Dancing with Your Ghost [on hold]

t w e n t y - e i g h t

The day I die will be the greatest night where I'm free
I've tried to stay alive, but I feel dead inside and
You can't stop the actions that I speak
No one knows who I am
'Cause rumors are where I stand
People think they know me, but damn they don't

till death frees me
- Zevia

»»————-　➴　————-««

The seams of the bedsheets may have sewed into his skin at this point, his entire entity dissolving into the mattress. And when he finally opened his eyes, it was like he sprouted wings where he used to carry bricks.

So this is what a good night's rest feels like.

For a perfect few moments, this was everything Taehyung wanted— gliding out the bedroom and towards the kitchen, where his favorite boy was slicing tomatoes and humming tunes.

Socks was the first to sense his arrival, squinting lazily at the ravenhead and stretching its paws out in front of it.

Taehyung thumbed at his neck and cleared his throat nervously. "Gguk?"

Watching the delightful surprise flash across Jeongguk's face was the best thing to wake up to.

"Ghostie!" he blurted, putting his knife down on his cutting board and surging forward to embrace him. Though he stopped just a foot before him, cotton pants bunched around his knees and concern radiating across his facial features. "How are you feeling?"

"Great, actually." A small smile crept onto Taehyung's lips. "Very refreshed. Maybe even too refreshed."

Jeongguk aimed a futile punch at his shoulder, whipping at the air. "You slept for four days straight. You better be refreshed."

The ravenhead's eyes widened, smile vanishing. "Did you say four days?"

"Look at the time."

Taehyung whisked his head around to face the clock by the television. It was nearly 5pm. "I thought I woke up to you making breakfast!" he clamored, a little panic-stricken.

Jeongguk frowned. "It's okay. You've been through a lot, Tae. Emotionally, physically. Your body is trying to catch up."

It wasn't until then that everything came back to him at once. His parents' house, his memory, the ocean. Dread tightened his throat, his eyes losing all sense of glow.

One way or another, Taehyung's fingers found the pinecone necklace that hung from his neck, bits of it cracked under his weight in his sleep. A torrent of emotions chilled his cold blood, like autumn breeze on his skin. He stood still as a statue, eye twitching before he opened his mouth again. "I need to figure out my next step," he stated.

"Woah, hey, slow down."

Taehyung looked at him, baffled at the alarm in the boy's irises.

"You just woke up. Take it easy." Jeongguk glanced down when he felt fur brush against his ankle and crouched down to pick Socks up. He held the black cat in front of the ravenhead. "Socks, tell ghostie to stop rushing."

Socks merely raised a paw and gave it a good lick.

"I should go." He sounded tired all over again.

"Why?" Jeongguk tried to blink the shock and betrayal out of his telling eyes.

Taehyung didn't plan to withdraw so rapidly. After all, he claimed that this was all he ever wanted— Jeongguk and this apartment he dared call home.