There was an endless sky of blue and white; the clouds shifted with the breeze, the grass moved along with it, and in the middle of it all was Wen Junhui. An expanse of field and flowers surrounded him, never touching him no matter which direction he travelled. The way the dreams started was always the same—he would be lying down on the grass, eyes lifted up towards the sky, just waiting. That was usually how Junhui could tell he was going to have to be ready to meet the other boy again.

Sometimes, he was late. Most of the time though, Junhui didn’t have to wait very long before he would feel a presence beside him, shifting next to him on the grass.

A content sigh would always start the conversation.

“I’m thinking that one looks like a cat,” Minghao said as a form of greeting. His arm was already stretched out, finger pointing towards one of the clouds. “What do you think?”

“A cat? I don’t see it.”

The blonde boy laughed, “try looking again.”

This was definitely Junhui’s favourite part as he stared at the sky in anticipation. Cloud gazing—at least outside of these dreams—wasn’t something he found himself doing often. Mainly because he figured balls of white were hardly anything interesting. Sure, they moved and all that, but the shapes were always ambiguous at best. Here though, it was always fun. Minghao made sure of that.

The cloud that the other boy had pointed out began to change, shifting slowly to resemble more like the cat Minghao had claimed it to be. It moved a little more than clouds should, that was for sure, but Junhui had long ignored the physics and logic of a dream. Soon, the cloud took the form of an actual cat that pranced around the field next to them while Junhui watched in delight.

He wasn’t sure when the dreams started, nor why they did, or how Minghao came to be.

Junhui had tried asking about the other boy a few times; simple questions like whether they’ve met in the real world before, why could him dreams be controlled this way, what was the other boy exactly, why did all of his recurring dreams have Minghao in them, what was all this about—okay, so most of them weren’t simple. He’d always be met with a small smile and a change of topic that eventually made the brunette give up.

He settled for just enjoy their time together some time after the 13th dream.

“I won’t be here for long this time,” Minghao began to say.

“Why not?” Junhui asked, half distracted by the cloud cat on his lap. It really was a short run this time; just one cloud transformation, after all. Most of the time, Minghao could turn everything into something else; from animals, to objects, to changing their scenery. Junhui tried a few times, thinking that it was his dream after all and he should have control, but to no such luck.

The other boy laughed, “it’s because you should really be waking up. You slept in class, Junhui.”

“Oh.”

Just like that, the dream dissolved, with the loud ringing of the school bell filling his ears. Junhui groaned and sat up from his desk, opening his eyes to find that the history teacher was telling the class about homework, leaving right after, while his classmates were in the midst of packing up. Next to him, his best friend Jihoon was still seated. He looked only slightly unamused as he shook his head.

“Pleasant dreams, Jun?”

Junhui could only nod sheepishly, as he fixed his stuff so that the two could finally make their way to their next class. On the way there, the Chinese boy began retelling his dreams, like he always did to a rather skeptic Jihoon, who would usually just nod. This time, the shorter boy couldn’t help but scoff at how Junhui woke up because Minghao said so.

“Are you sure this Minghao guy isn’t just your subconscious?” Jihoon asked. “Your brain probably just gave him a form and everything.”

“It’s possible,” the brunette said lightly, but knew he wouldn’t believe in that even if he tried. He should know the difference between something he made himself and something—well, something different, right? Minghao and everything about him fell under the latter category. Plus, Junhui didn’t think he was that creative that he was able to conjure an entire person just to take the form on his subconscious. Why would he even do that, anyway?

The blonde sighed, “you don’t believe that at all. I know that look, you’re halfway into falling in love with someone who is—literally—just in your dreams.”

“I am not falling in love,” Junhui argued. He wasn’t, really, he knew he wasn’t that desperate. “Besides, he might be a real person visiting my dreams.”

“You’ve watched Inception way too much.”

“It’s a nice movie!” He said with a laugh as the two entered their next classroom.

Jihoon absolutely hated algebra, which was why it was the one class that they had where they weren’t seat mates. Junhui—pretty much blind without his glasses—made sure to sit near the front. Jihoon was having none of that. He needed a seat where he could freely not listen to anything, but also would eventually move to the empty seat next to Junhui during quizzes. That was just the way these things worked.

Once the bell rang, Junhui was beginning to daydream again, wondering about mundane things like what he should eat for lunch later. He was so lost in thought that he didn’t completely catch what the teacher was saying, but he figured it wasn’t anything too important, since the lesson that day was fairly easy. His eyes were just about to close again when he heard a voice coming from in front.

“Hi. My name is Xu Minghao.”

Junhui’s head snapped up immediately, eyes wide.

It’s him.

It had to be; from the hair to the eyes to his voice to his actual name, even. The teacher was explaining something about how he was transfer student, how the class should treat him well, before ending with an offer from anybody in the class to ask Minghao something as his introduction. Someone in the back asked where he was transferring from, which earned a small smile from the blonde boy.

“Far away from here,” he answered. Minghao glanced at Junhui, barely a second, but that was all the latter needed to be sure. He came from my dreams, Junhui thought to himself, still staring at the new student like his life depended on it. He almost missed when the teacher asked Minghao to look for an empty seat.

Minghao walked towards the seat next to Junhui and offered a smile, “can I sit here?”

“O-of course.”

Technically, that was the seat Jihoon would occupy, but Junhui figured his friend would forgive him. He knew Jihoon must have noticed the name by now, too, which meant Junhui didn’t have to explain much. Maybe just a little, but even he didn’t have much answers himself. How did his dream boy suddenly show up in school? Why? Who was he, really?

Was it even him?

Junhui almost didn’t catch that Minghao was talking to him.

“Hi! My name is Minghao. What’s yours?” The blonde asked with a smile, so familiar that it made Junhui’s heart flutter a little.

“Wen Junhui,” he answered promptly. Okay, so maybe the boy was everything like the boy in his dreams, but if he was the exact same one, surely he didn’t have to ask Junhui for his name. The whole exchange only managed to confuse Junhui further, but he tried not to let it show. Instead, he offered a bright smile of his own. “I hope you enjoy your stay here.”

The other boy’s smile widened, “I think I will.”

They didn’t talk for the rest of the class, since Minghao actually took notes, and Junhui was just way too distracted by everything to actually formulate a way to talk to Minghao some more. He needed to talk to Jihoon, immediately, which was why he rushed to the back of the class as soon as the bell rang. Minghao was escorted out by the teacher for something he didn’t catch, which meant Junhui wasn’t missing any chances or anything.

“It’s him,  I swear it’s him,” he said before Jihoon could say anything.

“Look, I know they have the same name and all, but—“

Junhui groaned, “not just their name, Jihoon! Everything from his hair to his voice—literally everything. It’s him, I’m positive.”

Still, Jihoon looked a little wary, “I don’t know, Jun. I believe you when you say he’s the guy who shows up in your dreams, but he didn’t look like he knew you that way. Also, by the way, giving him my quiz seat? Rude.”

“You know I had to,” the brunette said with a sigh. “It’s for love.”

“I thought you weren’t in love?”

“I’m kidding,” Junhui replied with a small giggle, eventually turning into a full blown laugh as Jihoon continued to show doubt that it was a joke at all. It was a joke—that’s what he told himself, anyway, since he knew falling for someone he literally just dream about wasn’t the most logical thing to do. He was a logical person if he tried, really.

If he thought about it, Junhui didn’t think it would be hard, though.

He could still vaguely remember the earlier dreams he had with Minghao. He didn’t treat it as much, since he’s had recurring dreams before, until it registered that Minghao actually interacted with him. The blonde was always talking to him, one way or another, while Junhui found it easy to keep the conversation going. Even if he never got any of his more pressing questions answered, Minghao did a good job keeping him entertained regardless.

Not to mention, dream figure or not, Minghao was attractive.

He had this smooth voice that matched his almost aloof personality, a soft giggle that made him appear softer than he usually did with his all white attire to match, plus a charming smile that made Junhui’s heart flutter once or twice.

If the Xu Minghao he met was anything like the Minghao he knew, well, Junhui knew where his feelings were going to take him.

The rest of the day transpired in regular fashion. The brunette didn’t have any other class where Minghao showed up, all the way until lunch, which was when he found himself in the cafeteria with Jihoon. The latter also eventually let the topic go, although i