She stares at the ticking clock on the wall. The tuna sandwich she prepared with anything but tender, love and care has been sitting untouched for the last hour. The comforting warmth of her blackcurrant tea is no longer present. She touches the cold handle of her cup. Just as her lips are about to come in contact with it, she hears that sound again.

Tic, toc. Tic, toc.

Any appetite she has left vanished. She puts down her cool tea and keeps her anxious eyes glued to the ticking clock.

That’s how it has been for the last 60 minutes.

She cannot explain what is happening inside of her. The mix of feelings and emotions are torturing her and eating her alive. Anger, fear, sympathy, hopelessness, disappointment, fury, frustration, sadness all boiled into one pot that is her. They have been brewing inside of her ever since Sunday, and today is Wednesday.

She can’t even remember when was the last time she parted her lips to speak.

Tic, toc. Tic, toc.

He’s coming after her.

 

-----------

 

“The main vocalist of a successful boy group under a large entertainment company was arrested earlier this evening under the charge of attempting murder on his fellow group mate. The suspect will be held under the police until he is proved innocent. The victim was sent to the hospital and is currently unconscious. Neighbors said that the apartment has been quiet for some time, they didn’t expect such a case to happen.” The news anchor announces while short clips of the suspect in a police vehicle is previewed.

She’s surprised when she sees a glimpse of the suspect. He looks exactly like Baekhyun. She doubts that it’s him. Baekhyun could never attempt murder -especially not on anyone from EXO.

Just then, the news showed some other men in low profile caps and masks getting into police cars with their heads down. One of them looks like Lay, one of them looks like Sehun, another looks like Luhan. “The other members of the group who live with the suspect and the victim were brought to the police station for further investigation.” The news anchor further announces as the clip shows. When she takes a closer look, they all look like members of EXO; which she knows is too much to be a coincidence.

Upon seeing and hearing this, she plays her thoughts again. Baekhyun: attempted-murder suspect. Baekhyun: one of the top vocalists in the pop scene. Baekhyun: the one who acts cute and dumb. Baekhyun: murderer.

When she thinks about it, EXO hasn’t had a comeback for almost two years now and none of the members are active in the entertainment business. EXO has been laying low for a long time. The reason behind it might also be the reason or the cause of what is happening..

Now the identity of the victim is still unknown. It could be Xiumin, Kai, D.O., Chen, or Chanyeol as she didn’t see them in the clip shown in the news.

Out of nowhere, a gush of weird sensation comes over her. It’s the feeling of experiencing the exact same things that you have before. She has dreamt of this before. Seeing Baekhyun It is an exact replica of what she felt in her dream, even to the smallest bits of details like how her air-conditioner isn’t working and it’s cold inside and how full her stomach feels because she just had dinner. Her dream came to life.

Which brings us to the present.

 

Tic, toc. Tic, toc.

 

Four days she spent with nothing but thinking. She thinks she has gone crazy. She thinks it’s the lack of sleep. She thinks she’s a psychic. She thinks she’s drugged. She thinks she’s dreaming. She thinks a lot of things. But none she is sure of.

She has had exactly four dreams after the dream of Baekhyun-attempting-murder came true. Three of them had come into life.

The first one, she dreamt that she fell from a flight of stairs and crashed a flower vase and survived without a single scratch or wound. Miraculously, it came true.

Second, she dreamt of a promotion. It also came true.

Third, she dreamt that her colleague spilled coffee on her shirt accidentally when they were watching the news as the victim of Baekhyun’s attempted murder was revealed. It was Chanyeol.  Needless to say, it came true. Baekhyun tried to kill Chanyeol.

The fourth dream. She hates it. She sympathizes herself for it. She’s angered by it. She fears it.

Each of her dreams came true in a week, eight days from the night the dream occurred. According to her precise calculations, she has four days left until her latest comes to life. In other words, she has four days to live.

As much as she detests it, the image of her last dream keeps popping into her mind, forcing her to wince, making her heart beat irregular, raking her brain to think up of a rational excuse to cheat her death.

It’s hard. The last dream was different. Unlike the other dreams where her vision was clear and all her senses were awake, the last dream didn’t offer that luxury. She was blinded except for the image of her murderer and how she was murdered. She was deaf, only exceptional for the sound of bullets being fired. Now she is left with a red question mark.

Tic, toc. Tic, toc.

She has to decide now. She has to decide whether she will let herself be engulfed by the dream or just move on with her life. She has to decide whether she stays at home or seek for safety somewhere else. Either way, her dream could still come true, for she could not change fate.

She could no longer stand watching the clock as it ticks her life away. It’s suffocating her. She grabs her coat and leaves the apartment.

She passes the rows of shops and reaches a small playground. She sits at a wooden bench and stares at the empty set of swings. The playground is almost empty, only a mother accompanying her daughter at the slide. They leave after the girl went on the slide for some rounds.

The cold wind bites her cheeks. A random laughter escapes from her. She can’t believe what she has become. How can she rely on her dream for the time of her death? How silly of her to believe that she will die in the next four days just because she dreamt so. How can she think that Baekhyun from EXO is going to kill her when he’s in custody right now? How is it possible that in a short duration of a month, she gained a supernatural ability of premonition? How can she seek explanation for what’s happening to her? How can she prove that her dreams that came true were just mere coincidence?

And most importantly, how can she make herself believe that she’s not going to die over the course of four days?

As she pats her wet cheeks, she decides; she needs to find solace.

 

She’s on her way home from her mother’s house. Her mother was clearly surprised by her unannounced visit. Nevertheless, she treated her as if she was a princess, serving her foods that they would only have when celebrating the festive seasons. Her father came home right after her mother called him to announce her visit. She felt so loved and needed. That nagging, uneasy feeling of never being able to see them again killed her inside.  What if that was the last chance her parents have to shower their only daughter with priceless love? She felt guilty, for not being able to pay back all of her parents’ efforts of raising her. They were still serving her. What has she done for them?

Her thoughts slowly move from her visit to the present. The car in front of hers is going too slowly. Almost too slow for comfort. She overtakes the car and speeds. She’s almost home.

 

Tic, toc. Tic, toc.

She’s in her room now, unpacking her bag and sorting out the dirty laundry from her stay at her parents’.  A loud thump comes from the front door. She’s too scared to move. Loud footsteps are heard. She watches the door. The door opens. She’s shaking and tries to close her eyes before she registers that it’s Baekhyun.

Tic, toc. Tic, toc.

“This is for overtaking my car.” He says with a voice void of emotions as he reaches a gun from his pants. It happens as quickly as he points it to her head and pulls the trigger.

 

 

Sunday 3.57 p.m

“Breaking news. Attempted-murder suspect, Byun Baekhyun escaped from a mental institution where he has been committed to. The offender stole a car and is suspected to be in possession of a gun. His unstable mental condition enables him to harm people.”