On another Earth, Kyungsoo wakes up with a jolt. His eyes flash around the unfamiliar room, heart pounding as he makes sense of this world all over again. He processes the pictures on the wall of him and Jongin-but-not-really-Jongin at places all over the world, smiling in some, staring off into the distance in others.

If this is a prank, it’s an elaborate one and no one is laughing.

“Good morning,” comes a familiar voice from the door. “I’m not sure if you’re like my Kyungsoo, but I made you coffee. Cream or sugar?” Jongin’s head is peeking from the side of the door, a soft expression on his face. For someone who’s lost his fiancé, he’s awfully calm.

“Just cream,” Kyungsoo finally says, voice groggier than he intended. He rubs his head before slipping out of bed and following Jongin down the hall to the kitchen. The hallway, just like the bedroom, has pictures of them with friends or family. He actually recognizes a few of the scenarios, like a selfie of them from their trainee days drinking bubble tea.

“My Kyungsoo takes sugar, so I guess there’s another difference,” Jongin hums as he pours the cream into a steaming mug and hands it to Kyungsoo, who’s standing at the counter.

“Thanks,” he sighs, taking a sip of the familiar liquid that woke him up every morning in the past. It’s comforting. “What time is it?”

“7. I didn’t think you’d be awake so early,” Jongin admits as he takes a sip of his own coffee. Kyungsoo watches in slight awe; the Jongin he knows hates coffee unless it’s filled with sugar, but he watched this Jongin pour his cup and drink it straight.

“I think I’m just used to waking up early,” Kyungsoo says. “Usually I have to be up by 5 to get to sets, so this is actually sleeping in for me.”

Jongin nods, holding the mug close to his chest. “Right. Where you come from, you’re an actor.” He chuckles, eyes on the counter now. “I would never have guessed, but I’m not surprised either.”

“You’re not,” Kyungsoo agrees. “You’re not surprised at all even though you should be. How are you so calm still? I thought you were just pretending yesterday.” Yesterday when Kyungsoo walked into the studio he was supposed to meet Jongin, to instead be met with a huge hug and a barrage of kisses from a different Jongin. That was… interesting.

“I’m actually scared,” Jongin assures him. “But… if you’re here, he’s probably in your world, right? That’s what makes the most sense.”

“I guess,” Kyungsoo sighs. “Not that any of this makes sense anyway.”

Jongin smiles at that, walking over to take a seat at the kitchen table. Kyungsoo follows.

“Fruit?” Jongin offers him from the bowl in the middle.

“Sure.” Kyungsoo takes an apple. He’s impressed. In this world, Kyungsoo and Jongin have an apartment and even a table where they keep a bowl of fruit in the middle, none of them rotten. They have coupons on the fridge, and a calendar listing all of their upcoming events. It’s nowhere near as full as Kyungsoo’s own calendar back home, but when Kyungsoo sees it, he feels so much more satisfied.

“I have to leave for work soon,” Jongin says, checking his watch. “But if you need me, just text me. You still have your phone, right?”

Kyungsoo nods. It’s a phone, at least. Not his though, but rather the other Kyungsoo’s.

“Great. I’ll be back by 5, and I’ll bring some dinner too. You should just relax today. I’m sure being an idol in your world is exhausting,” Jongin says, a slight smile on his face.

Kyungsoo would love to feel relaxed, but it’s a bit hard when you’re struggling with the idea that you’ve somehow transported into an entirely different universe. But there’s comfort in the familiar smile on Jongin’s face, so he allows himself to nod anyway.

“What should I do? What does, uh, Kyungsoo usually do?” He feels awkward talking about himself in the third person.

Jongin chuckles. “Well, he usually goes to work around this time, but I’ve called in sick for you, so you don’t need to worry about that.”

Right. This Kyungsoo works at the senior center, teaching classes all day to seniors who may want to pick up music or take a class on gardening. Kyungsoo had laughed when he heard of his job in this world, but Jongin assured him this was no joke.

“I know this is a lot to take in,” Jongin speaks, voice somehow even softer now. “But it’ll be okay. You’ll be back home eventually.”

Kyungsoo frowns, staring at the shiny apple in his hand before looking at Jongin. “How can you be so sure? We don’t even know how or why this happened.”

Jongin stands up and walks over to the sink to put his now empty mug away. He rinses it, before turning around to Kyungsoo and offering him a kind smile.

“Things happen for a reason. This will work out the way it’s meant to.” Jongin speaks as if he’s not really there, as if he’s watching this happen to him instead of actually experiencing it. Kyungsoo wants to laugh. It’s so cliché.

“Right,” is what he says instead. What he really wants to say, though, is that things don’t work out like that. You need to make them happen. Fate won’t give you everything you need, it’s not that kind.

But Jongin has hope in his eyes, and Kyungsoo can’t bear to take that from him. They say their goodbyes as Jongin leaves out the door, briefcase in hand. It’s a funny image, Kyungsoo thinks, because he’s seen that costume on Jongin back home before, but seeing it now as a reality feels strange.

This reality is strange.

Home alone now, without a schedule or things to do, Kyungsoo takes a bite out of his apple to occupy his mind. He wants to do something, because it’s been so long since he’s done nothing that doing nothing just feels wrong.

“I wonder if this Kyungsoo has a good taste in movies,” Kyungsoo murmurs, walking over to the TV and the bookcase full of DVDs next to it. He scans through it, surprised to find so many horror movies (not that he minds, but he’s never been a big fan). He picks the first movie he actually recognizes, Inception, and pops it into the DVD player.

It doesn’t do much but give Kyungsoo background sounds to listen to as he thinks.

Yesterday was the most confusing day of Kyungsoo’s twenty five years of life. Even more confusing than his first trainee day, when he couldn’t find any of the rooms he was supposed to go to and there were too many other students for him to recognize anyone.

The surprise and concern on Jongin’s face stood out to Kyungsoo. It was a familiar expression, and it was what made this reality so hard for Kyungsoo to process. The two grappled, arguing back and forth for a while as Kyungsoo especially insisted that Jongin stop joking, using cusses and punches to try and ‘coax’ Jongin to tell him the truth.

But Jongin was surprisingly patient as he waited for Kyungsoo to calm down. All it took was one request for Jongin to accept this reality. It had made Kyungsoo uncomfortable, but he eventually caved because it wasn’t as if Jongin hadn’t seen his body before, in between hurried group showers and costume changes for shows.

And once Jongin saw the area below his hip bone, he nodded and said, “You’re not my Kyungsoo. But you are Kyungsoo. So you must be from another world.”

That only infuriated Kyungsoo further though, as he rushed to punch Jongin again for joking with such a serious expression.

Eventually Jongin had convinced Kyungsoo to follow him to what he called ‘home’, in an area that Kyungsoo was familiar with but at a building he hadn’t seen before. His jaw dropped when Jongin showed him the pictures on the wall, and brought out albums of everything they did together. It was at that point he realized this couldn’t be a joke.

It was almost midnight by the time Kyungsoo resigned himself to this reality, even though he was still doubtful in the back of his mind. He went to bed telling himself he would wake up from this dream tomorrow, but then morning came and the pictures were still on the wall.

Now Kyungsoo’s here, sitting on the couch and watching an old, but at least familiar movie. He reaches for the phone he placed on the coffee table, and sighed with defeat as his fingerprint unlocks it. There goes his doppelganger theory.

It feels like an invasion of privacy, because even though he is Kyungsoo, he isn’t this Kyungsoo. But he wants to know more about this world he’s stuck in for now.

The first place he goes is to the contact book. He’s pleasantly surprised to see Baekhyun’s name there. He then goes to search for the other members’ names, and finds all of them there. Hesitatingly, he clicks on Jongdae’s contact and goes to their messages.

Their last message was a week ago, Jongdae asking if he wanted to see a show with him and Junmyeon later that day. Apparently Kyungsoo had said yes.

Clicking on the back button, Kyungsoo finds his way to his messages with Jongin, which is no surprise since it’s one of the most recent activities. It’s mostly texts from each of them describing their day as it happens, laced with ‘I love you’s and heart-eyed emojis. Kyungsoo is horrified by the lovey-doveyness of the situation, but powers through in an attempt to learn more.

Apparently he goes too far though, because he comes across an, ahem, scandalous photo that makes Kyungsoo exit and close the app right away.

Right. They’re a couple. Of course they would send each other photos like that.

Kyungsoo puts the phone aside, wanting to erase from his memories the texts that came with the photo. is so uncomfortable to witness.

Apparently he’s more tired than he realizes, because after Kyungsoo finishes the movie, he falls asleep on the couch. When he wakes up a few hours later to drool running down his cheek, he gets up with a groan and realizes he hasn’t eaten a real meal all day.

He manages to make a quick meal out of the kimchi in the fridge and some instant ramen he finds in the cabinets. Judging by the grocery list on the fridge, they’re running low on foods at home.

Kyungsoo spends the rest of the day online, switching between watching videos and learning more about this Earth. It’s weird, he feels guilty for spending a whole day doing nothing even though there’s nothing he really can do.

When Jongin finally comes home with a bag full of Chinese take-out, Kyungsoo is happy to just have company again. Being an idol means that you’re always accompanied by someone, whether it’s your make-up artist or manager. Kyungsoo thinks himself an introvert, but he has gotten accustomed to having people around him.

“How was your day?” Jongin asks as he grabs plates from the dishwasher. Kyungsoo helps by taking the boxes out from the bag and setting them on the table.

“Shouldn’t I be asking that?” Kyungsoo replies, eyebrows arched. “You’re the one who actually went outside and did stuff today.”

Jongin shrugs, taking a seat across from Kyungsoo and handing him the chopsticks. “I did what I do everyday. The only difference was that I didn’t have Kyungsoo to text.” He breaks his own pair of chopsticks and reaches for the container of rice. “But you had an entire universe to explore today, I guess. Or not. Maybe you slept all day, wouldn’t blame you.” He looks up from the rice he’s piling onto his plate to smile at Kyungsoo.

“I did both,” Kyungsoo says, taking the rice from Jongin when he’s done. “I watched Inception too. Glad that’s still the same at least.”

“Great movie,” Jongin agrees.

It’s silent as they each grab food to put on their plates. But Jongin is the first to speak again.

“So what’s it like, being an idol?” he asks, taking a bite of the stir-fried beef and broccoli. “Is it everything we imagined?”

Kyungsoo hesitates. “I’m not sure what you imagined, but I guess, it probably is.”

“Describe it to me,” Jongin says, and it’s a command but it doesn’t sound like one, with Jongin’s soothing voice behind it.

“Well,” Kyungsoo starts, chewing on his food to think a bit. “It’s as busy as you’d think. Schedules that fill the day from morning to night. I don’t get back til 1AM most days. Same for you, I think. And it’s tiring, obviously, but it’s also fun. Acting has been a nice change of pace recently. But still, nothing compares to touring and concerts. Performing on stage for the fans…” Kyungsoo allows himself a small smile. “It’s as amazing as you’d think.”

Jongin smiles at that. “I’m glad. It’s good to know that we got to debut in one reality, at least.”

Kyungsoo nods, but he still feels guilty talking about it to this Jongin, who also probably wanted this fate at some point. He recognized all the old dance trophies in the living room earlier, with Jongin’s names on them.

That’s why he hesitates when he asks the next question. “What happened?” He clears his throat. “I mean, it’s just that the Jongin I know, if he hadn’t debuted with SM, I think he would’ve just moved onto the next company.” Not that they ever talked about it, but Kyungsoo knows Jongin. He knows he would’ve debuted somewhere eventually, if SM hadn’t done it first. Jongin has a passion that needs to be shared.

Jongin nods, chewing. If he’s offended, it doesn’t show. “That’s what I thought too,” he admits. “But I didn’t have a say. It was either dancing or walking.”

Kyungsoo blinks. “What do you mean?”

“I got into an accident. Some driver wasn’t paying attention, hit me as I was crossing the street. It hurt, but I didn’t think it was a big deal.” Jongin speaks as if he’s said this story countless times and is just going through the motions again. “But then when I started dancing again, it hurt. A lot, like way more than it ever did. The doctors told me if I kept dancing, I wouldn’t be able to walk in a few years. Not a few decades, but years.”

Kyungsoo’s mouth feels dry. He’s hungry, but he doesn’t want to take another bite of food. He can’t tear his eyes away from Jongin, who continues to eat his own food without pause.

“It’s fine,” Jongin says, as if sensing Kyungsoo’s emotions. “That was years ago. I’m over it, mostly. Well, as over it as I can be I think. Sometimes I still dance, even though they tell me not to, but I can’t help it.”

Kyungsoo nods, and he moves to pick up another piece of beef but he can’t bring himself to put it in his mouth. “I’m sorry,” he finally says. “That really .”

“It does,” Jongin agrees with a nod. “But again, it’s happened, can’t do anything about it now.”

It’s quiet again. Kyungsoo finally wills himself to eat more. Apparently Jongin is still a fast eater in this world, because he’s done within the next five minutes, leaning back in his chair, satisfied.

“Do you have any more questions?” he offers, eyebrow raised. “I don’t mind answering any of them.”

Kyungsoo chews, thinking. He has a lot, but is not sure where to begin. His eyes wander around the room again, and Jongin notices.

“Do you want me to tell you how this happened?” Jongin asks. “Me and Kyungsoo, that is.”

Well, that is a simple way of putting it, Kyungsoo supposes. A lot of his questions were about the pictures on the wall and their homey set up in the apartment. He nods, and Jongin takes a sip of water before beginning.

“Well, we met when we were trainees. I actually thought he hated me at first, because he would glare at me every time I saw him,” Jongin chuckles, and Kyungsoo nods again. He knows this part.

“Same,” Kyungsoo says. Upon noticing Jongin’s surprised look, he clarifies, “I mean, the Jongin in my universe thought the same of me. I have bad astigmatism so I accidentally glared at him whenever I saw him.”

“Yeah, that’s what he told me too once I got to know him. He still teases me about it.” Jongin smiles. “Well, we became fast friends after that was explained, and we would go out to cafés after practice and just talk. We were best friends before the month was over.”

Kyungsoo’s stomach is doing strange things, making him wonder if the Chinese food here is the same as the one back at home. Otherwise he can’t explain what he’s feeling.

“At first I thought I was just really happy to be his friend,” Jongin says. “But then I realized that I hadn’t thought that way about anyone before. And then I had a big inner debate about what it would mean if I liked him that way, as another guy, but that’s a conversation for another time.”

“I want to know,” Kyungsoo tells him. “I mean, I would like to hear about that conversation.” Because everything leading up to here sounded just like his trainee days with Jongin. So what differed? Besides the obvious not-debuting, that is.

Jongin raises an eyebrow, but answers anyway. “Sure. I mean, it’s kind of hard to explain, since I’ve never had to before. But, and I’m not sure how your world is, South Korea isn’t exactly friendly towards people who like people of the same gender.”

Kyungsoo swallows. “It’s the same,” he manages to mumble.

“Yeah, so you get it,” Jongin sighs. “Deciding that I liked Kyungsoo as more than a friend was a big revelation that took lots of self-denial and doubt to get to. It was actually talking to my sister that helped me come to terms with it. She’s really open-minded, went to college in the U.S. and everything.”

“I see,” Kyungsoo murmurs, taking a bite of food when he has nothing else to say.

“But back to the story, I definitely wasn’t going to do anything once I figured out I liked him. I mean, if we became idols, I couldn’t do anything. But then my leg happened, and then three of our Chinese members’ visas got revoked, and I guess SM just decided that all these bad things happening at once was a sign they shouldn’t debut any of us.”

“But that doesn’t make sense,” Kyungsoo says. “I mean, they invested time and money in us. Why didn’t Kyungsoo debut? Or like Baekhyun, or Jongdae?”

If Jongin is surprised to hear Kyungsoo knows them, he only shows it for a brief second before answering, “Kyungsoo told me he was offered a chance to wait to debut. They wouldn’t give him a solid timeline though, and he didn’t want to wait around for it.” He pauses, taking a sip of water again, before saying, “I never asked, but I think he was secretly relieved to not have to go through it anymore.”

Kyungsoo frowns. “What do you mean?”

“For my Kyungsoo, at least, he was getting real tired of practice,” Jongin explains. “I could tell he wasn’t getting rest, and that it wasn’t making him as happy as it once did. He actually told me, not that long ago, that once he found out about my leg, he was thinking of quitting. But he didn’t, and not that it mattered since they cancelled it.”

Upon noticing Kyungsoo’s troubled expression, Jongin assures him, “I know this might be hard to process. You probably don’t understand, and I don’t blame you. You’re not the same person, even if… you are the same.” He gives him a sheepish smile for the poor wording, but Kyungsoo does understand.

Because that was him after the first month of his trainee days. Tired and sleep deprived, Kyungsoo was on his way to talk to a supervisor about cutting back his training, even though he knew it would hurt his image and even jeopardize his chance to debut. But practices that once felt like seconds now felt like days to Kyungsoo and his body ached like it never ached before.

But before he could get to the office, he walked across a practice room where a dancer was practicing in, alone with the lights dimmed and music playing just loudly enough for Kyungsoo to hear from the hallway. Unable to help himself, Kyungsoo stayed and watched as the lone figure glided across the room, limbs elegantly moving to the music. He was entranced by the way the music moved through the man with thin arms and legs.

Kyungsoo wasn’t the only one to notice him either. A few other trainees soon came up and watched, and finally he turned to someone beside him and asked if they knew who that person was.

“You don’t know?” the trainee asked, surprised. “That’s Kim Jongin. He’s going to debut in the next group.”

Kim Jongin. The name sounded familiar. It’s possible he’d heard about him before but never saw him around. A few trainees had been around for so long that their names were famous within the walls of the SM building, even if they were still unheard of to the outside world.

When Jongin was done with the dance, he was panting and glistening with sweat. But there was something to his expression that tugged on Kyungsoo’s heartstrings. He recognized that look, even if it had been so long ago since he’d seen it on himself.

That look of passion, of fulfillment and pride of a job well done. Kyungsoo missed that feeling that he would get after hitting a note perfectly, or finally being able to replicate the dance the instructor would teach him. That feeling was now hidden under exhaustion, but he was reminded of it upon seeing Jongin’s face.

And so instead of walking to his supervisor’s office, he walked into the next available practice room and stayed until his mom called and forced him to go home.

He never told Jongin that story before. Kyungsoo likes to think he repaid his debt by feeding Jongin and taking care of him. But thinking back on it now, he makes a note to tell Jongin when, or if, he makes it back home.

“Are you okay?” Jongin asks, leaning in with a slight frown to look at Kyungsoo. “I think I lost you there for a second.”

“Sorry, I was just thinking,” Kyungsoo sighs, poking at his food now.

“Penny for your thoughts?”

“I was just thinking that there’s a lot of similarities between our two worlds. But I still don’t get how this one is so… different.”

Jongin nods. “Well, I haven’t gotten to the part about me and Kyungsoo yet. But after we both left SM, we decided to rent a place in Seoul together and find jobs. My parents wanted me back home, but I couldn’t do it. I was too ashamed.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Kyungsoo tells him.

“I know, but I can’t help the way I felt,” Jongin replies, and Kyungsoo is taken back by the maturity of his answer. “Anyway, I wasn’t planning to tell Kyungsoo I had a crush on him. I didn’t want to make things uncomfortable since we lived together. But apparently I’m not as subtle as I thought, because he confessed to me first.”

Kyungsoo chuckles at that. He’s glad that even the Kyungsoo in this world is as forward as he is.

“And now we’re engaged!” Jongin finishes happily, and Kyungsoo almost chokes a piece of rice.

“Engaged?” he asks. He knew they were together, but he assumed it was just as partners, boyfriends.

“Did you not notice the ring?” Jongin asks, showing him his ring finger with a gold band around it.

“I-I guess not,” Kyungsoo stammers.

Jongin smiles at him, and begins cleaning up the table and combining boxes of food. “We’ve been engaged for a few months now. We want a winter wedding.”

“Winter?” Kyungsoo asks warily. That’s unique.

“January,” Jongin replies with a cheeky smile. “That way we can just dedicate the entire month to ourselves.”

Kyungsoo laughs at that. “Right. Well, I hope you get your Kyungsoo back before January then.”

Jongin tilts his head, but continues to pack up the boxes and place them in the fridge. “He’ll be back,” he says, voice confident. “Like I said, fate knows what it’s doing.”