting her from darkness and cold, if such days ever came to be. She hoped they wouldn’t, but she’d always have him with her, wouldn’t she? They’d endure it together, his sandy eyes guiding her through the dark night, and even if it was cold, he’d give her warmth and happiness.

 

In her mind, he would stay the boy he was today forever.

 

Her daydream was shattered by a pair of familiar hands settling on her stomach. The corner of began to pull up in a smile, but then the hands started tickling her and she began to laugh loudly and unintentionally.

 

She opened her eyes wide, begging him to stop. “Sehunnie, don’t! I am going to die!”

 

She tried to get away from those awful hands which were bringing her so much pain but also making her the happiest person in the world at the same time, and they ended up rolling in the grass, both breathless and laughing and so impossibly close.

 

The world was a big desert, every single grain of which was unique and beautiful and hers and she knew it all by heart. She missed his blonde hair, for now the hair was a part of the desert too, the sand framing his face and making him look beautiful in a different way.

 

How could there be such a perfect person in this world? She did not know, but that person was in front of her, on top of her, and his eyes were as bright as his heart. Hers, on the other side, was in , for all she wanted for him to do was close the distance between them like he’d done already a million times.

 

He shook his head, as if sensing her thoughts, but stayed in the dangerous situation for another moment, letting himself touch a lock of her hair, as if he was as entranced by her looks as she was with his. She seriously doubted it was like that, but maybe he felt exactly the same way about her as she did about him, and her whole stomach turned upside down at the thought and refused to settle down.

 

“Come here,” he said as he finally got up, to her uttermost disappointment. “I want to show you something.” He looked at her once again as she oh-so-ungracefully got up, too, still grumpy because he’d denied her a proper kiss, and laughed out loud again.

 

Then he turned and ran away.

 

She rolled her eyes - so this was how he was going to play, was it? Well, she was certainly better at this game than he was, because she was fast as a rocket whereas he was as clumsy as any tall person, though not as clumsy as Chanyeol.

 

He was running and laughing, and she was running behind him, determined to catch up to him before he got to the place he wanted her to see.

 

They were running through the field - their field - that they went to often, together. Sometimes they would hold hands and just walk around, admiring the nature in silence, whereas sometimes they’d dance and sing and talk as they lay down in the grass where it was safe and warm in his arms. This place meant everything to her - it breathed him and spoke the story of their love and if she could, she would stay there that way forever, listening to his laughter and seeing his eyes squint from happiness and sunshine.

 

He meant everything to her. Everything.

 

Unfortunately, she managed to catch up to him only when he’d reached the trunk of the old tree, which was somehow magically healed now. It looked nothing like she remembered it, and its branches seemed to be waving at her in a sweet Hello of an old friend, acknowledging all the words she had said to it in a whisper through all these years.

 

Sehun turned then, patting the tree with his hand - as if hearing her thoughts - while his other hand found hers and intertwined with it. She was the happiest and most fulfilled person in the world. Her heart did another leap and she felt the world stop spinning, but it was a beautiful, graceful spin, and his face tilted the world back to its rightful axis.

 

“Hey there, beautiful,” the only person that existed in this world right now whispered gently. “Look at the clearing.”

 

Lamiya didn’t want to stop looking at him, as if afraid he’d disappear and she’d wake up from a long and a beautiful and an unreal dream if she did so, but his hand squeezing hers gently reassured her that was not the case.

 

She slowly turned, the warmth of his body now behind her. She could feel his heart beating strongly and softly at the same time. The beat of her heart matched his perfectly.

 

The field was… beautiful. It was red and yellow and white and blue and golden and fiery and laced in every color imaginable and more. She did not understand how suddenly the clearing was full of thousands of such diverse flowers when she’d run through it a minute ago and it was just grass and wheat not yet ripe.

 

Then his hand let her hand go, but before she had a chance to protest, it cupped it in his stronger and bigger one and raised it up in front of them both.

 

He started waving their hands through the air, as if they were about to waltz through the field - she definitely wouldn’t have minded that, but she didn’t have time to think about it or about anything other than the flowers, which lifted up in the air and started dancing to the rhythm of their hands.

 

She gasped, but it was not a gasp of horror. It was weird and she did not understand what was happening, but it was beautiful and she knew it wouldn’t hurt her. Not when Sehun was smiling, not when he was running his other hand through her hair and not when he planted a kiss at her temple.

 

Then he raised a finger, her immediately following, and the flowers followed the gesture. They were now flying towards them, and when they got close enough, Sehun waved their hands upward and followed the flock into the sky and away into the distance.

 

The flowers were not flowers at all - they were butterflies, beautiful butterflies of all sizes and colors, and she felt tears running down her cheeks just from the raw beauty and innocence of it all.

 

Sehun giggled behind her, softly and in a low voice, as if afraid he would ruin the moment and break the magic if he dared to speak up. Everything was too beautiful, too perfect, too out-of-her-thoughts to be true-

 

He flicked their hands again, and this time, a sole sandy butterfly approached slowly, obeying their silent commands. The butterfly was huge and did not belong to this world, for such a lovely and obeying creature could not exist and grace her with its presence at the same time.

 

Now tears were streaming down her cheeks freely - she didn’t know why she was crying, but she couldn’t hold back, hold on or do anything but focus on her sole anchor, that was still kissing her temple and humming softly as he somehow magically brought the butterfly over to them.

 

The butterfly landed in their again-intertwined hands and did a happy dance, circling their arms over and over again and flapping its wings lightly, as if sealing the promise of love and memory.

 

“I love you,” he whispered, and she knew nobody heard but her, not even the butterfly, the messenger of his love. She did not dare move or speak - she suspected she could do neither. All she could do was focus on his heartbeat, blessed by him, by the butterfly, by everything.

 

Sehun flicked with their hands again, and other butterflies again appeared, this time not flying over them but settling in their hands, dancing and singing an ode to life and love.

 

She could not take much more of this - she was either dying or in heaven, though she did not know what she had done to deserve this, any of this.

 

Then Sehun unclasped their hands and settled his own at her waist, whispering gently in her ear, “Now you try it, beautiful.”

 

Try what? She could not do anything but chase the butterflies away and she was not going to do that, so she started to panic and tried to turn to look at his expression-

 

She could feel him shake his head at her, so she stopped and tried to relax as the butterflies kept walking all over her hand and arm, seemingly undisturbed by her small outburst. “Try,” he said again, more firmly this time.

 

So she did. She moved and waved and flicked her hand the way he’d taught her, and butterflies followed her movements, as if somehow understanding what she was telling them - to fly around and around them in circles, to fly high and then drop low and then come back to where the two of them were standing, her moving with her whole body now, and him following her silently and obediently.

 

She turned to him, still waving her hands, feeling what she was doing but not understanding it at all. A warm breeze passed through her hair as she looked him in the eyes, the sandy butterfly safely tucked between his ear and neck, its wings still flapping, as if he wanted to rejoin the dance.

 

And in the clearing, surrounded by flying and dancing butterflies, with the songs of their laughter intertwining, she moved closer to him, taking a step forward and settling his hands on her waist, now finally, oh finally able to close the distance between them and close her eyes as they kissed-

 

“Hello?” an unfamiliar voice called. “Are you alive in there somewhere?”

 

Lamiya gasped, jerking awake as she was suddenly splashed by something wet and cold and- did someone just throw a bucket of cold water at her?

 

Kneeling beside her now-sitting form was the guy she vaguely remembered bumping into… when was it? Before Sehun and the clearing and the butterflies and-

 

She felt her face heat up, even though she was wet and the water was beyond cold. Worse than that, when she looked up, the person she’d just casually had a whole AU dream of was staring at her, the only difference with the dream-clone being the hair. She preferred the sandy tone on him, though this one wasn’t that bad either - or bad at all.

 

She quickly averted her eyes, staring at her white knuckles rather at - whatever all of that was. She remembered the real scene at the clearing, him being a lunatic who was shaking her and demanding answers for questions he did not bother asking and her running away and then being caught by that guy-

 

Someone whistled beside her, waving a hand in front of her face. “Earth to Merino sheep! Are you high or something? Can’t you hear I’m talking to you over here?”

 

Slowly, very slowly, Lamiya turned, fearing that the owner of the voice was who she thought - actually, who she remembered it was.

 

And sure enough, Black-Ray-Bans-and-that-sinful-smile were watching her intently, as if she was a riddle he had yet to solve.

 

“Finally,” he breathed dramatically, putting a hand over his forehead and sighing, as if he actually cared what happened to her. The only thing he cared about, she knew, was that his ego was well fed. Well, she knew where she’d suggest he took that beautiful and perfect face of his and where he’d shove it-

 

“Now, tell me what got you crying not a minute after swooning after being so sinfully close to the most handsome guy in this whole country and beyond,” Kris continued, oblivious to her thoughts, which were clearly visible on her disgust-stricken face.

 

Worse than that, he actually had the audacity to put a finger on her face and gently touch her still-wet cheek.

 

Why had she been crying? She tried to orientate herself, tried to bring herself back to reality but the image of the butterflies and the smell of June grass and him and him and everything was him and why was he not the man that was in front of her and-

 

She shook her head and decided to get up. Whatever the hell happened to her after Kris had basically pushed himself onto her like the ert he was, she did not know, but she would find out in the next couple of minutes, she was sure of that.

 

She ignored the concern in the sand eyes. She snapped at herself: The guy you were dreaming about a minute ago DOES NOT EXIST, you hear me? He is the product of blood flowing into your brain too fast and since he shocked you like that, he was the first person your brain summoned up to entertain you while these freaks did God knows what to you.

 

With that reassurance, she wiped the tears from her face and turned to Jerkris, who was now looming above her with that awfully annoying smile of his. She wanted to punch him in the face. “Okay, giant, you tell me what happened ever since I bumped into you right this instant or I am going to hit you in a place that’s going to hurt.”

 

Kris laughed out loud - it was nothing like Sehun’s. His laughter was rich and honest and lacy. This, on the other hand, sounded like an overly-confident crow trying to imitate a racing car, which kind of summed his character up pretty well. It made goosebumps rise on her skin, from irritation and terror and just plain disgust because everything this guy said or did felt absolutely dirty. Worse than that, he knew exactly what he was doing and how it was affecting those around him, and he seemed to be basking in joy because of it.

 

“Come on, babe, don’t play stupid,” he said, the smirk still not leaving his face. Now she noticed the green-skin guy standing in front of her and next to Sehun, holding an empty bucket - she narrowed her eyes at him in silent promise that she would not forget that. Behind Kris was the neandertal-looking elf, a grin too wide to be honest (except if he was actually not intelligent enough to get that all of this was not some kind of a sick joke he seemed to be enjoying) plastered on his face and a cap saying OBAMA CARE in neon-yellow letters at the top of his head in Ash-Ketchum style.

 

Meanwhile, Kris continued as if he didn’t see her turning around and assessing the situation without paying any interest to his speech. He seemed to be around people who obeyed his every single word too much, and Lamiya suspected it was because the people he hired were, well, not that smart to begin with. Looking at the two of his henchmen, it seemed like her theory was a sailing ship already. She couldn’t wait to meet the others - oh, squirrel over there near a tree looked pretty impressive too. Should she have waved at them in an attempt to join their club? Perhaps if she got an OBAMA CARE cap, too, the elf would deem her worthy of becoming a part of their little bully group?

 

“After you were, as you so obviously are trying to hide, overwhelmed by my stunning looks and sudden closeness, you fainted on me!” Kris chuckled at himself, his pride bigger than a peacock’s tail when it was fully extended. “And then you were as still as a rock for a couple minutes, probably just faking the whole unconsciousness-thing, but then you began to cry! You were feeling so lucky because you were touched by the Great Wu Yi Fan, weren’t you, babe?”

 

And then he shamelessly moved towards her, as if to touch her again. This time, she was ready.

 

The moment his hand extended, Lamiya seized the chance and bit down on his hand, hard.

 

The girly scream of pain Kris let out was the sound of heaven’s harphs to her ears.

 

“What the hell?” he was still screaming, now recoiling from her, as he clutched his wounded hand to his chest. Poor baby YI-whatever, getting what he deserved for once. “Do you know how expensive this is? If I’m not able to draw, people might die from being denied my beautiful pictures! What are you, a dog?”

 

Lamiya couldn’t help herself - she laughed loudly.

 

Then she tried to muster up the most badass murderous look she could come up with and hoped she succeeded. “Listen now, Mr. Tight-Pants. You do not have the permission to touch me, because I am not the kind of girl you are used to being around. You go to a brothel and do such things there, but when you’re around me - and if I’m in a nice mood - maybe I’ll let you be five meters across, but not less. Now take those filthy hands and don’t you ever dare touch me again.”

 

To her credit, the psychopath actually seemed shocked for a second, but then he slowly took the Ray-Bans off, tucking them at the space at the collar of his shirt. Then he ran his hands through his hair and looked at her with a look that spelled Casanova-wannabe.

She almost groaned. Did this guy ever stop?

 

“I see, babe, so this is how you want to play.” Surprisingly, he got up, but his eyes told an entirely different story - he was not giving up, just following some other sick plan he’d managed to think up in the meantime. “You’re feisty. I like that. We’ll play this game for a little while, pretend you hate me and all that, and then move to some serious business, okay?”

 

He moved close to her, his hand reaching out for a lock of her hair, but before she could try to bite him again, he closed it and let it fall to his side. “Ah, it’ll be hard,” he said, chuckling again. “But I’ll endure it to please you. But don’t let me wait long, babe!”

 

With that, he started laughing like a maniac - again - and turned around, dismissing her. None of his brainless brutes did so much as glance at her, probably used to seeing this kind of situations all the time. A couple of moments ago, she inspected the back of her head, which had started throbbing not long since she woke up from the dream she tried desperately not to think of.

 

Her hand came up red, and she realized she must’ve hit her head on a stone and possibly given herself a concussion. So much for gentlemen and macho old-fashioned men - the guy was not an inch from me, yet he let me fall like a log and did nothing to try to save me! And he calls himself a man?

 

She suddenly felt a light breeze and looked up to see the pair of sandy eyes watching her from a distance, her and her bloody hand.

 

Screw him. Screw them all.

 

She would put them all where they belonged, and soon. They would learn not to play with Lamiya, for those who played with fire sooner or later got burned.

 

The wind suddenly started blowing again, and a couple of blossoms from a nearby berry tree flew towards her.

 

She remembered the dream again, remembered him, and let herself think the thought one last time before she erased the whole injury-induced ordeal from her head.

 

I love you too, Sehunnie. I love you so, so much.