SUMMARY:
LE had long realised it. Solji always called her 'LE'. 'Hyojin' was how Solji referred to her in what she thought were her dreams. Solji's actions were just her own dreams, and LE was merely in a dream.

"Hyojin... Hyojin..." LE woke up, hearing Solji call her. Pushing aside her thoughts of when did Solji start calling her by her real name, she opened her eyes to the darkness of the room, dimly lit by the moonlight flitting through the curtains.
"Yes, unnie?" She asked sleepily, looking to the bed beside her where Solji slept, only to see Solji look to her and smile.
"Sleep with me." She said, patting the empty space next to her.
"Huh?" LE raised an eyebrow, taken aback by the sudden request out of nowhere. Solji pouted, holding her hands out. 
"I want you to hold me." LE stared at her for a while. Why was she acting like this so abruptly? Putting the thought aside, she nodded and walked over.
"Ok, unnie." She lay down next to Solji and started to spoon her, feeling Solji relaxing into her embrace, making her smile.
"Hyojin..." 
 
LE woke up first, smiling when she saw that Solji was still asleep. Remembering last night, she started to ponder over it as she got up to get ready for the day. Why did Solji ask her that out of nowhere? She had never shown any interest in her before. Maybe she was just dreaming? Her thought were interrupted by the sight of Solji sitting up in her bed as she walked back into the room.
"Oh, unnie, you're awake?" Solji looked to her and smiled.
"Good morning, LE!" Now she's calling her by her stage name again? For a split second, a frown appeared on her face as she thought that, before shaking the thought off and smiling at Solji. 
"Good morning to you too, unnie. Did you sleep well?" Solji nodded to her question, excited like a little child.
"Yup! I had a really great dream!" So she really was dreaming then, LE hid her disappointment as she faked curiosity.
"What kind of dream?" Solji winked at her grinning, making her heart flutter.
"It's a secret!" 

It was becoming a more frequent occurence. Solji would go to sleep, and then in the middle of the night, suddenly wake up to demand something from her, be it cuddles, or sleeping with her, or even just something as simple as holding her hand while she slept, or keeping her company. LE eventually realised that Solji wasn't conscious of doing it. She was merely dreaming. During these times, Solji called her 'Hyojin' instead of the usual 'LE'. It made LE wonder what could she be dreaming of, the situation in her dreams, or why Solji would even be mentioning her name. Was she dreaming of her? No, of course not. That was impossible. Why would Solji even dream of her anyway?

LE was sleeping in her bed when she woke up suddenly. 
"Damn nightmare..." She cursed under her breath as she sat up. Sighing, she went out to the kitchen to get a glass of water before returning to her bed.
"Hyojin." Startled by the sudden call from Solji, LE whipped her head around to see Solji smiling sleepily at her.
"Unnie." Solji just held her arms out.
"Cuddle me." Solji said with aegyo in her voice. She's dreaming again. LE thought to herself as she chuckled, going over to Solji's bed and laying down next to her, cuddling her as she had wanted her to.
"Why so demanding?" 
"Because this is the only time I can be with you so freely. I can never do this when I'm awake." Solji mumbled into her shirt, making LE smile.
"Why not?" She asked, taking in Solji's warmth and her scent, feeling the fear from her nightmare fading away.
"Because you're only mine in my dreams, my dear Hyojin." Solji replied simply, giving LE a quick peck on her lips and then snuggling close to her, falling asleep, leaving LE frozen in shock, the kiss catching her off-guard. Did she just...? LE felt a blush creep onto her face as her mind registered what just occured, the mere memory stripping away every intention of sleep from her.

All this time, she had loved the older girl in secret. She had always made sure not to get too close. It had never occured to her that the older girl felt the same way. But why was it that she only dreamt of it? As LE stared at Solji sleeping so peacefully in her arms, she smiled. Well, if Solji only dreams of it, then she would help her realise that her dreams were reality.

LE tossed and turned in bed, finding it hard to sleep. Sighing in defeat and frustration, she sat up in bed with a huff. I'll just use my phone til I'm tired. She thought to herself, checking that everyone else was alseep before sneaking out of the room, flopping down on the couch and taking out her phone. Some time had past before LE's attention was grabbed by the soft call coming from the room.
"Hyojin?" She looked up from her phone to see Solji peeking out of the room and smiled softly.
"Unnie. Why are you up?" Solji smiled as she walked over and bravely sat on LE's lap, straddling her. Unknown to Solji, LE could feel her heart pounding in her chest.
"You weren't in bed and I was lonely." Solji pouted as she wrapped her arms lovingly around LE's neck, burying her face in the crook of her neck. LE shivered as she felt Solji's breath on her skin, wrapping her arms around Solji's waist.
"I'm sorry, unnie. I didn't mean to leave you alone. I couldn't sleep, and I didn't want to disturb you, so I came out."
"You should've called me anyway. I always want to be with you, Hyojin." Solji murmured.
"We are almost always together though." LE pointed out.
"It's not the same. When I'm awake, I have to hide my feelings. But here, I can do anything I want. And no matter what I do, you're under my control. You can't push me away, or reject me. Here, I'm safe." She said, her eyes gleaming as she claimed LE's lips in a deep kiss. She was intimidating, and LE found herself surrendering herself to her, unable to fight back. She let Solji dominate her, giving in and allowing Solji to force her tongue into , even reciprocating the action. When Solji finally pulled away from the passionate kiss, leaving her with a flushed face, she only had a brief moment to get some much needed air into her lungs before Solji claimed her lips once again.

"I'll be sleeping first, LE." Solji said as she climbed into the comfortable bed. 
"Yeah. Good night, unnie." LE replied distractedly, looking at the other songs she wrote in her laptop. They had just finished a concert, and a game of scissors paper stone to decide the roommates ended up with her sharing a room with Solji. Once they had returned to the hotel, Solji instantly told her she was going to sleep. 

She must've been tired, LE thought to herself. Still, was she that tired? LE wondered as she looked away from her laptop to stretch after a few minutes, only to see Solji already asleep on the bed. Standing up, LE decided to take a bath before joining Solji on the bed. As she walked towards the bathroom, she suddenly stopped, turning back to Solji. Would unnie want to come too? She did say she didn't want to be apart from me. But does that include going to the bathroom? Shaking her head, she decided to be safe rather than sorry and headed over to the bed, shaking Solji gently.
"Unnie. Unnie. I'm going to take a bath. Do you want to come along?" 
"Mm..." Solji just frowned as she turned the other way, turning completely unresponsive to LE's calls. Oh well, I tried. LE shrugged as she went into the bathroom and allowed herself to relax into the soothing warm water. That didn't last long, unfortunately, as the door to the bathroom suddenly opened.
"Unnie!" LE jumped, startled, as Solji just walked in casually.
"You didn't call me again." Solji frowned as she started to strip. It took all of LE's will to peel her eyes away from Solji's alluring body.
"I did. But you were so tired, you didn't reply." She stated, looking away. Solji yawned as she stepped into the bathtub with her.
"Then you should've stayed until I woke up. I hate it when you're not by my side." She said as she leaned forward so that she was on top of LE. "I told you before that I always want to be with you."  
"I know, unnie. I'm sorry." LE said, the usually charismatic girl becoming meek in front of the assertive older girl, like a mere prey to a predator.
"Don't let me be lonely." Suddenly, Solji's voice grew soft, almost a whimper. "Don't leave me alone. Don't leave me." 
"Never!" Shocked, LE shook her head and reached out to pull Solji close to her, eliciting a surprised yelp from Solji as she fell onto her. LE was surprised too, at the courage she was drawing from nowhere. She leaned forward so that their foreheads touched, and gave Solji a small assuring smile. "I'd never leave you, unnie. You know that. Wherever you go, I'd follow. No matter what it takes." Solji smiled at her words before she suddenly connected their lips. LE closed her eyes as she returned the kiss, only for them to shoot open again with a flinch when she felt Solji's fingers brush against her. 
"Are you ok with this?" LE looked to Solji, who had paused in her advance. She was sure her hesitance and nervousness was clearly shown in her eyes as Solji pulled back, nodding in understanding. "It's ok if you don't want to, Hyojin. I'm not forcing you." She said. LE shook her head in response, reaching out to wrap her arms around Solji's neck, pulling her back.
"It's not that I don't want to, unnie. I want nothing more than to give myself to you. But..." Solji looked to her, waiting patiently for her to continue. LE gulped nervously, letting her eyes briefly glance down. She wanted it. She wanted this, having been in love with her for so long. But... "It's just that I...I've never done this before. I don't know what to do." Solji smiled as she crawled back onto LE, giving her a quick kiss.
"It's alright. It's my first time too. Let's go slowly." LE nodded, letting Solji guide her as Solji gave her a deep kiss. "I love you, Hyojin." Solji murmured as soon as she pulled away. "I love you." She breathed as she kissed LE again. "I love you." She repeated with another kiss. The repetitive kisses with short intervals left little time for LE to catch her breath.
"Ngh... Unnie... Slow down..." She whimpered breathlessly as Solji claimed her lips over and over again, leaving her with short gasps for air. "Un-" Another whimper was cut off by another kiss. 
"Hyojin, I love you." No matter how much her whimpers filled the room, Solji remained deaf to them.

LE lay in the bathtub, still panting slightly, feeling rather drained and sore. Solji lay on top of her, asleep after exhausting herself.
"This unnie. What happened to 'going slowly'?" LE murmured to herself as she looked down at the peaceful smile on Solji's face, automatically making her smile as well. Ignoring her aching body, LE somehow returned Solji to the bed and tucked her in without waking her up, a miracle, she thought to herself. Returning to the bathroom to finish her bath, LE crawled into bed to join Solji and was soon asleep as well.
"Unnie! It's time to wake up! We're going to head down for breakfast soon!" Jeonghwa's voice was accompanied by the sound of knocking on the door. LE let out a loud sleepy groan. The events of last night really did take a lot out of her.
"I'm sorry, LE." She could hear Solji say faintly beside her. What was she sorry for?
"What for, unnie?" She mumbled sleepily in response.
"It's nothing, LE. Don't worry about it." 

LE was excited. She was about to go home to her family for a vacation. Just thinking about it made her smile. She had missed them so much. 
"I should write some songs before I go." She murmured to herself as she walked into her studio after practice, only to pause slightly when she saw Solji sleeping on the couch. Her smile dropped as she wondered if Solji would miss her while she's gone. She walked to the table to use her computer, sneaking so she wouldn't wake her up.
"Hyojin." LE didn't look away from her computer even when she heard Solji call.
"Yes, unnie?" 
"Do you love me?" She froze, turning around in her chair to face Solji. What's with that question, especially after that night in the hotel?
"What?" Solji sat up on the couch, gazing at her with half lidded eyes.
"Do you love me?" She repeated.
"Of course I do, but what's with this sudden question?" Solji held out her arms.
"I just wanted to know. Come here." Obediently, LE got up and walked over to her, sitting beside her. "On my lap." Solji pouted as LE oblidged, moving onto her lap. Solji instantly wrapped her arms around her waist and rested her head on LE's shoulder. LE smiled, leaning into Solji as they sat in comfortable silence. "Hyojin. I love you."
"I know." Normally, people would reply with the same phrase. But LE withheld herself. No, she would not say those 3 words to Solji until she was sure Solji wouldn't just shrug them off as a dream. Still, despite not hearing the answer she probably would've preferred, Solji smiled softly as she held LE closer to her.
"Do you love me?" She asked again.
"I do, unnie."
"Really? Will you be mine?"
"Do you want me?" LE asked back simply as Solji nodded.
"I want you. I want only you. I don't want anyone else." She said as she kissed LE's  nape, making her shudder at her touch.
"Tell me then." LE murmured softly. "Tell me to be yours." Solji pressed her lips to the side of LE's neck.
"Be mine, Hyojin. I want you to be mine forever. Be mine and mine alone. Belong to me and nobody else." LE let out a small gasp as Solji , leaving a small mild hickey, barely noticeable.
"Yes, unnie."

The next day, as LE got ready, she soon realised something when she looked into a mirror.
"Aigoo... Solji unnie..." She sighed as she pulled down the side of her shirt slightly to reveal the small mild hickey on her neck. She had no choice but to take off the nice blouse she wanted to show off to her family and replace it with one of her hoodies, pulling up the hood and letting her hair down to hide the mark. As the members gathered outside to see her off, she noticed Solji throwing curious glances at her, and forced herself to ignore it.
"Be careful on your way there. Let us know when you reach there so we know you've reached safely, LE unnie." Hyelin said as LE nodded.
"I know, Linnie. I will."
"Have fun with your family!" Hani exclaimed.
"Of course I'll have fun with them, Heeyeon." Cue an eyeroll.
"Don't forget about us though!" Jeonghwa chirped in.
"I wish I could, you Maebori." She scoffed.
"LE, don't be mean." Solji smacked her arm lightly. "Bring back some souvenirs."
"I will." LE said, the soft smile she reserved only for Solji on her face. "What do you want?" LE noticed that Solji seemed to stop herself from saying something in reply, but decided to say nothing when she saw her smile.
"Anything. You decide, LE." LE nodded.
"Ok. Well, I'll be back soon. You girls don't cause any trouble for Solji unnie while I'm gone." She warned the girls, who swore they wouldn't, before getting into the cab.

LE frowned at her phone. Honestly, she had hoped Solji would call. It was only the first night, and as much as she had missed her family, she was already starting to miss the chaos the girls brought, especially Solji, with her random dreams turned reality. How would she dream now? Would she be able to sleep without her at her side? LE wondered to herself as she briefly considered calling Solji. No, she held herself back. Solji will call if she wanted to talk to her, right?

For the next few days, nobody called her, and she just focused on spending time with her family, catching up with one another. Before she knew it, it was the night before she was to go home. Still, her phone remained silent, not a single call from the rest of EXID. It made her feel somewhat lonely. She frowned as she checked her phone again before finally sighing, putting it down and turning over in her bed. Are they ever going to call her? Is Solji ever going to call her?

It was probably 2 or 3 am when her phone rang, rousing her from her sleep. Looking at the Caller ID, LE sat up, wide awake. Why was Solji calling at this hour?
"Solji unnie?" Hearing muffled sobs from the other end, LE frowned in confusion, her joy fading.  "...unnie?" Was Solji crying? Why was she crying? "Unnie, what's wrong? Why are you crying? What happened?"
"Hyojin..." Solji whimpered, sobbing. "Hyojin... Hyojin... Hyojin..." 
"What is it, unnie?" 
"Hyojin... Hyojin..." Solji's sobs broke her heart. All she wanted was for Solji to stop crying. She never wanted her to cry.
"I'm here, unnie. I'm here. What do you need?" LE was prepared to get Solji whatever she wanted. Anything to get her cries to cease.
"You." However, Solji's reply caught her off guard. She had expected an object. "I miss you. I miss you so much, Hyojin. I can't bear this. I can't go another day without you. I'm so lonely without you." How was she supposed to travel all the way back to Seoul in a few minutes? Even a private jet wouldn't get her back to the dorms in time.
"Unnie... I'm coming home tomorrow. It's just one more night. I'll be home by tomorrow morning."
"I want you now, Hyojin. I need you. I just want to be with you again."
"Unnie..." LE was torn about what to do. If she left now, she might be able to reach back before morning. But how was she supposed to leave without telling her sleeping family?
"I know I'm being selfish." Solji continued. "I know I'm being selfish. I know, but..."
"Unnie, it's ok to be selfish. It's ok to miss me. I missed you too. I was lonely too. I can't wait to come home to you tomorrow as well." 
"Really? You missed me too?" LE smiled softly.
"I really missed you too, unnie. I'm actually really happy you called. Just hearing your voice makes me really happy."
"Me too. I love you, Hyojin." The phrase made her heart swell as her smile widened.
"Me too, unnie. Shall I stay with you? Let's talk all night. I want to hear your voice for a little longer. So talk to me, unnie." 
"Why am I always bravest only in my dreams? I wanted to call you for so long. Since the first night you left, I missed you so much it felt like I was drowning eternally in a bottomless pit. I wanted to call you, to talk to you, but I didn't want to disturb you. I tried dreaming of you, but it just wasn't the same, knowing you weren't really around. Even before this, I wanted to call you, but I didn't dare to. This whole time, I can only say everything I wanted to say in my dreams, like this. I can only do everything I wanted to do in my dreams, like this. I can only love you in my dreams, just like this. Because reality is too harsh for me. I can't love you like I can in my dreams. I have to be satisfied with what we have now. I don't want to ruin anything. What we have now is good enough. It has to be good enough."
"It doesn't have to be, unnie." LE said softly. "It doesn't have to be good enough. We can have so much more, and all you have to do is tell me. I would give you everything you asked for, anything you want. If it's what you want, I'd willingly give them all to you." She meant every word, even though she knew Solji probably just thought it was all a dream. But still, at that moment, she didn't care about whether her feelings would be disregarded or not. Solji needed to hear those words. That was all that mattered in that moment.
"I kmow you will." There was silence on the other side for a while. "...You'll come home, right? And you'll only belong to me?" LE chuckled.
"Yes, unnie." She heard a soft yawn over the phone. Sleepy already? She thought to herself, chuckling internally.
"Hyojin, I love you..." Saying that, Solji fell silent.
"Me too, unnie. Me too." LE smiled. "Sleep well, unnie."

After the phone call last night, LE just couldn't wait to go home and be at Solji's side again. 
"Alright, we're here. Be careful, ok, Hyojin?" Mr Ahn said, having drove her and the whole Ahn family to send her off.
"Yes, I will, Dad." LE smiled lovingly at her family.
"I know you're busy, but it's great to see you again. We really missed you so much."
"Me too, Mom." LE said as she reached her hand out to briefly join hands with her mom.
"You should go. Your members must be waiting." Daehoon said as she nodded.
"Yeah. I'm going now. Love you all."
"Love you too, Hyojin. Make sure you take care of yourself, ok?" LE nodded as she got off the car, heading to the back to take her luggage. Just as she opened the trunk, a scream from the dorms made her blood run cold. That was Solji unnie! Did something happen? Her mind generated several scenarios as she dashed off towards the dorms, her luggage forgotten.
"I heard Solji unnie scream! What happened?" LE yelled as she burst into the room, only to see Hyelin, Hani, and Jeonghwa staring unsurely at a wide-eyed Solji, who turned to her.
"LE." LE frowned in confusion.
"What's wrong, unnie?" Solji shook her head as she drew a shaky breath.
"Tell me... Last night... Did it really happen?" LE flinched. How did she? Her eyes travelled to Solji's phone and she quickly realised that Solji must've seen her call log from last night. Which meant there was no more hiding, LE gave in with a sigh. Instead of replying, she took out her own phone, turning it to show her call log. There was a call last night, from Solji. Solji fell back onto her bed, still in shock. "So...you're telling me... all this time... it wasn't a dream?" Hesitantly, LE nodded. What would Solji think, now that she knew that everything that happened was reality? "Even...even that? That night in the hotel...that too?" The memory of that night made LE blush as she looked down, and nodded slowly. "Oh...god...." Solji groaned loudly as she buried her own red face into her hands. "Oh god.... Did you know, LE?" LE looked at her meekly.
"I realised it eventually. That you weren't really awake. Like you were sleepwalking."
"I thought they were all dreams! Aigoo... Pabo..." She sighed loudly, leaving her face in her hands. "Why did you just let me do all that to you?" She asked quietly after a while. "All those selfish demands... That night in the hotel... The phone call last night... Why didn't you tell me?" 
"How do I tell you what you had been doing in what you thought were your dreams? Where would I start?" LE said back. Solji just sighed.
"Why did you let me hurt you like that? I'm so sorry, LE."
"You weren't hurting me." LE stated. Why would Solji think she was hurting her?
"I did. I know I did. How long and how many times, that night in the hotel? You were so tired the next morning! And before you went to your family's home, no wonder you wore your hood up. You had to hide the mark I gave you on your neck, didn't you? And the phone call last night when you were supposed to be enjoying your last day with your family. You had to listen to my selfish whining, right? All those times I said I love you and all those times I kissed you, you had to listen to me and let me do what I want, even though you don't feel the same!"
"I never said I don't feel the same!" LE cut her off, feeling hurt. She really did disregard everything I said last night. 
"...What?" LE sighed.
"Do you really think I will let anyone do all that to me if I didn't feel the same? Unnie, think about everything I said to you in your so called dreams! I meant every single word I said to you!" Solji just listened with eyes wide as LE continued. "I was only hurt because I knew you were afraid of telling me how you really felt, and instead hid away in what you thought was a fantasy you created when it could totally come true! That's why I couldn't reply you properly when you asked me if I love you, because I didn't want my feelings to be disregarded as just 'your dream'! I wanted you to be awake and hear me out properly! That's why I decided to wait until you were ready and not tell you what you wanted to hear! I was intentionally trying to make you realise that you weren't dreaming!"
"...Then...do you love me, Hyojin? Really?"
"Yes!" LE said in exasperation. "Yes, unnie! I love you too! I always have!" Solji stared at her with eyes wide in shock and disbelief. Somehow, LE had a feeling Solji felt like she was dreaming again and shook her head, rushing over to Solji's side and cupping her face. No, she's not going to let Solji disregard her thoughts again. "I mean it, unnie. I love you. I love only you." Solji couldn't help but tear up as she stared into LE's genuine loving eyes.
"Hyojin." Solji took a deep breath, and LE wondered what she could be thinking at that moment.
"Yes, unnie?" The phrase made Solji smile, and LE only fell deeper in love with her.
"I love you."
"Me too, unnie. I love you too." 

All this time, she had merely been in a dream. A made believe character in a sought after fantasy, a replacement of a denied Reality. But now, she was no longer a mere dream.