Sixth Paradise : Sungyeol

Sleep came to me easily the night before, but it did not relinquish unto me the peace and rest I desired. Dark figures and shrill cries haunted me in my dreams. No matter how hard I ran away from those horrors, they were unrelenting and unmerciful. It was the first time I had dreamt lucidly but it was nothing close to a pleasant experience. I yelled for my physical body to wake up, pleaded endlessly for my mind to take note of the torture that was happening in my subconscious but to no avail. I was losing hope, ready to succumb to the darkness when a voice pulled me out of the darkness that engulfed me.

“Hyeri.”

My eyes snapped open as I frantically clawed at the direction of the voice. My hands found soft fabric and I clutched them, my hands trembling violently. I was panting, panic further spreading through my entire system as my eyes failed me, causing me to see everything in a muddled and blurred state. Squeezing my eyes shut, a strangled noise escaped my throat and I wheezed heavily.

“Calm down. Breathe.”

His words fell on deaf ears as I continued to self-destruct. I heard him sigh irritably. Two hands cradled my face gently and I let out a small whimper. He was silent as he held my face in his hands. His hands, they were so warm, a comforting presence in my time of need. I calmed down eventually, my breathing returning to normal, my hands no longer trembling. He sighed again, one of relief this time around. He released my face from his hands and guided them to my shoulders, pushing me gently back onto the bed. I whimpered again, afraid of falling back into my dreams, afraid of the creatures that lurked hungrily, ready to pounce.

“Sleep.”

He my hair, his hands leaving warmth that lingered against my skin. I slept again, a dreamless one this time. Though he was long gone by the time I woke up, I still vaguely remember the way his hands had felt against my face. It was the same man from before. The one who held me in his arms on the first night as he laid me to bed.

∞

The enemies of my dreams may have been thwarted for now but that didn’t mean I had recovered from the head-splitting headache from before. The creatures that lurked in the shadows had left enough of an impact on my wellbeing, stripping me of much needed rest. The first and only thing I noticed was that my bright green door was now a bright pink, irritating my already tired eyes. I fought to stay on my feet, already dreading the trip through the portal later. It would be a miracle if I managed to get through the day intact. But knowing God, in his weird robotic suit, a miracle was unlikely.

Five of the seven Guardians were present when I made it downstairs. Sungyeol, Sungjong and Hoya were huddled around the small coffee, cards strewn around messily atop it. Myungsoo was hovering in the kitchen, causing Woohyun to burst out angrily every few minutes about the taller boy distracting him from cooking properly. I stumbled towards the larger group.

“Good morning,” I sank into the couch behind Sungyeol, watching him as he cheated his way into a royal flush that left the other two confounded.

“Good morning,” they chorused before going off into an explosion of complaints and accusations against the grinning boy. He gathered the pile of candies and sweets in his arms greedily, dumping them into a bag before running off with it.

“Sungyeol hyung always cheats. ALWAYS.” Sungjong burst out angrily, his ears red.

“We’ll get him some other time, Jongie,” Hoya sighed, shaking his head in defeat.

“Yah! You ungrateful bums! Breakfast!” Woohyun hollered from the kitchen. Sungjong and Hoya scrambled up immediately, skipping with silly grins towards the source of the food, their anger towards their hyung forgotten. “Oh Hyeri, good morning. Breakfast? I can split Myungie’s share.”

Myungsoo sent him an evil glare, shifting his plate of food closer to him with a pout. I smiled and shook my head, thanking him for his offer. Breakfast sounded great, I can’t even remember the last time I had a decent one to be honest. But the smell of eggs coupled with the oily smell of bacon wafting through the air was nauseating. They gobbled down the food in no time and stepped out while rubbing their stomachs, inciting another angry yell from Woohyun asking them to wash the dirty dishes.

Sungyeol and Sungjong plopped down either side of me, the youngest resting his head on my shoulder while the tallest played with my messy hair. I glanced at them curiously, keeping my eyes peeled open by sheer willpower, wondering which of them was my Guardian for the day.

“Who’s hot pink?” I was looking at Sungjong when I asked the question but he shook his head frantically and pointed at Sungyeol. “Sungyeol hyung’s pink?” He said, stifling his laughter.

“Pink is my favourite colour after all,” he puffed out his chest proudly, showing off his gummy smile. I looked at him disbelievingly.

“But I thought…I still think Sungjong’s going to be pink,” I shrugged my shoulders. Sungjong did not find it amusing while the others started laughing hysterically.

“Alrighty, let’s go!” Sungyeol pulled me up from the couch and we bounded over to the portal. He jumped in so fast, dragging me helplessly along with him that I didn’t even realize we had already made it to the other side until my face was greeted by plush carpet.

“Oh wow! Is this your house? It’s pretty nice!” Sungyeol’s feet flew past my vision as I struggled to get my dead limbs moving, the headache even more severe than before after the trip through the portal. “You have a pink door in your house!” He exclaimed.

A scream erupted from Mija’s room as he creaked the door open. Stuffed bunnies and teddy bears assaulted Sungyeol as he ran back towards me, covering his head with his arms. Mija came trundling right behind him, armed with an array of stuffed toys. She dropped them instantly when she noticed me still hunched over on the floor, gasping for breath.

“Umma?” She rushed over, placing her small hands on either side of my head. I smiled at her, placing my own hand over her tiny ones before forcing myself up and onto my feet.

“Umma just fell down. I’m fine sweetie. Ready for school?” She looked unconvinced but followed me to the kitchen nonetheless.

I prepared her breakfast and packed her lunch for school, a smile set onto my face the entire time. But I knew that she knew, or at least suspected that something was wrong. She eyed me, lips set in a tight line. I distracted her attention away from myself by introducing the ever-excited Sungyeol who on the other hand was quite clueless about my condition. He happily began entertaining her, which successfully pulled her attention away from me as she became absorbed in his silly gags and jokes. By the time we were walking hand-in-hand with Mija in between us towards school, she was already completely enamored by the pretty-faced young man, clinging onto his every word. I didn’t know what to think of my five year old daughter being so easily seduced by good looks and charming humor. I thought back to my ex-husband and realized that she unfortunately had taken after her silly mother.

Mija was extremely reluctant to let go of Sungyeol’s hand when the school appeared. I had to peel her fingers away from his, pushing her into the school boundary by force. She sent flying kisses that were definitely aimed more to the tall boy next to me. Sungyeol sent her a flying kiss much to my dismay, which she caught in her hand and slapped to her own lips. I rolled my eyes at their little flirty play and dragged Sungyeol away before Mija decides to skip school and cling onto him for the rest of the day.

After much deliberation, I phoned Mija’s grandmother and let her know to come over, giving her overtime at work as a reason. There was a nagging feeling in the back of my mind that refused to leave me alone, calling Mija’s grandmother eliminated that little problem. I left Sungyeol at home, fixing him some food before I got ready for work. He busied himself with the television, waving goodbye when I left.

The bus ride to my office was rather lonely with a stack of papers sitting next to me instead of an actual person. I remembered Dongwoo and smiled to myself. Was he okay? He wasn’t there today morning when Sungyeol and I left for the ‘Mortal World’ as how they called it. How was Sungyeol? He must be bored at home. Maybe I’ll bring him shopping later on.

A sharp jolt of pain brought me back to my senses. I cradled my head in my hands and desperately wished the headache away. It was useless however so I gritted my teeth and stomped my way up towards my office for the last time. The office was still relatively empty since it was still fairly early. I exchanged greetings with the small number of people who were there, wondering briefly about whether they will still remember me once we no longer crossed paths. I had known them for more than a few years, shared the same working space with them. But they were and have always been distant, never straying past the line of acquaintances into something more.

It doesn’t matter anymore.

I knocked on Mrs Jung’s door and waited for her reply before pushing the door open. Her office was a mess, stacks and stacks of papers strewn about messily on her table, her chairs and the floor. Mrs Jung’s appearance was a stark contrast to her office that looked like a tornado just ripped through it. Dressed in a crisp grey suit, she turned towards me with her horn-rimmed glasses, not a hair out of place.

“Ah Hyeri,” a smile graced her features. “You’re early today.”

“Here’s the work that I owe you, Mrs Jung,” I placed the stack of papers carefully onto a free space on her table. I pulled out another letter from my coat pocket and placed it gently on top of the stack of papers. “And my letter of resignation.”

Mrs Jung stopped fiddling with the random pieces of paper lying around, directing her eyes towards me. Her expression was controlled and all I could do was smile apologetically. She picked up my letter and stared at it before tossing it aside quickly, enveloping me in a fierce hug that caught me by surprise.

“It’s been a pleasure working with you Han Hyeri,” she whispered. I hugged her back with trembling hands.

“Thank you for everything. Thank you.”

We separated. She gripped my shoulders and looked me in the eye, trying to search them with her own. Was it strange that I felt like she knew what I was going through? As if she knew something was going to happen. It wasn’t that absurd right? If she did know, she chose not to share it with me as she released my shoulders.

I took my leave, casting a glance into the office for one last time before closing the door on my ex-boss who was blinking furiously.

The bus ride back home was quiet and even lonelier with the missing stack of papers in the seat next to mine. My head throbbed and so did the left side of my chest as the bus slowly took me away from the closest thing to a mother I had in years.

∞

“Sungyeol?” I hollered to the seemingly empty house. My keys jangled ominously in the silence that blanketed my house.

“Where is he?” I muttered to myself, staggering across the threshold. I was already having trouble walking by the time the bus had dropped me off at the bus stop. The headache was intensifying by the minute and I desperately needed sleep.

“Sungyeol,” I called again.

The world was beginning to spin again as I forced myself towards the couch, collapsing onto it. The darkness was already closing in and I let myself succumb to it.

∞

I really have to stop passing out like this.

I stared at the celling of my room. Except, it wasn’t the ceiling of my bedroom. I blinked and made the connection. I was back in Paradise.

As if on cue, the bright pink door burst open, causing me to bolt up immediately from my sleeping position. Sungyeol stared at me with a shocked expression before it morphed into something that was undeniably relief. He tackled me, squealing nonsense that I couldn’t make out.

“Hyung! You’re choking her!” A pair of hands shoved the tall boy off me and I was greeted by Sungjong’s smiling face. He too, looked relieved.

“I’m gonna go tell the others!” Sungyeol yelled before rushing out of the room.

“What’s going on? Why am I back here?” I looked bewilderedly at Sungjong.

“Sungyeol hyung—” Sungjong began before he was shoved out of the way by Dongwoo. His eyes were wide as he began speaking quickly, shaking me by the shoulders.

“Hyung! Stop!” Sungjong moaned as he tried prying his hyung off me.

“Hyeri’s awake?” I heard Hoya holler from somewhere in my room.

“Let me see her!” Woohyun joined Sungjong in his effort to shove their hyung away who was still sputtering incomprehensible nonsense as he shook me. My room was in a state of chaos with everybody yelling at the same time and me being shaken like a rag doll by Dongwoo.

“YAH! WHAT ARE ALL OF YOU DOING IN HERE?!” Sunggyu screamed from the entrance. Everybody stopped what they were doing and looked at their leader. It took awhile for me to realize that I was no longer in Dongwoo’s clutches, instead a stoic Myungsoo sat in front of me, a hand on my forehead.

He looked me in the eye and spoke one word.

“Sleep.”

I was out in an instant.

∞

“What did Myungsoo do to me?” I groaned groggily.

Sungyeol, Sungjong, Hoya and Woohyun were lounging around in my room when I had come to. All four of them were sporting fresh bruises and cuts, which I assumed was from the punishment dealt onto them by Sunggyu. Sungyeol and Sungjong had been ordered to watch over me. Woohyun was here under the reason of delivering hot soup while Hoya was here to keep him in line.

“Myungie has a special power,” Woohyun blew on the soup and tried feeding me with his ‘aegyo’ noises. Hoya reprimanded him immediately and handed me the bowl of soup which I accepted gratefully.

“He’s the only one who has a power though,” Sungyeol sighed in envy as he cheated yet again, rendering an outraged Sungjong speechless. I was about to ask him about Myungsoo’s powers when the feminine young man beside me exploded, jumping up with his fists clenched.

“You cheated again didn’t you!” He pointed one accusing finger at the grinning boy.

“That’s rather disrespectful, Sungjong,” Sungyeol grinned while wagging a finger at the youngest and pocketing the last bar of chocolate. Sungjong stomped out of the room, screaming about revenge. He returned soon, dumping the large amount of candies he just retrieved on the floor, much to the delight of the older boy.

“Hey, let me play too,” Woohyun wriggled out of Hoya’s grasp and disappeared out of the room, returning with an armful of sweets that he dumped onto Sungjong’s pile before settling down next to Sungyeol. Hoya fished a few chocolate bars from his pocket and threw them onto the pile as well before seating himself between Sungjong and Sungyeol. Sungyeol gathered his winnings and pushed them to one side.

“I’ll sit this round out,” he announced and plopped himself down onto the end of my bed. Sungjong complained a little before they began their card game again.

I poked Sungyeol, catching his attention as we watched them play. Woohyun pumped an exhilarated fist in the air as he claimed victory for the first round of the game. Sungjong groaned while Hoya scrutinized Woohyun’s winning hand.

“Why are we back here?” I was partially distracted by one extremely delicious looking chocolate bar when I asked him, but I swear I saw the four guys stiffen up when the words left my lips.

“You passed out in the Mortal World but I thought you were just tired so I let you sleep. But you kept on sleeping even though I tried waking you up so I just transported us back here,” Sungyeol said casually, feigning interest in one of the many empty cupboards in my room.

“What about Mija?” I decided to overlook their strange behaviours, for now at least.

“I picked her up from school, she had told me when to come pick her up earlier in the morning,” I rolled my eyes at my flirtatious five year old daughter. Did I mention she was only five? “There was an ahjumma waiting in the living room when we got back. She tried to kill me.”

I burst out laughing. Sungyeol was shuddering from the memory of the encounter with my ex-mother in law. I wasn’t surprised she attacked him to be honest. My mother in law had never been very fond of me even when we were still officially related but she adored Mija, which is the only reason why she tolerated me to a certain degree.

“Sorry. That was Mija’s grandmother. She’s not very fond of me. I can only imagine how she reacted when she saw another man in her ex-daughter in law’s house,” I patted Sungyeol on the back, earning another exaggerated shudder from him.

“I swear, she was out for my life. She was hovering over you at first but when she saw me…she threw those pillows to kill. Kinda like how Mija did when we first met.” I was clutching my sides by now, beside myself with laughter as I imagined the scene in my head.

“Well yeah, Mija calmed her down eventually and here we are, in Paradise,” Sungyeol grinned. The fit of laughter I had subsided as I looked at Sungyeol. There was something in his eyes, something I couldn’t put my finger on, but he was eager to let the subject drop. I complied and we went back to watching the trio on the floor play.

Hoya emerged the ultimate victor, the size of his mountain of candies making it painfully obvious. It was several times larger than both Woohyun’s and Sungjong’s. The youngest moaned and groaned endlessly while we until Dongwoo stuck his head in and called for dinner. That was the boys’ cue to rush downstairs. It became apparent that dinner with the Guardians was no laughing matter. It was more like a matter of life and death, the survival of the fittest. Dinner was both chaotic and fun as the seven men fought for the food. Dongwoo had graciously set aside a plate for me. Sunggyu fully abused his authority as the leader to grab himself a plate before letting the other’s rip each other apart in their conquest of food. In the end, everybody got a plateful of Dongwoo’s wonderful cooking, though Myungsoo’s plate looked suspiciously bigger, and we sat down around the counter in the kitchen.

My heart was both warm and cold as we ate dinner together for the first time.

Please, don’t let me get anymore attached to them than I already am.

∞

“Why can't I sleep,” I muttered to myself through gritted teeth.

We had all gone to bed hours ago. Normally, I would be as dead as a log by now, either spending my period of unconsciousness with mundane dreams or terrorizing nightmares. But sleep eluded me tonight. I got off the bed and made my way downstairs, looking to cure the itch in my throat and hopefully find something warm to fill my stomach that will lull me to sleep. I crept into the common room. It was pitch black and I felt my way clumsily to the kitchen. I was about to pull the door to the fridge open when something clattered noisily to the floor, startling me.

“Who’s there?” I froze at the sound of the voice.

“Hyeri?” Sungyeol’s head popped up from the striped couch as he squinted in the direction of the kitchen. He had a pair of thick-rimmed glasses on, his bangs tied up into a small ponytail above his head. “What are you doing up?”

“Couldn’t sleep. And I was thirsty.” I admitted while approaching him, being careful not to trip in the dark room. Sungyeol was wrapped in a thick blanket as he lay on the couch, a small laptop shone brightly from the coffee table, casting a white glow against his pale skin.

“Wait here, I made some hot chocolate earlier,” Sungyeol unwrapped himself by rolling off the edge of the couch and onto the floor. He fell on all fours and scrambled up, skipping his way towards the kitchen. I took a seat on the couch, glancing at the screen of his laptop curiously.

“Are you watching…a drama?” A video was paused on the screen of his laptop and the person in the video looked suspiciously like Song Joongki in a traditional hanbok.

“Sungkyunkwan Scandal is pretty awesome,” came Sungyeol’s voice. I giggled, to think that a Guardian of Paradise watches everyday dramas like Sungkyunkwan Scandal. I remembered the magazine that the receptionist had been scanning when I was taken to meet God. If you disregard the fact that they were immortal and have been living for millions of years, they were just like normal humans that had normal everyday needs.

“Your eyes are going to get ruined if you watch it in the dark,” I lectured him while grinning to myself.

“Can’t help it. Hoya and Sungjong says I ruin their sleep when I watch them in the room,” Sungyeol reappeared, the white glow from the laptop illuminating his figure. He handed me one of the two mugs he was holding.

The smell coming from the hot chocolate was heavenly. I cradled the warm cup in my hands and savored the smell. Sungyeol chuckled and settled himself next to me, cradling his own cup in his hands.

“Feeling better?” I nodded vigorously.

“That’s good.” We sat in silence, sipping on the hot chocolate.

“Sungyeol.”

He hummed a reply.

“Did…did something happen when I was unconscious earlier?” I looked at him, surprised when I noticed a dark look cross his normally bubbly features.

The glow from his laptop diminished and died out. Sungyeol’s figure disappeared from my line of sight, swallowed by the darkness that the both of us were plunged into in a matter of seconds. All I felt was the small warmth at the base of my arm where his arm brushed against mine as we sat next to each other.

“Sungyeol?”

“Why do you ask?”

“The guys. They’ve been acting strange around me, they’ve been…careful.”

He let out a long sigh. I thought he was going to ignore my question but he cleared his throat and began speaking.

“Don’t tell Sunggyu hyung,” I nodded before realizing that he couldn’t see me. I fumbled in the dark and found his arm, giving it a small squeeze to assure him.

“We had a little trouble with you earlier. You didn’t just pass out, you were screaming in your sleep. It was horrible. Wave after wave of spasms attacked your body while you screamed your head off and we were powerless to do anything. We couldn’t wake you up no matter what we did. Even Myungsoo’s powers were useless. We were shocked, especially Myungsoo. His powers never failed him before.”

“You never did tell me what his power was,” Sungyeol was quiet before he continued with his explanation.

“Myungsoo has the ability to control dreams. He can enter your dreams and alter them as he pleases, turning harmless dreams into horrifying nightmares and vice versa. But it didn’t work this time, not with you. It was the first time I’ve seen him so, emotional. He nearly drained all his energy trying to calm you down but your mind kept rejecting him, which spurred him on to force himself in.”

“Sunggyu hyung had to pull him away before he passed out himself from the strain he was putting on his own body from overusing his powers. You still burst into screams every now and then but it became less frequent and it finally stopped after some time.”

“Why. Why did that happen to me?” I had no memory of the screams at all, in fact I had no memory of suffering from nightmares earlier, it was like a block of my memory had been plucked out from my mind and simply discarded.

“I don’t know. None of us do. Dongwoo suggested that it might have something to do with your attachment. The same reason why you appeared before us. We’ve never had a case like this before, where the client is allowed to go back and relive the last moments of their lives. You’re a special case. You’re special.”

“But I’m just me. I’m not special,” Sungyeol chuckled.

“No, you’re not. At least, not to us. We like you, Hyeri. I can only speak for myself, but we’ve grown fond of you. You’re an anomaly in the long time we’ve lived, something that’s never happened before. It was always the seven of us. We only had each other and no one else. And I’m really grateful that it was you that we got stuck with instead of some other person.”

“What am I doing getting all sentimental,” Sungyeol’s serious tone of voice disappeared, replaced by his usual excited tone. “Woohyun’s greasiness is rubbing off on me.” He joked. The sound of fabric rustled next to me and we were suddenly bathed in bright light as Sungyeol’s laptop came back to life.

“Time for bed, don’t you think, Hyeri?” He flashed his gummy smile at me.

I nodded and picked myself up from the couch. I put my empty mug in the sink and got ready to leave the common room. I turned back to look at Sungyeol’s tall figure hunched over the coffee table as he fiddled with his laptop. I called his name and he turned towards me. I grinned at him.

“You really love them don’t you?” He grinned back, his cheeks a shade darker than the rest of his face.

“Let’s just say limbo would be way boring if the other’s weren’t around.”