While Baekhyun had been very easy to convince to join them Sehun had been extremely stubborn. He didn’t want to leave and he apparently didn’t understand a thing about what Chanyeol had explained to him and he didn’t even want to listen to what Luhan had to say. Baekhyun had tried convincing him to come by saying that he didn’t understand it either but they could figure it out together on the go. That had softened Sehun up a little before he went back to his winning argument “I’m not going.”. He had a point that he couldn’t just leave his school, family, friends and job to go on a weird man-hunt that he didn’t even know was legal or not. But no matter how logical his point was he was actually the wrong one in this situation. They tried to convince him that these things of course mattered, but saving their world was more important. He didn’t budge. They tried to lure him in by telling him that he had one of the coolest powers out there and if he just joined them he would learn more about them. He wavered abit but then he remembered his priorities. Job before superpowers. That’s the first thing they teach you in college. In the end it was Jongin who convinced him by sleepily mutter that he should join because Baekhyun obviously needed his assistant with him. Baekhyun had happily agreed, Jongin had gone back to sleep on Kyungsoo’s shoulder and Sehun had begrudgingly agreed that he could join them for a little while. He couldn’t let his boss walk into this trap alone, he needed to be there to graciously  sacrifice himself for Baekhyun. Maybe a bit dramatic but according to Sehun these guys were most definitely crazy. And since Baekhyun was a crazy genius of course he thought it was a great idea to go with them. Like Jongin said, it was only Sehun’s responsibility to make sure that Earth’s greatest designer survived.

They were all currently in Baekhyun’s giant apartment since apparently everyone had wanted to shower. Sehun could only agree that they all seemed to need one, however he was sure that nobody would live up to Baekhyun’s beauty no matter how many showers they took. Luhan had tried to talk to him a couple of times but Sehun had stayed close to Baekhyun and pointedly ignored him until he left him alone. He had felt a bit guilty when he saw Luhan’s disappointed face but nobody could blame him for being wary, right? Baekhyun had hit him on the head the second time it happened and had all but ordered Sehun to apologize to Luhan however by then Chanyeol was done with his shower, looking like a wet but very happy puppy, and Luhan had escaped to one of Baekhyun’s two bathrooms. Only Yixing and Chanyeol were done with their showers and were currently sharing some small talk with Baekhyun about his latest design or something that Sehun didn’t really listen to. The two left, Kyungsoo and Jongin, were apparently very close friends as well as very invested in saving the environment  and had decided to save water by showering together. Although Sehun wasn’t sure how much water they were saving since they had been in there for quite some time, but well, maybe they had something important that could only be discussed in private. He hoped they weren’t talking about him, because even if he acted like he didn’t really care he wanted them to like him. Even if they were all crazy and he probably should throw Baekhyun over his shoulder and get the hell out of here. But he didn’t want to lose his job so he was stuck here for now. And maybe, just maybe, these people weren’t completely bat- crazy, but only mad scientist crazy, and this would all turn out to be a good experience for when he was to return to design school. It never hurt to hope.

He side eyed Chanyeol who was happily nibbling on a cookie while listening to Baekhyun describing to Yixing why big fluffy sweaters would always be in style. Chanyeol was most definitely the craziest of them all Sehun concluded. Yixing was probably one of the most sane ones but since he hung out with the other he couldn’t be normal either. Jongin and Kyungsoo came quite high up on the sane scale since they both cared about the environment, and that was very important to Sehun, however they had let Chanyeol grab him out of the elevator and he couldn’t forgive them for doing that. It had been a highly traumatising event that Sehun rather not thought about. Luhan, just as Yixing, looked sane from the outside but he had obviously done something to Baekhyun to make him join them. And Sehun didn’t like that. Luhan also seemed like the group’s leader of some sort which probably meant that he was the most evil mastermind of them all, so maybe he actually were crazier than Chanyeol.

Chanyeol’s sudden violent coughing broke Sehun out of his reverie where he was creating a diagram to put each of the people he’d just met in, depending on how crazy they were. Baekhyun jumped up from his spot on the couch screaming something about knowing the Heimlich maneuver and being prepared for situations like this. Chanyeol in turn looked like he absolutely did not want or need any saving. It seemed like he tried to tell Baekhyun this but the only sound leaving his lips was some kind of wheeze which only convinced Baekhyun even more that Chanyeol needed help. Hence, a weird kind of chase around Baekhyun’s living room began. Once again Sehun confirmed that both of them was completely crazy, although he was certain that Baekhyun was a good kind of crazy while Chanyeol was just not.

“They seem to get along.” Yixing said as he plopped down beside Sehun in one of the beige fluffy couches Baekhyun seemed to prefer over other kinds. You could find one or two of them in every room, including the bathrooms.

“You think?” Sehun asked as he looked at where Baekhyun had Chanyeol cornered, the latter defending himself with a tiny cushion that really couldn’t serve as an effective weapon in any kind of fight.

“They’re not killing each other.” Yixing pointed out as if that was the only factor depending whether or not people became friends.

Sehun had no intelligent answer to that so he just hummed and in his mind placed Yixing higher on the “insane scale”. He wondered if he could discreetly move away from the other without him noticing or if it would be safest for him to just stay put and play friendly. Anything to stay alive. He tried to smile but it came out more as a weird twitch so he gave that up and returned to his former sullen expression.

“And you? What do you think?” Yixing asked and Sehun tore his eyes away from the scene of where Chanyeol was repeatedly hitting Baekhyun with his tiny cushion with other taking it like a pro.

“What?”

“Baekhyun obviously has accepted us, what are your thoughts on the matter?” He explained himself and Sehun equally parts wanted to burst out laughing and/or crying. Wasn’t it obvious what he thought about this whole ordeal? But before Sehun could go on a rampage about that he really didn’t deserve this Yixing continued, “It’s obvious that you don’t trust us, and I don’t blame you, but could you explain your thoughts on why? And especially what you have against Luhan? I understand your variness of Chanyeol but Luhan hasn’t done anything to you, right?”

Sehun stopped in his thoughts. Yixing was right in that matter. Chanyeol had attacked him and kidnapped him from an elevator but Luhan actually hadn’t done any harm to him. But it was still Luhan he was the most apprehensive of.

“I don’t  know how to explain it exactly, this feeling I have.” He started and he was about to leave it at that but seeing the supportive smile of Yixing he decided to try his best at explaining.

“You know when you dream, and in that dream you have someone very close to you. A friend, a helper, a partner, anything, someone who is by your side always and in the dream you can really feel how bonded you are.” Sehun was looking straight in front of him trying his best to say what he was feeling. In his periphery he could see Yixing nod and it gave him the motivation to continue to try to sort out his thoughts.

“You’re going through thick and thin in the dream, but then when you wake up you come to realize that the person in the dream is someone you’ve never met. At least not appearance wise. But even if you’ve never met them you can still remember how they look and thinking about them gives you this longing feeling that makes no sense because you don’t even know this person! And this happy feeling you had after the dream suddenly turns super creepy and you just… I don’t know wonder about how this person came to be in your dream. And why they now seem so familiar even if they’re really only a figment of your imagination that you’re never going to see again.” Sehun could feel himself getting riled up so he took a deep breath to calm himself down before turning to Yixing to proceed with his explanation.

“So it’s kind of that feeling I’m having with Luhan. It’s something eerily familiar with him and yet I know that I’ve never ever ever met him before. And then he knew my name, and yes he explained this thing with the memories and but, I’m sorry, that’s just crazy! I just can’t trust him when it feels like he’s just an original character from one of my weird dreams.”

He thought that Yixing was going to disagree with him but the other only smiled at him and with a pat on his shoulder said,

“But you do know that everyone in your dreams is someone you’ve either met or seen in real life? So maybe you have actually met before, if only just briefly?”

Sehun actually let out a tiny smile at the other man’s words. Yixing was incredibly kind and supportive towards him even after he had just claimed to not being able to trust or believe Yixing’s friend. Sehun still thought he was insane, but at least he was on the same crazy list as Baekhyun now.

“Well, although you’re right about the facts you’re wrong about it meaning that we’ve met. I haven’t dreamt about other people since I was ten, I think.”

“What?”

“Yeah, my dreams are super boring. They’re very similar to each other but not the same. It’s like they’re a continuation and that every dream is a new day, or something. I’ve kept a dream diary for a year and it’s literally like a very dull book about a boy stuck in a desert with only butterflies as company. Very boring. The only mildly interesting thing about it is that Dream Me at least now have started to follow the butterflies somewhere so I’m looking forward to where they’ll lead me. Not.”

Even if Sehun truly believed his dreams to be non interesting in every possible way, Yixing looked highly intrigued. Although before any of them could go deeper into Sehun’s dreams Luhan, Kyungsoo and Jongin emerged from the northeastern corridor.

“We have a plan!” Jongin announced. “Sort of.”

~ * ~

It was a stupid plan, Sehun thought. Or more accurately, it was no plan. The so-called plan was actually for them to stay in Tokyo until they had a more precise plan to follow. So the plan was to wait until they had a plan. A stupid plan. Apparently Luhan wanted them to split up into teams. Because they still had five more people to find and they could cover more ground that way. It sounded reasonable the only problem being that the Earth is still a pretty big area to look for five people in, and that’s even when you’re excluding the huge amounts of water taking up the most space of the planet. So now they had decided to stay in Baekhyun’s apartment until they had figured out how to continue the search. And nobody seemed to think that this was stupid! Except for Sehun! Of course he was glad that they would stay in Tokyo because that meant that he didn’t have to give up his whole life immediately, but still! Stupid! Even more stupid since nobody allowed Sehun to stay at his parents house for now. Apparently they all had to stay in Baekhyun’s penthouse. Not that Sehun’s complaining about the penthouse, no that’s the most amazing living space Sehun has ever placed a foot in and it has more than enough rooms for all of them, but it’s just stupid to not let him sleep at home. In his own bed! At least he had been allowed to get his clothes (and very important plushie). But this plan was stupid. Stupid stupid stupid!

It was the third night since what Sehun called ‘the kidnapping’ and he was bored out of his mind. He had read through his whole timeline on twitter (a feat in itself) and had updated his instagram story a few too many times for his friends to be happy with him. For some reason Baekhyun didn’t own a TV and he really had no books that interested Sehun in the slightest. Not that he had checked but he guessed that his and Baekhyun’s tastes were a bit different so what was the point. Baekhyun himself was currently editing a pair of pants by cutting and sewing while simultaneously FaceTiming with the woman who would be the in charge while Baekhyun was gone. Luhan, Yixing and Kyungsoo were huddled together by the fireplace playing Monopoly or whatnot. Jongin had been playing too but he’d been the first one to loose so he was out buying snacks for them all right now. Sehun would have guessed that Chanyeol would be one for board games but he’d been reading every evening so far, looking more and more upset every time Sehun looked at him. He wondered what it was about this book that made the usual cheerful Chanyeol so down. He’d been trying to come up with a theory himself the last couple of days and although he liked the one with the book being Chanyeol’s great grandfather’s journal that he brought with him on his journeys to document everything until it all ended with ‘We cannot get out. The end comes soon. We hear drums, drums in the deep. They are coming.” he knew that it was a ripoff from LOTR and therefore not a probable theory. So since the grandfather theory as well as the mermaid, swamp and meteor theories couldn’t be real he decided to have courage and actually ask Chanyeol. What could happen? It wasn’t like Chanyeol could set him on fire if he said something wrong.

“You reading?” He asked as he sat down beside Chanyeol and he almost wished that the other actually could set him on fire since that was probably the stupidest question he could ask. Of course he was reading!

“I’m trying.” Chanyeol answered with a sigh. “But this book really doesn’t want to cooperate.” Okay, so Sehun was a bit confused and was considering going back to his trusty, boring phone and leave this crazy mess alone but Chanyeol continued before he had the chance to.

“I can’t get over the fact that it seems like half of the words are just gone. If I could just figure out what words and letters are missing then everything would fall into place, but it’s just so damn hard.” At this Sehun glanced over at the page Chanyeol was currently studying. And yes it actually looked like someone had chopped away randomly across the page for it to just being recognisable as a full text but completely unreadable.

“Maybe it’s like Thrór’s Map in the Hobbit?” Sehun tried to help but it seemed like he just confused the other as he only looked at him silently. Sehun then realised how quiet the room was as a whole. He looked around to find that Baekhyun had left the room, but more importantly Luhan, Yixing and Kyungsoo was all staring at him. It kind of creeped him out so he quickly looked back at the book.

“You know, the map had hidden writings on it that could only be read while under the light from the moon. If you tried to read it at any other time the writing was completely invisible. Maybe this book is the same?” He tried to explain himself without sounding like too much a nerd.

“Oh my god, I’m so stupid.” Luhan exclaimed as Sehun silently agreed with him.

AN:

It's here! The chapter which basically was all written the same week as the last one but tthat I never finished because of stress and other fun factors. But it's here! And I'm in New York! I actually moved from Sweden to study in New York! How crazy is that? Maybe not super crazy, but for me it's big yay! 

And although that is super amazing that also meant that I had to leave all my friends... I miss them... I know that I'll make plenty of friends here (if I just dare to actually speak to people) but I still feel pretty lonely at times... So if you for some reason live in New York and want to take a coffee (or tea, I don't drink coffee) and speak about cats, or exo or shinee or just stare awkwardly at each other, hit me up! (don't meet strangers from the internet, kids!)

Ahaha but yes, here is the chapter and I must say that I actually really enjoyed writing it from Sehun's pov. Like very much. I like Sehun. (surprise there, he's your bias ffs)

Thank you thank you for reading and/or commenting <3 you're the best!!