“I just wanted to protect you,” Sungmin’s soft voice echoed in Kyuhyun’s ear, startling him from his slumber. He awoke, frantic, eager to find Sungmin’s presence. His hands fell upon a figure beside him and he let out a breath of relief.

“Is something wrong?” Sungmin asked softly, wide eyes staring at Kyuhyun, concerned.

“I-I thought you said something to me,” Kyuhyun said, his grip on Sungmin’s waist tightening. He thought he saw Sungmin flinch, but he quickly shook the thought. He isn’t real, remember? But that was the thing – he was starting to forget. He wanted to forget. He wanted to believe that Sungmin was real, actually there, actually warm and alive. Not just a creation of his imagination.

But Sungmin just stared at Kyuhyun, and Kyuhyun sighed. “I guess I was just imagining things,” he mumbled. Sungmin laughed softly at the irony and snuggled closer to Kyuhyun.

“Go to sleep. I’m here. I’ll protect you.”

And Kyuhyun slept, not awaking again until the morning brought rays of light upon his face, waking him up.

“I told you I’d be here,” Sungmin murmured into Kyuhyun’s ear before kissing him softly on the cheek.

“And you’ll always be,” Kyuhyun said, and it was so sure that all Sungmin could do was smile.

“As long as you need me,” he replied softly. “Now go get ready. I want to go out today.” Kyuhyun was surprised at Sungmin’s bossiness, but agreed and walked over to his drawer, taking out some clothes to wear for the day.

“Where do you want to go?” Kyuhyun asked.

“Let’s just walk around,” Sungmin said, and his voice seemed to be holding something, hiding something. Kyuhyun wondered what it was, and why he didn’t know about it, but decided he was just being delusional – more so than usual – and ignored it.

Sungmin waited as Kyuhyun got ready and ate breakfast, then the two went out into the city. Kyuhyun held Sungmin’s hand tightly, as if he might lose him, and the two walked through the busy streets. Occasionally, Kyuhyun would stop and point out something to Sungmin, and Sungmin would smile or laugh or do whatever appropriate gesture fit the moment. He pretended not to notice the stares Kyuhyun got.

“Hey Kyu,” Sungmin said, tugging on Kyuhyun’s sleeve and gestured to the noodle stand by the corner. “Let’s eat there.”

Kyuhyun stared curiously at Sungmin then at the stand. The thing is, Sungmin was never concerned about food – he couldn’t eat. But he always pointed out places that he thought – knew – Kyuhyun would like.

“Okay, Min,” Kyuhyun replied and walked over there. They were greeted by a boy – Kyuhyun’s age, he could tell – who smiled brightly and asked for their order. When Kyuhyun asked what was good, the boy laughed.

“This is a noodle stand,” the boy replied with a smirk. “What do you think?”

Kyuhyun couldn’t help but smirk back. It had been a while since anyone had spoken to him as if he was a human – besides Sungmin – and it was finally nice to have some actual human interaction.  Sungmin felt this and smiled sadly.

“I’ll make you our best dish,” the boy offered finally. “Just go take a seat and I’ll bring it over.” Kyuhyun nodded and went to sit at a table by the street, Sungmin sitting beside him quietly.

“Is anything wrong?” Kyuhyun asked him softly. But Sungmin just shook his head and watched as the boy brought over Kyuhyun’s food.

“So what brought you here anyway?” the boy said, standing as he served the food, which Kyuhyun eyed hungrily.

“Sungmin told me I should try this,” he replied. Whenever someone would ask something like that, he’d reply with that. He didn’t find it odd, and he was fairly sure no one else would, either – Sungmin was a very common name, and they would never know if he was real or not.

“You know Sungmin?” the boy asked, eyes wide in surprise. He wasn’t the only one, though. Kyuhyun almost choked on his water at hearing this.

“Yeah,” he replied slowly, wiping his mouth. “How do you?” No one was supposed to know about Sungmin.

“He goes to my school,” the boy said. “Lee Sungmin? Plays the guitar, sings a bit, hangs out with a smelly boy, has a baby face.” Kyuhyun didn’t know about the first three things, but he did know his Sungmin had a baby face. He turned to look at his Sungmin, but when he did, no one was there. He frowned, but turned back to the boy.

“I think we know different Sungmins,” he finally said. It wasn’t a lie, either; after all, no one could know his Sungmin.

The man shrugged. “That’s possible, I guess. I’m Hyukjae, by the way. I haven’t seen you around here before.” He moved to sit beside Kyuhyun where Sungmin was earlier. “Are you sure we don’t know the same Sungmin, though?” he asked, frowning. “He’s about a little shorter than I am – or a lot – and he has dark black hair that reaches his eyes, and has a somewhat plump face that makes him look young, even though he’s older than me.”  

Kyuhyun just ignored him and insisted, “It’s not him.”

Hyukjae sighed. “I guess not, then.” He waited for a moment before getting up and leaving, and Kyuhyun ate alone until Sungmin reappeared.

“Where’d you go?” Kyuhyun asked, frowning.

“I was around,” Sungmin replied reassuringly. “I heard about this other Sungmin. I think you should meet him.”

Kyuhyun’s frown deepened. “Why?” he asked suspiciously. Sungmin was always encouraging Kyuhyun to go out and make some more friends, even though Kyuhyun often resisted. It was always something that confused Kyuhyun, as well – why his imaginary lover wanted things Kyuhyun didn’t.

“It’d be nice for you to make more friends,” was all Sungmin said. His eyes flickered to the boy taking another order, then said, “You should come back later tomorrow.” Kyuhyun just stared at Sungmin, wanting to say no, but he couldn’t.

“If you want us to,” he murmured. Sungmin smiled softly and nodded, and Kyuhyun left the money on the table before grabbing his hand and dragging him away.

“Let’s go do something together.” Sungmin smiled at Kyuhyun.

“Don’t we always?”