Title: Reverie

Name: [Redacted]

Tumblr and/or AFF username: [Redacted]

Prompt #: CHALLENGER

Word count of 3500 (+/- 500 words)*

Place: in our minds

Object/word prompts: cold & warm, “Stars blazed in the night sky”

and/or

The miracle of friendship

There is a miracle called friendship

That dwells within the heart

And you don’t know how it happens

Or when it even starts

But the happiness it brings you

Always gives a special lift

And you realize that friendship

Is god’s most precious gift.

By Jean Kyler McManus

Prompt given by: Lau

Word Count: 3097

Rating:  No rating

Author’s/Artist’s Notes: The book mentioned is called Eruption, by Harry Turtledove

Summary: Can a dream become reality? 

Reverie

There is a pleasant scent coming from the pot on the small stove that’s placed on the floor and it envelopes the living area, giving the room a familiar and cosy atmosphere. The two men are comfortably seated on each side of the stove, and leaning forward with his arms on his knees, Hyukjae peers into the pot of ramyun. It’s almost finished. He loves evenings like this, even with little money and his family far away his home still feels warm with his friend there to share a simple meal. He can’t quite remember how they met, his friend and him. One day he was just there by his side, a warm bubbly presence that makes Hyukjae’s life so much fuller. He usually comes over for dinner, slurping up his noodles while telling stories about his day and Hyukjae will tell him about his own, laughing as he recalls the head chef at the restaurant where he works, flirting with a new waitress. Hyukjae imitating the look she had on her face as she fled the kitchen has his friend laughing along with him.

They will watch crappy shows together on Hyukjae’s small but functioning TV while they eat and half the time the buttons on the old thing will get stuck on one channel. His friend never complains though, they just watch what’s on, making jokes and enjoying each other’s company. Sometimes his friend even stays over and on those nights Hyukjae pulls out the extra pillow he has stashed in his small cupboard and rolls out an extra futon next to his own. They can spend hours talking about everything and nothing instead of sleeping like they know they should.

Hyukjae stirs the noodles with his chopsticks and turns the heat off under the pot. He raises his head to tell his friend that dinner is ready when a loud sound from outside pulls his attention away and in an instance his warm daydream is scattered in small cold shards all over the floor of his loft. He’s left alone with only the sound of the TV in the background.

***

Donghae…. That’s his friends’ name. Hyukjae knows this because a man had been pounding on his neighbour’s door some time ago while calling for him. Hyukjae had watched through a crack in his door, all the while feeling increasingly like a stalker, as the two men settled down outside on the roof to enjoy the midday sun. Donghae had laughed a lot that day. Hyukjae had never seen him laugh before.

Sometimes he wonders if there are others his age with imaginary friends, although one could argue if Donghae really is imaginary since he is in fact real and lives just next door. The only thing separating their rooftop flats is a narrow alleyway that Hyukjae swears he could jump across if they weren’t so high up. He is lonely, sometimes unfathomably so and somehow imagining Donghae as his friend makes him feel better and he can’t bring himself to think it’s a bad thing. He has only ever exchanged mumbled hellos with the man who seems to work most nights if his leaving late and coming home at dawn is anything to go buy and Hyukjae recognizes the shirt he sometimes wears as work clothes from a local store. It would have been easy to strike up a conversation with the man and the problem isn’t that Hyukjae doesn’t want to, he really would like to. The problem is that he doesn’t know how to make friends anymore. He’s never been good at it from the start and spending so much time alone has made him loose what little confidence he had. Working two jobs and living on bare minimum means he can send a good amount of money home to his parents and really that was his goal for moving here all along. He did not move here to make friends. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want them.

***

It’s cold. Donghae swears under his breath as he gives up hope on fixing the appliance in front of him. It’s just his damn luck that his heater decided to break in the middle of winter and now his breath is coming out in white puffs and he pulls on another hoody as he tries to google insulation tips on his smartphone. He knows he should have invested in a new heater a while ago but he has no money left and he hardly eats one meal a day as it is. Donghae hasn’t had enough money for a while now and he is beginning to realize that either he needs to give up on his goal to become an actor and get another job or he will have to move back home to his parents in Mokpo. Either choice will force him to give up on his dream, the one thing he does not want to lose, and it hurts him to even have to consider it. To make matters worse his boss decided to give some relative a try at work and now Donghae is without his usual nightshift and it’s cold. He already misses the warmth of the store. Nights are always slow and Donghae spends most of his time reading books or scripts and practising his facial expression in the reflection of the mirror in the employee bathroom. The walls of his flat seem to give no shelter and if he wasn’t so late with rent he might even try to speak to the landlady about fixing the drafts he suspects are the cause. Most likely the only reason he is still living here is because it’s cheap and the lady thinks he’s adorable and is therefore willing to oversee the fact that he has missed paying on time on several occasions.  Donghae feels like he might go mad from just sitting in the cold in his small flat and he knows he won’t get any sleep if he can’t get the heat up. The prospect of spending the night at the local sauna is starting to feel very appealing even though he knows he has to save his money. Eventually deciding that inside isn’t much warmer than outside anyway he ventures out on the rooftop to run through his exercises schedule. He might as well move around while he is trying to make the decision and push ups are always a good way to get warm. His door closes behind him as he steps outside while pulling on a pair of gloves. 

***

The sight of Donghae outside in the middle of the coldest night of the year surprises Hyukjae as he returns from work later than usual. The restaurant has been busy and Hyukjae is tired from his long shift of washing dishes but the fact that his neighbour is currently working out when he should be at his own job, or inside like everyone else is confusing him. Hyukjae doesn’t know what possesses him and in retrospect he will blame the cold and the long shift at the restaurant for numbing his brain, but for once he doesn’t just walk straight to his own flat. Instead he steps all the way up to the ledge of his own roof and raises his voice just loud enough to be heard over the small gap.

“What are you doing?”

Donghae is startled enough to let out a small squeak as he spins around to face whoever is speaking to him and he finds his neighbour standing on his own rooftop, watching him with curious eyes peeking out from underneath a soft woolly cap and over the edge of his red scarf. Their buildings are only separated by a narrow alley and Donghae idly thinks that if he really wanted to he could make the jump. Even from the distance he thinks he can see dark circles under the man’s huge eyes. They have met before and even though it’s only been a handful of times Donghae always thinks the man must live a hard life. He always looks tired and he keeps his head down when he greets him before hurrying away. Sometimes Donghae feels like maybe he should strike up a conversation, maybe the guy is nice and they are neighbours after all. He wouldn’t mind having a friend close by.

“Um…” He considers his words, not wanting to give the man his entire sad life story before he realizes that the others might not be any better so there’s no real point in not being honest. Instead he ventures closer to the low wall that marks the edge of his building.

“It’s cold.” He gives his neighbour a small lopsided smile. “My heater broke so... I was just trying to keep warm while deciding if I should spend the night at a sauna or not.”

The other man remains silently looking at him and due to the lack of response Donghae keeps talking.

“I don’t know if I have enough money though… for the sauna...” he trails off.

A small “Oh” is the only reply he gets and Donghae jumps a bit on the spot to keep warm. He doesn’t know what to say anymore so instead he waves his arms a bit and randomly looks up to avoid staring for too long at the other man which is not ok no matter how intriguing his eyes might be. They really are the only part of him that isn’t covered in winter clothes.

“The stars are really pretty though.” He says more to himself than anyone else and he realizes that he misses the starry skies of his home town, the lights are always more prominent by the sea.

“But a million stars blazed in the night sky, and the Milky Way glowed bright and ghostly.”

The random line makes Donghae turn to face the man again with a questioning expression.

“What?” he asks.

It almost looks like the other won’t reply. He keeps twisting the end of his scarf around his hand and has trouble meeting his eyes. “It’s a line… from one of my favourite books.” The other says eventually and if possible buries his face even deeper into the thick fabric. It looks warm Donghae thinks.

“Oh.” He says and now it is his neighbours turn to look away.

Chill is starting to creep into Donghae’s shoes and his toes are starting to hurt from the cold.

“I should really head to the sauna because it’s ing cold out here.” He says with a small awkward laugh, shifting his weight from one foot to another. “You should head inside too.” He adds as an afterthought, nodding towards the others flat.

Why his neighbour is still standing out in the freezing weather is beyond him but the man seems sort of reluctant to leave even as Donghae does. He gives the other a small wave before disappearing into his home to fetch his wallet, praying that he will have enough money to last him for the rest of the month. If the weather keeps the way it is he most likely won’t. He snatches up his phone from the small table in the corner and turns off all the lights. As he once again makes his way out from his home the man is gone and there is a ray of warm light seeping out of his small window. Donghae ignores the tinge of disappointment he feels and locks his door to make his way towards the stairs.

“Hey!”

For the second time that night Donghae’s heart jumps and he kicks himself for being so skittish. His neighbour is standing in his doorway, motioning for him to come closer, most likely so that he won’t have to yell in the middle of the night in the crowded living area. Sighing, Donghae turns to walk towards him, hoping that whatever the man wants he will say it quickly before frostbite sets in on the more important body parts. He would really like to get to know the man but outside in the freezing winter at night is just not the right time.

“Yea?” he says forcing his body to still so that his teeth won’t rattle.

The man has lost his scarf and Donghae can see his mouth open to speak but no words come out. He seems nervous and as much as Donghae wants to be polite and give him time he also can’t stand the temperature anymore.

“Look, I really need to go because the cold is killing me here…” Donghae says trying to urge the man on without being rude. He is shuddering by now and brings out his phone to light the way down the narrow stairs that lead to the street.

“I don’t have a spare heater!” The man blurts out over the small gap separating them. His voice is louder now, and rushed.

Before Donghae can question why his neighbour finds it important to tell him this at what is according to Donghae’s phone, approaching two in the morning, the man continues.

“You can come over here if you want.” He says quickly. Almost too quickly, but Donghae just about manages to catch it anyway. “I know…” the man starts only to stop once more and it makes Donghae want to cross the last distance between them only to give him an encouraging pat on the back and tell him that it’s ok. But the other take a deep breath and seems to pull himself together.

“I know what it’s like to have to save money.” He says slowly. “And I can’t lend you my heater because, you know… it’s ing cold out here.”

Donghae almost flinches at the swear coming across the others lips and laughs at the repeat of his earlier words. He is rewarded with a small smile from the other man as he keeps talking.

“So if you wanted to, you could come over here. That way you won’t have to waste any money on a sauna.”

It takes a while for the words to sink in and for Donghae to become fully aware of what his neighbour is actually offering. He doesn’t understand why the other would invite a stranger into his home at the same time as he is amazed by the kindness in his gesture. The cold is biting and Donghae stares longingly at the warm light surrounding the other man who is looking at him with his now usual nervous expression. He realizes he is taking too long to reply when the man shuffles closer to his own door and shakes his head.

“Forget about it… it was a stupid idea.”

He’s mumbling again and Donghae doesn’t like it one bit.

“Yea! Ok… I can do that.” He blurts out, and from the shocked look on his neighbours face he’s almost sure that he will tell him that he changed his mind about the entire thing. But the other just gives him another small smile before telling him to bring blankets and a pillow and anything else he needs and that he’ll meet him downstairs to open the gate to his stairs. Five minutes later Donghae is standing in the street in front of his neighbour, cradling a mass of pillows and blankets and trying not to drop anything as he bows to the other.

“My name is Donghae. Thank you for this…really.” He is pretty sure the other man can see how grateful he is as he too bows in greeting.

“I’m Hyukjae. It’s ok… We’re neighbours after all. I’m sure you would do the same for me” he says and Donghae wonders if he would. The man gestures for Donghae to follow and the gate closes behind them as they climb the stairs to Hyukjae’s place. It’s not until they are outside the door that Donghae somewhat regrets his decision. He doesn’t know his neighbour. What if they have nothing to talk about? He quickly runs through a mental list of subjects to discuss just in case. The man seems normal enough, although a bit shy and he quotes books in the middle of the night. He doesn’t really look intimidating, rather he looks to be more nervous than Donghae is. In worst case it is still only for one night and stepping into the heated cosy flat, Donghae decides that maybe he should have spoken to the man a long time ago.

***

Eventually Donghae remembers to ask about the book Hyukjae quoted. Hyukjae is once again making them noodles for dinner and he smiles at Donghae’s question. He himself can hardly remember anything from that night. It’s all lost in a blur of nervousness. The book is about erupting volcanoes in Yellowstone park he tells Donghae, and a new ice age that forces people to try their best to survive and create a new world to live in. It had seemed sort of fitting for that cold night several months ago.

Donghae argues that volcanoes are hot and therefore it makes no sense that there would be an ice age after they erupt. It makes Hyukjae laugh as he tells him to just read the book, before setting their bowls down on the small table in front of the TV. Some nights Donghae is too full and too lazy to make his way down all of Hyukjae’s stairs and up his own to go to bed and instead he stays over. And as Hyukjae pulls an extra pillow and blanket out from his small closet he thinks that whatever friendship he had imagined before could never live up to getting to know the real Donghae and all his ups and downs, all his quirks and all his tantrums when the TV gets stuck on one channel.

He is grateful that he found the courage to befriend the man, although he simply invited the other man in to share his warmth. The other did most of the talking and it was still very awkward at first. Donghae bought a heater the very next day and it took them a while before they spent more time together but gradually they got to know each other better and better. When they settle down for the night and Donghae mumbles something about volcanoes into his pillow, Hyukjae doesn’t feel lonely anymore. He’s not sure how it happened or when it really started, but he knows that there is true friendship there and as Donghae pulls him closer in his sleep he knows that the other feels the same.