----10.9.8.7.6.5.4.

The last thing he saw before he fell asleep was the flimmering darkness in his room. Dim light came from the window, his blanket rustled, everything was at peace.

The first thing he saw after falling asleep was the very same room. He closed his eyes again, when something heavy landed on top of him.

"Did you watch or why are you only asleep now?" Chanyeol asked cheerfully, when Kai shoved him off himself.

"What's it to you when I fall asleep?" Kai asked and pulled his blanket over his head.

"Kim Jongin, come one," Chanyeol wailed and tried to pull the blanket away, but no matter how much he pulled, it would just get longer. Chanyeol had no more power in Kai's dream. "You know that you have to be asleep for me to come here."

Kai winced. He hated to be reminded that there had been a time when Chanyeol could freely roam his memories. Chanyeol, the parasite, had seen everything of him, even when he was still conscious. It creeped him out.

But Chanyeol apparently didn't mind.

"If you think it's unfair, you're free to visit me, you know," Chanyeol meekly said. "My mind is really easy to understand, so if you want, you can just get all my nasty secrets in a flash." He snapped his fingers, and Kai sat up. "You have my absolute permission."

"Really," he said dryly. "And you're sure that's not just because you want me to have a look at that bird."

Chanyeol pulled a face. "I mean, it's frankly really annoying. I don't know if it's supposed to be a phoenix or whatever, but it makes the most awful sounds I have ever heard. You should see it."

Kai snorted.

He had actually taken a short look at it before, just to make sure. He had never meant to look at Chanyeol's dreams, because his grandfather had taught him to stay away from people he was close to. But the bird hard worried him, because of the very last words of the phoenix.

The bird, though, was not more than a memento, something that would disappear if Chanyeol just wanted it to. It was the seed.

"I've had it with strange dreams," Kai then finally said, and Chanyeol gave him an apologetic look.

----3.2.2.2.error.

Nothing was the way it used to be.

Chanyeol had his body, but seemed even more lost than before.

"The real world stinks," he would say. "It's crowded and noisy and much too warm."

Chanyeol had lived inside dreams for months. His only responsibility had been to stay alive, but now that he was back, none of his survival skills mattered any longer.

"It's lonely without you around," he would say, and Kai wouldn't have admitted it out loud, but sometimes he missed it.

Every time Chanyeol came by, he would leave a small glimmer of his own life energy, no matter how much Kai protested.

"It's all I can do," he would say.

And every time Chanyeol left, Kai would feel like he lost something, even if he knew that they would meet in the real world, even if he knew that Chanyeol would come back anyway.

Nothing was the way it used to be, and they would never be able to go back.

But they still had to go on.

I have no idea where this story came from. It didn't even turn out the way I originally planned (it was supposed to be really cheesy, but I apparently at writing romance). I know that the ending probably turned out to be a little half-assed, but I find conclusions really hard to write. It's like all my drive is gone.

Anyway, thank you so much for all the comments, upvotes and subscriptions! They were really a great motivation!!