His eyes slowly fluttered open, trying to recognize what his vision was registering.  It was an incredibly white light… or ceiling.

 

He tried reaching for his glasses on his right side, where his bedside table would have been, but he couldn’t feel anything tangible there. 

 

Maybe he was already wearing them? 

 

He thought to touch his face, but could not sense a glass frame weighing down on him. 

 

Everything appeared so clear, though. 

 

Was he wearing contacts while sleeping?  Why would he do that?  His optometrist said he was not a good candidate for contact lenses or laser surgery due to his deteriorating eye condition. 

 

While not completely awake, he tried scanning his brain for events that could have possibly led to this moment…

 

He remembered going to the park at night without telling anyone, because the thought of moving out of the orphanage equated to a death sentence.  He wanted to cry, he wanted to scream, he wanted to act out because life was so unfair, and Zzar appeared once again, as Chanyeol felt the puppy was the only true friend he’d had at the time…

 

“I told you he’s alive.”

 

Chanyeol jumped out of his skin, eyes and head darting in every direction.  Where was that hollow voice coming from?

 

“Well, I’m glad,” another voice said, making Chanyeol sit up in terror, only for him to realize that there was no one there. 

 

The room he was in was entirely white, and stretching for several miles it seemed.  He couldn’t perceive any walls or boundaries, as if the expanse of the space went on infinitely. 

 

Was he dreaming?

 

Just then, indiscernible figures were approaching him, that Chanyeol braced himself with his arms.  About ten heartbeats later, when nothing happened, he dared to open his eyes to find seven luminous men staring at him, all dressed in unique white… robes.

 

Angels?

 

Was this… heaven?

 

He couldn’t feel any ache or discomfort whatsoever, physically or otherwise.  He had always imagined death was a means to escape the pain.  He had been wishing for it everyday, for his life to be over with.

 

Had it finally been granted?

 

One of them proceeded to touch him on the shoulder, from which Chanyeol was startled.

 

Suddenly, all seven men jumped back, now regarding him with surprise and maybe even fear.

 

That was when Chanyeol realized that he was covered in fire all over!

 

“AAAAAAHHHH!!!” He screamed, leaping off from wherever he was perched on and running directionless.  “HELP ME!!!”

 

He was burning alive!!!

 

“Stop, stop!” One of the men held his hands up in front of him—a good distance away, mind you—and for some reason, grinned at him mischievously.  “Do you remember me?”

 

Just then, this man let out his tongue and began to breathe in and out… like a puppy.

 

Chanyeol, while burning, watched him incredulously.  “Z-Zzar?”

 

“Well, they call me Baekhyun around here, but yes, I’m the puppy you were thinking of adopting.”

 

“WHAT?!” Chanyeol turned to the others for more answers, physically burning up even more in the process. 

 

Another man socked Baekhyun upside the head.  “Don’t spring up on him like that.”  This man now tried to approach the fiery Chanyeol carefully.  “Uh, hello, Chanyeol.  I am… Junmyeon.  Try to… calm down.  I think that would make the flames dissipate.”

 

The only sensation he could feel was a slight tingling of flames running up and down his body, which was ludicrous, but experiencing this firsthand would make anyone pass out.  Following Junmyeon’s suggestion, he began to fill his head with thoughts that were guaranteed to make him feel good, such as jajangmyeon day in the orphanage, being able to play his favorite song on the piano, and the sound of Kyungsoo wonderfully singing along with his accompaniment, smiling softly at him…

 

Eventually, cool air replaced the heavy warmth from the fire as it died down, flames being taken over by human flesh as a flabbergasted Chanyeol gazed down on his body—WHOA, IS THAT AN 8-PACK?—and he was absolutely !

 

“Ooh… a healthy man, this one,” one of the white-robed men jeered, while Chanyeol hastily concealed his full with his large hands, glancing up at them awkwardly as all of them clapped as if in applause. 

 

“Excellent work, Yixing,” Another one complimented a man with sleepy eyes and two dimples as he smiled. 

 

“Do you… uh… have any…”  Chanyeol observed that there wasn’t furniture or equipment in this room at all, and he had only been lying on a table of some sort before.  If he was currently trapped in this weird dream sequence, then he would just play along.  “Mirrors?”

 

“You mean reflective glass?” One of them guessed and was suddenly gone, only to reappear a second later with what Chanyeol requested, a life-size mirror.

 

“You’re such a show off, Jongin.” Junmyeon shook his head.

 

“I teleported, by the way.  And yes, my name is Jongin.”  The man only cheekily laughed.  “Go ahead. Take a look at yourself.”

 

Chanyeol hesitated, as he instinctively put one leg forward and then the other.

 

God damnit. 

 

He was walking.

 

With his heart pounding, he approached the mirror with excruciating steps.  It didn't take him long to do so at all.  He stared at a towering man with flaming red hair, almond-shaped eyes that did look like his own but different, brighter and more sparkly somehow; with sharp, chiseled jaw, wide, broad shoulders, bulging biceps stretching his skin, carved abdominals that he had only ever seen on sculptures, mile-long, muscled legs that were holding him up straight and stable…

 

He realized that his massive hands, with veins popping out along his forearms, were no longer trembling as they continued to cover his s—standing out quite healthily indeed—for modesty.

 

Up until this moment, he thought this was nothing but a nightmare. 

 

Perhaps now, he didn’t ever want to wake up from it.

 

***

 

“We’re from a planet called EXO when our enemy, The Red Force, coerced us to evacuate and seek refuge in other planets to live and thrive on,” Junmyeon began telling him, as they dressed Chanyeol with the similar white garb they were donning.

 

“The seven of us flew in this space ship together and we decided to continue living underground and we have done so for the past… six centuries?” One named Minseok said, as Chanyeol still found it unnerving that Minseok would transform into a cat from time to time whenever he hiccupped. 

 

“We wanted to study the planet we landed on, so we would go to the surface as common animals,” Baekhyun continued, smiling at him.  “And so, I met you and Kyungsoo.  I like the name Zzar, by the way.”

 

Chanyeol laughed as Jongdae shared, “We were studying the animals to change into when going to the surface and I wanted to become a dinosaur, only to find out that they’ve been extinct long after we’ve landed.”

 

“He settled for an iguana instead,” Sehun told him, laughing as well.

 

“At least I didn’t choose to be a chick.  I don’t have trouble with people wanting to cook me for dinner.”

 

 “We could pass off as people though,” Jongin piped in.  “But I prefer changing into my spirit animal.”

 

Chanyeol recoiled when Jongin changed into a gigantic grizzly bear.

 

“And that’s why we never let you out to the surface,” Yixing told him seriously, checking something on Chanyeol’s face, fascinated by how smooth and pristine his skin was, glossy almost...  “Hmm… very interesting.”

 

“What is?” Chanyeol asked nervously.

 

“That night, the property that was above our spacecraft was about to be detonated, and Baekhyun knew that.  He went up to the surface to check.”

 

“But you were sad, so I wanted to comfort you,” Baekhyun told him truthfully.  “I was distraught when you and Kyungsoo started fighting.”

 

Chanyeol jarred his memory.  He could remember being upset with Kyungsoo and didn’t want to burden him after they moved out of the orphanage, and that he was basically letting Kyungsoo off the hook to finally live his own life…

 

“However, I sensed that the factory was about to explode, so I wanted to warn the others to move our spacecraft somewhere else.   I didn’t think you would follow me,” Baekhyun admitted remorsefully.  “I’m sorry, Chanyeol.”

 

He didn't know how to feel about that.  He was still confused and somewhat disoriented by what had happened to him. 

 

“I jumped into the shoot where I climbed to get to the surface, only to realize you were right behind me.  The explosion instantly obliterated everything, including our force field, which was supposed to be impenetrable, until you broke through it.   I wasn’t affected by fire, but your skin was thoroughly torched.”

 

“We immediately brought you to Yixing, who is our healer, and he was able to restore you to health,” Jongdae said.

 

“Restore me?” Chanyeol echoed in disbelief.  “This… was an overhaul.”

 

The seven men—essentially aliens—looked at each other in uncertainty.  “D-Did we upset you?”

 

“No!  I’m… grateful, to be perfectly honest!  I was about to die, until… I did, apparently.”  His eyes grew wide, turning to Baekhyun once more.  “Wait… have you gone back to the surface?”

 

Baekhyun nodded.

 

“How is… Where is… Kyungsoo?”

 

Baekhyun bit his lip.  “I haven’t seen him around the park so… the last time you saw him was the last time I saw him too.”

 

“He must have thought I’m already dead!  I have to talk to him!” 

 

Minseok and Junmyeon gently pushed Chanyeol back on his seat. “That might not be a good idea, Chanyeol.”

 

“Why not?”

 

“Because we’ve been observing you for the past six months…”

 

“SIX MONTHS!  You mean I’ve been here for that long?!”

 

“And what you need to know,” Yixing injected, since he was the one who watched over Chanyeol the most, “is that your body produces fire at the most random times.  It must have been the effect of the explosion.  When you pierced through our force field, composed of light rays called Cosmic Latte, the fire and your skin became incorporated somehow, and now you’re reborn from the ashes…”

 

“Like a phoenix?” Chanyeol whispered. 

 

“If that myth were true, then you’re now the living proof of it,” Sehun mused. 

 

It was beyond Chanyeol to even grasp how farfetched that idea was.  “Please, you have let me see Kyungsoo… I want him to know that I’m fine now, even more than fine, and we can…”

 

Jongin and Baekhyun were shaking their heads. 

 

“We’re not sure if you’re able to control the flames…” Yixing went on tentatively.  “We’ve stayed on Earth long enough to know that fire, while purifying, can destroy everything in its wake.  You’ve only been conscious for a few hours.  Perhaps we have to study what your triggers are and if it’s safe for you to be on the surface at all.”