Hongbin woke up in a cold sweat, sitting up suddenly. He turned to the young man sleeping next to him and touched his face gently. Hyuk was still asleep soundly, unlike in his dream, where he had died. Hongbin was sick of dreaming about his friends dying. It seemed to alternate between all of them on different nights. Other nights, they would ALL die. It was becoming a nightly occurrence now and very worrisome.
Getting out of his bed, he walked into the restroom to take a shower. The water would help to not only wash off the sweat, but also to clear his mind. He wished the water could wash away the images that were still in his mind vividly. It seemed to help to a certain extent, but they were still there.
He dressed quickly, then hurried to school. Parking his car, he grabbed his backpack and ran into the school. On his way to class, he passed Hakyeon in the hall. He had seen Hakyeon die twice, though he always pushed it out of his mind.
“Hey!” Hakyeon smiled at him. “You look terrible. Maybe you should lay off on the parties.”
Hongbin rolled his eyes. “Very funny, hyung. I was SLEEPING…or TRYING to. I don’t sleep very well. I‘m having damn nightmares.”
Hakyeon looked concerned. “I’m sorry. That sucks…” He glanced at his watch. “I need to get to class, but you should take a nap when you get home. Bye!” Hakyeon smiled at him again, but started to edge away from Hongbin.
Hongbin sighed. He was tired of having the dreams and not getting sleep. “I’ll try to take a nap. Hopefully, I won’t have any more dreams, period.” He shook his head. “Thanks. I’ll talk to you later.” He threw his backpack over his shoulder. Hakyeon waved at him, walking off.
Going through class after class in a haze, Hongbin felt exhausted. When he got home, he noticed Hyuk in the kitchen, eating. “Hi, hyung.” Hyuk studied him, offering a lopsided grin. “You’ve been looking like the walking dead. No offense.”
Hongbin laughed, grabbing a Coke out of the refrigerator. He was tired of his friends commenting on how terrible he looked. He simply ignored Hyuk’s mention of it. “I need to go do my homework. See ya.” Hyuk waved at him, his mouth full of ramen.
Walking into his bedroom, Hongbin threw his backpack on the bed he shared with Hyuk. Sighing, he pulled out his books and began studying. Despite the caffeine, he only got halfway through his math homework, unable to keep his eyes open. He fell straight into a dream. It was another nightmare about Hakyeon, this time being torn to pieces by creatures he didn’t recognize. They looked like a mix between wolves and bears. He hated the dreams, watching as his friend was ripped apart, blood spurting all over the place. His friends always died terrible deaths. He had seen Ken die by getting attacked, his head ripped off and blood spilling everywhere. His dream of Ravi dying had been worse, hung on a spit and burned with acid, where his skin had peeled off of his body. That was also done by the wolf-bear creatures. It had been excruciating, almost as if Hongbin could actually feel their pain.
******
The next night, Hongbin had the same terrible dreams. This time, he noticed the dreams began to become more intense. However, at the end, a tall man in a black hood touched the inflicted person and they were restored to their normal state. With this change in the dream Hongbin was calmed down and woke up peacefully. He wasn’t sure why it was different this time, but when he mentioned it to Hyuk, the younger man frowned at him, looking worried.
