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

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.

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

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