There was only one person that Kyung had ever told about his nightmares.  To him they were a sign of weakness. And they started when he first left his parent’s house. He was far from home, alone in a strange country with a language he barely understood, and every night he was miserable. And the worst part was, even after he had graduated from school, even after he had moved back to his home country, to his friends, to his parents and family, he still had nightmares.

Jiho was the only person who knew about the dreams that haunted Kyung every night. And his finding out was a complete accident.  Normally when Kyung spent the night at his best friend’s house he waited until the other fell asleep before he would allow himself to drift off, moving far away from the other so that when his body shook with the terror he felt he wouldn’t wake his sleeping friend. He didn’t count on Jiho not being able to sleep one night.

It was almost more terrifying for Kyung to wake up with Jiho staring at him, face inches away from his own. “Wh-what? What are you doing?” He had exclaimed, scrambling back on his make shift bed, his heart rate spiked so high he almost felt as if he would pass out again.

“You were making weird noises and twitching. You okay man?” Jiho had asked, his face twisted with concern. “I tried to wake you a few times but you didn’t do anything, I figured you were still breathing though…” He had shrugged.

“Yeah.. I’m fine, it was just a nightmare…” Kyung had responded with a shake of his head, trying to appear casual, though Jiho’s stare was throwing him off. “What? Stop staring at me.” He had said, pushing at the other playfully, once again trying to shake off the uneasy feeling that usually followed his nightmares.

“You sure you’re okay? You look like you wanna puke man.” Jiho scooted closer, ignoring the protest of his friend and crossed his legs in front of him. “You wanna tell me what happened?” He asked and tilted his head to the side. Kyung could tell he was trying to read him, trying to figure out every thought that he had had. That was Jiho, that was his best friend, and honestly Kyung had been surprised that he hadn’t noticed before.  It was then that Kyung gave in, the two staying up until the birds started singing their morning songs, and Kyung had spilled every last detail of the nightmares that had plagued him every night for what had now become years.   

The nightmares never stopped, and Kyung never really got used to them. They changed as time went on, adjusting to whatever was happening in his life, and terrorizing him every night. What did change, was Jiho. And Kyung was thankful for that. Now that they lived together Jiho watched over Kyung, sleeping lighter incase Kyung started quietly screaming in his sleep. Or in the rare occasion Kyung twitched and rolled himself off of his bed and on to the floor, Jiho was there.  

Often Jiho would crawl into Kyung’s bed. So often in fact that it became more of sight to see him in his own bed. And when Kyung would jerk awake, eyes wild and searching around, Jiho would wrap himself around the other. Fingers lightly pulling over Kyung’s cheek, nose buried next to his neck. “What happened this time?” Jiho would whisper into the dark. And Kyung’s fingers would wrap around Jiho’s wrist and he would take a moment to try and calm himself.

“I don’t remember.” Kyung would occasionally whisper back, and he would try to calm his breathing, and allow himself to start to drift off again.

“If you don’t remember, then nothing happened.” Jiho would respond, his whole body holding on to his best friend, grounding him and bringing him back to reality. Keeping him in the present and out of the torment of his mind.

Jiho may be the only person that Kyung ever told about his nightmares, but that wouldn’t matter. Because Kyung and Jiho both know that Jiho will always be there to be the one to make it okay. He would always be the one to bring Kyung back, and no one else needed to know.