Prompt # 17

He shoots upright in bed, breathing heavily and sweating. Another one of those strange dreams. He’s been having them since he can remember, but he doesn’t know what they mean, if they even really mean anything.

It’s always the same, well mostly. It starts when he walks through an old, rusty iron gate set inside a slightly crumbling brick wall. It always leads to the same place, a small wooded area with a round clearing. And then, there’s… him.

He’s seen this boy in his dreams so frequently he feels like he knows him. The only problem is, when he’s awake, in the real world, he’s never seen him before. At least, he doesn’t think he has anyway.

The strangest part is, the boy changes. Nothing drastic though, just the usual gradual changes that come with aging. When he was younger, the boy was young and then as he grew older and the dreams continued, the boy seemed to age with him.

He hated to admit it, but he was regrettably attracted to this strange dream boy. With his perfect, pale, porcelain like skin and large gleaming eyes, it was hard not to wish he could meet him in the real world.

His phone rings and he rolls over, wondering who could possibly be calling him this early on his day off.

“Hello?”

“Hello, Kim Minseok.”

He looks at his phone, not recognizing the voice of the caller.

“Who is this?”

“It’s good to hear your voice again,” the mystery caller says, catching Minseok off guard.

“Who is this?” he repeats.

The caller chuckles softly, “Of course you don’t remember,” a pause, then a deep sigh, “It’s been so long.”

“You’re still not telling me who-“

“I’ve dreamt of you every night since we last saw each other. Things were… very different then.”

Minseok is silent, taking in the strange words of the person on the other line. He racks his brain, thinking of anyone he could have possibly known a long time ago that would be calling him.

“Do you remember… the forest?”

Minseok still doesn’t speak.

“You loved it there. I took you there so often, we may as well have lived there.”

“I- I don’t know what-“

“I could take you there again. Would you like that? It would be just like before… when we were together.”

Minseok can hear the hopefulness in the person’s voice, but he still remains confused. Who is this? What forest?

“Of course, it’s different there now. The bricks have crumbled and the irons rusted away, but the forest… that’s- that’s still the same. You’d still love it just the same.”

Minseok’s breath stutters at that description. Did he just explain the scene from his dreams? But how?

“You could still love me just the same too, I also haven’t changed.”

“Who is this?” Minseok finally speaks. 

The line goes dead. Minseok looks at his phone, confused, frustrated, wishing he could get some answers. His head whips around when he hears a knock at his door and he runs, nearly tripping, as he crosses his apartment. What he sees takes his breath away.

“You’re… but how?”

The boy on the other side of the door smiles, eyes crinkling at the corners. He reaches his arm out and gently brushes Minseok’s cheek with his fingertips.

The touch sends a burst of electricity pulsing through Minseok’s body. Suddenly, the scenes he’s seen so many times in dreams flood his mind all at once. But this time, they don’t seem so dream like, they’re memories, actual memories. His memories.

“Luhan?” Minseok whispers, hand coming up to grasp Luhan’s hand still resting on his cheek.

“You’re even more beautiful than I remember,” Luhan says, bottom lip quivering although he's smiling. 

“Luhan,” Minseok says once again, the surge of strong emotion hindering him from forming an entire sentence.

“You have no idea how many lifetimes I’ve waited to hear your voice again.”