Song: 'Cloud 9' by EXO

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Where am I? A place I dreamed of
The air I breathe out becomes a white cloud
Your clear eyes become the sky
The blue dreams endlessly spread out, flying

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Once he had emerged from the swamp, the light disappeared, and Jongdae gazed in awe at what he saw around him.  He was standing in the middle of a vast green field that stretched out towards the horizon, which was lined with forests.  Below him, the grass was soft and cool beneath his bare feet.  There were a few trees scattered across the field, their branches swaying gently and their leaves rustling in a light breeze.  There were blue butterflies dancing around in the air.  When Jongdae looked up, the sky was lilac and filled with fluffy pink clouds.  Birds flew above him, heading towards the horizon.

Jongdae wasn’t alone.  Not far ahead in front of him, there were some children playing; they appeared to be playing a game of tag, and they were full of energy, laughing as they tagged and chased one another.  There were two boys and two girls; all of them looked quite young, they didn’t look older than ten years old.  Their clothes were very colourful; they were wearing bright shades of blue, orange, pink and purple.  They all looked so cute and gorgeous, with wide smiles painted across their lively, animated faces.  When Jongdae got closer, one of the boys noticed him and stopped playing, before the other three kids did the same too.

“Hey, do you wanna play?” the boy asked, his face seemingly lit up in curiosity and excitement.

Jongdae didn’t see why not, so he agreed to the boy’s request.

He played with the children for some time, he didn’t know how long; it seemed that there was no concept of time in whatever universe he had entered – but he didn’t mind.  He vaguely remembered feeling burdened by something in the past, he didn’t know how long ago that was – but here, none of it seemed to matter.  As he laughed and squealed with the children, Jongdae couldn’t remember feeling more at ease, more energised or happier than he did now, wherever this place was.  He felt free, like he didn’t have a care in the world.

Eventually the group got tired of playing, so they decided to sit down and chat.  As they lay sprawled on the grass, the boy who had invited Jongdae to play with them introduced himself.

“I’m Mark,” he said.  “What’s your name?”

“I’m Jongdae.” he replied.

“Nice to meet you, Jongdae!” Mark greeted with a smile, and held out his hand for Jongdae to shake.

“I’m Winwin.” the other boy piped up, and the two girls introduced themselves as Winter and Ningning respectively.

“Nice to meet you all.  I had a lot of fun playing with you.” said Jongdae.

“Where did you come from?” asked Winwin.

Jongdae pondered over that question.  He honestly couldn’t remember how he got there, all he remembered was waking up and finding himself in that swamp before seeing the light and being pulled towards it, which was how he ended up here.

So he simply replied, “I don’t know.”

“Me neither,” spoke Winter, who was wearing a flower crown and making another one out of white clovers from a nearby white clover patch.  “I don’t even remember what name I had before all this.  All I remember is I was in this stinky gross place, then I saw this light and then I was flying towards it, and that’s how I got here.  When I got here, there was this really pretty woman standing there; she looks like a princess and she was wearing white from head to toe; she told me her name’s Irene and that I’m safe here, she’ll protect me and take care of me; she also said that I’ll always be loved here.  I told her I didn’t know my name, so she gave me a new name: ‘Winter’, because she thought it suited me.”

“I think it suits you too,” remarked Jongdae, to which Winter blushed and whispered ‘Thank you’.  Jongdae thought it was adorable.

“She was here before any of us,” said Winwin, pointing his thumb at Winter.  “I don’t remember anything before I got here either, but I got here the same way as her.  She was there when I came, and she’s been really nice to me.”  Winter smiled fondly at Winwin and ruffled his hair.

“I know how I got here!” piped Ningning.  “I was at the beach with my Mummy and Daddy, and I was swimming, but then I got pulled in by a rip.  It was scary; it took me too far away, and I tried to swim back but then I got tired.  And then I was sinking underwater, until I ended up in that dark icky place.  Then I saw the light and found Winter and Winwin.”

Jongdae felt surprised that Ningning recalled all of this with remarkable clarity, if not a little unnerved that she was visibly unfazed by talking about how she’d apparently died.

“Do you miss your Mummy and Daddy?” he asked out of curiosity. 

Ningning tilted her head and in one of the corners of in thought.  “Hmm… sometimes, I guess.” she replied.  “Sometimes I wonder how they’re doing without me, I hope they’re not sad.  I still love them very much.  But I have these guys here, and they make me feel so happy, I really like being with them.”  Winter had finished making her flower crown and she placed it carefully around Ningning’s head.

“Hey, how come we don’t get flower crowns?” protested Winwin, pouting.  Winter laughed, her laughter was light and melodious.  “Don’t worry, I’ll make one for you and Mark later.” she said.

“I don’t really remember anything before I got here, either.” said Mark.  “But I’m starting to remember things these days.  I remember my parents, and I have an older brother, and a dog, but I still don’t know how I got here.”

“Do you think you’ll ever remember everything?” asked Jongdae.

Mark shrugged.  “Eh – I dunno, maybe.  I hope so.”

As he listened to the children talk, one thing was clear to Jongdae: this was a place where the past didn’t seem to matter that much.  The people who came here either didn’t remember their past, or remembered parts of it but didn’t feel bothered by it significantly.  Jongdae tried hard to remember what had happened before he’d found himself in the swamp, but to no avail.  Though he was quite aware that he did have a life before, and he also had obligations to fulfil in that life.

But honestly, how could any of that matter in a place like this?  Here, Jongdae felt light and content, almost invincible, like there was nothing that could hurt him here.  Whatever worries – whatever they were – that he had before the swamp, seemed so trivial in a place where only peace and happiness existed.

And that was when he heard a voice call out his name.

“Jongdae!”

He turned towards where the voice had come from; it had come from the forest lining the horizon.  He wasn’t the only one who’d heard it, as the children had also turned to follow his line of sight.

Then the voice started singing.  At first it was very faint, and Jongdae hardly recognised it.  But once it became clearer, he remembered hearing this voice back in the swamp, and how it had literally pulled him out of there to where he was now.  It was a voice that felt very close to him, like it was singing only for him, and he could feel it beckoning his soul.

Somehow, Jongdae knew this voice – this was a voice he had known for his entire life – and he just knew he had to follow it.

So he got up to bid his goodbyes to the children.

“It was really nice getting to know all of you.  I had a lot of fun.  But I’m sorry, I have to get going.”

“You can’t stay with us a little longer?” implored Mark, pouting.  The other kids looked sad to see him go too, and it was all Jongdae could do not to resist their sweet faces.

“Oh I’d love to, but I’m afraid I can’t.” he replied.  Then, on second thoughts, he added: “But maybe we can meet again later?”

The children’s eyes lit up at the suggestion.  “You promise you’ll be back?” asked Winwin.

Though he honestly didn’t know when he would be back, he told them: “I promise.” 

They waved their goodbyes to each other, before Jongdae set out towards the forest. 

Something that Jongdae noticed on his way to the forest was that this section of the realm seemed to release any physical constraints his body had; when he decided to speed up his walk into a run, his stride turned into a leap through the air that made him feel like he was flying.  When he was up in the air he could see the entire realm below him: the field, the kids, the forest, there was even a shimmering lake beyond the forest that he didn’t know was there before.  When he landed on one foot, it sent him bounding up again, and these giant leaps he took brought him to the edge of the forest much sooner than he expected.

At the entrance of the forest, there were two people standing there, as though they had been waiting for him.  One of them was a woman who wore a long, flowy white dress that brushed against the ground below, and she had long wavy hair that fell down to her midriff.  Her hands were clasped gently in front of her.  A soft smile was spread across her porcelain face, and her eyes held a warm and gentle gaze.  Jongdae realised that this woman was Irene.

The other was a man whom Jongdae did not recognise.  He was slightly taller than Irene, but around Jongdae’s height.  Like Irene, he was also donned in white from head to toe, but wore trousers and an airy shirt that exposed defined collarbones.  Above tender eyes lay thick, accented eyebrows, and his lips were also curved into a soft smile.

They were both ethereal beyond imagination, and seemed to exude a divine aura.  Jongdae wondered if this place was full of flawless, good-looking people like them. 

“Welcome, Jongdae.” spoke Irene.  “We knew you would come.”

“How do you know my name?” asked Jongdae.

“One of us has been watching you for some time now,” said the man beside Irene.  “You mean a lot to them, and we know they mean a lot to you, too.  In fact, they’re waiting for you right now.”

Jongdae wondered who this person was.  In that moment he vaguely remembered knowing someone from his life who meant everything to him, someone he had spent his entire life with.  He recalled laughter, firm hands holding his, warm kisses and fragments of promises whispered in each other’s ears – but he couldn’t put a face nor a name to any of them. 

Then he remembered the voice who had called out his name, who had sung for him, who had brought him to this place.  Was that who it was?

“Who are you?” he asked the two.

“I’m Suho.” said the man.

“And I’m Irene.” said Irene.  “We are here to help whoever comes into this realm.”

“What is this place?” asked Jongdae.

“This is a place where you will always be loved.” spoke Suho.  “You will always be safe, and you have nothing to fear.  Here, there is nothing you can do wrong, and you will always be forgiven.”

Jongdae could hear nothing but sincerity in their words; it was in the softness of their gazes and their smiles that made him feel that he truly had nothing to fear, and his instincts told him that he could trust them.

“However, not everyone who comes here can stay,” continued Irene.  “Only those who are ready can stay here forever.  The rest are only visitors, and you, my friend, are a visitor.  Eventually, you must go back to where you came from.  Once you are ready, you can return here for good.”

“For now though, you have a date with a very special person.” said Suho, who smiled brightly, and held out his hand.  Irene did the same.  “Would you allow us to you?”

Jongdae, curious to see who this special person was, nodded.  The two ethereal beings took his hands and led him into the forest.

As they walked through the forest, the singing resumed, and now it sounded closer than ever.  Jongdae was now certain that he knew this voice very well, which made him all the more eager to find its owner.  He could feel his whole being quivering in anticipation.

Through the copse of trees, Jongdae could see some purple light that glowed brighter the nearer they came towards it.  He realised that they were approaching a clearing, where he could also make out what appeared to be a gathering of people. 

“We’re here.” whispered Suho when they finally reached the edge of the clearing.

Jongdae watched in wonder at the scene taking place in front of him.  There were people singing and dancing, and there was lively music that seemed to come from nowhere.  Behind them appeared to be a makeshift stage: a platform slightly raised above the ground, hidden behind thin, nearly translucent curtains that hung from a rope tied between two opposing tree trunks.  Jongdae could see someone behind the curtain who was also dancing along to the music, but he couldn’t see their face.  Their silhouette was surrounded by shimmering lilac light.

Eventually, the music came to an end, and so the people stopped dancing, including the mysterious person behind the curtain.  The people all turned to face Suho, Irene and Jongdae.

“Everyone,” called out Irene.  “Our guest is here!”

The crowd began to part, clearing a path for Jongdae and his escorts to make their way to the stage.  The curtains were pulled open, unveiling the person behind them.

And it was as if the whole world had stopped.

✨🕊✨

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dun dun dun~~