Daniel's Dream

아직도 꿈만 같은데 (Still Like a Dream)

Kang Daniel's vision became blurry as he ran as fast as he could after the quick raven haired form in front of him. No matter how fast he ran, the back of the other boy became further and further away from him. Daniel thought that he would catch up with the illusive figure as they reached a road with a pedestrian crossing. However, the boy continued to run through the red light, being narrowly missed by an oncoming car. Not wanting to lose sight of the other, Daniel followed the boy's bold movements through the light traffic and caught sight of him making his way into a busy pedestrian area packed with small fashion shops. Pushing passed people while apologising profusely made it hard for Daniel to keep track of the mysterious man.

'Please stop running away,' Daniel called out. 'Why are you running from me?'

The other boy didn't reply, nor did he turn around. However, he did reach the end of the street and made a right turn into the next pedestrian-filled shopping street. Daniel finally caught a glimpse of the other person's face. He looked amazing, but what caught Daniel's attention were three moles that formed a star constellation on the boy's cheek. He was the most beautiful person Daniel had laid eyes on. Daniel also made a right turn, almost bumping into an elderly man before bowing in apology.

'I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going,' he said, trying to speak Seoul dialect in a time of stress. It didn't really work out too well for him, it sounded like a strange mix of seoul dialect and his own Busan one.

After he had parted ways with the old man, his eyes quickly scanned the area for the boy he had been chasing. He was gone; it was almost like he had just disappeared.

Daniel bent over with his hands on his knees, catching his breath. A bead of sweat fell from his forehead onto the ground with a thud, along with a salty tear. He looked up again, only this time all the people surrounding him had disappeared and he was now floating in the dark amongst many dazzling bright lights.

'Where am I?' he shouted out into the abyss.

'Hyung, you're sitting at the kitchen table,' a familiar voice answered him.

'No I'm not, I think I'm in outer space,' Daniel said, finally recognizing the beautiful bright lights as stars.

The stars reminded him of the boy he was trying to catch up with. It made him feel a sense of longing, and a desire to go back and find the boy.

'Hyung, you're meant to be looking after me, not sleeping in a bowl of bibimbap,' the voice complained, snapping Daniel from his impromptu nap.

Sweating profusely from his distressing dream, Daniel wiped some rice off of his face with the back of his hand and it off.

'Is it your nacolapy hyung?' the voice, who he now knew belonged to his neighbour's son Woojin, said.

'Yeah, it's probably just my narcolepsy Woojinnie,' he replied, smiling at Woojin's mispronunciation of the word.

'Why were you in outer space?' he asked, climbing up to sit on the stool beside Daniel.

'It's a long story,' Daniel laughed, even though he was concerned about the dream. 'I've been having the same dream for a few weeks now. Literally every time I fall asleep, I dream that I'm chasing a guy with stars on his cheeks and then he disappears and I end up floating in space. Pretty weird, right?'

'It is weird,' Woojin said with a nod of agreement. 'Do you think it means anything, hyung?'

Daniel tried to think of any explanation for the events of his reoccurring dream, but he couldn't think of any meaning.

'I don't know Woojinnie. Maybe deep down I want to become an astronaut and I don't know it yet,' he joked around.

'Maybe the boy in my dream is a beautiful alien and I need to go to the moon to find him…' he wondered to himself out loud as an afterthought.

Woojin giggled at his silly hyung, pouring the older boy a glass of water.

'Everybody knows you're going to be the best dancer in the world hyung, not an astronaut, you silly,' he said back. 'Now hurry and eat the bibimbap that my umma made for you.'

'Hmph,' Daniel said, taking a sip of the water. 'Sometimes it feels like you're the one babysitting me.'

'But you get paid and I don't,' Woojin pouted.

'Yeah, it's a pretty sweet deal,' Daniel laughed, quickly finishing the deliciously home-made bibimbap.

He was incredibly hungry after that strange repeating dream.

'Plus, you're my favourite kid that I babysit. So it's the best deal ever.'

'You're the best hyung ever too,' Woojin smiled as he pulled out his homework and returned to the table to complete it.

'I remember when I used to have to do all that ridiculous homework,' Daniel suddenly spoke, relaxing into his chair. 'But now I just have to practice dancing and do a performance here and there; this is the life.'

Woojin pouted, 'Don't rub it in hyung.'

'It's okay. Once you graduate high school I'm sure you'll be able to get into a special school for your singing. You're really talented,' Daniel said, praising the younger boy.

'Thanks hyung,' Woojin said with a smile before going back to his homework.

 

The next morning, Daniel woke up from the same dream. He took a nice long shower to make himself feel better and refreshed for the day ahead of him. Before heading out of the apartment, Daniel grabbed his bag, shoving two packets of ramen and a bag of gummy worms for the day ahead of him.

Taking the subway and getting off near the Korean National University of Arts, Daniel made a quick stop at a convenience store to get himself a bottle of iced tea, before quickly making the rest of the way to class.

Like usual, Daniel was slightly late, making the teacher and the entire class look up at him as he entered the practice room.

'Sorry I'm late,' he said for probably the 198th time that year.

'Did you practice the Boy In Love choreography for the homework today?' Noh Taehyun, a boy in Daniel's class, and also a friend of Daniels, asked.

'Only a little bit; I had to babysit Woojinnie yesterday,' Daniel answered.

To be honest he wasn't too worried about it. The homework they received on a weekly basis only counted towards 1% of their overall mark anyway.

'I didn't have much time either, to be honest. With the performance assignment coming up tomorrow night and all, I'm buried in work,' he said, pointing a finger gun at his own head.

Daniel laughed at the other boy's action.

'Yeah right, that's tomorrow. I guess me and my team should have a last minute meeting tonight or something,' he wondered aloud.

Taehyun nodded, 'We should do that too; we're going to need it.'

'Oh, that's right. You have Hyunbin in your team. Good luck,' Daniel joked. 'He's definitely been improving though.'

'You're right. Maybe there is still hope for him to graduate with a dance major; I'm proud of him,' Taehyun laughed.

'I sense someone talking about me over here,' Hyunbin said, appearing beside the two classmates.

'We were just saying how much you've improved,' Daniel said with a smile.

'See? This is why everyone likes Daniel,' he said loudly to nobody in particular. 'At least he believes in me.'

The rest of the class went by in an orderly fashion. The teacher called upon each student to see how their homework went and graded them accordingly. Daniel didn't do too bad, considering his lack of effort. He remembered most of the choreography and danced as passionately as he could, receiving one of the top marks along with Taehyun.

Following the class, Daniel met up for lunch in the common area with a few of his friends. He made his way to the table after cooking his ramen, sitting right in between Minhyun and Jaehwan. He didn't know if it was a good idea or a bad idea.

'You just ate some of my sandwich with your bare hands!' Minhyun complained. 'You animal, did you even wash them?'

Despite also coming from Busan, Minhyun's dialect wasn't very strong at all. Maybe he had been in Seoul for too long.

'You know I don't wash my hands,' Jaehwan wink wonked.

'I can't deal with this; Daniel get this filth away from me,' Minhyun said, poking his now contaminated sandwich with a fork.

Daniel was just trying to eat his lunch.

'You don't want that hyung; you can't resist me,' Jaehwan cackled in his trademarked laughter.

'I mean it Kim Jaehwan,' Minhyun warned. 'Daniel, tell Jaehwan that I no longer wish to speak with him.'

'Guys I'm trying to eat my lunch,' Daniel spoke with his mouth full.

'If you guys don't stop fighting, I'll take away your PlayStation privileges,' Jisung said, walking up to the table at the right time.

Daniel thought Jisung was an angel at this point, because he finally made his two friends shut up.

'That's better,' he said, taking his spot at the table.

'But hyung, he took a bite of my sandwich and he didn't wash his hands,' Minhyun said, on the verge of whining.

Jisung lent over the table, swapping his own sandwich for Minhyun's half eaten one.

'Anything left to complain about now?' he asked, eating Minhyun's sandwich without a care in the world.

'Nope, no more complaints,' Minhyun said, digging into Jisung's sandwich. 'Thanks hyung.'

'Anyway, enough of the sandwich disaster of 2017. How are we all doing half-way into the semester?' Jisung asked.

Jisung himself was a mature-aged student. He was studying dentistry for a while because of the pressure put onto him by his father. After he graduated he worked as a dentist for a couple of years and hated it. So now he is back here pursuing a career in the entertainment industry.

'I entered a singing competition and won first place,' Jaehwan announced proudly.

'What? When? Why didn't you tell us?' Minhyun questioned.

Jaehwan shrugged, 'I didn't want to brag.'

'Kim Jaehwan not bragging. Wow, that one's a first.'

'How about you Daniel?' Jisung asked, sick of Jaehwan and Minhyun's .

Daniel looked up from his lunch, munching on them in thought.

'Well, I keep having the same dream over and over again. It's about me chasing a guy with moles in the shape of stars down Hongdae and I can't reach him. Then suddenly he disappears and I'm floating in space,' he recounted. 'Oh, and I'm performing a routine tomorrow in Hongdae for my assessment.'

'Ooooh, maybe you'll find the boy with stars on his cheeks,' Ha Sungwoon said, suddenly appearing at their table and taking a seat.

'Daniel, be honest with me. What have you been smoking?' Jisung questioned.

'Nothing hyung, I swear!' Daniel said, defending himself.

'If anything, this kid is high on life,' Minhyun commented.

'Yeah, I'm high on life hyung. I don't do drugs,' Daniel agreed.

'I hope you find your mystery man Niel-ah,' Sungwoon cooed, starting to eat his own lunch.

'I guess that would be kinda cool,' Daniel said. 'Too bad he's only a figment of my imagination.'

'Anyway, you guys,' Jisung began making an announcement. 'Since we only have three weeks left of this semester before the summer break, I thought we could plan a trip or something.'

'Can we go to Disney Land?' Jaehwan asked. 'Let it go, let it go.'

Minhyun covered his ears as his friend began to sing the overplayed song.

'We're not going to Disney Land; we'd have to leave Korea,' Jisung shook his head. 'I was thinking we could go to Busan for the weekend or something. That way Daniel and Minhyun can see their parents.'

Minhyun uncovered his ears and smiled.

'Hyung, thank you so much. I haven't seen them in a couple of years,' he thanked.

'I can show you guys all the best places and stuff,' Daniel said, he was glad that Jisung had thought of Minhyun and himself, being so far away from their homes.

A/N: So I started writing this cause I suddenly had the idea in my head and I wanted to procrastinate on stuff. I hope you all enjoyed it ^^ Maybe Ong will make an appearance at the end of the next chapter? I hope you guys stick around to find out : ) Also, I didn't edit this, so sorry for any mistakes (I've been in the habit of not editing things I right lately haha).

Like this story? Give it an Upvote!
Thank you!

Comments

You must be logged in to comment
ongseongwoo101
#1
Chapter 3: Beautiful cute story... pls write more stories like this.. thank u authornim
Ayushaza
#2
Chapter 3: This is so cuteeee ?
kiddoELF
#3
Chapter 3: Ugh they are so squishyly adorable, so cute >\\\\\<
Hope they meet again in their dreams
heartykeykeke
#4
Chapter 3: Omg this story is so unique and cute. I have never seen such an adorable first meeting. Random convenience store, ong trying to hide, ong not saying details in the proper order making himself look like a creepy stalker. Ahhh it's all too cute and funny. The recent chapter was great. They have such good interactions already and so fluffy with all the innuendos and blushing~ can't wait to read more! Oh also minhyun jaehwan jisung interactions were hilarious!
achailoveyou
#5
Chapter 3: Give me lifeeeeeee. Omg hahahah
_sophia_
#6
Chapter 2: Now, I'm really curious. Does Ong know Daniel?
kiddoELF
#7
Chapter 1: Cant wait for the misterious star-face-boy ㅋㅋㅋ. Hope they'll meet soon
littlelight07 #8
OMG IM DYING! CANT WAIT FOR CHAPTER 2 :)
haely13
#9
Chapter 1: Interesting story author-nim, hope seungwoo and Daniel will meet soon <3