As she was falling, she saw stars around her. They were bright little dots, the only source of light in the darkness. Sehun was below her, but he was relaxed with indifference and experience. She felt the cool gust of wind that enveloped her and revelled in the peaceful silence. Without meaning to, she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

It was dark in her dream, but a threatening kind of dark. The heat scorched her skin and smoke billowed around her. For a moment, she wondered if she had somehow landed in hell. Then, she stared down at her chest and realized that her heart was beating.

Sehun stared up at the girl above him. He tried to avoid looking into her eyes too often; she made him feel emotions he would rather forget. Guilt hadn’t plagued him like this in a long time. Her hopefulness only made it worse. Aesthetically, the girl was average. He hadn’t noticed at first, but she was almost as tall as him. She seemed so much smaller with her head that always seemed bent downwards and her fragile grace. Her eyes were very brown and they almost reminded him of what chocolates tasted like. He wondered what she saw in him. He knew he was attractive, perhaps even more so because death forced him to be shrouded in mystery.

It was then he realized that she was sleeping. Frantically, he tried to grab at her, but they were falling at different speeds and his hand barely grasped her ankle. He shouted and when that failed, he cursed at her. Nothing woke her, and he prayed to a God he didn’t believe in that they would land soon.

The smoke was becoming thicker, and her dream was becoming al too real. If she concentrated, she could hear voices, screaming and panicking. She ran, thinking she could outrun the smoke. Blinded by the haze, she felt her way around, and was relieved when she touched a small knob. However, just as she was about to turn it, she heard a child’s voice. Hesitating, she searched for the sound and bumped into something on the ground. As she bent down, her world shook and the walls around her constricted.

Sehun yelled in her ear, and sighed in relief when the colour returned to her face. She looked around, confused.

“What were you doing?” he asked, too tired to be angry.

“I had a dream,” she said. She looked as if she were about to say more, but hesitated.

“Never do that again,” he said. “You could die.”

“I almost learned something,” she insisted, closing her eyes. “I remember a bit.” Immediately, he jerked her forward and her eyes fluttered open.

“Still,” he said gravely, “if you die a second time, you’re gone forever.”