Chapter 5

Jongdae ended up napping on the couch. Zitao tried not to stare, but…Jongdae just looked even cuter when he was asleep. He mentally hit himself for thinking about that though, and got up. He went to his room and grabbed an extra blanket, then went back into the living room to cover Jongdae with it.

“Sleeping on the couch mustn’t be very comfortable…” Zitao mumbled. “Oh, well. I’ll wait until he wakes up.”

He sighed and looked at the time. It was 10PM. He half wondered if Jongdae planned on leaving early, or staying the night. Part of him wanted Jongdae to stay overnight. The other part worried that Jongdae’s parents would get mad at him if he didn’t come home. Zitao didn’t want Jongdae to get hurt because of him…

Maybe he could somehow phone Jongdae’s brother and get him to come up with an excuse. But what would Jongdae think? Zitao bit his lip and eyed the sleeping beauty male on his couch. He might as well just leave it for now. He didn’t want to bother Jongdae’s family. Especially since they probably had no idea who he was.

Suddenly, Jongdae started thrashing violently on the couch, twisting and turning and grumbling random things. Zitao quickly went around the couch to see what was wrong. He didn’t think blind people could dream or anything, but maybe he was wrong. Or maybe Jongdae was just sick.

“Hyung.” He called softly, crouching in front of the brownish red haired male. “Are—are you okay?”

Jongdae mumbled something and rolled over, almost over the edge. Zitao quickly made sure Jongdae wouldn’t fall. Zitao tried move his hand, but Jongdae grabbed him, holding his wrist tightly and whimpering. Zitao felt really bad. Whatever he was dreaming about must have been scary.

“Jongdae-hyung.” Zitao said, shaking the male when he started getting more violent. “Wake up. You’re having a…dream…?”

Zitao shook Jongdae a little harder, and the older woke up with a jolt. He looked around. “W-what..?”

“Were you dreaming?” Zitao asked.

“I…think so?” Jongdae replied.

“I didn’t know you could.” Zitao said.

“Blind people are just like anyone else except they just can’t see anything.” Jongdae explained. “We have enhanced senses to make up for our vision, too.”

“I really should do my research…” Zitao muttered under his breath.

Jongdae laughed lightly. “All you need to do is ask me. I don’t mind answering questions about my disability.”

Zitao nodded. “Well…what type of dream were you having? It seemed pretty bad.”

“I don’t remember…” Jongdae said. He sat up and stretched. “What time is it?”

“Half past ten.” Zitao replied. “At night. Why? Do you think you have to leave?”

Jongdae shook his head. “I’m staying the night. If…that’s okay with you, of course.”

“N-no. It’s—it’s perfectly fine.” Zitao stammered. “I was just wondering…because your parents sound mean and…I don’t want you getting hurt because of me.”

“Hyung keeps me from getting hit most of the time.” Jongdae said. “He comes up with excuses.”

“You’re hyung sounds nice.” Zitao smiled slightly.

“He is.” Jongdae grinned. “You should meet him.”

“Maybe some time.” Zitao said. He ruffled Jongdae’s hair. “Would you prefer sleeping in a bed?”

Jongdae pouted and reached up to fix his hair. “You keep doing that…”

Zitao laughed. “Sorry. Force of habit to ruffle the hair of people shorter than me. I’ll stop if you want me to.”

“I’m not short!” Jongdae complained.

“Shorter than me.” Zitao said. “C’mon, I’ll take you to my room. The bed is comfier than this couch.”

Jongdae smiled and stood up, grabbing Zitao’s arm for a guide. Zitao led the shorter male into his room and had him sit on the bed. Jongdae ran his hand over the covers, trying to visualize what he was sitting on. Zitao just smiled and watched before speaking.

“You can sleep on this. I’ll just sleep on the couch.” He said.

“That’s not right…” Jongdae mumbled. “You should be sleeping in here.”

“I can’t really do than when you’re going to be sleeping here.” Zitao pointed out. “And I’d rather you be comfortable on my bed rather than the other way around.”

Jongdae pouts. “But what if I need help?”

“I’ll bring your walking stick in here if you need it.” Zitao offered. “And put it somewhere that you’ll easily be able to find. That way if you need anything, you can come and get me or find what you need.”

Jongdae looked disappointed. “But—”

“I’m sorry, hyung.” Zitao said. “I—I just…would rather you be in my room.”

Jongdae swallowed and found his way to Zitao’s hands. He grabbed both of them and looked at him. “I want you to—uh, I want to share the bed…with you…”

Jongdae tried to make it sound like he wanted it to be—innocent. Saying ‘I want you to sleep with me’ would probably give Zitao the wrong idea. It’s not like Jongdae liked Zitao…he just…felt safer with him around. He bit his lip, waiting for the taller male’s response.

Zitao was surprised at how straight forward Jongdae was. He tried not to blush (not like Jongdae would even see it, but it was a force of habit) and hesitated as he tried to think of a coherent, mature way to respond. But in the end…he ended up failing miserably.

“U-uh…well…that…” he stammered. “I—I guess that can…work.”

He mentally face-palmed himself for sounding like a complete idiot. How bad could it be to share his bed with someone he’s only known for two or three days? He sighed slightly. Jongdae hugged him tightly, and Zitao couldn’t help but lighten up and work up the nerve to hug the shorter back.

Jongdae pulled back with a huge grin on his face. “You actually hugged back this time instead of just patting my head!”

Zitao laughed nervously. “Y-yeah. I guess so.” He cleared his throat. “Do you, uh, want something to change into? Or is what you’re in now fine to sleep in?”

Jongdae shrugged. “I can sleep in this. It’ll be easier.”

“Alright…” Zitao said. “Well, I’m going to go change. Feel free to call me if you need anything.”

Zitao realized too late that he really didn’t have to go somewhere else to change like he normally did. Because it wasn’t like Jongdae could see him. Still…no matter what it was really awkward changing in front of people for him, whether they could see him or not. Jongdae didn’t seem to care or notice, so Zitao just grabbed some pajamas and went into the bathroom to change.

Though at least with Jongdae being unable to see, Zitao could wear his cheesy, childish panda print pajamas without getting laughed at, unlike he could with someone. Even if it was still embarrassing to wear. They were comfortable. He checked himself out in the mirror (because he did that sometimes; not because he was narcissistic or anything…) quickly, then went back into his bedroom to see Jongdae lying down on his bed, holding and examining a panda toy curiously. Zitao wasn’t sure how to feel about that, since…Sehun always laughed at him. Because his room literally was full of panda related things, so he had quite a few panda related things on his bed.

“Tao-yah, what’s this?” Jongdae called upon hearing Zitao come into the room. He was holding up the stuffed panda, waving it around a bit.

Zitao quickly snatched it out of Jongdae’s hands. “It’s…a stuffed animal.”

“That’s cute.” Jongdae said. “It’s really soft. Almost as soft as Candy.”

Zitao blushed slightly. “R-right. Well…should we sleep?”

Jongdae nodded and rolled to the other side of the bed, nearly hitting the wall. Zitao was about to say something, but the older stopped a little before the wall. Zitao sighed in relief and made his way towards his bed after turning off the lights. The darkness made Zitao wonder if this was what if felt like to be blind. But he felt like it was rude to ask Jongdae too many questions about being visually impaired.

“Tao-yah…” Jongdae said. “You seem like there’s something on your mind.”

“You can tell?” Zitao asked. “Damn, your other senses really are advanced.”

Jongdae laughed. “What can I say? I’ve been blind long enough to sense people’s feelings. What’s bugging you?”

“Nothing really…” Zitao replied. “Just…speculations.”

“About blind people?” Jongdae offered. “Like I said ask me whatever you want.”

Zitao turned over, but quickly went back to lying on his back when he noticed how close Jongdae’s face was. “Well…I think the question bothering me the most is if you can ever get your vision back…and if you’d consider doing that.”

“That…I don’t know much about.” Jongdae admitted. “But I guess…it would depend on if there was something I really want to see, then I would consider it.”

Zitao nodded. “I can see why. Sometimes…you can see a bit too much. There are things I’d rather not see, but…there are also things that make me smile when I see them.”

“Like what?” Jongdae asked curiously.

“Well, Candy for one.” Zitao said. “My friends... And come to think about it…I probably couldn’t do martial arts if I were blind.”

“Do you like doing martial arts?” Jongdae asked.

“Yeah.” Zitao replied. “It’s a nice past time. But…I’m not good enough for competitions. The last time I won one was when I was in China. Since coming to Korea I lost my groove…”

“I wish I could watch you.” Jongdae said. “It sounds like such a beautiful sport.”

“Wushu, the category I do, I’ve been told is very beautiful.” Zitao said. “But to me it’s just…natural. And a bit dangerous.”

Jongdae yawned before managing to say, “Dangerous?”

“I’ve hurt my wait and ankle plenty of times doing it.” Zitao explained. “But I can’t give up. I won’t.”

After finishing that explanation, he realized Jongdae had fallen asleep. He chuckled softly and tried to sleep himself. However, just when he started falling asleep, he felt someone wrap their arms around his waist. He looked over to see Jongdae, still fast asleep with his arms around Zitao’s waist. He blushed and sighed. Zitao could tell that this was going to be a long…long night. 

Word count: 1707

A/N: I still don't know where I'm going with this. But I think I do know how I'm going to end it. That's just how I do fanfics. I come up with the main idea, then the ending, but nothing in between. But enjoy this chapter. A little chat about being blind. Because unlike me, Jongdae didn't do his homework in being blind.

Also, yes, blind people sleep, and dream, and blink. I know what I'm doing okay?