“Have you forgotten what day it is today?”

Kyungsoo heard the question clearly as he felt a pair of icy hands wrap round his waist.

Kyungsoo knew what day it was but he chose to keep silent.

“Have you forgotten what day it is today?” the voice repeated the question.

This time round, the tone sounded more chilling and angry.

But Kyungsoo continued to ignore the question and shut his eyes tight.

“I thought you love me. I thought you miss me,” the voice continued in a mocking, eerie tone as the freezing hands shifted to caress Kyungsoo’s visage sending shivers and chills down Kyungsoo. 

“Go away. You’re not real,” Kyungsoo muttered as he plucked up the courage to speak up.

“And whose fault is that?” the voice taunted.

Kyungsoo gulped a little. “It was an accident. I didn’t wish for it to happen. It’s time for me to stop blaming myself. I have to move on.”

“But you caused it. Your childishness caused me to become like this. And now you say you want to move on,” the voice shouted.

“Jino…I…” Kyungsoo stuttered as he felt an icy touch on his face. Kyungsoo opened his eyes. 

Just then a figure manifested right in front of Kyungsoo with a hood over the head and face. Removing the hood, the figure revealed itself.

“Jino…”

But the figure changed into a human skeleton. “You!” the figure screeched. “You made me like this!”

“I’m sorry! Please forgive me! I didn’t forget what day it is today!” Kyungsoo exclaimed.

“It’s too late. Prepare to die,” the skeletal figure declared menacingly as it reached for Kyungsoo’s neck.

“No! Please stop!” Kyungsoo continued to shout.

But it was no use. Kyungsoo felt himself being throttled. He was gasping for air. His legs were kicking about as his hands flailed in the air.

……

“Hyung! Hyung!” a gentler voice was calling out with urgency in his tone. “Wake up! Please wake up!”

In an instant reflex, Kyungsoo opened his eyes and he saw his two hands on his throat. Hovering above Kyungsoo’s was a worried looking Jongin.

“Hyung. You scared me. You were shouting and screaming. And when I came over to check on you, you were throttling yourself,” Jongin rambled, but feeling visibly relieved. “Are you alright?”

Kyungsoo sat up and nodded. He said in a trembling voice, “Don’t worry. I’m fine now. It’s just a nightmare.”

“Are you sure? You were trying to choke yourself. Is this more than a nightmare?”

“I’m really fine. What’s the time now?”

“Four.”

“Then go back to sleep,” Kyungsoo said.

“I heard you shouting the name Jino,” Jongin stated.

Kyungsoo just remained silent. Jongin waited for a while and took a deep breath, “I heard about Jino.”

“Kai, I’m really fine,” Kyungsoo tried to reassure Jongin as he tried to hold back his tears. But his shaky tone was not at all convincing.

“Hyung, I don’t know the whole picture but this whole Jino business is messing you up pretty badly,” Jongin spelt out. “Till the extent that you’re even subconsciously harming yourself in your sleep.”

But Kyungsoo seemed to be in a daze.

“Hyung, I need to tell appa or umma or at least Joon-myun hyung about this,” Jongin pointed out. “It would be harmful to you if this goes on.”

Kyungsoo gripped Jongin’s arm and pleaded softly, “Kai. Please don’t. I don’t want them to worry me. I’ll sort this out by myself. It’s just that…it’s just that…”

Kyungsoo paused for a moment, “I’ll go take my medicine right now. Please don’t tell anyone.”

Kyungsoo leapt out from his bed and quickly dashed for his desk, nearly tripping over himself. He opened one of the drawers and quickly took out a bottle. He unscrewed the cap and shakily poured out a pill and popped it into his mouth. “See Kai, I’m taking my medicine. I’m feeling better now. Please don’t mention a word of what just happened to anyone. Please.”

Kyungsoo shot Jongin a pleading look. Jongin sighed and nodded his head.

“Gomawo,” Kyungsoo said. “Kai you should go back to sleep.”

“And what about you, hyung?”

“I’m going to prepare breakfast,” Kyungsoo replied.

“But it’s like four in the morning. It’s too early to prepare breakfast,” Jongin reminded.

“I just want to do something and keep myself awake and occupied. I don’t want to go back to sleep,” Kyungsoo explained listlessly.

“But you’ll be tired for the rest of the day.”

“Kai, I know what I’m doing,” Kyungsoo insisted.

“You don’t. You’re just trying to torment yourself,” Jongin said. “You didn’t have a proper sleep due to the nightmare,” Jongin remonstrated.

“Kai…”

“Why are you doing this to yourself?”

“Because I’m scared to see him when I close my eyes! Understand?” Kyungsoo exclaimed impatiently.

But Jongin refused to back down. He threatened, “I’m going to speak to someone right now if you refuse to go to bed.”

Jongin softened his tone and added, “And you can have a good rest today. I’ll prepare breakfast on your behalf.”

“Kai…”

Jongin grabbed Kyungsoo and dragged him to the bed. However, Kyungsoo refused to lie down and both of them stood there for a few tense moments. Finally, Jongin scooped Kyungsoo up and put him back into his (Kyungsoo’s) bed. Jongin then climbed into Kyungsoo’s bed causing Kyungsoo to feel startled and exclaim, “Kai, what are you doing?”

“I’m sleeping next to you,” Jongin declared stubbornly. Jongin turned to his right side and extending his left arm over Kyungsoo to trap him.

“Kai…”

“I’ll keep you safe from your nightmares. I’ll protect you from whoever is coming after you in your dreams,” Jongin asserted.

“Kai, please…”

At that moment, Jongin inched himself closer to Kyungsoo and kissed Kyungsoo on his forehead. “My mum used to do that when I was a kid whenever I was scared and couldn’t sleep. Now shut up, and go get some sleep. Because I’m going to.”

With that, Jongin closed his eyes.

Kyungsoo could feel a flush on his face. He could feel his body tense up a little as he felt his heart rate increase. He tried to wriggle his way out from Jongin but Jongin had not fallen asleep. Without a word, Jongin just applied some force on his arm to block Kyungsoo from getting his way. Kyungsoo sighed and turned to face Jongin whose eyes were apparently shut. He continued to gaze at Jongin silently. Slowly, weariness overcame Kyungsoo. His body started to relax. His eyelids felt heavy and they finally fell.

……

It was about eight in the morning when Kyungsoo finally woke up. Jongin was already gone. Kyungsoo took a look at the time as he gasped in horror. He had forgotten all about preparing breakfast.

Kyungsoo dashed towards the kitchen without first bothering to wash up. To his surprise, there was breakfast on the table – toasts, cereal, fruits, yogurt and jam. Baekhyun and Chanyeol were starting to eat their breakfast when they saw the dishevelled Kyungsoo.

“You just got up?” Baekhyun asked in surprise.

Kyungsoo nodded.

“Then who prepared breakfast?” Chanyeol wondered out loud.

And Kyungsoo remembered Jongin’s words to him saying that he (Jongin) would prepare breakfast. “Kai,” he muttered softly.

But Baekhyun and Chanyeol did not hear him.

“I’m sorry. If the breakfast isn’t to your liking, or you find it lacking, I can go prepare something else,” Kyungsoo offered contritely.

Both the two boys eyed Kyungsoo in surprise.

“It’s alright Kyungsoo, we’re okay with this,” Chanyeol assured. “Right Byunbaek?”

Baekhyun spread a layer of jam on a slice of toast and nodded his head.

“O…Ok…” Kyungsoo stuttered as he turned dejectedly away and headed to the bathroom to wash up.

“I need to keep myself busy the whole day. I can’t allow myself some free time to think,” Kyungsoo thought.

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I'm so sorry if this is such a short update. But I hope you enjoyed the KaiSoo moments in this chapter. I think we have a better look into Kyungsoo's mental state in this episode. If anyone of you watch Inception, think of Marion Cotillard's psychotic dead wife character. This is probably how Jino is manifesting himself to Kyungsoo. 

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Sigh. I really need to stick to writing 20-22 chapter length stories. This series is getting too long for my liking. It's almost like a Korean drama :p

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My other fan fics

KyuMin: Almost a love story

KyuMin: 60 Days 

It's You (너라고) Neorago (a YeWook fan-fic)