In His Dreams

:A Short Story Based on the Tale of Apollo and Hyacinthus  

by NewlyWedKpop

    Taemin was dreaming. Again.

The bloodless darkness of sleep melted away, sunlight replacing it. This time, Taemin was in a field of wildflowers, their stems gently bowing the breeze. For a few minutes, Taemin took in his new dream.

Beautiful, he thought, eyes scanning over the quiet clearing, like always. Taemin laid back into the grass, comfortable even on the dirt ground, staring up at the endlessly blue sky.

For the past few months, the ever-expanding dreamworld is where Taemin had been escaping to from the daily stresses of his life. Every night, he’d take a hot shower, drink some tea and pass out in his bed, usually skipping off to a remote area in the dreamworld.

Today had been especially stressful for Taemin; he’d lost his job, the little income that was supporting Taemin’s mere living status in his college dorm, and his Greek theology professor deemed his comprehensive essay on the Greek deity, Apollo, ‘insufficient’ and ‘terribly unoriginal’. To be truthful, Taemin was completely over with the waking world, and wouldn’t mind ditching it for the dream one. It was scary idea, but one Taemin was completely sure in, no bluffing involved.

“Are you sure about that?” a deep voice questioned, throwing Taemin’s heart into his throat.

His eyes flipped open, falling upon a tall silhouette lined with gold, due to the stranger blocking the sun. “Uhh... Wha-at?”

“Are you sure about that? Leaving the waking world behind, just for this?” the stranger asked again. Taemin didn’t answer, just squinted through the sun’s rays, trying to see the stranger’s face.

“Who are you?” Taemin asked.

“Nuh-uh. I asked you a question first, so answer.” the stranger said, voice dripping with amusement.

“What? No! This my dream. You answer me first.” Taemin pouted, indignant. “You can’t come in here and boss me around. Nope, that’s not how it works.”

“This isn’t your dream. This is the dreamworld-- you are simply a temporary inhabitant, even though it seems like you wish to remain here permanently. Why is that? Is your waking life so terrible?”

“Um...I just get pretty stressed, often. It’s a lot to deal with.” Taemin didn’t know why he was answering to the stranger’s demands, but dismissed his worries, after all he was asleep. “What’s your name and why are you here?”

“I’m…” the stranger’s voice drifted off as Taemin’s dream ended.

“Taemin! Wake up, or you’re going to be late for first period.” his friend, Kris, punched Taemin in the shoulder, rousing him.

“Come on, Kris. I was having a good one.” Taemin whined, punching friend back.

“Whatever, Taemin, I was just trying to make sure you wouldn’t be late again. Your grades are already suffering.” Kris reminded him, shaking his head. “You must have a sleep disorder or something. I came back from basketball practice at six the other day and you were already sleeping like the dead.”

“I was tired, Kris. Don’t worry, I’m fine.” Taemin mumbled irritably, jerking back the covers and sliding out of his miniscule twin bed.

“Yeah, you’re tired every day, Taemin. I think you need to go to a doctor or something, bro.” Kris clapped a hand on his shoulder, eyes genuinely concerned. “Seriously, I’m worried.”

“I’m fine, get to your tutor session before you’re late, Kris.” Taemin forced a small to his face, pushing his burly friend towards the door. “Remember, if your grades slide to the dumpster, you’re gonna be benched.”

“Don’t try to change the subject, Taemin, I’m serious. Schedule an appointment or something.” Kris dawdled at the door, glancing back at his friend.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll make sure to do so, mother.” Taemin teased, finally knocking his friend over the threshold. “Go, helicopter mom! Bye!”

Shutting the door and interrupting another nag from Kris, Taemin sighed in relief. He didn’t know why Kris was being such a worry-wart about his sleeping patterns, but it pissed him off. Taemin wasn’t sleeping too much, right?

Right, he thought, throwing on a pair of jeans and some gel messily into his hair. Taemin cursed when he checked time, seeing as he only had 5 minutes to get to his first class, which was halfway across campus. The boy sped to run, weaving in out the crowd, and bypassing breakfast for the day in his mad dash for punctuality. Just as the bell rang, Taemin tumbled into first period, untied shoelaces tripping him up and causing him to tumble to the floor, in front of the whole class of fifty students.  

“Barely on time, Mr. Lee. Next time I don’t think you’ll be so lucky.” his professor's voice cut through the snickers, registering in Taemin’s ears, and causing him to blush harder.

“Sorry, Mr. Bush, I slept over my alarm.” Taemin mumbled, shuffling past the condemning glare his professor was giving him.     

“Unacceptable, Mr. Lee. This isn’t high school anymore; it’s college, so get yourself together. Now, if you’re done interrupting, make your way to your seat.” Mr. Bush scolded, dismissing Taemin to his seat before turning back to the class. Rolling his eyes, Taemin took a seat in the back, far away from Mr. Bush and everyone else.

“Pay attention to this new unit, students; there will be an exam at the end of next week and a ten page essay due at the end of the grading period, which is next month.” Mr. Bush warned, prompting Taemin to take out his laptop and began typing up notes.

“The evolution of human beings, homosapiens, is a long transformation that can examined through several different lenses. Each lense you will you use, you will discover a different development that allows us to be the intelligent beings we are now, much improved from our far more ignorant kin, the nethanderals….” Mr. Bush’s voice droned on, successfully boring Taemin.

His eyes became laden with the need to sleep as the lecture wore on, but Taemin fought it off, doing everything in his power to stay awake. He began shifting in his seat, turning the brightness up on his laptop, taping his feet and hitting himself on the face every once and awhile.

“Are there ants in your pants, Mr. Lee?” Mr. Bush asked, stopping in the middle of his sentence about the receding of full-body fur, to call out Taemin. More snickers sprung up from the peanut gallery and Taemin flushed bright pink.

“No, no. I’m sorry, I’ll stop now. Carry on.” Taemin responded, hiding behind his computer screen.

“Well, now that I have Mr. Lee’s permission, we shall continue with the lesson.” Irritation shown on Mr. Bush’s face as he began speaking again. This time, Taemin couldn’t stop the drooping of his eyelids and allowed the peacefulness of sleep to wash over him.

“It’s nice to see you again.” a familiar voice greeted him. “I was wondering when you’d come back.”

Taemin blinked and took in his surroundings, the man-- scratch that-- boy next to him. What was supposed to be a quick glance, turned into a long staring contest as Taemin committed every inch of him to memory. The boy had shiny, platinum blonde, offsetting his flawless, bronze skin and shimmering gold eyes.

“Who are you?” Taemin asked, breaking the awkward silence that had settled while he’d been staring.

“I’m Kai, nice to meet you.” Kai smirked, aware of how Taemin had been staring at him. “Perhaps if you were to take a picture, it would last longer.”

That comment snapped Taemin out of his daze and he scowled at Kai. “Shut up.”

Kai just howled with laughter, earning even more glares from Taemin. “Okay, okay, I’m done. Taemin, right?” Kai asked after his giggling ceased.

“Yeah, and I’d like to know who you are and why you’re here.” Taemin said, already annoyed with boy disrupting his dreaming haven.

“I’m a dreamwalker and I’m here because I like your dreams.” Kai stated simply, leaning back on his forearms. “I mean look at all of this: the crystal blue waters, slowly lapping at the white grain, sandy beach and the palm trees sprinkled around until a few feet, where it gives way to a huge forest. You have one of the best imaginations in the dreamworld. I’m surprised no one has come to you yet.”

Taemin took a cursory glance around his dream find the exact paradise Kai had just described. “Okay, but why do you dreamwalk, what’s the point of it?”

“I don’t know, it’s just something I do. I’ve been watching yours for a few weeks, just to see what they were like. I was amazed.” Kai blushed slightly. “That sounded so stalker-ish. Whoops.”

Taemin smiled and nodded in thanks. “Thank you, I guess.”

“Yeah, no problem. Here: lay back, and talk. You seemed stressed.” Kai said, patting the warm sand next to him.

“How can you tell? Can you, like, read my mind or something?