Namjin Oneshots

Sleeping Beauty [Modern]

---

In the heart of Seoul, where neon lights cast long shadows, the tallest building in the city was home to King Industries, a tech conglomerate that was the crown jewel of modern innovation. The company’s future was bound to its CEO, Kim Namjoon, a visionary known for his brilliance and charm. But despite his successes, Namjoon’s thoughts were often consumed by his secret, his only love—Kim Seokjin.

Seokjin, known to everyone as Jin, was not just the face of the company but also its heart. He was loved by all, with his beauty and warm smile winning over everyone he met. But what few knew was that Seokjin was the true genius behind many of the company’s groundbreaking inventions. The bond between Namjoon and Jin was unbreakable, forged through years of friendship, love, and shared dreams.

But their perfect world was shattered when, one fateful night, Jin suddenly collapsed at a company gala celebrating his 29th birthday. No one could understand what had happened. He was rushed to the best hospital in the city, yet despite being in perfect health, Jin fell into a deep, unexplainable coma. The media quickly dubbed him the “Sleeping Beauty” of Seoul, and the story spread like wildfire.

Namjoon was devastated, refusing to leave Jin’s side. Day and night, he searched for answers, pouring over every detail of Jin’s life, their research, and their work, trying to find a clue as to what could have caused this mysterious affliction. But nothing made sense, until a forgotten name resurfaced—Min Yoongi.

Yoongi had once been one of the brightest minds at King Industries, a close friend of Namjoon and Jin, until a failed project led to his abrupt departure. It was a project involving experimental neural link technology, a project that was ultimately deemed too dangerous and scrapped. But not before Yoongi had become obsessed with it, convinced that it held the key to unlocking the human mind’s full potential.

Namjoon, haunted by memories of Yoongi’s obsession, began to suspect that his old friend had found a way to use that forbidden technology. But the thought of Yoongi, a man who had once been like a brother, turning on them was too horrifying to fully accept. Still, he had to know the truth.

Namjoon tracked Yoongi down to an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the city, a place that had once been one of King Industries’ secret research facilities. The building was dark, decaying, and filled with the remnants of failed experiments. It was there that Namjoon found Yoongi, a shadow of the man he once knew, consumed by his own madness.

Yoongi confessed to Namjoon that he had used the neural link technology to trap Jin in a digital nightmare. It was his twisted revenge for being cast out and for all the dreams that had turned to ash. The nightmare Yoongi created was a reflection of his own mind—a place of horror, filled with grotesque versions of memories, a world where Jin was tormented endlessly.

But Yoongi had gone too far. The nightmare was spiraling out of his control, threatening to consume Jin completely, and there was only one way to save him: Namjoon had to enter the nightmare himself and bring Jin back before it was too late.

Yoongi, driven by guilt and a twisted sense of loyalty, helped Namjoon hack into the neural link system. As Namjoon’s consciousness was uploaded into the nightmare, the real world blurred and faded away.

Inside, Namjoon found himself in a version of Seoul that was both familiar and terrifying. The city was dark, empty, and decaying, with twisted skyscrapers that reached into a blood-red sky. The streets were littered with the ghosts of their past, distorted figures that whispered Namjoon’s deepest fears and regrets.

Namjoon knew he had to find Jin before the nightmare consumed him completely. He pushed forward, through dark alleys and abandoned buildings, his mind fighting against the growing terror. Time and space twisted around him, memories and nightmares blending into a chaotic maze.

Finally, Namjoon found Jin in the center of the nightmare, inside a replica of their shared office at King Industries. But Jin was not the man Namjoon knew. He was pale, his eyes hollow, and he stared at Namjoon as if he were a stranger.

Namjoon tried to reach out to him, but the nightmare had taken hold. Jin began to scream, his voice echoing through the twisted city, summoning the horrors that lurked in the shadows. They closed in around them, dark figures with no faces, whispering promises of endless pain.

Desperate, Namjoon grabbed Jin and held him close, whispering his love, his regrets, his hopes for their future. Slowly, the hollow look in Jin’s eyes began to fade, replaced by the man Namjoon knew and loved. But the nightmare was not ready to let them go.

The dark figures lunged at them, and Namjoon felt their cold hands grasping at him, pulling him into the abyss. But in that moment, Jin’s eyes met Namjoon’s, and with a strength Namjoon didn’t know he had, he fought back against the darkness, pulling Jin with him.

In the real world, doctors and nurses rushed into Jin’s room as his vitals spiked. And then, with a gasp, Jin awoke, his eyes wide and terrified. Namjoon awoke a moment later, collapsing beside Jin’s bed, exhausted but alive.

Jin’s recovery was slow, and the nightmares never fully left him. The horrors he had seen, the things Yoongi had forced him to endure, haunted him every night. But Namjoon was there, always, holding him through the worst of it, whispering that they were safe, that they were together.

Yoongi disappeared that night, leaving behind only the wreckage of his own mind. The authorities found the warehouse empty, the neural link equipment destroyed, but Namjoon and Jin knew that the shadow of what had happened would linger.

And so, the story of the “Sleeping Beauty” ended not with a kiss, but with the waking nightmare of a love that had been tested by the darkest of horrors. Yet through it all, Namjoon and Jin’s bond remained unbroken, a light in the darkness, proving that even in the face of unspeakable terror, love could endure.