- - -

He’s at a place. 

It’s awfully realistic as if he had been there before. It feels some kind of familiar, but not so. He’s trying to make sense of the situation… But wait, why is the place so blurry? Is there something wrong with his eyes? His head? 

Hold on.

This is a dream, isn’t it?

Taemin blinked twice, his brain processing the information and realization that he is indeed dreaming. He went to bed late, 2:40 A.M or something. He was so tired from class and assignments and all his workload. So he fell asleep immediately. That’s where he last remembered. 

Seeing that he’s standing in the middle of a supermarket…? Full clothes, phones, and wallet in his pockets, that is so weird!

“Is this what lucid dream is?” He muttered to himself. “I’m honestly dreaming and asleep right now,” He realizes. The awareness threw him off a bit but he was also fascinated by it. So he kept on walking. 

Alright, he’s indeed in a supermarket. Seems like he’s stuck here, so Taemin could only wander the sections by himself. He notices a few people randomly carrying baskets for their items, casually shopping. It does feel weird being a dream where you’re aware of what is happening. He tried to ignore the random faceless people but he continued on, finding himself stuck in this one particular section.

It wasn’t as if he couldn’t move or talk, but it was his body that was moving on auto-pilot. He couldn’t move in the direction that he wanted, he was just following along to this dream. His legs seem stuck facing this shelf though. He couldn’t run away, he was just standing there looking at these bathroom items. 

Why am I looking at this shampoo bottle?

Taemin took the one bottle off the shelf, twirling the bottle in his hand, mindlessly reading the back label and all. “This is pretty boring for a lucid dream,” He sighed. Because to be honest, he expected the dream to be exciting or scary for him to experience this type of dream. If he remembered, he had only heard of people experiencing this type of dream in a weird sense or super horrifying or even exaggerated version of a regular event.

He’s not an expert on this type of stuff but it does leave him wondering why he’s even here. “Ah, I’ll wake up and change position soon.” He told himself. 

“Excuse me,” A voice interrupts him. 

Taemin turns to face the voice, seeing a man with a polite smile staring back at him with his eyebrows raised. “Are you buying the bottle you’re holding?” He asked him. And Taemin realized how deep and rough his voice is. 

Oh, he’s handsome. 

“No, no…” He replied, putting the bottle back on the shelf. “I’m not buying, just looking.” Taemin blinked, stepping aside for the man to reach for the bottle. He could feel his heart beating loudly and the immediate attraction he felt towards the man. It was bizarre, he never fell so hard for someone else before. Crushing on others is common but falling in love? He never felt something so close to it, even if he could call this ‘love’. 

Granted, he just met the man. 

In a dream.

Pull yourself together, Lee Taemin, good God.

“Oh, that’s great. I could have it then, thank you.” The man smiled and waved the bottle at him, putting it in his basket after. Taemin stared at his face, trying his best to memorize his face. Just in case. 

Silence washed over them for a brief moment, just the distant noises of the supermarket operating.

“Isn’t this too long for it to be a dream?” The man spoke, staring at the bottle in his basket, a frown on his face. That question took Taemin by surprise. Was the man talking to him?

“What do you mean?” He asked, curious to see if this dream man was actually aware that he’s conscious of the situation or not. The man raised his head and stared directly at him, frown still fixed on his face. Though the frown only made him look hotter. Taemin wouldn’t complain.

“I mean, I never dream and be in a specific situation for too long. I usually would’ve been warped somewhere else with different things right now.” He explained, “Oh, yeah, what’s your name, if you don’t mind me asking?” Okay, now it is his turn to frown.

Did this man just tell him that? Is this man actually another person that’s experiencing lucid dreams too?

This just made Taemin question so many possibilities, which is slowly giving him a headache. 

“I’m Taemin,” He replied, shoving both his hands in his pocket. “And you?” 

The other man nodded, “Ah, Taemin, nice name. Mine’s Jinki, Lee Jinki.” 

“Oh, I’m a Lee too.” He perked up at that. Taemin could feel that it's going to be very weird from now on. "And yeah, I agree that it's weird to be aware in a dream. You are aware we're experiencing the same dream, right?" 

"You're joking, right?" Jinki asked eyebrows raised further nearly reaching his hairline. Taemin chuckled at that, it seems too comical for him to not laugh. 

"I wish I was. I'm sure we'll wake up soon, though." 

Another awkward stare. Taemin couldn’t bear to hold another sentence with this man, no matter how attractive he found him. This is too much for his sleepy brain to process. Two people conscious and fully aware, experiencing within the same lucid dream? This must be some sort of simulation.

“Well, Taemi-”

He’s gone.

Jinki’s gone.

Taemin’s awake. And it’s all thanks to his cat. Right.

He forgot that he left the bedroom door open. Taemin could feel his stiff body moving from the awkward position that he laid down, seeing with sleepy eyes that his cat’s nose and eyes were bumping against his own face. 

“Aughh…” He reached out to pat the feline, lying on his side to cuddle her closer. And just like that, he fell back asleep. Presumably from exhaustion, not because he wanted to meet Jinki again.

- - -

note: kinda short for the 1st chap but i'll finish it all in the second one! hope u liked it! <3