FIRST | JOHNTEN

TEN | DREAMY

johnny ended up becoming ten's alarm the next morning of that saturday, happily questioning, "do you think we can see tiny today?"

ten blinks, caught completely off guard. seeing johnny's face this close was doing things to his heart. in a good way, he assumes. face warmer to the touch, his cheeks going pink, he tiredly mumbles, "i dunno. maybe?"

johnny realises the closeness and pulls away a little, looking away for a moment. "i just thought we could. maybe she's there."

"i don't doubt it," ten says quickly, just to see his crush's smile return in full force. plus, it's a free way to get breakfast, which she'll be happy to offer them. that's just how aunt hong is — caring and willing to give out of kindness. she also makes wonderful breakfast that keeps you full until lunch time, which is a huge bonus.

so, ten agrees to go with him to her restaurant. johnny seems to have memorised the way there, heading down the sidewalk without hesitating and finding the restaurant just fine without ten leading the way. though, he waits at the doorway for a slow, barely awake ten to catch up to him. ten opens the door and lets an excited johnny in first, ten yawning as he does so. he sort of wishes he was still in bed, now, sleeping under the warm
covers and dreaming about nothing specific.

his dreams don't make sense, really. the one he just had last night included many things, like cats, some famous artists who's name he couldn't remember at the moment with his tired brain and johnny somehow. he ended up in there and ten was probably stupidly smiling in his sleep. then, he questions — how did a famous artists end up in his dreams? well, to be fair, they are awfully weird at times.

aunt hong is there — obviously, with the door being unlocked — and she greets them enthusiastically with such energy it has ten a little envious. she brought tiny and the small little kitten says hi as well in his own little way. johnny happily pets him on his head and along his back. he then looks up at ten, "aren't you going to — ?"

"oh, yeah," ten awkwardly smiles and crouches down to do the same. tiny briefly sniffs his hand before letting him pet him, purring.

aunt hong smiles again softly, making her face shows her age. "what would you like for breakfast, you two?"

ten tells her, and johnny gets the exact same thing without hesitation. all ten does is glance in his direction again and johnny immediately says in english, "i trust your taste in food."

ten smiles.

they sit down, johnny picking up tiny to carry him and let him play around near where they sat, putting the kitten down on the floor and patting his head thrice. ten looks out the window to avoid staring at johnny for too long when his roommate says, "sorry for waking you up."

ten meets his eyes again and waves a hand. "oh, no, you're fine, johnny."

"i just, y'know, woke up when you were still clearly sleeping and i don't even know why i woke up so early when i slept late like you did," johnny laughs. "i'm definitely taking a nap before lunch."

"you know what? that's a good idea," ten agrees with a nod.

they wolf down their breakfast that aunt hong hands them, made with her talent and hardly rivalled skills in cooking, and then they head back to the dorm after playing with tiny for a few minutes, ten eventually falling asleep with his head resting on a chair. johnny had to lightly shake his shoulder to wake him up and whisper that they should head back to take a nap.

"don't fall asleep again as we walk," johnny tells him jokingly. "i wouldn't want to carry you all the way back."

"hm," ten hums and the thought of it doesn't sound too bad. being able to doze off and sleep as someone carries him and his brain is back in dream land with the adorable kittens jumping from cloud to cloud, which were painted on a beautiful sky from a painting made by bob ross and ten stands in the river gazing at the weirdness of it all with a big smile and johnny right there beside him with his pretty eyes and smile.

where is ten's thoughts going? had he already dozed off to bob ross painting land or something while still walking? well, to be fair, he was half sleep. when he walks into his dorm, he falls onto the first bed he sees without much thought. he closes his eyes on impact and sighs in content but a voice breaks through his few moments of peace.

"ten, that's my bed," johnny mumbles.

"a bed is a bed," ten answers simply without opening his eyes. "let me sleep."

johnny chuckles and says, "well, shove over. you're sharing it with me."

there's a sound of the bed creaking and johnny rolls right next to him and ten can feel his warmth.

ten wakes up in school. in some random, empty corridor. he looks around, eyes narrowed as he slowly gets to his feet. he wasn't even dressed properly for a school day, wearing clothes he'd wear on the weekends or a day off. then suddenly, he hears a familiar voice, soft on his ears. "ten."

it's johnny, dragging out ten's name with a playful grin. he holds out his hand for ten to take, eagerness in his bright gaze. to ten, johnny seems so beautiful — not that he wasn't before — and drawing him in even more. he doesn't have to speak to convince ten to take his hand and drag him off along the corridor. the ever so empty corridor.

soon, the doors along the walls began to disappear and the walls become just the blank white they were, a lone door at the end of it. at first, the corridor seemed long, ridiculously long, and suddenly became short. what felt like a long journey wasn't anymore and ten can barely recount much of anything that's happened so far but for the warmth of johnny's hand against his own —

"how many doors have we passed?" johnny asks with a giggle. ten stares at him, opening his mouth than closing it.

he spent more time staring at johnny's back rather than the walls. to be fair, what else was there to look at? ten tries to answer, "at least a hundred?"

he sounds rather unsure.

johnny just giggles again without a verbal response when they reach the final door at the long-gone-short length corridor and opens it, revealing what's on the other side. ten steps into water that immediately soaks his shoes and socks and he gasps when he looks around. trees, mountains in the distance, more water, cats in the clouds for some reason, and there's a big arse paintbrush adding more clouds to the sky, a man with a charming smile painting them.

it feels like he's seen this too many times before and he looks at johnny in utter disbelief and he just says, "i think you're handsome, ten."

then ten quite literally bursts into a group of fluttering butterflies to johnny's utter amazement and then ten wakes up for real.

he checks the time on his phone — it's already 13:04. how had he slept for that long? he looks over to the man beside him, still fast asleep. johnny's fringe had fallen onto his face a little, his roommate looking rather peaceful in his sleep.

ten smiles a little but looking weirded out. what the hell was that dream about?