A/N: This chapter is more of a filler than anything else so this is just a warning if you don't want to read it! The first parts & last parts are a bit informative and the muddle parts are slice of life because I missed writing those. <3 i hope you find them hilarious none the less! 

[DT TAVERN]

A hooded figure had arrived to DT Tavern, his shaking fingers reaching up to run a hand through his hair. It was Suga and as he entered the tavern, he saw that it was empty. There were no trace of people in the bar, the people of Soul City not being able to afford to drink and eat like before. His eyes ran over the dully lit walls and Suga made his way to the basement of the tavern, his footsteps careful and quick when he landed on the floor below his business place when he heard his name being called.

“Suga.” His name being called with much care and concern felt endearing to Suga and his eyes stopped on Jungkook, his gaze skating over the place just to find that it was only him and the head of the vigilantes.

“Jungkook,” he said and Jungkook walked over to him, a hand going out to grab his arm.

“Are you okay?” Jungkook had seen it, the red mark on Suga’s face. Suga nodded, a hand reaching up to press against his cheek. “What happened?”

“He struck me. My father,” Suga said simply. His relationship with his father had always been rocky, but Suga never had a finger laid on him. This time, was different. “I was thrown in jail for a few days because I failed to get the young mages from SM. This afternoon, they locked Taeyong up and let me go. The child, he’s distraught. I heard they executed his lover right in front of him.”

“I heard it from the rest as well. Why are they still keeping him alive?” Jungkook asked the older mage.

“The Royal Headmaster thinks he’ll be able to harness energy. Even if his power is basic, the Royal Headmaster thinks that with enough practice, Taeyong will be able to make portals.” Suga replied, his mind going to Taeyong who was still locked up in the cell. “I’m not going back there.”

“What do you mean?” Jungkook asked.

“I mean, it’s time I give up on my father. There is no turning back, Jungkook. Take me to Sehun,” Suga said and Jungkook searched his eyes, nodding.

Suga, he could trust.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[Soul City]

Oh Shin was in the castle with Taeyong’s wails ringing out with echoes. Doyoung’s death was a hard hit, but this was even worse for him—It meant, he was left with almost no one. Taeyong was not salvageable and Oh Shin hated how all these kids were so weak when it came to love. He stood with his back to the door when it opened and he saw Siwon walk in, his eyes filling with hope.

“No luck, sir. No traces of them.” Siwon told Oh Shin and he let out a breath. They still could not find Sehun. He knew that Doyoung was the one bringing the people somewhere but he still had no idea where they were and it was driving him crazy. “But I believe that young Doyoung told Taeyong where it is.”

“What do you mean?”

“Moments before Doyoung was captured, he was the one who went up to Taeyong. The guards told me that he was seen telling Taeyong something when his power faltered from using it too much. That’s how they caught him. They believe Doyoung had told Taeyong where your son is based.” Siwon told Oh Shin and he nodded, smirking.

He had to play this well, and he knew just who to call. Shinee was out of the picture, those imbeciles not working for Oh Shun’s side.

“I believe if you let Taeyong go, he’ll lead us to your son’s base, sir. Should I send a troop to follow him after we let him go?” Siwon asked and Oh Shin shook his head, a hand going up as the younger mage stopped talking.

“Yes, but before that…. I need U-know Yunho,” Oh Shin suddenly said. “Bring him to me.”

“The Shifter?” Siwon asked, suddenly stricken at the sound of the name.

“Bring him to me and let me strike a deal with him.” Oh Shin said and Siwon looked down, frowning.

“He disappeared a few years back, sir—”

“FIND HIM!” Oh Shin’s voice cut through the air and Siwon found himself scampering for the one person he hasn’t seen in a long while.

If this was U-Know Yunho’s comeback, he hoped that it would be worth it.  

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It was a dim and gloomy day and I felt Sehun wake up, pressing kisses on my cheek before I slapped him away. I was up crying all night and every time I saw NCT, I felt so bad for them, the waterworks threatening to start. I peeked through my heavy swollen lids when I heard a hushed whisper by the door and Sehun stood up, stretching his arms before whispering something back. I sat up and he looked at me meekly, apologizing for the noise.

“Don’t apologize,” I told him, forcing my eyes open with my two fingers. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

I was always on alert these days and would always be scared that something would happen. I couldn’t sleep well even with Sehun beside me and would always find myself going on countless walks at night, being accompanied by either NCT or EXO members. Everyone was on the edge of their seat and I couldn’t blame them.

“Nothing happened. Jungkook arrived. He’s calling for me,” Sehun said and I kicked the blanket out, standing up. “Go back to bed. Get a few more hours of sleep.”

“There has to be a reason why he has called you over,” I pointed out to Sehun, but I knew he just wanted me to rest. I followed him anyway and when we went out of our little shack, we were greeted by two familiar faces. Jungkook was smiling at me and I walked over to give him a hug when I turned to the one standing beside him.

“Suga,” I greeted and he lowered his head politely.

“Harin,” he replied before turning to Sehun, a hand going around my fiancé's body to give him a hug. “Cousin.”

“Finally, you’re with us,” Sehun said to him and he nodded.

“My father can’t be saved, I’m sad to say,” Suga said to Sehun who pressed his lips together in understanding. If there was anyone who could understand Suga, it was Sehun; both their fathers succumbing to the dark side with their greed for power. “I’m here now. I’m not going back there.”

“It’s good to have you, cousin,” Sehun said to Suga, a hand going to pat Suga on the back before turning around and searching the crowd. People had come to watch the arrival of Suga like they did to the rest, and I saw Namjoon appear.

“I’ll prepare a shack for you, Suga,” Namjoon began saying and Suga thanked him, Namjoon turning to us. “I still haven’t gone to the Dreamweaver’s yet. Haechan is really depressed and won’t eat or drink anything. Uncle Rumpel told me to give him time. But I’m so worried about Jisung. He couldn’t just have disappeared like that.”

Sehun let out a breath. “Give Haechan a few hours, let me talk to him. He’s still sad about Doyoung’s death. Did the Dreamweavers visit your dreams last night? What did they say?”

“They keep saying the same things,” Namjoon told Sehun, exasperated and I could see how worried he was of the Dreamweaver’s. “They keep saying that he drugged them and he left but it doesn’t make sense. Why would Jisung do that— JISUNG!”

Namjoon’s voice rang out in shock as a tall and thin boy emerged from the trees, his hair and body disheveled. There were leaves and twigs all over his body and he was bruised everywhere. I turned to see Suho jogging towards us, trying to understand the situation. So, this was the Jisung everyone was talking about.

“He’s the youngest of the Dreamweavers and he disappeared a few days ago,” I heard Suho telling his father behind me. “What is he doing here?”

I watched as Namjoon run over to Jisung, the young boy looking so tired. His eye bags were prominent and he walked like a zombie. He had a small bag with him and a saddle on one hand but there was no horse in sight. On his head, was a hard hat that was red in color with a flashlight on it. Namjoon was saying something and asking him how he had reached the base when he caught sight of me, the boy walking over to me and Sehun before speaking.

“Hello.” He was exhausted but he introduced himself anyway. “My name is Park Jisung and I drugged my family.”

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

We all gathered in the meeting place, surrounding Jisung who was shoving food into his mouth. Poor kid was hungry and tired and I could see it in the way he chewed. His little bag was still beside him and the rest of NCT and EXO appeared. I realized that they all knew Jisung, hearing that he was the youngest in SM at one point in time. Even Haechan came and was excitedly sitting beside Jisung, all of them waiting as he engulfed down food to no avail.

“Jisung, tell us what happened?” Suho prodded and Jisung chewed, his eyes bulging as he tried to swallow it all in one go. “Why did you drug the rest of the Dreamweaver’s? Did someone tell you to?” He asked carefully and we were all thinking the same thing—that Oh Shin had gotten to him and made him drug the rest of the Dreamweaver’s.

“I ran away!” He finally said, crossing his arms. “No one ever listens to me there; I feel so neglected. I came because I have evidence on why they should listen to me. Just because I’m the youngest doesn’t mean they can ignore my visions like this. I’m smart! I know what I dream is useful.”

“Jisung—” Suho began but he kept talking.

“I was the one who dreamt of nine fingers and look at his fingers now! They said it wasn’t useful but guess who has nine fingers now!” He yelled out and Suho’s eyes widened at Jisung’s aggressiveness. “Look at this! I brought everything I needed to prove to you—”

His hands shoved into his bag and he brought out crumpled pieces of paper. Suho looked over them and I saw that he had seen those papers before, Jisung laying it out on the table. One photo was a photo of a portal and he hastily tried to smooth them with his dirty fingers. I saw one that had a scepter, another paper had stick men drawn on them. Two stickmen that had Sehun’s name on top indicating that it was both Sehun. Another paper had a portal drawn on it and it was stuck to another paper that had a man holding a ball of energy in his hands.

“This is the scepter,” Jisung explained. “I know one of you will have to go to Earth and get it. I keep telling them but they never believe me! This is the Young Royal Master, I know there will be two of them! Look, I drew it!”

“Alright, Jisung. It’s okay, we believe you. But that does not mean you get to drug all of them.”

“If I didn’t, they wouldn’t have let me leave,” Jisung mumbled to himself, staring at the ground. Sehun let out a sigh and before anyone could say anything, I heard Ahjumma talk. She was beside Wooseung and Seungwoo who had also joined us in our massive meeting, and she seemed to have recognized the scepter.

“That scepter,” she said out loud. “Harin, remember when you first got your powers and I told you about that day?”

[scepter]

I nodded, trying to string things together when Ahjumma continued.

“That scepter was what the illuminati sent down. It your powers away.” Ahjumma tilted her head to the side and studied the drawing. “Yes, I’m pretty sure it’s the same scepter.” She told me and I placed my hand to my chest; thinking long and hard.

What did that mean?

“Dreamweaver’s… They see visions, don’t they?” I asked Namjoon who nodded. “They dream them. How accurate are they?”

“Mine are accurate!” Jisung insisted and Namjoon placed a hand on Jisung’s shoulder. “Uncle Namjoon, tell them! Tell them that all my dreams usually come true!”

“Yes, yes… Jisung,” Namjoon comforted. “Your dreams are very accurate, but still—”

“You need to get all your powers back! You need to break the portal to Earth or the evil man will get to Earth and ruin everything!” Jisung seemed frustrated, like a teenager that wasn’t understood by his parents. He was talking to me now and I was taken aback by what he was saying. “You need to believe me! It’s going to happen very soon!”

Sehun looked deep in thought before looking at Jisung whose eyes were already filled with tears. “Jisung, I understand. We’ll take this all into account.”

“I’ll explain it all!” Jisung said hastily. “This is the portal. And this guy, this guy is Taeyong. We all know him!” He pointed at the drawing that had someone holding a ball of energy. “He’s using his powers. He’s going to help all of you.”

“I’m afraid Taeyong is still back at the Royal Castle,” Sehun said to Jisung who shook his head.

“He’s coming! He’ll come very soon,” Jisung said and Namjoon told us that he’ll take the kid away to get some rest. “You need to let me stay here. If you bring me back to the Dream fortress, Nana and Jeno will kill me.”

“Who's Nana?” I asked Sehun who whispered back.

“Na Jaemin. They call him Nana. Apparently, he takes care of the Dreamweavers. Both Na Jaemin and Lee Jeno graduated as the first in their class. They were tied.” 

“I want to stay here! You don’t understand! The moment Nana and Jeno wake up, they’ll come after me and I can’t—"

This time his voice was filled with fear and Namjoon said he’ll let Jisung stay for a while and he’ll get the Dreamweaver’s the next day.

“You have to promise,” Jisung said, sticking out his finger and Namjoon accepted it.

“Why don’t you get some sleep?” Namjoon asked and Jisung shook his head. “Why?”

“I drugged them so they’re sleeping,” Jisung whispered, his eyes wide. “So, every time I sleep, they come into my dreams and try to scare me. Chenle knows I hate clowns and he comes as a clown. Oh no, I shouldn’t have drugged them. Why didn’t I think of that?”

[Chenle as a clown in Jisung's dreams]

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[Park Jisung, 16, NCT Dream]

With Jisung’s refusal to sleep, the sky suddenly clouded and the clouds began to fill the sky. It hadn’t rained in a while and it took all of us by surprise, the sudden pitter patter of the rain making everyone run for shelter. I was with Chen and Xiumin, spending time with my former classmates as they talked about small and little things. Sehun was handling the rock giants. They have been a little bit too loud and some of the people have complained. Our little camp base was becoming more like a village more than anything else.

“And Tzuyu’s baby bump is starting to show,” Xiumin told Chen who was nice enough to listen to the excited older mage. “Eunwoo told us that he’s worried about what will happen to the baby if this whole Royal Headmaster thing doesn’t get resolved.”

“I think there are midwives here, Xiumin,” Chen said to him. “They can help Tzuyu any time. Besides, I’m sure nothing bad will happen just yet—”

Chen’s voice was cut by Haechan’s yell from outside. Xiumin stood up by instinct and didn’t even bother to grab a coat, rushing out into the heavy rain and I followed him, Chen grabbing a coat to shield me from the droplets of water. I jogged alongside Chen who suddenly pointed and as I squinted, I saw that it was a male with a hood on the ground—on his knees.

“Taeyong! It’s Taeyong!” Haechan was saying and he was about to go towards Taeyong when Chanyeol grabbed Haechan and pulled him away. This was all for his safety, but before we knew it, all of NCT and EXO appeared. I saw Sehun run over, his eyes worried when he spotted the male on the ground.

Suga appeared beside him and before we knew it, Taeyong had raised his head and his eyes were bloodshot red.

“Taeyong…” Sehun breathed and Taeyong didn’t say anything, his silence a message. He dropped his head down and I watched as Sehun’s eyes softened, my fiancé, dropping onto his knees to grab Taeyong who laid his forehead against Sehun’s shoulder.

He was broken.

I didn’t know how he would live with the guilt.

“Taeyong,” Sehun said and Taeyong sobbed, his tears covered by the rain.

“Senior,” Taeyong said. “I’m so sorry.”

“I told you he would come! Uncle Namjoon, I told you!” I heard a soft voice from Jisung who stood beside Namjoon behind me. I watched as Sehun stood with Taeyong, the younger male getting soaked by the rain. He was gripping his chest and I knew that even if I would never know how it feels like to lose a loved one, I could see that he was hurt enough.

“Taeyong.”

“It hurts so much,” he managed to say. “I’m so sorry, Senior.” He began to apologize over and over again. “I didn’t… I didn’t know—Doyoung.”

With Doyoung’s name, NCT stepped forward and before we knew it, they all had engulfed Taeyong into a hug. They didn’t move, they just stood beside him as he cried, the soft droplets of the rain easing into a softer rhythm. The air smelled like petrichor and Taeyong lowered his hood, Sehun reaching out to pat Taeyong on the shoulder when he asked.

“How did you find us?”

“Doyoung told me right before he died,” Taeyong responded and Sehun seemed to realize something, frowning.

“How did you get out? Did you escape or—”

“Senior Suga let me out,” Taeyong said and Sehun whipped his head to look at Suga who looked equally confused. Suga raised a hand and pointed at himself, shaking his head. “No, you did! Senior, you came and told me to run away…”

“Me?” Suga asked again for clarity. “I never…” Suga’s eyes suddenly flashed grey and he looked into Taeyong eyes. “Wha—Cousin, he’s not lying. But why do I not remember anything about letting him go?”

“We should lock him up.” Kai’s voice floated by. “Just to be sure.”

“If you lock him up, you should lock Senior Suga up too,” one of the NCT members said protectively over Taeyong. “He says he has no memory of letting Taeyong out.”

“If we lock Senior Suga up, maybe we should lock Senior Chanyeol up too,” Mark said absentmindedly, staring daggers at Chanyeol who crossed his arms.

“Chanyeol?” Baekhyun asked, his voice rising an octave. “If anyone locks Chanyeol up, I’ll lock all of you up!”

“Alright, alright,” Sehun began, telling everyone to calm down. He looked over at me as I cowered under Chen’s arm so I wouldn’t get wet from the rain. “What do you think?”

I hated that he asked me what I thought. I obviously didn’t want to lock anyone up, but looking at everyone around me I realized that what we needed was a sense of security.

“Taeyong, I’m sorry….” My voice trailed and Taeyong nodded. “We just need to be sure.”

“Of course, Senior," he replied and Kai had already teleported with handcuffs, a hand grabbing Taeyong and leading him to one of the empty shacks. He was to be bound to the ground for the time being and I felt guilty as NCT followed Taeyong.

“I feel so bad,” I told Sehun who had went to me, thanking Chen for shielding me from the rain.

“Anything for my friend’s fiancé,” Chen replied and Sehun chuckled at him before turning to me.

“It’s just for a while,” he told me and I sighed, nodding. “It’s dinner in a few hours. Let’s go back to our place since it’s raining, I don’t want you to fall sick.”

I followed his orders and once I reached our shack, I began crying again, Sehun beside me and wiping the tears that had pooled from my eyes. If I was feeling this bad, I couldn’t imagine how hard it was for Taeyong. Sehun shushed me softly, a hand patting my back while I hiccupped.

“I can’t believe how emotional you are sometimes.” He said to me, cupping my face and running his fingers across my cheek. “I can’t believe I’ve fallen in love with someone who cries over someone who has worked for the other side.”

“Oh Sehun,” I began, turning to him and pressing my lips against his knuckles. “When you didn’t believe me, I still cared about you. The world is already hard for all of us, none of us need more hatred.”

“And this is why I should learn from you,” he said to me softly, a hand going to my chin and pulling me towards him. His lips captured mine, and for a moment I forgot how to breathe. How his kisses still managed to make the world spin was beyond me.

My lips slipped between his and his tongue swiped the bottom of mine, a hand going up to wrap around my smaller body. He deepened the kiss, pulling me closer to him as his tongue danced with mine. I felt the drunk buzz of intimacy travel through my body when Sehun pulled away.

He placed his forehead against mine, and when I put my hand against his chest, I could feel the rapid beating of his heart.

“Ong Harin,” he rasped, his lips finding my ear as he whispered how much he wanted me. “You drive me crazy.”

“Then take me,” I told him, knowing he would be my first when he shook his head. He laid my body down and caress me with his eyes.

“One day, but not now,” he told me, pulling me towards him into a hug that was filled with so much love and comfort. “Not like this. I want a ring on your finger, and our life set out for comfort. I want each and every part of you, but I don’t deserve it yet.”

I couldn’t help but smile. Here is the one man who would tell me he loves me but would not rush it because he wanted me to have everything before giving myself to him. Sehun’s righteousness, his patience, and his ability to hold himself back from greed just for me just made him so much more attractive.

I nodded.

“I love you,” I told him and he grunted, bending down for another kiss.

“I love you.”

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Dinner time had come and everyone was bustling to the common area. It was just a wide range of space with a lot of tables that were mad