Chapter Text
CHAPTER 3
Woozy, Woozi
“You still haven’t changed, have you?” Chan chuckles, watching Seungkwan across the table, reading through his book with furrowed eyebrows. “You still hate his guts.”
“I don’t hate him per se.” Seungkwan answers, eyes never leaving the pages of his book. “I hate that his very existence challenges mine.”
Vernon reenters the common room with their drinks and before he could reach where his two company sits, a gust of wind sweeps through them and once more they hear the voice the three of them had been longing for.
“I am home.”
They stay still and let the warmth creep from their very core, the very fabric of who they are.
For the first time in days Soonyoung awakens with no memory of his dream, well that is if he even had one this time. Maybe this time his mind has finally given up its torture and finally decided to give him a proper rest.
Or maybe… It's too early to say.
One of the things Soonyoung’s therapist suggested when he was undergoing rehabilitation is to find something to do that would still keep his mind active even if his physical body is at rest. That is how Soonyoung found himself going through books after books in the facility’s library; limited as they may be.
Although he cannot completely recall the full details, there is one Soonyoung remembers. There is a theory that dreams could be interpreted as a manifestation of what’s locked up in one’s unconscious mind— remnants of those desires we never really got our hands on.
Sure there are times when these dreams are manifested into reality, but not in the sense Soonyoung is experiencing right now. Laying down on his bed although he certainly remembers passing out somewhere else and with someone on top of him; using him like their own bed, holding onto Soonyoung’s shirt tightly one would think they’re like a child having a nightmare as if they’re holding tight onto their familiar blanket for comfort.
Eyes still a bit out of focus, he looks down and for whatever reason, Soonyoung lets his fingers card through the blond locks of the person on top of him— the moment painting so much delicateness and terrifying familiarity. The tenderness of the other’s scalp against the calloused pads of his fingers, the silkyness of the golden strands, and the stillness of their breathing.
Everything, for the first time all his life, finally feels… homely.
“Soonyoung, what the hell?!” Before Soonyoung could react, Jun is already marching to him and the person on top of him groaning at the sound. “I was gone for an hour and you’re– wait.” Jun stops in his tracks just about when the stranger in the room finally opens their eyes.
Slowly, the blond stranger rises and shrieks in surprise, making them fall off of him and the bed next after they finally make eye-contact with Soonyoung and honestly hurts the idol’s ego just a tad bit. Maybe much more than he cares to admit, but to be fair Soonyoung had had his fair share of moments waking next to a complete stranger and none of them ever reacted like they’ve just seen their nightmare come to life.
“How are you able to get someone here without the security alerting me?” Jun turns to Soonyoung again when he notices the other blond getting up.
The owner of the house on the other hand moves to assist the other seeing the groggy state of the stranger.
“I didn’t.” Soonyoung answers his friend, assisting the other to sit on his bed. “He was just… there.” No matter how Soonyoung tries to ransack his own mind for a better explanation to tell Jun, there just isn’t.
Truth sometimes is stranger than fiction. Yet, there are far more stranger thoughts running through Soonyoung’s mind right now.
“Hey,” Soonyoung squats to the other’s eye-level. “How are you feeling?”
“What do you mean he is just there?” Soonyoung knows that tone. Jun is two hair strands away from boiling him alive long enough to get information out of him. “People just don’t appear out of thin air, Soonyoung.”
“They do when you’re high enough.” Soonyoung joked. Well, at least he tried. However, Jun can only spare either amusement or patience and the latter is already wearing thin as it is. “Okay, that may be an… untasteful joke, but–”
“You lit the way.” The stranger finally speaks, turning to look at Jun. “It was you.”
“I what?” Jun questions looking at the stranger then at Soonyoung confusedly.
The blond stranger moves to crawl across the bed to the side where Jun is standing with his arms crossed. It didn’t take long for him to feel like the floor was shaking beneath his feet once he was standing though.
Quick to respond, Jun catches him before he hits the floor again. “Easy there, Woozy.” The actor warns, returning him to the bed to sit once again. “I know I demand an answer, but I don’t want it coming from a corpse.”
“You’d do well on a horror film though.” Soonyoung comments, giving his friend a teasing smile.
“I know.” Jun admits. “Don’t change the topic though. How did he get here?” He questions his friend once again, pointing at the stranger on the bed.
Before Soonyoung could insist his cluelessness though, the blond gives Jun an answer. “It was you. You brought me here.” And Jun is not happy with that answer.
“There’s the answer.” Soonyoung points out. “It was you after all.”
“I just got off of a sixteen-hour flight less than eight hours ago, I swear–”
“You were the one who lit the way.” Once again, the man on Soonyoung’s bed interrupts him. “Don’t you remember?” He inquired, head turning to the lit candle on Soonyoung’s bedside.
Jun and Soonyoung follow the gaze of the other and Jun lets out a gasp seeing the white flame of the candle he lit more than three hours ago. No matter how Jun tries to play everything he did before and lighting the candle, he knows that the flame was not white when he put it there. He may not be a scientist of some sort, but Jun knows there is no wick that could burn strong enough to burn white, yet… there it is.
For a moment, none of them speaks until Jun snaps out of his reverie and grabs the stranger’s arm, proceeding to drag him out of the room with Soonyoung in tow.
“I don’t know who you are, but you have to leave!” Jun demanded.
“Jun, wait!”
“What?” Jun doesn’t stop entirely, clutching the stranger’s arm tighter that has the other wincing.
Soonyoung reaches for his friend’s hand. “Jun, can you calm down for a while?” He reasons.
Jun studies his friend’s face, ensuring to vet for any indication in Soonyoung’s eyes if the other had used again. He may trust Soonyoung with his life, but he had spiraled before. It took him and others who truly care for Soonyoung’s well-being forever to mend the broken hearts it left.
“You can’t keep it here, Soonyoung. It’s not a pet.” He lets go of the stranger’s arm and Soonyoung is quick yet gentle to move the blond behind him.
“Okay, first,” Soonyoung calmly starts. “Let’s not refer to a person as an it.”
“Fine.” Jun crosses his arm and tilts his stand on one foot. “What’s your name anyway? Let's start there at least.”
The friends both turn their attention to the stranger who looks at them with wide eyes and a slowly reddening cheeks.
Jun raises an eyebrow after minutes passed and all the other did is to stand there– brows furrowed, eyes flicking from Soonyoung to Jun, and around the condo unit. The stranger’s breathing quickens as he drinks in everything. His surroundings, the two friends, even himself. Everything is just…
“I don’t know.” Unknown.
It comes to him like a lightning slicing through the darkness of a stormy night and the thunder of everything else follows. His palms fly to cover his ears in a futile attempt trying to protect his senses from going overdrive.
“Stop!” He whispers, doubling down the floor, “I don’t know.” He keeps repeating, now on his knees with his eyes shut, bursts of scenes of life a part of him remembers.
Soonyoung and even Jun are quick to get to the stranger’s side. Jun has watched a number of impeccable acting performances being an actor his whole life, whatever a person is feeling he could tell 99% of the time when it’s genuine or purely pretend.
This right here, he had seen it so many times before. From the uncontrollable shiver of the stranger’s body, the override of his senses he’s desperately trying to block, the incomprehensible utterance, and even the lapses in memories. No matter how Jun tries to reason with himself, no matter how much he would like to be sympathetic, he has watched this film more than he can care to count. Countless times when Soonyoung tried his best not to fall back— willing himself to go through the withdrawal.
Jun stands there; watching his friend calm the stranger down, coaxing him with promises of safety and his presence.
“I am calling your sponsor, Soonyoung.” Jun swallows yet his voice holds no argument.
“Can you fucking wait?” Soonyoung protests, still by the blond’s side. “I didn’t use and I wasn’t lying when I said he just appeared there!” Voice almost cracking at the end, realizing the doubts that are now flooding his bestfriend’s mind. “Jun, please.”
Soonyoung’s eyes are filled with the same sadness Jun recognizes so many times in the past and just like all those moments in the past, he simply chooses to believe now and reserve regrets to add to the tally he keeps for himself.
“I know you.” Soonyoung looks down at the stranger’s now glassy eyes, barely minding anything else at this very moment.
“You don’t look good.” Jun comments, starting to get worried now as he observes how paler the stranger is getting by the second.
“You’re the fire that consumed me.” He breathes as if the words maim him. Before Soonyoung could fully understand, the blond loses consciousness on the floor as Soonyoung did hours ago.
“Oh come on!” Jun cries, moving to get the stranger off the floor because for some reason, Soonyoung is just simply… there. Kneeling and looking at the unconscious stranger. “I didn’t have enough medical drama experience for this!”
“Play that again.”
“Mr. Moon, we’ve played the clip ten times already.” The Security personnel argue.
“I don’t pay you to throw a tantrum.” Jun nags, crossing his arms at the younger.
“Mr. Moon, you don’t pay me at all.” He reasons. Jun isn’t supposed to be allowed in the monitor room anyway, but the actor promised a signed polaroid and he could definitely use the plus point for the girl he’s courting. “You don’t even live in this building.”
“How about this–” Jun flashes him a smile, one that he definitely knows the media eats up. “You give me a copy of this. You can cut the duration from when I left the unit to when I returned.” Jun leans down to be face to face with the young security personnel. “In exchange, I can give you an account you can call later on and I will answer. Give your girlfriend an exclusive fancall, hmm?”
Jun straightens his posture seeing the gear turn from inside the security’s head. Being in this industry as long as he has, Jun knows when he could definitely use the fame and his name itself to get his way.
“She’s not my girlfriend yet, though.” There it is; the bait has been taken.
“She definitely will be after the call. Trust me.” Maybe it’s his tone, maybe it’s the natural confidence in his statement; in end, Jun left the building’s security office with the CCTV footage of the hallway on Soonyoung’s floor showing the moment he left to get some groceries and the moment he returned when he found his friend being used as a bed by another person.
“You can’t harass the security at this residence, Jun.” Soonyoung protests when Jun shows him the CCTV clip. “You’re gonna get me evicted.”
“I live in a four bedroom pent house.” Jun flicks his hand. “You’re good.”
“You really didn’t believe me, did you?” Soonyoung almost whispers.
Jun sighs, looping his arms on Soonyoung’s. “I believe you’re staying clean.” Jun interlaced his hands with Soonyoung. “When you tell me you are, I would always believe you, but you can’t tell me he wasn’t showing signs of withdrawal.”
Even if Soonyoung wanted to argue now, he really couldn’t deny that for a moment, Soonyoung thought the same for a moment. However, the whispers in the air say otherwise. Throughout the year, he had experienced auditory and visual hallucinations, but there is something different with the presence of the other man that is currently laying peacefully in Soonyoung’s living room couch with Latte comfortably laying by his feet.
“We can’t let him leave, Jun.” Soonyoung tries to urge the older, knowing it’s also another thing they have to address. “He couldn’t even remember his own name.”
“Well, do you know his name?”
“That’s the thing…” Soonyoung takes a deep breath. “I know I do and I feel like I should be able to say it out loud.” Soonyoung quizzically looks at Jun which made the Chinese actor raise his brow at his friend. “Does this not… bother you?”
“What?” He asks with equal bemuse.
“This. Him.” He explains, referring to the sleeping man on the couch.
“I have always believed in a higher power, Soonyoung.” Jun starts, “It’s this belief that gets me through everyday, especially on the days when I couldn’t even trust to believe my own mind.” He teasingly rolls his eyes and takes a look at blond on the couch. “So, if woozy over there turns out to be something that is not explained by natural occurrences. Then, like all those times, we’ll figure it out together.”
They’re cooking dinner when the blond stranger strides in with a perplexed look on his face as he looks at Jun and Soonyoung.
“Welcome back to the world of the living, Woozy.” Jun playfully winks, having the blond’s eyebrow knit.
“Is that my name? Woozy?” He asks, standing still by the doorway.
Jun and Soonyoung share a look before shrugging and Jun answers. “Sure, what the hell.”
“Shouldn’t we make it a little less like an adjective and more like a proper noun?” Still discussing with Jun, Soonyoung walks to the blond and leads him to take a seat by the dining area.
“Replace y with an i?”
“That could work.” Soonyoung agrees and looks at the seated blond. “Hello, Woozi.” He greets the other man with a smile.
“Hello.”