Dream

19: Dessert

Joy then invites Sungjae to an ice cream shop at the beachside. They eat it while sitting on the beach while watching the sea and people play around.

"So, how's this place? Gives you comfort?" Joy asks, changing the topic.

Sungjae nods a little with a smile. "But not as much as your words. Thanks for comforting me last time."

"My pleasure," Joy says with a smile. "So, you're feeling much better now?"

Sungjae shakes his head with a bitter smile. "Not yet." His nightmares might have lessened, but he still afraid to perform on stage. "Ah, doesn't mean your words don't work. It's just.."

"It's okay," Joy cuts off. "I know encouraging words and support will only comfort you for a while. Just like alcohol. In the end, problems can only be done when we face them," Joy responds.

She continues, "But they're still better than alcohol, of course. It gives you strength to overcome your problems rather than a hangover," Joy grins, making Sungjae chuckles.

"Ah, talking about alcohol, do you want to have some later?" Joy offers. "Just a little."

"Sure."

The sun is setting at 6 and the sky is getting dark. Joy and Sungjae go back to the pier to see the penguins for a while before heading to a bar at the beachside to have dinner. Joy keeps her words by ordering a pint of cocktail to be shared, hoping it can make Sungjae forgets about his problem a little.

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After dinner, Joy offers Sungjae to have dessert before heading back home. They head to  Scoopy Milkbar to eat the patbingsoo that they had in their dreams and Sungjae follows her. Sungjae finally gets to try the dessert he wants in real life as it looks appetizing in the dream.

"So, which dream do you remember? All?" Sungjae asks. He's curious what Joy remembers.

"Sort of, I remember when you told me to memorise the number, gave me advice and when I.. I mean the last dream. Do you remember them?" Joy was going to say when she almost crushed him with her car, but she holds it back. It doesn't feel good to talk about what happened there.

"I do, but of course not with details. It's hard to remember them, especially when we have lots of them."

"Yeah, we often forget about it when we wake up." Joy agrees.

"Not all dreams are like that though. Nightmares stay better in our mind," Sungjae says.

"Really?" Joy doesn't remember much about her dreams. However, she remembers all her dreams with Sungjae because she writes them right after she wakes up whenever she just had one.

"Eung and my friend said it's because they leave scars on our mind. Just like painful experiences that leave scars on our heart."

Sungjae's words make Joy wonders. The way he talks about nightmares, it seems like he experiences a lot of them and gets trauma from it. It makes Joy feels bad for Sungjae and she wishes him to heal from it. She also wishes him to not experience more nightmares.

As they arrived in the cafe, they order 2 portions of patbingsoo. While waiting for their desserts, Joy is asking further about Sungjae's ability. "So, how do you know that you know about others dream? I mean it's others' dream and your dream at the same time, there must be a time when you hear about other people's dream."

"I found out when my friends told me about their dreams about me and they're the same as mine. I even checked it with my family and it has the same result. From there I realised I never have my own dream. I'm weird, right?"