Ship/Member: Minghao/Vernon
Major Tags: N/A
Additional Tags: time travel & dimension jumping (if you think too hard about the mechanics it'll probably fall apart lol)
Permission to remix: Yes

***

His mom tells him Love is your anchor. Minghao doesn’t realize how literally she means it until he ends up crossing time and dimensions and lands on Hansol as a starting point each and every time.

Love comes in all sorts of forms, he concludes. And it only makes sense that Hansol, who’d listened intently when Minghao had casually told him over Sunday lunch that yes, his family is made up of time travelers and dimension hoppers, sometimes both at the same time ends up being a point of familiarity in all his misadventures.

As much as Minghao wishes he can, he isn’t able to control it.

“We can hang out and chill if you find me wherever you end up,” Hansol says, and Minghao keeps him in the dark of just how many times he’s taken Hansol up on the offer.

The Hansol in this reality is a little older than the ones Minghao is used to meeting. He’s seen older, maybe once, but he’s travelled too infrequently for him to make sense of patterns, if any, and he honestly wishes he doesn’t ever need to.

“Hey, I figured it out,” stranger Hansol says.

Minghao tilts his head, watches as Hansol’s fingers deftly rotate the pieces of the Rubik’s Cube he holds in his hands. Flip, flip, flip until it stops. Twenty seconds, just about. Not good enough, if the way Hansol heaves out a heavy breath is any indication.

“Okay, that was a bad one.”

“Have we met before?” Minghao asks.

It’s a long shot, because time isn’t the only variable he needs to keep track of.

Hansol quirks a brow. “Don’t think so,” he answers easily. “But a stray Xu Minghao is still a Xu Minghao, so.”

Minghao shrugs. It’s the only thing he can do, considering. He acts how he always does, normal, comfortable, because panic helps no one and he’s never been turned away by any Hansols thus far.

“You managed to do it faster than mine did,” Minghao offers.

“Yours,” Hansol repeats, chuckling. “Where are you from?”

Time isn’t the only variable he needs to keep track of, but it’s the only one he does, because it takes way too much time to go through all the things he did different. Not unless it’s staring him in the face.

“I’m twenty-two.”

“You’re young,” Hansol says, stressing the word, “and yours is younger.”

That, and also the fact that it’s a recent obsession. Hansol came to show Minghao his random purchase two weeks back. Minghao, not a fan of fads, told him that he’d get sick of it in less than a week.

He’s yet to throw the thing out, if only to prove Minghao wrong.

“I think he’ll get good at it.”

“You mean,” Hansol brings his palm up to his chin, “like me?”

A glint under the light, a silver band on Hansol’s ring finger. Minghao couldn’t move his gaze away from it since the moment he got here.

His Hansol isn’t a fan of embellishments.

“Like you,” Minghao agrees, “or even better.”

Hansol hums in concurrence. “You want something to drink?”

The cup Hansol pours his tea in comes from a china set Minghao remembers bookmarking on his phone to save for later. Promising. But Hansol had called him young, and the tea set is something from Minghao’s own time, so maybe Hansol had taken it out as a form of remembrance.

The choice of tea isn’t one Minghao is familiar with.

He stares down at the drink, scrunching up his face. Hansol laughs but doesn’t comment.



-



It’s not his shortest trip, not by far, but it’s short enough for Minghao to know that he won’t be missing out on any life-altering events in his own time, and for that he’s thankful.

The room starts to fade out. Minghao places the cup on the saucer before it falls involuntarily, the same time Hansol loops his hand around the ceramic, his ring cold to the touch.

Hansol lifts his hand up in a small wave.

Minghao clears his throat and asks, “Am I still in your life?”

He’s not supposed to, he knows. Hansol is a constant in his traveling, but Minghao realized early on that Minghao isn’t a fixture in Hansol’s. Going through a lifelong list of wrong decisions is an impossible task, and Hansol, his Hansol, had wrapped his fingers around his wrist and told him to stop obsessing.

“Who cares what he did there,” Hansol had said, matter-of-fact. “You’re here.”

And that’s true, of course it’s true, but sometimes Minghao sees a world of potentially good decisions, and he wants to know if they’re his, if he ever makes it there.

But Hansol, this Hansol, his Hansol, is good at keeping promises. And if Minghao falters in his promise to never ask, Hansol keeps his oath to never tell.

Instead, he just shakes his head in disbelief and laughs.

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Minghao hears him say.



-



He comes back to the fancy restaurant he left about an hour back.

Hansol is sitting across him, bored out of his mind. Minghao’s plate is empty despite him not having a bite. Hansol has probably eaten his share; his own way of getting payback for Minghao flaking halfway through a date, however involuntary.

He’s playing with the Rubik’s Cube in his hands, movement slow and unpracticed.

“Welcome back,” Hansol says when he sees him.

Much to Hansol’s surprise, Minghao grabs Hansol’s left hand and splays it under the light. He keeps it there for a while.

“What?”

Minghao turns to look at him. “There’s something I want to see.”

Hansol’s brows furrow. He wiggles his fingers. “Here?”

Minghao smiles at him. “It doesn’t count unless it happens here, I think.”



-



i'm sorry if this wasn't quite what you imagined it to be, but i hope you enjoyed the fill as much as i had fun writing it :)

vernon playing rubik's cube on his own while the rest of sebong were partying and singing karaoke on ttt always makes me lol
ty so much for your kind words <3

i'm glad you like it!
tbh i know nothing abt arcane and was worried that this fill will feel Misguided but the quote had me thinking thoughts hehe
also since svt always wear their friendship rings it made me think of wedding bands
thank you so much for commenting <3

aaaaaa omg ty for the sub ;-; and i'm really glad you enjoyed the fill i was very nervous haha
and yes, i've a lot of time on my hands and some prompts are making my brain tingle so i'll definitely be hanging here for a bit !
tysm for your kind words and for taking the time to comment <3