in a cold sweat.

✧─── ･ ｡ﾟ★: *.✦ .* :★. ───✧

Eyes wide in both horror and distress as she tried to calm her erratic heart. She let her shaky gaze roam across her room, before falling on her pink uniform hanging by her closet, the pictures she and her friends took, and the picture of her best friend; all placed by her study table--the place where they were supposed to be.

The brunette let out a relieved sigh, drawing out the breath that she's been unconsciously holding. Her trembling hands trying desperately to grasp the phone right by her nightstand.

Dialing Aera's number, the loud sound of ringing was the only source of noise in the silent room, the pitter-patter of the rain devalued to mere whispers. The whole country still sound asleep with the time being close to three in the morning.

"Dan-I-ah"

It took five constant beeps before the person on the other end of the line had answered. Her voice was muddled, making it painstakingly obvious that she just woke up.

Finally hearing the voice of her friend, the brunette finally felt the worry leaving her system, as she started to internalize that her friend was there, on the other end of the phone, breathing and existing.

Dan-I unconsciously stayed still for a moment; relishing in the soft breaths Aera was making. Her mind desperately grasping the fact that she was there.

A few moments passed, and the brunette finally made a noise; a gentle chuckle coming out passed her lips as she heard a yawn from the other line. Any possible guilt of waking up her supposed night owl friend being overruled by her own selfish desire to make sure Aera came back.

After a few more moments of silence, the person on the other end finally spoke up;

"Is something wrong, Dan-I-ah?"

Aera asked with subtle worry lacing her tone. It was out of character for Dan-I to suddenly call her, especially in the middle of the night. The only ones that would sometimes, was Ji-Ho; talking the other girl's ear out every time things got a little too hard at home. The other two--Eunhyung and Chunyoung would choose to come by her empty house instead; she knew about their trauma of the rain, and thus welcomed them with no hesitation when the two didn't want to be alone.

In fact, that night, the two boys were at the guest room beside her own room, doing god knows what. She always offered to stay with them, but the two, knowing how much the silver-head valued her sleep, begrudgingly let her go.

At the moment, she could hear faint sounds of game sound effects coming across her room; but chose to tune them out as she focused her attention on her friend on the other line.

"Dan-I-ah?" She called out once more, now in a sitting position as she let her head lay on the headboard.

Breaking out of her trance, the brunette shook her head, despite knowing that Aera couldn't see the gesture.

"U-uh, no, everything is fine."

Aera waited, sensing the hesitance in her friend's voice, implying that she had more to say.

A few seconds of silence went by before the brunette made a sound of what seems to be a shaky breath, before continuing to speak;

"U-Uh, Aera?"

"Hmm?" The silver-head let out a soft hum, notifying that she was there, and she was ready to listen.

"C-Can you tell me a story?" She heard a sniff.

With her eyes wide in worry, her sleepiness forgotten, she responded.

"Are you okay, Dan-I-ah? Are you crying?--" Her questions got cut off when the brunette on the other line interrupted, her voice, although softer, had a little more desperation than before.

"Just--please? T-Tell me when we first m-met, t-tell me that story again, please?"

Still confused about what was happening, the silver head shook her head and complied with her friend's request. Opting to ask more about why she seemed as if she was in distress at a later time.

"Okay." She started,

She normally wouldn't speak so much, desiring to blend in the background as she observed others; and so it was out of her character to do this, but then again, if that was for Ham Dan-I, then she was willing to do everything.

"I, uh, was a transferee, and a very awkward one because back then I had a tendency to have the desire to be perceived as perfect--what with mom and dad kept telling me that I should never bring shame to our family name. So, I rarely interacted, as my fear of slipping up or making a mistake was making my anxiety worse than it already was. It didn't help that people found me intimidating, which I think is because of my resting face? I'm not sure but that's what Yeoryeong says; so for the most part, uh, people didn't approach me. But that was until I met you."

The silver head took a pause, relishing in the faint background noise as she let her mind wander back to their primary school years.

"I think it was the release of grades, and I ended up getting second. I was scolded harshly and I fled to the park nearby our school, and I cried. A few moments later, you came by and asked me what was wrong, and then you also nagged at me for not being proud of the achievement I got. You were also crying because you told me how unfair it was that I was crying over a high grade while you simply got a passing one."

She felt herself smile, remembering how funny it looked that one kid was nagging like a mother while also crying like a child--the other, apologizing for doing something relatively amazing.

The neighbors would've thought we were so strange.

"It was the first time somebody was angry at me for not being happy with what I got. It was refreshing; even though our faces were filled with tears and snot." The silver head's smile turned into a full-out grin the moment she heard a little giggle ran past her friend's lips.

"And then what?"

"And then, I apologized, even though I was so confused. You forgave me and told me that you would be my friend because you thought I needed someone to keep my worries in check."

"No, actually, I just wanted a tutor; and I thought a snotty second-placer could do the trick."

Both girls released a hearty chuckle, the memory of their meeting transcending parallel universes as they let their minds wander back into their world--a world without any ethereal beings, without any plotlines, without any harms, and without any chaos.

Dai-I loved her friends, but at the moment, together with all the March 2nds she had to face alone,

She wished that she and Aera never got transported into this world.

However, Dan-I knew that this was their reality now; and no matter what she wished for, things were simply not going to go back to the way they were.

"But Dan-ah, why did you ask me when we met? Are you okay?"

Suddenly, Dan-I's smile faded; once again being reminded of the day before this one.

The day she felt utterly miserable.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine."

"You don't sound fine." A masculine voice cut through her words, the poised Kwon Eunhyung speaking through as he lay beside the silver-head.

Apparently, Eunhyung had heard the soft conversation coming out of Aera's room, and decided to check up on the girl.

Chunyoung, who was playing a game, immediately turned off the computer as he strides with his friend; just as eager to find out the supposed sounds coming out of their friend's room.

When they entered, they saw the silver head sitting up, with her head laid on the headboard and her phone lazily kept still by her ear.

Mouthing it was Dan-I, the two boys nodded their heads in understanding; the two opting to sit beside her as they laid their long legs by her bed, the bluenette laying his head by the girl's lap, grabbing her free hand as he silently demanded his hair to be played with. The other simply took the other space beside Aera, his head on her shoulder.

A surprised hum could be heard from the other side, Dan-I, slightly taken aback by the new presence in their conversation.

"Eunhyung, you're there? Does that mean...?"

"Yes."

Eunhyung's answer brought some awkwardness in the already serene room. The two, still having some sort of tension in their relationship after the bluenette heard of Dan-I's desire to transfer school, wanting to drag Aera with her.

Of course, the plan didn't fall through, as all of the gang were scheduled to start school by that next week; but Chunyoung was still a little bit mad about the fact that Dan-I even considered leaving them behind. Thus, the two didn't talk for a while.

Eunhyung opted to break the silence, regardless if Chunyoung was there, it was out of character for Dan-I to call--especially at three in the morning; that meant, something must be wrong.

"Are you okay, Dan-I? You're not the type to call in the middle of the night."

With the phone now on speakers, the trio waited for Dan-I to respond, hearing a sigh raised some confused looks from the three.

The silence went on for a few more seconds before Dan-I started speaking, her tone laced with reluctance implying that Dan-I was having a hard time telling them what it was.

"N-No I'm not, I transp-had a d-dream." Dan-I knew it would be better to tell them now more than ever, but she was still a bit hesitant on telling them the actual truth; and so, she settled with masking some parts of the story to make it more real.

"What was the dream about?" Despite having the clue that what Dan-I would be talking about was not a dream, Aera opted to entertain her thought; her voice, gentle and soft, as if afraid that Dan-I might pull back from telling them if she was made uncomfortable.

"Do you remember, last year, when we had a mini-party because we were all classmates again? That night, we had a sleepover at my house--Aera, Yeoryeong, and m-me." Dan-I took a pause, preparing to say the next words.

"W-we were all so tired, and we fell asleep immediately. But then I woke up, a-and, and Aera, you weren't there--not just physically, but all the evidence that point out you existed, suddenly vanished." The trio on the other end of the line stiffened; Aera's hand that was caressing Chunyoung's hair stopped for a moment as she tried to take in Dan-I's story. The other two sported similar worried looks but opted to stay silent as all of them waited for Dan-I to continue.

"At first I thought you went home, so I tried to call you, but your number couldn't be reached anywhere. Then I saw the pictures--the ones we took every year, do you remember?"

She does.

Every year, just after the last day of every school year, the group of friends stands by the schoolyard. Using Aera's camera, they take a group picture as a sort of commemoration.

In the first year, when they started the tradition, the silver head didn't want to be included in the picture, convincing her friends to let her take the picture instead; but the group won't have it. So, Ji-ho bought her an expensive tripod, on that day, that she can easily manipulate to get a great picture without having to exclude herself.

Having no excuse, the girl stood beside her friends, a gentle smile on her face as she posed for the camera.

She remembered all of it completely,

The two boys beside Aera snapped their heads to look at her. Their eyebrows both scrunched in shock and worry as they analyzed her expression.

She might have been hard to read, but knowing her for almost three-four years has made them be familiar with all the little things that she does.

They weren't at all surprised by the dread that etched on her face as both moved closer--Eunhyung's arms now looped in around her waist, while Chunyoung opted to take her free hand into his--both silently assuring the girl that she was there, beside them, existing.

More than shock, Aera knew it wasn't entirely impossible for such a thing to happen. Being transported into a whole new world with people who seemed to know them was already uncanny,

Her thoughts were cut off when Dan-I continued to speak.

"You weren't even in our elementary picture--the one I treasured the most. But what scared me to my core, was when I asked Yeoryeong about you, she said she couldn't remember anyone name Aera--the same with Ji-ho, Ju-in, and even you Eunhyung and Chunyoung." The moment Eunhyung heard his name, his grip around Aera's waist tightened; now trying to convince even himself that the silver head wasn't going to disappear anytime soon.

"So I went to your house, but it wasn't there--y-you're house of eight years wasn't there. I-I didn't know what to do; they didn't know who you were, so who was I supposed to call?" The shakiness of her voice implied that the brunette was already crying, her whimpers filling the silence of Aera's room.

Despite the fact that it was getting a little bit harder to breathe, the brunette kept on talking, intent on letting everything out.

"T-That whole day, I ran around the city; going to the places where you frequent at just to get a glimpse that you were here, that you exist, that you were not a figment of my imagination because I love you so so much."

By that moment, the silver head could feel her cheeks getting wet, silent tears were leaking out of her eyes despite having a blank stare.

More than her existence being erased, she was sad that Dan-I had to go through all of that alone. Even she couldn't imagine how miserable it would feel like if her best friend would suddenly disappear, with no one to remember her.

That night, both Chunyoung and Eunhyung slept beside Aera, their arms tight around her figure as Dan-I's words continued to haunt even their dreams,

""

✧─── ･ ｡ﾟ★: *.✦ .* :★. ───✧

[: Here's the update! I made some changes to the first few chapters just to make the character more consistent :>

BTW, any of you fans of NCT? I'm thinking of publishing an NCT Dream X Reader set in the idolverse. Is it better to make them a female or male reader? Tell me what you think!

As always, comments and likes are appreciated, thank u