STRAY KIDS ONESHOTS/IMAGINES || OT8

nightmare . hyunjin

Thunder crashed outside and you awoke, shivering. Your body was covered in cold sweat. You just had a nightmare - the scenes blurry and disorientated but still evoked a sense of irrational fear in you. As you registered your surroundings, breathing hard, you made eye contact with your classmate, Hyunjin, who also woke up because of the storm. Funny how you had just dreamt of him... but your nightmare was slowly fading away and you couldn't really remember the details. All you remembered was a strange sense of desperation, but it was a crazy, senseless fear... of what?

It was the annual school adventure camp and students, asleep in their sleeping bags, were lying all around the floor in weird angles. You tried to go back to sleep, but your nightmare had scared the living daylights out of you, and at 10 years old you wanted to go home. Here, you couldn't snuggle with your older sister, have the same sense of security you did in your own cosy room. You were scared.

Hyunjin had seen you wake up from your bad dream and sensed your homesickness. He scooted his sleeping bag closer to you and whispered, "Hey y/n, it's just a dream. Are you okay?"

"Yeah," your voice didn't cooperate.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really," you admitted.

"Well, if you're afraid, I'm here. You can wake me up if you get scared again." he smiled at you and wiggled himself back into his sleeping bag.

You caught yourself smiling back.

At 10, the both of you already knew how to care and look out for each other. At 10, the young love was innocent.

At 15, the both of you caught feelings.

At 18, he asked you out, and you said yes.

~

It was pouring outside, rain pattering against the window. Hyunjin walked into the room, exhausted. He had a long day that day, training hard for his next showcase. It was 1am, and you were staring at the ceiling, waiting for him.

Upon seeing you, his face brightened, plonking himself beside you on the bed. He poked your nose playfully, earning him a light shove. "How was work?" you had asked.

His brow furrowed. "Not so good. Absolutely hectic I say. I'm going to have nightmares about my project tonight." he shuddered, not wanting to think about his job.

You laughed - Hyunjin was such a drama queen sometimes. "Well, go to sleep. You'll feel much better tomorrow." you promised, hiding under the covers.

He did, resting his head on yours as you both drifted off into dreamland.

~

Some time in the night you felt Hyunjin tossing and turning next to you. The sudden motion made you stir, rubbing your eyes sleepily as you tried to see what was going on. It was dark, but you could still hear the sound of heavy breathing, panting. Hyunjin shifted again, and as your eyes adjusted to the surroundings you could see his tensed features, locked jaw and tight shoulders. He was having a nightmare.

You nudged him and called his name, reaching for his hand. It was clenched into a fist, and you stroked it such that his fingers relaxed, slowly finding yours. "Hey Hyunjin..."

He woke up with a start, a sheen of glistening sweat on his forehead. His eyes darted around the room until they found yours, and softened from their worried state. "y/n..." he breathed, burying his face into your shoulder. You held him as he calmed down, felt his agitated heart rate decrease.

When he pulled away you placed your hand on his cheek. "Do you want to talk about it?" Subconsciously, your mind flashed back to that camping trip you had as a kid, and felt an overwhelming sense of deja vu, as well as emotion you couldn't describe. That night was how you really fell for Hyunjin, and realising it now meant so much to you. You recalled that you had rejected his efforts to console you, and were afraid that he would too.

But Hyunjin squeezed your hand as he launched into an explanation of his dream.

" I was... at work, as normal... but something didn't feel right. The next thing I knew, two hooded black figures came into the office... the lights were flickering, it sounded like thunder outside." he paused as if the next part of his nightmare was hard to spit out - it was. His voice broke as he told you, " They dragged you in... you were tied to a chair. Bleeding, half conscious... they tortured you, y/n. They tortured you right in front of me... and I couldn't do anything. I wanted to punch them, to kill them... because I love you so much..."

Your heart broke, imagining what he was going through... it was easy. Because you had dreamt of something like that. It all came back to you, the sudden panic, the rush of fear through your body. You remembered your dream nine years ago, at the very camp you had fallen for Hyunjin at, the very one where he was there for you.

And now it was your turn to be there for him.

"It's just a dream, Hyunjin, I'm here." You put your forehead on his, holding him as he drifted back to sleep eventually, dreamlessly.