Seoul City

Ch. 26 - Nightmares

           

Fire. Fire everywhere. The world had transformed into a blurry haze of orange, yellow and red that travelled throughout the house like a ghost, destroying everything in its path. Sharp crackles and the crunching sound of wood filled the room, muffling Taehyung's cries for help. He was crouched under a small table in the corner of the room, his eyes wide in fear as he observed the flames that were getting closer and closer to him. He could feel the scorching heat on every cell of his body, causing beads of sweat to run down his small face.

"Mom!" He called for what felt like the hundredth time, but to no avail.

"Dad!" He tried again.

No answer.

Meanwhile, the flames were drawing closer, surrounding him from all corners. There was nothing he could do, no where he could run. He was trapped.

The fire had finally reached him now, engulfing him into its blazing arms. The only thing he could feel was the scorching heat that burned through his clothing, marking his back with a searing imprint. He could only scream as he felt severe pain, not only from the flames, but also from the possibility of losing his parents.

"Taehyung, Taehyung," he suddenly heard Chaeyoung's voice and looked up with hope, but saw no one. He looked around in confusion, still unable to locate her.

"Tae," her voice echoed around him as if coming from above, and he felt his arm being shaken vigorously.

Taehyung suddenly jolted awake in bed, his breaths coming out in rapid, short, puffs and his forehead glistening with sweat. As he tried to calm his rapidly beating heart, he looked up to see Chaeyoung sitting on the edge of his bed. The open window beside his bed was the only source of light in the room, but he could still clearly see the concern lining her pretty face.

"Chaeng," he leaned back against the headboard of his bed tiredly, "where are we?" he asked in an attempt to reorient himself.

"The lakehouse," she responded softly, dabbing the sweat off his forehead with the sleeves of her shirt, "you were having another nightmare."

Taehyung sighed and closed his eyes. He'd been doing pretty well for the past month, completely nightmare-free, but he should've known better than to believe he'd ever be free from their clutches.

Unfortunately, nightmares were a common occurrence in Taehyung's life – one he'd been forced to accept. The majority of these dreams surrounded the fire that killed his parents more than 10 years ago, but he also regularly relived the terrible experiences of torturing and killing people. Despite how awful he felt on these nights, a part of him felt like he deserved them – like it was part of the world's way of repaying him for all his wrong doings. Somehow, Chaeyoung always knew when these were happening and helped him through it. She was his rock, his refuge.

"How did you know?" He asked, beginning to calm down his breathing.

"Tae, you were screaming," she replied, her eyes wide with fear, "I've never heard you scream like that."

He unconsciously reached for her hand, squeezing it lightly, "sorry for waking you."

She looked down at where his hand was intertwined with hers, allowing it to remain like that for a couple seconds before pulling away, "I'm going to grab you some water."

"I'm still mad at you, by the way," she threw over her shoulder as she walked away, heading towards the kitchen.

Taehyung smiled at that, even though he was feeling dehydrated and nauseous as a result of the nightmare. Only she could make someone smile during their most painful moment.