You weren’t sure how long it had been since Namjoon started appearing in your dreams anymore. It felt like you slept more than you were awake. The days passed in such a daze and you couldn’t even recall what had happened in the past week at school. Not because you didn’t try. Slowly you’d gotten into the habit of drinking coffee before classes started, but it didn’t help you much. The only awake-ness that coffee gave you was the energy to keep your eyes open and move around. Your mind wasn’t much brighter these days.

If anyone worried about you at all, you didn’t notice it. You did notice that no one was looking at Namjoon’s seat. It looked more empty to you every day, but no one said anything. Did no one else miss him? You turned your head to glance at the class picture on the wall. Namjoon was there, in the back. He was making a peace sign, despite the photographer having previously told everyone it wasn’t allowed. There was so much more to him than people here realized, you thought as you rested your head on your arms. Just a few seconds closing your eyes wouldn’t hurt, would it?

In front of you the teacher was rambling on about equations, something you didn’t understand. You half expected to be yelled at any second, or for a ruler to be smacked onto your table, but none of that happened. The class continued so normally that it didn’t even feel like you were part of it.

“Rose tea is my favorite flavor. You really ought to try it!” Suga smiled as he pushed a cup of pink tea towards you. It smelled like roses, but you didn’t like the scent of roses all that much. Instead of drinking it you made a face and pushed it over to Namjoon who was sitting beside you. Namjoon laughed at Suga’s disappointed face, then pushed the cup back towards you.

“Really, you should try some of it Areum.” He said, smiling too much to be scolding you.

You sat up, blinking and rubbing your eyes. Had you just fallen asleep? What time was it? You were still in the classroom. Everyone else was just sitting in their own seat, doing homework and chatting quietly. The teacher was sitting behind his desk. A different teacher. Was this physics already? You wondered how you’d managed to sleep for an hour and not be scolded by anyone. After a few seconds of thinking it over you decided that you couldn’t stay in the classroom. You had to stay awake, somehow, because the dreams were starting to blur into your reality.

The teacher didn’t even look up when you asked him if you could go to the sick bay. No one else even looked at you. When you repeated the question the teacher blinked. It was like he only just noticed you. Then he waved his hand as a sign that you could go. You bowed your head in gratitude and left for the sick bay.

“Areum! You’re worrying me. Why do you keep going away? You know I hate it when you leave.” Was Jungkook pouting? He sounded like he was pouting. You shrugged and pulled up your knees, glancing around. You were surrounded by the cat, the rabbit, the duke, Suga and Namjoon. Apparently you were suddenly in a cozy little house. At least it looked like it was a little house. Then you noticed the portrait above the fireplace. Bunnies. You must be in Jimin’s underground house.

“I don’t do it on purpose you know?” You muttered, taking the tea that Jimin was offering you. Everyone really seemed to like their tea here. Suga sighed and sat down by your side. You noticed he was holding a small yellow bottle. The Honey Juice Potion.

“You need some of this Areum. This will energize you, I promise.” You noticed Namjoon’s eyes twinkling at the mention of the stuff. Reluctant you let Suga drop some of the Honey Juice in your tea. It didn’t smell that bad, although you couldn’t smell honey.

“Why is it called Honey Juice anyway?” You asked, raising the cup. Suga didn’t know the answer to that question. You sipped from the cup. The tea wasn’t overly sweet like you had expected. It tasted sweet, but not like sugar. The tea now had a distinct flowery taste. Jungkook crouched down in front of you and ruffled your hair.

“Finish it! You have to drink it while it’s hot!” He reached over and almost pushed the cup into your face before Suga tried to hit him. Following his advice you sipped from the cup once more, finishing up the tea. You brain felt more awake but your body was tired. Namjoon helped you up.

“It’s good, isn’t it? It’s my favourite. Don’t worry, you’ll feel less tired soon.” He seemed a lot happier. You tried to remember where you’d last seen him sad but found that you couldn’t recall much. Maybe you really were that tired. You allowed Namjoon to help you up and lead you to Jimin’s bed. Jimin didn’t protest much to that.

“Don’t worry! Next time you wake up you won’t have to leave us ever again!” Jungkook smiled, patting your head and pulling the blanket over you. You tilted your head, worried about that ever so slightly. Jungkook hummed, crouching down in front of you. “You’ll be just like Rap Monster. What new name do you want Areum?”

“Areum!” You gasped as you sat up, looking around you in shock. You were in a bed. A hospital bed. What had happened? Beside you was your mother. It was night time already. You bit your tongue, trying hard not to remember what Jungkook said last. Just like Namjoon? Would you be trapped in that world?  

“I’m sorry mom, I’ve been stressing about the finals too much I guess..” You tried to quickly brush off the topic. She sighed, looking at you with sombre eyes, then offered you her hand. You took it and allowed her to lead you out of the school. As you left the building you got a strange feeling. Maybe it just looked different when it was dark?

The car ride home was spent in relative silence. Your mother tried to make some conversation, but you found yourself incapable of answering her. You couldn’t go to sleep. Sleeping was dangerous right now. If you fell asleep, then you would disappear like Namjoon had. You had to keep awake. In an attempt to keep awake you dug your nails into your neck, blinking continuously.

Your mother reheated the dinner she had previously cooked and watched you eat it. Contrary to the previous days you did your best to function as well as you could. You ate dinner and when your mother looked away for a few seconds you left to the kitchen to make some coffee. You had to avoid falling asleep at all costs. This was going to be a long night.

After about three cups of coffee you were more convinced than before that you hated the taste of coffee. It was bitter and your mouth was starting to feel sour with all the coffee you’d drank. But at least it was working. You sat in bed and read through Namjoon’s dream journal, trying to think of a way to avoid being dragged into the dream world.

“Aren’t you tired Areum?” You sat up straight and looked around for the origin of the voice, but you couldn’t see anyone. Probably just your imagination, you told yourself, staring at the notebook. The alarm clock beside you said 2:39. In another few hours you would have school. Good, it meant you would have to be walking around a little first. You yawned and took another sip of the coffee. Your face contorted. The coffee was even worse when it was cold.

Namjoon’s dream journal didn’t tell you anything new, but at least it told you something about who Namjoon was. He was very observational, although he wasn’t a very cautious person. There was something to admire about that, though. He was also quite witty. Sometimes he scribbled a couple of lines at the bottom of a page which were clearly not dream related. It felt a bit like you were intruding in his personal thoughts, but it also made you more curious as to who this boy really was. As you had before, you wished you had talked to him more often.

Somehow you managed to sit out the night without falling asleep. At six in the morning you got up to take a shower, keeping the water temperature low to make sure you stayed awake. Then you went downstairs to make more coffee. Light was creeping in through the windows slowly, and you tried your best not to yawn.

After downing more coffee you eventually felt too sick and nauseous to go to sleep, so that was a success in some form. Then your mother came downstairs. She seemed to be pleased to find you there and asked if you’d had a good night’s sleep. You lied and said you did, after which she proceeded to cook breakfast. You tried your best to eat it.

Since she was worried about you, your mother offered to drive you to school before heading into work herself. As you figured she’d keep talking to you during the ride, you accepted it. As you grabbed your back you could swear you felt a hand on your shoulder, but when you turned back there was no one behind you.

“So who is this Namjoon guy? A boy you like?” Your mother asked, smiling a bit cheekily. She was trying her best to make the situation normal, and you appreciated it. You asked her in turn how she’d met your father, and tried to keep coming up with conversational topics. And yet you felt as if there was someone on the backseat behind you the entire drive to school.

“Have a good day at school sweetie. I’ll come pick you up at four, okay?” She smiled at you from her seat and kissed your forehead. You nodded wryly and opened up the car door to get out. When you turned to get out you almost screamed. In front of you was Jungkook, holding out his hand and smiling brightly. Quickly you turned back to your mother and pulled the car door shut. He wasn’t here. He couldn’t be here. You were just seeing things. Your mother blinked.

“I just.. Thank you mom. And thanks for everything. I know I’ve not been myself lately..” You tried. What if you never saw her again? Your mother sighed and shook her head.

“Sweetie I know you want to stay home but the doctor can’t find anything wrong with you. We’ll go to the hospital tomorrow, okay? They can help.” Maybe it was for the best she thought that? You sighed and turned back to the school. Jungkook was gone. Maybe you really did imagine him. Trying not to yawn you got out of the car, almost forgetting your bag, and walked across the schoolyard.

“What’s wrong Areum? Don’t you want to come play with us?” You recognized this voice as being Suga’s, and jerked your head, trying to find out where it came from. Suga was nowhere to be seen. Before anything else could happen you rushed into the school building and tried reciting your course schedule to yourself. Monday’s first class was national history. You had a chapter to read for that class plus some assignments on the colonial period. The second class was..-

“We’re all waiting for you. There’s no time!” You could swear you saw the white of Jimin’s rabbit ears flashing in front of you and blinked rapidly to get rid of the visual. Footsteps were coming from behind you, and you could hear the chattering of students. Hopefully this meant that you would be safe, if only for a few hours.

In front of the classroom you halted again. Were you hallucinating this as well? Namjoon was sitting at his desk, doing nothing in particular. Cautiously you walked over to his seat. He looked up at you and smiled. Then he vanished. He hadn’t really been here. Had he ever really been here? What was going on? You rubbed your eyes and headed to find your seat, but when you opened your eyes you weren’t in the classroom anymore.

Refusing to take in your surroundings you patted your cheeks and quickly sat down at your reappearing desk. Back in the classroom. The teacher walked in as well, tapping the board. You tried your best to pay attention to what she was talking about. The words written on the blackboard made you realize it was a literature class. ‘Please look after mom’. You knew this book. You could remember reading it, and finding it rather confusing but at the same time enlightening.

“Let’s start by naming the main focuses of this book. Who can give me the first few themes?” The teacher said, waiting for students to raise their hands. You were about to raise your hand when you heard a hushed whisper from beside you. Footsteps. Loud footsteps. Footsteps you recognized just because of how bombastic they seemed to be.

“Areum!” You didn’t dare to look up, but the footsteps came closer. No one else seemed to notice them. “Areum, you’re running late for the party! Don’t you know what the king does when people are rude?” JHope snapped his fingers in front of you. Without hesitating for a second you got up and ran out of the classroom. Keep running, you told yourself. Keep going.

Down the hall, around the corner. Out of the building. Then, right in front of the entrance, you stopped. There was someone standing in the door opening. Someone whom you didn’t recognize, but you had the feeling he was from the dream world as well. He didn’t approach you, but stared you down until you felt like you had no choice but to approach him.

“You want to find him, right? Namjoon is waiting for you Areum.” He wasn’t even scolding you, but his words rang oddly true in your ears. Then he extended his hand out to you. Behind him you could see the schoolyard turning into a meadow showered in sunlight. You felt yourself becoming more and more tired, and after several seconds you took the hand that was extended to you. Your eyelids fell closed before you could feel the stranger pulling you through the door.