Oneiric Tryst

36. Finding Peace

That night, Seonghwa had a minor nightmare that he woke himself out of. When he told Hongjoong about it in the morning, he described a desolate island with nothing to eat or drink around. Hongjoong remained patient when he struggled to eat afterwards and made him a strawberry smoothie.

At three in the morning, Jongho had contacted Hongjoong via email to tell him that a new dream catcher for Seonghwa was in the making. He had even attached a lengthy explanation about the smudging to activate it. Apparently, Seonghwa's old dreamcatcher had been activated once he had got it already, but it would do a better job if Seonghwa did it himself. Hongjoong forwarded that mail to Seonghwa and promised him to help him with the process when Seonghwa just looked clueless.

Seonghwa went to work an hour later. He would be late today since he had an extra meeting with his superiors on changing to his full-time shift starting tomorrow. While he was gone, Hongjoong watched an anime and texted with San, who had sent an endless supply of pictures that were just Byeol sleeping from different angles.

At the reminder, he also called the shelter and inquired about the pickup time for Berry. Seonghwa hadn't found the right moment to introduce her to his life yet, since he had a few rough days ever since. The kind lady assured Hongjoong that they could pick her up anytime and that Berry was a patient fellow.

For at least two hours, Hongjoong spent his time scrolling through various online shopping portals to pick out items a dog owner might need. He tried to take both Berry's and Seonghwa's tastes in the calculation. Ultimately, he decided to make it a present and gift Seonghwa all the useful items. Hongjoong was particularly proud of the adorable strawberry collar he had found for her.

San asked him later whether Seonghwa would be interested in going on a double date together. The idea already had Hongjoong roll his eyes since he knew perfectly well how disgusting Wooyoung and San could be. Since he knew that Seonghwa and he were none the better, however, he agreed to extend the suggestion to Seonghwa once he came home.

When Seonghwa arrived after hours of boring anime watching later, he brought along his shining eyes and a little skip to his step. As soon as his eyes fell on Hongjoong lounging on the couch, a big grin took over his features.

"I got my original schedule back!" He yelled happily before he had even taken off his shoes. Chuckling, Hongjoong watched him run over with some askew strands of hair bouncing around his head. When Seonghwa launched himself at Hongjoong to crash into him, Hongjoong caught him with a huff. Then they both had to giggle. Hongjoong kissed the tip of Seonghwa's nose.

"I'm happy for you. Did your boss have any complaints about the sudden switching back?"

Seonghwa settled down comfortably in a talking mood. All the funnier since he was sprawled out above Hongjoong as if he was his favourite pillow.

"He was confused, yeah. When I explained the whole predicament of grandma, not being sure whether she wanted to go and the family unable to match her wishes, he understood. Not the first time he heard of dramatic elders."

Hongjoong pet Seonghwa's hair, smoothing out the bouncy locks that stubbornly sneaked away from his head.

"Good, that he could relate. Now that you adjusted everything how you want it to be, how do you feel?"

Mulling the question over in his head, Seonghwa drew some idle circles on Hongjoong's chest. Their combined warmth made for the perfect temperature in the room.

"It's perfect, but at the same time, it feels like another dream. Especially my grandma leaving me alone now. Not that it was much different before that, but I felt lonelier, sadder. Now that I have my job back I see how much I adore it, and how much my anxiety held me back."