Chapter Text
In his dream, Kim Rok Soo saw red.
Everywhere; the colour was splattered in strands and dots -- it was unclear whether it was blood or broken pieces of roses. It was pretty. He didn't care if the red belonged to a dead body that was just outside his line of sight or if it was a symbol of a broken heart, it just looked very pretty decorating the otherwise darkness in his dreams.
It reminded him of the unreachable red; the frustration and anger and the heart-churning resentment that arose from the pit of his stomach when a certain pair of greyish red eyes invaded his mind. But Kim Rok Soo was good at keeping his emotions in check.
Shrugging off the intrusive thoughts, he crouched down on the watery darkness that he was standing on and reached for the red. The red smeared on his pale skin before turning into dust powder and sliding through the gap between his fingers.
It reminded him of how close he had been to reaching out to the redhead, and how easily that man had slipped from his palms as if Kim Rok Soo's existence just didn't matter to him.
It probably was like that, and it wasn't even surprising. What was truly shocking was how quickly Kim Rok Soo's feelings of mere curiosity had turned into intrusive thoughts that were definitely not healthy. Especially since it was all about a stupid game.
Kim Rok Soo gasped in surprise as a strong wind snatched all the red away. He chased after it, but it was already gone. A silent scream as shards of glass pierced his skin, but nothing was heard. A last cry as all of the red seeped out of him, but no tears stained his cheeks.
Kim Rok Soo was dead.
Probably.
He didn't really know what else could have possibly happened to his own body as he sat confusedly on a large and comfortable bed. An unfamiliar softness that he had never known could belong to a mattress-- which was understandable since he had spent his entire life sleeping on a cheap, second-hand hard mattress.
The room he was in was also unfamiliar.
The face in the mirror was somewhat recognizable.
Kim Rok Soo stared at it, at the face that was positioned exactly at the spot on the bed where he was sitting. He looked around the strange room, finding no living being other than himself, then looked back at the mirror.
... Red hair?
Is this what the dream was about? Was the dream telling him that he would wake up in a redhead's body?
But his own hair was long.
The hair was longer than what had been described of Cale in the otome game he had been playing before falling asleep on his brick mattress.
Then again, his physique was also very weak and thin as compared to Cale's. Not to mention that he looked a tad younger--
Kim Rok Soo froze when the door of the room was swung open, staring with wide eyes at the other pair of greyish red eyes.
Red hair that didn't go past his neck. Eyes that were so sharp that even just a glance from them was like being stabbed by a dagger. An average height that was on par with the height of other major love interests in the game.
Cale Henituse.
Cale Henituse was standing right in front of him, closing the door of the room they were in. The red he had never been able to get close to; that red was in the same room as him now. Kim Rok Soo didn't know if he wanted to cry at the unfamiliarity and the strangeness of it or if he wanted to laugh in victory because the world can go fuck itself-- in the end, it was him who got to see Cale Henituse in what seemed to be a very realistic dream.
He was even scared to go any further than just seeing Cale, because he knew from the game how every little thing seemed to trigger a death ending in Cale's route, and the current dream was so realistic that he thought being killed would really hurt.
Cale Henituse smiled. A real smile. Gentle and soft like a calm breeze, Kim Rok Soo melted under the other's intimate gaze, and he wondered just how long this dream would drag on. He wanted it to last an eternity. He wanted to stay dreaming for as long as possible. He hoped that no one would disturb his sleep; because when else will he be able to dream so realistically?
Then again, even if he slept for years, it wasn't as if anyone will even notice that he's gone.
"Wow, you're awake before me." Cale's voice snapped Kim Rok Soo out of his trance. "How surprising." And Cale chuckled. So beautifully and majestically; Kim Soo wanted to record that laugh and treasure it forever and ever because that laugh meant more than gold to him.
And Kim Rok Soo was someone who loved money.
He immediately threw away the confused frown from his face and smiled back at the redhead -- This was only a dream anyway. His mind was simply creating the scenarios that he had been dying to see for some time now.
Yes, he wasn't dead nor in "someone else's body," -- so cliche, how could he even imagine such a scenario?-- he was simply in a dream. A very realistic but beautiful dream. A dream he wouldn't mind spending his entire life in.
"— Cale." He called, almost like a confirmation with a warm and tender tone. He paused for a moment, surprised at his own voice-- No, not his voice, but an unfamiliar voice that was speaking the words he had been meaning to say.
... Was even his voice going to be different in the dream? Kim Rok Soo shrugged it off and continued to smile at the taller redhead. He flinched at the glare Cale sent his way.
Cale narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms with a frown on his face. Just when he anticipated running away, somewhere far far away where Cale's sword won't be able to reach, what came wasn't a deathly threat or a bold insults. Rather, it was an affectionate voice that sounded just a bit whiny. "What? You're not calling me Hyung anymore?"
The question almost threw Kim Soo off-guard, and so did the adorable little pout on Cale's lips. He could remember choosing to call Cale "Hyung" at a certain point in the game, thinking that it would bring the two closer to each other and that Cale might, just might look at the character with at least a teeny tiny bit of empathy. That wasn't how it had worked out.
In response to being called Hyung, Cale had drawn his sword and swung it at the character's neck. "Only one person in the world is allowed to call me that -- and you will never be him."
A red banner had taken over the screen immediately after.
[Oops!
You died!
|Try Again?| or |Revive using Coins?|]
The question made Kim Rok Soo nervous.
... No, on second though, surely his mind wouldn't be so cruel as to make him dream of being killed, right? Yes, that just doesn't make sense.
He gathered all his courage and, with a reluctant smile and eyes observing the other redhead for any signs of danger, Kim Rok Soo spilled out the one word that had caused bloodshed in the game.
"... Hyung?"