The medics still on scene took one look at the three survivors and started shouting for attention and respirators. With no ambulances left and waiting for more to return, they did the next best thing. They sat Yoongi and Hoseok down with a can of oxygen and two masks; started inspecting Hoseok's whole right side, which was littered in cuts and blood.

But it was Jungkook who worried them the most. They fitted the oxygen mask to his face, started taking his pulse and calling for shots of something that the rest of the group had never heard of. Jimin was sobbing, holding onto a catatonic Namjoon for dear life. Behind them, Seokjin was staring at the building with his heart in his throat and a stomach filled with lead.

Brother Future, under Fate's command, rushed into the collapsed gymnasium in Search of Lady Han, helped her faze through the rubble she had been buried under. As soon as she was out, she was screaming and spitting at them, demanding to know why neither Fate nor Future had seen this coming. But they were all silent, all unknowing, even Universe, who gazed at everything with a glazed look. He was he the Universe, yet something had happened here which was not supposed to, the Dreamscape around him was warped and damaged and bigger than ever; stronger than ever. He'd had no idea. And now he had no answers.

By the time the emergency team had managed to put out the fire and were getting ready to attempt an entry into the destroyed building, it was night time. Flashlights came on everywhere, and Jungkook was hoisted into an ambulance, Jimin refusing to leave his side and forcing himself into the vehicle.

But part of Jungkook remained.

With every breath of smoke-free air his body took, his ghost gained a little more opacity, until finally he could feel his feet again, and he could see. He could move.

He walked slowly, terrified, his ghost-like state felt like walking through water. Like the first time he had moved, at the campfire: impossibly slow. It took every ounce of focus to put one foot in front of the other. Couldn't bare the thought of finding Taehyung's body, but pushed forward nonetheless, clinging to any hope he could find.

He walked straight through the rubble, unaffected by physical materials, into the depths of hell and darkness. Instinctively, he lifted a hand and suddenly light poured out from his palm, spreading from his soul and illuminating every crevice. Indigo light which led the way.

Forward he went, knowing where he'd left his Taehyungie, mind obsessively playing the last second he saw him.

And he heard something, not in the chaos of reality, but in his own mind. Like an echo.

Kookie, Kookie, Kookie.

Mindless, he followed, controlling the DreamScape, going where his heart told him to.

And there he was, his Taehyungie, V, his soulmate.

He swallowed the whine that was bubbling to the surface, and forced his way forward. Until he was close enough to kneel, close enough to touch.

Threw his arms around the barely conscious man pinned under the fallen arch of a staircase.

"Hey Taehyungie..." he whispered. "I'm here now."

"Kookie?"

"Mhm," he put every ounce of his soul into making sure the other couldn't hear the tears streaming down his face.

"Hey Kookie, you know I can see you, right?" Tae whispered up at him, and when Jungkook looked down he peered into playful eyes.

He looked fine, Jungkook chanted to himself. He was fine, fine, fine. The firemen were making their way back inside; they'd be here soon. Nothing looked broken; no blood no injuries that he could see. But so why was Taehyung so pale under the film of soot on his face? Why was his breathing so laboured, his eyes so unfocused? Where was his scarf?

"People are coming, Tae," he said when the elder suddenly stared coughing violently, like he was trying to reassure himself more than the barely conscious man.

"This is really uncomfortable."

Jungkook immediately shifted, so the elder's head was lying on his lap, and he grabbed his hand, playing with the thin long fingers.

"Hey, Taehyungie I need you to stay awake for me, okay?" Jungkook said a little loudly, as he watched his eyes flutter closed.

"Mm? But I'm confortable."

"I... I know hyung," he choked out, bit his lip. "But I need you, right? Need you to stay awake and take care of me when I leave the hospital, you know?"

That made Taehyung smile up at him.

"You made it to the hospital?"

"Mhm, all thanks to you..." Jungkook whispered, then whined, cut himself off. Tried to carry on though he could barely speak, his throat too tight. "God what were you thinking?!"

"Three lives for one, Kookie. It was worth it. Even if it was just your life for mine, I would choose you every time."

Eyes were fluttering shut, chest rattling with something wrong, something bad.

"Tae, don't you dare fall asleep."

"But Kookie..." Tae huffed with smallest of smiles, "even in my dreams I'll find you."

He smiled back desperately.

"Yeah, you better."

"I will..."

"Okay, it's a promise," Jungkook breathed out. "How does tomorrow night sound? In that spot near the river?"

No answer. No sound.

"Tae?"

Nothing, just the tiniest rise of a chest, resting against his knees.

"Taehyungie?" he whispered, voice miniscule.

But the man was unmoving, unresponsive the sudden shakes of Jungkook's arms as he tried to rouse him again.

Nothing. Just nothing.

Sobs wracked his chest now, uncontainable.

"I haven't even told you I love you yet..."

And he begged. Begged through tears to the skies and the stars, begged to every god and goddess he'd ever heard of. Begged the emergency team would arrive faster, wanted to scream but knew no one could hear him. Begged even the light shining from inside his palm.

"You still owe me a date... You said you had somewhere you wanted to take me..."

But Taehyung wasn't moving. Jungkook couldn't feel or see the rise of his chest anymore. Just nothing. Just rubble and soot, dust and darkness around them.

And then light. Bright, pulling in from a rip in the fabric of space, cerulean blue.

An oxygen tank fell to the ground, half full, followed by it's mask which fit itself snuggly onto Taehyung's face, like magic.

Back at the hospital, Jungkook's vitals went crazy, and Jimin looked up, screaming when he saw the one thing keeping his best friend alive had vanished. His unconscious body starting coughing, struggling to get the oxygen intake the mask had been providing him with.

Taehyung breathed in smoke-free air, and his Dream Soul gaped down, relief and confusion mixing like poison in his chest, his own breathing becoming laboured, fast.

He stared down at his hands, and focused, begged again, concentrated.

Through the portal came an IV drip, already plugged into Tae's arm before he'd even glanced down at him.

Jimin rang the buzzer furiously, mind reeling as he watched Jungkook's vitals stutter. Nurses ran in, gasping at the missing equipment, confusion exploding all around them but their priorities straight. They rushed out to find a replacement for the breathing apparatus, and in the chaos, Jimin stared at the machines. Watched as the room emptied. Watched as cerulean light wrapped itself around the monitor beeping loudly at Jungkook's heart slowing down. Watched as it disappeared too.

Jin's phone was suddenly ringing, shrill tone calling out to the two men who refused to leave the scene.

"Jimin? What's up?"

"IT'S JUNGKOOK! HE'S DOING SOMETHING!"

Namjoon stared at his companion, hearing the voice filter through the speaker.

"All the equipment they linked up to him? It keeps disappearing! Some sort of light keeps appearing and then the stuff is gone!"

"Is he okay?" Jin sputtered, trying to get past the madness of the situation.

"No!! He can't breathe, all of the stuff has disappeared and the doctors ran out looking for replacements but they aren't back yet?!"

"Jesus, they're going to kill themselves trying to save each other," Jin whispered into the night, horror dripping from his words. But the silver-haired man at his side suddenly glimpsed hope.

Namjoon sprinted forward through the crowd, legs exhausted but bolstered by the view of the head of the fire department in the distance. He was standing near the entrance, organising the relief teams and Joon ran up to him, spun him round. When the man went to scream at him, Namjoon interrupted, his voice deep and desperate and forcefully calm.

"You need to listen to me," he said. "This is going to sound crazy, I know, but inside that building is a heartbeat monitor. Listen for it, follow it, our friend is on the other end. Please."

And at that moment, through the collapsed remains of BigHit Entertainment rose a sound, distant but there. Insistent beeping echoed and repeated, drawing in the humans around it.

Namjoon returned to where Jin was waiting, still on the phone with a panicked Jimin, trying to calm him down.

Through the dark rubble, flashlights swept into motion, radio calls crackled and an ambulance pulled up. In went the relief teams, guided by something impossible. Jin and Namjoon waited, clinging onto each other for support, watching and praying.

Then finally four silhouettes clambered out of the cement and glass wreckage under the gaze of the few souls left at the scene. Between them, an unconscious man lay on a stretcher.

On his face, a breathing mask. In his arm, a tube feeding life back into him. By his side, a shadow with tears and light pouring from him. The two men stared at the ghost, both recognising Jungkook but knowing full well he was in hospital, both gasping as they realised he wasn't really there.

Taehyung was hoisted into the ambulance, lights coming on immediately as the vehicle hurtled off. Jungkook stood in it's wake, staring with terror swimming through his veins. Namjoon took one step forward, intent on reaching the ghost of his young friend. Stopped when the stars above them seemed to cave in.

The DreamScape plucked Jungkook there and then, and the DreamSoul shot towards the sky, the breach closing behind him.

***

It was different, they knew it as soon as their eyes crossed paths.

Lost in each other's gazes, they peered into galaxies and the feeling of home. Hands stretched out towards each other, and as they held tight their faces broke into grins reflecting the starlight. Below them the earth rushed past and above the moon stood a silent and caring witness.

From far away, the gods watched on, huddled together for moral support, their mystical cloaks blending in together with the night sky.

Taehyung stretched his arms out, gliding through the air and letting the wind snatch a pearl of giggles from his lips. Jungkook watched him, doe eyes wide with wonder as the elder pulled him back towards him. They were flying still, two lonely souls merging in the DreamScape until it was just them, just open windows facing each other.

It was so natural, being here above the rest of humanity, floating in synch with their hands bringing each other close, close as can be. Their foreheads met and they rose higher, hair floating softly despite the air gushing past. Arms wrapped around each other, breaths mingling before they were just one, and their lips met, pressing together softly, firmly, and their hearts soared. A breath of relief, like breaking the surface, like being born and you've only just learnt how to use your lungs.

Jungkook opened his eyes to see the entire Milky Way gazing at him through dark wondrous eyes.

"Hey you," Taehyung whispered at him, and despite the raging wind around them he heard him loud and clear, like the laws of the universe simply didn't apply to them. Jungkook's smile grew so wide it was painful. He couldn't care less about the ache in his cheeks as he leaned back in and they tumbled down through the air, lip locked, hearts pounding in harmony.

The city below them gave way to bare land, then ocean as far as the eye can see, reflecting the light of a trillion suns, burning bright light years away.

The DreamScape slowed them down, easing them back until they came to a stop, hovering amidst the emptiness. Jungkook looked at the man of his dreams, the one who had searched for him, come for him, given him something he had never known was missing from his life, and he pondered. Taehyung had appeared like a summer storm, warm and sudden, unstoppable. He had filled a gap Jungkook hadn't known was there, until it wasn't. And suddenly, he knew.

"Taehyung..."

The man with striking eyes hummed at him, waiting, inviting the words to tumble out.

"I love you."

Purple light exploded in the air, hurricane winds whipping around them, and maybe that was why their eyes simultaneously shone with unshed tears. Magenta, cerulean and silver fought through the air, a never seen before Aurora Borealis stretching over the water, turning the world magnificent, curling up like a flower around the two lovers.

On land, humans looked up in wonder, pointing and gasping, shaken. In the middle of the storm, the gods shielded their eyes, squinting down in confusion and awe.

And then it stopped.

The light curled up into a thousand stars which fell down and sunk into the waves, tinkling to the sound of invisible bells.

And Taehyung was no longer there.

Lost in space, Jungkook shouted his name, spinning and twisting, searching. But he knew, for his hands had been holding the other's, and suddenly they were empty. Dread spread through him like a tidal wave, drowning every thought but for the need to find him, and he screamed until his lungs could no longer, kept calling and begging until his voice gave up and he floated, crying, through the desolate landscape.