IMB 2012: Guardian of Dreams
Title: Guardian of Dreams
Pairing/Focus:Woohyun/Sunggyu
Rating:PG-13
Summary:Sunggyu's dreams are invaded by horrible things that become all too real. He wakes with from a nightmare to enter the life that is turning into one. He can only hope for someone to save him from these things.
Final word count: 9,230
The very typical story of good and bad has been a long and tiring one. Good, bad, right, wrong... all of these have existed for as long as human consciousness has existed There have also been those that defend the good from the bad, the evil that seems non-existent but is as real as the dreams that fill sleep. It happens, but it becomes hard and almost impossible to describe.
Those that protect others from their dreams have also had their existence for a very long time. Guardians of Dreams, they have become few in number but increasingly powerful in accordance to the demons. These ghouls simply haunted dreams, bringing nightmares to those unfortunate enough to be caught in their clutches, stealing the energy they were to replenish in the restful hours of sleep, slowly killing their victims.
In time they developed the ability to harm those that dream, forcing the Guardians to train themselves to expel these demons for good. The time when a Guardian's mere presence was enough to chase out the demons became outdated. As the world became more polluted with hatred and unnatural death, these ghouls became bigger in number and stronger, their strength continuing to reach new, different and always more dangerous extremes.
∞
Sunggyu stared in awe at the house that he hadn't seen in years. He wanted to smile, to revel if only slightly, on the memories that his grandparent's house brought him, but there was a feeling he wasn't very familiar with, a nagging feeling at the back of his mind. He looked around cautiously. He was almost expecting something, anything to jump out at him in the seemingly peaceful, deserted street.
Where is everyone?
He swallowed a bit thickly before turning to the house before him. He was a little surprised to see the house had changed drastically. The windows were boarded up, the house itself had white paint peeling off, revealing the raw and beat up boards underneath. The door was wide open, revealing a dark entryway. Before he realized it, he was already standing on the porch, squinting his eyes in an attempt to catch a glimpse of something inside. He was a little startled when he saw something scurry from one side to the other. It was beyond the reach of the light but he had been able to catch a quick look. He wasn't about to go inside so he stepped back before freezing at the sudden moan that wafted from inside. He felt the hair on the back of his neck stand.
“Grandma?” he asked wearily.
He didn't like the sinking feeling he was experiencing at the moment when all possible thoughts of what could be wrong crossed his mind. Another moan, this one longer and filled with pain, reached his ears and before he could stop himself again he quickly went inside.
“Grandma?” he asked again, panic lacing his voice, “Are you okay? Where are you?”
It was pitch black inside and he couldn't see anything. He turned back, wondering why the light filtering in wasn't any help at all, only to find nothing but more darkness. The door was gone. Another moan and he felt goosebumps break on his skin. It had sounded a lot closer this time. He swallowed. His earlier bravado had dissipated and he felt completely vulnerable. He couldn't see anything and, no matter how wide he opened his eyes, the only thing that he could see was black. He began to panic, waving his arms around in a desperate attempt to find something, anything, that he could hold onto. A light turned on down the hall the moment he found a wall to stand against.
Is that the-the basement...?
He glanced around himself quickly, too afraid to really inspect his surroundings. He didn't want to see anyone standing around eerily in the dark. He walked forward slowly, his steps light, with bated breath.
“Grandma...?” he called out again, but not nearly as loud as before, just a mere whisper.
He was at the threshold, about ready to peek inside when something big and heavy fell from the entry way to his feet. He let out a yell and fell back, completely startled. Fear multiplied in him when he noticed it moving.
“Sunggyu...?”
His breath hitched and fear climbed up his neck and into the back of his skull. It was a body, a pile of long hair, bones and rotting flesh, crawling and leaving a trail of peeling skin behind it.
“Sunggyu...!” it said again as it reached its bony fingers out for him.
∞
Myungsoo watched from the kitchen as his older brother, Sunggyu, practically trudged into the apartment.
“Oh God, I'm tired,” Sunggyu complained to no one in particular as he plopped himself on the couch, taking up the entirety of it.
Sunggyu didn't think he would have enough energy to make it to his own room. He had been completely fine most of the day until he decided to take a nap during his shift at work. He was the manager of a small convenience store a couple of blocks down the apartment complex. He was very strict on himself about taking advantage of the position he was in, but an unbelievable sleepiness had completely taken over him while he was working on the store's midday cut. He hadn't even realized when his head hit the desk. All he knew was that he had, thankfully, awoken a while later by loud knocks to the door of his office.
He ran his hands down his face in a failed attempt to liven himself up. The dream had rattled him up more than he had wanted to admit. He groaned soon after when he realized his body was not going to co-operate with him.
“What's wrong?” he heard his younger brother ask.
He didn't even bother cracking an eye open.
“Tired,” he slurred.
Myungsoo bit his lower lip, concerned over the way the older male was acting, “Are you hungry?”
“Kind of.”
“...I made some beef and fried rice if you want some. There's enough for Dongwoo-hyung too.”
“Ok... let me just... take a quick shower.”
Myungsoo's brows furrowed further when his brother stood from the couch and lumbered off to the bedroom they shared. He had seen him in that state before, and it was usually when inventory was being taken... and that happened in the middle of the night just the night before. He shook his head and decided to leave it alone. He had some homework he needed to tackle and he refused to use up all of his afternoon to do it.
It was around eight o'clock in the evening when Sunggyu finally decided to call it a night. The shower had helped a little bit, but after a while he felt the tiredness of the day start to crawl over him again.
“What's wrong with Gyu?” Dongwoo, asked the younger male.
The other shrugged, his fingers tapping the console controller on his lap, “He's been like that since he got home... He said he probably didn't sleep well because he slept on the couch last night.”
“Oh, he had inventory last night, didn't he?”
Myungsoo nodded.
Sunggyu landed on his bed and a comfortable hum left his mouth. He didn't bother with changing into his usual oversized basketball shorts. He didn't even bother pulling back the covers so that he could cocoon himself in the warmth when the apartment would get really cold in the middle of the night. Despite all of that, his bed had never felt so heavenly. He wrapped his arms around his fluffy pillow and laid his head on it, sleep claiming him unnaturally quickly. But his sleep was not restful.
Myungsoo sighed as he went to bed later that night. He noted that Sunggyu had simply thrown himself onto the bed. He hadn't even bothered with laying properly, his feet were dangling in midair. He decided to leave him alone. Hopefully after having a proper good night's sleep, he'd be his usual self the next day.
But Myungsoo fell asleep before he could take notice of Sunggyu's sudden tossing.
Sunggyu had always thought it amazing to be able to connect dreams, but it was the last thing he wanted when he realized he was in the same house with only a light illuminating the basement entryway.
Not again... oh God. Maybe if I just stay here...
His brown, attentive eyes didn't leave the door. They were wide, too scared to close them and at the same time, too afraid to keep them open. After a moment or two of no movement, no noise, he moved forward, taking the same light steps he had before.
Please don't be there. Please don't be there.
He chanted it like a mantra, like if he said it enough times it would work. By all means it should have. It was a dream after all. He should have been able to control it.
He should have taken the sinking feeling in his stomach as a gut instinct. As soon as he looked in, the same body landed in front of him. It still scared him and he still yelled and fell like before, but that was as far as the similarities went. He pushed himself back, trying to gain distance between them. His breath hitched when, instead of dragging itself like before, it got up on all fours.
“Sunggyu. Sunggyu I'm here,” it said as it began to crawl after him and reach out desperately, the rotting flesh flying off with its movements.
“Get away! Get away! Oh God, help!” he yelled instinctively.
As soon as the words left his mouth, he felt something press up against his back and he felt his body run cold. A dark, deep, and ominous breathing turned chuckle brushed against his ear. He didn't turn, he couldn't. He couldn't move an inch and that thing was still crawling towards him.
“God can't help you here...” a fleeting whisper that he probably wouldn't have caught if it hadn't been whispered in his ear.
The corpse reached him and almost like a snake, slithered up to his face. The disgusting, half peeled face peered down at him. He couldn't tell if it was grinning or if it was the skull that was showing through.
“Let me have yours...” it whispered.
He let out a startled yelp when its bony and sharp fingers began to claw at his face.
“I want your face. Let me have it!” it yelled, its voice changing into a deeper, desperate and menacing one.
He tried to thrash around, to throw it away but he was completely frozen in place, the cold of the thing behind him seeping into him, making hot fear cloud his brain. He yelled when he felt his skin break and the blood began to flow down into his face. He felt a hard pull and pain shot through him.
∞
He was pushing vehemently against the mattress when his eyes flew open. He looked around in a panic, his eyes trying to find the... thing that had been tearing his face off in his dream, only grounding himself when he caught a glimpse of Myungsoo sound asleep on the other bed.
He let out a deep, shaky breath, letting his body fall onto the mattress before pushing himself into a sitting position. He noticed he was sweating despite the temperature of the air around him and he absentmindedly wiped at it with his shirt. He let out another sigh, letting the stress of the nightmare leave him with the heave and a shake of his head. He felt thirsty and after a moment of thought, he decided to get himself some water. Not without turning on some lights on the way to the kitchen.
Nights continued on like that. He hardly had any sleep in the passing week. He figured it was just a phase. He'd get over it eventually. There had been times when he'd have nightmares consecutively for a couple of days before they disappeared. He was holding on to that thread of hope by the end of the first week. He hadn't had much sleep and his body wasn't keeping up.
He tried to hide it. The last thing he wanted was for Myungsoo to worry about his older brother who was supposed to be taking care of him. What would he think if he found out his brother was losing sleep over nightmares? But Sunggyu wasn't sure how much he could take. Not only was he only sleeping an average of three to four hours a day but sleep was no longer coming to him. He was becoming an insomniac on top of it all.
∞
It was four in the morning and Sunggyu was sitting in the living room with the t.v. on. It was on mute but it wasn't that it was on because he was watching it. He simply didn't want to be in the dark. He stared absentmindedly at the coffee table that was in front of him. He was so out of it that he didn't hear or notice Dongwoo come out of his room.
“Hey, what are you doing up?” Dongwoo asked when he saw Sunggyu seated on the couch.
He was on his way to the bathroom but the flickering light caught his attention. As far as he knew, no one but him should have been up at that ungodly hour. When he received no response he wondered if the man had fallen asleep there. When he approached him he noticed that his eyes were open and unblinking.
“Gyu? Hey, are you alright?” he placed a hand on his shoulder.
Sunggyu jumped, turning to see who it had been and visibly relaxing when he caught sight of his younger friend. It was then when Dongwoo noticed the incredibly deep bags under his eyes and his pale skin.
“God, Sunggyu what's wrong with you? You look horrible,” he said as he squeezed his shoulder.
He quickly withdrew his hand when the other let out a small pained noise at the gesture. Sunggyu seemed to have come back to life at that moment. He pulled the shirt off his shoulder and a gasp escaped both of them. He had a dark purple bruise in the form of a hand clearly marked against his pale skin.
“How the hell did you get that?!” the blond asked as he leaned down a bit to examine it.
Sunggyu's mind raced and his dream came to mind. He had been handed over to various horrible ghouls in his dream and each had left their imprint in the form of a hit before they decided to torture him. He lifted his shirt, desperately hoping not to find any more but to his dismay, a myriad of bruises marked his skin.
“Oh my God,” he whispered before stumbling back against the couch.
“What the fuck, Sunggyu!? What is all that? How did you get that??” Dongwoo asked, his voice rising a couple of octaves when he saw the look of pure panic settle on the other's features.
Sunggyu was at a loss for words. How? Why? He was on the verge of crying. First all those nightmares, then his loss of sleep, then small body aches and now bruises? Actual fucking bruises? Tears began to fall from his eyes before he could stop them. How was he supposed to deal with that? How in the world was he supposed to keep calm when his dreams were causing him bruises?
“Sunggyu! Sunggyu tell me what's going on. What's wrong?” Dongwoo asked, climbing onto the couch and taking hold of him.
Dongwoo's heart clenched and worry filled his being when he felt the sobs begin to leave the suddenly frail body he was holding. The blond only held him tighter, rubbing soothing circles against his back, hoping he wasn't disturbing a bruise as he did so. He resisted the urge to sob along with him. He didn't know what was going on and it scared him to think of what kind of things Sunggyu could have gotten himself into.
“It's okay, it's okay,” he whispered and soon enough the shuddering sobs turned into hiccups.
“Tell me what's wrong,” he tried again and this time, between broken sobs and sporadic hiccups, Sunggyu told him his nightmares, when they started and what they were doing to him.
Dongwoo simply sat there, listening and deciphering the broken sentences as best as he could. His best friend was having nightmares and they were breaking him, that much he understood by the skinny, frail frame he held in his arms. He looked around in dismay at his loss of comforting words.
“But why are you getting bruises?”
“I don't-don't know but it's where they-they hurt me,” he began, every hiccup forcing him to repeat himself, “in my dr-dream.”
Dongwoo didn't know what to tell him. It was odd. He had never heard of anything like it before and he knew his friend wasn't crazy and he hadn't been depressed beforehand. He was most certainly not suicidal. But he simply held him, finding no other way to comfort him other than like a child. It hurt Dongwoo to see him in such a state. Not in the eight years that he had known him had he ever seen him so lost, so scared or so broken. It scared him as well. He wiped away at the tears that were making their way down his cheeks. He felt so helpless, so incompetent.
“Maybe you're just really stressed lately,” he tried to reason, trying to make him feel better.
What else could he tell him? Nothing about the current situation seemed reasonable, much less explainable or even possible. But it was happening, Sunggyu's body was proof of it. Sunggyu didn't say anything to agree or disagree but he felt a little lighter. Keeping the secret from everyone had also been stressing him out more than he had thought. However it was a temporary solution.
He had another nightmare the following night.
The desperate scream that escaped Sunggyu's lips woke Myungsoo and alerted Dongwoo. He had left his door open and had done the same to the brothers' door later on in the night. He wanted to see when Sunggyu got up in case of another nightmare. He had hoped the night before had been the end of it.
When he ran into the bedroom he didn't expect to see Sunggyu thrashing around and Myungsoo trying to wake him.
“Hyung! I can't...!” Myungsoo yelled when he was pushed off again.
“Sunggyu! Sunggyu!!” Dongwoo yelled.
He climbed on top of the thrashing male and pinned his legs under him.
“No! No!”
It all came to an abrupt stop when Myungsoo practically emptied a bottle of water on his brother. Sunggyu shot up, nearly throwing Dongwoo off of him. He didn't register anything other than a slight sting across his chest and he pulled his shirt up. From the dim hallway light that illuminated the room they could see a long, shallow, freshly made cut running diagonally from one side of his chest to his stomach.
Dongwoo's blood ran cold. Before he could stop himself he was embracing the older male. He could feel him shaking but he didn't return the embrace. He simply sat there, too shocked to do much of anything else.
“Hyung what the hell-”
“Go make us some coffee Myung,” Dongwoo said, interrupting his obvious question.
“But-”
“Go. We'll talk in a bit,” he said.
Myungsoo hesitated but gave in, walking away with a heavy sigh. He couldn't ignore it. Sunggyu's body was marred with ugly purple and green bruises underneath the cut. What exactly was going on?
∞
“It was a nightmare,” Myungsoo looked at Dongwoo with a raised brow.
That much he could tell.
“I know that hyung,” he stated with urgency in his voice, “I'm worried about his bruises! How did he get them? Why is he like that?” he motioned to the figure that was sitting lifelessly on the couch with the lights and television on, “What's going on?”
He was hurt, annoyed and he felt so guilty that he didn't know what was ailing his brother. How could he have not noticed earlier? How was Dongwoo going to notice before him when they shared a room together? He wanted to talk to Sunggyu himself but, at Dongwoo's insistence, decided not to.
“Nightmares!” the other reiterated.
When Myungsoo gave him a look, one that stated he wasn't following, Dongwoo sighed.
“I don't know how it's happening. He says he's been having nightmares for days now. He just woke up with those bruises yesterday.”
Nightmares?
“Dongwoo-hyung... you don't think that... he did it?”
“What?”
“You saw it. What if he hurt himself and thought it was a dream?”
Dongwoo thought about it for a second and it almost made sense. Almost.
“Then what about the cut? There was no way he could have done that himself...”
Myungsoo nodded, relieved. He may not have noticed the change in his brother but he knew his brother enough to know that he was not a fan of pain. He stood up abruptly but then proceeded to sit down again soon after. He wanted to comfort his brother but was unsure of how to do it. They had always hid their weaknesses from each other, or at least tried to. Myungsoo wasn't too good at it and had been comforted by his brother more times than he could count, but he had never done the same. He didn't know how...
“But why didn't he tell me?” the younger mumbled, staring at the still full cup of coffee that had probably grown too cold to enjoy anymore.
“You know how he is. He didn't want to worry us. He didn't tell me about it of his own free will either, just so you know,” Dongwoo stated, tasting his coffee and making a face.
Coffee at room temperature wasn't tasty at all.
∞
“So! We're gonna be here all day today. What should we do?” Dongwoo asked as he sat next to the tired male.
Sunggyu had more or less returned to normal. He wasn't sitting there like a lifeless zombie anymore at least. Dongwoo had called in on behalf of Sunggyu and had asked for the day off, stating that he had woken up with a high fever and a really bad cough. Dongwoo himself was a freelance graphic and web design artist, so he didn't have to report to anyone. Myungsoo simply stayed home from school. They didn't want to leave him alone and thought that a little more interaction would help.
It definitely helped, at least for a little while. Dongwoo and Myungsoo's enthusiasm soon ran low. They had only slept for as long as Sunggyu and they couldn't keep up. Sunggyu noticed. He suggested they watch a movie and no sooner had they reached the beginning climax of it that he noticed they had both fallen asleep.
He currently sat between them, Myungsoo cuddled up on his right side and Dongwoo stretched out on the other, his head on Sunggyu's lap. A small smile, fond and bitter, adorned his lips. He was happy that they wanted to help him and that they would do everything to do so, but he was also envious at how peaceful they looked as they slept. He was too afraid to listen to the sandman when he finally visited. He didn't want to lose to sleep but it came inevitably and he'd regret it as soon as he realized he was dreaming. What he hated the most was being unable to wake up. There were instances when he prayed and wished that he would wake before things got worse... but it never happened. He had been saved the night before and he would thank Myungsoo and Dongwoo endlessly for it.
He concentrated on the television. He didn't want his mind wandering off to the nightmares that consumed him. He sighed pitifully and longingly at the ideals that the movie presented. The hero always showed up at the last minute. He wondered when his last minute would be.
∞
Sunggyu opened his eyes and panic soon engulfed him when he realized it was dark. Was he dreaming again? He didn't feel anyone near him. Myungsoo's warmth was gone and so was Dongwoo's. He pulled his feet up and pulled his legs closer to himself.
“No, no, no,” he whimpered as he pushed himself back against whatever he was on.
It was plush against him but it hardly did anything to calm his nerves, his fear. He began to shake. He didn't want to be asleep. He didn't want to be there. He let out a shriek when he heard a sudden pounding almost in front of him.
They were coming.
He pushed himself back, wanting to melt, to disappear into the couch he assumed he was on.
“Dongwoo...Myungsoo... please, please,” tears were streaming down his face already and he prayed and hoped that they would wake him.
They were hashing up whatever defenses his mind had put on the door and they were breaking through effortlessly. It would usually take a while before they managed to break through but it was going too fast. He could tell. They were breaking through his last defense so easily. He was sobbing now. He couldn't take it anymore. He was scared, almost completely broken. The hacking stopped and he tried to hold his breath, the hiccups hardly allowing him to stay completely quiet. There was light on the other side of the door and he could see some movement through the bottom crack. The door opened and he was suddenly too afraid to close his eyes.
His breath hitched when he saw a man standing there. Suddenly, a light went on in the room. Sunggyu was unsure of where or how it came on but his eyes did not leave the man. The man, clad in black, let out a sigh as he closed the door behind him.
“Found you.”
Sunggyu made no move to speak. It had happened before. They had tricked him into letting his defenses down by disguising themselves as someone he knew. He didn't know this person though but he wasn't going to make a single move. He had slightly overgrown, black hair. It was swept to the side to keep it from falling into his eyes. He had a strong jaw and high cheek bones. His eyes were small and were an incredible light shade of green. They seemed to glow in the low lighting. In any other circumstances Sunggyu would have thought of him as handsome, but that hardly crossed his mind at the moment.
“It's alright. I'm here to help,” the man tried as he took a couple of steps to approach him.
Sunggyu tensed visibly. The man held his hands up. He was wearing gloves.
“I'm not going to hurt you,” he said.
He frowned visibly when the other pushed himself further against the couch as he took another step. He looked around, taking in the room he was in. He saw a piano on the other side of the room and changed his destination instead. Sunggyu continued to watch him, unsure of what to expect. When he saw the man take a seat at the grand piano, he slowly pulled himself towards the arm of the red couch he was sitting on.
A slow, simple melody began to fill the room. It sounded sad but very beautiful. Sunggyu placed his chin against his crossed forearms that rested on the arm of the couch, watching the man play the melody without much effort. He could hear him humming something but he concentrated on the wafting sounds of the piano.
It had always been a source of stability for him. The piano could calm him down effortlessly.
“I'm here to help. Can you trust me?”
Sunggyu was unsure but how could he not trust someone who could play something so beautiful? He nodded slowly, refusing to speak. Luckily the man had chosen to look up. He smiled before returning his attention to the black and white keys.
“Listen,” he said after a moment of silence, “I managed to show up at this last barrier you put up. You've built quite a few. I'm impressed,” he said.
Sunggyu only listened.
“But I need you to take them down.”
Sunggyu scowled. Was this man really asking him to let them in? Was he crazy?
“I know you don't want to, but you'd be helping me out.”
Sunggyu's response was ripped from his throat as a yell escaped him instead. A loud screech had reached his ears and scared him. He recognized it. They were incredibly close now.
“Well nevermind. They got here quickly.”
Sunggyu had started shaking again and his eyes were glued to the door that the other man had entered from. He jumped violently when he heard them hit the door and his breathing became erratic. He didn't even notice the soothing sounds of the piano stop. He did notice the man take a stand in front of him and the door.
“What are you doing?” Sunggyu spoke finally.
“I said I was here to help,” the other answered helpfully, shooting him a smile over his shoulder.
Sunggyu didn't get a chance to say anything else when the door was thrown open. Everything moved so fast after that. There were so many. Sunggyu wondered if he could handle them all by himself as he watched in awe. They were in the other room and the man was doing his best to keep them from entering the room Sunggyu was in. He admired the graceful movements of the other as he cut them down but they definitely proved to be too many in number. Sunggyu yelled when he saw one slip past the door frame and he was pinned against the couch.
“No!” he tried to kick the demon away but it was a futile attempt.
A loud screech escaped the monster that was holding him and the brunet was left to stare in surprise as the thing was sliced in half from it's stomach up. There was no blood of any kind. They simply exploded into nothingness. He hardly had time to register anything when he was pulled up and held close against the other male. His hold was incredibly strong. Sunggyu couldn't move from his grasp at all.
The demons were beginning to crowd the room. There seemed to be no end to them. The other man noticed it as well. He pushed Sunggyu behind him and took hold of the closest monster. He flung him towards the rest with so much force that he sent the vast majority tumbling back into the other room. He quickly turned towards Sunggyu. He tugged a vial from around his neck and pulled something from his pocket. He quickly threw the object around Sunggyu's neck and opened the vial. Sunggyu only blinked in confusion as he felt something wet being spread across his forehead. He took Sunggyu's hand and placed the vial in his hand.
“Holy water. Use it wisely. There's not a lot of it left,” he said before turning around and leaving the trembling brunet next to the piano.
“Wait, wait!” Sunggyu called out, “What's your name?” he asked.
“Woohyun,” the black haired man answered before returning to his task.
With the assurance of the brunet having something to protect himself with, Woohyun let himself go all out. Sunggyu pulled the necklace that Woohyun had placed around his neck to get a good look at it. It was a rosary. He returned his attention to the male and he watched in awe as he took them out one by one. He would flinch every time Woohyun took a hit but it wasn't often and it only disoriented him for a second.
The demons diminished slowly and, once Woohyun took out the last one, he was on his knees, breathing heavily and barely holding himself up. Sunggyu was immediately by his side.
“Are you okay?” he asked, looking him over, afraid to touch him.
“Yeah... can you... help me to the couch?” he asked.
Sunggyu glanced at the couch and took an arm, placing it over his shoulder to get him up. They stumbled clumsily before Woohyun plopped himself down and stretched out on the plush, red couch.
“I am so done for today,” Woohyun said.
∞
Sunggyu awoke startled. He felt a strong squeeze on his right arm. He turned to see Myungsoo looking at him with a weary expression. He smiled at the boy's concerned look before stretching his limbs. He somehow felt a lot lighter and very well rested. He glanced at the clock on the wall and his eyes widened. He'd been asleep for more than four hours. Seven hours to be precise, and he couldn't help the sigh of relief that escaped him. It seemed that his hero had finally appeared.
“Are you okay hyung?” Myungsoo asked.
Myungsoo hadn't been entirely sure what to expect. Sunggyu had been letting out low moans throughout his sleep and he didn't know why. He was sort of expecting him to get up punching, kicking and screaming again. He was relieved to see him okay.
“Much better,” he said before embracing the younger boy.
Myungsoo smiled, happy to see his older brother in such high spirits, especially after the night before. He wasn't able to return the hug though. His brother was squishing both arms against his body.
“Where's Dongwoo?” he asked once he pulled away, looking around for the ball of energy.
“He went to get some dinner.”
“Are we out of food?” he asked, confused.
He could have sworn he brought some groceries home a couple of days ago.
“No... We kind of didn't want to cook...”
“Pizza?” Sunggyu asked.
“Yeah.”
“I could definitely go for some pizza right now,” he said happily before standing up from the couch, “Let's play!”
∞
Dongwoo walked into the apartment wearily. There was a lot of noise and he could hear Sunggyu singing his lungs out.
“He's finally gone crazy...” he mumbled to himself, stopping by the kitchen to drop off the boxes of pizza and tip-toeing into the living room.
“HA! My score was higher!”
“That's not even fair hyung. You've always been good at singing,” Myungsoo complained, a light pout adorning his lips.
“Oh my God you're alive!” both brothers turned to Dongwoo, startled to hear someone else in their chaos.
“Of course I'm alive,” Sunggyu stated with furrowed brows.
“I meant Myungsoo, you almost killed me last night,” the other said teasingly.
Maybe that should have stirred him on but it didn't, he simply smiled at the man. He knew it was over because his savior had finally showed up.
∞
Sunggyu hadn't felt the urge of wanting to fall asleep so strongly before in his life. Myungsoo thought it was more than odd to have Sunggyu turn in so early. He almost teased him and was close to calling him an old man but decided against it. He seemed to be in an extremely good mood and he didn't want to ruin it. He had gone through enough for the past couple of weeks.
Sunggyu couldn't help the smile that graced his lips as he changed out of his clothes into his usual basketball shorts. He wondered if he'd be able to dream of his savior. He hoped he would. He didn't know how to defend himself from those things that appeared in his dreams. He had wondered what kind of things his subconscious was hiding from him. It couldn't have been all bad if he managed to conjure something up to protect him from...whatever those things had been. Sleep claimed him a little too slowly that night.
∞
“Hurry!”
“The last group just finished!”
“We're up next!”
There was a flurry of movement around him and he felt hands pushing him towards the stage.
“Wait! Wait! I don't know what we're doing!” he complained as he tried to push back.
“It's too late to back out now! You're doing this!”
He gave up soon enough and proceeded to stand somewhere a little off center stage.
Fuck, what the hell is this?
The music started slowly and he recognized it immediately. His body began to move without much thought on his part. Why do I know this dance? He asked himself as he moved with the music, matching the rest of the dancers perfectly. His eyes skimmed the crowd, wondering if he could recognize anyone else but his eyes stopped on unnaturally glowing dark green eyes.
Woohyun.
And if he wasn't moving with much effort before, he definitely added a little more sway to his movements, moving his hips back and forth with a fluidity he didn't know he possessed during the chorus of the song. His thing wasn't dancing, but he would put on a show for the guy anyway. He looked like he was enjoying it if the smirk that was placed on his lips gave any indication. He better like it, Sunggyu thought to himself. He was a figment of his imagination after all and he could make him do anything he wanted. Sunggyu relaxed visibly, ignoring everything else now that he knew his protector was watching after him.
The performance ended without a disturbance and he looked over at the man who was clapping along with the rest of the audience. Sunggyu smiled at him before going back to the dressing rooms. The man looked after him thoughtfully before deciding to follow.
“Gyunnie, someone's here to see you!” Sunggyu heard a girl yell from the door.
The odd nickname didn't even phase him but the person at the door made him widen his eyes in surprise.
“Do I let this one in?” she asked and giggled.
Sunggyu simply nodded and she moved aside, letting the man walk in despite the fact that the rest of the members in the dance group were changing into something more comfortable. But the man's eyes never left Sunggyu's figure and once he was close enough, the brunet bowed.
“Thank you for helping me out yesterday,” he said and straightened, fiddling with his hands when the other simply took him in.
The man smirked. He was a little confused by the thanks he was getting. Dreams were odd things and he never took anything at face value, and connecting the dots didn't necessarily need to make sense. He's had weird out-of-the-norm experiences so when he interacted with the dreamer, he tended to play along.
“I've already taken my payment.”
“Huh?”
“Seeing you dressed like that is payment enough,” the man clarified.
Sunggyu scowled and looked down at his outfit before a small, surprised gasp escaped him. He glanced around and found a full length mirror a couple of steps away. His mouth opened in shock when he saw it. He knew he was wearing some kind of stage outfit but he didn't think he'd be dressed so... girlishly.
He was wearing black, baggy pants, similar to what street dancers would wear, with white suspenders hanging from either side of his hips. What shocked him the most was the fact that he was wearing a white, slim fitting t-shirt that was tied above his waist, exposing his flat stomach and belly button.
He covered his face as he realized that he had been dancing in full get-up.
“But somehow I doubt your hips are that wide,” the man mused aloud.
Sunggyu peeked through his fingers and realized that yes, his hips did look a little wider than usual. It crept him out a little. He pulled at the shirt and undid the tie, letting it unfurl to cover his smooth expanse of skin. He chanced a glance at the mirror and once he decided he looked alright, turned to look at the man that was still standing there. He decided to try giving his gratitude once more.
“Thanks.”
“For what?”
“For yesterday. For saving me from those-those things...”
“...You remember?” the man asked, intrigued by the fact.
“Of course I remember! How could I forget?”
The man studied his features before speaking again, “What's your name?”
“Sunggyu...” he answered with a smile before scowling and placing his hands on his hips, “What took you so long?”
“What?” the dark haired male asked, confused at the way it was asked.
“You know I'd been having nightmares like those for close to a week and a half, right?”
“A week and a half?” Woohyun sounded genuinely surprised at the fact.
“Yes! Every time I managed to find sleep I'd end up having nightmares and only sleeping for a couple of hours... and that was only if I was lucky.”
“Almost two weeks...”
Sunggyu watched as the man lost himself in thought, staring at the ground as if it would reveal the answer to whatever it was that he was thinking about.
“So what took you so long?” the other asked again.
“I was busy with others.”
“With others?”
“Yes. You're not the only that has these kinds of nightmares, you know,” Woohyun said matter-of-factly.
“I'm not...? Wait, so I didn't dream you up?”
Woohyun looked at the other man like he had grown a second head, “No.”
“So then who or what are you?”
“You don't know what I am?”
“Of course not!”
Woohyun looked at him skeptically, not believing for a second that the man wasn't the least bit informed of what he was.
“But you remember me. You must know something,” he reasoned with the brunet.
“All I know is that as soon as you showed up and killed those things, I was able to sleep throughout the night.”
“What was your name?” Woohyun asked again.
“Kim Sunggyu. Why does it matter?”
“Why indeed...” he mumbled to himself.
Kim was too common a family name in Korea. There was no way he'd be able to trace this guy back to a family.
“Well Mr. Kim, I'm glad to see you are safe. I gotta go,” Woohyun said before turning to head out.
“Wait!” The dark haired man stopped, turning to land his glowing dark green eyes on the figure behind him.
“You're coming back tomorrow, right?” Sunggyu didn't want to admit it, but he was still a little scared of the possibilities of something like that showing up again.
He was sure the dark dressed man in front of him read him clearly, because the smirk he had showed him didn't appear this time, instead a small smile took up residence on the perfectly shaped lips, “Sure.”
Sunggyu couldn't hold back the thankful smile or relief that came over him at the reassuring word.
∞
Sunggyu returned to his usual routine with little difficulty. He did have to constantly reassure Dongwoo and Myungsoo that he was fine and that the literal nightmare had passed. He did avoid answering questions about the actual nightmares themselves. They were still too fresh and vivid in his mind and it involved gruesome things that he'd rather not tell anyone about, at least not yet. It was a couple of days after his last nightmare that Myungsoo sat with him at the kitchen table. They had just finished dinner and were talking about Myungsoo's classes.
“Our English teacher wants us to write a short story about a recent life-altering situation or something... I don't see why it's any of her business.”
Sunggyu laughed, “You know you can always make something up. Don't be too honest.”
Myungsoo smiled at the man before asking his next question, “What would you write about, hyung?”
The brunet sighed, his big grin turning into a soft smile, “About Woohyun.”
“Woohyun?” Myungsoo asked.
He had never heard that name before. He tried to think off all the times Sunggyu had mentioned his friends but the name didn't sound familiar at all.
“Who's Woohyun?”
Sunggyu's eyes widened. Had he said that out loud? He tried to come up with an excuse or something to move off of the topic. He didn't want to tell his brother about a weird guy that showed up in his dreams and saved him. He wasn't sure how he would take it. He really didn't want to come off as crazy to his brother anymore than he already seemed. He was thankful when Dongwoo's noisy arrival diverted their attention to him.
“I brought some ice-cream!” the blond man stated enthusiastically, placing the plastic bags on the table in the center.
“Are we having a heart to heart?” he asked when he saw both brothers sitting at the table, taking a seat himself after attaining some spoons from a drawer next to the sink.
“No,” Sunggyu said.
He began to rummage through the bags and pulled out the container he was sure Dongwoo had gotten for him.
“So, who's Woohyun?” Myungsoo asked again, taking a cup himself.
Dongwoo perked up. He wasn't sure about what they were talking about but he wanted in on the conversation.
“No one! Just forget I said anything,” he said as he hastily dug his spoon into the creamy dessert.
“Hyung,” Sunggyu felt his resolve break when he heard the tone Myungsoo used.
Sometime after the incident, Myungsoo had asked Sunggyu to trust him, to let himself be helped despite the fact that he was the eldest. Sunggyu had always wanted to protect his younger brother because of it. He didn't need anyone to look over him but he needed to look over everyone else. He had realized that had been an utter failure when Dongwoo and Myungsoo tried to make him feel better so he could forget his problems.
“It's just a guy that I've been dreaming of. He's been showing up in my dreams a lot,” he said shyly, nibbling on the tip of the spoon as he watched their reactions.
“So... he shows up in your dreams and that's enough to impact your life?” Myungsoo asked, confused.
“Well...,” he sighed, “He kind of... he... he got rid of the nightmares...”
“Oh! He must be your Guardian Angel then, right?” Dongwoo asked excitedly, pointing at Sunggyu with the spoon.
“Guardian Angel?” Sunggyu asked.
“Yeah? Everyone is supposed to have one. They're supposed to guard you from evil and stuff like that,” the blond male explained.
“How do you know this?” Myungsoo asked, intrigued.
“A catholic church hired me not too long ago. They had some interesting stuff on the site so I read some of it while I was coming up with a new design.”
There was a moment of silence in which they all had a couple of spoonfuls of their cold dessert before Myungsoo spoke up, “Maybe it's just a random guy, hyung.”
“He might as well be a Guardian Angel if he got rid of those nightmares you were having. What else could he be?” Dongwoo pressed on.
Sunggyu would pretty much be willing to believe anything after that horrible incident. If demons and nightmares that harmed someone physically existed, why wouldn't the good that would counterbalance that not exist? There had to be angels if there were demons.
“He could be,” Sunggyu agreed.
It hadn't really crossed his mind to ask the man. There were times when he would only be able to catch a glimpse of him and other times he would talk with him for a while. The conversations always revolved around the dream and nothing else. Woohyun would never ask of anything other than his dream.
∞
Sunggyu was dreaming. He knew it because there was no way he'd ever find such a beautiful place when he lived in the crowded cities of Seoul. His surroundings were astonishing. It seemed to be a borderline between a fanciful paradise and reality. What startled him the most was the clarity in which he was witnessing everything. The sky was painted in an array of colors, from pink to blue and every other color in between. It looked like the darkening night was not too far off. He was sitting at the end of a little dock that was a good 30 feet into the ocean. It was so low that his legs were submerged up to above his mid-calf. He could distinctly feel the coldness of it.
“Well this is really nice,” Sunggyu jumped a little when he heard the familiar voice but turned with a smile on his lips nonetheless.
“It is, isn't it?” Sunggyu sighed wistfully, “One day I'm gonna live on a beach just like this one.”
“Is that right?” The dark haired male asked.
“Yeah. Wouldn't you want to?”
“It would be nice...”
There was a moment of silence that passed between them, admiring the sun that was setting off in the horizon.
“Is this supposed to be Jeju?”
“I don't know... I've never been there,” Sunggyu responded, raising a leg so he could rest his chin against his knee, “Is it Jeju?”
“I don't know, I haven't been there either.”
Sunggyu laughed before leaning back in order to look at the dark haired man who was standing a little ways behind him, leaning against the wood support of the small hut-like roof that seemed to provide shelter from the sun (It looked like it was used when the sun was at its harshest). He wasn't surprised to see him in his usual dark clothes.
“Of course not. You only exist in dreams, right?”
Woohyun turned to look at the man and laughed softly, “No. I exist in the physical world too.”
Sunggyu looked shocked, “You mean you're real? You exist in the real world?”
He approached the brunet and crouched beside him, “Yes.”
“Where? In some underground hideout?”
Woohyun laughed out loud at that and lightly nudged the other man, “What do you take me for? I'm a normal human too, you know.”
So he's not a Guardian Angel... Sunggyu wasn't sure if he was disappointed or not.
“I live on the outskirts of Seoul, near Bucheon.”
What? He's so close?! Sunggyu was shocked to hear such a thing. His kind were allowed to live among normal humans?
“I'm not the only one though,” he said before standing up.
Sunggyu's small eyes followed his movements, “I gotta go. It's almost sunrise.”
The brunet tried to hide his disappointment at hearing that, “So I'll see you tomorrow?” he turned, watching as the man walked away towards the beach.
“Yeah,” he replied turning to smile at him before disappearing into a cloud of black dust.
∞
Sunggyu was completely unsure as to why he had dragged Dongwoo out with him. He wasn't sure where he was going nor exactly what it was he was looking for. Well what wasn't right, but who.
“Hyung, I'm hungry! Why did we have to leave before I had breakfast?” Dongwoo complained as he trudged behind the taller man.
“It would have been lunch already you lazy bum,” the other retorted.
Dongwoo groaned but it was cut short as a yawn quickly overtook his complaint. Coffee, maybe that would help him wake up... or food. Whichever was closer. He looked around the area, making sure not to lose sight of Sunggyu as he searched for a place to eat. The streets weren't crowded but people still seemed to be out and about for a pretty late lunch.
Sunggyu's eyes on the other hand, scanned faces rapidly. He didn't know why he thought he would find him if he went out to look for him, and the chances to actually run into him were pretty slim. But he was there searching like an idiot. Besides, what would he end up doing if he actually found him?
He was pulled out of his thoughts when he felt Dongwoo begin to drag him across the street.
“Let's have lunch here then, hyung.”
Sunggyu couldn't really concentrate on the lunch that Dongwoo had bought himself (which wasn't really lunch, more like dessert) but he sipped quietly at his drink, his eyes still on the people outside.
“What are we even looking for?” Dongwoo asked once he had finished more than half of the cake he had bought.
Sunggyu bit the side of his bottom lip lightly. He didn't really want to tell him because he knew it was a stupid thing to be doing.
“I'm looking for a frie-,” he stopped abruptly when he turned to survey the cafe's occupants.
Dongwoo looked at him strangely but turned to look at whatever it was that had startled his best friend. There was a man standing near the register of the shop looking at them. The man was wearing nice clothes, all of which had very neutral colors -Dongwoo noticed-and had dark, slightly overgrown hair that was swept to the side nicely to keep it from covering his eyes.
“Woohyun?” Dongwoo heard.
“What?” the other asked, startled.
Wasn't Woohyun supposed to be Sunggyu's Guardian Angel?
“The guy with the strange eyes! That's Woohyun!” Sunggyu was standing but he was leaning on the table, as if unsure if he should make a move or not.
Dongwoo turned again but saw no one who fit the description at all, just the guy who had been joined by two more, an incredibly tall one and another that was shorter by a couple of inches. Sunggyu watched as the man smirked at him, not making a move to approach him before leaving with the other two. The brunet remained unmoving for a couple of seconds before his motor skills caught up to his brain. He moved quickly, following after them.
He ran out onto the street, searching everywhere, trying to catch a glimpse of where he had gone. He was completely surprised when he heard that voice he had grown so fond of.
“I told you I was real.”
Sunggyu vaguely heard Dongwoo call out to him but all he could see at that moment was the man standing in front of him. A smile found its way onto his lips at those words.
His savior was there. He existed. And there wasn't going to be a single thing in the world that would take him away.
“Your hips are kinda wide.”
Pairing/Focus:Woohyun/Sunggyu
Rating:PG-13
Summary:Sunggyu's dreams are invaded by horrible things that become all too real. He wakes with from a nightmare to enter the life that is turning into one. He can only hope for someone to save him from these things.
Final word count: 9,230
The very typical story of good and bad has been a long and tiring one. Good, bad, right, wrong... all of these have existed for as long as human consciousness has existed There have also been those that defend the good from the bad, the evil that seems non-existent but is as real as the dreams that fill sleep. It happens, but it becomes hard and almost impossible to describe.
Those that protect others from their dreams have also had their existence for a very long time. Guardians of Dreams, they have become few in number but increasingly powerful in accordance to the demons. These ghouls simply haunted dreams, bringing nightmares to those unfortunate enough to be caught in their clutches, stealing the energy they were to replenish in the restful hours of sleep, slowly killing their victims.
In time they developed the ability to harm those that dream, forcing the Guardians to train themselves to expel these demons for good. The time when a Guardian's mere presence was enough to chase out the demons became outdated. As the world became more polluted with hatred and unnatural death, these ghouls became bigger in number and stronger, their strength continuing to reach new, different and always more dangerous extremes.
∞
Sunggyu stared in awe at the house that he hadn't seen in years. He wanted to smile, to revel if only slightly, on the memories that his grandparent's house brought him, but there was a feeling he wasn't very familiar with, a nagging feeling at the back of his mind. He looked around cautiously. He was almost expecting something, anything to jump out at him in the seemingly peaceful, deserted street.
Where is everyone?
He swallowed a bit thickly before turning to the house before him. He was a little surprised to see the house had changed drastically. The windows were boarded up, the house itself had white paint peeling off, revealing the raw and beat up boards underneath. The door was wide open, revealing a dark entryway. Before he realized it, he was already standing on the porch, squinting his eyes in an attempt to catch a glimpse of something inside. He was a little startled when he saw something scurry from one side to the other. It was beyond the reach of the light but he had been able to catch a quick look. He wasn't about to go inside so he stepped back before freezing at the sudden moan that wafted from inside. He felt the hair on the back of his neck stand.
“Grandma?” he asked wearily.
He didn't like the sinking feeling he was experiencing at the moment when all possible thoughts of what could be wrong crossed his mind. Another moan, this one longer and filled with pain, reached his ears and before he could stop himself again he quickly went inside.
“Grandma?” he asked again, panic lacing his voice, “Are you okay? Where are you?”
It was pitch black inside and he couldn't see anything. He turned back, wondering why the light filtering in wasn't any help at all, only to find nothing but more darkness. The door was gone. Another moan and he felt goosebumps break on his skin. It had sounded a lot closer this time. He swallowed. His earlier bravado had dissipated and he felt completely vulnerable. He couldn't see anything and, no matter how wide he opened his eyes, the only thing that he could see was black. He began to panic, waving his arms around in a desperate attempt to find something, anything, that he could hold onto. A light turned on down the hall the moment he found a wall to stand against.
Is that the-the basement...?
He glanced around himself quickly, too afraid to really inspect his surroundings. He didn't want to see anyone standing around eerily in the dark. He walked forward slowly, his steps light, with bated breath.
“Grandma...?” he called out again, but not nearly as loud as before, just a mere whisper.
He was at the threshold, about ready to peek inside when something big and heavy fell from the entry way to his feet. He let out a yell and fell back, completely startled. Fear multiplied in him when he noticed it moving.
“Sunggyu...?”
His breath hitched and fear climbed up his neck and into the back of his skull. It was a body, a pile of long hair, bones and rotting flesh, crawling and leaving a trail of peeling skin behind it.
“Sunggyu...!” it said again as it reached its bony fingers out for him.
∞
Myungsoo watched from the kitchen as his older brother, Sunggyu, practically trudged into the apartment.
“Oh God, I'm tired,” Sunggyu complained to no one in particular as he plopped himself on the couch, taking up the entirety of it.
Sunggyu didn't think he would have enough energy to make it to his own room. He had been completely fine most of the day until he decided to take a nap during his shift at work. He was the manager of a small convenience store a couple of blocks down the apartment complex. He was very strict on himself about taking advantage of the position he was in, but an unbelievable sleepiness had completely taken over him while he was working on the store's midday cut. He hadn't even realized when his head hit the desk. All he knew was that he had, thankfully, awoken a while later by loud knocks to the door of his office.
He ran his hands down his face in a failed attempt to liven himself up. The dream had rattled him up more than he had wanted to admit. He groaned soon after when he realized his body was not going to co-operate with him.
“What's wrong?” he heard his younger brother ask.
He didn't even bother cracking an eye open.
“Tired,” he slurred.
Myungsoo bit his lower lip, concerned over the way the older male was acting, “Are you hungry?”
“Kind of.”
“...I made some beef and fried rice if you want some. There's enough for Dongwoo-hyung too.”
“Ok... let me just... take a quick shower.”
Myungsoo's brows furrowed further when his brother stood from the couch and lumbered off to the bedroom they shared. He had seen him in that state before, and it was usually when inventory was being taken... and that happened in the middle of the night just the night before. He shook his head and decided to leave it alone. He had some homework he needed to tackle and he refused to use up all of his afternoon to do it.
It was around eight o'clock in the evening when Sunggyu finally decided to call it a night. The shower had helped a little bit, but after a while he felt the tiredness of the day start to crawl over him again.
“What's wrong with Gyu?” Dongwoo, asked the younger male.
The other shrugged, his fingers tapping the console controller on his lap, “He's been like that since he got home... He said he probably didn't sleep well because he slept on the couch last night.”
“Oh, he had inventory last night, didn't he?”
Myungsoo nodded.
Sunggyu landed on his bed and a comfortable hum left his mouth. He didn't bother with changing into his usual oversized basketball shorts. He didn't even bother pulling back the covers so that he could cocoon himself in the warmth when the apartment would get really cold in the middle of the night. Despite all of that, his bed had never felt so heavenly. He wrapped his arms around his fluffy pillow and laid his head on it, sleep claiming him unnaturally quickly. But his sleep was not restful.
Myungsoo sighed as he went to bed later that night. He noted that Sunggyu had simply thrown himself onto the bed. He hadn't even bothered with laying properly, his feet were dangling in midair. He decided to leave him alone. Hopefully after having a proper good night's sleep, he'd be his usual self the next day.
But Myungsoo fell asleep before he could take notice of Sunggyu's sudden tossing.
Sunggyu had always thought it amazing to be able to connect dreams, but it was the last thing he wanted when he realized he was in the same house with only a light illuminating the basement entryway.
Not again... oh God. Maybe if I just stay here...
His brown, attentive eyes didn't leave the door. They were wide, too scared to close them and at the same time, too afraid to keep them open. After a moment or two of no movement, no noise, he moved forward, taking the same light steps he had before.
Please don't be there. Please don't be there.
He chanted it like a mantra, like if he said it enough times it would work. By all means it should have. It was a dream after all. He should have been able to control it.
He should have taken the sinking feeling in his stomach as a gut instinct. As soon as he looked in, the same body landed in front of him. It still scared him and he still yelled and fell like before, but that was as far as the similarities went. He pushed himself back, trying to gain distance between them. His breath hitched when, instead of dragging itself like before, it got up on all fours.
“Sunggyu. Sunggyu I'm here,” it said as it began to crawl after him and reach out desperately, the rotting flesh flying off with its movements.
“Get away! Get away! Oh God, help!” he yelled instinctively.
As soon as the words left his mouth, he felt something press up against his back and he felt his body run cold. A dark, deep, and ominous breathing turned chuckle brushed against his ear. He didn't turn, he couldn't. He couldn't move an inch and that thing was still crawling towards him.
“God can't help you here...” a fleeting whisper that he probably wouldn't have caught if it hadn't been whispered in his ear.
The corpse reached him and almost like a snake, slithered up to his face. The disgusting, half peeled face peered down at him. He couldn't tell if it was grinning or if it was the skull that was showing through.
“Let me have yours...” it whispered.
He let out a startled yelp when its bony and sharp fingers began to claw at his face.
“I want your face. Let me have it!” it yelled, its voice changing into a deeper, desperate and menacing one.
He tried to thrash around, to throw it away but he was completely frozen in place, the cold of the thing behind him seeping into him, making hot fear cloud his brain. He yelled when he felt his skin break and the blood began to flow down into his face. He felt a hard pull and pain shot through him.
∞
He was pushing vehemently against the mattress when his eyes flew open. He looked around in a panic, his eyes trying to find the... thing that had been tearing his face off in his dream, only grounding himself when he caught a glimpse of Myungsoo sound asleep on the other bed.
He let out a deep, shaky breath, letting his body fall onto the mattress before pushing himself into a sitting position. He noticed he was sweating despite the temperature of the air around him and he absentmindedly wiped at it with his shirt. He let out another sigh, letting the stress of the nightmare leave him with the heave and a shake of his head. He felt thirsty and after a moment of thought, he decided to get himself some water. Not without turning on some lights on the way to the kitchen.
Nights continued on like that. He hardly had any sleep in the passing week. He figured it was just a phase. He'd get over it eventually. There had been times when he'd have nightmares consecutively for a couple of days before they disappeared. He was holding on to that thread of hope by the end of the first week. He hadn't had much sleep and his body wasn't keeping up.
He tried to hide it. The last thing he wanted was for Myungsoo to worry about his older brother who was supposed to be taking care of him. What would he think if he found out his brother was losing sleep over nightmares? But Sunggyu wasn't sure how much he could take. Not only was he only sleeping an average of three to four hours a day but sleep was no longer coming to him. He was becoming an insomniac on top of it all.
∞
It was four in the morning and Sunggyu was sitting in the living room with the t.v. on. It was on mute but it wasn't that it was on because he was watching it. He simply didn't want to be in the dark. He stared absentmindedly at the coffee table that was in front of him. He was so out of it that he didn't hear or notice Dongwoo come out of his room.
“Hey, what are you doing up?” Dongwoo asked when he saw Sunggyu seated on the couch.
He was on his way to the bathroom but the flickering light caught his attention. As far as he knew, no one but him should have been up at that ungodly hour. When he received no response he wondered if the man had fallen asleep there. When he approached him he noticed that his eyes were open and unblinking.
“Gyu? Hey, are you alright?” he placed a hand on his shoulder.
Sunggyu jumped, turning to see who it had been and visibly relaxing when he caught sight of his younger friend. It was then when Dongwoo noticed the incredibly deep bags under his eyes and his pale skin.
“God, Sunggyu what's wrong with you? You look horrible,” he said as he squeezed his shoulder.
He quickly withdrew his hand when the other let out a small pained noise at the gesture. Sunggyu seemed to have come back to life at that moment. He pulled the shirt off his shoulder and a gasp escaped both of them. He had a dark purple bruise in the form of a hand clearly marked against his pale skin.
“How the hell did you get that?!” the blond asked as he leaned down a bit to examine it.
Sunggyu's mind raced and his dream came to mind. He had been handed over to various horrible ghouls in his dream and each had left their imprint in the form of a hit before they decided to torture him. He lifted his shirt, desperately hoping not to find any more but to his dismay, a myriad of bruises marked his skin.
“Oh my God,” he whispered before stumbling back against the couch.
“What the fuck, Sunggyu!? What is all that? How did you get that??” Dongwoo asked, his voice rising a couple of octaves when he saw the look of pure panic settle on the other's features.
Sunggyu was at a loss for words. How? Why? He was on the verge of crying. First all those nightmares, then his loss of sleep, then small body aches and now bruises? Actual fucking bruises? Tears began to fall from his eyes before he could stop them. How was he supposed to deal with that? How in the world was he supposed to keep calm when his dreams were causing him bruises?
“Sunggyu! Sunggyu tell me what's going on. What's wrong?” Dongwoo asked, climbing onto the couch and taking hold of him.
Dongwoo's heart clenched and worry filled his being when he felt the sobs begin to leave the suddenly frail body he was holding. The blond only held him tighter, rubbing soothing circles against his back, hoping he wasn't disturbing a bruise as he did so. He resisted the urge to sob along with him. He didn't know what was going on and it scared him to think of what kind of things Sunggyu could have gotten himself into.
“It's okay, it's okay,” he whispered and soon enough the shuddering sobs turned into hiccups.
“Tell me what's wrong,” he tried again and this time, between broken sobs and sporadic hiccups, Sunggyu told him his nightmares, when they started and what they were doing to him.
Dongwoo simply sat there, listening and deciphering the broken sentences as best as he could. His best friend was having nightmares and they were breaking him, that much he understood by the skinny, frail frame he held in his arms. He looked around in dismay at his loss of comforting words.
“But why are you getting bruises?”
“I don't-don't know but it's where they-they hurt me,” he began, every hiccup forcing him to repeat himself, “in my dr-dream.”
Dongwoo didn't know what to tell him. It was odd. He had never heard of anything like it before and he knew his friend wasn't crazy and he hadn't been depressed beforehand. He was most certainly not suicidal. But he simply held him, finding no other way to comfort him other than like a child. It hurt Dongwoo to see him in such a state. Not in the eight years that he had known him had he ever seen him so lost, so scared or so broken. It scared him as well. He wiped away at the tears that were making their way down his cheeks. He felt so helpless, so incompetent.
“Maybe you're just really stressed lately,” he tried to reason, trying to make him feel better.
What else could he tell him? Nothing about the current situation seemed reasonable, much less explainable or even possible. But it was happening, Sunggyu's body was proof of it. Sunggyu didn't say anything to agree or disagree but he felt a little lighter. Keeping the secret from everyone had also been stressing him out more than he had thought. However it was a temporary solution.
He had another nightmare the following night.
The desperate scream that escaped Sunggyu's lips woke Myungsoo and alerted Dongwoo. He had left his door open and had done the same to the brothers' door later on in the night. He wanted to see when Sunggyu got up in case of another nightmare. He had hoped the night before had been the end of it.
When he ran into the bedroom he didn't expect to see Sunggyu thrashing around and Myungsoo trying to wake him.
“Hyung! I can't...!” Myungsoo yelled when he was pushed off again.
“Sunggyu! Sunggyu!!” Dongwoo yelled.
He climbed on top of the thrashing male and pinned his legs under him.
“No! No!”
It all came to an abrupt stop when Myungsoo practically emptied a bottle of water on his brother. Sunggyu shot up, nearly throwing Dongwoo off of him. He didn't register anything other than a slight sting across his chest and he pulled his shirt up. From the dim hallway light that illuminated the room they could see a long, shallow, freshly made cut running diagonally from one side of his chest to his stomach.
Dongwoo's blood ran cold. Before he could stop himself he was embracing the older male. He could feel him shaking but he didn't return the embrace. He simply sat there, too shocked to do much of anything else.
“Hyung what the hell-”
“Go make us some coffee Myung,” Dongwoo said, interrupting his obvious question.
“But-”
“Go. We'll talk in a bit,” he said.
Myungsoo hesitated but gave in, walking away with a heavy sigh. He couldn't ignore it. Sunggyu's body was marred with ugly purple and green bruises underneath the cut. What exactly was going on?
∞
“It was a nightmare,” Myungsoo looked at Dongwoo with a raised brow.
That much he could tell.
“I know that hyung,” he stated with urgency in his voice, “I'm worried about his bruises! How did he get them? Why is he like that?” he motioned to the figure that was sitting lifelessly on the couch with the lights and television on, “What's going on?”
He was hurt, annoyed and he felt so guilty that he didn't know what was ailing his brother. How could he have not noticed earlier? How was Dongwoo going to notice before him when they shared a room together? He wanted to talk to Sunggyu himself but, at Dongwoo's insistence, decided not to.
“Nightmares!” the other reiterated.
When Myungsoo gave him a look, one that stated he wasn't following, Dongwoo sighed.
“I don't know how it's happening. He says he's been having nightmares for days now. He just woke up with those bruises yesterday.”
Nightmares?
“Dongwoo-hyung... you don't think that... he did it?”
“What?”
“You saw it. What if he hurt himself and thought it was a dream?”
Dongwoo thought about it for a second and it almost made sense. Almost.
“Then what about the cut? There was no way he could have done that himself...”
Myungsoo nodded, relieved. He may not have noticed the change in his brother but he knew his brother enough to know that he was not a fan of pain. He stood up abruptly but then proceeded to sit down again soon after. He wanted to comfort his brother but was unsure of how to do it. They had always hid their weaknesses from each other, or at least tried to. Myungsoo wasn't too good at it and had been comforted by his brother more times than he could count, but he had never done the same. He didn't know how...
“But why didn't he tell me?” the younger mumbled, staring at the still full cup of coffee that had probably grown too cold to enjoy anymore.
“You know how he is. He didn't want to worry us. He didn't tell me about it of his own free will either, just so you know,” Dongwoo stated, tasting his coffee and making a face.
Coffee at room temperature wasn't tasty at all.
∞
“So! We're gonna be here all day today. What should we do?” Dongwoo asked as he sat next to the tired male.
Sunggyu had more or less returned to normal. He wasn't sitting there like a lifeless zombie anymore at least. Dongwoo had called in on behalf of Sunggyu and had asked for the day off, stating that he had woken up with a high fever and a really bad cough. Dongwoo himself was a freelance graphic and web design artist, so he didn't have to report to anyone. Myungsoo simply stayed home from school. They didn't want to leave him alone and thought that a little more interaction would help.
It definitely helped, at least for a little while. Dongwoo and Myungsoo's enthusiasm soon ran low. They had only slept for as long as Sunggyu and they couldn't keep up. Sunggyu noticed. He suggested they watch a movie and no sooner had they reached the beginning climax of it that he noticed they had both fallen asleep.
He currently sat between them, Myungsoo cuddled up on his right side and Dongwoo stretched out on the other, his head on Sunggyu's lap. A small smile, fond and bitter, adorned his lips. He was happy that they wanted to help him and that they would do everything to do so, but he was also envious at how peaceful they looked as they slept. He was too afraid to listen to the sandman when he finally visited. He didn't want to lose to sleep but it came inevitably and he'd regret it as soon as he realized he was dreaming. What he hated the most was being unable to wake up. There were instances when he prayed and wished that he would wake before things got worse... but it never happened. He had been saved the night before and he would thank Myungsoo and Dongwoo endlessly for it.
He concentrated on the television. He didn't want his mind wandering off to the nightmares that consumed him. He sighed pitifully and longingly at the ideals that the movie presented. The hero always showed up at the last minute. He wondered when his last minute would be.
∞
Sunggyu opened his eyes and panic soon engulfed him when he realized it was dark. Was he dreaming again? He didn't feel anyone near him. Myungsoo's warmth was gone and so was Dongwoo's. He pulled his feet up and pulled his legs closer to himself.
“No, no, no,” he whimpered as he pushed himself back against whatever he was on.
It was plush against him but it hardly did anything to calm his nerves, his fear. He began to shake. He didn't want to be asleep. He didn't want to be there. He let out a shriek when he heard a sudden pounding almost in front of him.
They were coming.
He pushed himself back, wanting to melt, to disappear into the couch he assumed he was on.
“Dongwoo...Myungsoo... please, please,” tears were streaming down his face already and he prayed and hoped that they would wake him.
They were hashing up whatever defenses his mind had put on the door and they were breaking through effortlessly. It would usually take a while before they managed to break through but it was going too fast. He could tell. They were breaking through his last defense so easily. He was sobbing now. He couldn't take it anymore. He was scared, almost completely broken. The hacking stopped and he tried to hold his breath, the hiccups hardly allowing him to stay completely quiet. There was light on the other side of the door and he could see some movement through the bottom crack. The door opened and he was suddenly too afraid to close his eyes.
His breath hitched when he saw a man standing there. Suddenly, a light went on in the room. Sunggyu was unsure of where or how it came on but his eyes did not leave the man. The man, clad in black, let out a sigh as he closed the door behind him.
“Found you.”
Sunggyu made no move to speak. It had happened before. They had tricked him into letting his defenses down by disguising themselves as someone he knew. He didn't know this person though but he wasn't going to make a single move. He had slightly overgrown, black hair. It was swept to the side to keep it from falling into his eyes. He had a strong jaw and high cheek bones. His eyes were small and were an incredible light shade of green. They seemed to glow in the low lighting. In any other circumstances Sunggyu would have thought of him as handsome, but that hardly crossed his mind at the moment.
“It's alright. I'm here to help,” the man tried as he took a couple of steps to approach him.
Sunggyu tensed visibly. The man held his hands up. He was wearing gloves.
“I'm not going to hurt you,” he said.
He frowned visibly when the other pushed himself further against the couch as he took another step. He looked around, taking in the room he was in. He saw a piano on the other side of the room and changed his destination instead. Sunggyu continued to watch him, unsure of what to expect. When he saw the man take a seat at the grand piano, he slowly pulled himself towards the arm of the red couch he was sitting on.
A slow, simple melody began to fill the room. It sounded sad but very beautiful. Sunggyu placed his chin against his crossed forearms that rested on the arm of the couch, watching the man play the melody without much effort. He could hear him humming something but he concentrated on the wafting sounds of the piano.
It had always been a source of stability for him. The piano could calm him down effortlessly.
“I'm here to help. Can you trust me?”
Sunggyu was unsure but how could he not trust someone who could play something so beautiful? He nodded slowly, refusing to speak. Luckily the man had chosen to look up. He smiled before returning his attention to the black and white keys.
“Listen,” he said after a moment of silence, “I managed to show up at this last barrier you put up. You've built quite a few. I'm impressed,” he said.
Sunggyu only listened.
“But I need you to take them down.”
Sunggyu scowled. Was this man really asking him to let them in? Was he crazy?
“I know you don't want to, but you'd be helping me out.”
Sunggyu's response was ripped from his throat as a yell escaped him instead. A loud screech had reached his ears and scared him. He recognized it. They were incredibly close now.
“Well nevermind. They got here quickly.”
Sunggyu had started shaking again and his eyes were glued to the door that the other man had entered from. He jumped violently when he heard them hit the door and his breathing became erratic. He didn't even notice the soothing sounds of the piano stop. He did notice the man take a stand in front of him and the door.
“What are you doing?” Sunggyu spoke finally.
“I said I was here to help,” the other answered helpfully, shooting him a smile over his shoulder.
Sunggyu didn't get a chance to say anything else when the door was thrown open. Everything moved so fast after that. There were so many. Sunggyu wondered if he could handle them all by himself as he watched in awe. They were in the other room and the man was doing his best to keep them from entering the room Sunggyu was in. He admired the graceful movements of the other as he cut them down but they definitely proved to be too many in number. Sunggyu yelled when he saw one slip past the door frame and he was pinned against the couch.
“No!” he tried to kick the demon away but it was a futile attempt.
A loud screech escaped the monster that was holding him and the brunet was left to stare in surprise as the thing was sliced in half from it's stomach up. There was no blood of any kind. They simply exploded into nothingness. He hardly had time to register anything when he was pulled up and held close against the other male. His hold was incredibly strong. Sunggyu couldn't move from his grasp at all.
The demons were beginning to crowd the room. There seemed to be no end to them. The other man noticed it as well. He pushed Sunggyu behind him and took hold of the closest monster. He flung him towards the rest with so much force that he sent the vast majority tumbling back into the other room. He quickly turned towards Sunggyu. He tugged a vial from around his neck and pulled something from his pocket. He quickly threw the object around Sunggyu's neck and opened the vial. Sunggyu only blinked in confusion as he felt something wet being spread across his forehead. He took Sunggyu's hand and placed the vial in his hand.
“Holy water. Use it wisely. There's not a lot of it left,” he said before turning around and leaving the trembling brunet next to the piano.
“Wait, wait!” Sunggyu called out, “What's your name?” he asked.
“Woohyun,” the black haired man answered before returning to his task.
With the assurance of the brunet having something to protect himself with, Woohyun let himself go all out. Sunggyu pulled the necklace that Woohyun had placed around his neck to get a good look at it. It was a rosary. He returned his attention to the male and he watched in awe as he took them out one by one. He would flinch every time Woohyun took a hit but it wasn't often and it only disoriented him for a second.
The demons diminished slowly and, once Woohyun took out the last one, he was on his knees, breathing heavily and barely holding himself up. Sunggyu was immediately by his side.
“Are you okay?” he asked, looking him over, afraid to touch him.
“Yeah... can you... help me to the couch?” he asked.
Sunggyu glanced at the couch and took an arm, placing it over his shoulder to get him up. They stumbled clumsily before Woohyun plopped himself down and stretched out on the plush, red couch.
“I am so done for today,” Woohyun said.
∞
Sunggyu awoke startled. He felt a strong squeeze on his right arm. He turned to see Myungsoo looking at him with a weary expression. He smiled at the boy's concerned look before stretching his limbs. He somehow felt a lot lighter and very well rested. He glanced at the clock on the wall and his eyes widened. He'd been asleep for more than four hours. Seven hours to be precise, and he couldn't help the sigh of relief that escaped him. It seemed that his hero had finally appeared.
“Are you okay hyung?” Myungsoo asked.
Myungsoo hadn't been entirely sure what to expect. Sunggyu had been letting out low moans throughout his sleep and he didn't know why. He was sort of expecting him to get up punching, kicking and screaming again. He was relieved to see him okay.
“Much better,” he said before embracing the younger boy.
Myungsoo smiled, happy to see his older brother in such high spirits, especially after the night before. He wasn't able to return the hug though. His brother was squishing both arms against his body.
“Where's Dongwoo?” he asked once he pulled away, looking around for the ball of energy.
“He went to get some dinner.”
“Are we out of food?” he asked, confused.
He could have sworn he brought some groceries home a couple of days ago.
“No... We kind of didn't want to cook...”
“Pizza?” Sunggyu asked.
“Yeah.”
“I could definitely go for some pizza right now,” he said happily before standing up from the couch, “Let's play!”
∞
Dongwoo walked into the apartment wearily. There was a lot of noise and he could hear Sunggyu singing his lungs out.
“He's finally gone crazy...” he mumbled to himself, stopping by the kitchen to drop off the boxes of pizza and tip-toeing into the living room.
“HA! My score was higher!”
“That's not even fair hyung. You've always been good at singing,” Myungsoo complained, a light pout adorning his lips.
“Oh my God you're alive!” both brothers turned to Dongwoo, startled to hear someone else in their chaos.
“Of course I'm alive,” Sunggyu stated with furrowed brows.
“I meant Myungsoo, you almost killed me last night,” the other said teasingly.
Maybe that should have stirred him on but it didn't, he simply smiled at the man. He knew it was over because his savior had finally showed up.
∞
Sunggyu hadn't felt the urge of wanting to fall asleep so strongly before in his life. Myungsoo thought it was more than odd to have Sunggyu turn in so early. He almost teased him and was close to calling him an old man but decided against it. He seemed to be in an extremely good mood and he didn't want to ruin it. He had gone through enough for the past couple of weeks.
Sunggyu couldn't help the smile that graced his lips as he changed out of his clothes into his usual basketball shorts. He wondered if he'd be able to dream of his savior. He hoped he would. He didn't know how to defend himself from those things that appeared in his dreams. He had wondered what kind of things his subconscious was hiding from him. It couldn't have been all bad if he managed to conjure something up to protect him from...whatever those things had been. Sleep claimed him a little too slowly that night.
∞
“Hurry!”
“The last group just finished!”
“We're up next!”
There was a flurry of movement around him and he felt hands pushing him towards the stage.
“Wait! Wait! I don't know what we're doing!” he complained as he tried to push back.
“It's too late to back out now! You're doing this!”
He gave up soon enough and proceeded to stand somewhere a little off center stage.
Fuck, what the hell is this?
The music started slowly and he recognized it immediately. His body began to move without much thought on his part. Why do I know this dance? He asked himself as he moved with the music, matching the rest of the dancers perfectly. His eyes skimmed the crowd, wondering if he could recognize anyone else but his eyes stopped on unnaturally glowing dark green eyes.
Woohyun.
And if he wasn't moving with much effort before, he definitely added a little more sway to his movements, moving his hips back and forth with a fluidity he didn't know he possessed during the chorus of the song. His thing wasn't dancing, but he would put on a show for the guy anyway. He looked like he was enjoying it if the smirk that was placed on his lips gave any indication. He better like it, Sunggyu thought to himself. He was a figment of his imagination after all and he could make him do anything he wanted. Sunggyu relaxed visibly, ignoring everything else now that he knew his protector was watching after him.
The performance ended without a disturbance and he looked over at the man who was clapping along with the rest of the audience. Sunggyu smiled at him before going back to the dressing rooms. The man looked after him thoughtfully before deciding to follow.
“Gyunnie, someone's here to see you!” Sunggyu heard a girl yell from the door.
The odd nickname didn't even phase him but the person at the door made him widen his eyes in surprise.
“Do I let this one in?” she asked and giggled.
Sunggyu simply nodded and she moved aside, letting the man walk in despite the fact that the rest of the members in the dance group were changing into something more comfortable. But the man's eyes never left Sunggyu's figure and once he was close enough, the brunet bowed.
“Thank you for helping me out yesterday,” he said and straightened, fiddling with his hands when the other simply took him in.
The man smirked. He was a little confused by the thanks he was getting. Dreams were odd things and he never took anything at face value, and connecting the dots didn't necessarily need to make sense. He's had weird out-of-the-norm experiences so when he interacted with the dreamer, he tended to play along.
“I've already taken my payment.”
“Huh?”
“Seeing you dressed like that is payment enough,” the man clarified.
Sunggyu scowled and looked down at his outfit before a small, surprised gasp escaped him. He glanced around and found a full length mirror a couple of steps away. His mouth opened in shock when he saw it. He knew he was wearing some kind of stage outfit but he didn't think he'd be dressed so... girlishly.
He was wearing black, baggy pants, similar to what street dancers would wear, with white suspenders hanging from either side of his hips. What shocked him the most was the fact that he was wearing a white, slim fitting t-shirt that was tied above his waist, exposing his flat stomach and belly button.
He covered his face as he realized that he had been dancing in full get-up.
“But somehow I doubt your hips are that wide,” the man mused aloud.
Sunggyu peeked through his fingers and realized that yes, his hips did look a little wider than usual. It crept him out a little. He pulled at the shirt and undid the tie, letting it unfurl to cover his smooth expanse of skin. He chanced a glance at the mirror and once he decided he looked alright, turned to look at the man that was still standing there. He decided to try giving his gratitude once more.
“Thanks.”
“For what?”
“For yesterday. For saving me from those-those things...”
“...You remember?” the man asked, intrigued by the fact.
“Of course I remember! How could I forget?”
The man studied his features before speaking again, “What's your name?”
“Sunggyu...” he answered with a smile before scowling and placing his hands on his hips, “What took you so long?”
“What?” the dark haired male asked, confused at the way it was asked.
“You know I'd been having nightmares like those for close to a week and a half, right?”
“A week and a half?” Woohyun sounded genuinely surprised at the fact.
“Yes! Every time I managed to find sleep I'd end up having nightmares and only sleeping for a couple of hours... and that was only if I was lucky.”
“Almost two weeks...”
Sunggyu watched as the man lost himself in thought, staring at the ground as if it would reveal the answer to whatever it was that he was thinking about.
“So what took you so long?” the other asked again.
“I was busy with others.”
“With others?”
“Yes. You're not the only that has these kinds of nightmares, you know,” Woohyun said matter-of-factly.
“I'm not...? Wait, so I didn't dream you up?”
Woohyun looked at the other man like he had grown a second head, “No.”
“So then who or what are you?”
“You don't know what I am?”
“Of course not!”
Woohyun looked at him skeptically, not believing for a second that the man wasn't the least bit informed of what he was.
“But you remember me. You must know something,” he reasoned with the brunet.
“All I know is that as soon as you showed up and killed those things, I was able to sleep throughout the night.”
“What was your name?” Woohyun asked again.
“Kim Sunggyu. Why does it matter?”
“Why indeed...” he mumbled to himself.
Kim was too common a family name in Korea. There was no way he'd be able to trace this guy back to a family.
“Well Mr. Kim, I'm glad to see you are safe. I gotta go,” Woohyun said before turning to head out.
“Wait!” The dark haired man stopped, turning to land his glowing dark green eyes on the figure behind him.
“You're coming back tomorrow, right?” Sunggyu didn't want to admit it, but he was still a little scared of the possibilities of something like that showing up again.
He was sure the dark dressed man in front of him read him clearly, because the smirk he had showed him didn't appear this time, instead a small smile took up residence on the perfectly shaped lips, “Sure.”
Sunggyu couldn't hold back the thankful smile or relief that came over him at the reassuring word.
∞
Sunggyu returned to his usual routine with little difficulty. He did have to constantly reassure Dongwoo and Myungsoo that he was fine and that the literal nightmare had passed. He did avoid answering questions about the actual nightmares themselves. They were still too fresh and vivid in his mind and it involved gruesome things that he'd rather not tell anyone about, at least not yet. It was a couple of days after his last nightmare that Myungsoo sat with him at the kitchen table. They had just finished dinner and were talking about Myungsoo's classes.
“Our English teacher wants us to write a short story about a recent life-altering situation or something... I don't see why it's any of her business.”
Sunggyu laughed, “You know you can always make something up. Don't be too honest.”
Myungsoo smiled at the man before asking his next question, “What would you write about, hyung?”
The brunet sighed, his big grin turning into a soft smile, “About Woohyun.”
“Woohyun?” Myungsoo asked.
He had never heard that name before. He tried to think off all the times Sunggyu had mentioned his friends but the name didn't sound familiar at all.
“Who's Woohyun?”
Sunggyu's eyes widened. Had he said that out loud? He tried to come up with an excuse or something to move off of the topic. He didn't want to tell his brother about a weird guy that showed up in his dreams and saved him. He wasn't sure how he would take it. He really didn't want to come off as crazy to his brother anymore than he already seemed. He was thankful when Dongwoo's noisy arrival diverted their attention to him.
“I brought some ice-cream!” the blond man stated enthusiastically, placing the plastic bags on the table in the center.
“Are we having a heart to heart?” he asked when he saw both brothers sitting at the table, taking a seat himself after attaining some spoons from a drawer next to the sink.
“No,” Sunggyu said.
He began to rummage through the bags and pulled out the container he was sure Dongwoo had gotten for him.
“So, who's Woohyun?” Myungsoo asked again, taking a cup himself.
Dongwoo perked up. He wasn't sure about what they were talking about but he wanted in on the conversation.
“No one! Just forget I said anything,” he said as he hastily dug his spoon into the creamy dessert.
“Hyung,” Sunggyu felt his resolve break when he heard the tone Myungsoo used.
Sometime after the incident, Myungsoo had asked Sunggyu to trust him, to let himself be helped despite the fact that he was the eldest. Sunggyu had always wanted to protect his younger brother because of it. He didn't need anyone to look over him but he needed to look over everyone else. He had realized that had been an utter failure when Dongwoo and Myungsoo tried to make him feel better so he could forget his problems.
“It's just a guy that I've been dreaming of. He's been showing up in my dreams a lot,” he said shyly, nibbling on the tip of the spoon as he watched their reactions.
“So... he shows up in your dreams and that's enough to impact your life?” Myungsoo asked, confused.
“Well...,” he sighed, “He kind of... he... he got rid of the nightmares...”
“Oh! He must be your Guardian Angel then, right?” Dongwoo asked excitedly, pointing at Sunggyu with the spoon.
“Guardian Angel?” Sunggyu asked.
“Yeah? Everyone is supposed to have one. They're supposed to guard you from evil and stuff like that,” the blond male explained.
“How do you know this?” Myungsoo asked, intrigued.
“A catholic church hired me not too long ago. They had some interesting stuff on the site so I read some of it while I was coming up with a new design.”
There was a moment of silence in which they all had a couple of spoonfuls of their cold dessert before Myungsoo spoke up, “Maybe it's just a random guy, hyung.”
“He might as well be a Guardian Angel if he got rid of those nightmares you were having. What else could he be?” Dongwoo pressed on.
Sunggyu would pretty much be willing to believe anything after that horrible incident. If demons and nightmares that harmed someone physically existed, why wouldn't the good that would counterbalance that not exist? There had to be angels if there were demons.
“He could be,” Sunggyu agreed.
It hadn't really crossed his mind to ask the man. There were times when he would only be able to catch a glimpse of him and other times he would talk with him for a while. The conversations always revolved around the dream and nothing else. Woohyun would never ask of anything other than his dream.
∞
Sunggyu was dreaming. He knew it because there was no way he'd ever find such a beautiful place when he lived in the crowded cities of Seoul. His surroundings were astonishing. It seemed to be a borderline between a fanciful paradise and reality. What startled him the most was the clarity in which he was witnessing everything. The sky was painted in an array of colors, from pink to blue and every other color in between. It looked like the darkening night was not too far off. He was sitting at the end of a little dock that was a good 30 feet into the ocean. It was so low that his legs were submerged up to above his mid-calf. He could distinctly feel the coldness of it.
“Well this is really nice,” Sunggyu jumped a little when he heard the familiar voice but turned with a smile on his lips nonetheless.
“It is, isn't it?” Sunggyu sighed wistfully, “One day I'm gonna live on a beach just like this one.”
“Is that right?” The dark haired male asked.
“Yeah. Wouldn't you want to?”
“It would be nice...”
There was a moment of silence that passed between them, admiring the sun that was setting off in the horizon.
“Is this supposed to be Jeju?”
“I don't know... I've never been there,” Sunggyu responded, raising a leg so he could rest his chin against his knee, “Is it Jeju?”
“I don't know, I haven't been there either.”
Sunggyu laughed before leaning back in order to look at the dark haired man who was standing a little ways behind him, leaning against the wood support of the small hut-like roof that seemed to provide shelter from the sun (It looked like it was used when the sun was at its harshest). He wasn't surprised to see him in his usual dark clothes.
“Of course not. You only exist in dreams, right?”
Woohyun turned to look at the man and laughed softly, “No. I exist in the physical world too.”
Sunggyu looked shocked, “You mean you're real? You exist in the real world?”
He approached the brunet and crouched beside him, “Yes.”
“Where? In some underground hideout?”
Woohyun laughed out loud at that and lightly nudged the other man, “What do you take me for? I'm a normal human too, you know.”
So he's not a Guardian Angel... Sunggyu wasn't sure if he was disappointed or not.
“I live on the outskirts of Seoul, near Bucheon.”
What? He's so close?! Sunggyu was shocked to hear such a thing. His kind were allowed to live among normal humans?
“I'm not the only one though,” he said before standing up.
Sunggyu's small eyes followed his movements, “I gotta go. It's almost sunrise.”
The brunet tried to hide his disappointment at hearing that, “So I'll see you tomorrow?” he turned, watching as the man walked away towards the beach.
“Yeah,” he replied turning to smile at him before disappearing into a cloud of black dust.
∞
Sunggyu was completely unsure as to why he had dragged Dongwoo out with him. He wasn't sure where he was going nor exactly what it was he was looking for. Well what wasn't right, but who.
“Hyung, I'm hungry! Why did we have to leave before I had breakfast?” Dongwoo complained as he trudged behind the taller man.
“It would have been lunch already you lazy bum,” the other retorted.
Dongwoo groaned but it was cut short as a yawn quickly overtook his complaint. Coffee, maybe that would help him wake up... or food. Whichever was closer. He looked around the area, making sure not to lose sight of Sunggyu as he searched for a place to eat. The streets weren't crowded but people still seemed to be out and about for a pretty late lunch.
Sunggyu's eyes on the other hand, scanned faces rapidly. He didn't know why he thought he would find him if he went out to look for him, and the chances to actually run into him were pretty slim. But he was there searching like an idiot. Besides, what would he end up doing if he actually found him?
He was pulled out of his thoughts when he felt Dongwoo begin to drag him across the street.
“Let's have lunch here then, hyung.”
Sunggyu couldn't really concentrate on the lunch that Dongwoo had bought himself (which wasn't really lunch, more like dessert) but he sipped quietly at his drink, his eyes still on the people outside.
“What are we even looking for?” Dongwoo asked once he had finished more than half of the cake he had bought.
Sunggyu bit the side of his bottom lip lightly. He didn't really want to tell him because he knew it was a stupid thing to be doing.
“I'm looking for a frie-,” he stopped abruptly when he turned to survey the cafe's occupants.
Dongwoo looked at him strangely but turned to look at whatever it was that had startled his best friend. There was a man standing near the register of the shop looking at them. The man was wearing nice clothes, all of which had very neutral colors -Dongwoo noticed-and had dark, slightly overgrown hair that was swept to the side nicely to keep it from covering his eyes.
“Woohyun?” Dongwoo heard.
“What?” the other asked, startled.
Wasn't Woohyun supposed to be Sunggyu's Guardian Angel?
“The guy with the strange eyes! That's Woohyun!” Sunggyu was standing but he was leaning on the table, as if unsure if he should make a move or not.
Dongwoo turned again but saw no one who fit the description at all, just the guy who had been joined by two more, an incredibly tall one and another that was shorter by a couple of inches. Sunggyu watched as the man smirked at him, not making a move to approach him before leaving with the other two. The brunet remained unmoving for a couple of seconds before his motor skills caught up to his brain. He moved quickly, following after them.
He ran out onto the street, searching everywhere, trying to catch a glimpse of where he had gone. He was completely surprised when he heard that voice he had grown so fond of.
“I told you I was real.”
Sunggyu vaguely heard Dongwoo call out to him but all he could see at that moment was the man standing in front of him. A smile found its way onto his lips at those words.
His savior was there. He existed. And there wasn't going to be a single thing in the world that would take him away.
“Your hips are kinda wide.”