The Mafia's Dove (Hyunjin centric)

Asshole

-Hyunjin's POV-

I was on a precipice. My consciousness was fading ever so slowly back into reality, but for some reason, my mind felt too sluggish to fully awake. I could think much clearer than I would in a dream, and I was aware of my surroundings to a certain extent, but I couldn't seem to open my eyes no matter how hard I tried.

Despite not knowing exactly why I felt so desperate to wake up I still found myself panicking a little, the anxiety over my half awake state growing into an uncomfortable knot. I felt trapped. No matter how I attempted to move my body it refused to listen to me, and I felt my frustration grow as my urge to awaken turned into panic at the realization that I couldn't.

I knew I would wake up eventually, but for some reason the knowledge of that wasn't something I could convince my mind of. I felt like I was suffocating, like my chest was caving in on itself and there was nothing I could do to stop it because I couldn't move.

The thought of death didn't scare me, but the helpless and breathless feeling was oddly terrifying. I wanted to claw at my throat, sit up to relieve the pressure from my chest, or at the very least call out for help, but I found myself unable to do anything.

I felt my awareness fading once again as my mind sunk back into sleep, the darkness spreading across my vision despite the fact that my eyes had already been closed. Or were they open? They felt closed, but I was somehow able to see my room and the two people sleeping beside me, completely unaware of the desperate pleas that were unable to leave my throat. Was my mind playing tricks on me? Was the image of them nothing more than a product of my imagination?

The last thought that crossed my mind before I sunk back into an unconscious prison was how dark my room was. If it was still night, then the people beside me probably wouldn't attempt to wake me for a while longer. Did that mean I would be stuck in this suffocating purgatory until then? Would I asphyxiate before someone realized I couldn't breathe? Or was the feeling something else my mind made up to torment me?

The second time I partially awoke was much calmer, because while the feeling of claustrophobia hadn't eased, I no longer felt like my chest was being crushed. However, the memory of the last time I was unable to fully awake was a looming threat, and I found myself waiting for the feeling to repeat. I was still unable to move as a sense of helplessness caused frustrated tears to well up in my eyes, but for some reason I was unable to tell if the tears were falling in real life or if it was once again all in my mind.

I was desperate to wake up by the time I finally felt my mind clearing more, and I clung to my growing awareness with a desperateness I hadn't felt in a long time. Unlike the first time around, my sense of touch was the first to make itself known, and an unexplainable warmth could be felt from all sides of me. It was as if someone had wrapped me in a weighted blanket, which would also explain the feeling of claustrophobia. I focused on the feeling as I frantically tried to keep the menacing darkness at bay, and though the feeling caused its own kind of panic to surface as I questioned just what was currently restraining me, the panic it caused was far less than the looming threat of suffocation.

The longer I focused on it the more detailed the feeling became, and after a few moments I realized with startlement that the weighted blanket was actually two sets of arms. Perhaps the people I saw earlier weren't figments of my imagination, but the thought caused frustration to well up as I remembered my inability to call out for help.

The sensation helped pull me further away from unconsciousness, and with my mind a little more clear, I quickly noticed the feeling of someone breathing on the back of my neck. Their breath tickled the oddly sensitive skin as they inhaled and exhaled in a slow and steady rhythm, the speed a clear indication of the person's state of calm. They were most likely still asleep, and also the owner of the arms wrapped around my chest. Their grip wasn't tight enough to have caused my previous feeling of suffocation, but I was still too out of it to contemplate a possible culprit.