As Cold As Metall

Chapter 9

I awake in my room with a light headache. I've dreamt again... Now that my thoughts become clear I remember the names of the two men... Jin and T-Taehyung. What does that mean? Is this man the Taehyung I know? But who is Jin? And what are they always talking about. And most importantly, why do I dream about it? It doesn't make any sense. I sit up slowly, still feeling a little dizzy. Suddenly the door opens up, revealing Tae with a hopeful expression. As he sees my sitting figure his lips crack into a bright smile. "Finally you're awake", he says while coming to my side. "How long have I been sleeping?", I ask and look up to him. "Just a couple hours. I was so worried. You collapsed out of nowhere." I think about his words, knowing that the collapsing was indeed out of nowhere. I have no idea why it happened so suddenly. My battery was still full and I can't think of another reason why I should have collapsed. "I'm sorry that I worried you, Tae", I say with guilt in my voice but he just shakes his head. "You don't need to be sorry. It wasn't your fault." He strokes my dark hair while saying it. His touch feels so nice. I like it when he is near me. I think about my dreams again. Should I tell him about them? I don't know why I shouldn't though. "Tae?", I say to get his attention. "Yeah?" "Can I tell you something?" "Of course you can. You can tell me everything you want." I smile a bit and say: "I've been dreaming something for a few days now... There are always two men who are named Jin and Taehyung. They are always talking about something, I believe a girl, and all the dreams seem to be connected. It doesn't make sense to me at all. Why am I dreaming these dreams?" I stop with the question lingering in the room, leaving it in silence. Tae looks at me with wide eyes, not knowing what to say. I look at him worried and say: "Tae? Say something, please." "Sorry, Mina... I don't know why you are dreaming these dreams. Nor why one of the men has the same name as me..." He looks down to the ground. "I need to go somewhere. Sorry that I can't stay. You can order something if you get hungry. I informed our boss that we won't be coming to work today so just relax, okay?" He smiles at me after finishing his speech and I can't do anything but nod. After that he leaves my room. I wonder where he needs to go so suddenly...

Taehyung POV

After exiting the apartment I break the connection with the Dreamer, that's the machine that helps me getting into her dream. I open my eyes and feel a little dizzy at first, like every time I get back to reality. Jin stands by my side like always, looking at me astonished. "Why are you here? Isn't a new day beginning in her dream?", he asks while I sit up slowly. "Yeah, the day started and she is awake but..." "But?" "I needed to come back to talk to you about something." "And that is?", Jin asks curious. "She dreams about us." "What?" "She dreams about us. Every time she sleeps, she dreams about the things we talk about her." "How do you know that?" Jin looks at me shocked, that's probably the same face I made when Mina told me about her dreams. "She told me about it right before I broke the connection. I couldn't believe it either." I scratch my head and look at Jin. "Does that mean her body here is somehow awake?", I ask Jin who looks to her body for a second before returning his gaze back to me. "Probably. Her real self hears what we are talking and that makes her dream-self think it's a dream because she doesn't know she's in a coma-dream." I nod slowly. It sounds plausible. I wonder if she thinks that I am the Taehyung in her dream. It is possible but I doubt that she really believes that theory. "What did you tell her before you broke the connection, Tae?", Jin suddenly asks, ripping me out of my thoughts. "I told her, that I need to go somewhere and that she should relax after what happened. Why?" The older just shakes his head. "I just don't want her to search you and not finding you anywhere in her dream-world, that's all. You should go back, don't you think?" I nod slightly and lie back down. I close my eyes and right after I feel myself being pulled into her dream again. It always feels strange. Like your soul gets sucked out of your body. I open my eyes to find myself at the place where I broke the connection. I walk back home at a faster pace, hoping she's alright. I reach the door and open it just to find an empty apartment. "Mina?!", I yell through the whole apartment while running from room to room just to find them all empty. Where could she possibly be? I return to the living room and spot one of the photos. My eyes went wide when I realized where she must be. My legs lead me to the hospital. I open the doors to find her sitting on one of the many chairs. I walk towards her, making it look like I just came back from my best friends' room. "What are you doing here?", I ask as I stopped beside her. Mina looks up to meet my eyes. "I didn't want to leave you alone..." "You're so cute but I told you to stay at home, didn't I?" "You did", Mina says and sighs. "Were you visiting her?", she asks and I nod slightly. "It's been a long time since I last visited her. I'm glad I finally could", I explain. She nods and asks: "How is she doing?" "Sadly, she is still in a coma." "I'm sorry...", she whispers but I shake my head. "Don't be. It's not your fault." She stays quiet, staring off into the distance. I wonder what she is thinking. I put my hand on her shoulder, making her look at me. "Let's go home, ok?", I ask and smile lightly at her. I earn a nod from her and she stands up from the chair to follow me outside. I'm glad that she waited in the waiting room. I wonder if she asked someone if I was there somewhere before she sat down. Should I ask her? I look at Mina out of the corner of my eyes. She looks distant somehow. There must be so much going through her mind. Everything that happened the past days was really much. I decide to not bombard her with my questions so we walk back home in silence. "Are you hungry?", I ask when we enter our apartment but she shakes her head while going to her room. She seems not good. I'm scared something bad is up with her so I hold onto her wrist. She turns her head to me almost immediately, looking a bit confused. It's really surprising how much she has changed the past days. She behaves more like a human and I'm sure she will wake up when she becomes a real human in her dream. "What's wrong Tae?", she asks me, looking directly into my eyes. "That's what I wanted to ask you", I answer, resulting in her looking down. I wait for an answer but don't get one. Of course, I don't want to force her so I just let her wrist go and say: "Never mind. You can go to your room if you want." I turn away and go to the living room, turning on the television to distract myself.

Mina POV

When Tae left me to go somewhere, I was worried. I didn't know where he was going. Neither when or if he will come back. I wonder why he left right after I told him about my dream. Does he want to think about it in peace? Or does he want to talk about it with someone? But who would that be? I feel like going insane. There are too many questions I couldn't answer. I never had so many questions, at least not about another person, only about myself. I was always asking about my own existence but never about another person's feelings, thoughts and so on. I'm scared because I changed so much. It's all too much for me because it all came to me at once. I know I always wanted to have emotions and everything but to suddenly get them is so scary. I'm scared of all the consequences and everything that will come towards me now. And the worst is, that Tae suddenly left without an explanation. He is the only light in my world of darkness and makes everything better and now he's gone. Suddenly I feel something on my cheek. "Am I c-crying?", I ask myself out loud while touching my cheek to feel something wet on it. It is my first time to cry, causing me to be even more scared. "Tae, where are you?!", I cry out loud while more tears stream down my cheeks. I really don't know what to do now. After a while of crying on my bed I decide to search for the only friend I have. I wipe my tears away and grab my key and jacket before exiting the apartment. I don't know where I should look for him, bringing tears to my eyes once more. I look around the park but he's not here. Suddenly a thought hit me, making me walk into a completely different direction. I come to a halt in front of the great building, hesitating to go inside. What should I do when I enter it? It looks so big I will never find him. I enter the building anyway and stand in a huge hall with a lot of chairs and a large desk where a woman sits behind it. I look around lost in my desperate thoughts of what to do now, when someone called out to me: "Excuse me, miss. Can I help you?" I look around and meet eyes with the woman behind the desk. I walk closer to her and ask: "Did a boy came in?" She laughs a bit and says: "Miss, this is a hospital. There are many boys coming in and going out. Please be more specific. What does he look like?" I could slap myself. Of course I should have told her what Tae looks like. "I'm sorry. He has blonde almost white hair and brown eyes." The woman thinks about it for a moment before she says: "Well I don't know exactly. Why don't you wait here? There is water around the corner if you want some." She smiles at me and I thank her with a small smile before sitting down on one of the chairs. While I wait I discuss with myself. If I should stay here or walk back home. He will get angry when he comes home from wherever he is and I'm not there even though he told me to stay. I get more scared again and am about to stand up and leave when someone says: "What are you doing here?" I turn around and meet Tae's eyes. Suddenly all my courage to tell him my feelings leave me and I tell him a lie: "I didn't want to leave you alone..." "You're so cute but I told you to stay at home, didn't I?" "You did." I sigh and look away from him. I knew he would be angry. I should have stayed home. I'm so dump. I then decide to ask: "Were you visiting her?" I look at him and he nods slightly before saying: "It's been a long time since I last visited her. I'm glad I finally could" This time I nod and ask: "How is she doing?" "Sadly, she is still in a coma." "I'm sorry..." I look away again, hating myself that I came here and making him talk about her again. Suddenly I feel a hand on my shoulder and Tae suggests to go home to which I simply nod. The walk home was in silence but I was to scared to break it. He is surely thinking about his friend. I shouldn't load all my troubles on him while he has some himself. We enter our apartment I want to go straight to my room when Tae holds me by my wrist. I turn my head to look at him and ask him what's wrong but he says: "That's what I wanted to ask you." I look at him confused. What does he think? Does he know how I feel but wants to know for sure? I stay silent until Tae lets my hand go and says: "Never mind. You can go to your room if you want." After that he turns away, leaving me alone in the hallway. I decide to finally go to my room. I can't tell him anything yet. I should do it but I can't. I feel the tears on my cheeks again and just let them fall. "I'm such an idiot", I whisper to myself when I enter my room, hoping Tae won't be coming in today once more. I lie down on my bed and slowly drift into a dreamless sleep while still crying.