-nightmare on epex street-

chapter 8.

~flashback~

T/W (warning wall ahead for the mention of de@th)

Mu pov

My legs have been aching, and my arms feel so sore. I've got a headache and there's nothing I can do about it. Plus I've been working, walking around the diner waiting, and cleaning tables for several hours at this point. And on top of all that, for some unexplainable reason, I have a weird feeling in my body. I don't know what it is, or what it means, but it feels...... wrong. Like a feeling of just... pure wrongness. I'm not complaining, but I am. I'm tired, and I wanna go home. There's an awful storm outside, and since I walk to work I'm forced to stay and wait it out. My boss is making me work overtime to "give me something to do" , I just hope I'm gonna get paid for it too. Wouldn't be surprised if I didn't. As I started to feel my headache worsen, I sat in a nearby booth to lay my down and rest for bit. Because of the rain, business got slow, so there shouldn't be a problem. I heard the sound of the entry door open, so I had no choice but to get back up and help the customer to their seat. It was a boy. When I faced him, I felt like I knew him, but I had never seen him before. And as if on instinct, I called his name. I didn't know who he was, but I guess I also did somehow. He looked oddly disturbed, like he was searching for something, but he didn't say a word. However, when I sat him down, he spoke up. "Mu?" He looked up at me, and continued. "Coffee, just get me coffee" hmm? "Is that all?" I made sure to ask him before I left, and he confirmed that that was all he wanted.
I put my notepad away, and started to make my way behind the counter when he grabbed my hand, and pulled me back. I looked at him, and saw nothing but sheer terror on his face. He took a deep breath, and said "I'm scared Mu, I'm so fucking scared... What if I fall asleep like they did? What if he comes back?!? I don't... I don't wanna die yet. Mu please help me stay awake.!" Now I definitely don't know what he is talking about, but I still responded as if I did. "He won't. I'll do anything to keep him from taking you away too.! I'm not losing you too, okay?" I placed my hand on his cheek, and let him lean in. He fell down into my chest, and suddenly that feeling of wrongness came rushing back. My headache was worse than it ever was before. I heard voices coming from behind me, but when i turned around there was no one there. Oh God... He fell asleep, and
for some reason, it feels like the worst thing that could've possibly happened just happened. I decided to get up, and I ran towards the door and locked it. I shut the blinds to the windows, and made sure they were all locked.

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When I ran back to the boy, he was standing up. I looked around and then I locked eyes with it. A knife. He was holding a knife in his hand, and I watched as he lifted it up towards his own neck. In an instant, he slit his own throat. I watched as the blood dripped down his shoulders, and onto the ground. I jumped at the sound of lightning, but what was worse is that when it struck, I saw the the outline of a man standing behind the boy clutching his hand, and forcing him to hold the knife. When the lights from the outside stopped flashing in, the man was gone, and the boy boy dropped down the floor, lifeless. I screamed out it shock terror, but as I ran towards him all my surroundings started to fade away, and I couldn't see the diner anymore. The only thing in my sight was the boys face, it started to morph a bit, and my vision went black.

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"Mu?? Hey, wake up! MU!!"
Aghh!! "Huh? What... Yewang?" I realized I had just dreamt everything. I also realized I was sweating bullets, and sitting in something wet. Oh no... Oh no no no... "Hey, Mu, you okay? Do you need ne to do anything for you?" Huh? I looked at him, and saw he had one hand on my leg, and the other on my forehead. I guess it makes sense he'd check on me and ask, but I'm fine. "Ugh, no. I-I'm okay.. Really. I just need to clean up.... you know?" I said that looking down, I'm pretty sure he realized after that. He pulled his hand away, and stared at me for a few seconds. He opened his moutb to speak, but I cut him off saying "I can clean it, I've done it before. Just tell me where the supplies are..." He looked at his hand, and back at me. "Just go get cleaned up. Then I can get it before they get home." He put his arms around me, and lifted me up. He pointed his finger towards the washroom, and told me to go, so I did. I took a glance at the clock, and saw that it was already 5:15, meaning his parents should be home in about 20 minutes or so.

I got to the shower, and when I shut the door, I could hear Yewang rummaging through something in the other room. Probably the cabinets. I turned the water on as hot as it could go, and got in. As the water soaked my whole body, I started to think back to my dream. I started thinking about that boy I saw. For some reason, even though I could recall every single detail about the dream, I couldn't remember the boys face. Wait...
I suddenly remembered a dream I had about another boy. A dream that I had years ago... Several years ago I had a dream where I was with another boy. I couldn't remember his face either. What is wrong with me? Why can I remember everything but their faces?? I shut the water off and stepped out. I wrapped myself up in a robe, and headed to my room to get dressed in clean clothes. When I walked in, I found Yewang had replaced the sheets on my bed, and was in the middle of changing his own clothes. He looked sweaty, probably from all the scrubbing he had to do. Now I feel really bad. Once he saw me, he had sat down on the mattress, still shirtless, and patted the empty space next to himself. "Come sit down, I need to talk to you." Uh oh...  I did as he said, and sat down. "Mu, have you been feeling okay? I feel like everyday you just look so tired, and I wanna make sure you're alright.. Are you?" Oh... "Y-yeah, um.. I'm just getting used to things I guess. I don't really know what else to do except follow what your parents say. So I do. It's okay though, I don't mind. It's just a lot I guess." I lied. I hate this more than anything. I love being with Yewang, but his parents are are too suffocating. I get why, but at the same time we need at least some space outside of school. He looked at me, and as he was about to speak, once again, he got cut off. This time by his dad opening the bedroom door. When he did, he made a face, it was a mix of being surprised, and maybe being upset. He looked us up and down, and simply said "We brought home takeout, so come join us now if you want any." He closed the door, and I looked over to Yewang and saw him already staring at me. He had the same look his dad did, and I didn't know why. I looked around, and back at us, I was still in my robe, but the left shoulder had slid down without me noticing, and my whole shoulder was out. I also didn't tie it too well so my chest was showing a bit. Yewang had had his hand around my neck, but when the door first opened, he pulled it away pretty quickly. I just don't know why they both looked so... Upset? "Yewang? What's wrong? Why do you look like that?" He quickly got up, threw a shirt on, and left the room. Leaving me alone to finally get myself dressed.

~

There we go!

After dinner, I went to my room and got out my art supplies, and spent several hours working on a piece. I thought it would be a good idea to draw something from my dream, and I chose the diner, and the boy I met there. I used mostly graphite and pens, and I spent maybe 7 hours in total, but it was all worth it! The only thing missing was the face. I managed to recall the boys hair, but his face was completely gone. I felt a tap on my shoulder, and it made me jump. I turned and saw Yewang standing behind me. "It's midnight. You need to go to sleep, Mu." Me pat my head, and started to walk out, but when he saw my piece, he stopped to look at it. I watched as he lightly smiled at it, but then he squinted his eyes a bit. He looked kind of confused, but before I asked, he simply said "I know those clothes... You haven't met Minwoo yet, so how do you know how he looks?..."

Huh?

~❤