ATEEZ: Remnants

[Epilogue - San's Birthday]

"I'm Hongjoong, but not your Hongjoong. I'm from a different world."

"My Hongjoong?"

"Ah, hyung, I don't think this San has met the members yet. He's a little younger. Hi!" the older San dressed in black greeted his younger twin with a devilish grin. The smaller, lanky boy instinctively raised his hand in a wave, awkwardly smiling back at his older counterpart who looked back at him with a fond eyes.

"I'm you, San, from another darker world. Ah, but this place here, isn't any of our worlds. This is a safe place this hyung made in a pocket dimension. You probably won't remember any of this though, so I don't know why I'm explaining it to you."

"He's not going to remember. This is my dream world; he'll forget when he wakes up. And I don't even know how you found this room in the first place. You shouldn't be here either!" this dream Hongjoong exclaimed. The San in black ignored his question.

"See hyung, I really think the answer is that we need to work together. Did you see the white masked man?"

"No, but I've been told that he's the one that trapped my members."

"And he's trapped mine. Our Hongjoong was working on saving us too, but I don't know where he, or the other members are."

"Okay sure, fine. Say I believe you, but again: how were you able to break out on your own?"

"San!" He smiled at the young innocent boy who bore his face. "He saved me!"

"This is a dream. This is just a dream."

"We need to find remnants of each other, through time and space. When we make contact, I think it breaks the illusion. To be honest, I'm not really sure what the exact details are, but hey, we're here!"

Another figure in black suddenly ran into the room from the opposite hallway.

"San!"

"Yunho!"

"I saw from the monitor! How did you get out?"

"San!"

"San?"

"That San!"

"How are you all finding this place?!"

"Hyung? You were here? Do you have any idea how worried I've been? I thought you went missing!"

"I'm not your hyung."

"Our hyung is missing?!"

This was too much for little San to take. There were three figures, one of them basically being his bigger, more awesome self, all fussing over each other. He took a seat at the dining table and quietly observed the bizarre scene that lay before him. It looked like he and the other guy dressed in all black, with their chains and black fedoras, knew each other. The third one, the one they both called hyung even though he was the shortest, had silver hair and fancy, patterned clothing that only a celebrity could pull off. He looked like a fantasy character in little San's opinion. 

"How is there another San? And why aren't you my hyung?"

"It's a different San, and this is a different Hongjoong. They're both from different worlds."

"Which worlds? The one Hongjoongie-hyung and I went to didn't have our counterparts."

"What? What are you talking about? They're all parallel. We all have a different version of ourselves, but there should always be eight total. Look, see? There's another one of you right there Yunho!"

"There's another what?!"

"Right there!"

They looked towards the hallway that Yunho had just come through, and right on cue, another Yunho - this one in just a regular yellow hoodie and denim jeans - came walking in. But they hadn't anticipated more company as two more Hongjoongs walked in as well. Another one in black, thus completing the triple fedora doppelgangers, while the other had blue hair.

"This is still a dream?" the yellow hoodie Yunho wondered.

"Sort of. Yunho-ah, why don't you go sit next to kid San-ie over there, yeah?"

"Hyung!! My hyung!"

"Yunho! I'm so sorry."

"I WAS SO WORRIED. DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I PANICKED?"

"I'm so sorry. There was no time to explain."

Yunho and San's black fedora Hongjoong pointed at the silver Hongjoong who created this place.

"We need to get the other members out of their illusions, now. San, how did you break out? Will it work for his members too?"

"I don't know. I just know this little San got me out of there. We connected somehow in his dreams. And when we made contact, I escaped. And we both ended up here."

"Where did that Yunho come from?"

"Yunho, you merged with this yellow Yunho when you and I first arrived in their world. I don't know why you did, and why we – " he motioned to himself and the third blue-haired Hongjoong " – didn't. You became one, as if the two dimensions merged together. But it looks like you two split up again when you entered this separate space. We found him wandering in the halls."

"Hi, I'm San. I guess you got caught up in all of this too. Looks like we both have twins. They got three over there."

"San, we know each other. We've been together since we were trainees."

"Trainee? I become a trainee?"

"Yeah, like, you know...to sing?"

"That's my dream! I'm going to move to Seoul when I start high school, so I can become a singer."

"You're not in high school yet?"

"No, not yet."

"Ah, okay. I think I get it."

"Get what?"

"Forget it. This is a dream anyways."

"Yeah, I wish I could wake up soon. This is getting weird. I've never been so conscious during a dream before."

"San, you look so young. And Yunho, you grew up so much!"

"Hongjoong-ie hyung? Are you part of this dream too? San doesn't know us."

"Mm, he's younger. We haven't met yet. Do you remember that one time when San told us about a really bad fever he had on his birthday once? He said he talked like nonstop about a dream he had."

"Ah, yeah, I remember about the fever thing. It was when we were all still getting to know each other."

"We're in that dream."

"We're in what?"

"Don't worry, things will make sense soon. We have to find the others first."

"The others? Like, our other members?"

Their Hongjoong smiled. "Everyone, we're going to find everyone."

The creator of the room had quietly excused himself to the back. He had never seen this room so lively before. It had always been just him alone. On both sides of the table, he could see the image of San, Yunho, and himself together, just talking and being together again. It made him miss his members. He was going to save them all no matter what. Then things will go back to normal. They'll be together as a team. Eight whole members, once more. 

"Oh, and San! Happy birthday!"