Most of the time, it happens when they expect it the least. When they've all gone to bed after a tiresome day full of activities and schedules, but all of them still very content with the day whatsoever. That's when it suddenly strikes and everybody's sleep are, for a moment, disturbed. 

The scream that sounds through the dorm is high-pitched, loud and could possibly break the glass of orange-juice Baekhyun had left on the kitchen counter earlier that evening. It's the kind of scream that you often hear in horror-films, or when you're at an amusement-park and somehow decide that visiting the haunted house would be a good idea. The only difference is that this scream is tenfold more heart-breaking, because it belongs to somebody you know. 

Minseok sits upright in his bed a nano-second after the first scream had rung through the dorm, and seconds later he's out in the hallway, bumping into Yixing as he nears the room he's trying to get to. He only gets a pat on the shoulder from Yixing as he passes him. This is all routine after all. While Minseok takes care of the source of the scream, Yixing corrupts Minseok's bed. A silent agreement they had decided on since day one. 

Minseok opens the door swiftly but silently, not wishing to scare the person trashing on the bed out of his slumber. Once the door is closed, he tip-toes over to the bed and sits down on the edge of it, out of reach of the kicking legs. Also, he knows how much the owner of the bed hates when people sit on it. "Oh Luhan..." 

He creeps closer, steadily closer until he's sitting right be Luhan's chest, reaching a hand out to it over Luhan's sweaty hair. It tangles between his fingers as he tries to tread through it, and so he moves over to Luhan's face, knuckles gently tracing the jawline. 

Luhan, who had been quiet for quite some time now, suddenly trashes wildly as his mouth opens to form another scream, and Minseok almost jerks back by the volume. He quickly leans back forward though, folding himself in half right over Luhan's chest, mouth close to his ear. "Luhan, Luhan! Wake up Lulu, it's okay, he's not here to hurt you. It's all over now..." 

Almost all movement stops and only small jerks and trembles stays behind, as Luhan slowly opens his eyes. Only small whimpers leave his throat as he pries them open, harder said than done when they're stuck together with dried tears, and ever so slowly he turns his head towards Minseok's own, his mind still not able to catch up with the difference between dream and reality. "M-Minseok? I-I can't-" 

Minseok gets what he's trying to say and moves so that he's hovering over Luhan but not crushing him, hands gently away the glistening tears under Luhan's eyes. "Are you alright Luhan? You had a nightmare again right?" His eyes are soft as they study the boy underneath him, watches how Luhan gulps in air like he drinks water after a tiresome dance-session. Luhan's eyes still flicker back and forth, still panicked, but it seems like he knows that he's awake now. Awake and far away from the monsters that torment him in his sleep. 

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine now. I'm just fine..." His eyes won't meet Minseok's, but Minseok doesn't pressure him either, knowing that the other boy would probably suffer through this alone if he would have it his way. But now Minseok is here, and he refuses to let the other suffer alone. 

He rolls over Luhan and pulls the blanket over himself and Luhan, wrapping them both in a warm cocoon where they both are safe. He embraces Luhan and cuddles him closer as the other tries to hold back the last of his tears, murmurs gentle words of comfort when Luhan finally lets go and sobs into his shirt. 

He kisses Luhan on the forehead, like he has done so many times before, and moves his lips close to Luhan's ear. "I love you, you know that right? I love you so much you have no idea." 

Luhan trembles in his hold and clings a bit tighter, the murmur that leaves his lips barely audiable, but Minseok hears it loud and clear.

"I-I know Minseok, I know. I love you too. It's a-all worth it because I have my love for y-you."

If only things would have turned out differently. If only the general public and the fans could've accepted them from the beginning. If only the anti-fans would stop throwing things at them when they were out in public.  

If only Minseok could've been there to protect Luhan when he was almost in the airport's bathroom by a complete stranger, yelled and cursed at for confession his love for Minseok on national TV. If only Minseok could erase all those memories from Luhan's little head, and fill those empty spaces with happy thoughts of a brighter future where they were together. 

But sadly, he can't. The only thing he can do is to hold Luhan when he screams and cries, wake him from his nightmares where he relives that horrible moment that changed his life forever, and remind him that Minseok will never let him go and never stop loving him. Tell him about a future where they are free from the fans, fame has left them behind, and the way that they live is up to their own.