“what the heck,” luhan mumbles as he stares down in confusion at the oblong, porcelain sphere encasing his entire upper body from neck to mid-thigh, running a gentle finger along the gold trim decorating the edges.

what surprises him even more is the tiny line of bold, black letters issuing from his mouth to form the words he’d just spoken.

w-h-a-t-t-h-e-h-e-c-k

eyes round with surprise, luhan decides to test it out, dictating all kinds nonsense words at different levels of volume, shouting one word, then whispering the next. and he discovers that the size and boldness of the letters vary with how loud or quietly he says them.

“cool,” luhan says, nodding as he finally settles to survey his surroundings.

c-o-o-l

luhan marvels at the great expanse of bubblegum pink skies above, dotted with puffs of soft yellow clouds, the muted glow of the moon and the brilliant light of the sun shining down together upon a rainbow field of flowers stretching on for miles and miles, as far as the eye can see.

the only thing that interrupts the vibrant, floral beyond is a wide path of swirly gray marble that leads on, and on, and on until it disappears into the pink horizon.

figuring that he really has nothing to lose, luhan makes his way for the path, waddling as best he can onto the shiny, slippery surface and following it for a few miles until he comes upon a little purple farm.

“hey!” luhan calls, waving at jongdae settled on a fluffy cushion on the porch, tail swishing through the air and a little violin tucked underneath his chin.

h-e-y

“shh” jongdae hisses, his nose and whiskers twitching slightly as luhan waddles up the stairs.

“what?” luhan huffs, perplexed, as he tries and fails to sit down, opting instead for leaning against the wooden support post.

“it has begun,” jongdae whispers solemnly, placing his violin down and turning his gaze towards the sky, tail curling just above his pointed ear.

nonplussed, luhan follows jongdae’s line of sight, furrowing his brows in confusion as he stares at an ordinary, full white moon.

mildly irritated at being rebuffed, luhan is about to ask jongdae what exactly is beginning when he sees kris suddenly shoot out from behind the farm into the sky, dressed in a black and white spotted onesie, long fingers stretched out as if to perform some kind of slam dunk onto the moon.

“it’s mine!”

i-t-s-m-i-n-e

“today is the day!”

t-o-d-a-y-i-s-t-h-e-d-a-y

kris misses by just a few inches, scrabbling fingers just grazing the edge of the moon’s surface, and falls back down towards the earth where luhan’s ears are assaulted by the sound of raucous, barking laughter.

shoving his fists into the sides of his head, luhan glances down to see chanyeol rolling around the herb garden, body spazzing and tail wagging every which way as a cloud of complaining dust motes float into the air.

“hey you stop that stop it you’re disturbing the peace i said don’t!”

cringing, luhan tries to waddle back down the stairs to give chanyeol a nice kick in the behind to shut him up, when minseok turns around the corner of the barn, a solid, silver orb encasing his head.

luhan stares at the shining circle, foot frozen halfway down the middle step.

and with a gentle smile, minseok offers luhan his hand, helping him wobble down the rest of the way and guiding him back towards the marble path.

“let’s get out of here,” minseok suggests, fingers still laced with luhan’s, and together they head off into the distance to live happily ever after…

—

“what the heck?” luhan jerks awake, glancing groggily around the back of the van as minseok gently nudges his shoulder.

“come on,” minseok says in his soft voice, sliding his warm hand under luhan’s arm. “let’s get you into bed so you can sleep properly.”

luhan blinks, eyes still covered with a thin film of sleep, and allows minseok to drag him out the car.

“i had the weirdest dream,” luhan mumbles as minseok shuts the door, still supporting the half-conscious boy and guiding him towards their dorm entrance.