Chapter Text
He wakes abruptly, unconscious one moment, then starkly aware of everything the next.
It’s disorientating in the worst way possible, and it takes him a while to adjust to the sudden change of brightness and feeling.
There’s a hand over his, rubbing circles in the joint between his pointer finger and his thumb. He blinks, letting his vision clear to reveal his sister by the side of the bed, smiling softly at him.
“Hey,” she says, “how do you feel?”
“Good,” he replies, surprising even himself with how genuinely he means it. “Well rested. Like I’ve been asleep for weeks.”
He takes the opportunity to finally view his surroundings, missing the face that his sister pulls at his reply. It’s only then that he realises that he’s in a hospital room.
He blinks, as if it’ll change the room around him. It doesn’t.
(The large bouquet sitting on his other side doesn’t change either. Nor does the neatly written letter filled with countless words of gratitude from an eternally indebted parent, or the colourful card with a more childish scrawl and various crayon drawings.)
Before he can open his mouth to ask, his sister speaks first. “What’s the last thing you remember?”
“You were at Sooji’s house, I think. And you were still deciding whether or not you were going to stay the night at her’s.”
Several things flash across her face – realisation, acceptance, and relief, perhaps – disappearing as quickly as they came.
(Later, when he repeats this same answer to the doctors and nurses, he’ll realise from the looks on their faces that his sister was not as shocked as she should have been.)
Her face pinches in concentration, which, if he was anymore lucid, would be a sure sign that he’d given the wrong answer.
Then she turns her head to her side, and mutters something inaudible under her breath.
(“It took me that long to notice?”)
There’s a knock on the door. Jihyeon turns to the door, lips curling into a small smile when she recognises the people outside. “Looks like you’ve got visitors.”
He points to himself, confused. “Me?”
"Yeah." Jihyeon is up, one hand already on the door handle when she turns back to him. “A lot has happened since then.”
Then she slips out the door, letting it shut as she leaves him to process her words. He vaguely registers her saying something to the people outside.
There’s an exchange of whispers among them (and what looks to be some sort of scuffle), before there’s another knock at the door.
For no reason in particular, he smooths out the blanket across his legs, before clearing his throat. “Come in.”
The door squeaks open, and out steps a face that he never thought he’d see again.
He gasps. “Jongseong hyung.”
The other boy looks sheepish. “Hi, Jungwon-ah,” he says with a slightly awkward wave. He fully steps into the room, but leaves the door slightly ajar. “May I come in?”
Jungwon blinks, regaining his bearings. “Of course,” he gestures to the chair beside him. “Have a seat.”
Jongseong breathes out a sigh of relief, allowing the door to click shut now that he’s certain he hasn’t been rejected. He takes the chair that Jihyeon had occupied earlier, but leaves a considerable distance between the bed.
(Now that he’s this close, he can see a glint of red and silver around his neck.)
Jungwon drums his fingers, before asking the million dollar question. “What are you doing here?”
Straightforward, as always. Jongseong bites back a smile. “To see you, of course.”
The younger boy’s ears turn red. “No–” he flusters. (Adorable, Jongseong thinks). “I mean– in Korea.”
Well, the answer isn’t much different. This time, Jongseong lets himself smile. “I missed you.”
“But-” he stops, hands curling around the blanket. “I don’t remember you.”
He hasn’t been told anything, but it’s not hard to fill in the gaps.
Warm hands pry his fingers off of the blanket, holding both of his hands with a gentle kind of fragility.
“That’s okay, Jungwon-ah.” There’s a light tug on his hands, causing him to look up. He’s met with Jongseong’s eyes, kind and comforting, and oh so familiar.
Behind him, the door is open and he can see five faces peering inside. Even if his eyes can’t place them, there’s a part of him, deep down in the heart of his soul, that recognises them as home .
“You’ve done so, so much for us. So now,” Jongseong follows his gaze, turning to look behind his shoulder. He lets out a fond huff when he sees them, before turning back to Jungwon with nothing but tenderness. “It's time for us to do the same for you.”
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outtakes:
i:
“So,” Taehyun starts, finally backing away after giving Jungwon a very long and very tight hug.
He makes himself comfortable in the chair next to the bed. (Jungwon’s been told that he’s been here quite a few times, offering to stay by the sleeping boy’s side while his members go home to rest and shower. For that, he’s extremely grateful to the older boy.)
He glances around to make sure there’s no one listening in, then drops his voice to a low whisper. “How’d you end up getting back?”
Jungwon lets out a nervous laugh. Taehyun isn’t going to like this. “Funny story, actually.”
Taehyun raises a sceptical brow, gesturing for him to continue.
Jungwon clears his throat. “Well. I was walking home after a sleepover at Sunghoon hyung’s house, and I had just walked through the park when I saw one of my students on the other side of the road–”
“I’m not liking where this is going,” Taehyun mutters.
“--she waves to me and I wave back,” Jungwon continues, stalling as much as possible. “Then the light turns green and she starts crossing the road. But there was a car coming and–”
“ No ,” Taehyun gasps. “Don’t you fucking dare.”
“ I don’t know, what else was I supposed to do?” Jungwon splutters, holding his arms out with his palms facing up.
“You jumped in front of a car?” Taehyun utters in disbelief.
Jungwon sighs. “I jumped in front of a car.”
ii:
(outside the hospital room, in the hallway)
Jihyeon is near silent when she comes out of Jungwon’s hospital room, even quieter when she tells them what’s happened.
“When’s the last he remembers?” Jaeyun asks, worry evident in his tone.
The girl purses her lips. “March.”
“March?” Sunghoon exclaims. He gets shushed by more people than he’d like. “That’s before he met any of us.”
There’s a moment of collective silence, before Sunoo hums, eyebrows drawn together as he thinks. “Any of us…” he starts.
Heeseung picks up where he ended. “Except…”
Six heads turn to face Jay, eerily synchronised.
The person in question immediately holds up his hands in defence, backing away with wide eyes. “ No. No way. Not with how our last interaction ended– NO. I SAID NO– STOP PULLING ME–”
iii:
It’s amusing, really, how Jake and Sunghoon seem to always be bickering with each other whenever Jungwon sees them. They squabble almost as much as Sunghoon and Sunoo do, which, now that he thinks about it, might have to do with the common factor between them (i.e Sunghoon).
Case in point.
Jake had offered to go down to the cafeteria to get Jungwon something to eat and Sunghoon decided to tag along, and somewhere between his room and the cafeteria two floors down, they’d started arguing – allegedly , because Jungwon has long since learnt to tune out their silly debates – over elevator music and coffee beans.
Sunoo had stepped out of the room to update their manager, meaning that Jungwon is stuck here alone , while the two of them are in their own world. The only reason he’s still semi paying attention to them is because Jake has yet to give him the fruit sando that Jungwon has been waiting very patiently for.
They’re so different from the Jaeyun and Sunghoon from the other universe, and the difference is almost laughable.
Except, if he really thinks about it – about how Jake could have easily just gone by himself, but Sunghoon went with him like there was no reason he shouldn’t. Or how the entire time they’ve been here, Jake’s hand has been resting on Sunghoon’s arm, and he’s responding to the other boy’s jibes with an amused smile and clear fondness in his eyes.
“Huh,” Jungwon says, unintentionally cutting off their bickering. He ignores the twin looks of surprise and confusion that he gets. “I kind of see it.”
iv:
“Heeseung!”
Heeseung turns at the sound of his name, and is pleasantly surprised to find Beomgyu at the other end of the hallway, Taehyun not too far behind him.
He waves at them, remaining in the same spot while the pair make their way towards him.
“It’s good to see you around the company again,” Beomgyu says, pulling Heeseung into a hug. “How’s Jungwon doing?”
“Good,” Heeseung replies, going in to greet Taehyun as well. He steps away, and relaxes into an easy stance. “The doctors were worried about physical therapy, but he’s doing much better than expected.”
Beomgyu gasps, clapping his hands together, clearly happy for his dongsaeng. Taehyun, on the other hand, hides a smile behind his hand, an action that doesn’t go unnoticed.
“Oh, yeah,” Heeseung says, suddenly reminded of something. He turns to Taehyun, eyes curious as he tilts his head. “How’d you know that Jungwon would be on the rooftop.”
“Well,” the other boy cocks his head, tapping his finger against his chin. “It came to me in a dream.”
Heeseung blinks. Taehyun blinks back, a hint of a knowing smile on his lips.
Accepting that he won’t be getting any more answers out of him, Heeseung turns to Beomgyu instead, who merely shrugs. “He says that a lot. But he’s always right, too, so we never question it.”
Heeseung blinks again – multiple times in rapid succession. Taehyun lets out a chuckle, patting Heeseung on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about it.”
Then he’s asking Heeseung to pass on his well wishes as he walks back in the direction he came from, Beomgyu following at his heels. Heeseung stares, and watches as they disappear around the corner, and wonders if perhaps this was all a dream too.
v:
(on a page neatly tucked away between the pages of a well loved sketchbook)
Hi!
I don’t know if you’ll ever find this, but if it does, I hope it's in good times.
Maybe it doesn't mean so much, coming from someone you don't know, but
I’m sorry that you felt so alone. I’m sorry that you were struggling, and that you kept it to yourself, because you felt that it was only your burden to bear. I’m sorry that you needed a break so badly, and yet, the world never gave it to you.
But that was in the past, and things have changed since then.
Now, you’re doing what you love, and you’re also teaching it to others. Eomeoni and Abeoji are willing to listen. Halmeoni is only ever one car ride away, and you’re closer than ever to Jihyeon noona.
Most importantly, you have a group of friends who’ll make you laugh until your stomach hurts, send you photos of things that reminded them of you at random times of the day, and take you to restaurants because they know you’ll like it.
Friends who’ll scold you for not wearing enough layers as they take off one of their own for you to wear, who’ll break into your house when you don’t reply to their texts, and bring you flowers to an event you only briefly mentioned in passing.
People who you can call your own, who love you like the stars love the moon.
Things have changed, so I hope that you will too. Let yourself be happy, because that’s what you deserve.
I’m so proud of how far you’ve come, and I hope that you are too.
Sincerely yours,
From someone who loves you
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trivia:
- the first time that taehyun ends up in the other universe (with jungwon) is completely random, but he quickly puts the pieces together after he gets the call from heeseung telling him what happened
the time after that, he’s staying overnight at hospital (switching with the enha members for the night) and finds himself back in that universe, and he does that again to get to jungwon the third and final time
- this-jungwon is very reserved and quiet, hence why his classmates were surprised that he talked to them (back in like chapter 3 or something)
- adding onto the previous point, the whole universe switching thing is actually a two way street – canon jungwon wanted a break everything else, while other-jungwon wanted his life to be better
so, canon jungwon taking other-jungwon’s place was good for the both of them
- i did try to allude to jungwon being in a coma in the earlier chapters – the most obvious were the italicised flashbacks that followed every change in pov (from jungwon to another member’s pov), but my favourite one is the single line in the chapter when he first meets sunoo (chapter 7) that goes something along the line of “it’s starting to feel like he’s been here too long” and refers to him being in the hospital for too long in canon universe
i was not expecting anyone to catch that because it’s very very subtle, but it’s just a little fun fact for y’all
- the red carnations that jungwon gives jay – along with the sunflowers and baby breath which were both previously mentioned in terms of jaywon – are supposed to mean something along the lines of ‘i long for you’
in this case, it’s more of jungwon longing for his version of jay
similarly the forget-me-nots are kind of ironic because alternate-jungwon technically does forget him
- heeseung is debuting as a soloist and not in a group because he’s already found his people in enha
- in the other universe, jungwon refers to jay as ‘jay’ and not ‘jongseong’ because he’s not /his/ jay yk? and he even when he gets back, he doesn’t refer to jay as ‘jongseong’ until he truly feels that he’s home
- alternatively, this-Jungwon refers to jay as ‘jongseong’ because that’s what he knows jay as
- the order they hug jungwon in at the end follows the same order that jungwon met everyone in the other universe – so: sunghoon, jaeyun, heeseung, sunoo, riki, jay
- the title !! there’s more than enough star metaphors already so i’m sure you caught the ‘several stars’ part, but the ‘intertwined’ is actually pretty important too! i don’t know if anyone noticed, but when jungwon properly befriends each of the members, he ties something to them, and that’s when the italicised number will appear at the end of the section (e.g one.)
sunghoon: tying shoelaces
jaeyun: tying the keychain/ luggage tag
sunoo: tying the daisy chain
heeseung: tying the plastic bag
riki: tying the tie
jay: tying the necklace
you could kind of see it as jungwon ‘tying’ them together?? so when taehyun says ‘you’re the one holding them together’ he literally means it HAHAHAHAHA
- also i didn’t ever specify a timeline for everything that happened, but in my head jungwon was in the other universe for a couple of months, but in canon universe he was only out for like two weeks
and finally !
because i put too much emphasis on it to not do anything about it (and the reason why this epilogue took so long to come out):
jungwon’s sketchbook !!!
link at the end because it's not working DD: but enjoy!! (please don't look too closely at the faces HAHA)
and that’s it!
thank you SO MUCH to everyone who’s been a part of this fic’s journey, i love and appreciate all of you very much
thank you for indulging in this little (not so little anymore) brainworm of mine, and thank you for leaving kudos, comments and for all of your support
i hope that several stars intertwined brought as much joy and comfort into your lives as it did to mine <3
this isn’t the last you’ll see of me -- i do have some other fics planned ;)) but knowing me, it’ll probably be a while until it actually comes out
but until then, have a wonderful day/ night/ week/ life and all the best :))
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