Falling asleep in the restless house was never easy. Staying asleep was virtually impossible. I flipped on the light next to my bed with my heart thumping. I stared at the door. A moment ago I could have sworn there had been a hammer driving through it, trying to shatter it to pieces so she could get to me. In the light, the black door was intact and still. 

I got out of bed and pulled on a sweatshirt before quietly tiptoeing downstairs to escape the panic that still shot around inside me. Exhausted, but knowing sleep was probably a good hour away, I settled on the couch with a blanklet covering me. I found a movie that had more dialogue than action, the perfect plot to drone me to sleep. 

About a half hour later, the creak of a step drew my attention. Chanyeol cringed at the sound and paused before continuing down the stairs. 

'Hey,' he greeted me wearily, pulling the blanket off the back of the love seat and sitting next to me on the couch. 'What did you find?' He motioned towards the television. 

'Not sure,' I whsipered, not completely surprised to see him up. 'I have no idea what's going on.'

After watching the underwhelming drama on the screen for a few minutes, he asked without looking over, 'Do you always have the same nightmare or is it different each time?'

'It's different each time,' I answered, with my head pressed against the pillow. 'But they usually end right when I'm about to die.'

Chanyeol was quiet.

I turned my head to find him appraising me, his mouth bowed in sympathy. 'I take it yours aren't like that, huh?' 

He shook his head, redirecting his gaze towards the TV. 'Mine are always the same,' he answered in a low voice, his jaw tightening as he stared straight ahead. His eyes hardened as he muttered, barely audible, 'They won't let me forget.' The features of his face looked carved from stone as he pressed his lips together in a tight line. The dim light glinted off his dark eyes; I couldn't see his pupils. A chill ran through me. 

I almost asked what it was that kept him up most nights, but then again, I wasn't sure I wanted to know what made him suddenly so... hateful. He looked like a different person - a person I didn't want to know. I pulled my legs in tighter to ward off the frigidness. 

Chanyeol faced me, his lips turned up and his eyes creased around the edges - instantly returned to being the guy who'd started a squirt gun fight. I wanted to shake my head, wondering if I'd just imagined the transformation. Maybe it was the lighting, and my lack of sleep, messing with me. 

I pulled the blanket further up under my nose. 'I just want to sleep,' I murmured, my eyes burning with fatigue. 

'I know,' Chanyeol yawned. 

We returned our attention to the movie. My lids were getting heavy, harder to blink open. I was thinking about going back to bed when he asked, 'So, do you need any guy advice?' 

Exhaustion vanished instantly and colour rushed to my cheeks. 'Don't even start,' I threatened, sitting up and hitting him with the pillow. He held up his hands to ward off the blow and started laughing.

'You should have seen your face when your mother offered to give you the talk,' His chest spasmed with laughter.

'Oh, yeah, that was hilarious,' I shot back. 'Can we please not talk about one of the more humiliating moments of my life?'

Chanyeol smiled widely, his perfectly straight teeth gleaming in the low light. 'Sorry.'

'Are those real?' I blurted out without thinking.

'What?' he asked, completely perplexed. 

'Your teeth.' I continued to stare. They seemed too white in this low light, and too straight. I couldn't stop looking at them. A true indication that I needed to go to bed. 

'That was a rather bizarre change of subject,' he noted in amusement. 'And yes, they're real. After years of braces, of course, but they're mine.' He shook his head, still grinning.

'What?' I demanded, not sure why I wanted to know what kept the grin on his face. But I asked anyway.

'Forget it,' he said playfully, 'you don't want to talk about it.'

I rolled my eyes. 'My personal life is not up for conversation.' 

'Not your personal life,' he corrected, 'your  life.'

'I don't have a  life,' I retorted quickly, my face flushing as soon as I said it. 

Chanyeol laughed again. 'I know.' 

I buried my head under the pillow and groaned.

'Why is everyone making such a big deal about it?' I murmured from beneath the pillow.

'But it is a big deal,' Chanyeol responded bluntly. His tone lost its humour when he confirmed, 'But you're serious, right? You and Sehun?'

I peeked out from under the pillow and found him waiting for me to answer. I nodded. 

'And what's going t