Chapter Text
Warm sunlight.
Soft sheets.
The gentle shhhh of leaves and the cool breeze.
I perceived it all before I ‘read’ it.
Strange. Dreams aren’t supposed to feel this way. These worlds only exist because I continue to read their stories, and a reader could hardly read without their eyes open. But every story has something new in it, no matter how closely it can resemble another. So maybe, this is it?
Intrigued, I immersed myself further in the feelings, savoring the clarity of sensation that doesn’t come with just looking at a scene unfold.
A gentle weight.
The creak of something metal rhythmically swaying on its hinge.
And as always, the crisp rustling of pages.
The sound reminds me of Fables begging to be read and I opened my eyes to oblige. The weight of my gaze caused a flurry of paper to fly into a whirlwind, scattering about the room just as a door creaks open.
I turn my head to look, blinking owlishly at the figures standing hesitantly by the doorway. There were many of them crowding the entrance to the room, but at the forefront was a familiar woman with her hand still on the door handle, and a handsome face towering above her.
I was surprised.
Seeing Yoo Junghyuk and Han Sooyoung in the same space together was so rare in all the worlds that I couldn’t help but feel something tug at my lips as I recognized the familiar scene.
They stood, eyes wide and lips parted. Their stupefied expressions were frozen mirrors of each other’s.
It seemed like the length of time between my lucid moments were getting longer and longer. I didn't remember which world-line this is at all, or when I started reading it, but after watching for so long it hardly mattered. The last thing I remembered was struggling to read the final revised version of Ways of Survival, sleep crashing into me like waves between paragraphs until I barely understood the words I was reading.
It isn’t long until the spell broke, and Han Sooyoung melted into a trembling smile as Yoo Junghyuk took long strides towards me. His signature scowl donned on his face as he approached.
“You bastard,” Yoo Junghyuk growled.
He reached out and grabbed me by the collar until my entire body was dangling up over the bed and eye level with him.
Wait.
Body?
“Huh?” A gasp found its way out of me. “Yoo Junghyuk—“
His fist came crashing down and before I even have a chance to register the pain, I’m plunged into darkness.
For once I don’t dream.