Work Text:
There was a man appearing in Baek Saheon’s dreams. He had messy hair fluffed to perfection, black eyes with the faintest hint of a sparkle like a lone star in the night sky, and a pair of glasses that framed his eyes as if they were delicate paintings made to be admired from afar. His face was perfectly carved out, each barely visible indent seemingly holding its own purpose to bring a pleasing touch to the eye. Even the eye bags brought a little charm to the otherwise soft looking face of his.
He always wore a blue jacket of sorts, loose and baggy, especially at the sleeves that came in at the end. It was often zipped half way up, revealing the perfect tie under the collar of his button up shirt that framed his neck so delicately. Black squares decorated the shoulders of the jacket, giving a little extra detail for Baek Saheon to admire and memorise.
The black pants he wore were just the right size size. They didn’t cling to his legs tightly, but they still gave them nice shaping. Sometimes, there’d be a little item hanging out of the pant pocket—often Baek Saheon would see a purple grape keychain dangling from a ball chain. The black office worker shoes he wore were just like any others, but they always had a shine that stood out to him for some reason.
This man had appeared enough times in Baek Saheon’s dream that he was almost 100% sure that he could create an accurate resin statue first try. That didn’t mean he would be willing to try it though.
In his dreams, the man wouldn’t do much. Sometimes, he’d simply sit at a park bench on his phone. Occasionally, he’d hold a steaming cup of coffee in a takeaway cup, and sometimes it’d be a can of that fizzy concoction everyone drank on the street, though he didn’t seem to favour the latter. On rare timings, he would be found leaning against a wall, unknowing of the birds pecking the ground nearby.
Baek Saheon never dared approach the man. He never felt enough courage to go up to the guy in his dreams for a chat, or even just to greet him. He was surprised that he never seemed to notice Saheon’s presence lurking near him, eyes tracing over every line on his figure.
Then again, it was just some guy who happened to be in his dream.
Still, he never failed to capture Baek Saheon’s attention. What was it that was so interesting about his phone? Why did he never move around when Saheon was there? Were his eye bags slowly becoming darker? There was something about him that constantly attracted Baek Saheon
It was starting to disrupt his everyday life.
The man that Baek Saheon started to call by the name of “Grapes” because of that simple little keychain had managed to squeeze his way into the brunette’s main lifestyle. Saheon wished to know more about the mysterious figure who almost always managed to enter his dreams, but just how could he do such a thing? There were more than enough tales about people’s dreams going the wrong direction all because they were aware that they lucid dreaming, and Baek Saheon wished to not enter a new darkness this way.
It didn’t matter how much his hand yearned to brush through those soft, black locks of this Grapes—he always held himself back.
But, if he couldn’t do it in the dream…
The brain couldn’t create completely new figures, right? It reused your memories to create what it can.
So that meant…
—
It didn’t work.
Baek Saheon tried to go out and find just who this man was on his own, but he barely stepped out of the complex before realising how stupid his idea was. His mind was calculating every little vision it could find, and just how many people did he pass on the street each day, as well as the little times he decided to go into the busy city districts?
“This is pointless—he’s not a real person!” Baek Saheon grumbled to himself in the silence of his room. He wasn’t alone at home today because his damn roommate decided to be at home the same day as him.
Unfortunately (or fortunately) Baek Saheon’s brain spiralled so much that he had to retreat to the one decision he really did not want to go through with. He hadn’t even thought about it much because he was so sure he could find another, much easier method!
He would play dress-up with Kim Soleum.
…It was stupid idea.
However, thinking further on the idea, Baek Saheon hadn’t forgotten about the pen he had gotten from the darkness in Sekwang Highschool—it was a recent event, so why would he forget?
If he used it to hypnotise Kim Soleum, then he would finally have power over the psycho!
It was a simple plan but it was one he could rely on.
Later that day, Baek Saheon decided to go outside. He needed the fresh air, but his main mission was to gather up what he could use in this dress-up session. All he had to do was find suitable glasses that wouldn’t cost him a fortune as well as a jacket that resembled the blue one in his dreams, though he was unsure as to how he would achieve those black squares… things. Maybe he’d glue some random black felt on for effort.
By the time Saheon had gone home, it was already dark out. Sure, he had gone out at noon, but he didn’t think he’d spend 5 hours distracted by all the little details in jackets, scanning through aisles and immediately eliminating all items that had the incorrect zipper! In the end, the blue jacket he found was almost exact, down to every detail, including the type of closure and how the collar would lay smoothly on the chest just as it did on Grapes’ figure, except for those stupid black squares! Just who designed this thing?
As for the glasses, he’d manage to find a good pair of decorative ones with plain lenses at a dollar store. They were round, but they had a faint square shape. Perhaps it would compliment the angled chin he recalled this Grapes having.
“These better fit him,” Baek Saheon stared at the two items he had scouted out and spend precious money on. He didn’t care much about the jacket as Grapes seemed to wear it quite baggy, but he had to estimate which glasses would fit Kim Soleum’s head. Seriously, money was a precious currency that should be handled with care! They were only a dollar, but still…
Saheon would go through with his plan tomorrow morning. He hadn’t the energy to convince himself to really do something to his psychopath of a roommate right now. Surely, a good night’s rest would fix his composure in seeing this Grapes through his real, conscious eyes!
—
Baek Saheon awoke to the sound of a blaring alarm—one he had set specifically for this day. Seriously, he hated these things… but he had to be on schedule today! Kim Soleum could leave at any second, but he planned everything today.
Sitting upright and aggresively getting rid of the annoying alarm via the button on his phone (if he missed on his first two attempts, it wasn’t acknowledged), he turned to the bedside table, where laid the pen he had stolen received.
No time was wasted as Baek Saheon gripped the pen with the hypnotising ability and scribbled down a sentence. He smiled smugly as he thought about the day’s events.
Having power over Kim Soleum? Haha—this was going to be fun!
He had purposefully chosen a time where Kim Soleum would not yet be awake. In fact, it was a few hours before his usual wake up time.
Sitting on the table was the neatly folded up jacket as well as the cheap pair of glasses. Saheon took them, being careful as to not ruin them this early in the morning, and quietly exited his room, making sure to twist the doorknob slowly to minimise noise. Even though he had already used his pen to erase his presence, he was still wary of his actions.
Stepping silently through the short hallway of the apartment, he was met with the door to Kim Soleum’s room. He repeated the actions he had just done in leaving his room, only this time he was entering. Honestly, he was surprised the bastard never locked his door—he seemed like the type to do so.
Slipping into the room, which still had its lights turned on, he glanced around at the lack of decor before his eyes landed on the sleeping figure on the bed. Kim Soleum was curled up like a shrimp, bundled up in the blankets.
‘Seriously? It’s not even cold right now.’ Baek Saheon silently captured the image into his mind, saving it for later. Does he always sleep like this? Thinking of it, he really was like a cat now, right?
It was funny how much it seemed to differ from the psychopath he knew.
Baek Saheon sensed another presence in the room. Of course, it just had to be coming from that stupid pink bunny toy that Kim Soleum carried around at all times. Seriously, it even had its own bed on the bedside table! Was it some protective spirit guarding Kim Soleum as he slept now?
It wasn’t like it had the ability to do anything anyway; it was just a doll!
…Gulp. Was he seriously about to go through with his plan?
Of course! He wasn’t going to stop right now.
Saheon stepped closer to the side of the bed. Kim Soleum slept on his side, conveniently already facing the door which Saheon enteredd through, so he wouldn’t be required to do as much weight lifting as he thought he would.
Slowly, he let himself lift the blanket off the sleeping figure. The bastard had gone to sleep in his work clothes. It was just as he thought—sometimes, he would be so tired after returning that he would just collapse immediately! Baek Saheon had planned this so that he wouldn’t have to awkwardly change the man’s clothes.
‘Fuck, he’s so calm like this!’
The only movement was of Kim Soleum’s chest slowly rising and falling in rhythm. Multiple creases were visible on his clothes, and his hair was splayed over his eyes messily. His tie had was loosely hanging onto the collar of his shirt, the top button having been undone.
Baek Saheon could almost describe him as beautiful.
‘If only he had a better personality.’
Taking a deep breath, Saheon went through with the rest of his plan.
He slowly lifted Kim Soleum up, leaning him against the wall into a sitting position. The work clothes were not a great texture—they never were. They continued to create creases as they moved positions. Kim Soleum’s head drooped to the side while sitting up.
Success.
The next step, however…
The actual dressing up part.
Baek Saheon hesitated. He had already set down the two items he brought on the bedside table, making sure they didn’t touch the designated area for the toy bunny.
He’d have to remove the blazer first. An issue within itself with the one solution he had figured out right now.
Saheon sucked in a breath. The bed creaked as he slowly lowered himself down and sat on the edge of the bed. Still, the pen’s effect would not falter.
The awkward step, however…
No, it wasn’t the fact that he had to undo the front buttons first.
He had to lean Kim Soleum on himself to completely remove the blazer. Sitting against the wall, it would be too annoying to remove it like that!
‘Sigh.’
He didn’t allow himself to ponder on the making of other ideas. He shuffled closer to the sleeping figure and grasped the shoulders, slowly lifting the weight from the wall to his own body. Kim Soleum’s head landed on his shoulder in the process.
Like that, he would then proceed to remove the blazer from Kim Soleum’s body. If he felt himself warm up, he would blame it on the fact that Soleum had been resting under more than enough layers to survive through three winters for the past few hours, meaning that he would have collected enough heat to eradicate all traces of snow during the coldest winter day. He ignored the fact that he always felt Soleum’s skin was cold.
Tossing the wrinkled up blazer aside, he reached for the blue jacket he’d brought over from his room. He threw it over Kim Soleum’s back before struggling to put his arms in to the sleeves. Thank goodness it was baggy and easy to wear. The size was perfect, Soleum’s fingertips barely reaching past the ends of the sleeves.
Baek Saheon allowed himself to fix up the tie before zipping up most of the jacket. Haha, his plan was going smoothly! And Kim Soleum really hadn’t reacted at all—not even a slight shift during his slumber.
Finally, he allowed the figure to go back to sitting against the wall. Saheon picked up the glasses sitting on the table and carefully put them on Kim Soleum’s face. He adjusted how they sat before allowing himself to look at his work.
…Maybe just one more touch.
Baek Saheon reached out with his right hand to ruffle up Soleum’s hair, messing it up even more. He let it fall over the glasses in the process, the middle part being covered up. If he had thought about how soft those black locks had been and how he wanted to bury his face into them forever, he simply discarded that thought.
He sat back again, gazing at the figure before him.
Grapes.
‘…He looks identical.”
Shit. Baek Saheon might just fall in love.