-we'll create a path that doesn't exist-

"I see San, he's awake."

Yeosang held the transceiver close so everyone could hear what Yunho had to say. "He's trying to pull the harpoons but he can't do it alone. He's trapped."

"Alright, should we split then?" Seonghwa asked. 

"Yeah, I think you should. Try to find Mingi and Wooyoung first if you can," Yunho said. 

"I have the key that frees Wooyoung," Seonghwa said. 

"Alright, let's split into two. You and Yeosang, me and Jongho. You go that way and we go this way," Hongjoong said, and they all nodded, separating into the two paths, Seonghwa hoping they'd be the ones finding Wooyoung.

"Yeosang?" Yunho's voice called, and Yeosang answered. "I think I know how to find Mingi. You have to find a tunnel. I think I saw someone walking through the tunnel, and there seems to be smoke there."

"Okay, we'll keep an eye out," Yeosang said, and they ran to wherever the hallway lead them.

The place itself was a maze, in that they kept finding new routes. They were genuinely confused. Every route seemed new, and that was weird since they'd taken the path they had come from before finding the stairs. 

After a few minutes, they did find a tunnel at a dead end, and indeed, smoke was coming out of the tunnel.

"Yunho, can you see us?" Yeosang asked.

"I can't. Are you at the tunnel? It should be a light colour."

"Yes, we're there. But what if it's another trap?"

"Well, it's this or nothing, so.."

"Alright, we're going," Yeosang took the lead, asking Seonghwa to wait for his signal. He crawled inside the tunnel, making sure his steps were light, trying not to make a sound. He reached the end, peeked to see that he was in another hallway, and turned back, knocking at the wall of the tunnel. That was the cue for Seonghwa to follow him.

As soon as Seonghwa came, they both rushed to the room where the smoke seemed to be coming from. They opened the door, and sure enough, the room was on fire.

"MINGI!" Yeosang yelled, seeing Mingi sitting like a small kid in the middle of the circle of fire.

Upon hearing Yeosang's voice, Mingi looked up, making sure he was seeing right, and got up instantly. "YEOSANG?"

"Yes, it's us," Seonghwa said, the duo walking closer to the fire. 

"How are we gonna get him out of here?" Yeosang asked. Seonghwa shook his head. The fire was too wild. They needed something to break the circle and create a small gap.

"I'm gonna go look for something," Seonghwa said, and before Yeosang could say something, he assured him he won't go far and would be careful. They both watched him walk out of the room, then Yeosang looked at Mingi.

"Did you wake up here?"

"I did, but Dark Mingi was here," Mingi said, wiping his forehead, "He told me things like this fire can actually hurt us here because this is their setup, and that Eun Byeol... she won't be able to save us this time because she's dreaming."

"Ah, that's true. We have to be the ones to save her this time, it seems." Yeosang bit his lip, waiting anxiously for Seonghwa to not come back empty handed.

Seonghwa came after a few minutes with a blanket. "Not much, but we'll have to be quick. Mingi, I'll throw it right here, and as soon as you see a gap, you jump here, okay?"

"Okay," Mingi nodded, and Seonghwa counted to three before throwing the blanket on the narrow line of fire, and the fire there stopped for a few seconds. Yeosang yelled at Mingi to jump and he did, yelling in relief, watching the fire eat the blanket as well.

The two of them hugged Mingi, who almost wept in relief. "How did you find the blanket?"

"Probably Dark Yeosang or Seonghwa put there on purpose," Seonghwa said. That was the only explanation he could think of, of why a blanket would be in an empty room where they found nothing else. It seemed that they were on their side after all...

"Either they really are on our side, or they're laughing at us watching us from wherever they are," Yeosang thought. Mingi agreed. He wasn't so sure about anything either.

---------------

Hongjoong and Jongho were walking along the hall, checking every room they came upon, finding nothing much, until they did open one door to find Wooyoung, of all people.

"Ah, I knew something like this would happen," Hongjoong muttered, going towards Wooyoung. He seemed to be heavily shackled, the chains coming all the way from the ceiling, his legs weighed down from them so he was sitting on his knees. Some were wrapped around his arms too, spreading them apart, and he was holding the chains with his hands for support.

"Wooyoung, wake up!" Jongho said, slapping his cheeks lightly. Wooyoung lightly groaned as he opened his eyes.

"Jongho?"

"Yes, it's me," he said, bending down to analyze the situation. All the chains were connecting to a lock, and the key was with Seonghwa.

"Alright, it seems like we'll just entertain you with our company while we wait for Seonghwa to come. He has the key to unlock your chains."

"Please don't sing, my head hurts," Wooyoung joked.

"Really? That was my plan, how else should I entertain you?" Jongho smiled. 

"What's happening, guys?" Wooyoung finally asked.

Hongjoong explained everything, how they had found each other one by one and now they had split to find the rest.

"And Eun Byeol?" Wooyoung asked. Jongho and Hongjoong shared a look. "Is it bad?" Wooyoung asked, dreading what he would hear already.

"No idea, how bad," Hongjoong answered, "all we know is that Eun Byeol is shackled like you and seems to be dreaming. Not sure about that, but that's what Yunho saw through the monitor."

"I was dreaming too. But it was a memory. Did that happen with any one of you?"

"I was dreaming, Yeosang was too. Like you."

"I dreamt of the time we wrote Aurora," Wooyoung smiled, looking at Hongjoong, who smiled back. 

"The whole thing was a pun on Eun Byeol," Jongho said, laughing a bit, "but Hongjoong didn't even tell us!"

"Yeah, he told us we had to write about aurora. I thought he was talking about the lights!" Wooyoung glared jokingly at Hongjoong.

"Hey, that was my original idea! I realized later that aurora was also Eun Byeol's name, so I thought it could be like a gift to her!"

"Yeah, and you kept rejecting our lyrics!" Jongho tsk-ed at Hongjoong.

"I thought he was just being bratty. You should've told us before!" Wooyoung said. 

"Hey, hey, it worked out okay then, didn't it?" Hongjoong tried to calm them down.

"You weren't even gonna tell us. It was when Byeol mentioned that we realized. And then we wrote it again with a different meaning. Then you approved!"

"Okay, I was just... it's embarrassing, okay! Hongjoong laughed out loud, the two joining him.

"Yeah. I can't imagine writing a song about you," Wooyoung said casually, earning a kick from him.

"All that friendship, and you can't write a few lines for me?"

"It's embarrassing."

"Wow." Hongjoong couldn't believe his ears.

At that moment, Seonghwa, Yeosang and Mingi walked in the room, Seonghwa rushing towards Wooyoung, asking if he was okay before unlocking him. Hongjoong and Jongho went to Mingi, making sure he was okay. 

"The chains are very tangled, help me out guys," Seonghwa said. 

The boys started untangling the chains slowly and steadily, making sure not to hurt Wooyoung. Finally, he got rid of the chains and Wooyoung stood on his feet, sighing in relief.

Seonghwa told them that Mingi had confirmed that Eun Byeol was indeed dreaming like she had in the Dark Ateez's dimension in the previous timeline. Wooyoung shook his head, his expressions going dark with anger.

"They really got us this time, didn't they?" he asked, and no one had the heart to answer that question.

"I see you guys have found each other," Yunho's voice broke the ice. 

"We have," Yeosang confirmed. "Where to now?"

"You guys go find San, I'll join you there. I know the way to there now, I made a map from what I saw," Yunho said.

"Good. See you there," Hongjoong motioned them all to follow him, Yunho guiding them as much as he could, as he too left the room with the monitors, praying he was right on this.

--------------- 

"Before you sleep, think of a place you want to create. Is there something?"

"I want to see the snow," San said, his eyes closed.

"Alright," Eun Byeol said, "that could work. Think in detail, how the place looks like. A mountain? Is it day or night?"

"A mountain. There are mountains in front of us and everywhere I can see. I'm at the top. And it's sunset. The sky is colourful."

"Good. Are there any birds? Any life?"

"There's just you," San said.

"Okay, we get to that later. What are you wearing?"

"I'm wearing a black trench coat, and inside I'm wearing many layers. It's very cold. I'm wearing a muffler, gloves, and jeans. I'm wearing boots."

"How cold? Is the snow falling? How's the wind?"

"There's a cold breeze, but it's not snowing right now."

"You're ready. You'll fall asleep thinking about this. I'll join you in your dream, San."

San didn't nod in reply. He was already lost in the setup he was creating. He didn't realize he had fallen asleep and started dreaming until he saw Eun Byeol.

"Hey there," Eun Byeol smiled, "This is a beautiful place you made."

San smiled. "Do I get your approval?"

"You do, actually. This is well-detailed. You're good at this, San. And a very quick learner."

San did a little victory dance, making her laugh. Eun Byeol's teeth were chattering. San noticed how she was feeling cold, and he took off his muffler, wrapping it around her neck, pulling her hair out if it, setting it on her maroon coat.

"You know I won't actually get sick from here, right?"

"Still, I can't stand seeing you so cold. Look at you. You should've worn gloves too," San shook his head, taking her hands in his gloved hands, smiling at how small they were. He rubbed them, trying to make them warm. San didn't realize she was staring at him until he looked at her, in her doe hazel eyes. She didn't look back. His heart beat wildly in his chest.

He felt something tickle his nose and he blinked in surprise, looking up at the sky.

"You didn't realize it but you made it snow?" She asked and San looked back at her, nodding. "That's cool. Now how did that happen?" Eun Byeol wondered.

"No idea," San smiled at her knowingly.

---------------

San woke up with a gasp, struggling to breath. he calmed down after a few moments, feeling something soft on his hands. He turned his head to see that he was lying on a bed of flowers, only that it looked like it was a cage.

He sat up, turning his head. Harpoons surrounded him, fixed on the ground, some with black flags dangling from them. Not our setup, he thought, and it dawned on him as memories came flooding. 

Dark Ateez. And he had been dreaming. In their setup.

Very dangerous.

He stood up, trying to see if he could take out the harpoons. None of them budged, no matter how much he pulled and kicked. In the end, he sat back, frustrated.

He wondered how long he had been here. He wondered where the others were, and if they were awake or dreaming. He didn't want to feel hopeless, but in the situation he was in, he couldn't find any positivity within him.

He didn't realize it had been quite a while sitting like that until he heard sounds. One by one, he saw his friends enter the room, and he almost smiled at them until he noticed Eun Byeol was not with them.

"Where's Byeol?"

He saw them hesitate before Hongjoong finally explained everything, telling him how everyone was trapped in some way or another and they had found everyone one by one. Only Eun Byeol remained now. Yunho and Jongho helped San pull out the harpoons, making a narrow passage so he could crawl out. 

A knock on the wall got their attention and they all almost jumped, turning their heads sharply to the source of the sound. 

It was Dark Yeosang.

"What are you doing here?" Hongjoong asked coldly.

Dark Yeosang came forward, pulling his fedora down on his head and put a finger on his lips, glaring at them, hoping they would understand, before he started his speech. "Well, well, it looks like you all found each other after all."

He walked around them, swiftly passing a little note in Yeosang's hand that no one realized, and continued, "We have a deal to offer you."

"What deal now?" Hongjoong started, "After all you have done-"

Hongjoong was interrupted by Yeosang kicking him in his ribs. "We'll hear it." 

Dark Yeosang nodded at Yeosang subtly, saying, "Our leader has invited you to our dimension. If you manage to wake Eun Byeol up, come find the door to our dimension. This key," he held a key in front of him, passing it to Yeosang, "is the key to our dimension.  We will give you your totems back so you all can wake up."

"First you steal it from us, rendering us unable to wake up for so long, and now you suddenly want to help us wake up?" Yeosang asked, genuinely curious about what was going on.

"Yeah, what made you change your mind? And how can we even trust you after how you treated Eun Byeol while she was there?" Hongjoong glared at him.

"We know all that, but this is an offer, open if you want to accept it. You have my word we won't be putting you in any trap," he ran his eyes at the 8 of them. "And anyway, it's the 8 of you against us. Some of us are weak enough that we aren't able to fight you anymore. Our leader fears what might come, and in the heat of the moment he put you all through this, and he regrets it, believe it or not."

"Doesn't seem like he regrets it enough or else he would have come instead of you," Seonghwa muttered. Dark Yeosang almost smiled, before waving a hand at him, dismissing him.

"We decided to find the middle ground. You wake up and don't dare to dream like this again, we continue to exist and not fade away. I think we can all agree on that."

Dark Yeosang heard them sigh in realization that he was right. "Alright, suppose we do believe you on this. How do we wake Eun Byeol?"

"Oh, that's not so hard now. You have him," Dark Yeosang pointed at San. "I guess it's time to see if you're her key too."