In His Dreams - JiHope

Flinch

Six exhausting days later

Hoseok was lying on his back behind the glass barrier, his head resting on his arms, as he stared at the ceiling waiting for the next night terror to begin.

He had just started humming under his breath when the front door was slammed ope. He lurched into a sitting position as the boy's father stormed into the living room and bellowed up the stairs "Get your useless stupid fat ass down here this minute".

Footsteps raced down the stairs and the kid walked in. Hoseok's breathe caught in his throat as the boy appeared in the doorway, finally his brain made the connection –recognising this version of the young man.

"Jimin" he sighed feeling a little light headed.

He looked like he was maybe a year or two older than the last time. He was pale, his cheeks hollow, and dark rings circled his eyes. He had lost all of his baby weight, but had built on some muscles, particularly in his arms and thighs. And the way he moved... Hoseok had always liked the way Jimin walked; he was graceful, unhurried, and always aware of his body. He moved justlike a classical dancer should move.

Hoseok, who was a hip-hop dancer,could never get his body to glide the same way.

Young Jimin came to a flustered stop in front of his father – for a split second he looked terrified of the older man, before he adjusted his expression into an emotionless mask.

"Yes Sir" he said slightly out of breath.

"Have you been sneaking out to that goddam dance school behind my back?" The boy went pale, Hoseok could almost hear him thinking, trying to come up with a valid answer to that question, frantically searching for a legitimate excuse.

"Did you steal MY money to pay for it?"

His father slapped him. There was no hesitation. One minute the boy was standing in front of his father, the next minute he was on the floor holding his reddening cheek and staring up at the man towering over him.

"That was the first time he hit me" Hoseok jumped a mile in the air at the voice that was speaking from behind him. He turned around slowly to see his Jimin leaning against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest, staring at the image playing out on the other side of the room. "He was mean before that, but he never actually hit me, until that moment" He had no emotion on his face or in his voice.

"Jimin?" Hoseok asked, "Are you really here?" Hoseok poked the older Jimin in the chest who slapped his hand away without even looking at him.

"Wait.... These are your MEMORIES?" he asked looking back through the barrier at the boy sitting on the floor trying to hold in his emotions as his father towered over him.

"Obviously" Jimin drawled,looking over at the red head "So I think the real question is why are YOU here Hoseok?"

"I don't know" Hoseok shrugged his shoulders.

Jimin stared at him and blinked slowly, "Of course you don't know." he sighed and rubbed his eyes

"This is weird" Hoseok replied"Why are you suddenly here? What's different about this dream?"

"What do you mean different..?Wait – are you telling me this isn't the first one of these ...whatever these are... that you've seen?"

"Ummmm... not the first... no... I mean this is the first time I've seen this one.... And the first time you've appeared – I mean clearly - But I've seen ... ummm...other... ones"

"Jesus Hoseok, how many?"

"Maybe three or four" Hobi squeaked

Jimin sighed "Three or Four? And you never thought to talk to me about them?"

"To be fair – I didn't actually recognise you in the first few"

"Why wouldn't you recognise me?"Jimin's eyes flashed, his temper starting to pick up.

"You were very young in the first ones"

"OK – let's start at the beginning, what exactly have you seen?"

Hoseok rubbed the back of his neck –"Well there was the one when you were maybe 4 and you fell down the stairs"

"When I broke my ankle?"

"Yeah maybe? .... And then I watched when he burnt all your toys. Oh and the one where he told you that you were too...." Hoseok stopped mid-sentence, really looking at the pink-haired boy beside him, not sure whether he should finish.

"Too what?" Jimin asked turning to the older boy "Too what Hyung?"

"....Too ummmm fat ... to be ...you know... to be a dancer" Jimin put his hands in front of his face and groaned. "Jimin? Are you OK?"

"Hmmmm? Oh yeah - I absolutely love reliving my wonderful magical childhood with someone like you."Jimin snarled sarcastically.

"I didn't ask to be here you know" Hobi retorted. "And what do you mean someone like me?"Older Jimin shrugged his shoulders, and turned away from Hobi to watch his father and his younger self.

"How dare you?" the man growled at young Jimin "I'm not raising a fairy in this house." He raised his hand again, and the younger Jimin flinched back, covering his face with his arms. His father grinned, liking the power he had over the boy.

"You're not going back to that school, and that's the last time I want to hear about dancing inthis house"

Hoseok blinked, he knew that Jimin had been dancing since he was 11 years old, so he must have continued dancing against his father's wishes.

Hoseok looked at grown up Jimin,trying to reconcile the different versions of his friend.

He was struggling to see the brave passionate child who faced down his father to keep going after his dream, the cold emotionless Jimin judging him while being trapped behind the barrier with him, and the timid little Mochi Hoseok used to share a room with in real life – as the same person.

He was still trying to pull the pictures together when he woke up. He spent the rest of the night lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling.