bsumone | ❝ Have you any dreams you’d like to sell? ❞

Maybe you’re having a sweet dream or maybe it’s some recurring nightmare. Whatever the case, you become keenly aware that you’re not alone in whatever space your mind has conjured. If you look, you may catch sight of a little animal nomming away at some greenery that should or should not be present. It stops upon being spied and meets your gaze with a strangely human intelligence in its eyes. When you blink or if you look away, it’s gone. But if you find yourself looking around for it, you’ll be greeted instead by a smiling young man. His dark eyes are bright and the green bits of his otherwise dark hair hangs in them.

“Hello~”

Edited 2023-03-16 23:48 (UTC)

It's somewhere between a dream and a nightmare, some twisted version of Hyunsu's ideal reality that the monster conjured up while he was at his most vulnerable. There's no fighting it while he sleeps. While he's awake, he can usually keep the monster down, he can usually force it to remain as something that simply lurks under his skin and whispers in his ear. But he has no control over that while he sleeps and he can't stay awake forever.

The streets of Seoul are crowded. They're often crowded, so it doesn't seem like anything out of the ordinary. No, it's not the crowd that makes this dream clearly a dream but rather, it's the absence of a crowd near Hyun-su. It's not that the crowd has parted around him, but rather that they were never there. They fade into nothing as they approach him. Even the advertisement next to him is devoid of people. Only words and blank spaces where there were once fake, smiling faces advertising some product that no one needs.

As Hyun-su looks around, watching people disappear one after another, his area of influence seems to spread. First it's just people within a few meters of him, then further and further out until the streets are empty, just as he imagines all of Seoul to be now.

His ideal world. A world without people. No one to bother him. No one to disappoint or hurt him. No one to turn their backs on him. No one to use him. Just, no one.

Except for a single creature. A creature that doesn't belong. The monster has tempted him with this ideal world a few times and while it's not always been the same, it's been similar enough that Hyun-su can recognize when something shouldn't be here.

But then it disappears just like all the people have. He doesn't see it happen but it's there one moment and gone the next. Hyun-su is almost disappointed by it's sudden absence. It's the people who hurt and betrayed him. It's the people who needed to go. He finds himself heading over to where he last saw the small animal to search for it. Did it really disappear or has it simply-

When Hyun-su turns back from his search, his own almost vacant eyes meet with bright eyes and a smiling face. But he doesn't return the smile. Instead, he takes half a step back and his brows pull together in confusion. The people have all gone already. And even if they hadn't, they certainly never address him.

"...hello."

Hyun-su's reaction doesn't surprise Jae. Not in a dream of a world devoid of people. Or, well, human people. That is something Jae is not. Nor is he some simple little tapir showing up in someone's dreams. But none of that matters unless Hyun-su asks for an explanation.

"Were you looking for me?"

Hyun-su tips his head first one way and then the other, peering at Jae curiously. Then, without a word, Hyun-su walks back over to the advertisement that he'd been standing near. He stares into the plexiglass over the blank space where people's pictures used to be, waiting to see if anything looks back at him. But it's just him and he expects himself to look. No inky black eyes or eerily wide smile.

He turns to look around for a moment, then lets his eyes settle back on Jae. No gloating monster. No tantalizing promises. Nothing. Just Hyun-su and someone who doesn't seem like they belong here. Unless Jae is the monster, though it's only ever been a copy of Hyun-su, himself. It is a part of him, after all.

"I don't know. I think I might have been? Who're you?"

"It's just us." He was pretty sure. Maybe not? He thought he might've sensed someone or something else, but as long as it wasn't actively causing either of them any harm, Jae was fine. He's not the sort of creature that likes to pick a fight, anyway. He wouldn't start one, but he was certainly capable of finishing one. Even if he didn't look it.

"Jae~" he chirped in answer. "You saw me just a moment ago. That's not supposed to happen, but sometimes it does."

Just them. He wonders, though, if it'll stay that way. Will Jae simply fade away like the rest of them? He can't help but feel like the answer to that is actually 'no', however. He's different. Right? Usually acknowledgement ends with a mere glance at Hyun-su before they disappear in this particular dream. But Jae is speaking with him. He's engaging with him. Honestly, he doesn't hate the attention. Maybe it's the lack of a harsh tone or no ordering him into dangerous situation. If he's not careful, he could get used to this. But then the monster wins, doesn't it? Getting used to this could mean forsaking the waking world with its harshness and danger, but then that means out there, he becomes the monster and-

He narrows his eyes a little, scrutinizing Jae. Is he some kind of trick to get Hyun-su to finally give in or just something else entirely? It's confusing.

"Jae," he repeats quietly to himself as though trying to commit it to memory. Does that matter though with him being asleep? "But I didn't- You were the animal that was there?"

"Mmhmm~ That's right," he chirps, bobbing his head in a little nod. "That's my real body." Which is to say, he doesn't look like a person in his true form. "It's easier to talk to people like this, though."

Even in dreams, people are more incredulous when an animal begins to speak to them. Jae figures it's because their unconscious minds know he's not a creation of theirs, so they reject the absurdity of it. Far easier for the mind to accept a stranger in a dream.

"Who else was here?"

"The animal? That's the real you?" A stranger intruding in a person's dreams does seem much easier to accept. It's not something that stands out. It could easily be played off as a face in the crowd you didn't even realize you saw earlier that day. Something your brain latched onto without you even knowing.

Considering Jae isn't the only intruder in Hyun-su's dream, might he have actually accepted the talking tapir? Hm.

Hyun-su looks away from Jae for a moment as he considers how best to answer the question. It's obvious though. It's pretty obvious that he should just tell Jae the truth and be direct about it. It's not like it's a secret. Everyone around him knows what's lurking inside of him, waiting for a weak moment, though they've never seen it quite as directly as Jae could in Hyun-su's dreams.

"Is. There's a monster here. Normally I'd see it by now. Maybe it's waiting for you to leave."

Jae cocks his head to one side. A monster? Well, he's definitely seems strange things in people's dreams. But from his tone, Jae's sure Hyun-su means this literally.

"Then I won't leave."

Technically, he should probably tell Jae to leave. It feels like it would be the right thing to do. He doesn't even know if anything will happen to Jae or if Jae staying here will just make things worse for Hyun-su next time (though what constitutes 'worse' at this point?) but he doesn't say anything of the sort. If Jae really is the reason why it's just the two of them right now, why the monster is still just lurking? Well.

"I don't want you to leave."

One of the perks of being what Jae is is that he's unkillable. Thus far, it's proven true. But Jae isn't fond of pain, so it's not like he puts that to the test often.

"Does it bother you while you're awake, too?" The monster, he meant.

Meanwhile, Hyun-su puts the same thing to the test a lot in service of the rest of the survivors. It hurts every time but he does it anyway. So far he's been pretty unkillable as well. He doesn't really see it as a perk. More of an inconvenience. Some day, though, he'll be out of this awkward in-between stage and he'll probably be destructible again. He's killed monsters. They can be killed.

"It's all the time. It doesn't stop." It feels odd to admit it out loud, that the monster is always whispering in his ear while waiting for a weak moment, but it's also strangely freeing. Besides, he doesn't know how this whole thing with Jae works so what's the harm, right? Maybe his admission will never actually leave this dream.

"How exhausting," Jae declares with a large huff. Is he talking to Hyun-su or his unseen companion? He may not be able to help with the root cause of this, but... "If you don't want to remember this dream, I can take it away."

"I like this dream. That's why it keeps showing it to me." Though that doesn't answer the question. Liking it doesn't mean wanting to remember it. It doesn't mean wanting to continue allowing it to be used against him like this, to chip away at him until he finally gives in.

"I wouldn't remember any of this?" Jae is what he's asking about. Will he remember Jae? He doesn't seem to be a part of the dream, but he is in it.

That's the one drawback to all this: taking away a person's dreams and nightmares involves taking away the memory of him, too. Usually, it's fine. Jae doesn't often get involved with the dreamers he feeds from. They don't usually notice his presence.

But Hyun-su had noticed.

"Not any of it," he affirms with a sad little nod. Oh, if they met in the waking world, Hyun-su might feel a sense of déjà vu, but little more.

Oh. That's what he was afraid of. Even if it's only in a dream, and even if it's only for a short time, Jae has been a small positive in his life. A bright spot in a long string of dark moments. He doesn't really want to give that up.

Hyun-su looks around at the empty city, then back at Jae and shakes his head. "Then no. Don't take it away."

Jae cants his head, mildly surprised by Hyun-su's answer. But he would respect it. He always did in the rare instances when someone noticed him. Maybe it's because he's a deeply lonely creature.

Maybe Hyun-su is, too.

He brightens a tiny bit, dark eyes looking more than a little hopeful. "Can we meet again? In the real world?"

Deeply lonely yet wary of companionship. And he's still a little wary of Jae too, yet there's something about Jae that puts him at ease too. A kind of ease that Hyun-su hadn't felt since before Do-hun came into his life. Since before Do-hun ruined his life.

"We could do that?" Jae exists outside of here? It seems like a strange question, since just about every face in a dream has been plucked from the real, waking world, but Jae is obviously different.

"Yes," he assured with a nod. "I have a real body outside of the dream plane. Just like you do. The only difference is that I'm not asleep." Jae didn't need to sleep, at least not as frequently as humans and their adjacent creatures do.

"Do you want to meet?"

"Oh." It makes sense. Sort of. Well about as much sense as anything else that's happening or has happened. He's turning into a monster, along with a lot of the waking world, Jae invades dreams and isn't bound by what happens in them, but is tied to them enough to be forgotten along with the dream. Yeah, it makes as much sense as anything else.

"I think I'd like to meet."

"Show me where you live. I can find you there." He knows the brain doesn't do well with numbers and letters in a dream state, so Hyun-su wouldn't be able to write down an address or a phone number to Jae to take away. And Jae's bad with numbers so he wouldn't be able to memorize them if Hyun-su recites the information. "Can you do that?" It's his dream, he should be able to do that much.

"How?" It's his dream, but he's also not sure that it's entirely his. He's not sure how much control he has over it, or how much say he even has in what he sees. A carefully crafted dream meant to entice. Can he see what he wants to? Can he actually show Jae Green Home, a place that is sure to remind him that he can't simply give himself over to the monster completely. "How do I do that?"

"It's home, right? Just think about it. Focus on it." And, as long as Hyun-su's monster is driving, it should eventually crop up for Jae to see. "Pretend like you're walking there. You can look around and show me the landmarks."

"I don't-" He doesn't really know many landmarks. He walked to Green Home the once and then just sort of locked himself in his room until eventually the world fell apart. He tries to do as instructed though. He focuses on Green Home and pretends like it's walking there. Specifically, he pretends like he's walking there from his old family home. They aren't much in the way of landmarks, but he sees trees that he passed on the way to his new home, cars parked in the street, all of which he points out to Jae like some boring tour guide. Still no people. Just empty roads. But enough to let him know that he's going the right way.

"There it is." Hyun-su points to a sign up ahead, and more specifically, the building that looms behind it. Green Home, 15 stories of a grimy, inhospitable looking apartment building. The building looks like it did before monsters, which isn't to say it's much better. But the front of the building is not barred and there are no monsters lurking or dead bodies festering outside. "There's where I live."

Jae watches closely, taking in all the roads and buildings en route to Hyun-su's home. Inhospitable, indeed. That would have to change. Once there, Jae lays a hand on Hyun-su's shoulder. It isn't his goal to pry so they don't have to go inside unless Hyun-su wants to.

"Can you meet me here tomorrow? Around lunchtime? We can grab something to eat together, okay?"

When Hyun-su's parents died, they left him very little money (it's the only part of their deaths that truly upset him. He was expected to get an apartment and feed himself on the pittance they left him) and Green Home was within his price range. It's only slightly less inhospitable looking on the inside. Or was at once point. Now it's a mess of dead monsters and people, broken doors and windows, holes in the walls and fire damage.

Even if this isn't the real version of the building, even if it's from before people started turning into monsters, Hyun-su has no intention of taking Jae inside. This is far enough. He doesn't need to see the way Hyun-su lives.

"Right here, just down from the sign. Around lunchtime. Okay."

“I’ll be there,” Jae assured, offering a warm smile that made him seem to stand out even more in this gloomy place. He wondered how much of that was Hyun-su influence – his interpretation of his world and his situation – and how much was real. That happened a lot; things were different in people’s dreams than in reality because of their moods or memories of said thing or place.

As promised, the dream eater found his way to the appointed place at the agreed-upon time. He stood near the sign Hyun-su had pointed out, thumbs hooked in the pockets of his pants as he rocked back and forth on his feet. Dark eyes were bright and alert as they scanned the area for Hyun-su’s familiar face.

Edited (typo, ofc) 2023-06-22 03:04 (UTC)

Hyun-su's dream didn't do the building justice. He'd not really been outside of it since before everything started, so his dream had managed to paint it in a more positive light. The reality is that the building looks to be in much worse shape. Shattered windows and barricaded entrances. The remains of both humans and monsters littering the parking lot. There's a reason why Hyun-su didn't want Jae going any closer to the building. He doesn't want Jae to get a closer look at where he's living. Also, with all new manner of monsters popping up, who can say for sure that there isn't one that would be a real threat to a dream eater?

The last thing he wants is for Jae to end up in danger just because of him. He's already putting the rest of the residents in danger simply by leaving the building.

It's a little later than the agreed upon time when Hyun-su finally makes an appearance. He's a little rougher looking in person than he was in his dream. He looks more worn down, more world weary. There are bits of dried blood flaking off of his skin where there were once injuries that have healed. Blood that he's trying to brush away as he approaches Jae.

"Sorry I'm late..."

Some things are threatening to Jae. Things with teeth and claws and hungers. It’s said Jae’s an unkillable thing. He doesn’t care to test that by getting swallowed whole by some monster bigger than him! So, thanks, Hyun-su. Jae would appreciate the thoughtfulness if he knew of it.

He doesn’t mind waiting. He did say ‘around lunchtime.’

Seeing his new friend approach looking more than a little run down, his eyes widen slightly before he offers a bright smile instead of questions. Jae looks exactly as he appeared in the dream with the little splash of green hair and all! As soon as Hyun-su’s in reach, Jae’s grabbing his hands to lead him away from all this.

“What kind of food do you like?” Do they need introductions when they’ve already met? Jae doesn’t think so.

Sometimes, you have nights where you just can't fall asleep, no matter what you do. It could be for any number of reasons or no reason at all. And this is what’s happened now: you’ve been lying in bed for what feels like hours, just tossing and turning, and nothing seems to help. Maybe you continue to lie there. Or maybe you get up for a drink or a book or to see if a shower will help. You don’t get far before you sense something, someone else in the room. As if he simply appeared out of the ether, a young man with a gentle expression is sitting on the edge of the bed. Even in the darkness, you can feel he’s non-threatening. But also concerned.

“Can’t sleep?”

Edited 2023-03-16 23:58 (UTC)

A long time ago, Jae found himself interested in waking world of humanity. Of course, it was sheer curiosity about how people lived versus how they dreamed that brought him to their world. And he’s been here ever since. Oh, of course he still wanders through their dreams, but he can share their day times, too. And he liked that! Lives both simple and complex fascinated him.

Simple things made him happy living among people. The sun on his face in the winter. The smell of plants coming to life in spring. The wind in his hair when he was on a swing... Much like he is now.

Well, he was swinging until someone nearby caught his attention. Jae let the swing slow down and finally dragged his feet into the ground to slow it down. Once the swing stopped, he gave a little wave and smiled. “Hi~”

Edited 2023-03-17 00:03 (UTC)

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❝ Have you any dreams you’d like to sell? ❞

Sweet dreams are made of this

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