You, Again | jhs

12. Aladdin

"Your webtoon. I'm sure that we're not the only ones who noticed that your characters are uncannily alike with us, along with the somewhat similar names. Mind telling me... how?" Hoseok sat down next to her on the bed, his eyes watching her bite her lower lip at his query.

Huffing out a puff of air, Hana played with her fingers before glancing up at him next to her. She grabbed a pillow on her bed and hugged it gently as she spoke.

"They're from my dreams. As weirdly as it sounds, I've been having these wild dreams which run in a perfect storyline whenever I go to sleep. I took a nap just now while waiting for you to come, and in that dream... y-you..." Hana frowned as she remembered the scene, her voice becoming softer as her heart tugged at the awful dream.

"I what? It's okay, just tell me what you've dreamt about." Hoseok dared himself to shift closer towards her, and started to pat her back like how he did with the past Hana whenever she was upset.

The simple gesture comforted her a lot, and Hoseok grew a smile on his face when Hana stared up at him with blushing cheeks before looking away.

"I think, you and your friends died. It was a rainy night, and I was in a rush to find y-you with Namjoon and we bumped into the Crown Prince and he told us that you guys were in danger and- oh my god, I sound absolutely delusional." Hana facepalmed herself. "Sorry, my dreams are really wild like a drama—"

Hana's ramble got cut off when Hoseok leaned forward to caress her cheeks gently with his thumbs. Feeling bamboozled, she fluttered her eyes shut for a second before reopening them again, and her heart rate began to increase when her eyes met his warm orbs which were swimming with pure adoration with a hint of sadness in them.

There was an unspoken warmth and chemistry sparkling and dancing gracefully around them, making Hana knit her eyebrows at the connection she felt with him. It was as if that they were destined to be close with one another from the first day they met, like how she was drawn towards him by an invisible pull, their strings of fate constantly entangled with each other's not letting go.

Was Hoseok the reason why she was particularly drawn towards Seokho, her favourite character in her story?

Was he also the reason why her mind was constantly occupied with the unmistakable caring gaze and blinding smiles of his?

With her breath hitching sharply, Hana shut her eyes closed when Hoseok touched his forehead with hers, the gentle affection sending tingles and an unexplainable tingle to course through her blood vessels. Her heart skipped a beat at how careful he was while brushing her face, treating her like a doll made from the most fragile kind of porcelain.

"Those dreams of yours," Hoseok whispered with a soft voice, making Hana to open her eyes again to gaze into his. "they aren't merely dreams, Hana. They were your past memories, our past memories together, combined by the memories I told you before and your own, merging into one whole tragic love story of ours."

Hana lifted her hands to grab his larger ones. "Our... tragic love story?"

Hoseok nodded with a sullen smile while pulling himself away. "Yes, Hana. We were lovers in your past life, and after years of waiting, after years of wanting to give up, after years of wanting to end my life to stop this horrible pain of loosing the past you- here you are right now. You came back, walking right into the very core of my heart once again."

"H-how did I exactly die?" Hana felt her heart drop when Hoseok averted his gaze away with hurt painting all over his face. "Was it that bad?"

"You have no idea." Hoseok let out a humourless chuckle as he raked his hair back with a hand. "I'm sorry but I don't think I'm ready enough to recall and retell that dreadful day this soon."

"It's alright. Take your time." Hana gulped. "So, how did you guys exactly turn into vampires?"

"The dream you had just now, where we were all killed and were supposed to be dead," Hoseok paused momentarily to catch his breath, "we were saved by a vampire master who lived in cave in the forest. I don't know why, but he turned us and gave us shelter as he trained us to control our hunger for blood."

"Were you guys announced dead then?"

Hoseok shook his head. "Search parties were sent out every week under the King's orders, but they couldn't find our bodies until one and a half month later, we showed up back in the town scaring the daylight out of people. We looked alive, all healthy but the only thing we no longer have was a beating heart."

"It must have been hard on you guys." Hana glanced at him pitifully, and this look of hers didn't go unnoticed by Hoseok.

Intertwining his fingers with hers, he brought her hands up to place chaste kisses on her knuckles. He had longed for her presence, and now that she was back to his side, he swore not to let go of his precious little flower like how he did previously centuries ago.

"You wanna know something?" Hana's voice diverted Hoseok back to the reality, and he hummed in response. "It fascinates me how cold you feel on the surface yet there is this indescribable warmth only you have radiating from you."

Hoseok giggled. "That's because you make my dead heart flutter, Hana."

With her cheeks flushing red again, Hana rolled her eyes playfully. "Very funny, dead man."

"Hey, at least give me credits for turning you into a tomato." Hoseok winked cheekily, and he laughed uncontrollably when Hana began to smack him with the pillow on her lap. "Stop it!"

"You can't feel pain anyhow, so just let me release the stress!" Hana retorted, but it was obvious that she was smiling just as widely as he was when she continued her weak assault onto him.

Wrapping his fingers around her arms, Hoseok tucked her towards him so that she would be leaning against him on the bed. He grinned mischievously when Hana turned impossibly even redder at the zero distance they shared, his arms tightening around her form when she tried to escape causing her to shriek.

"You sound like a tiny little hamster trying to run away." Hoseok commented, scoffing at how flustered she was.

"I do not!" Hana smacked his chest with her bare hand, her ears burning up when she realized what she had just done. "Let me go!"

"Nuh-uh. I'm not letting you slip away easily this time. Not in this era. Not today." Hoseok crinkled his eyes cutely as he took in the tiny details on her face - the fading acne scars on her cheeks, the subtle tiny freckles below her eyes - the list could go on, but boy, was he whipped once again.

"You're staring at me creepily and I don't like it." Hana spoke, still trying to free herself from his deadly hug.

"Has anyone told you before how beautifully breathtaking you are?" Hoseok uttered out while letting her go.

Hana shot him a confused yet timid look while glancing up at him from her position of lying down flat on the bed. "Um, no? Who would go around and say that randomly?"

"I do. To you." Hoseok raised his hand adorably high up in the air, his childlike behavior tickling Hana's heart.

"What an extraordinary man you are." Hana exasperated with a grin plastering on her face. "You're undeniably charming too."

"I only show this side of mine to someone I truly care about, you see. There are still lots for you to learn about me, Moon Hana." Hoseok pushed her messy baby hairs away while hovering over her slightly. "And the question is, are you willing to do that, for both me and you?"

Hana raised an eyebrow. "Is there even a way to back out? My dreams would tell me otherwise."

A shrug was made by the man still gazing lovingly down at her. "Mhm, true though. Then, I'll show a whole new world to you."

"Did you seriously just quote Aladdin." Hana deadpanned.

"I can be your personal genie too." Hoseok winked again, chortling when Hana let out an irritated groan.

-

I'm back!! I'm finally free from exams (temporarily) so I can update here :)

As usual, stay safe n thank you for reading!

next update : 28/4/2021 (Wednesday)