Oneiric Tryst

26. The Accident

Hongjoong was running late. He had been since the morning, his mind too busy for him to notice the time passing. For several times already, he had glanced at the clock to notice that he had spaced out for the last fifteen minutes and nothing much had come of it. Even now opposite of San who gushed about Wooyoung's cooking skills and their life together that could barely even be considered as living apart anymore, Hongjoong sunk into his mind space.

There wasn't a particular thing he was thinking about. His head was filled with everything at once, and the sheer mass overwhelmed him.

He got out of the office with his papers two minutes before eleven, at Seonghwa's usual bedtime. As he rubbed his head, befuddled when trying to remember what San had told him just minutes ago, he stumbled into Jongho.

"Hongjoong? I have an emergency here. Could you help me real quick?"

Usually, Hongjoong would have been able enough to point out that San and Mingi might have been busy working on a report, but they could interrupt far easier than he. Since Seonghwa rarely fell asleep on time, however, and Hongjoong barely concentrated, he agreed. He helped Jongho sort the papers away from the pool of coffee he had spilt on his desk and saved as much as possible. Jongho didn't mention his trance while they worked, but he gave Hongjoong a comforting squeeze on his shoulder as he left.

When Hongjoong arrived at the attic fifteen minutes after eleven, it took him another five to start the PC. While it loaded its programs, he stood at the window to stare out into the grey world that was covered by a thin layer of snow.

Today, he just couldn't wake up.

He tripped over the corner of a carpet that he hadn't tripped over for years when he returned to the screen. Contrary to his expectations, Seonghwa was already asleep, and his nightmare had started a while ago.

Hongjoong cursed his own tardiness under his breath as he scanned the informative words on the screen. There had been a car accident.

As Hongjoong rushed into his cell, he prayed Seonghwa hadn't got trapped inside a turned up car and waited for Hongjoong to save him. The weak comfort that time passed fast in dreams barely aided him.

Seonghwa had a rough time recently. And the last thing that Hongjoong wanted was to see him suffer even more because of his inefficiency.

The air around him turned sour the second he stepped into Seonghwa's dream. The stench of gasoline mixed with smoke in the nightly air. It all was covered thickly by the potent smell of blood, but Hongjoong saw the macabre emergency first before he smelt it.

Two cars were upturned on the lonely street in the middle of nowhere. The glass from all windows had burst and deep dents marred the crash points. One of them was to Hongjoong's right and shone its lights still to creepily light the scene. The woman behind the wheel had slumped towards the roof beneath her as gravity yanked her down. The wounds in her face after being hit with the windscreen made her unrecognisable, but Hongjoong could guess it was Seonghwa's grandmother.

Seonghwa was at the left car. Both of its doors were open and he knelt at the driver's side. One of his legs was twisted abnormally as it sprawled out on the concrete behind him.

His heart-wrenching sobs filled the night.

Hongjoong stood petrified. Again, his brain needed forever to understand the very simple situation.

"Please, no- Wake up. Please wake up, Hongjoong."

Hongjoong could barely understand Seonghwa through his wet voice. The pain it carried stabbed into Hongjoong's gut like a hot knife and twisted around.