[Five years earlier...]

꧁ Minho didn't understand how he could have been so terribly wrong about parties. They actually weren't half as bad as he had originally thought.

He had always seen parties as useless, crowded events with nothing particular to offer except booming in one's ears and a killing headache the morning after. And according to his older friends, it usually was that way, really, in all its chaotic glory. He just didn't mind it that night.

"We all need a little chaos," he concluded to himself.

He grinned dreamily, glossy eyes focused completely on the red cup in his hand. It was his third one for the night, and he was completely fascinated by the sourness of beer, having drunk only soju. His lean fingers danced over the wet rim and he found himself examining their movements.

"We have classes in the morning," Chan's soft voice came from beside him, but he only shook his head.

"And the day after that. And the one after that," he mumbled. "And then on Saturday and Sunday we'll be studying. Then Monday comes again, more classes. We're obviously not getting any younger, so just stop being a killjoy, please?"

By the end of his short, but barely comprehensible speech, he had an even wider smile directed at Bang Chan, one that told him to either stop ruining the fun or leave. Chan obviously chose the former, rolling his eyes. "I'm not taking you home."

Chan was probably the only semi-normal one in their friend group, at least, until he was loosened up and drunk, which they'd experienced only once before. That's why Minho had brought him to the party in the first place, it was just a matter of time before people started shouting about a kangaroo dancing on the table.

"Don't pretend you don't like being here, Channie." Chan only scoffed at that, and Minho laughed, completely aware of his friend's platonic crush on the birthday boy. "And don't worry about me, I'll call mum to pick me up."

If there was one good thing about Minho living with no father, it was forming a stronger bond with his mother.

His biggest confidence booster was the infamous, 'Oh you look so much like your mother,' that he received almost daily. And how could it not be? Lee Aesook was a beauty, even after all those years, with her cat-like eyes and warm smile. Up until he started school, Minho just couldn't like these things about himself, but after his mother placed a mirror in front of the two of them and pointed out all the similarities, he had smiled and kissed her cheek, and he never felt insecure again.

She'd always been there to show her support for everything he'd done, from picking dancing classes over football practice, all the way to dating that one boy last summer. It was just the way she was, and he wouldn't change a thing about her.

Except maybe the fact that she was texting him literally all the time.

"My goodness, will she ever stop worrying so much!" He groaned after his eyes finally focused on the messages from his mum. He held the phone above his face and stared at the screen, attempting to regulate the brightness in order not to melt his eyeballs off. "It's not like I'm in a cult, I'm with you guys."

"Chan's dumb and I'm underage. I don't think she trusts us."

This time, it was Jisung who spoke. Though Chan was ready to shout at him for speaking of him so disrespectfully, Jisung sat down onto Minho's lap with so much force that the boy almost dropped his phone onto his face, his yells overpowering the older's.

"Jisung, I swear-"

"No, I mean, it's usually me who gets you in trouble." The younger boy was oblivious to Minho's complaints, laughing at his own slurred statement. "I'm the Harry Potter to your Ron Weasley."

"He's Malfoy."

Minho unlocked his phone when it buzzed again, still not missing Chan's comment. He stared at the screen which showed a message, surprisingly not from his mother. "You're Filch."

Jisung started laughing again, maybe way too hard considering that the joke was half-assed and really not that funny. Still, he managed to choke and receive a rather rough slap on the back by Minho. "Filch! Oh my gosh, Filch! Minho hyung, you're-"

"Not as funny as he thinks he is," Chan finished for him."

"You're both boring as hell," Jisung mumbled and stood up. Minho watched as the younger refilled his cup and returned, sitting back down in the same manner as before.

"Do that again in public and you'll have to find someone else to play Fortnite with."

Jisung gasped and looked down at Minho, round eyes widening. "You wouldn't."

"I totally would."

"Fuck you." He swung his foot back and kicked Minho in the shin, but ended up spilling his beer all over his jeans.

"You wish." Minho pushed him off. There was a whole couch out there, dammit, and Jisung simply had to sit right there and spill the drink all over himself, even staining Minho's shirt in the process. "I'll go get some air."

The repetitive melody of the music was making it feel like Minho's ears were bleeding as he pushed through the crowd. He wished Chan had made the party playlist, he always knew what music to play. If the volume of the speakers had to be turned up like that, at least it would be more bearable.

On his way to the back door of the house, Minho had been dragged off to dance three times, once by a guy and then by two very pretty girls. Accepting the offers for a few minutes each, he ended up prolonging his journey to the backyard. Just when he reached the door, he felt someone grab his wrist and turned around.

The girl standing in front of him was pretty, and strangely familiar. She was around his height, the fluffy hair and high heels giving her an extra inch. He could see the reflection of the party lights in those dark, shiny eyes that fixated on him without mercy. When she smiled at him, he noticed her big front teeth and tinted lips, and for some odd reason, his heart seemed to stumble down a pit, equal to the feeling of skipping a stair and realising you'd fall. He might have seen her before, but he would definitely remember a girl whose hair was mint green and who smiled like the sun itself.

"Yeah?" Why the fuck was his voice that high-pitched all of a sudden? Must be all the drinks.

"Hi." She'd obviously had just as many, because her voice sounded exactly the same. She talked slowly, either because of that same liquor or something else that forced her to choose her words. Maybe she simply spoke like that all the time. "I was there with my friends." She gestured to a group of teens standing a bit deeper into the room. "And I just saw you and thought that you're really pretty and wanted to ask..."

Minho's eyebrows rose at her sudden silence. "To ask what?"

Just say thank you, idiot.

But he didn't get the chance because she interrupted him.

"Can I kiss you?"

He stared at her, mouth agape.

Fuck it. Minho suddenly didn't only tolerate parties. He loved them.

All his life, it had been studying, moving around and stressing over little things. One night only, he could allow himself to have some fun, right? He would probably accept the kiss no matter who offered it, but that girl made it exceptionally difficult to tell her no —not that he wanted to. There was just something about her huge smile and button nose, small freckles that Minho only now noticed, decorating her exposed neck like fairy dust. Minho felt himself nodding at her bold request without a second thought.

The kiss was short but impactful, and he could taste something sweet on her lips as he pulled her closer by the waist, her arms wrapped around his neck. His legs didn't seem to really work in his favour, for they seemed to have turned to jelly right on the spot —that's how he ended up resting his back against a random wall.

He felt the girl bite onto his bottom lip and sighed against her mouth, the way she shivered noticeable beneath his palms which rested on her bare arms. Her slim fingers grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him even closer, which hadn't exactly seemed possible before. There was this flame igniting deep inside him; it controlled his heartbeat and breathing when he couldn't, melting away all the thoughts about the future or the past. It spread through every fibre of his being, and for a moment, he was anxious she would notice the effect she had on him.

So he pulled away before it could go further. Oh, and he also needed air, at least a bit. Just a tiny bit.

He opened his eyes, not remembering closing them in the first place, and saw the girl out of breath, staring straight at him. Pushing himself off the wall, he cupped her face and reached with his thumb to wipe off the smeared lipstick.

"Candy."

She blinked. "What?"

"You ate candy earlier, didn't you?" Minho raised a single eyebrow. "Peach flavour. I could taste it."

Even with the lights dimmed, he could see her face turn an adorable shade of red, the blush slowly spreading onto her ears and neck, disappearing into her white top. She didn't want it to show, though. She kept her lips pursed, dropping her gaze to her hands.

"It keeps me from getting too drunk," she mumbled. "I like drinking, not feeling drunk. So this way, I can drink more if I just eat something in between shots."

"And it had to be peach candy? Won't it make you sick?"

She scoffed and pushed him lightly, but he didn't budge. "It's my favourite. If you don't like it, expect my opinion on you to change for the worse."

"In that case, I suppose your opinion on me can only go one way from now on because it's tolerable." He tilted his head playfully.

"Huh." She hummed, crossing her arms. "You're tolerable too, then. See you around!"

"See you later, Candy." Minho watched as she walked away in that innocently fluttery miniskirt of hers, and he sighed and leaned against the wall. The mint-haired girl went back to her friends, a familiar, tall boy with gorgeous pink hair, and a shorter blond with immaculate fashion taste, someone he recognised as Lee Felix, the host of the party. Only a figure pushing him out of the way to get to the door managed to remind him that he was actually supposed to do the same thing, and he finally exited the house.

The backyard was a bit less crowded, with empty cups in the wet grass and numerous cigarettes, already died out and stepped on multiple times. There were people cheering for the others playing games, people making out and people swimming in the large pool in the very middle. Minho didn't really hang out with Felix -he had only come to the party because, well, it was a party, but he couldn't deny that the birthday boy, although a minor, knew how to throw one.

So Minho stayed there by the pool for a while.

The music was slightly drowned out by the cheers of the strangers around him, and the new drink he'd just grabbed was doing a pretty good job at keeping him going as he watched a group of kids spin bottles and do dares.

He was not sure exactly how much time passed, but what he knew is that he was bored. He sent a text to Chan, assuming he'd be the more sober one of the two, and asked if they wanted to go home with him. Needless to say, Chan's reply was full of typos, but Minho understood he and Jisung wanted to stay a bit longer.

"I'm surprised you still haven't jumped in."

Minho turned his head to the side and let a humourless laugh shake his shoulders. "It's cold and I don't want to get my clothes wet."

The mint-haired girl chuckled, plump lips spreading into a grin. "You could just take them off if you wanted to keep them dry."

"You're terrible at flirting, you know that?"

She seemed to ignore him, rolling her eyes. "Are you at least having fun?"

Minho laughed and took one last sip of his drink before placing his cup onto one of the tables.

"Drinking, walking around, looking after the kids from afar, the usual." He shrugged. "I guess I am. But I'm leaving."

She faked a dramatic gasp. "And leaving the birthday girl alone just like that? You're no gentleman!"

Minho frowned. He was absolutely sure it was Lee Felix who held the party, not some—

"We're twins." She grinned at his obvious confusion. "I know. Shocker, right?"

It was definitely not so shocking now that Minho knew. It made sense to him why she seemed so familiar in the first place, because the two looked alike in more ways than he could count. Even more so, now that he compared them.

"Your brother is hotter than you," Minho blurted out.

The girl raised her eyebrows and pursed her lips, looking over at the tables. Felix and the other guy were now sitting there, drinking with other kids. While the pink-haired dude was staring at his phone, Felix was immersed in talking to a random girl while she giggled at him, her red nails clutching his black leather jacket.

"Yeah, whatever."

Minho didn't really think so. Felix was definitely handsome, only a blind person would deny such a statement. Still, he would be lying if he said he ever wanted anything to do with him, especially knowing his history. He was familiar with rumours that circled around the high school, about Lee Felix, the golden boy, dating and breaking hearts, all of them female at that.

He'd had no idea the boy had a twin sister. He'd never seen her during classes. Felix was always surrounded by giggly girls and his two sidekicks -the guy with pink hair, Hwang something, Minho couldn't quite remember, and this rich guy, Seo Changbin -no one else.

"I've never seen you two together." Minho shook his head. "To be honest, I don't think I ever saw you before. You're sure you go our school?"

"Well, now you had the pleasure." She forced an overexaggerated grin and held out her hand. "Lee Dahye. Or just Faith."

"Lee Minho." He was now utterly confused. He shook her hand nonetheless. "Why Faith?"

"Well, you didn't think Felix used an English name for the fun of it, did you?" When Minho nodded, she rolled her eyes. "We're Australian. Yongbok, Dahye -Felix, Faith, same shit."

"Oh." Minho nodded. "That does make sense, now that you say it. I never thought about the reason why he uses a foreign name. I just thought he does it to appear cool."

"Please." The girl -Dahye -rolled her eyes. "Lix couldn't be cool even if he tried. He's a mess."

Minho hummed in response, but said nothing, silently disagreeing. To him, Felix seemed way too cool to be real, honestly. He was all leather jackets, blond hair -with that one coloured strand -and bright smiles. He seemed as cool as one could get.

He suppressed a yawn, in order not to make Dahye feel like she bored him. He was just genuinely tired.

"I'm sorry, but I need to take care of a drunk squirrel and a sad little kangaroo and go home," he said while putting the phone out of his pocket and typing away a message to his mother. This statement caused Dahye to grin.

"What? Oh, you mean Chris? I can't believe you managed to drag him here." She laughed.

"Well, I can." Chan wasn't the type to party around, but he would never miss this one. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go and escape your terrible attempts at flirting."

"Cut me some slack!" she defended herself. "I'm not the one acting like an angry cat."

"I'm not angry."

"You're drunk."

"So are you." Minho shot back.

Up until then, he didn't quite realise how close to him Dahye was standing, and once again he felt the urge to taste her lips, but ignored it, gazing directly into her fiery eyes. He couldn't notice it back inside, but now there was a pleasant scent in the air, something like coconut and, of course, peaches. When she was suddenly on the tips of her toes and stepped even closer, her lips inches away from his ear, he realised it was coming from her.

"It would make me really sad to see you go." He felt her lips press to his ear and held his breath. When they glided down to his neck and stayed there for a moment, her breath hot on his skin, he suppressed the desire to just kiss her already. "It's my birthday after all."

Minho gave in, leaning down to whisper in her ear. "Can you swim?"

"Yeah. Wait, what? Min-"

An eruption of laughter came from the pool as her body was pushed in, a shriek escaping her and causing Minho to chuckle to himself.

As Dahye returned to the surface, enraged, his laugh faded out, the sight of her tight top clinging to her skin, now completely soaked, making his thoughts go to a completely other direction.

"Mum is waiting, sorry!" He called out with an innocent pout, pushing all the fantasies to the back of his head. He waved at her one last time before turning around and walking over to where he'd last seen Bang Chan and Jisung. The laughter and cheers coming from the pool made him smile.

In a matter of a few minutes, his mum's car was at the front gate. Minho collected the two drunks and buckled them into the backseat, now occupying the passenger side next to his mother.

"They were slumbering, you say?" He only nodded at his mother's question, hiding a smile that threatened to appear on his face at the thought.

Needless to say, the two hadn't been slumbering... Let's just say that the Australian took it upon himself to ask the DJ to change the song, almost ending up in a fight he definitely could not carry out, while some Canadian kid tried to teach Jisung how to twerk. What a traumatising sight.

"You wanted to talk about something this morning, right?" Minho questioned softly, head turning to the side so that he could look at his mum.

"Yeah." The woman smiled. Her eyes stayed focused on the road, but the warmth in her tone was evident even then, only present when talking to her son. "Ever since you started senior year, we kind of haven't been as close as we used to be. We don't spend time together anymore, and I was wondering if you would want to go to the theatre on Friday."

"Theatre? Seriously?"

"Oh, stop it! You enjoyed those when you were in middle school."

Minho had grown up on stage. He truly loved watching ballet when he was younger. He would hide behind the curtains and watch wonderful performances while his mother worked as the make-up artist and did their costumes. Every visit to the theatre had had him completely fascinated. There had been something about the dancers moving around the stage, in a manner so graceful that it almost seemed inhuman, and it had made him so determined to become a dancer himself. And he'd become one. A hip-hop dancer, but a dancer nonetheless.

He wanted to go with her again. Still, he'd made a deal with Chan to study English on Friday, and he truly didn't feel like cancelling it because of all the things that would have had to be done later.

"Can we skip Friday?" When she turned to look at him with a slightly disappointed expression, he pouted. "We can go next week. We have all the time in the world for theatre."

"Sure."

"You sure you're not angry? If you can't postpone it, we-"

"No, don't worry." His mother smiled. "It's all good. We can go another time. Time is the one thing we really have, after all."

He was ready to return the smile, he really was. But a light blinded him and caused him to cover his eyes.

Minho had never experienced a feeling comparable to what happened that very moment. There was a deafening sound of crushing, a scream, and then just buzzing. A high pitched noise invaded his ears as he was pushed back, then forward, and then glass broke.

Minho didn't remember the crash. He only watched it on the news later, after he woke up, pretending it was a random car crash and not related to him at all. It made it hurt less.

A pickup truck in the wrong lane, causing the car to swerve. It rolled over, causing two of the passengers to be ejected through the glass, one from the passenger seat and one from the back.

Sounds about right.

The only thing he could remember was waking up at one moment to a throbbing pain spreading all the way from his thighs to his feet, to fire and smoke, to screams and sirens. He opened his eyes and saw his dead mother's face right beside him. Then there was this scent of blood that made his stomach turn, then Jisung's voice and nothing else.

"You're okay, Minho. It's all okay."

But nothing was okay.

...end of flashback.

A/N:

wow, um, i think i just finished this chapter... honestly this was one hell of a chore ngl

but thoughts???

i swear we'll get to the fantasy parallel shit soon, i wanted to put this flashback here to show you guys the dynamic between minho and the boys, and minho and dahye :)

just an explanation, though, the ages of the characters are international, so the korean ages are just one year more. basically, if we said at first that minho is 22, it means he's 23 in korea. still, whatever number or age you see here in the book is for international readers.

im sorry if you don't like chapters that are this long but this one had to be :(

by the way, i did mbti tests for every character and, if you're curious, these are their personality types:

minho - istp

dahye - enfp

lix - infp

jisung - infj

seungmin - intp

chan - entj

changbin - intj

hyunjin - esfp

jeongin - isfj

thoughts on this? does your personality match some of theirs? do you have any speculations?

anygays, please comment on whatever you want because i know some of you wanna comment but you don't because you think it's bothering me. it's truly not, the comments are what makes my day, promise. also drop a vote if you liked it, and i really hope you did <3