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The dream had happened again. It was already the fourth time Seonghwa was having this weird dream with Hongjoong. Weird because, one, Hongjoong was in it and, two, because it had never happened to Seonghwa to dream the same thing more than two times.
As much as he’s considered the sort of the witch of the group, due to his premonition abilities, he was finding this situation very unsettling. The dream was always the same. The scenario remained untouched all the time: Seonghwa was doing a late night live with Atiny, Hongjoong would randomly appear on his bedroom and push him to the bed with no further explanation, then it ended. He couldn´t think of an explanation for this, especially after all that happened between him and Hongjoong.
Seonghwa was starting to get paranoid, not only because of the so-called dream but also because Hongjoong was acting out of place. He was home early from the studio, he would hang out with the members, talk comfortably with Seonghwa and even being more touchy with him. It was like the person that was now wandering freely in their dorm was not Hongjoong.
The members would even come up to him asking “What´s with Hongjoong hyung? He´s not acting like his usual”. Seonghwa most of the times just said “I don’t know. Maybe he´s trying to repay for all the lost years”. Although he knew that this wasn’t true because everyone knew that all the nights Hongjoong spent at the studio were for the sake of the group.
“Hongjoong, are you feeling well?” Seonghwa decided to ask after days of ruminating his thoughts.
“And why wouldn’t i be, star?” said Hongjoong in his mischievous tone. Seonghwa stumbled back as soon as he heard the nickname. It reminded him of old times. Times when existing felt like being suffocated and chased by some kind of spirit.
Noticing Seonghwa was clearly shocked upon hearing that Hongjoong decided to speak again. “Why are you so startled? It’s not like it’s the first time I call you that.”
Hongjoong is right. It was not the first time that nickname was used. The problem is the so innocent nickname was actually the reason him and the man standing in front of him had broken up.
It’s weird how such a pure looking nickname carries an unbearable weight with it. When Hongjoong first called Seonghwa like that, he actually saw stars around him. If felt magical and whimsical, almost in a wrong way due to the casualty of the situation.
They were in the middle of the studio after a long day of practice and Hongjoong just blurted that out of nowhere. Little did he know how big of a crush Seonghwa had on him and how much that “star” had affected him.
Eventually the feelings were out and all Seonghwa could hear was the number of “stars” that came out of Hongjoong’s mouth. Until one night, when everything changed. Seonghwa had another of his lucid dreams, but this time it wasn’t one that could be told to the members as a fun story like usual.
Seonghwa was sleeping when he felt the weight change on the bed. “It´s probably Hongjoong lying next to me”, he thought. However, the moment he shifted his body to see his lover he was faced by some kind of entity that resembled Hongjoong. Upon eye contact, the strange figure started talking.
“Star”. It said. “Star”. “Star”. Each one growing louder and louder. “STAR. STAR.”. The screaming never seemed to stop. The creature looked at Seonghwa while smiling and laughing obsessively.
When he snapped out of it he was mocked by his empty bed. He tried to let it go, to not think about it, but as much as he tried, he couldn’t stop seeing and hearing that thing. It got to a point where he had to distance himself from Hongjoong and give their relationship a break.
Coming back to the present, Hongjoong was still looking at him somewhat waiting for an answer. “No, no. You’re right. I just started thinking of that time again, you know?” Seonghwa managed to say.
“Oh. I sure know.” Hongjoong said back while staring at Seonghwa’s eyes with the same smile that entity had looked at him that night. Seonghwa felt his breath hitch and panic starting to cripple beneath his skin. He decided to ignore it and call it a day.
He quickly said his goodbyes to Hongjoong, who was left alone in the middle of the kitchen, while he walked with unsteady feet and a ridiculous fast heartbeat to his bedroom.
He needed to calm himself down before he started to have a panic attack. He decided then that he would talk to atiny for a while to relax before going to bed, and so he turned on the live. Then, the flashbacks of the dream that had been haunting him for the last few days started to appear. He decided to ignore that and continue the live as usual until he heard a knock on the door.
“Who is it?” He said quietly. At that late hour he wondered who would be knocking at his door. In response the door just opened with a small silhouette staring back at him. He could recognize that shadow everywhere.
Hongjoong then rushed abruptly into Seonghwa, making him drop his phone on his desk. “What are you doing Hongjoong?” Seonghwa said in a curious voice. Before he could register Hongjoong´s steps inside the bedrrom, he was being pushed by the small men to the bed. “Just making sure my star is getting its deserved rest”. Hongjoong said while looking manically to Seonghwa.
When he was thrown to the bed he couldn’t move since Hongjoong had straddled his legs, which made almost impossible to move his body. That was when Seonghwa noticed the look on Hongjoong’s face. It was the same as that “entity” years ago. The flashbacks hitting harder and harder as he tried to free himself from Hongjoong.
Hongjoong then starts humming a melody , hoping to get the man beneath him calmer, but that melody had nothing relaxing to it. Seonghwa could feel his panic grow, his eyes beginning to shut, his body beginning to tremble violently, his throat starting to close.
Before he could pass out he managed to hear a distorted and high pitched voice say, “Sleep well, my beautiful star”.