When you woke up you had already almost forgotten about your dream. For a few puzzled seconds, you lay still in bed and thought about the dream. It was something you’d dreamed about before, you knew that for sure. There was something with a black cat, a grinning black cat. And something about honey drinks. Then it was all gone. You sighed and rubbed your eyes. Maybe you should start writing down these dreams, but before you could find a pen and paper your alarm started ringing.

Once you’d turned it off, all of your memories were gone and you decided to go brush your teeth before heading downstairs. In the kitchen, you could hear your parents talking to each other. Something about a weekend away. You smiled, finished getting ready and entered the kitchen. When your mother turned to you she sighed deeply, sliding something extra onto your plate.

“You have really dark circles around your eyes, sweetie... Are you sure you’re sleeping well?” She asked. You yawned, covered your mouth and nodded. In fact, you’d been sleeping more the past few weeks than you were used to sleeping. You couldn’t quite figure out why your face was like this. “Just eat your breakfast. If we keep feeding you healthy food and sending you to bed, it’ll turn out okay for sure.” She didn’t seem very convinced anymore, but you took her advice regardless and dug into your food. It was delicious.

By all means, today was a very normal day. You walked to school, as you always did, and waited by the entrance of the door for your classmates to arrive. They trickled in slowly. You waited until about half of them to go to your class but then noticed something. There was one thing that was off about today. Namjoon was late. You didn’t know Namjoon all that well, but you knew enough to know that he usually showed up earlier. Beneath his eyes were dark circles, you noticed.

“Namjoon, good morning.” You tried, waving at him as he entered the building. He smiled at you. He looked really exhausted. “Are you okay? You look really tired.” You smiled, stepping closer to him to keep pace with him. You couldn’t remember talking to him before and wondered if you ever had. Most you knew was that he was a really smart student.

“I’m fine, really. You look tired yourself. Have you been cramming for today’s test?” He laughed. There was something cheeky about his smile, and you quite liked it. Why was it that you hadn’t talked to him as much before? You shrugged in reply, trying to think of a conversational topic, but you’d already reached the classroom and the teacher was standing in front of the board, looking agitated. You decided not to risk detention, gave Namjoon a last smile and headed to your chair.

During the class, you occasionally peered at Namjoon. He really didn’t seem to be feeling well, his head kept bobbing off his hand, sinking down before he shook a little, blinking rapidly and looking around to see if anyone had noticed. You turned your gaze to your paper each time he looked around, not wanting him to think you were spying on him.

At the end of the morning period, most people cleared out of the classroom to get some fresh air. It was still autumn but everyone was trying to soak in the last bit of warmth. Not Namjoon. When you looked over his head was on his desk. He was asleep. You bit your tongue but decided to wake him up. The teacher would be mad at him if he slept through her class.

“Namjoon? Hey, wake up..” You nudged his arm gently, trying to wake him. He didn’t move, he didn’t even make a sound. Worried you nudged him again, a little harder. This time he snored softly. Sighing you moved around the table and poked at his sleeping face. “Wake up... The teacher will be mad if she sees you sleeping.” Namjoon groaned. You doubted that he’d actually heard what you said but opened one eye.

“I’m fine, really... But thanks for waking me Areum.” He smiled, then turned away to yawn. Did he know your name? Sure, you’d been in the same class together for years, but it still sounded so weird to hear him say it. Determined to ignore it, you placed a bottle of water on his desk.

“Just drink something, it’ll help.. Drinking usually helps me. Did you eat breakfast?” You didn’t know why you were rambling on still. A sigh left the previously motionless body in front of you and Namjoon sat up, stretching out. He didn’t bother to cover his mouth when he yawned, then glanced up at you.

“I just stayed up late studying, it’s nothing to worry about Areum. But thanks for the water.” He raised the bottle and sipped from it. You smiled and left to go back to your seat. There wasn’t much more you could do, and soon everyone else would come in. You didn’t want to be picked on by the others for ‘dating’ Namjoon. Not that there was anything wrong with dating Namjoon, you thought as you tried not to sneak any glances, it’s just that it would make the situation awkward.

Class continued normally. Namjoon remained awake for the rest of the day and finished the test you took at the end of the day before anyone else did. As usual. Good, you thought, going through your answers a couple more times before turning in yours. You half expected Namjoon to be waiting for you outside of the classroom, but he wasn’t. Why would he be? You weren’t that close after all.

You found him again in the library, by accident. He had surrounded himself with books on hard subjects and as far as you could see he was diligently studying. No wonder he was the top student, you thought to yourself and picked out the book you would need. You needed to get home and start working on your homeroom assignment.

The grass was overwhelmingly green. The sounds around you seemed so much clearer. Not louder, but bright and sharp in a sense. There was water rushing somewhere near you. You pushed yourself up, finding yourself in a grassy field. There was a stream running in front of you. A small path made out of white shells crossed through the water, leading off into a nearby forest. You glanced behind you, where you could see mountains. The sky was incredibly blue, it almost hurt to look at it. A butterfly fluttered in front of you and a gust of wind blew the scent of wildflowers into your nose.

Something moved past in front of you, but you didn’t have time to distinguish what it was before it was gone. Surprised you got up, brushing your fingers over your knees. Suddenly you were underneath a tree. The something was sitting in the tree, you could only see a furry black tail swishing back and forth next to one of the branches. It could be anything, yet you weren’t scared.

That was all you could remember when you woke up. Sighing you rubbed your eyes and reached for the notepad you’d placed beside your bed. Flowers that look like.. What did they look like again? Absentmindedly you doodled on the paper, trying to work out the strange flowers you had seen. Purple, with light blue edges. Petals shaped like diamonds and a core bluer than the blue sky. You couldn’t draw it properly. It was time for yet another day of school.

“Morning Namjoon.” You weren’t sure why you were waiting for him today. He seemed a little surprised that you were talking to him, but smiled at you regardless and tipped his head. The bags under his eyes seemed bigger. He looked utterly exhausted.

“Morning Areum. You look tired.” The pot called the kettle black. You shrugged and walked beside him in silence, disregarding the comments other people were making. It felt as if it was more important to be near him and to talk to him, although you wouldn’t know why.

“I couldn’t sleep, there was a mosquito in my room.” You replied. It was a lie. You had fallen asleep mere minutes after climbing into bed and slept fast through the night. Namjoon glanced over at you. You wondered if he knew that you were lying. If he did, he didn’t mention it and instead smiled at you.

“Same. It’s the noise that’s the worst..” So he was lying as well. You didn’t mention it and instead slowed your pace. Soon you’d be in class and then you couldn’t talk to him anymore. Namjoon slowed his pace as well but didn’t say anything about it. “These days sleep seems even more tiring than being awake..” He muttered. You weren’t sure if he meant for you to hear that, but you nodded in silent agreement.

“I’m looking forward to the weekend... Maybe I’ll get some proper rest then.” You said. The conversation might be somewhat bland, but you enjoyed it. There was so much about Namjoon that you didn’t know about. There was hardly anything you knew, at all. Except that he had trouble sleeping. He was the same as you, but worse.

“I might try to sneak in a few hours during class... Cover for me.” He laughed, but you weren’t sure if he was actually joking. “You don’t mind chocolate milk, do you?” He wiggled a can of the liquid in front of you. You blinked, then shook your head. He pressed it into your hand. “Thanks for the water yesterday... I think I lasted through the day because of it.” He smiled, sliding into his seat. This time you tipped your head at him, smiled and headed to your seat.

The can was safely tucked inside your bag during the rest of the class. During break time, you thought about taking it out and drinking from it, but you’d prefer to save it. Someone might try to take it from you if you took it out. After all, teachers take any excuse they can get to establish dominance. You glanced over at Namjoon. He was starting to nod off again, but he was clearly trying his best to stay awake. Part of you hoped he’d look your way, but before he could you turned your gaze back to the board. Tomorrow you’d bring him canned coffee.

“Namjoon, wake up..” You muttered from your seat. As if he could hear you. There were a lot of people in the classroom despite it being break time. They would think weird things if you walked over to him, wouldn’t they? You sighed and considered crumbling up a ball of paper and throwing it at him, but you doubted it would wake him up at all. Definitely coffee tomorrow, regardless of whether or not you were students.

Then he shifted, his head turned and you could see his face although his eyes were still closed. For the first time since this bizarre exchange had started between the two of you, you didn’t avert your eyes and waited for him to open his eyes. As he opened his eyes you noticed you’d laid your head on your desk just like he had. He smiled at you and mouthed something, but you couldn’t make out what he said. The bell rung and break time was over. You waved at him weakly before forcing yourself to sit up again. Another day was wasted, you thought.

“What do you want to do today, Areum? Should we go fishing? Let’s go fishing! I want to eat a rainbow trout!” Something jumped around you excitedly. The swishing black tail was back, too. You smiled, leaning back to gaze up at the clouds that were lazily drifting by. Something bounced into your line of sight. The something was a boy with dark hair and cat-like ears that stuck out between the deep brown strands. He grinned eagerly.

“Areum?” You groaned and opened one eye. Someone was next to you. Namjoon had woken you up. Tired you stretched yourself out and rubbed your eyes. You were in the library. Apparently, you’d been using a copy of “Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring Again” as a pillow. Your back was stiff.

“I’m up..” You muttered, rubbing your lower back. Namjoon took the seat beside yours. You suspected an abandoned spot a few seats further that was surrounded by several books had originally been his spot, but you weren’t complaining. “What time is it?”

“It’s almost six. I think we should go home.” He answered, smiling lazily. You rubbed your eyes and got up from your chair. “You were dreaming, you know?” There was something odd about his smile. Something knowing. You nodded slightly, trying to push back another yawn.

“Yeah. Something... Something about a cat, I think... I can’t remember.” You tried to remember the dream, but couldn’t. There was just the vague recollection of a black-haired cat in your mind. Something about that didn’t feel right. A scraping noise alerted you that Namjoon was putting away books. You should put yours away, too.

“Sometimes our dreams are better than our reality,” Namjoon said, quite out of the blue, as you exited the library. “In our dreams, we can be anything, anywhere. There’s no limit, you know?” He glanced up at the darkening sky and sighed, sliding his hands into his pockets. “Well, see you tomorrow.” As he’d done before he tipped his head before turning to walk home. You turned the other way and started heading home as well. What did he mean by that, exactly? Or was it just that? Suddenly you stopped walking and turned around, wanting to call after him. Namjoon just turned around the corner. Your stomach turned. It felt like you might never see him again, and you couldn’t explain why.