Our Summer

Chapter 23

Seori sighs for the hundredth time that night, checking the time on her phone and throwing it away, as far as she can when she sees another missed call notification from Young Jun - her ex-boyfriend. He has been calling nonstop ever since she arrived here, and spamming texts asking if she is doing well and needs him to come over to look after her.

As if they are still together.

She wants to pretend she understands his concerns but ever since he walked out of her life two years ago, she erased every single reminder of him in her life. They ended everything on good terms but she cannot lie that him leaving her at the lowest point of her life did not destroy her emotionally.

A big part of her heart was gone the night they finally ended it. It is not a pleasant memory she wants to remember.

Shaking her head to push those thoughts away, she clears the bed to make space for her to sleep, her eyes so heavy she could barely stay awake for another second. It takes her less than a minute to drift off to sleep, forgetting the lights or the ajar door.

She loses track of time, head cloudy as she sinks deeper into her sleep, and then, she hears it. The familiar bone-chilling whispers from all her dreadful nightmares. The warped noise that surrounds her is like a loud muted silence, engulfing her entire being like a steel grip and swaying her thoughts as if she is being hypnotized.

Her body feels heavy like it is being dragged down into the bed, and her eyes are impossibly heavy despite her struggling to wake up, wanting to end the nightmare before it gets awfully frightening. She hates this moment. When she is in the limbo of being half awake and half asleep and yet the dream has a hold on her.

Time seems to move so agonizingly slow in her dream, an eerie feeling creeping on her skin as she fights herself to wake up, break the icy grip on her mind, and leave everything behind. She can feel her breathing getting harder, harsher and deeper like she is struggling to breathe. The dream begins to swallow her as she squirms, trying to free herself and it feels like hours before her eyes snap open.

She sits upright, shaking in fear and on the verge of crying. Her vision is cloudy, her brain all muddled in confusion and in fear, and her ears are ringing. She stays still, very still, as if any movement she makes might drag her back into the dream. Time ticks, her warm damp body cools down, and slowly everything slots back into place.

Then the door to her room creaks opens softly.

She turns in time to find Taehyung, standing there, eyes wide and something flashes behind them. Like fear.

"Park Seori", he calls her softly, stepping into the room. "Can I come in?"

There is a slight strain in his deep voice as if he is trying to hide something behind that calm tone. Seori fails to find her voice, the images from her nightmare begin to return, blinding her thoughts and sending chills down her spine.

Taehyung realizes that. He does not say anything else as he walks to her bed. "Park Seori, are you alright?"

She looks up at him, trembling glassy eyes and shaky lips. But she nods. "I am fine"

Taehyung frowns at her, sensing no truth in her words. Her face is pale, almost white, her lips trembling and her teeth chatter like the room is freezing her to death. She may not realize but her hands are fisted too tight she might draw blood. He looks at her and she averts his gaze, staring blindly at her lap instead.

She is far from fine.

"Park Seori, just let me do this alright"

Before Seori can register his words, he sits in the small space beside her, giving her a quick nod like he is hinting at something and then he takes her hands into his. He gently unclenches her fists, his warm fingers gently rubbing her palms to soothe her before taking her hands in his.