Donghae was standing in a dark and deserted alleyway, the foul smell of garbage and alcohol invading his senses. At first he presumed he was alone, but as his ears picked up on distant voices and the slap of footsteps he began to wonder if he should slip back into the shadows. Just when he'd made up his mind to do just that, a man came sprinting round the corner, his face surprisingly familiar. It was Hyukjae.

Although he looked younger and more dishevelled than the man Donghae knew- with longer, tangled hair and dirty clothes- it was undoubtedly his neighbour.

Donghae called out his name, but the other appeared to ignore him despite the fact there wasn't much distance between them. Confused, Donghae called out again, but his voice was drowned out by other shouts. This time Hyukjae responded. His breath hitched, and he pressed himself against the wall, his eyes wide with fear.

"Hey!" Sadly, his efforts were to no avail. One of the men saw him and the others quickly followed, surrounding the terrified youth. The biggest of them pushed through the group with his tattooed, muscled arms, grabbing Hyukjae by the collar.

"We've been looking for you..." The voice was threatening and gravelly, so Donghae was surprised that contrary to looking more scared, Hyukjae seemed to find an inner strength. The skinny teenager's eyes were lit with a rebellious fire, and his lips turned into a snarl.

"I noticed. Thanks for that." He spat the words with contempt, earning him a violent shake from the leader of the gang.

"Don't get clever with me you little ," He hissed, dangerously close to Hyukjae's face, "where's the ing money? My boys here gave you the drugs...so where...is the money?"

Biting his lip, Hyukjae seemed to look about for help, and Donghae longed to call out his name again but stopped himself. Nobody appeared to be able to see or hear him anyway.

"I-I......" He gulped visibly, still being held by the collar, "I lost it. There must have been another gang tracking me who knew I had it and-" Before he'd finished a large fist swung to hit him in the mouth, a loud whimper replacing his explanation. The men looked down at him with remorseless faces-some even looked amused-and with a vague flick of their leader's hand they all started to kick him, the boy's cries and gang's laughs mingling sickeningly in Donghae's ears.

"Hyukjae!" He screamed, his voice breaking as he finally tried to ran forward, but didn't seem to be getting any closer. He was only a couple of metres away, but no matter how hard he ran or how loudly he called, he couldn't help until the men had left and all that was left was a shivering, curled up, bloody mess.

"Hyukjae..." Donghae was in shock at the site, of the other sobbing softly, hugging himself. He fell to his knees, and tried to touch him, comfort this broken soul. Anything. But his hands went through him as if he were smoke, and the tears wouldn't stay back any longer.

"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..." He squeezed his eyes shut, not even sure what he was apologising for, but suddenly he heard a voice.

"Donghae?" Donghae opened his eyes at the distant voice, and saw Hyukjae's bruised eyes open, meeting his for a split second before the voice sounded again, sounding more urgent, accompanied with a banging noise. The scene dissolved in front of him, and suddenly Donghae sat up, wide awake.

He had no time to orientate himself to reality before he heard the voice calling his name again, someone knocking on his door. Quickly slipping tracksuit bottoms over his boxers, he cracked the door open, and saw somebody who made his breath become uneven after his intense dream.

Hyukjae's worried face, wonderfully free of blood and bruises, was inches from the door. Wearing a black dressing down, he was leaning against the doorframe, but straightened up upon hearing the door open.

"What’s wrong?" He said without giving Donghae the chance to open his mouth.

"U-uh, nothing...I guess...why are you h-here?"

"Oh..." Hyukjae frowned in confusion, "It’s just I heard you…I…I thought I heard you…shouting…for…" Donghae's eyes widened in horror. Had he really done what he thought he might have done? “Actually, never mind. Good night." Hyukjae darted away, slamming his door.

When Donghae was younger he had slept in his brother’s room for a couple of weeks when some elderly relatives had come to stay, but eventually he had to sleep on the sofa, which gave him a bad back. His brother had complained that he couldn’t sleep because of Donghae’s constant muttering and shouting in his sleep. When he could sleep, that is.

Perhaps…had he been talking again? And in that case the only thing he’d said in his dream apart from I’m sorry was Hyukjae’s name. Donghae groaned, deciding to dismiss that possibility and move on, instead looking at the clock and seeing it was 4am. He would never get anymore sleep now- so instead he his bedside lamp, picked up a pen and a battered old notebook, and began to write.

It had been his first councillor that suggested his dream journal. Something about making it easier to separate fantasy and reality, and that categorising the two would decrease his sleeping problems. It hadn’t worked of course; but Donghae found some kind of comfort in it, and now did it out of habit rather than the genuine belief it would do anything to help him. Writing down his dream made him begin to wonder about the origin. Of course…it had been based off the life Zhou Mi had described in the councillor’s office.

Although he was very careful not to go into detail or break his ‘duty to maintain confidentiality’, Zhou Mi had explained to Donghae about the gang life Hyukjae had become entangled in at a young age, prompting further questions from the latter about the lifestyle generally. Growing up in such a vicious, unforgiving environment, it was a wonder that Hyukjae was even as stable as he is now, Zhou Mi had told him in a low voice before looking guilty.

Donghae’s scrawled writing slowed as he neared the end of his dream, that last image coming to mind once again. A teenage Hyukjae, broken and injured on the floor, his doe eyes looking up desperately at the somebody who might be his saviour. Although he knew it was only a figment of his imagination conjured up from his talks with Zhou Mi earlier that day; the scene seemed so real that Donghae repressed a shudder. He wrote it down carefully then slipped the book back into a draw and covered it with his boxers. He’d always kept it hidden like this, it wouldn’t do for anyone to find those dreams.

Deciding he felt too restless to stay in his room, Donghae pulled on a thick jumper and ventured outside along the dark corridor. It was slightly eerie at night with the absence of the usual noises and lights downstairs…he’d never had the courage to venture out at night before, but he felt nothing, almost numbed by his dream and need for fresh air. He planned to trek about the grounds, especially the little boathouse by the lake that had become a favourite thinking place of his. The sunrise could probably be seen from there too, which tempted him greatly.

However, he was stopped in his tracks by two figures already inside, sitting with their legs dangling over the little jetty. Squinting, Donghae could see (thanks to the faint moonlight) the faces of Kyuhyun…and Siwon? They sat very close, with Kyuhyun’s head resting on Siwon’s shoulder, and seemed to be talking and laughing easily. So this is why both he and Hyukjae were rejected? Donghae felt anger swell up in his throat…did they not deserve the truth at the very least?

“Do you like it here?”

“Yeah, I love it. And you know I do, which is why you bring me here every time you want something…what is it this time, Mr Romantic?” Kyuhyun chuckled as he teased the other, his voice laced with sarcasm and humour, sounding completely different from the calm and friendly doctor persona he carried with him during the daytime. Did they know the real Kyuhyun at all?

“Alright, alright, you got me.” Siwon grinned and swung his arm around Kyuhyun’s shoulder, and Donghae felt a twinge of jealousy watching how well they fit together, “I was going to ask if maybe…we could bend the rules slightly for new years eve and have a party.”

“What?” Kyuhyun’s eyes widened in horror, “Siwon, we’ll lose our jobs-“

“Just wait and hear me out.” Siwon turned and put his hands on the younger man’s shoulders, “I’m not talking alcohol or nightclubs here, I mean more of a social gathering you know? Music, a chance for everybody to relax and begin the new year positively.” Kyuhyun still looked unconvinced, and when Siwon lowered his voice to say something else Donghae had to press his ear to the door in order to hear it.

“Anyway Kyu…When is there going to be a better time to announce our engagement?”

Donghae wasn’t particularly sure of what happened next. Whether from shock, anger or loss of footing, he was propelled forward through the door; Meeting gazes with the shocked couple as he lay sprawled on the floor in front of them. His head was completely empty of reasonable explanations for this situation.

Well, .