“He actually made it, huh?” Chanyeol grimaces.

“You sound surprised… Whatever happened to ‘we always succeed, because we are awesome’?”

Chanyeol shakes his head at his boyfriend.

“This isn’t a success…”

Baekhyun looks around.

“Oh, lighten up. We’re in N.A.S.A.! We’ve completed our task, and Sehun’s happy!”

Baekhyun looks down at his laptop, after he realises there is nothing for Chanyeol left to say.

Disappointment is etched in the taller teen’s face, and this disappointment is directed at him; he can feel it.

Chanyeol has never been so upset at Baekhyun before, and it unnerves him.

“We should check around. We don’t have much more time…”

Baekhyun leads the way around the building, a deadly silent Chanyeol following him. Sehun is standing in a hallway, a visitor pass clipped to his crisp business shirt. This must be his first time here.

“Please wait here, we’ll be with you shortly.”

An attendant leaves Sehun in the corridor by himself. Sehun looks up at a painting on the wall and smiles. Space exploration has changed over the years, and he is now standing in the forefront of innovation.

A book sits open on a desk to the side, what looks like a reception desk. It’s entitled ‘To the Moon’, a novel by Junmyeon. Sehun is forever proud of his older brother.

“I can’t believe this crap actually sold,” Chanyeol points to it. Baekhyun lets out a resigned sigh.

“This isn’t the real world, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun reminds him.

He’s met with silence, once again. Baekhyun wishes Chanyeol would understand that things are different, in reality and in the memory. Memories warp and change, but the actual events that take place will always stay the same.

What Baekhyun doesn’t realise is that Chanyeol does understand this but chooses to believe that even the bad memories have a purpose. Memories shape people; they can make you fuzzy and warm on the inside, or they can rip you apart. But ultimately, memories are what make you, you.



Baekhyun and Chanyeol shuffle into an elevator, and Sehun’s fake memories seem to overlap.

He steps in with the attendant, a smile on his face.

The doors open and the group enter a large, white room. Desks are grouped in rows along the length of the room, with large desktop screens and keyboards sitting on top.

“This is mission control,” the attendant explains, “there’s not much going on right now, but you’ll see it one day.”

The attendant leads Sehun around the room, mumbling bits and pieces.

Chanyeol tries to listen, but he really couldn’t care less.

“It’s not here.” Baekhyun whispers.

“What?”

“Let’s just go.”

Chanyeol doesn’t understand, but he lets it slide. This is Baekhyun’s world, Baekhyun’s creation. He’s merely a visitor, a powerless intruder in this space.

They make their way back to the elevator, and head down to a lower floor.




Once the doors open, a large and very confusing looking piece of equipment sits in the centre of the room.

Chanyeol doesn’t know what it is for, and can’t fathom why it is even occupying a majority of the floor-space in the first place.

It’s hooked up to several screens, and every now and then emits beeping or buzzing sounds.

“That’s the centrifuge,” the attendant explains.

“If you’re lucky, you’ll learn to hate it one day.”

Sehun and eyebrow, and the attendant laughs.

“It’s not here either.” Baekhyun mumbles.

Chanyeol turns his head, staring at Baekhyun in the eyes. But Baekhyun’s eyes are expressionless.

“What are you talking about?”

“C’mon, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun whines, “we don’t have long left.”



“Your records are excellent, but we’ll have to monitor your status closely in the coming sessions.”

It's the same attendant from before, but he looks older. Sehun has also visibly aged, and he is the picture of health.

He is not too tall and not too short, skinny though well built, with muscular arms and long, slender fingers.

The pair is in a room with a desk and examination bed. It reminds Chanyeol of his local doctor’s office, but he knows that this is still in the same building as before.

This is specifically for medical checks for astronauts.

Sehun nods and grabs a clipboard off the desk, and follows the attendant out.

They march into the elevator, and Chanyeol and Baekhyun manage to squeeze themselves in behind the pair just in time before the doors begin to close in on them.



“The shuttle’s still under heavy maintenance, we may only view it from here for now.” Sehun nods.

He walks over to a window and looks out, his eyes slowly flittering over this and that. There’s a large space shuttle, enough to man at least four people, sitting down below on the observation deck.

It is large, long and cylindrical in shape, with wings jutting out in three different places. Sehun looks down and scrawls something on his clipboard every now and then.

Chanyeol imagines that if the wings were extended, and fiberglass was added in long sheets from top to bottom, it could look like a pyramid.

“You know what’s the best part of it?” Chanyeol whispers to Baekhyun.

“What?”

“The very top and bottom of the shuttle,” Chanyeol says.

Baekhyun thinks for a second.

“I’d have to agree.”

The cone at the top and the bottom have both not been quite finished, so Chanyeol’s words are wishful thinking.

However, Baekhyun feels slightly more at ease.

Chanyeol seems to be opening up to him once again, but he doesn’t think Chanyeol will ever quite forgive him.

They return to the elevator. There’s only one thing left to be seen.



They enter a new room. This one is mostly empty, aside from the attendant that punches away at a keyboard.

Chanyeol finds a window and walks over to it, placing both hands on the sill.

Somewhere, somehow, a bird is chirping, and the sounds reverberate back and forth within the room. Chanyeol imagines this could simply be an error in Baekhyun’s design.

“The sound’s a little odd,” Chanyeol remarks.

“Sorry, Chanyeol.”

Chanyeol tilts his head to the side, searching Baekhyun’s eyes. They’re still filled with melancholy.

“What? Don’t be sorry about a little bird chirping…”

“It’s not that. I really thought there was a good chance.”

“…What?” Chanyeol asks.

Sehun walks into the room and the attendant waves at him enthusiastically. Another man follows him in shortly after, announces his presence, and shakes Sehun’s hand.

“Oh, Sehun. This is Jongdae, he’s the mission specialist,” the attendant explains.

“Thanks, Minseok.” Sehun remarks.

“It’s nice to meet you, Jongdae,” Sehun grins.




“At least he got into N.A.S.A.” Baekhyun mumbles.

“What?” Chanyeol yells.

“Even if he tried, it’d take more than just a few years to become an astronaut.”

Chanyeol growls at Baekhyun.

“You mean…?” he exclaims.

“Let’s hurry and find the last link.” Baekhyun snaps back.

“I’d hate to miss the finale,” Chanyeol remarks bitterly.

Suddenly, the lights dim. It’s like someone has frozen time. Sehun, Jongdae and Minseok don’t seem to move anymore, they just stand by the desk, in position. The bird chirping stops.

“What? What’s going on? Are we out of time?” Chanyeol shouts, his arms flailing about.

“I don’t know!” Baekhyun yells.

The lights come on again, but dim seconds later.

“Seriously, what?” Chanyeol screams. He’s petrified; he knows that if things go wrong, both he and Baekhyun could die along with their patient.

Or, if fate was kind, they could be pulled out of Sehun’s memories just in time, but they’d be mentally unstable from then on, a life that Chanyeol would rather not live.

This is not a fate Chanyeol wants.

“Ah, here’s our newest recruit,” Jongdae jumps up, walking over to the door.

“Please welcome him. It’s…”

Chanyeol gasps.

“Luhan, right?”

“Hello, I’m Sehun.” Sehun smiles and holds his hand out. Luhan takes it giving him a warm smile.