It was a clear, dark night as Jinyoung lay in bed. Outside he could see all the stars and their metaphorical twinkling, taunting him and begging him to sleep. It had been two weeks since he last saw ‘Gongchan’ dreamlike or otherwise. He was going crazy, every night going to sleep and hoping to see his face. Despite his constant worry he soon found himself asleep, though he did not realize it.

            Jinyoung groaned and sat up, tousling his hair angrily. Light was just beginning to peak above the horizon making the sky a beautiful blue. Anyone else would find this beauty mesmerizing, but he still found it rather… lifeless.

            Beauty, to him, were the things he couldn’t reach, everything else was bleak. Grimacing at the thought of another day, he rolled out of bed and into a fresh change of clothes. He tried his best to shake the depressing thoughts to the back of his mind, and for what it was worth, the lack of sleep was helping.

            Jinyoung closed the house door and turned around to face the day. But instead he stopped in his tracks and blinked. He swore moments ago it was daybreak but now he was enveloped in darkness. Suddenly there were crickets chirping and streetlights flickering.

            He mulled over the options in his head; either he hallucinated that it was morning or he stood like a zombie at the door all day. Neither of those seemed like the better option. He walked from the door to the end of the driveway and back again. After about a half a dozen times he heard a small chuckle from a ways down the road.

            “What are you doing?”

            Jinyoung tapped the doorknob as if to ground himself before turning around, “I’m not entirely sure.”

            He smiled at the boy who stood at the end of his driveway, angelic looking as ever. Of course his conscious was screaming at him, telling him to ask questions, touch him to make sure he is real, anything to solidify this reality. But there was nothing, he couldn’t bring himself to do anything. He was so stuck in the moment, watching his face change as he walked under the streetlight. Gongchan strode down the walkway, stopping to stoop down and one of the daises lining the lawn.

            “Where have you been?” Jinyoung finally managed to mutter when the boy was standing right in front of him.

            “Right here,” Gongchan spun around effortlessly, “but you, where were you?”

            “I-“ Jinyoung furrowed his brow, wasn’t he the one behaving normally while Gongchan was disappearing every time he turned his head, “I’ve been here. At school. Normal places.”

            Gongchan pouted, “I looked all over but I couldn’t find you.”

            “Hmpf,” Jinyoung crossed his arms studying the figure in front of him, surely he wasn’t lying. He pulled his gaze away from Gongchan for a moment to look around the front yard painted in darkness. The night sky was speckled with stars, but the city lights blocked most of them out leaving only a few twinkling sadly.

            Jinyoung lowered his head and was immediately attacked by the encroaching darkness. He spun around trying to grasp something; but like the shadow of the dark side of the moon it was fast and unforgiving. There was nothing to reach out to, no one to touch, there was nothing. The world had slipped away and Gongchan with it.

            In the darkness and the silence he could hear whispers, sifting and twirling through the air. He could barely make out the words but the sound at his ears.

            “Find you… Couldn’t find you. Couldn’t find you… I couldn’t find you…”

He twisted and turned in the dark trying to assume a direction, any direction that the voice was coming from. But the shadows were pulling him down, deep, deep into whatever emptiness awaited him.

“You…” barely a breath, “where are you?”