🅝🅔🅦 🅑🅞🅨 🅘🅝 🅣🅞🅦🅝 [Male SuperM Member]

l i g h t s. o u t.

WARNING: Maybe sensitive to those with a fear of the dark and/or monsters/creatures in the shadows
(Imma just be putting warnings cuz I kinda feel bad, imma also go back and put a warning on the automatanophobia chapter. Just know that if you do have a phobia, you're strong and you will overcome it T^T in the meantime I hope you can find/ have found a a way of coping such as a distraction like a friend or phone.)
(This is also another chapter shorter than my height, which is impressive)
(Also this chapter isn't based on a phobia, just Lin's fear of the dark, not to be confused with nyctophobia)
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It was around 8pm at the dorms.
They had just had dinner and all went to their respective rooms, tired from all the talking alongside their complicated schedules.

Lin often stayed up on his phone scrolling through Instagram, looking at all the edited videos fans had made of both him and SuperM. Most of them he found entertaining and even posted some on the group chat.
He hummed to himself as the lamp on the small table next to him shone bright, it was able to provide enough light to the whole room leaving barley any shadows. It may have been uncomfortable but it made him feel at ease.
He'd find that most people would comment on how bright the lamp shone whenever they would visit his room at night, and Lin would just shrug it off saying how it shone a nice yellow beige colour.

He felt his eyes start to droop as he continued to scroll the many videos and edits on instagram before placing his phone on his desk, plugging in the charger.
He placed his hands under his pillows, facing away from the wall, curling up into his bed. He let his eyes close breathing in a deep breathe before trying to sleep.

That when the lights went out...

He could see through his eyelids that the room had darkened. He swiftly pulled the sheets over his head, curling up further into the corner of the bed, feeling his breathe hitch before taking quiet shallow breathes. He closed his eyes staying as still as he could waiting for something, anything to happen.

His body seemed to instinctively play dead in a way, he was deadly silent.
"Everyone ok?"
He heard Yuta shout from his room, across the dorm. He sounded slightly concerned, though it couldn't be told wether it was concern for his members or his own safety.
"Yeah, my phone is outa battery though, I was just about to charge it."
Mark said, if words could pout, they would be.
"I'll call security."
Jaehyun said, the only one who was actually being mature and calm in this situation.

"How about Jungwoo and Lin?"
Yuta said seeming quite concerned.
"Jungwoo's probably asleep-"
"I'm sorry what was that Mark."
Jungwoo seemed to be summoned by the sound of Mark no longer using honorifics.
"Is Lin okay?"
Jaehyun asked, his phone still ringing.
"I'll check."
Yuta said, walking across the dorms.

The sound of the elders footsteps seemed to put Lin more on edge, his breathes staying shallow yet getting more frequent as he tried to calm himself. He had been listening to the conversation and knew it was Yuta but couldn't help thinking it was some deformed creature running down the halls to devour him in some way.
The thought seemed ridiculous but still scared the boy, it felt as if this impossible thought was a reality. His mind wouldn't let go of the image he saw when he heard Yuta walk down the hall.

He remembers when he was younger. His parents told him various stories of monsters that would come to get him if he didn't go to sleep before a certain time. They used to tell countless stories of the same man that would grab the child by the ankle with his sharp bony fingers, dragging the screaming child out of their room with his abnormally stretched arms into the darkness of the hallway.
It's as if he were haunted by this man. He grew up to learn that this man wasn't real, but couldn't help but feel as if he would one day be taken away if he wasn't careful. So he convinced himself that turning on his light would chase away the man, and that he could trick him by staying still and silent. Leading to this moment, his body freezing up out of fear.

"Lin, are you ok?"
Yuta said shining his phone light at the cluster of sheets on the bed in the corner.
"Yes, please... please come here..."
Lin said, relieved to hear Yuta's voice and not the screech of a monster.
He felt the sheets press on him as the elder engulfed him in a hug after placing his phone with the light on, on the bedside table, dimly lighting up the room.
"It's okay... I'm here..."
Lin started to uncover the sheets to see his dimly lit room. Normally, this would terrify him and he would've stayed under his sheets but the familiar soothing voice of his roommate and the massive hug he had received made him feel at ease. As if he could fall asleep in the other man's grasp.

"Apparently the lights are gonna be back on in an hour, anyone want a sleepover?"

"Yes."
"Yep."
"Yeah!"
"Fuck yes!"

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(Small Vent: Does anyone else hate sleeping in the dark? Like I'm just on edge when I'm in the dark by myself, like I feel paralysed, It's like I'm playing hide and seek. Though it's just a common fear. It always feels like there's something in the shadows, I know there's nothing there but it always feels like there is T^T. I also can't be the only one who just can't sleep facing the wall, like I feel anxious whenever I'm facing the wall sleeping, like something would be behind my back if I was facing the wall. Pls does anyone else do this? It's got to be more common than I think.)