Hongjoong never called in sick for work. He never had much reason to, since his work happened while he rested and only challenged him mentally. And even then, he had a lot of slack to cut since nightmares were fickle, anyway. Nothing much could go wrong with them.

And yet, Hongjoong pondered calling Jongho to tell him he wasn't capable of coming in to look after Seonghwa today. The man was still in bed, not having got dressed yet. It was long since his usual wake up time. After he had spent all night rolling around with no rest, the ring tone had become unnecessary.

He had ten more minutes to decide. Any later and he would be late to work. Since he had already missed breakfast, the day would likely become a disaster anyway. But his pity for Seonghwa gave Hongjoong a hard time ignoring him. In all those nightmares, they had gone through a lot together already. They had developed a certain bond. A bond that Hongjoong would feel terrible for abusing. Seonghwa waited for him. If Hongjoong didn't show up, his dream might become all the worse.

Hongjoong rolled to his side once more. As his right arm slung around the pillow next to him, the gentle pressure of it against his shoulder instantly triggered his brain again. His head lit up bright red when the imagination of Seonghwa's head against his shoulder bore into his brain once more. How close his lips had been.

Yelping, Hongjoong suffocated his voice in his pillows. His fingers itched to call Jongho.

For a moment, he collected himself and calmed his racing heart. Afterwards, he sat up to push the pillow off him impatiently. Huffing and grumbling, he slipped into his work clothes and grabbed his bag. In the kitchen, he found an only slightly squishy banana. He took it with him as he hurried out of the house.

With his music loud and blasting, Hongjoong distracted his every thought by singing along loudly. He drove marginally above the speed limit, but thankfully no police showed up. As usual, Hongjoong arrived just a while late. San, who came in a few minutes after was met with Jongho's wrath.

While the two of them stood in the middle of the corridor to discuss working times that had been the same for years, Hongjoong and Mingi sneakily brushed past them. Mingi went in the direction of the offices, Hongjoong toward the staircase. They grinned at each other secretly when they passed the heated duo.

Up in his little lair of solitude, the panic returned to Hongjoong. He couldn't fathom how in the world he was supposed to face Seonghwa. Did the man mind? Had Hongjoong made use of a vulnerable situation? Would Seonghwa erect more walls between them?

The dread of having ruined their entire still blossoming relationship chipped bits of sanity off Hongjoong.

With a deep breath, he concentrated on the computer. The basic Windows background of a meadow much more peaceful and kempt than the wild depths of Seonghwa's core could ever be.

Of course, Seonghwa left Hongjoong no break. He returned once more with a nightmare.

"The prison, huh? Alright." With a sigh, Hongjoong jumped into his psycho chamber. The dream hadn't stated a certain predator, so the mood was likely the creepiest thing in there. Still, Hongjoong made the effort not only to create a police uniform for himself to wear that looked exactly like Seonghwa's, but he also took all the expected equipment with him. A baton, a gun, shackles, a fake badge, and a grim gaze.

Seonghwa was near him, as always. Since there was no need to hide, Hongjoong took a moment to look around before he approached the man. A staircase leading through the open middle connected the two levels of cells. Currently, they were on the upper level, and Seonghwa patrolled the cells with his baton in his hand. With a haunting echo, it clanked against the bars as he dragged it along the metal. The banging alerted the prisoners nearby to take their hands to themselves.

Downstairs, a few mean faces glared up at the two men in uniforms. Nobody else was nearby. Just Seonghwa, Hongjoong, and a horde of blood-thirsty prisoners. Hongjoong didn't even need to ask to share Seonghwa's dread.

Seonghwa walked the whole round of the vast level while Hongjoong attempted to recognise any features he saw behind the bars. He guessed that most of them were actual people Seonghwa had seen in prison. Or sent there.

When Seonghwa caught up to Hongjoong after his lazy trail, he put the baton back into his belt. A shy smile touched upon his lips as he came to stand next to the other man.

"Hi."

Hongjoong gifted him a little smile of his own. Brutally, he pushed off the thoughts that Seonghwa's lips and the powerful image he had made with the baton in hand woke in him.

"Hello. On duty day and night now?"

"I'm usually not stationed in the prison. I wonder why it put me here. Maybe because the dreams I have of the station rarely end in nightmares."

Like the groaning zombies of his other dream, the inmates stretched their arms through the cell bars. Their voices whispered curses and threats at Seonghwa. Icy shivers ran down Hongjoong's spine.

"Do you consider the prison a creepy place?"

They slowly started walking again. Another route around the top. Hongjoong was the one walking on the side towards the cells. Still, Seonghwa rested his hand on his belt, ready to react.

"I don't. But I consider it home to many people who can and will do evil if they get the chance to. It's mostly wariness."

Hongjoong glanced at a woman leaning against the bars. Her face was contorted in rage, her clawed hands trying to rip into their skin. When he instinctively dodged her, Seonghwa hovered a hand over his shoulder as if ready to yank him to his other site if so needed.

They passed the lady without further issues. Hongjoong exhaled slowly.

"Do you have nightmares, Hongjoong? Who takes care of them?"

"I do it myself. I'm an expert lucid dreamer. Whenever I dream badly, I can use the knowledge from my job to get out of those predicaments."

Fascinated, Seonghwa hummed. His gaze swiped over the orderly and closed cells.

"What do you have nightmares about?"

Hongjoong pondered it for a while. It had been some time since his last nightmare. Most dreams he remembered were nonsense.

"The usual. Losing friends or family, fearing getting to work too late... I think my nightmares are pretty regular. Once I thought the world was ending because I needed to make cookies real bad but my mixer wasn't working and no store nearby had a single whisk for me."

The burst of laughter that tumbled over Seonghwa's lips was louder than Hongjoong expected. The reaction flattered him, wanting to hear more of it.

"Another time I was in a burning building and didn't dare to jump onto that big pillow that the fire department brings," Hongjoong continued. His lively gestures had Seonghwa chuckle.

"Ah, you mean the Safety Air Cushions?"

"Those, yes. Didn't seem safe to dream-me, though. So San had to show up, posing as a hot firefighter. I wanted to jump even less."

More giggles tumbled from Seonghwa. They were music to Hongjoong's ears. Gradually, his earlier fear to face the man after messing up last night dissolved.

"San can be considered a hot firefighter? Oh, Wooyoung would love to hear that."

"Yeah, you know. Uniforms and all. Getting your life saved. It's a recipe for crushes. What does Wooyoung work as?"

They rounded the corner to walk down the stairs. In the lower level, they repeated the same slow round. They barely even checked on the cells anymore. Much rather, they focused on their conversation and willingly overlooked the angry yells directed at them.

"Wooyoung's a firefighter. Yunho does it too, as voluntary work. I met all of my friends on the job." He chuckled nervously as if that was a bad thing.

Hongjoong waved it off.

"San is my coworker. And I suppose the other two in my department are the closest thing I have to friends, too."

Enlightened, Seonghwa nodded. It probably made sense to him that San was a dream catcher, too.

"What you said earlier, about uniforms. Is that knowledge you gathered from your surroundings? Or an argument you agree with?"

"Hm? Oh, you mean that." Hongjoong glanced down at both of them, at their matching black uniforms. His cheeks heated. That was a very direct question.

"Well, I think I look great in mine."

"You do, yeah," Seonghwa said without missing a beat. It made Hongjoong even more humble. He fidgeted with his sleeves.

"How about me? How do I look in my uniform?"

It took Hongjoong a moment to fight his shyness enough to scrutinise the man. Far too quickly, he looked away again. He already knew how well that uniform hugged Seonghwa's body, and how rude that equipment belt looked around his hips.

"You're alright, too. From what I saw of your online presence, people sure are all over you."

Now it was Seonghwa's time to rub his nape in embarrassment.

"Some get very explicit in their demands how I pose for my pictures. Whenever I agree to one of those ideas, I'm halfway into preparing when the thought catches up that they are asking inappropriate content."

Hongjoong's laughter was cut short when a prisoner threw himself against the cell bars next to him. Startled, he skipped away. This time, Seonghwa put his arm around Hongjoong's shoulders to keep him close and avoid a collision. The glare he gave the foaming prisoner had him wilt like a sick flower.

"There are some pictures of you online that can be viewed spicy still. Though you keep the police kink at a low, that's true. I don't know if I should be offended or glad that nobody does that with my job."

When Seonghwa rested his head against Hongjoong's chuckling, he subtly smelled the man's hair. Hongjoong noticed anyway and his heartbeat picked up at the closeness and investment from Seonghwa.

"What would you consider sexy posing as for a dream catcher?"

Hongjoong had to think about that longer than before because Seonghwa's closeness took all focus from him. His mind trailed off several times to holler about it.

"Probably sitting at a grave of some odd monster nobody else would ever think of and throwing up a gang sign. Maybe stretching out in the room we use to sleep in?"

"What room?"

Hongjoong explained the concept of the psycho rooms to him. How they were designed to allow him to have agitated dreams and roll and throw his body around without getting hurt. How jarringly displaced they felt whenever he woke up.

"So right now, you're in a building somewhere in the city, rolled up in a colourful room all alone and slumber while you accompany me through here?" Seonghwa summarised it in awe. Hongjoong nodded.

"Yep. I need the monitors and sleeping medicine in the air over there, or else I could work from home."

Impressed, Seonghwa filed that information away.

"And San is downstairs to be annoying," Hongjoong added. Their round around the facility finished. Seonghwa had relaxed some more now that he knew all prisoners were safely stored away. Their conversation distracted him enough not to let them run free on accident, too.

"Of course he is." Giggling, Seonghwa came to stand with Hongjoong at the bottom of the stairs. Their work was done, but Seonghwa lingered still.

"I wanted to ask you something. About yesterday."

Hongjoong broke out in a cold sweat. His eyes flicked away from Seonghwa hastily. The bleak concrete ground was far more interesting than the handsome man in the police uniform anyway.

"About Yeosang? View him as another friend, he's just a tactical tool. He won't do anything bad to you."

"Not about that." Mindlessly, Seonghwa's fingers came up to fiddle with Hongjoong's tie. He pulled him closer the barest bit as he rolled it between his fingers and felt up the fabric.

Neither of them was able to look at each other.

When Hongjoong kept his steely silence, Seonghwa overcame his shyness.

"Could it be... That you wanted to kiss me at the end?"

Red like a berry, Hongjoong cleared his throat. The sporadic tiny pulls around his neck troubled his ability to breathe. Not because his tie was too tight, but because he lost a part of his soul every time Seonghwa reeled him in some more.

"It was bad timing. I- When I thought about it afterwards I also realised how overbearing it would have been in your weak moment. Best if you forget about it again. It was probably good you woke up."

Hongjoong sucked in a breath so he would stop rambling. With more intensity than ever, Seonghwa was back to studying him. With those same dark eyes, he had introduced in the desert. Hongjoong about choked on his own spit.

"I thought it was a pity. Waking up, I mean." Soothing and velvety, Seonghwa's voice didn't tremble. Hongjoong blanked when his brain got too much input to understand at once.

"That means..."

"It means that I don't mind you kissing me. Or rather, I would very much like you to."

When Hongjoong stayed frozen for several painstakingly long moments, a crooked grin broke out on Seonghwa's lips.

For a mere second, Hongjoong thought he would take it back. That he had played a joke on poor little red-faced Hongjoong whose stomach was in knots.

But then, Seonghwa's hand cupped the side of his face. It was joined by the other one, his delicate fingers covering the Hongjoong's nape warmly. In perfect symmetry, his thumbs settled on Hongjoong's cheeks, right before his ears.

For a moment, Hongjoong's lashes fluttered as his timidity threatened to take over. Then, he bravely raised his eyes to Seonghwa's.

Seonghwa's grin was charming. Soft and understanding. Just as nervous as Hongjoong was, but overcome by fondness.

Their lids shut slowly at the same time when Seonghwa leaned in.

This time, their lips actually met.

Hongjoong couldn't help the little surprised whimper that escaped him when he felt Seonghwa's kiss for the first time. His lips were just as pillowy soft as they looked. Without hurry, Seonghwa brushed them gently over Hongjoong's, smiling around his noise. He kissed reserved, almost politely, and it made Hongjoong's knees weak.

Hongjoong's hand shook when he rose them to Seonghwa's hips slowly. Careful not to startle the man, he held onto his waist, pulling them a little closer. The angle changed, and Hongjoong had to tip his head back for Seonghwa.

They shared the sweetest kiss. Hearts fluttering like a bird's wings and every touch so tender and attentive. All noise around them cancelled out, and Hongjoong forgot where they were entirely.

The kiss felt real. As if they weren't dreaming anymore, as if the reality they created around them wasn't a fragile and brittle set-up. Hongjoong believed to actually feel Seonghwa's warmth and taste his lips as if they were awake right now.

With his heart awakened, pulling him toward Seonghwa liked the ties of fate wrapping them up in a single cocoon, Hongjoong melted into their shy movements.

Since his eyes were closed, he didn't notice the dream fading out. Only when Seonghwa vanished from his grip, he found himself back awake.

With a stupid, broad smirk all over his face, Hongjoong pressed his palms to his eyes. Just for a while, he stayed there to relive the heart-warming memory over and over again.