It happened again.

Another nightmare; when would they stop? Haejin could feel herself tossing and turning in her sleep, clinging to the sheets and bumping into an oblivious Kai, sleeping next to her.

It was the same dream, completely the same; the stage, the emptiness, Kai... All of it fell into place like a puzzle...

Yet it made her fall out like shards of glass. She woke with a jolt, sitting upright in bed and throwing Kai's arm off of her in the process. Her chest heaved once, twice, before she huffed in frustration and her hands fisted into her hair. Haejin took a deep breath upon realizing that it was again just a dream, and she pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation before hearing a groan beside her.

"Jagiya." Kai's sleep-filled voice sounded confused. Haejin turned in the early morning darkness to where she assumed he was, and reached out tentatively. Her hands felt the bedsheets, before she could feel a warm mound underneath them. Her hand travelled up the mound, patting blindly, until she touched warm, sleepy skin.

"Mmph!" Kai jerked away as Haejin accidentally patted and fumbled around his face. "What are you doing?"

"Ah," Haejin giggled slightly. "Sorry, Jongin."

The male only sighed drowzily and buried his face in his pillow. "What are you doing up?" he mumbled. Haejin frowned.

"What?"

"I said, 'what are you doing up'?" Kai's face turned in the pillow, and Haejin could hear him better.

"That's better," she commented. "And... No reason, really."

There was silence, before Kai stirred. He propped himself up on one elbow, and looked up at Haejin. "So when are you going to tell me about this bad dream that's keeping you up at night?"

Haejin did a double-take, before remembering that she had mentioned the dream to him before...

Of course she did; there was no way Kai could read her that easily. Haejin sighed, before laying back down. Kai scooped her into his arms, pulling her into his warm embrace.

"Well..." Haejin told Kai about the recurring nightmare, and Kai listened intently.

"And the only reason why I'm really worried about it is because... Well, you know; my dreams are kinda..."

"Kinda weird, I know," Kai murmured, before adding, "Not a bad weird, like a delusional weird-- I mean like a freakily accurate weird. Like a psychic weird."

Haejin hesitated, before nodding. Kai only held her closer.

"But I don't think that this dream has anything to do with what's to come," he continued. "I think that's just your worries talking, jagi; you're worried about the future,and you're not sure what's going to happen next... That's scary in itself, but it's scarier for you, specifically, I know. You've gotta trust yourself and the people you work with this time."

Haejin was silent; he was right, and in that moment she felt a weight leave her. She smiled slightly, before snuggling into her boyfriend.

"How are you so wise when you're barely awake?" she asked. Kai chuckled.

"I don't know," he muttered. "What time even is it?"

"Find out yourself." Kai let go of Haejin and felt around for his phone.

"Got it." There was a flash of light, and Haejin closed her eyes before the light hurt her. As Kai tapped on his phone to wake it up, he was silent.

Then, time seemed to stand still, and when he said his girlfriend's name, it sounded like he was going to be sick.

"Haejin."

"Yes, my dear?" Haejin's eyes were still closed.

"Haejin, check your phone." At this, Haejin's eyes opened,and she glanced at Kai, squinting due to the light. Kai's expression was completely mortified, and he looked like he had seen a ghost. His eyes didn't leave his screen.

"Now." Haejin frowned in confusion, before she turned around and began to search for her phone.

"Did you find it yet?!"

"No?" Haejin glanced back at him, and she felt through the sheets before feeling something plastic. "Never mind, I found it." Tapping her screen, she blinked in surprise.

There had to be at least fifty messages and calls on her phone in the past several hours. It was only four a.m..

"What the..." There were messages from her roommates, from her friends, and even some from her manager.

"WAKE UP NOW"

"GET BACK HERE"

"ARE U OK"

"PICK UP THE GOD DAMN PHONE"

"Oh my god, did something happ--" Suddenly, Haejin gasped. She stumbled across picture messages, and she wished she had never seen them

It was an internet article on allkpop, as well as soompi. There was a picture of a crowd, and nothing seemed to be out of place,but there was a close-up picture of two hands touching, as well as a close-up of Kai's face. The headline was:

"EXO's Kai Saving a Damsel in Distress?"

"Oh... My..." Haejin was unable to finish. Kai sprang up, and ran toward the light, punching it on.

"Jongin--"

"We have to go." Kai pulled off his shirt quickly. "Get dressed; we have to head back NOW." As he nearly shouted this, he was taking off his boxers. Haejin let out a yelp.

"Kai!" She shielded her eyes before springing up as well.

"Don't look! Some of your clothes are in the dresser!"

They didn't realize that they got dressed together.

Within minutes, the two left Kai's room and, as quietly as possible, left Kai's house. They clambered into his car, and sped off into the early morning light.

They sat in silence for the first few minutes, with Kai gripping the wheel until his knuckles were white, and Haejin staring off into space. Not a sound was made, save for the roar of the car engine; it was like they didn't try to even breathe, lest they shatter some kind of nonexistent, very fragile balance.

Kai finally glanced over at Haejin as he merged into another lane, his eyes frantic.

"We're gonna fix this, okay?" His voice cracked twice,and his eyes wavered as he looked at the road. Haejin didn't look at him, nor respond. Kai glanced back at her.

"We're gonna fix this... We're gonna.." Kai was now looking at Haejin. "Haejin?"

Haejin ignored him. She merely sat in her seat, looking straight ahead with her hands folded in her lap. Her face was unreadable and she was completely silent.

Kai saw this, and drew in a shaky breath. "Haejin, don't do this."

Again, silence from the other side of the car. Kai bit his tongue in frustration. This was what Haejin did...

This was what she was raised to do: be completely unreadable and accepting.

It was because of this that she was called "Porcelain" by Minji, and "Dollface" by Baekhyun. It was just a natural instinct for her, to put on a plastic expression, even after two years of being away from the people who caused her to start that trend to begin with...

And yet she still resorted to it whenever a problem came up.

"Haejin, come on; don't be like this, please. Talk to me." After a few moments, Kai sighed through his nose, chewing his lip.

"Fine. But you're going to have to talk when we get to the building because people WILL be asking us questions." Kai looked away from her, and they continued down the highway, back to SM, where they had no idea what to expect.

~*~Author's Note~*~

Whoa! Hey guys!!

REALLY long time no see... I apologize for that. I can explain; and if you don't want to read why I was gone, then please just look for the bold print further down below <3

I am a college student, full-time, with a major in English and a minor in East Asian Studies. I take some pretty tough classes because of those, and they take up a good portion of my time.

But on top of that, I also have been searching for a job. I don't want to rely on my father for money anymore; I'm a nineteen year old, and asking for money from parents now is kinda embarrassing to me. I also want to begin saving up money for a better car (I live in the U.S., and in the North part by Chicago, so we get blasted by snow in Winter and my car can't handle it), as well as save up for a place of my own, which I will hopefully move into in about a year and a half.

And... Unfortunately, AFF doesn't help me with money, nor does it help me with college. It helped me realize that I can write without having to put my fics on "subscribers-only," and it improved my writing... But back then, I was just a high-school student who didn't have as many responsibilities as I do now.

And needless to say, I panicked and realized that I no longer really have a purpose on AFF here other than to finish stories; I wanted to abandon them all the second I realized what AFF meant to me (that sounds terrible and I don't mean it in a bad way), but I am a writer. Writers don't quit when their work is public, at least I don't.

So I've been looking for coauthors for each of my remaining fics (there were three of them, and a threeshot which I privated). I gave one fic away entirely, and I'm putting my energy into finishing another.

That leaves this one.

I'd like to introduce you guys to my lovely friend and alter-ego and twin and best friend and co-author, naneulsaranghae. She will be helping me finish this fic while I'm still here, and will pretty much be in charge once I'm gone, which I hope to be gone around summertime. I hope you like her; she's amazing, and her fics are intense! Check her out!!!

So for the last couple months, I was really struggling with pressure, doubt, and finding a co-author as well as finding inspiration. But I'm back for now, and I'm here to kick .

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter; I plan on posting again VERY soon, but first, I'd like to see this fic hit 80 subscribers, and I'd also like to see it get TWO more upvotes before I update again. This fic has 3 votes; I'd like to see it get to 5 before I update again. Could you guys do that? I promise I won't let you down with the next update; it's a really good one, and  there's yet another update behind that as well!!!

Pretty please?

<3

-AS