Author's Note: This story is a birthday present to my good friend, SusumeKitten. Happy sweet sixteen, dongsaeng Gabby! Saranghae<3.~ DaeGukNamAhForever

Author's Note: This story is a birthday present to my good friend, SusumeKitten. Happy sweet sixteen, dongsaeng Gabby! Saranghae<3.

Hongbin woke up in a cold sweat, sitting up suddenly. He turned to the young man sleeping next to him and touched his face gently. Hyuk was still asleep soundly, unlike in his dream, where he had died. Hongbin was sick of dreaming about his friends dying. It seemed to alternate between all of them on different nights. Other nights, they would ALL die. It was becoming a nightly occurrence now and very worrisome.  

Getting out of his bed, he walked into the restroom to take a shower. The water would help to not only wash off the sweat, but also to clear his mind. He wished the water could wash away the images that were still in his mind vividly. It seemed to help to a certain extent, but they were still there.

He dressed quickly, then hurried to school. Parking his car, he grabbed his backpack and ran into the school. On his way to class, he passed Hakyeon in the hall. He had seen Hakyeon die twice, though he always pushed it out of his mind.

“Hey!” Hakyeon smiled at him. “You look terrible. Maybe you should lay off on the parties.”

Hongbin rolled his eyes. “Very funny, hyung. I was SLEEPING…or TRYING to. I don’t sleep very well. I‘m having damn nightmares.”

Hakyeon looked concerned. “I’m sorry. That …” He glanced at his watch. “I need to get to class, but you should take a nap when you get home. Bye!” Hakyeon smiled at him again, but started to edge away from Hongbin. 

Hongbin sighed. He was tired of having the dreams and not getting sleep. “I’ll try to take a nap. Hopefully, I won’t have any more dreams, period.” He shook his head. “Thanks. I’ll talk to you later.” He threw his backpack over his shoulder. Hakyeon waved at him, walking off. 

Going through class after class in a haze, Hongbin felt exhausted. When he got home, he noticed Hyuk in the kitchen, eating. “Hi, hyung.” Hyuk studied him, offering a lopsided grin. “You’ve been looking like the walking dead. No offense.”

Hongbin laughed, grabbing a Coke out of the refrigerator. He was tired of his friends commenting on how terrible he looked. He simply ignored Hyuk’s mention of it. “I need to go do my homework. See ya.” Hyuk waved at him, his mouth full of ramen. 

 Walking into his bedroom, Hongbin threw his backpack on the bed he shared with Hyuk. Sighing, he pulled out his books and began studying. Despite the caffeine, he only got halfway through his math homework, unable to keep his eyes open. He fell straight into a dream. It was another nightmare about Hakyeon, this time being torn to pieces by creatures he didn’t recognize. They looked like a mix between wolves and bears. He hated the dreams, watching as his friend was ripped apart, blood spurting all over the place. His friends always died terrible deaths. He had seen Ken die by getting attacked, his head ripped off and blood spilling everywhere. His dream of Ravi dying had been worse, hung on a spit and burned with acid, where his skin had peeled off of his body. That was also done by the wolf-bear creatures. It had been excruciating, almost as if Hongbin could actually feel their pain.   

******

The next night, Hongbin had the same terrible dreams. This time, he noticed the dreams began to become more intense. However, at the end, a tall man in a black hood touched the inflicted person and they were restored to their normal state. With this change in the dream Hongbin was calmed down and woke up peacefully. He wasn’t sure why it was different this time, but when he mentioned it to Hyuk, the younger man frowned at him, looking worried. 

“It was so strange. That man in my dream looked familiar,” Hongbin took a drink of his coffee, thinking about it.  “I think I’ve seen him before.” Trying to figure out WHERE, he couldn’t think of any place that would be logical. Maybe he had seen him at school, at some point. 

“Hongbin, I don’t want to freak you out, but this sounds like what happened to Ken once. He had dream like this, but when he found out who was giving him the dreams, the guy became angry and told him to not think about it too much. He had to go to a specialist and have the dreams…taken care of. I think the specialist gave him some drugs or something, but they went away.” Hyuk sighed. “Unfortunately, this may be the same situation. This person may be looking for something bad. He may want to hurt you or someone else. Be careful.”

Hongbin looked worried. “I see…That doesn’t sound too pleasant. The guy in Ken’s dreams sounds like he was a jerk. What can I take to get rid of the dreams? Safely?”

“I don’t know. I think they were just regular sleeping pills and the guy left him alone,” Hyuk smiled at him. “I’m just telling you about Ken’s experience. This could be a different situation all together.”
 
“I’m curious. The guy was able to take it all away. I don’t get it.” He sighed again. 

Hyuk frowned. “Just be careful. Take sleeping pills. That might help you. You don’t want the dreams and CERTAINLY not with that guy in them. He may seem friendly and helpful, but could be dangerous.” 

Hongbin nodded. “I’ll try it. This guy could be different. Who knows? Thanks!”

Hyuk looked skeptical, but nodded. “Maybe. You’re welcome, hyung.”

 That night, he took sleeping pills and slept soundly until 2:00 AM, when he woke up with another nightmare. The nightmare was terrible and typical, but this time, the same guy in the black hood appeared and chased the danger away. Everything was peaceful, from there on. This time, the guy turned to him and smiled. He had thick, black curls, a thin face and pale skin. He was very striking.  The guy didn’t speak, even when Hongbin tried to get his attention. Hongbin woke up very calmly, but couldn’t get the man’s face out of his head. Who was he? 

******

The next morning was a Saturday, so Hongbin slept in…peacefully. When he got up, he looked on the internet to find out about people that had the ability to go into dreams. He found something about an ancient myth. They were called Dream Walkers and could enter someone’s dream and change whatever they wanted. That didn’t sound very enticing to Hongbin, but he was pretty sure that was what he was dealing with. He decided to pay attention the next time he saw the guy in his dream. He may learn something from him. 

Every night, he continued to see the guy. One night, he called out to him, despite Hyuk’s warning to stay away.

 The guy turned and walked over to him, much to Hongbin’s surprise. “Be careful here. There’s someone after you and your friends. I know you think I’m the enemy, but I’m not. HE is. Just don’t let on that you’ve seen me and go on as you have been before. Also…stop taking the sleeping pills. They’re interrupting my work.”

Hongbin frowned. “What do you do?”

“I’m a Dream Walker. While you will wake up and this will all be a dream, I slip into this realm every night to protect you from the creatures. If they escape, things would get very bad for everyone.”

Hongbin gasped. He hadn’t thought they would be able to leave the dream world. “They can escape? Do you get injured here?”

The guy nodded, turning his blood stained dagger over in his hand. “Oh, yes. They can escape…and I CAN get injured or killed, unlike you and your friends. Like I said, though, please don’t take the sleeping pills. They hinder me.”

Hongbin smiled, noticing that the guy seemed somewhat irritable. “What’s your name?”

The guy shook his head, placed a finger to his lips and walked off. This time Hongbin noticed that he was following signs, like marks in the trees. He had never noticed them before. 

Hongbin thought about what the guy had told him. He hadn’t looked dangerous and Hongbin trusted him somehow. He decided to ditch the sleeping pills and pay attention…but stay out of the way.

For the next week, he continued to have the nightmares, but his friends were dying less often. He hoped that the guy had been trustworthy and he wasn’t being led into a dangerous trap. He was beginning become attached to him, and hoped he wasn’t evil.

******

One night, he got attacked in his dream. He couldn’t fight it off and thought he would die. The Dream Walker jumped in to defend him, battling the creature. He fought it for a while, dodging the creature’s advances and lunges. He finally jumped from a rock above the creature and stabbed it in the head. The creature let out an agonizing shriek and fell to the ground, dead. Black blood oozed out of the stab wound. Hongbin stared at the creature that had just been brutally slain, marveling at the man’s skill. 

The guy noticed him staring at it, smiling morbidly. “That was the leader.” Wiping blood on his pants, he sighed. “Are you okay?” Hongbin noticed that the guy was bleeding on his arm, so he began to reach for him. The man pushed him away, shaking his head. It was the first time he had touched Hongbin. 

Hongbin nodded and finally found his voice. With all of his nightmares, he had never seen anything as heroic as what he had just now witnessed. “Thank you. Is it safe now?” He smiled at the man, noticing for the first time that he had nice eyes.

The Dream Walker smiled at him, pushing his curls out of his face. “Yes, it is. I’ll keep an eye on you from now on, just to be on the safe side. There shouldn’t be any more, for now. They probably won’t target you and your friends again. If they do, I’ll take care of them for you again.”

Hongbin touched him lightly on the arm, blushing. “I don’t know what to do to repay you.” He laughed softly. “However, I feel better, knowing that someone like you is taking care of everything. My name’s Hongbin, by the way.”

The guy laughed. “I know. I’ve seen you in class. My name’s Leo. They address me by my proper name in school, though. Jung Taekwoon. We have a few classes together. I’ll see you around, Hongbin. Please don’t tell anyone we met here, okay?” 

Hongbin thought about what Hyuk had told him about Dream Walkers. He was convinced that Leo was one of the good ones, since he had protected them all. “Hey, you don’t need to worry about me telling anyone about this. Your secret’s safe with me. I won't tell just anyone.”

Leo smiled at him gently, placing his bloody sword back in its sheath. “I believe you. Thank YOU.”

******

Hongbin woke up feeling better than he had in a while and was sad that it was a Sunday. He couldn’t wait until Monday, when he could see Leo in class. He was jittery all day, but tried not to let Hyuk pick up on it. 

That night, he dreamed about Leo, but not the creatures. The bad dreams were gone, replaced with what he wanted to do with his rescuer. 

When Monday finally came around, he spotted Leo in class, which made it hard to concentrate on the class itself. When they were walking out, he approached Leo. “Hi. My name’s Hongbin. You’re very good looking. Would you like to go do something?” 

Leo smiled at him with recognition. “I would love to. I’ve wanted to talk to you for weeks now.” 

******

They went to dinner that evening, and Hongbin was surprised to learn that Leo was actually a shy and awkward guy in real life. He didn’t act like the confident, fearless Dream Walker he was, slaying evil that lurked in the dream world. He was very calm and gentle, so Hongbin didn’t hesitate to introduce Leo to his friends. Ken was a bit hesitant, at first, but warmed up to Leo after talking to him for a while. He realized that Leo wasn’t like the Dream Walker that had hurt him. Hongin had also been sleeping better than he had in months, as his nightmares never returned. He did see Leo a few times in his dreams, but it was never to defend him. He took comfort in knowing that Leo WOULD be there to chase get rid of any danger in the future, if he ever had the nightmares again. He finally felt safe.

One night, Hongbin smiled at Leo. “Hey, do you mind if I kiss you?” He appeared to be nervous. 

Leo shook his head. “Not at all. I would love it if you kissed me.”

Hongbin beamed. “Good, because that’s one of many things I would love to do with you. I’ve dreamt of it.”

Leo blushed, contrasting with his natural paleness. “I know you have. I’ve seen your dreams.” He spoke quietly.

Hongbin laughed softly. Pushing the tall Dream Walker against his apartment door, Hongbin kissed him lightly. Leo groaned, slipping his hand to the small of Hongbin’s back and deepening the kiss. Hongbin broke away momentarily to whisper something. “Would you like to come in? I can show you what I’ve REALLY dreamt of…”

 Leo smiled, his eyes shining. “I’d like that.”