Whispering Visions

Chapter 1: Dream and Reality Collides

Damn, not this time again.

Koen frustratedly brushed his forehead with his hand when he looked down on him and saw that he was wearing the same white polo with flared sleeves.

He had seen himself wearing the same outfit for five years-in his dream.

And right now, Koen is wondering where he slept this time.
This is one of the many things that bugs Koen about this dream: he was aware that he was dreaming, and once he was in this dream, nakakalimutan niya kung saan siya sa kanyang reality.

He looked around at the familiar forest and waited for the mysterious girl to appear.

Maya-maya din ay narinig na ni Koen ang familiar na huni ng mga ibon. Kumbaga lumilipad ang mga ito patungo sa iisang direksyon.

For the five years that he kept dreaming of this, he already knew what would happen next. It's been etched in his mind.

Agad-agad na lumapit si Koen sa isang kahoy at doon nagtago.
This is another thing about him dreaming of the girl that irks him the most. No matter how much he tried to change the flow of his dream, it would still end up the same way.

There was even one time that he tried to run away from this exact spot, but when he thought he had escaped, he found himself back behind this tree.

It was frustrating!

Koen groaned inaudibly behind the tree; his presence was completely masked by the flapping sounds from the birds' wings and their tiny tweetings.

He didn't need to wait any longer-a familiar silhouette appeared in front of him-her back was on him.

And no matter how much Koen would deny it to himself, he knew deep inside that this was his favorite part of the dream: the girl laughing while the birds flapped around her.

Sounds magical, isn't it?

Truth be told, "magical" was an understatement to describe what Koen always feels in this part of his dream. It was an inexplicable feeling that he couldn't put a name to-an explosion of emotions that often rendered him out of this world.

He continued peeking out from behind the tree and silently observed the faceless girl, who was still laughing while she played with all sorts of animals from that forest. As cliché as it may sound, he would like to believe the girl was a fairy in this forest.

Koen tried to move his feet to approach her, but just like always, his feet were glued to where he was standing.

Even just a quick look on her face? He silently complained as he rested his arms on the trunk of the tree while his gaze was glued to the girl.

Who are you?

He couldn't count how many times he asked himself this. Heck, he doesn't even know why he was suddenly dreaming about her five years ago.

Then, Koen subconsciously moved his feet an inch and stepped on a twig. The sound of the twig snapping resounded in the forest, snatching the animals' attention to his direction.

And this is the part that I dreaded the most.

The girl was slowly turning around... while Koen was drenched in sweat as his heart hammered heavily against his chest, anticipating to see the girl's face.

I wish I could finally see her face this time. He silently pleaded, unblinkingly facing the girl's direction.

Koen wanted to scream when his fear began to happen. His vision had turned hazy, and when the girl finally faced him, his vision had completely blurred out.

Damn! Damn! Damn!

***

"Damn? Excuse me?"

Koen was still disoriented from his dream when he heard a feminine voice.

His eyes slowly fluttered open, and he immediately darted his gaze around.

So, sa library pala ako nakatulog this time.

When his gaze reached in front of him, he slightly flinched when he saw two glaring brown orbs on him.

"What?" His frustration from his dream was palpable in his voice.

And the already infuriated woman in front of her had visibly turned redder from anger. "Don't just 'what' me, mister." She angrily snarled in a low voice, obviously avoiding getting reprimanded by the librarian. Even so, the heavy emphasis she put on 'what' was enough of a clue that she wasn't happy with him.

Koen couldn't care less!

"What do you want from me, miss? I'm sure sleeping in the library wasn't illegal, was it?" He nonchalantly asked her as he palmed his face to fully wake himself up.

The dream was clearly putting him in a more stressful situation.

I need a few shots after my class.

The girl's eyebrows in front of him shot upward, and she looked at him up and down in a way that suggested she was judging him. "Mister whoever you are, wag mo akong pinipilosopo, okay? Alam ko ang regulations sa library, and I'm not that dense to wake you up dahil sa natutulog ka." She ranted.

Koen couldn't help but sigh in frustration. "Then, why?" He asked impatiently, nakataas na rin ang mga kilay sa babaeng nakaupo sa harap niya.

The woman rolled her eyes in response as if alam na niya kung bakit. Then, she suddenly urged her to look around and he did.

Then, it registered to him and the woman probably saw it in his face.

He heard her click her tongue. "See? This is why you don't react right away." She told him while gesturing down the narrow hallway. "Yes, hindi bawal matulog sa library, but it's common decency not to sleep on the hallways. Katulad ngayon, you're blocking this particular hallway, and I need to look for some books down this path, and I thought it would be too rude if I just walked over your sleeping body." She explained as she started to get up with a few books on her arms.

Koen couldn't think of any rebuttal to her, so he chose to zip his mouth and move his body away from blocking the path.

The girl stood there as if waiting for something. But, when he didn't say anything, she immediately blurted out. "Aren't you going to say sorry to me?"

"Sorry for what?" Koen nonchalantly answered without even looking at her. His mind was wrapped up with his dream.

The girl rolled her eyes again. "Fine." She said so shortly and began walking away.

However, after a few steps, she turned around again, her expression baffled. "What are you even dreaming of? You kept cursing while you're sleeping." She commented in a baffled voice and turned away from him completely.

Naihilamos ni Koen ang kamay sa mukha niya, tuluyan ng na badtrip, he decided to not attend his remaining classes and went to the nearest bar.

I goddamn need a few bottles.

***
Author's Notes:

Hi, I'm a new shipper of Vivoree and Brent! When these two cuties snatched my attention after appearing in my tiktok fyp, I immediately thought of this plot and decided to write it with ViBrent as my inspiration. I hope my co-shippers will find this and would like the story.

Happy shipping, co-fairies!
xoxo