NCT Oneshots {ot23} | open

Nightmare: Jungwoo + Y/N {Request}

▹request acc: nxghtlmp
▹prompt: Jungwoo has a nightmare about y/n breaking up with him and he starts to cry
▹word count: 851
▹warnings: n/a

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You can tell something's wrong as soon as you wake up.

For starters, Jungwoo isn't laying beside you, curled up in your arms the way he was when you went to sleep. Instead, you can make out his hunched figure through the murky light well enough to see he's sat up at the end of the bed.

Secondly, he's crying.

There's no way of mistaking the heaving of his shoulders or the muffled sobs that shake his body every few seconds. He's trying to be quiet, hands clamped over his mouth and nose to dampen his sounds, but that doesn't quench your ability to immediately infer his mood.

Heart clenching in your chest, you shuffle your position in order to sit up. You're just about to speak when Jungwoo whips his head around to meet your eyes, his own gaze filled with a sickening combination of terror, sadness and guilt.

"Mornin'" Jungwoo croaks. Neither of you mention the fact that it's barely two o'clock. You lean over to turn on the bedside lamp.

With more light flooding the room, you look him up and down and it's obvious he's had another nightmare. His eyes are rubbed raw, painstakingly jarring against his pale complexion and white hair despite the way he flinches away to cover his face, and his breaths are raspy.

"Come here." You say in a tender voice, eyebrows curling with sympathy. As soon as you open your arms, your boyfriend is collapsing into your embrace.

His body falls limp, the force of the sobs sucking all the energy out of him, and he buries his face in the crook of your neck, desperate for comfort. You give him all the comfort you can.

"You're safe, Woo, baby." You repeat reassurances into his ears as you run your fingers through his hair, gently easing out the knots. "You're safe. I'm here. I love you."

Jungwoo cries harder, fingers clinging onto the t-shirt you're wearing (that actually belongs to him and is just the right kind of oversized to serve as your pyjamas) as though terrified of the possibility of you leaving. He clings on so tight that it's difficult to breathe, but you count through each inhale and exhale to guide your boyfriend back down, forever his anchor.

"Did you have a nightmare?" You ask. You already know the answer, and it pierces your heart.

It used to be a regular occurrence at the start of your relationship. More often than not, you'd wake up to the sight of your boyfriend struggling to muffle his cries, and it would take the best part of half an hour to unloosen his vice-like grip on the bedsheets and get him to breathe. The current situation has only unearthed all those buried memories both of you had hoped to never relive.

Jungwoo nods with a tiny whimper. He lifts his head to look at you, tears glistening on his cheeks. You wipe them away with careful thumbs before kissing the sore skin. Jungwoo is still trembling, but at least the cries have ceased.

"I'm sorry. I bet it was really scary." You say, nuzzling your nose into you boyfriend's mop of fluffy hair. Jungwoo hums in agreement, a weak attempt at formulating a coherent response, so you hug him tighter.

You rock him from side to side ever so gently until you sense his fingers on your shirt loosen, no longer so tense.

"I-I thought you were gonna... gonna break up with me..." Jungwoo explains through hiccups and lumbering breaths. You nod to encourage him to keep going. "It was horrible. I was so sad... and lonely... a-and life wasn't worth living without you."

"Oh, baby." You mumble and hold him in your arms as you do your best to rearrange the bedsheets at the same time. Jungwoo lays down beside you, then rests his head on your chest. He's always loved listening to the steady beat of your heart.

"You're not gonna break up with me, right?" Jungwoo asks. The way he gazes up at you, eyes shimmering from the leftover tears and face so stricken with anxiety, has you rushing to reassure him, your stomach sinking at the thought of him worrying over such a thing.

"No, of course not." You say, fingers curling into his hair again. Jungwoo blinks, lethargic but bleeding pure affection. "I would never. I love you so, so, so much. I'm always here for you. Forever."

"Forever?" Jungwoo repeats, as though in disbelief and trying to convince himself of the words.

"Forever."

"I love you." Jungwoo wraps his arms around your waist and audibly inhales. This time, his breaths are smooth and your own limbs sigh in relief knowing he's calmer, in a better place.

"I love you too. Always remember that." You tap the tip of his nose. His giggle sounds like music straight from the gates of heaven, if a little watery. But at least it's there.

You flick off the bedside lamp and snuggle down under the covers, content with Jungwoo curled up in your arms, his light snores already filling the room.

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