Yeonjun read through the series of messages his father had just sent him, before typing away a quick response to excuse himself. Turning around to face the length of the hallway, he could see the security team leaving the floor through the stairs. He then headed towards the room where everyone was gathered.

Pushing down on the handle of the door, he walked in and shut the door behind him. Seeing Seungmin in the kitchen with a tray of food, he could do nothing but share a small smile, one that didn’t quite seem sincere, but no one could blame him.

They both walked into the bedroom, gently making their way through the small crowd until they set their eyes on the box on the ground. The sight of Jisung and Felix hugging a rather disoriented Minho was almost heartwarming and soothing enough to calm their tension and grief.

“Give him some space.” Seungmin kept the tray on the bed, helping Minho out of the box and onto his feet. He then guided his confused and exhausted friend towards the bed, gently laying him down and putting the covers over him. “Breathe easy, take it slow.”

Minho only nodded, reaching out for the bottled water. Unscrewing the cap, he chugged down the liquid, the least bothered about the water trailing down to his neck and being absorbed by his sweater.

“I’m okay.”, he said softly. Keeping the bottle aside, he leaned forward to massage his legs, twisting and turning his body to get rid of the cramps and tight muscles. He then looked at the others with tired eyes. “Is everyone okay?”

Jisung nodded, taking a seat beside him. He had a swirling set of emotions within his body, but only sheer joy was evident on his face. He was happy to have Minho by his side, he was happy for now.

“You were gone. You never told me about anything happening, anything strange happening. You just left us like that.”

“I’m sorry.” Minho looked at everyone as he said that. “It wasn’t in my control. I kept having strange dreams for a while.”

At that, Yeonjun stepped forward, wondering where this was going. “Dreams?”

Minho nodded, wincing at the stiffness in his neck. “In those dreams, there was… Imagine me from a different world. A lookalike.” The lack of surprise on the others’ faces told him that they had a good idea of what he was talking about, so he continued, “He was talking to me about the problems in his world, and how I have a role to play in all of this, how we all have to do something about it to be free once and for all.”

Pulling the blanket further up his chest, he added, “He told me when I would be off this planet, so I just waited, although a little doubtful about the certainty of it all. I didn’t want to talk about it because I didn’t quite believe in it.”

He looked at Jisung and Seungmin with an apologetic smile.

“I was on this floating land, and I had to make it through a maze. I managed to make it to the other end in about a day, and before I could take a risky step, my lookalike appeared. He told me once again about what is happening in his world, and how he and I should both be waiting for you all to show up and fix it.”

“And he put you in a box?”, asked Yeji.

“He told me that I had to wait for quite a long time, and he called a friend. Someone showed up, someone who looked exactly like Soyeon.” He looked at the Soyeon he knew, the one in the room.

“She created this wooden box that had some sort of infused magic, and I was told that it would keep me safe and secure and prevent me from dying of starvation. It slows down growth, to some extent.”

Soyeon nodded slowly, starting to understand the situation. She wondered if Other Minho had the ability to look into the future, but a part of her didn’t truly want to know the answer. She was simply glad that it was all over, finally.

“I should have a time indicator with me somewhere…” Min