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The calm, peaceful silence of the bedroom was disturbed by a series of pings coming from a phone, blaring back-to-back. Dayeon burrowed her head deeper into her pillows, trying her best to ignore the annoying sounds and continue on with her slumber.
They kept on coming with no end in sight.
With a growl, Dayeon blindly reached out for her phone on the side table. Her eyes quickly adjusted to the brightness of her screen as she stared deadpanned at the multiple messages she received.
🐯: hey
🐯: you awake?
🐯: i can't sleep
🐯: I know ur there
🐯: kong!
🐯: kong!!!
🐯: kong.
🐯: kong
🐯: kong
🐯: kong
1 new message
🐯: oh ur finally online :D
Dayeon released an exasperated sigh and punched in her reply, her eyes still half-lidded and yearning for sleep. She silently cursed herself for forgetting to switch her phone to silent mode.
🐿️: what do you want
🐯: entertain me pls
🐯: i'm bored
🐿️: it's fucking 3am!!!
🐯: so?
At this point, Dayeon already knew that this was a losing battle for her. She never could turn down Chaehyun, no matter how hard she tried. Before she could even muster up a reply, her phone suddenly rang. She yelped and dropped the device, smacked dab onto her poor nose.
It truly was a losing battle for Dayeon.
Rubbing her aching nose, Dayeon answered the call with an annoyed, "You owe me a new nose."
A loud laugh was her reply, followed by, "I'm sure it will be fine. You're tough, aren't you?"
"I have a delicate side too, you know," Dayeon pouted slightly as she rested her unoccupied hand above her head. "Now why are you still up at 3 in the morning, Chaehyun unnie?"
"Like I said, I couldn't sleep."
Dayeon could hear some sounds of movement on the other end, probably the other girl getting herself comfortable. Something was telling her that this was gonna be another one of their long chats. She thanked her lucky stars that it wasn't a school day.
"I heard this saying that if you can't sleep, then that means someone is dreaming about you," Chaehyun continued.
"Uh huh."
There was a slight pause before Chaehyun said, "Were you dreaming about me?"
Dayeon could practically see the teasing smile behind that question. "Even if I did dream about you, I wouldn't remember because someone interrupted my beauty sleep," she retorted.
"You're already pretty enough, Dayeon-ah."
"Thanks," the younger one chuckled while rolling her eyes at the compliment. "Now what will it take for you to get some beauty sleep too?"
"Talk with me more until I eventually get tired."
"You drive a hard bargain, Chaehyun-ssi."
“I do, but I also know you’ll agree to it."
Dayeon sighed in exasperation and sat up on her bed, leaning against the bed frame. "What's on your mind, unnie?"
"You."
She almost dropped her phone again. Almost.
"Why am I on your mind?" Dayeon asked as casually as she could.
Another beat of silence before Chaehyun replied again. "I had a nightmare and you were in it."
Well, that… wasn't what she expected this conversation to turn into.
Dayeon shifted into a cross-legged position, snatching one of her pillows to rest her arms on. "I'm here if you want me to listen. Or if you just wanna talk about something else. It's your call."
"Kong," Chaehyun uttered her nickname in a worried tone, far from her usual upbeat tone she used. "You're there in your bedroom, right? You're talking with me, right? You're… alive, right?"
A sniffle. Quick but not subtle enough for it to go unnoticed.
Dayeon gripped her phone tighter, her brows furrowed into a deep frown. "Chae, I'm here. I'm talking with you. And I'm not going anywhere," she calmly reassured her friend. "It was just a nightmare."
Another sniffle, this time louder than the previous.
"I know, but it felt real." A choked sob from the other end, one that Chaehyun tried her best to hide but to no avail.
"Can I video call you?"
"Please."
Without another word, Dayeon switched on the video option. When the connection came through, the sight before her broke her heart. It was a little dark because of the dim lighting, but there was Chaehyun, curled up on her bed with a blanket up to her neck, her eyes puffy and cheeks stained with tears.
She'd been crying for a while. For how long exactly, Dayeon didn't know. But she wanted nothing more than to make Chaehyun feel better again at this moment.
"Hey," the younger girl whispered.
"Hi Kongsuni."
"Do you mind switching on your lights? It's a bit of a waste if I can't properly see someone as pretty as you." She quickly went to turn on the lights in her room too. “See, I look better now, I think.”
That worked like a charm, judging by how it perked her friend up and even made her giggle.
She watched as Chaehyun slowly rose from her bed, reaching out to find the light switch somewhere out of the screen’s view. When warm light finally enveloped the room, Dayeon couldn’t help the wide smile creeping up on her face as she took in the sight of her close friend in full view wearing really cute pyjamas. Don’t get her wrong, she totally wasn’t staring. Totally not.
“Better?” Chaehyun asked as she smoothened her bedhair.
“Much better.”
“Prettier?” She posed with a ‘L’ shaped hand tucked underneath her chin.
“Pretty as ever,” Dayeon chuckled before going back to the matter at hand. “I’m right here with you.
Chaehyun wiped away the wet remnants on her cheeks with her blanket, trying to compose herself as much as she could. “It was really… How should I say this? The moment I woke up, I panicked. My heart felt like it was going to burst out of my chest. My whole body was in a cold sweat, but I couldn’t move at all. It took me a minute to finally regain my senses but I was so terrified of what happened in my dream. I needed to know if you were still here.”
“And I am,” Dayeon firmly stated.
“You’re not going anywhere, right?”
“I’m not,” she reassured her again. “Unless you want to go get something to eat with me later.”
She saw Chaehyun visibly softening, her melancholy replaced with the usual upbeat demeanor that Dayeon was so accustomed to. “Malatang?”
“For breakfast?”
“No, silly,” Chaehyun laughed. “I definitely can’t wake up at a normal hour after this.”
“Malatang for lunch then.”
“It’s a date.”
Dayeon casually ignored the blush that was dangerously forming on her plump cheeks. “Do you feel better now?”
“Much better,” Chaehyun tenderly smiled at her.
“That’s good,” Dayeon returned it with one of her own too. “What else do you wanna talk about, Chaehyun-sshi?”
“Actually,” the older girl trailed as she plopped her head back on to her pillow, “I think it’s time for me to get back to sleep.”
Dayeon owlishly blinked at her in shock. “You mean you don’t want to talk my ears off for the whole night?”
Another angelic laugh came out from Chaehyun’s lips. “I’d love to, but I’m all tuckered out and there’s something I’m looking forward to when I wake up later.”
“Well, I won’t deny that malatang is always something to look forward to.”
“I was talking about you, Kong.” Chaehyun didn’t hesitate to give her a wink too for good measure.
Damn it, she walked right into that. Any more of this and Dayeon was going to combust into flames.
“I’ll leave you to your beauty sleep then,” she lightly coughed, trying to dispel any awkwardness. “Sweet dreams, Chaehyun unnie.”
“I will. Good night, Dayeon-ah. I can’t wait to see you later.”
Before she ended the call, Chaehyun dealt the final blow and air-kissed the screen. Even when they were living on opposite ends of Seoul, she somehow always manages to make Dayeon feel like putty every time.
Switching off the lights, Dayeon laid back down on her bed, placing her phone by her side. She definitely couldn’t go back to sleep now, not after all that. Her mind filled with thoughts of Chaehyun, silently praying that she wouldn’t be plagued with any more nightmares in the future.
She wondered if those dreamcatchers she always saw at the shopping district would work.
Dayeon would get one for her either way.