The thick darkness was all around him and he felt like he suddenly had become blind.

The light from above could barely break through the surface of the water but it was enough to tell what was up and what was down.

He was sinking deeper and deeper towards the bottom and his own body could not save him.

He tried to scream for help, but insteadhis lungs took in more and more of the turbid water.

He had given up by now; this would be the last day of his way too short life.

__________________

L.Joe’s sleep had been disturbed by the distressed moves and sounds coming from Chunji. He slowly sat up trying to determine if Chunji was

doing this deliberately. Something was definitely wrong!

Chunji was struggling to breathe and it looked like he was drowning in the sheet. L.Joe moved fast and kneeled beside the bed and tried to

avoid Chunji’s flailing limbs.

L.Joe grabbed Chunji’s face with both hands and looked at his pale face which was decorated with beads of sweat and a pained

expression.

’’Chunji wake up! Chunji listen to me! It’s just a dream!’’ L.Joe was yelling at Chunji and at the same time he was continuously

slapping his cheecks.

L.Joe was running out of words to say and his hands were hurting. He was feeling frustrated and scared – Tears were starting to form.

He had to do something, but what?!

L.Joe’s body started to move and he swiftly moved from the floor to the edge of the bed where he barely managed to dodge an attack

from Chunji’s arms. He smoothly s his arms around Chunji’s torso, keeping Chunji’s arms from hurting them both and pulled him close

to his chest.

L.Joe did his best to ignore the pain from legs kicking him by biting his lip hard, and the kicking soon turned into shaking as Chunji was

calming down. Realizing that he had managed to stop the other boy’s panic-like state, L.Joe looked at Chunji’s face again which was now

stained with tears. Even though he thoroughly inspected Chunji’s face earlier when they were talking, he never thought he would get so see it

up close like this.

As he started to feel uncomfortable in the slightly awkward position, he loosened his arms that had been locked tightly around Chunji

until now. Chunji’s face turned into a frown and he grabbed L.Joe’s shirt keeping L.Joe where he was.

L.Joe’s heart softened at the sight and he decided to stay just a few minutes more.

~      ~      ~      ~      ~