Chasm.| Seo Changbin

Twenty-Nine.

Stella was standing in the middle of the familiar darkness. That familiar darkness always lasts for a few seconds before the bright spotlights start to attack her eyes. During those seconds she would hear nothing until one cheer echoes, followed by many loud screams and claps. Those very few seconds of quietness, darkness, and calmness, had always been her favorite in any performance. It's the only time her mind goes completely blank from the mix of tiredness, euphoria, and emptiness she always feels inside of her chest. Those seconds are always followed by the realization and then overthinking about what she was doing and for whom.

But now, those seconds seemed to be very long. The spotlights didn't attack her eyes. Her ears didn't catch the cheers of her fans. Something was wrong!

Something was totally wrong.

Ella couldn't see her own hands from how dark it was. She heard nothing but her own breath echoing inside of her head. What the hell was happening?

A faint light started to illuminate the darkness a little, but it was very faint. Another one followed, then one more and more, but still, it wasn't enough. Stella gasped when she could hardly see where she was. She was standing at the very edge of the stage, and that stage was so high that she couldn't see the ground below it. At the far horizon, Stella could see something, someone.

That someone became more visible to her and again, she gasped. That was Changbin! He was standing at the very edge of a stage similar to hers, opposing her. Why was he there? Why was he on a stage? What is that arena that had two opposing stages?

"Stella!" Changbin called from afar and his voice echoed many times. "Don't move. Stay where you are. I will come for you."

Stella saw him getting ready to jump and get to her.

"Changbin, no!" She screamed. "You'll fall down. It's very high!"

Changbin smiled at her and talked calmly but somehow his voice echoed inside her head. "It's okay. Even if I fall down the chasm, it's okay. As long as it's for you, and always for you."

He stepped back and took in a deep breath, ignoring Stella who was calling his name while crying. Changbin started running and leaped in the air towards the chasm, only to fall down and get swallowed by the darkness between the two stages.

"No!" Stella screamed at the top of her lungs. "No! Changbin." She dropped to her knees and crawled to the edge to look down. "Changbin! Changb-"

Stella's words were cut off by the pair of strong arms that grabbed her from behind, pulling her away from the danger of the chasm. She was crying and sobbing but turned around to see the one who pulled her away. Stella jolted, cried, and screamed. She started kicking and punching, trying to free herself from the arms that didn't have an owner but managed to restrict her.

"Hey, hey," Changbin's voice called. "Ella, please. Look at me. Huh? It's me."

Ella gasped and blinked, to find herself nowhere but in Changbin's bedroom and on his bed where she went to sleep a few hours before.

She heaved for air and scooted closer to Changbin who was holding her closely to his chest, trying to assure and calm her. He patted her head and back while she clutched his torso and buried her face into his chest. He pushed her damp hair away and started caressing it, passing his fingers through its ash-blonde strands. She was sweating profusely.

"Shhh," Changbin whispered against her hair as he rocked their bodies softly. "It's okay. It's just a nightmare. You are here and safe."

"I know I'm safe." She sobbed and gasped for air. "It's you who are not."

Changbin tucked softly at the back of her hair so she would pull her face away from his chest. He looked at her teary eyes with a gentle smile. "Did I get hurt in your nightmare?" Stella pouted and nodded. "Is that why you were calling me so loudly like that?" She nodded again. "Want to tell me what happened?" She shook her head. "Okay." He didn't push any further and just hugged her more.

They stayed hugging silently for Stella to calm down and grasp her thoughts. She was well aware that those nightmares were a reflection of her deep fears. She thought that Changbin's presence in her life wiped away all her fears but she wasn't aware it started creating new ones.

The fears of losing him or failing to protect him.

Yes, he was the one supposed to protect her but in her industry, the partner of a celebrity needed protection as much as the celebrity needed. She knew that once their dating news went viral, Changbin would be in a tight spot. He would be called names and accused of things. He would be followed and harassed. His family would be involved too. Stella started feeling selfish for letting herself love him and involving him in her chaotic life.

Although she assured him, she was the one walking on thin ice. It's been a week since they went out on their first date. They didn't do anything fancy. A normal date where a normal couple can go on a drive, to a cafe, watch a movie while holding hands, and then go back home. Stella was so giddy that evening, but she found herself spending her night stirring in the bed, biting her nails while scrolling down the social media to check and see if anyone recognized them and posted anything. Finding nothing, she was relieved and started relaxing a little.

That's why she was assured to go on their second date which was a drive to the nearest beach to spend the dusk and night there while walking on the sand and holding hands and hugging. It would have all been perfect if it weren't for the couple who kept looking at them when Stella and Changbin were on the beach, and she suspected they recognized her, and her anxiety came kicking in on their way back home.

Stella hid the anxiety perfectly well from Changbin, but her nightmare came to expose her to the extent of him hearing her from outside the room and getting up from his sleep, rushing to her, and waking her up to save her from that nightmare.

"If you are feeling better now, then I'll leav-" Changbin talked calmly but was cut before finishing his sentence.

"Don't leave." Stella tightened her grip on him.

"Aren't you sleepy?" He questioned.

"I am. But I want to sleep with you. Stay."

Changbin inhaled loudly, trying to calm himself and keep his 'dating ethics' as strict as he wanted them because he felt like his ethics and rules were one step away from being kicked out of the window. Again.

"Ella," Changbin caressed her head. "Let's just keep things as they are now. You take the bed and I take the sofa."

Stella pulled her head back and looked at him. "Are you uncomfortable with me?"

"Of course not!"

"Then stay. We are already dating. There's nothing wrong with sharing a bed." She pouted.

"You are making it hard for me." He mumbled.

"What? I didn't hear!"

"That's the point." He huffed and looked at her. "I still don't think it's a good idea. We don't have to share a bed just because we are dating."

"It's not because we are dating. It's because I love you and want to stay with you. It's because I'm troubled right now and it seems like nothing is easing me up but your presence. It's because I feel safe in your arms that even my dreams and nightmares can't get the best of me." She looked at him seriously. "Is that enough reason for my boyfriend to stay by my side?"

Changbin was tomato red. When it came to words, his girl was very fluent and had always managed to make his heart flutter with her words. How could he say no to her when she told him she needed him?

Trying to hide his embarrassment and redness, he pulled her closer to his chest and embraced her fully before he adjusted the covers on both of them to tuck her warmly.

"Anything for you, pretty." He coed softly.

Stella smiled and nuzzled him, allowing her body to relax against his.

"Just promise me one thing." Stella talked.

"What is it?" Changbin questioned.

"Don't jump off the chasm to get to me. Stay where you are 'cause I'll be the one coming to you from now on."