CHAPTER 42

THE DREAM

The bright morning sun made a Jaehyun frown, and it made him woke up. An annoying headache hit him hard that he nearly flinched. He wasn’t drunk when he arrived, he had been suffering from a headache from the past few days. Maybe because of the lack of proper nutrition, stress from work, and the bigger things his lips refuse to speak but his mind never failed to remind him.

He had a dream and to say that it was the best was an understatement. He dreamt of going home and finding Taeyong waiting for him and welcomed him with the warmest hug his heart was longing for. No words came out from his mouth and things escalated quickly. The next thing he knew, in his dream, they were already making love and Taeyong dominated everything as he missed him so much. 

Jaehyun bitterly smiled as he recalled his dream. It was heartwarming and heart-wrenching at the same time. What could be worse than waking up with the truth that every good thing that happened to you was all part of your dream?

He sat on the bed, not noticing that he was and was barely covered by his blanket. In his dream, after they made love, he was enveloped with the warmth of the person next to him and Jaehyun was contented, not wanting the moment to end. But all things must come to an end. Dreams will remain dreams as soon as he wakes up. 

He ran his hand on the right side of the bed, where Taeyong used to sleep. The sheet was crumpled as if someone really slept there. It was still warm. Jaehyun almost believed that his dream really did happen.

The dream was so clear that he remembered it like it really happened.

***

“What took you so long?”

Hallucination.

Jaehyun was having a hard time convincing himself that the voice he heard was only a hallucination, a product of his imagination. He must be longing for Taeyong that much that his brain was making up things to fill in the emptiness of his whole being.

“At least have the decency to face me after leaving me here to wait for you.”

It sounded clear and real, and Jaehyun shook his head and his temple to clear his mind.

“Love.”

The word made him let out a painful scoff. It was the convincing factor to make him believe that his brain was only making up things. No one calls him love, not even his husband-former husband.

His stomach was rumbling from the lack of proper meal for days. That may be the reason why he was hallucinating. what happened next made his whole body froze, and in the blink of an eye, all the reasons he was trying to make himself believe that everything was just a dream vanished. 

A pair of arms wrapped around his body. Jaehyun felt someone’s head on his back.

“Why don’t you look at me?” The voice sounded so desperate. It sounded like Taeyong.

Still, Jaehyun stood there, thunder stricken like a spell was cast on him.

The pair of arms withdrew from him, and Jaehyun wanted to cry for the warmth that disappeared. The next thing he knew, a pain of almost teary eyes stared at him, holding his hand like his life was depending on him.

“Jae, love.”

Jaehyun’s lips moved, but no sound came out. His body still refused to do what he wanted. His eyes were the only thing that could convey all the feelings and emotions he was feeling that very moment.

 It was Taeyong.  Taeyong was in front of him, holding his hand and calling his name.

Tears replaced the words that failed to come out. They flowed freely like a prisoner wanting freedom. Jaehyun thought he had no more tears left, and he was strong enough to fight them back. Taeyong was in front of him, holding his hands. It was more than enough to release all the emotions he had been holding up.

“T-tae…T-Taeyong.”

Taeyong smiled, and Jaehyun’s heart melted.
No words were heard after for Taeyong grabbed his husband’s nape and took his lips as a hostage with a hot and passionate kiss that he initiated for the first time.

Taken aback, it took Jaehyun a moment to respond. Soon enough, when the longing for Taeyong took over, he found himself kissing back. Taeyong was the dominating one this time. It felt like he was the one who missed and longed for him more.

Jaehyun longed to hold his husband that way and kissed him like there was no tomorrow.

The next thing he knew, they were inside their room, in their bed and .

***

Best dream ever.

Deciding to leave the bed because it brought a lot of memories, Jaehyun stayed in the living room instead. He stood up, letting the white blanket covering his body fall into the carpeted floor. That was when he realized that he was , and clothes were scattered on the floor, not on his but also by someone else’s. 

The sight made him frown. He covered himself with the blanket once again and was about to pick one of the clothes when the door opened. The scent of cooked breakfast and freshly brewed coffee invaded his nostrils.

He cursed because the scent was all too familiar that he started to doubt if he was really awake already.

The greetings of a person with a very familiar voice sent shivers down his spine, and it made his heart beat faster. It felt like the voice gave his heart the much-needed boost to be able to beat normally again. 

The voice gave his heart the life he lost.

“Good morning, love. I made you breakfast.”

Jaehyun saw the brightest smile he had ever seen in his life.

***

It was the other way around for Taeil and Doyoung. The latter was pissed. He was beyond pissed that the man he was waiting for since the previous night was still sleeping like a dead log in their bed. No matter hard their son tried to wake him up, the attempt was futile.

Doyoung was about to shake the hell out of Taeil to wake him up when he noticed how tired his face looked. Taeil was sleeping and yet, the bags under his eyes were clearly visible. The evidence of lack of sleep slapped Doyoung hard in the face. His anger cooled down almost immediately. He took Kun’s hand and told him to play in the living room instead while he waits for his father to wake up.

Guilt invaded his system. He knew that he had been doing this out of desperation since they heard the news that a sibling could save Kun. He badly needed to have another child, and he planned to do everything just to conceive as soon as possible.

Only two days had passed, Doyoung acted like a wild rabbit in heat. Taeil said nothing even though the former knew that he was exhausted. He just came back from Japan, and they made love like it was the last time. Then Taeil had to go back to Japan once again to get his brother and came back home beyond exhausted. The older was like a robot- one with a low battery- when he walked into their house, the sun was about to shine.

Doyoung could only sigh as he decided to walk out of their room to cook breakfast for his family. What he had in mind can wait, at least for a little while.

***

After that silent yet comfortable breakfast with Ten, Johnny’s mood lightened up a bit. He was glad that things were silently getting better with both of them taking smalls steps at a time.

Johnny knew that it was only a matter of time until they get back the way they were. The big guy was positive, and he promised himself that nothing will be messed up.

While it was the complete opposite for Ten. In his mind, Johnny was treating him good because he was going to dump him soon, permanently. Every movement his boyfriend or ex-boyfriend rather was observed by him, and every time he picks up his phone, Ten will instantly freeze and gaped like a fish out of water. A girl must be calling, and Johnny was going to go out again to meet whoever she was.

To put it simply, Ten was getting paranoid. With every little kind thing Johnny did, even the simplest act of helping him wash the dishes meant negatively for the Thai. He felt that he was going to dump him soon. Johnny was just kind enough to break it to him gently. It pained him that all his efforts didn’t work. It was only a matter of time before Johnny has to force him out of that house.

Who was to blame? The only person to blame was Ten. The fact that he was about to be thrown away and it was all his fault kept on drilling on his brain. He regretted taking those pills without telling Johnny about them. He could’ve opened up and told him about his past. He knew that Johnny was going to accept him no matter what, but he still doubted him. So he was the only person to blame.

In spite of the possibilities, the Thai was not going to wait for Johnny to let him go, he wasn’t strong enough to accept it. Ten just needed time to gather the broken pieces of his heart and move on with his life.

Soon.

He just couldn’t do it at the moment because his health was not at best and he felt like he was slowly deteriorating. 

Headaches and nausea were attacking him because he'd been thinking too much.

His plan was going to have to wait.

***

Jaehyun blinked for a few times and even rubbed his eyes to clear his vision to prove that the person in front of him wasn’t just a product of his imagination.

It was Taeyong, in full and glorious beauty that made Jaehyun’s heart beat like he just ran a marathon.

Taeyong shouldn’t be in front of him, he shouldn’t be in that place after everything that happened. The sight, as much as Jaehyun adored the guy, gave him a serious headache. So he reminded himself that the Taeyong in front of him was not real, that he was still a part of his dream.

He contemplated going back to bed, but a headache didn’t allow him to. A long bath was a good idea, but his feet were stuck in the ground and unable to move. His eyes were still locked in the guy in front of him.

“I made you breakfast, it’s your favorite,” Taeyong repeated as he placed the tray at their bedside table. The clanking sound of the utensils as he arranged them carefully on the tray reached Jaehyun’s ears, once again, it tried to convince him that the scene was real.

Still, there was no response so Taeyong had to walk toward him. That action finally made him move. Jaehyun slowly stepped back until the back of his knee reached the bed and made him sit. His husband stood in front of him with a smile that could send anyone to heaven. Jaehyun felt he was about to have a heart attack.

“What’s wrong?” Taeyong frowned and gently touched Jaehyun’s forehead.

A gasp was all Jaehyun could give. It felt real. His husband touched him, and it felt real.

“Jae, are you alright?” his husband looked at him worriedly.

“S-stop,” Jaehyun struggled to answer. He closed his eyes tightly and began punching his thighs to wake himself. The dream was too much, and he was sure the truth was going to be hard to handle once he wake up. It pained him to think that it was all just a dream and it didn't really happen.

Taeyong didn’t stop though, instead of doing what he was told, he put his hand on Jaehyun’s shoulder as the other hand gently caressed his face. The action put the latter into tears.

“S-stop, please,” Jaehyun pleaded. “Stop doing this to me.”
Taeyong was clueless of what was happening to his husband. He also noticed that Jaehyun was giving himself small pinches as tears flowed down his face. 

It was the first time he saw him cry.

He grabbed his hand so the pinching would stop and looked at him dead in the eyes, trying to get his full attention. Sobs were heard inside that room, but Jaehyun didn’t let out a single answer to Taeyong’s questions. The dream was slowly turning into a nightmare, and he desperately wanted to wake up.

“Jaehyun,”

Freeing himself from Taeyong, Jaehyun continued pinching himself. This time, he even gave his thighs punches and the former tried so hard to stop him, still clueless about what was happening.

“Wake up!” Jaehyun screamed as he punches himself, “I want to wake up already! Wake up!”

That was when Taeyong realized what was happening. His husband thought that he was just dreaming. The realization pinched his heart and between Jaehyun’s struggle to ‘wake’ himself up, Taeyong gently grabbed his face and kissed him as a husband would do. 

The kiss was full of love and assurance, and it successfully made Jaehyun stop what he was doing. His lips moved like they have a life of their own and both of them were out of breath after their lips slowly separated. 

They both looked at one another, one was full of tears and the other was full of promise.

“I'm real love, I’m real,” Taeyong whispered. Jae just shook his head, still doubtful.

“I never left. I waited for you to come back.”

“N-no, no. You’re supposed to be gone. I gave you the freedom already. I-I already signed the papers. You’re not supposed to be here.”

Taeyong shook his head. Jaehyun was in a delicate state, and all he wanted was to convey his feelings right. He wanted to make it right this time.

“I don’t want my freedom,” he replied with full conviction. “I didn’t sign those stupid papers so I set them on fire ao that you cannot find them anymore.”

Jaehyun looked at him with disbelief. What Taeyong said convinced him that he was still dreaming. The latter won’t say something stupid as that. Setting those papers on fire was the last thing Taeyong would do, but still, he asked, 
“Why?”

“Because I don’t want to,” still, his voice was full of conviction. Jaehyun put that dream at the top of his list of best dreams ever. A small smile appeared in spite of the tears. Still, he asked, “Why?”

“Because you’re my husband, and we’re supposed to spend forever together.”

Yes, Taeyong mentioned forever. Jaehyun was indeed dreaming, and still, he asked, “Why?”

“Because I love you damn it!”

Taeyong cursed, he never did that. His Taeyong was an angel.

And yet, the words made his heart warm. If he was only awake, he would have jumped for joy.

Taeyong saw that Jaehyun was still lost and even after the kiss, he still thinks that he was just dreaming. So, he resorted to the only way he knew that could wake him up. 

He slapped him. 

Hard.

aejae22

******************************

I'm sorry. 

This is all I can say after weeks of absence. 

I got really busy with work.

But please dont forget my promise. 

I won't abandon this, ever.

I hope you like this one.

And as an apology, here's a sneak peak of the next chapter.

I would love to read your comments.

The Party…

Everyone was dressed to impressed. All the people inside the ballroom were all smiling. Mark knew better, though, none of those people were genuinely happy for what his brother just announced. 

All his brothers together with their partners were there, even Winwin was happily escorted by his husband that has a huge smile on his face. Even his Johnny hyung was all smile with Ten besides him, hands linked like they were glued.

The NCT Corp. has all the reason to celebrate. Aside from the announcement Jaehyun made, they just closed the biggest deal the company had ever had. It was indeed a huge celebration.

With a help of Lucas, his wheelchair was pushed to the middle of the ballroom. His presence or maybe their out of place attire got the attention of everyone, including his brothers and their partners.

Mark clapped and everyone went silent. He almost felt Lucas’s heart beating fast behind him. The latter still thinks that he was out of his mind, but they talked about it even before they reached the venue. It was now or never.

“Congratulations,” He started.

“Thank you,” Jaehyun answered, surprised to see his brother in that state. He hasn’t seen him since that fateful night. But Mark wasn’t looking at him after he said his congratulations. His eyes jumped from Taeyong and Winwin and Jaehyun swore he saw anger flickered in his eyes.

“Sorry to make a scene. I came here to congratulate my brothers and ask my brother-in-law and his brother a question.”

Taeyong and Winwin looked at each other, their eyes questioning as they waited.

The band stopped playing so the silence was deafening. Mark took that chance and asked, “Where is Haechan?”

Taeyong and Winwin paled.