It was 1 AM and both of Sehun’s parents were asleep. He slipped off his bed, perching at the edge in the dark. His arms supporting him, head bowed and tired. Sleep wasn’t coming. He checked his clock.

1:01 AM.

Sehun walked carefully out of his room and down the stairs. There was nothing but silence. The largest window of the house faced out onto the street, right below it a couch. Sehun stretched on it, feeling a bit more at rest here than in his bedroom. Light filtered from the window, he noticed. It wasn’t a street lamp but the moon. The moon was exceptionally bright tonight.

Moonlight created shadows on his skin and Sehun observed his hand; He could see the small lines and creases on the back. Tiny triangles, polygons with many sides. Little shapes formed by many intersecting lines. He flexed his hand, watched as the light and shadows shifted. The light felt comforting. Sehun dropped his arm to rest his hand on his chest, the slow advent of sleep taking hold. He stares through the curtains to a blurry silhouette of the tree outside his house and the moon beyond it.

As Sehun’s eyes began to close, like a rug being pulled suddenly from under him, his sense of balance seemed to give way. He was lying down and it was as though the couch and the ground disappeared and he was falling backwards. Spinning. His hands locked, his legs frozen. Spinning slowly, painstakingly. Every minute degree that he spun he felt tremendously. He was aware of it in such a huge looming way that he could feel panic boiling from inside him.

Then he was back on his couch. Back to the moonlight, now cold but alive. The light felt alive.

Sehun stood up in a hurry. His knees buckled and he almost crashed back onto the couch. His slipping hands steadied him on the coffee table, knees on the floor attached to long limbs that were slowly gaining strength back. From inside he looked out of the window to an empty street. It was empty, save for a flickering light.

At first Sehun thought it might have been the failing street lamp, but that light was dim and steady.  This other light was like a small erratic flashlight. Sehun took several unsteady steps to the door, his eyes still looking out. By the time he has opened the door, Sehun was running.



“Luhan?”

Sehun was breathless. He opened his mouth and spoke the first name that came to his lips. There was a boy, in front of him, teetering on the balls of his feet. Sehun noticed the boys eyes; It looked like it was painful to open them.

“Are you Luhan?” He stepped a little closer.

The lamplight for a moment seemed tangible as it filtered between them. Sehun took another step. But before he could reach the boy, he began to fall, passing out in front of him.

Sehun’s breath caught in surprise. He sighed with relief after catching the boy-- Luhan, he was sure. Sehun remained motionless there, with Luhan out cold in his arms--literally. The foreign boy’s skin was cold like ice. They stayed out in the street for a while, Sehun wondering if he could lift Luhan up. Despite looking smaller than him, Luhan’s limp body felt a little heavy. He tried standing up. Perhaps he could bring him in by the shoulders, letting his legs and feet drag on the ground. Sehun heaved.

As Sehun brought him inside the house, he thought of what this might look like if anyone saw them. Sehun chuckled a little. It must look like he was carrying a dead body--the mere thought ran his throat dry and he exerted more effort, hurrying to take him in the warm house. Luhan had only a thin undershirt, what looked like hospital pajamas and socks on. What happened to the rest of his clothes? Sehun felt worried.

They reached the living room with Sehun panting with effort. He propped Luhan by the couch, using its height to pull Luhan’s arms over his shoulders so that he could support the other boy’s weight with his back. He carried him up the stairs to his room, slowly, carefully.

The familiar red flicker of his clock greeted Sehun as he pushed the door open, taking care not to hit Luhan anywhere.

1:01 AM.

Luhan’s body made a soft thump as Sehun set him down on the bed. Sehun stretched back up, putting his arms on his waist. Something was odd. Slowly, he turned his head to check his clock again.

1:02 AM.

He says the time out loud, 1:02 AM. Sehun distinctly recalled going down earlier at around 1 AM--it took only one minute? Two? For everything to happen? The questions appeared in his head as Luhan stirred, which distracted Sehun.

Maybe my clock is broken...

Sehun heaved Luhan gently to the center of the bed, placing pillows under his head.

“It really is you,” Sehun whispered. The face of the boy in front of him and the boy from his dreams, they were exactly the same. Sehun stood there, at the side of the bed, staring for a long while, until he felt his legs grow tired. Then he sat on the floor, leaning with his back to the bed. His eyes were heavy despite all the questions tugging at his thoughts. Sleep pressed closer. Sehun breathed a long low sigh and succumbed to slumber.

//...