𝐃𝐎𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑 || 𝐕𝐌𝐈𝐍

「 𝟒𝟐 」

The dreams came back not long after Taehyung had settled down in his home.

Some strange, some puzzling, some haunting.

One time, he dreamt of being in the rain, holding an umbrella up under the beating rain. There was someone beside him, holding something, but the face glitched before he could make it out. The conversation was staccato, and sudden jolts of words simply made it more confusing. Those same lips, pink, trembling, moving, but he heard no sound coming out.

Then the other time there was a blank room where he'd picked up a brush and did something he couldn't see himself do. It was like a flash of lighting— one moment it was clear before him, the next second it was gone, and left for him to figure out what had happened. Colours appeared too, pink, red, beige, but he couldn't seize the faintest clues as to what he'd done.

The last one, the most recent that had caused him to bolt up in sweat, on his own bed, panting like he'd just finished a marathon.

There were three images— stairs, a faceless man, and a black sound. He saw a real sound. But the man was chasing him, the darkness playing catch with the two, till Taehyung tripped and tumbled down the stairs. There was a stinging pain in his head, and a stunning wave of white that hit him. The man was coming closer, hands outreached, as he could only hold his head and inch away haplessly. There was a scream and the black devoured him. That was when he sat up and began crying, sobs echoing off his walls in the night without a comfort.

Whatever it was, it felt so twisted he didn't want to sleep. It lingered in his mind all the time— even when the sun shone brightly in the sky. He constantly turned around, inspecting his shadow in fear. The male nearly became afraid of sleeping, frightened by the thought of darkness alone.

Jimin noticed it.

Taehyung would suddenly snap his head back at the strangest of times, like when they were entering the lift, or opening a door. And he'd back away from stairs as if a demon was waiting for him there.

"You're acting weird." Jimin voiced one day, just as Taehyung almost jumped out of his seat when the shorter entered the room. The taller patted his chest, calming himself down.

"Sorry." He muttered, taking a sip of water.

"You okay?" Jimin bent down, his silver hair flopping down, looking him in the eye. Taehyung's expression was scared, his eyes large and puppy-like. The elder resisted the urge to boop his nose.

"Yeah." The man flashed a box-smile towards Jimin, and the smaller melted a little internally.

"Do you... want to talk about it?" Jimin sat himself down at his seat, spinning around in his seat before stopping when he faced the younger.

"N-Now?" Taehyung turned back, gazing out the window for a moment. Then facing Jimin again.

"What are you scared of?" Jimin's calm, husky voice visibly relaxed the latter, and Taehyung took a while before gathering his courage.

"I... I have nightmares." He squeezed out, clenching his jaw. "I'm scared."

"It's okay if you don't wanna tell me about it." Jimin's cute eye smile relieved him, "But I'll be here to listen if you need me."

"M-Maybe now? I just want to... let some things off my chest."

Jimin nodded and leant forward, waiting.

"There's a black thing. And a man. I can't see his face, but he's chasing me. And the black wants to catch me... and I'm always running away from them. There was one I fell down the stairs and... and..."