02. Dream

“If I died, would you care?” Wooyoung asked Nichkhun. His throat was hurting from all the yelling that had just occurred.

Nichkhun stared up at the somber man, only to turn his gaze back down to the floor.

“Answer me!” Wooyoung demanded.

Nichkhun refused to comply.

In a matter of seconds, Wooyoung had fled out the door. He ran past the other members, who had been nervously trying to listen in on what was going on in Nichkhun’s room. He slammed the door shut behind him, and that was that.

There were moments of silence that ensued right after that. None of the other members moved, nor did they even dare to breathe.

Only Taecyeon was brave enough to speak. “That was an move you pulled, Khun.”

Nichkhun stared down at his lap, acknowledging that Taecyeon was right for once.

But he refused to admit it.

When the other members returned to their rooms, Nichkhun shoved his face into his pillow. I’ll sleep. And I’ll forget. I’m not the bad guy here. I’m not!

And slowly, he drifted off to sleep.

Nichkhun looked around the grassy plains. The sun was shining and the birds were chirping. He was about to sit down and relax on the vegetation strewn ground when the wind started to pick up. It whipped at him and the animals, making the little creatures scatter in all directions.

There was a moan. A deep penetrating moan of pain.

At the edge of the plains, Nickhun spotted something. Quickly, he ran his way over to where the figure was standing.

Nearly at the edge of the cliff, Wooyoung was staring off into the tumultuous sea. Underneath the edge were sharp pointed rocks, ready to skewer anybody with its teeth if someone was to fall.

“W-Wooyoung, what are you doing?!” Nichkhun screamed over the deafening gusts of wind.

Wooyoung turned around to take a quick glance back at Nichkhun before he leaned forward. Nichkhun began bolt towards him, one hand stretched out to grab him.

“NO!” Nichkhun bellowed as Wooyoung disappeared right off the edge. His fingers grasped at the empty air above the cliff. He cried out as tears rolled down his cheeks. “Wooyoung…”

He woke up, the back of his shirt completely drenched with his sweat. He pushed his covers off of him and tumbled off his bed. He briskly walked out into the living room to find that Wooyoung’s spot on the couch was empty.

He was still gone. He went back into his room and grabbed his jacket. He was about to rush out the front door when he walked past the hallway mirror and noticed something on his face. He brushed his finger across it to feel droplets of tears. Remnants from his dream…

He dabbed at them with his sleeve as he closed the apartment door behind him.

Outside, he ran around the lamp lit streets, cautiously called for Wooyoung. He even went by his favorite diner to see that he was not in there. After what seemed like hours of frantic searching in the cold nearly winter temperatures, he began to slowly back his way back to his apartment complex. Dejected that he couldn’t find Wooyoung, he let out a depressed sigh.

But suddenly, passing one of the nearby food market, he spotted a familiar looking man. The man was sitting on one of those beside the window-side high-tables, eating a bowl of instant noodles with a pair of wooden chopsticks. He did a double take to recognize the man’s blondish grey hair and his baby-like cheeks.

Nichkhun forgot all about the fight they had had and he ran into the market and embraced Wooyoung from behind.

“Oh God. I'd care. Okay?! I’d die if you died,” Nichkhun cried out, his face pressed onto Wooyoung’s warm back. Nichkhun’s arms tightened around Wooyoung’s waist.

As tears began to trickle down Nichkhun’s cheeks once more, he muttered into Wooyoung’s ear. “So don’t you dare leave me ever again!”