One night Andy falls asleep to a dream.

It’s a strange dream, disjointed in places and abstract in nature. First he was flying, then he was fighting off zombiefied versions of his juniors who’re trying to tickle him to death, and then—the oddest dream of them all—he’s all alone.

No, that’s not right. He feels it, his dream self even knows it—he’s not alone. But he does not see anyone else. He does not try to see if there’s anyone else. He’s sitting on a couch in a room that’s both familiar and unfamiliar. It’s a strange mix of contradictions as he waits and waits for something, anything, to happen.

He knows something will happen.

“Sunho-yah.”

Someone calls him, and his dream self knows immediately that it’s Hyesung hyung. He looks over his shoulder to see Hyesung draped in white from head to toe. With the sun streaming in through a window that Andy only noticed then, he looks like a deity, an ethereal being of myth and legend that descended from the heavens to grace Andy with his presence.

Hyesung does not approach him, neither does Andy try to approach him. Hyesung smiles and places a hand over his left —over his heart. He does not say anything, only mouths Andy’s name over and over and over again.

“Sunho-yah,” Hyesung mouths as he finally steps forward. “Sunho-yah,” Hyesung mouths as he leans over the couch. “Sunho-yah,” Hyesung mouths as he reaches out a hand to caress Andy’s cheek. “Sunho-yah,” Hyesung mouths as he reaches in to tuck a strand of hair behind Andy’s ear. All the while Andy sits still, watching. Ever careful, ever vigilant.

Without thinking Andy places a hand over his own heart. He does not expect to feel its beat (dreams null his senses to the bare basics of sight and hearing) but he does hear it. It beats louder as Hyesung drops closer, and closer, and closer—

Andy wakes up. Eyes wide, dripping with sweat, and with his heartbeat ringing in his ears.

He does not attempt to make sense of the dream. Not even after he’s washed his face in cold water and is considerably more awake. He barely remembers the dream after he’s had his breakfast and he completely forgets about it when he’s already washed and clothed and ready to take on the day.

He doesn’t remember the dream until he sees Hyesung, dressed in a white long-sleeved shirt and trying to fend off the harsh rays of the sun with his hand.

“I dreamt about you once,” Andy blurts out, without thinking, and it catches Hyesung off-guard.

“Oh? What was it about?”

“I don’t really remember,” Andy admits, “But I remember you were wearing white. And you were calling my name.”

Andy does not tell him the other details he remembers (the closeness, the near intimacy of the experience) but he laughs it off with Hyesung when the older man says, “Well that’s a pretty boring dream.” He listens when Hyesung regales a tale of one of his own dreams, but his mind is far away from the moment, far into the deepest realms of his purest thoughts.

What was that dream trying to tell him?

He looks to Hyesung, from the sharp curves of his face to every blink of his eyes and he thinks: Wow, has Hyesung always been this pretty? Has the way Hyesung smiled ever enticed him so?

Oh goodness.

What is he thinking?

This is Hyesung—Jung Pilgyo! His friend, group mate, close companion. What is he doing thinking about such things about someone he calls a friend?

But then he remembers the softness of dream Hyesung’s touch, how his eyes trained on Hyesung’s mouth as he repeats his name, over and over again. Even as he leaned closer, and ever so closer and closer until Andy felt like he couldn’t breathe—

Oh.

Oh no.

He has to stop these thoughts.

Needs to forget about them.

So he does. He purges these thoughts from the deep recesses of his brain and smiles when Hyesung smiles at him, having finished his story. Hyesung is oblivious, unaware of the war that rages inside Andy, but Andy doesn’t mind. Andy doesn’t want him to know. Andy will carry this secret to his grave.

A/N: I'll be away for most of tomorrow so I'm posting this today, but this officially starts off act 2! I'll publish the first chapter of act 2 when I'm done, which is hopefully the day after tomorrow at the earliest. Please remember that Act 2 will have longer chapters so it would take me more time to write them. Also, if you haven't voted on the poll please do so now. I'll have the poll up for several chapters so there's plenty of time to vote!