Even if everyone laughs because It's a dream
I can not stop
The truth to me is that
We can touch Utopia
We can reach there Utopia
- Utopia, Ateez
"What the hell is going on with you Rory?", Ra laughed amused after Rory had tripped over her shoelaces. Rory scoffed as she stood up, following Ra to the top of the hill.
"With about 99% I just ruined my relationship with Yunho."
"Wow. That's impressive. What happened?"
"I told him the truth. Everything.", Rory admitted quietly, causing Ra to stop.
"How did he react?"
"He- he stayed quiet and then I told him to give himself time."
Ra sighed and sat down on the grass, pulling Rory with her. "That was very brave of you."
"And stupid."
"Probably."
Both girls stayed quiet until Ra lifted her hand and gave Rory a fist bump. She wouldn't stop doing it after Rory had explained what it was and now greeted everyone like that. Rory smiled at that. "You learned many things of my world. Would you like to visit it? If I can go here, you can get there, right?"
"I could. But it would cause so many problems in your world. What if one of your friends sees me and try to talk to me. I'd run away, screaming for my life."
"You're the leader of this country."
"I'm still a fool."
"One thing we have in common.", Rory said, smiling. Maybe she could live without Yunho, if he'd leave her. Maybe her heart could take it. "I'm proud of us. We defeated the King, our fears-"
"-rebuilt a whole ship, are building up a democracy.", Ra finished and smiled down at the town. This was now a free land, free people. Proud Ra looked at the ship at the end of the harbour. "You really did your best recreating it. Without magic."
"Hold on a second-", Rory said. "When I am able to control things in this world, could you in mine?"
"Probably not. You got the powers from Da-"
"Rory! Ra!", someone yelled and the girls turned around. Jongho and Hongjoong ran up the hill, both panting hard. As Hongjoong reached them first he bend down to Ra and kissed her cheek, causing Rory to lift an eyebrow.
"What did I miss?"
Ra smiled brightly. "Much. What is it?"
Jongho answered after catching his breath. "A kid told us a maniac is fighting with Yu at the beach."
"That can happen."
"He has a sword."
"Oh shit."
The group ran down the hill and Rory almost fell a few times but luckily she didn't, which surprised her. While she was concentrating on not killing herself, Ra was talking to the others.
"Why did you get me? You're warriors as well. If Yunho's in danger then we don't have much time."
Hongjoong and Jongho exchanged a look. "It's better if you come. The both of you."
Confused Ra didn't ask further and as they ran through the city, many people greeted them or cheered when they saw them. Ra grabbed her bow and arrow, ready to shoot down anyone who'd fight with her guards. When the group reached the beach, they saw two people about the same height fighting each other.
Rory couldn't see them well due to the sunlight but the sound of swords clashing together caused her body to shiver. As they got closer they could hear the voices.
"You're not as good as me, but it's still impressive."
The other guy attacked once more and Rory slowed down, letting the other's pass her. Then the familiar physique hit her as he started yelling, his cries desperate. "Who are you?"
"Yunho?", Rory asked herself and started sprinting. She reached Ra who already lifted her bow but stopped her. "It's him. Yunho."
"Yunho's a good guard. I don't under-"
"No! My Yunho."
Ra dropped the bow, her mouth wide open. The women turned their attention to the fight again and now Rory saw it was Yunho fighting against his dreamworld version. "Yunho!"
Both of them stopped at the sound of their name and turned to Rory. As soon as Yunho recognized her he dropped onto the sand, shivering in fear. His clothes were wet and he had gotten hurt while swimming to the shore. Still, the relief he felt when he saw Rory was bigger than the pain inside him.
Rory knelt down next to him, awkwardly looking around while Yunho tried to catch his breath. Then he looked up to her. "Why is there someone who looks exactly like me?"
"I'll explain everything to you.", Rory said, as soft as possible and extended her hand, a silent plead for forgiveness. "Let me take you somewhere."
Yunho took it.
"Wow.", Yunho said as Rory lead him onto the ship. He looked around and had to sit down on the deck so he wouldn't pass out. A wave of memories washed over him and the ship was always there. He remembered talking to dolphins, putting a flag on the top and fighting with Wooyoung over the steering wheel. It all was real.
"Here you go.", Rory said and gave him a bottle of water. In her left hand she held bandages and carefully put them around Yunho's injured hands. "How did you get here?"
"After you left I didn't know what to do. It didn't make any sense at all but I wanted to believe you. So, when I fell asleep I tried to pay attention. At first I thought I had a nightmare about the accident again but when I saw I was swimming in another world, I panicked. And then I met myself on the beach!"
"Why did you two fight?"
Embarrassed Yunho rubbed the back of his head. "I panicked and stole a sword from him, me, uhm, I never knew I could fight. Well, I now know why. Now that I think about it, I guess he was just messing with me."
"You remember the fight?"
"Yes.", Yunho replied, his eyes emotionless as he remembered the fear in his body.
"How are you?"
Yunho sighed. "I'd be lying if I say I'm okay, aren't I?" He took Rory's hand and intertwined their fingers. "I may not remember everything yet, but I understand you now. God, wasn't it hard to act like nothing happened?"
A sad smile appeared onto Rory's lips. "It almost broke me. Knowing none of you could remember our friendship- knowing you couldn't remember our relationship."
"Wait-", Yunho whispered as something came into his mind. He jumped up. "We had a first date already? We kissed already? Oh my god, we confessed to each other already. Oh my god."
"It's okay, Yunho.", Rory laughed and tried to calm him down. "I got to see you fall in love with me one more time and it was beautiful."
Yunho's ears turned red in embarrassment. "Why do I remember Mingi trying to play a violin on our date? And San yelling from the lookout? Tell me this isn't real."
"It is. And it was amusing."
For a few seconds Yunho just stared at the floor, his eyes wide open, trying to make his brain understand everything. Then he looked around once more and pointed towards the map room. "Can I?"
Rory stood up. "It's your boat as well."
She followed Yunho into the map room and couldn't help but feel proud. It may didn't look exactly like before but it was still the same feeling. Rory watched Yunho look around and touch various things. Then he went to the map, his fingers tracing over the route Rory had drawn onto. The route they had taken.
"We woke up here, thanks to you. Then we traveled to an island where we were almost killed. Then we sailed further to an island to get the key where we were almost killed again. Then we got to-", Yunho started, the pieces slowly getting together. His fingers wandered to the last island on the map. "-Wonderland."
His eyes went to the first island again. "We were imprisoned there, right?" After Rory nodded, he continued. "You were ill and I drove us to the harbour. Crazy. Then we rode horses to the top of the mountain. You told me, you told me I'd be the only one you'd fall for."
"I did.", Rory whispered, hiding her face behind her hands.
"We met Ra then, right? We danced on the balcony and had- our first kiss." Yunho stopped for a moment. The kiss in the amusement park seemed less impactful now. "We had a fight and I left you on the balcony with the ring. Your goodbye letter-"
"The stupidest thing I ever wrote."
"Yeosang yelled at me afterwards.", Yunho said, his smile fading.
"He did?"
"He was so angry at me and I totally deserved it. He thought he'd never be able to see you again.", Yunho explained and tore his gaze away from the map. "You then came back and saved us, once again. That's how Hongjoong lost his eye! We sailed to Wonderland and had a fight there, Yeosang got injured heavily. We met- Danbi?"
"We did.", Rory answered, trying to sound strong.
"We had wishes each."
Rory nodded and Yunho came to her, intertwining their hands again. "Many things don't make sense yet but I understand it now. I remember it. We all then woke up on the beach, scarred and hurt." He sat down on the comfy couch, pulling Rory down next to him. "Why was Wooyoung the one injured heavily when it actually was Yeosang?"
"I'm not entirely sure.", Rory answered. "But I think Wooyoung used his wish to swap injuries. He'd rather die himself than live in a world without his best friend."
A cold shiver ran down Yunho's spine. He remembered Mingi decorating the hospital room with a flag, he saw the parrot and the dog in front of his eyes. He remembered his own wish. "Ro? What did you wish for?"
Rory smiled. "Remember the memorial and the sudden change of the words?"
"Yeah, but why?"
"You saved me. Thanks to this world I was able to finally cope with the accident. You didn't know it but you saved me. All of you. And I saved you, so we're even. I wanted the world to see that.", she answered. Then she turned to Yunho, a curious look on her face. "What did you wish for?"
"I wished for us to remember this. All of it. Why didn't it work?"
At first Rory's eyes widened in shock but then she jumped up. "It did!"
"It didn't, Ro."
"You started remembering pieces of it, right? And everything came back once you set foot on this ship again, right?"
"Kind of, yeah, but-"
"Yunho, it worked! The memories came back one by one and all when you went here. That's no coincidence. If we get the other's to come here as well-"
This time Yunho cut her of. "They remember this too."
"We need a plan."
"Guys?", Rory asked with a shaky voice after most of the boys already started packing their things. The group had been finishing the play together at Wooyoung's place since it was already late at night. She gulped and nervously looked towards Yunho who gave her an encouraging nod, knowing what was gonna happen. "We need to tell you something."
"What?", Wooyoung asked and chuckled. "That you're together? That's obvious."
"No not that-"
Jongho jumped up and pointed his fingers at the couple. "I swear to god if you're pregnant I'm gonna move out. Lennie's baby is already so annoying and then-"
"Nobody is pregnant here.", Hongjoong cut Jongho of, sensing the importance of the topic. While Jongho sat down again, Yunho tried to hide his face due to embarrassment. Pregnant? Jongho, what the fuck?
"What did you want to tell us?", San asked and yawned, his head already on Yeosang's shoulder.
"It's about the accident.", Rory started and immediately had the attention of all the boys. The before warm and comfy atmosphere turned to cold and fear. Yunho noticed the hesitation in Rory's eyes and took her hand.
"I told Rory about dreams I had.", he continued, knowing Rory wasn't able to. In fact the both of them had planned everything out, what to say, what to do, how to calm the boys down, but now none of them remembered it. "I dreamed about a ship, not the ferry but another one. It's beautiful."
Yunho stopped for a moment and looked into the eyes of his friends. Most of them were watching him closely while Hongjoong avoided his eyes, thinking hard. "A ship?"
With shaking hands Hongjoong reached out to his bag and pulled out a crumbled paper. He clearly remembered drawing this after Rory had visited him at the memorial. Hongjoong opened it. "This one?"
All boys gasped for air and looked at the drawing. Then Mingi grabbed it. "I dreamed about it too! The same one!"
"Who else?", Yunho asked a bit more hopeful now. All of them nodded and Yunho and Rory exchanged a look. Maybe this would be easier now.
Wooyoung shivered. "That's scary."
"You're right.", Yunho said. "None of us remember what happened in these four months. None of us did. But I do now." He waited a bit so the boys could follow. "We were together on this ship in another world."
The room got silent. Then Jongho burst out laughing. "I know you haven't been sleeping well but even this is crazy for you, Hyung."
"I'm serious. Let me tell you a story and look if anything sounds familiar. Because I'm sure some of you had weird dreams about a fight, about a talking dolphin, about a magical ax-"
"Do magical slingshots count?", Wooyoung asked, trying to lighten the mood but even he had to admit it did seem familiar.
"You fought with one.", Rory answered, causing the boys to look at her. "I was there too."
"You survived the ferry.", Seonghwa said, his voice filled with doubt. "How is this possible?"
"In my dreams I entered this dream world and got the mission to get you out of there."
"So you're telling us-", Yeosang started. He had been thinking about the possibility since Yunho mentioned the ship and the talking dolphin. "-that we entered another world after the accident, landed on a ship and you saved us? What else? Is there another Yeosang as well?"
As soon as he saw Yunho's and Rory's faces he wished he wouldn't have asked. But now Yeosang had his answer to these weird dreams, the weird pictures in his head which came randomly and didn't know what to think. Just the idea seemed crazy but something in his head clicked.
At the same time Seonghwa had stood up, fiddling with the bracelet around his wrist. Danbi was dead and there was no chance to ever meet her again. But then he had these dreams about her, about seeing her in front of him one last time before stepping into a river. Seonghwa didn't want this to be real. He didn't want to remember the additional pain to the grief he already felt.
"I need-", he said quietly and held his head. "I need fresh air."
With these words Seonghwa stood up and left the spacious living room, now in complete silence. Then Hongjoong stood up and Rory's held her breath in fear of him leaving too. But he started smiling at them. "Thank you for telling us and for saving us. Nothing of this makes sense but- but I want it to be real." Hongjoong knelt down in front of Rory and put a hand onto her shoulder making her look up. "There was one thing I remembered clearly when I saw you again in the hospital. I remembered feeling the need to protect you. Now I know it was the other way round but you're still part of my family."
With tears in her eyes Rory managed to smile. "It means a lot."
Hongjoong stood up and let his eyes wander around the room. The rest of the boys was too focused on their own thoughts to pay attention. He sighed. "I'm gonna check on Hwa. But I believe you."
Yunho and Rory watched as Hongjoong left the room as well, not sure what to say. They had imagined various reactions but definitely not this. Rory stood up and put a hand onto Yunho's shoulder, giving it a soft squeeze. "I'll get going. If you're ready, meet me at the ship."
Then Rory softly placed a kiss onto Yunho's cheek and whispered into his ear. "Take care of them for me."
"I will.", he replied, his eyes filled with hope. Then he watched as Rory closed the door behind her, relieved they at least had each other. Nervous, he turned to his friends again, scared they'd think he was crazy.
After a few minutes of unbearable silence Jongho sighed and spoke up, his voice shaking. "How do we know if it's real?"
"Dream and you'll be in the other world.", Yunho answered softly. Jongho nodded. San, Mingi and Wooyoung exchanged looks, all of them thinking the same.
"We want to see it."
Then they turned to Yeosang who had been quiet again. He looked up, his eyes filled with fear, and thought of the dreams he had. The dreams he had been hurt in, the dreams his friends had been imprisoned in. But then Yeosang pictured the ship in front of him, the sun just starting to rise and him tripping over a rope after trying to run away from Wooyoung, who was chasing after him since he had thrown him over the ship again.
Yeosang nodded. "Let's find out what happened."