I'm so sorry for the ridiculous long wait. If you don't know who Ember is, go read Selfish on archiveofourown works/13518267

Also, join the discord .gg /gfRQvpw if you want to chat with me and the other people who have so greatly supported me in writing this crazy fic!

Thank you all for reading!

"MC?" Daria asked, trying to get a response out of you. "You look like you've seen a ghost"

"I think I am seeing one right now" you mumbled, your eyes darting towards the guy sitting by the window. "Are you sure he said that was his name?"

"Yeah, I thought it was rather odd." Daria said shrugging. "Do you know him?"

"Shhh-" you shushed her, realizing you may just be close enough to be within hearing distance. "Let's move seats and I'll tell you"

"O...kay" she said, hesitantly. You spotted a seat across the room and almost dragged Daria with you.

"Tell me what he told you" you said, sitting in front of her while still keeping an eye on Saeran. He didn't seem to have noticed you two had switched seats and just kept staring outside.

"I already told you. He said he was looking for a girl named MC, like you, but he described her differently."

"Why is he here?" you asked her.

"I don't know. He seemed confused and… - like he doesn't know why he's here. That, or he didn't want to tell me, but I think he's just out of it. Who knows what meds they put him on or what meds he is not on. He kept staring at his hands too, like he'd never seen them before. He's definitely on some medication"

"Did he say anything about Zen?"

"Zen? Like… the buddhism?"

"No, no, a guy named Zen" you say, clearly Saeran hadn't mentioned him. Your heart was beating faster than normal at this point - if Saeran was real, if Saeran was here, it meant you weren't crazy and Zen was real. Everything was real.

"Do you know him?" Daria asked again.

"Yes - no, well, sort of."

"What does that mean? Are you the MC he is looking for?"

"I... " you stopped. What could you tell her that wouldn't make you sound completely insane? She already knew your diagnosis included hallucinations. "I know him. Online. Online, we met online."

"Okay… oh my god, were you catfishing him? Is that why he thinks you look different than you do?"

"Not really. I mean. I… I sent some pictures and they were photoshopped" you lied. "That's not the point. We met online in a group chat that that he invited me to and now he's kind of... infatuated with me. And I'm in love with someone else."

"Does he know you're here? Is that why he's looking for you? That's… really creepy" she said, turning around to see him but quickly turning back towards you. "I mean, If he is just putting up a crazy act to get in here to find you you need to tell the nurses. That's really weird and if he's obsessed with you he could be dangerous."

"I don't know how he would know I'm in here. I think he has some… problems and it must have been a coincidence he ended up in here"

"Well, there are a lot of transient patients that come and go through here. If his problem is bad enough or he's violent, he won't be here too long" Daria said. "Are you going to tell him you're… you? I mean… the way he described you I don't think he knows what you look like. Are you sure that's even him? You didn't say anything at first."

"I don't think I should tell him it's me… " if he hadn't tried kidnapping you and drugging you, then maybe you'd have approached him. "And he looked familiar but I just… I don't know, I had never really seen him before"

"Well… Let's just hope doesn't become a problem around here." she said, taking another quick peek at him. "Why does he keep staring outside? It's like he's fascinated by the trees."

"Can you go back and talk to him?" you asked her, ignoring her comments.

"What? Why?" Daria asked. "He kind of gave me the creeps last time"

"I need to know more. I need to know how he got here."

"Ah, you want to know if he's stalking you"

"Uh… yes, basically" How is he in this dimension? But you couldn't ask her to ask him that. "But don't let him know I'm here. And don't… don't mention Zen."

"Uhm… okay. I'll see what I can find out" she said, standing up. "I'll be discreet but it may take some time."

"Daria…" you said, right after she stood up. "Just… Thank you."

"No worries" she said, playing with the ends of her hair again. It seemed like a cute thing at first but now you were thinking it may be a nervous habit.

You watched her go and start a conversation with him. She pointed at something outside the window and he looked, curiously. A little smile creeped up on the corners of his lips. A gentle smile. A shy smile. A smile that Daria probably missed entirely and only you noticed. He stood next to her - barely a few inches taller - yet he still leaned over, keeping his distance, and paying close attention to her words. He seemed so gentle, so kind, so respectful. But he kidnapped you and drugged you. It worried you that you might be putting Daria in harm's way by pushing her to talk to him... But you hoped not. More than that, you didn't think so. In the limited conversation she'd had with him he had made it clear he was looking for you. Then another thought hit you = what about your friend, Ember? When the possibility that this was all a dream you didn't really believe she was there… but now was she still in the other side? They'd taken away your phone and you didn't know her number by heart. Ugh, you felt like the worst friend in the world. But maybe…

"Hey" you said, as you approached one of the nurses "I need to make a phone call to my mom"

"Phone calls are only at the end of the week and that's if you've behaved appropriately" said one of the nurses as she arranged books in a shelve.

"Oh please, its my friends birthday. I would really hate for her to think i forgot to call her. And I just, I need to call my mom to get the number." you lied through your teeth. You hoped it was convincing enough.

"I'm sure your friend will understand if she knows you're here" the nurse said.

"She doesn't know I'm here. Please… I'd rather not tell her"

The nurse started at you unconvincingly. "Alright. Come with me"

"Thank you!" you said, excitedly. For all you knew, you wouldn't be able to reach her. And that was exactly what happened. You called your mom, she begrudgingly gave you the number, and you got Ember's voicemail. Ember, are you really in the other side? I'm sorry I didn't tell you what was going on. I hope you're ok. I hope… I hope Zen is okay.

"She didn't answer" you say to the nurse, giving her back the phone.

"I don't think you'll get this chance again" she said, taking the phone back.

"I appreciate it. I left her a voicemail." you say, walking back to the common room. As soon as you walked in, you looked across the room and saw that Saeran and Daria were still chatting. You had started to read a magazine - or at least pretended to read. Your thoughts were racing more than ever since Saeran had shown up and you couldn't stop thinking about Zen and the baby. And the blood in your sheets. It had only been a little blood. And everyone kept telling you you weren't pregnant. But you knew what you had seen. You'd seen that little heartbeat. You'd seen Zen look at it with glowing eyes and a smile from ear to ear. You knew it in your heart that it was there.

"Medication time!" you heard over the speaker. Medication. No. You had to figure out a way not to take it. You didn't need it. What was happening to you was real and this could very well be keeping you from traveling to the other side. But they couldn't know you weren't taking it or they'd keep you here longer. You were going to have to fake it.

As you did the line behind the other patients, you saw Daria telling Saeran to walk with her and they lined up behind the last person, sadly, not close enough to you to let you eavesdrop on their conversation. From the look of them, it seemed friendly enough - she looked as outgoing as she had been when she first approached you and he looked shy but happy to be talking to her.

"Next" you heard the nurse call as you approached the medication window. She gave you a little plastic cup with a couple of pills in them.

"I was only taking one before" you said.

"Let me check your chart" the nurse replied. "Seems like you weren't having any side effects with your previous dosage so the doctor increased it." two pills now.

"Uhm… okay" two pills. Two pills to pretend to take. Alright. You tossed them into your mouth and quickly pushed them to the space between your cheek and your teeth. Luckily they were small enough that they wouldn't be obvious. You smile at the nurse after and gave her back the cup.

"Next" you heard her call out. That was easy. Now what. Where to toss the pills before they'd dissolve in your mouth. You saw a sign that said "No restroom breaks 30 minutes after receiving your medications" Of course. And you were sure if you spit them out somewhere they'd find them. But would they know they were yours?. You figured you had to risk it and you couldn't think of any other options at the moment. You went back to the chair you were sitting at, grabbed the magazine, and spit out the tiny pills onto the corner of the chair, in between the cushions. I'm going to get caught. You knew, but it was either this or taking the meds. You thought of your baby and spit out the second pill. You desperately wanted to go back to the other dimension but if it happened here you'd have to limit your time there or they'd increase your medication again or worse - switch you to something that may be more difficult to avoid to take.

A few hours later and a group therapy session, you were taken back to your room. You laid awake on your bed for hours, unable to sleep. How is Saeran here? Could Zen come here? Is Saeran going to go back to the other dimension like me? Are they going to notice I didn't take my medication? Questions like these plagued you and kept you awake almost all night.

The next day, it was the same thing again. You asked Daria about Saeran but she said it seemed it was a coincidence that he was here. Apparently he had some sort of memory loss because his name was not on any registries and they couldn't figure out who he was. They had been trying him on some different medications which seemed to stabilize his mood. He could remember his childhood which had been very abusive and he kept avoiding talk of Rika or MC. She told him little of her own story, trying to dig into his past but she had to spoonfed him questions to get him to talk.

"I should be out in a little over a week" Daria said. "I'm not sure 11 days is enough time to get him to trust me enough to tell me if he's really here looking for you"

"11 days?" you said, a chuckle escaped you. "11 days should be plenty of time"

"I'll do my best. Tomorrow we should be allowed out to the patio." Daria said. "Once you're here for about 5 days and appear stable, they let you out. The garden is actually quite nice"

"I'm sure he'd love that." you said, remembering how Saeran liked plants.

"Oh I'm sure he would. He seems to love plants… So did Tom" she said, mindlessly. "I know a lot about plants because of him. I'm sure I could tell him a thing or two" she said, getting up. "I'll let you know if I uncover anything"

"Do your thing" you said. At this point, you were sending Daria to him mostly to keep him distracted. You still didn't feel it was safe for him to know you were MC. You saw her go and stared at them for as long as you could. You still didn't get caught throwing away your medication so you continued doing the same thing. Therapy. Magazine. Sleep. Rinse and repeat. Despite how much it shocked you that you hadn't gotten caught, you figure it was still just a matter of time before you did.

About 2 days later, they let Saeran and Daria out to the garden. You'd asked, and they said you were fine to go out as well, but you decided to stay indoors. You could watch them walk around the garden and Daria would point out the different flowers and Saeran would point out some other ones. You didn't think Daria cared anymore about finding out what you asked but rather she was enjoying Saeran's company, even if her eyes still had sadness behind them. Everyday you saw her finding him in the common room and head outside. This went on almost everyday without much chance until she sat across from you the day before she was due to get out.

"I'm leaving tomorrow" she said, sitting across from you.

"I know" you said, playing with a recent issue of the magazine you'd been reading. "Did he tell you anything else about me?" you finally asked. You barely knew Daria so you didn't want to pressure her regularly into revealing the personal details of her days with Saeran.

"He's… he is special" she said, looking at the floor. "He hasn't really mentioned you much. The first few days he said he was looking for you but we haven't really discussed you" she said, playing with her hair. "I tried my best to ask him how he got here and it seems like he overdose? I'm not sure on what, he called it elixir but I'm not familiar with that drug… I think you should just tell him its you. I don't think he knows you're here and I don't think he's stalking you."

"I don't know. He can be kind of obsessive sometimes" you say, looking around to make sure no one heard you.

"Maybe a little. Believe me, I know what being obsessive means. It's kind of why I am here, isn't it?" she said, pulling down the sleeves on her sweater, as if to cover her wounds better. "I don't know. At first I thought he might have multiple personality disorder or something like that but maybe he was just going through mood swings from the meds. It seems to have settled now. He's… he's very sweet and he's had a really hard life. I wish I could… I wish I could…" she said, not finding the right words to express herself, ending with her smiling, defeated. "This is going to sound odd but I've known love. I've been lucky enough to know what true love is and he's just been abandoned and hurt so many times I wish I could just open his eyes and show him how amazing love is. How amazing it is to have someone who understands you, who loves you no matter what" she closed her eyes and held her arms to her chest, as if trying to keep still her beating heart. "I always thought that everyone has experienced love at some point - your mother's love, your girlfriend, your wife, your children… but he's never had any of it and it breaks my heart but… he is still looking and it is amazing to me. I can see that despite all the hurt he is still hopeful that someday he will find it. He is… quite the opposite of me. I've known the greatest love and since its like my heart has shut down. He has known no love and his heart's still beating" she said, wiping a tear from her cheek. "I'm sorry. I'm rambling."

"No, no, its okay" you say, handing her a tissue from the tissue box nearby. These boxes seemed to be everywhere. "So… why don't you show him what love is?" you say, almost smiling.

"Don't be silly" she says, making a little ball of the tissue. "I just told you I wish I could but my heart is shut down"

"I don't know. You're feeling compassion and sympathy towards him. Those are feelings that come from the heart. You might not be as shut down as you think you are" she frowned at your comment.

"Oh, its not- Hey!" she said, and you turned around to see who had walked over to you from behind, only to find Saeran standing there. "This is a friend" she said, pointing at you.

"Hello" you say, your voice shaky.

"Hey, I'm Saeran" he said, standing by the back of your chair.

"I'm… MC" you said as you stared at him. He turned his head sideways and furrowed his brow, as if trying to understand a different language.

"MC?"

"Yes" you say, giving him your most innocent smile.

"MC" he said again.

"Yes" you repeated.

He stared at you intensely, as if trying to look at your soul through your eyes. You wondered if he'd ask you something that would force you to confirm whatever his suspicions were.

"Zen's MC?" he asked, and that you did not expect. If you said yes, he would know it was you. If you said no… could you really say no? Could you deny Zen?

"Yes" you said, your words almost a whisper. Perhaps it was just time that he knew you were here.

"I see" he said. His exterior calm and controlled. "Daria, do you mind if we go for a walk?"

"Uhm, yeah of course" she said, a bit wide eyed. You looked at her with a look of I don't know but she headed out with Saeran anyways. You stayed sitting there, as if you had not just told the guy who had kidnapped you who you were. You looked out the window and soon enough you spotted Saeran and Daria walking through the garden. She nodded yes to a few of his comments and you could see him talking more than he normally did. When you had stared at them through the window she had led most of the conversation. You saw him hug her and she let him, but she did not hug him back. Not at first. After a few seconds, she gently placed her hands in his arms. They continued to talk after and you hated to admit it, but your own mind wandered off into other things and you lost sight of them.

About half an hour later, Saeran went back into the common room alone and sat across from you.

"So… I am sure you have questions for me" he said.

"Yes…" you said, after taking a deep breath.

"Why did you not approach me before if you knew it was me?" he asked.

"You drugged me and kidnapped me. I wasn't enthusiastic about approaching you" you said, looking away from him. Your tone was quiet but matter-of-fact.

"Did you tell her… that?" he asked.

"No, but I told her that I thought you might be stalking me and that's why you were here"

"I see." he said, looking down. "I am here because of you. Not here in this place, but rather here in this… plane of existence"

"How did you get here?" you asked him.

"I'm not quite sure. I took too much of the elixir perhaps or the recipe wasn't right."

"What do you mean?"

"Listen, you disappeared, okay?" he said, as if trying to explain. "I took you and you disappeared. I gave you the elixir, very little of it, and diluted, and you disappeared. I thought… I thought the elixir finally worked and maybe it had taken you to paradise and if I could be there with you I would not have to compete with Zen anymore"

"That's not…" you started to say but he interrupted you.

"I know what I did was wrong. I took you from the person you loved because I wanted you to love me instead… I thought if you just gave me a chance you could love me. I made you for me"

"Listen, Saeran, I don't-"

"Wait, let me finish" he insisted. You stayed quiet again and waved at him to continue. "After being here I realize there is no paradise and no one is made for one person. I don't know where we are and I don't know if I'll ever be able to get back… but I'm not sure I want to. I think… I think I might have found my own paradise" he said, his eyes darting out of the window and to the garden. You followed his eyes and looked out of the window again, only to find Daria curled up under a tree. "I was wrong to think that was you and that I had some sort of right to have you. I'm sorry." he said, looking back at you.

"Listen, Saeran, I… I appreciate the apology. I accept your apology, even. But I still think you need help and this might just be the right place for you." His eyes darted towards the girl sitting under the tree in the garden. You couldn't help but wonder that you had put her in this position by pushing her to talk to him. Was he just clinging onto the first person who had shown him some kindness? Maybe. Or maybe Daria was just the kind of person he needed and he was what she needed. You wanted to tell him it was too soon and that he shouldn't be so attached to her so quickly, but who were you to judge? You had fallen for Zen is just as many days and it hadn't even been real interaction, like what they had. "Have you been back?" you asked, scared of his answer.

"Back?"

"To your plane" you asked. "Have you slept at all?"

"Uh… I have slept but I haven't been back" he said "why?"

"When I go to the other dimension I am sort of sleeping in this one" you tell him. "I don't know how to get back"

"So how do you go back and forth?" he asked.

"I have no idea. I just know sometimes I fall asleep and I'm there" you admit

"So you have no control over how you go there?" he asked "Maybe… maybe if I make you some elixir you can go back"

"I've never been able to sleep there and wake up there" you say. "Whenever I fall asleep there I return. If you make me the elixir, you think I'll be able to stay there longer?"

"It's possible but I… I don't think I can go back" he said

"Why not?"

"Because I'm... pretty sure I died."

That night, you thought about Saeran's words. Had he really died in his dimension and that's why he was here for good? Was that a side effect of 'traveling' with the elixir? You thought about Zen as you rolled to your side on the bed and hoped he was doing alright. That his play was alright. That Seven was alright… you hated not knowing. You couldn't help it as an overwhelming need to vent and cry took over you in the darkness of your room. As you curled up into a ball you wondered if they knew that Saeran was here. If he had died in the other dimension… did they just think he was dead? Was Saeyoung handling it well? You closed your eyes and clutched yourself in your bed as you slowly drifted into sleep.

The next morning, a nurse came into your room to draw some blood work. She said it was routine and they wanted to check some of your levels. That afternoon Daria approached you to say goodbye and begged you to keep an eye on Saeran.

"He's… he's fragile. Just keep an eye on him please" she beckoned you. You agreed and later watched them from the window say goodbye. He had very gently kissed her cheek before she walked away and hugged an older woman - you assumed her mother but weren't sure.

"MC?" a nurse said, as she approached you. "The psychiatrist would like to see you"

She took you to a small office in which the doctor sat behind a desk. He asked you questions about your eating habits, sleep patterns, and mood swings. You told you you had cried the night before and you'd had some bleeding - too little to be your period but noticeable nonetheless. He made a note of it. He told you your pregnancy hormone was still higher than normal but they expected to see that. He asked you if you still believed you were pregnant and you said no. He asked you if you were taking your medications and you said yes.

"But see, the levels of the medication you're supposed to be taking are not there at all." he said, showing you your lab results. "You're a smart girl. Why aren't you taking the medication?"

That was it. You finally got caught.

"I just… I think I am doing ok. I don't think I need it" you say, trying to sound coherent when your hands were shaking.

"I can't even begin to explain to you the problem of a psychiatric patient in a mental care facility not taking their medication because they think they're fine without it. Does that sound good to you?"

"But I really am feeling better. I haven't had any episodes. I lived without those medications my entire life"

"You need this medication to prevent those episodes. You don't react to benzos the way most people do. There is no way to pull you out of those catatonic episodes. We're just going to have to give you the medication IV"

"What?"

"We'll just do an infusion of the medication while you're here and then if we see you're being compliant by the time you leave we'll order some IM shots you'll have to have by your doctor's office. I'm going to recommend you stay here for at least another month until we see how you're doing."

"No. No please. I… I don't want to stay here and I don't want to take this medication. I don't need it. I am doing fine without it" you try to say in a coherent voice but you knew you were not doing a good job at it. Your voice was panicky and your hands were shaky.

"That's the end of the discussion. Please go back to your room and they'll give you your medication there"

"No, no, please." you pleaded, but the nurse came over and grabbed your arm, helping you out of the chair.

"Come now sweetie, we don't want you to have those episodes, you need to take your medication."

"No, I can't, I can't take this medication. Please" you begged, as she walked you out of the doctor's office. You couldn't help but begin to cry as she led you to your room and advised you to wait there.

"Here, I'll give you something for the nerves" she said "it'll make you feel less anxious about taking the medication."

"No, I don't want even more medication, please" you begged.

"Well, then you're just going to have to let me do the IV on you"

"No, please, please"

"Doctor's orders honey. Please don't be difficult or we'll have to sedate you before doing the IV"

"I can't, no, please. Don't give me the medication. I won't have an episode, I know I won't. Or just give me the pills again, I'll take the pills, please" you begged, crying, but the nurse wouldn't budge - it was her job to ultimately follow the doctors orders and you knew she couldn't do much about it. In the end, you let her put the IV in your arm despite your attempts and she pushed the medication in. You felt your heart break - was this medication going to keep you from returning to the other dimension? Was your baby going to be okay with these meds?.

When she was done giving you the medication, you laid on your bed, exhausted. Exhausted from crying, from pleading, from being stuck in this place, missing Zen, and everything that had been accumulating in your mind. It just wasn't what you expected your life would be like. Being with Zen had been more wonderful than anything you could have imagined but at the same time it had come with complications that you could have never foreseen.

You passed out eventually. You had developed a pounding headache from crying which you hoped would improved if you slept but still, you weren't able to control when you eventually passed out.

You woke up in the middle of the night, sweating. You felt you were asphyxiating in your clothes and felt like you hadn't drank any water in years. You felt nauseous immediately after waking up and crawled out of the bed in the dark to the restroom. But the walls seemed oddly farther away from the end of your bed for some reason. You were dizzy, lightheaded, and completely disoriented. You eventually found the bathroom and hurled over to throw up. You felt an intense cramp from your lower abdomen and found blood between your legs. No. no. no, please. You crawled to the wall from the toilet and used it as support when you stood up. You found the light switch and hit it but nothing happened. You hit it on and off again but the lights wouldn't come on. You opened the water faucet and no water came out. What is happening?. You walked outside the bathroom and looked around - this wasn't your bedroom in the mental health facility. This was… this was the room at magenta. Your eyes opened wide, trying to adjust to the lack of light. It was nighttime and the curtains were closed. You walked to the window and open them to let the moonlight in. It didn't make a big difference but at least you could see around. Where you alone? Another sharp pang on your lower abdomen made you bend over. No, please. You looked for your phone, a phone, anything, but found nothing. How were you going to get out of here? You walked out to the hallway and yelled out.

"Anyone out here? Please" you yelled out again, breathing heavy as you held onto the doorway frame. You ventured out slowly and yelled out again for someone but no one showed up. Fuck, fuck, fuck. You had no idea what the address to this place was even if you found a phone and you knew you were out in the middle of nowhere. You walked down the hallway with your arm around your abdomen, as if it would do anything to alleviate the pain… but it didn't,

"Help" you yelled out again before collapsing to your knees. You started to panic - what if no one found you, would you have to venture that forest by yourself until you found someone? You stood up again and found a staircase. Carefully you made your way down and found some yellow "do not cross" police tape on the main door. Saeran said he died. Are they investigating his death? You yelled out one more time into the huge house without getting a response. You tore through the yellow tape and stepped outside the magenta.

The wind was cool and the night was clear enough outside that you were able to see without any lights. You yelled out again outside and walked towards the only discernible path that lead away from the mansion. You were stumbling from the dizziness and the pain almost made your vision blurry but you did your best to avoid falling. You saw a car parked behind some trees and walked towards it, still watching your steps as carefully as you could. From afar you were able to see there was someone in the car, lying down, likely sleeping, on the passenger side of the vehicle. You knocked on the window until the person woke up - a matted mess of blonde hair and bags under his eyes.

"Yoosung!" you almost screamed in relief.

"MC?" he said, with a groggy voice until he realized it was you. "MC!" he said, as he regained more consciousness.

"Yoosung, please. You have to take me to a hospital. Now." you begged him, relief washing over you.

"What? What happened? Are you okay?" he said, stepping out of the car.

"Just… hospital, please. I'm so glad you're here. Why are you here?" you asked, leaning against the side of the car while he opened the passenger seat door for you.

"I was waiting for you. Zen had been staying out here until we talked him into letting us take turns until you came back. He was reluctant at first but he finally agreed when he had to go to rehearsals." he said, as he helped you buckle on your seatbelt. You laid on the passenger seat and rested your head on the back. You felt like everything was spinning.

"Is Zen on a play today?" you ask, trying your hardest to stay awake. Yoosung had started the car and was effectively driving away from magenta.

"He is on a play, yes. He should be out now actually. Let me call him."

"Please" you begged him.

He dialed the phone in the car but Zen didn't pick up.

"He'll call back eventually. He's usually hyperaware of us when we're covering for him out here"

"That sounds just like him" you say, taking deep breaths to avoid the nausea.

"We'll get to the hospital in a few minutes MC" Yoosung said, driving faster. You could only assume you seemed sickly and you couldn't tell if Yoosung had noticed your bleeding. When you arrived at the hospital, Yoosung excused himself to call Zen again. As soon as you saw the doctor you thanked your stars it was a woman. You explained what you were feeling and mentioned the bleeding. She ordered an ultrasound and blood work. A few minutes later, Yoosung came back saying Zen was on his way here and should be there shortly. A tech showed up to take you to ultrasound and you told Yoosung you'd see him in a few minutes.

"There's still a heartbeat Miss" the tech said, showing you the screen of the ultrasound. "There isn't a lot of bleeding either but I understand you were feeling scared" he said. You finally felt like you could breathe again. "That's not to say that you're out of the woods, but I'll let the doctor talk to you about the rest"

You nodded profusely but couldn't help feeling like you could finally relax, at least for now. Like Yoosung said, a few minutes later, Zen finally arrived. He saw you and rushed to your side, climbing onto the side of the bed you were in and holding you against to his chest. You could tell he had been frantic on his way here.

"I'm fine. I'm fine. We're fine" you say, trying to calm him down.

"Princess…" he managed to say, but it was as if he was at a loss for words.

"We're fine. We're fine" you kept repeating, trying to convince him. Trying to convince yourself.

"I'm gonna step outside for a few" said Yoosung. You thanked him again before he found his way out and left you alone with Zen. Zen managed to lay in the bed next to you and protectively put his arms around you. He smelled of that citrus aroma that you had grown to love and expect from him. It was the most amazing scent. He had buried his nose in your hair and you wondered if you were as intoxicating to him as he was to you. You couldn't imagine that that was the case.

"So much has happened since the last time you were here" Zen said

"Tell me" you reply

"Saeran is dead. He took too much of that elixir and… well, Luciel is taking it very hard"

"He's not dead. He is in my dimension now." you add. "Is Ember still here?"

"What?" Zen asks. "Yes, I met Ember, but I'm sorry, what?"

"Yeah… Saeran is in my dimension now" you tell him. "I am not sure how but he is there... seemingly permanently" Zen was quiet for a few minutes until he asked you.

"If I take that elixir and die, would I be in your dimension permanently?"