TW: Some gore at the beginning
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Park Seonghwa was in terrible condition.

Hongjoong knew he disliked this dream when he had read the words 'hospital' and 'injury' on his monitor. He had taken his medical kit, ready to smoothly throw it at Seonghwa and wait until he patched himself up. It was his usual method, the dreamer likely making the time to tend to their wounds before their frenzy continued.

However, when Hongjoong peeked through the little square window in the door leading to the room Seonghwa was in, he found him in more of a predicament than he had expected.

Inside the little chamber was only a single stretcher on a rolling metal construct. The tiled floors and walls might have been white once. By now, a sickly green discolouration clung to them. Mould and rust crawled darkly over the grout to leave ugly stains.

Fresh blood splattered most of the scene like a gruesome painting. It centred around the stretcher, soaking it in a big puddle.

Park laid on that stretcher, the source of the bloody mess. He couldn't move, restrained to the table on his wrists and feet.

With a gulp, Hongjoong looked around. No noise filtered through the empty and bleak hospital. Park was left alone to wait out the end of his dream.

Hongjoong crouched silently. From his emergency kit, he got a doctor's coat and a facemask. He put them on, trying to hide enough of his face and clothing from sight. Though he doubted Seonghwa's empty eyes that only stared at the ceiling would find much that gave Hongjoong's weirdness away. It was his dream. He likely would assume Hongjoong was just a stranger.

When he stood, Hongjoong took his kit with him. Without hesitation, he pushed the door open and strode into the room.

The smell of blood cloyed the room so thickly that Hongjoong gagged into his mask. He believed to taste the iron flavour on his lips. Breathing through his mouth helped only sparingly.

Park's eyes flinched to him, laced with fear and dread. It took no genie to know that he imagined the intruder as someone who would inflict even more misery on him. But not Hongjoong. Hongjoong wasn't part of his dream.

"I came to stitch you up," Hongjoong declared to remove all twists Park might spring upon him.

The man blinked at him. His cracked and bloodied lips tried to form words.

"Stitch... me up?"

"I'm a good guy."

Clearly surprised by the shift in moods, Park watched him come closer. Dumb, Hongjoong stared into the gory mess that the man's stomach was. While he knew how intestines looked in theory and could name quite a lot of the bloody organs he saw, he surely had no idea how to put them in order. Or come up with artificial skin for that matter. Park wasn't just cut open. His stomach was cleanly shaved of his skin.

Hongjoong set the bag down between the man's spread legs. With nimble touches, he grabbed a dangling piece of something to push it back inside Park's stomach.

He had no idea what he was doing. Trying not to throw up was his best bet.

Park watched him with reluctant eyes. He didn't feel safe enough for the dream to change yet.

However, Hongjoong's words had helped him. The amount of blood seemed less with every blink. In his dream, Park healed himself and put his organs back in order as he believed Hongjoong did for him.

"Why help me?"

Hongjoong pulled out some tweezers from his bag to look more professional. Grimacing, Seonghwa drew his conclusions about what he did. His brows furrowed in imaginary pain. Hongjoong hadn't even touched anything.

"I had pity. You looked bad," Hongjoong murmured. His face got muffled by his mask.

As the officer's skin grew back gradually in the imagination of his subconscious, Hongjoong wiped his chest down with a rag. It left smeared traces all over.

"Who did this to you?"

"You look like a pirate."

Befuddled by the sudden surprising statement, Hongjoong rose his eyes to him. While he was busy with his pseudo surgery, Park had dreamed up different apparel for him. Hongjoong wore an impractical frilly blouse with untied laces at his collar. High-waisted pants clung to his hips to end in calf-high boots. He even made Hongjoong a sword.

Impressed, Hongjoong looked down on himself. He looked attractive in those clothes, he had to admit that. They suited him more than he would have expected.

"I do. Do you mind a pirate treating your wounds?"

The lucky part of Hongjoong's job was that he could be completely nonsensical. Whether he spoke the truth, or lied, or applied odd techniques, in dreams, all of that was possible. And many of his patients didn't even remember it afterwards.

"As long as the pirate knows what he's doing, it's fine."

For a while longer, Hongjoong struggled in silence while Park did all the work. He even created new fabric, soon being back to his uniformed self. In his feeling of exposure, he had forgotten to close the upmost button. Hongjoong did it for him. Finally back to normal, Park relaxed remarkably.

Yet his adventure wasn't over. Hongjoong felt for his pocket, trusting Park to make the connection that he searched for the key to his shackles. Instantly, Hongjoong's fingers closed around the object that he hadn't put there.

Hongjoong never got an answer to his question. And maybe Park's dream had just thrown him into that situation without an explanation, too. Stalling for time, Hongjoong released his shackles slowly. Once his wrists were free, Park sat up to rub them self-consciously. A relieved sigh escaped his lips when he looked down on him and found it all healed. Even the blood in the room had disappeared sneakily.

The last chain jarringly clanked against the metal bed as it fell. Careful if the pain would take him over, Park set his feet on the ground. Once he stood, he exhaled slowly.

Hongjoong had to tilt his head back to look at him. In the small room, Park towered over him by a good few centimetres. Shy, Hongjoong hid his blush behind his mask.

"Thank you for helping me. Doctor, pirate, or whatever you are." His voice had strengthened considerably compared to before. It was the same smooth and soft voice Hongjoong had heard in the police video.

Hongjoong nodded at him. His deed was done, but the dream had yet to fade out. Tension still clung to his nerves.

"Do you know a way out of here?"

With a shrug, Hongjoong gestured at the exit.

"Try a door. Maybe not this one, but doors lead to many places. One might bring you out of here."

A cryptic message Hongjoong loved giving. Dreamers always took it with bafflement, as if it were the greatest secret to ever learn. And in most cases, it led them into believing the very next door they went through helped them into a better place.

"Thank you, I will." Park opened the door outside to the corridor and held it open for Hongjoong. Swiftly, he snatched his bag. Seonghwa went right, so Hongjoong took the left path. As soon as possible, he jumped behind the next corner. His heart raced in his chest.

It was the fourth rule in his working contract to only show himself in a dream if absolutely necessary. Disturbing the dreamers was frowned upon, and Hongjoong had to be careful so they wouldn't remember him as anything more than a dream apparition. Taking such measures and his first real talk with the handsome officer had his heart flutter like the wings of a hummingbird. Hongjoong sucked in several deep breaths.

When he peeked around the corner, Park just opened another door in the corridor. A heavy one made of steel that looked different from the rest.

Before he pulled it open, he glanced in Hongjoong's direction again. He couldn't find him in the dim corner he hid in.

Tense, Hongjoong waited. Then the dream thinned out as expected. It shed from him like the skin of a snake as he freed himself of the strict prison of possibilities Park's subconscious trapped him in. Hongjoong awoke in his chamber with a tummy ache. Phantom pain from looking at Park's injuries.

For a moment, Hongjoong just laid there and pressed his palms over his eyes. Shyness had taken him over. Over having talked with the man, over being appreciated by him. The faint smile that had adorned his lips made Hongjoong's stomach swoop when he remembered it.

He knew none of this was real. Park wasn't actually thankful or attracted to him. But those minor acts of gratitude made Hongjoong's work worth the time and horrid images.

Hongjoong emerged from the room to chug half a bottle of water. Then, he sat down to monitor and start on his report. He didn't go into too much detail about the gore. When he had done that once, Jongho had whacked him with a purple folder.

On the side, he pulled open his private chat with San. The man had sent a picture of Mingi slumbering at his desk, red curls fanning out around him. In the picture was also Jongho, who put a blanket around his shoulders and glared at the camera.

Outstanding work ethic downstairs.

Me: I just had an actual conversation with Park Seonghwa *squeals* and he was wearing his uniform

San took a while to respond, either napping or actually immersed in work, for once. When the little window popped open again, Hongjoong clicked it right away.

Wise Guy: you did?! tell me everything

Hongjoong ditched his report but monitored Park's sleep cycle as he slumbered. His heart rate had evened out and his brain activity was low as he slept dreamlessly.

Dust danced in the air, filtered by lazy beams of sunlight. Hongjoong wanted to curl up on the ground to take a nap in the warmed spots. Since he was on his shift, however, he settled for putting his feet into the rays. His skin warmed instantly, and he moved them every few minutes in unison with the sun's path.

Me: Patched him up in a pretty gory dream. Dude casually put me in a pirate's clothes though lol. I think he might be into that

Wise Guy: my smart book says dreaming of pirates means suspicions. he was just super sus of you xD

Me: T.T But I took such great care of him

Wise Guy: im sus at everything in nightmares too cant blame him

Hongjoong giggled into the privacy of the attic as he pulled his lunch from his bag.

Me: Could you come and fetch my food to warm it up?

Wise Guy: eating after a gory dream? you have my respect. be up there in five

Indeed, it didn't take San long to come jumping up the stairs. In celebration of the sunny day, he wore a short-sleeved shirt, showing off his muscular arms. Looking at San, Hongjoong sometimes wondered why Jongho even needed to instruct them his tyrannic regime. Clearly, his coworkers fared well in that department.

Probably because of Hongjoong's diet.

"I went to the bakery earlier and got some doughnuts. Want one with this?"

Hongjoong handed him his container and nodded.

"You're an angel."

"Yeah, I know." With a smug grin that showcased his dimples, San took off. Hongjoong was left to fiddle with his thumbs and check on Park.

When everything stayed serene, Hongjoong pulled out his phone to scroll through his social media and like posts he would never look at again. As he idly skimmed his apps, he got a great idea.

It wasn't hard to find Park online. His police department marketed their group posts and updates with his handsome face, he was popular as the visual of the team. Under each post was a bunch of loyal fangirls and -boys who reflected on his attractiveness and how they would rob local stores to have him arrest them.

Hongjoong chuckled as he read through some thirsty comments. Then he clicked on a tagged name that looked vaguely similar to what Park would use.

He landed on an aesthetic page full of selfies and pictures of him. All private and never in uniform. He posted car selfies with hand prettily cradling his face with the caption 'on my way to save the earth'. Others were him next to flowers or in new clothing he found pretty.

Hongjoong gnawed on his lips as he scrolled around some more. Everything was tame and pretty. No darkness seeping through. Just a normal man holding up a normal life on social media.

Hongjoong's finger hovered over the follow button. Among the few thousand fans of the officer, he would barely stand out.

Still, he decided against it. Too shy, even though he knew more about Seonghwa than any other person in his life.

As he continued looking, he found a picture with a familiar face on it. Park stood next to Wooyoung, their arms swung over their heads to form a heart while both grinned at the camera brightly. The caption read 'My soulmate is a menace' with a little heart behind it.

For the first time, the thought that they might date occurred in Hongjoong. He found no answer in the replies, just people with the same burning question as him lingering on their minds.

Invested, Hongjoong clicked on Wooyoung's tagged profile. It was all over the place, no colour fitting to the next as he posted randomly about whatever crossed his path. Funny street signs, shoes, his food, and many pictures with entire groups of friends. Hongjoong didn't get more information out of that. So he just resorted to staring at the picture of the two together real hard, as if he could detect a hint if only he searched long enough.

San returned sneaky like a cat. As he put the steaming container and the doughnut down, he peeked over Hongjoong's shoulder curiously.

"Oh, that's him, right? Who's the other cutie?"

"That's Seonghwa." It was a joke, but Hongjoong was momentarily distracted by how good the man's name felt on his lips. It made him giddy.

"The other one, idiot. I love his hair."

"His name is Wooyoung. He appeared in his dreams before."

"Wooyoung, hm?" San typed away on his own phone with a few glances over. Hongjoong hit his leg.

"What a catch. I might slide into his DMs."

"Hella weird, for a stranger. They might date!"

San ruffled Hongjoong's hair with his hand, only to jump away when Hongjoong reached to pinch his hip. Giggling, he hurried for the door.

"I'll find out and report my findings, no worries! I know you care! Enjoy your doughnut!" Then he was off.

Hongjoong sighed as he dug in. Maybe he could deny how much he hoped San would return with good news.