Sixth Frame
I Think I Dreamed You Into Life
Yifan is lying down sideways on an unfamiliar couch in an unfamiliar living room, watching a TV show from an unfamiliar TV—last time he checked, his TV is much smaller than this one. When he looks around the room, it’s dark; the only light source is the light from the TV. With the minimal lighting, he can see DVDs lined up neatly inside a wooden bookcase situated beside the TV. Underneath the TV is a glass case which houses a DVD player, and beside the case and the TV are speakers. He thinks that the person who owns the room must like to watch DVDs a lot.
The most unfamiliar feeling—yet somehow familiar at the same time—Yifan feels is holding someone in his arms. His right arm is used as a pillow by the man in his embrace, and he let his left hand run up and down his arm. He occasionally shudders and giggles cutely, quite possibly tickled by Yifan’s actions, and he naturally presses his lips against the soft hair the man has with a small chuckle. He can’t help it; the man is just too cute.
He’ll then tap him on his arm, signaling him that he wants to get up, and the man whines. Yifan laughs at the whine, and then he ruffles the other’s hair.
“I’m sorry, love. Nature calls.”
He walks towards a door—he assumes it’s the bathroom door—like he owns the place. On the way there, he takes in his surroundings. The somewhat messy living room, littered with laundry here and there. He sees a kitchen, where the counters are clean but the stove is very dirty.
“Yifan, don’t take too long.”
Yifan turns around at the sound of his name to look at the man.
BEEP!! BEEP!! BEEP!!
“ . . . fuck,” Yifan curses as he opens his eyes groggily. It’s not the first time he had that extremely life-like dream. In fact, it’s been the fifth time in a row.
Somehow it always starts the same: he’s lying sideways on a couch, holding someone in his arms, watching TV. And then somehow he’d need to do something so he pulls himself away from the other person towards one part of the apartment; the bathroom, the kitchen, or the bedroom, or even to take a DVD from the bookcase beside the TV. And then the other person would always call his name. But when he turns around, he wakes up before he could make out the face of the other person.
“ . . . who was it . . . ?” Yifan wonders. Everything in his dream was unfamiliar to him, yet in his dream, he was walking around the room like he’s been there a lot. He may have lived there, since in one of his dreams, he saw his belongings in the bedroom.
Yifan doesn’t understand why his senses were so alive within the dream. He remembers everything he sees, every smell, the taste of the potato chip he was eating in the dream—it was sour cream and onion, by the way—and the sound of the movie playing on the TV. But of all things, he remembers the person in his arms the most, because he was the only constant thing within each dream.
The person he was holding in his arms in the dream was smaller than him, but he fit nicely in his arms. He had a cute giggle and dark hair. Yifan noted that his hair smelled like fresh mint-scented shampoo when he leaned down to kiss him. His voice is somewhat familiar and very melodious; Yifan wants to hear him call his name forever.
If the dream came only once, Yifan wouldn’t have thought much about it. But having the dream five times in a row is just too much for an ordinary dream.
I wouldn’t call myself superstitious, but . . . it must be a sign or something.
“What?”
“ . . . you heard me . . . ”
“Yeah, I did, but . . . I kinda wanna hear it once more.”
Yifan can hear Junmyeon mumble under his breath, but he can’t make out what he’s saying. They’re sitting next to each other in a café where they had their first date, in a secluded booth away from prying eyes. He looks at his boyfriend—Yifan is still giddy at that title—expectantly, until the smaller man finally opens his mouth, “Will you . . . come over . . . ?”
Yifan smiles proudly at Junmyeon. He knows that it’s hard for Junmyeon to let someone into his safe haven; hell, it actually shocked Yifan that Junmyeon let him in at all. He ruffles Junmyeon’s hair as he says, “If you’re fine with it, sure. When?”
Yifan has to hold himself down from hugging his boyfriend to death when he sees how much Junmyeon lights up at his words. Good God, Kim Junmyeon, your smile will be the death of me. Why are you so cute?!
“Um . . . I was thinking maybe . . . tomorrow? I mean, it’s Saturday, so maybe you’ll have more free time . . . B-But that is . . . if you don’t have work . . . I know that your work sometimes requires you to work over the weekends, so . . . if you can’t, that’s okay. We can—”
Yifan kisses Junmyeon’s forehead to stop him from his ramblings. Honestly, he has to applaud himself for only kissing his boyfriend’s forehead instead of his cheeks or lips. Junmyeon is just too cute. As he pulls away, he can smell a somewhat familiar mint scent coming from his hair. Where did I smell that, again?
“Y-Yifan!” Junmyeon protests as he covers his forehead with his hand, his cheeks reddening.
“Sorry . . . you’re just too cute,” Yifan says with an apologetic smile, “And thanks for thinking a lot about this to accommodate me.”
Junmyeon pouts, “I-Idiot . . . ”
It’s not a compliment, but Yifan is happy to hear Junmyeon call him an ‘idiot’. He hopes that it means that Junmyeon is comfortable enough around him to start throwing harmless insults at him.
“I can come over tomorrow. Should I bring anything?” Yifan asks.
Junmyeon shakes his head, “No . . . just you.”
Yifan pinches Junmyeon’s right cheek lightly, “You’re too damn cute.”
“Stop it . . . ”
“Whoa . . . he invited you over?” Chanyeol asks over the phone. At first, Yifan was just listening to Chanyeol complaining about a recent client, but he didn’t know when the topic turned into him going over to Junmyeon’s apartment for the first time.
“Yeah, he did. I have to admit, I was shocked too,” Yifan admitted.
“That’s awesome! That’s a huge step, isn’t it?”
“It is. I mean, I never expected to be invited over, ever. I know how much his space means to him.”
“That just means he’s starting to trust you.”
Yifan can’t help but smile at Chanyeol’s words, “I hope that’s the case.”
“I’m happy for you, really. So what are you guys gonna do?”
“He told me that we’re gonna have an old-fashioned movie night, only in the afternoon. You know, lazing around on the couch in front of the TV with a bowl of popcorn and some Chinese take-outs.”
“That sounds awesome. You guys have fun, but not too much, you hear me?”
“Yes, mother . . . ”
Yifan is uncharacteristically nervous when he finally arrives in front of Junmyeon’s apartment the next afternoon. He only has Junmyeon’s address from last night’s text to guide him, and he hopes that he’s in the right place.
Call him horrible, but Yifan expected Junmyeon to live in a very secluded apartment where he had to walk down alleyways to find the building. He is pleasantly surprised to find that he is wrong. The apartment building itself is not large, nor is it small. It’s located on a main street of the less crowded part of the city. It’s also quite easily accessible by public transportation as there is a bus stop right across the apartment building.
There are three stories total of the building, and Junmyeon lives in the room furthest away from the main street on the second floor, number 218. Apparently, he’s somewhat correct in guessing that Junmyeon lives in a secluded apartment. He knocks on the door three times, and raises an eyebrow when he can hear someone yelping from right behind the door. Not too long after, the door opens to reveal a flushed Junmyeon.
“Y-Yifan, come on in . . . ” Junmyeon says as he steps aside from the door to let Yifan in. Yifan walks through the door and waits until Junmyeon closes the door. After he does, he gives his boyfriend a small peck on the forehead.
“Were you waiting for me?” Yifan asks. He knows he’s right when Junmyeon’s cheeks burst red. Junmyeon nods shyly and Yifan asks again, “ . . . behind the door?” Junmyeon bites his lower lip and nods again, “For how long?”
“I . . . may or may not have been waiting . . . for, like . . . 30 minutes or so?” Junmyeon says uncertainly.
“ . . . Were you afraid I won’t show up?” Yifan asks. Junmyeon looks down to his feet, and Yifan can’t help but put two fingers under his chin and lift his head up, “Don’t worry. When I said I would come, I will. So far I’ve never gone back on my promise, have I?” Yifan asks. When Junmyeon nods, Yifan smiles and pulls his hand away. Yifan then walks further inside the apartment. When he reaches the living area, he stops in his tracks.
Yifan is shocked still by the sheer familiarity of the room. The TV, the couch, the bookcase filled with DVDs next to the TV, the DVD player inside the glass case underneath the TV, the speakers beside the TV . . . everything looks eerily familiar. He continues to look around the room and finds even the position of the doors and the kitchen familiar.
The apartment in his dreams is Junmyeon’s apartment. That means the man in his arms in the dream must be Junmyeon.
“Yifan? Yifan?” Yifan breaks out of his shock when Junmyeon waves a hand in front of his eyes (on the tip of his toes—so cute), “Is everything alright?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah . . . no problem. You have a beautiful place,” Yifan says without meeting Junmyeon’s eyes. He’s only half-lying. The apartment has enough space without giving an empty feel to it. It feels warm and lived in, and it’s reasonably clean and neat. Everything just feels too familiar to him.
Junmyeon smiles, “Thank you. It means a lot coming from you,” he says.
“So what are we watching today?” Yifan asks.
Yifan swears Junmyeon lights up when he asks that question, “I was thinking we should watch FlashForward. I have a feeling that you’re going to like it. It’s got cops, action, and a futuristic feel to it.”
“It sounds good already,” Yifan says, “Don’t forget that you promised me popcorn and Chinese take-outs.”
Junmyeon giggles and Yifan swears he’s having a déjà vu, “Don’t worry, I’ve got it covered. Do you mind calling the Chinese place while I put the popcorn on? I’ve written down what I want and the apartment address somewhere around the phone and the menu’s right here, so you can just call right away,” Junmyeon says as he hands Yifan a Chinese take-out menu.
“Okay,” Yifan says without thinking. He nimbly moves towards where he knows the phone is: right in between two mountains of DVD cases on top of the drawer right next to the bookcase where the DVDs are.
“Oh, the phone is—in your hand . . . ” Junmyeon’s voice trails off in the last three words, surprise apparent in his expression when his head peeks out of the kitchen doorway, “You found it pretty fast, that’s amazing.”
“Y-Yeah . . . I just kinda guessed where it is. I guess I was just lucky,” Yifan says, avoiding Junmyeon’s eyes. That’s a lie. But then again, Yifan can’t reveal that he knows exactly where it is from seeing it in a dream. Yifan shakes his head and proceeds to call the Chinese place and makes the order as he hears the popping of popcorn kernels from within the kitchen.
Yifan walks towards the kitchen and finds Junmyeon in front of the stove. He resists the urge to hug the smaller man from behind, because it might be a little bit too domestic for them right then. Instead, he just says, “I’ve called them. They’ll be here in 15 minutes.”
“Thank you,” Junmyeon says, “Do you mind popping in the DVD then? It’s in the bookcase next to the TV. It’s in alphabetical order, so I’m sure you won’t have any problems finding it.”
Yifan complies and walks towards the bookcase. He bites his lower lip when he sees familiar movies and TV show titles even though he has never heard of them before. He remembers seeing those titles in the dream, and he thinks he has watched some of them in the dream.
While preparing the DVD, Yifan thinks. He’s not superstitious, but he’s really starting to doubt his beliefs right now. For all his life, there hasn’t been an indication that he’s a psychic, so there’s no doubt that what he dreamt of isn’t a premonition, but the similarity is frightening. It’s scary how accurate his dream was about Junmyeon’s apartment.
“Is it on?”
Yifan jolts out of his daydream and turns to look over his shoulders. Junmyeon is standing there with a bowl of popcorn. The smell of melted butter almost makes Yifan drool, “Uh . . . yeah. We can just watch now.”
Junmyeon smiles at him and sits on the couch facing the TV. He puts a small pillow beside him and puts the popcorn bowl on top of it. Yifan takes the hint and sits on the other side of the popcorn bowl with the DVD remote control in his hand. He hands the remote control to Junmyeon, “It’s a rule that the host should hold the remote control.”
Junmyeon smiles, “I didn’t know that. I’ve never held movie nights before, so this is my first time.”
“You’re doing well. Trust me, if I’m uncomfortable, you’ll know. My friend Chanyeol says I get super annoying when I don’t like something.”
Junmyeon giggles, “Okay then, I’m glad. Shall we start watching, then?”
Junmyeon presses play on the remote control and the show starts. Not long after it starts, someone knocks on the door. He presses pause on the remote control and walks towards the front door. Yifan watches as Junmyeon peeks into the hole to see who it is, and then he seems to sigh in relief. He then opens the door and accepts the food while handing the money over.
“Thanks, Jongdae,” Junmyeon says.
“You’re welcome, Junmyeon-hyung,” the delivery boy, Jongdae, seems to know Junmyeon already, since he calls him hyung, “Are you having someone over, hyung? I was shocked when I received the call and heard someone else’s voice.”
“Uh . . . yeah . . . ”
Yifan contemplates approaching Junmyeon, but he doesn’t want to risk embarrassing him, so he sits still on the couch.
“ . . . my . . . boyfriend came over.”
Yifan swears his heart skipped a beat at Junmyeon’s words. He didn’t expect that Junmyeon would openly admit having his boyfriend over to someone else.
Jongdae beams, “Really? That’s great, hyung!” he then smiles mischievously, “You have to tell me all about him later, okay?” when Junmyeon blushes again, he grins, “I’ll be back later for the plates~!” he sing-songs as he leaves Junmyeon’s apartment.
Junmyeon walks back inside with a white plastic bag. He puts the bag on the floor in front of the couch.
“Sorry, but do you think we can eat on the floor instead? I ordered jjamppong, so I’m just scared it’ll spill . . . ” Junmyeon says apologetically.
“It’s okay,” Yifan says with a smile. He slides down the couch to the floor beside the bag. Junmyeon pulls out the food; a plate of jjamjjamyeon, which is half-jjajangmyeon (Yifan’s order) and half-jjamppong (Junmyeon’s order), and a plate of dumplings.
“I’m gonna get us some drinks. Any requests?” Junmyeon asks as he stands up and walks towards the kitchen.
“I’m fine with cold water,” Yifan says. He then follows Junmyeon to the kitchen, “Let me get the glasses. You put them in the cupboard above the sink, right?”
“Yeah, but . . . how do you know that?” Junmyeon asks as he pulls out a bottle of cold water from the fridge. Yifan’s eyes widen. Damn it. I can’t say that I knew it from a dream . . .
“I . . . saw it earlier when you were pulling out the popcorn bowl,” Yifan lies as he looks away from Junmyeon’s eyes. He wasn’t even near the kitchen when Junmyeon takes the bowl. Junmyeon nods in understanding and smiles at Yifan.
“Okay . . . then can you please take the glasses out?” Junmyeon asks. Yifan complies and does so. They then return to their spots in front of the TV, now on the floor in front of the couch. Junmyeon presses play on the remote control and the show continues. They continue watching while eating their Chinese food.
Yifan’s eyes widen when the show continues. What he dreamed of could be a form of ‘flash forward’, if it could really happen in real life.
So does that mean . . . I was looking at the future?
“Yifan? Are you okay?”
Yifan jumps out of his thoughts when Junmyeon calls out his name. He gives a small, reassuring smile at Junmyeon and says, “I’m fine. Can you pause it for a minute? I think I drank too much,” Yifan says before he stands up from his seat and makes his way to the bathroom. After he calms down a little bit, he leaves the bathroom and sits back on his seat, “Sorry about that. You can play it again now.”
Yifan frowns when the DVD is still paused. He turns to look at Junmyeon, who seems to be spacing out while looking at Yifan, “J-Junmyeon? Are you okay?”
“ . . . how do you know where the bathroom is? I never told you where it is.”
Yifan flinches at the question. He then avoids Junmyeon’s eyes and says, “Well . . . I’ve done interior designing in a place like yours, so I’m fairly familiar with the layout.”
“Hmm . . . say, Yifan . . . is there a reason why you’re lying?” Yifan’s eyes widen as he looks at Junmyeon. He looks away again when he sees how hurt Junmyeon seems, “You look away from my eyes when you lie, do you realize that?”
To be honest, Yifan hadn’t, and it amazes him that Junmyeon realizes his habit after only a short while. He’s more observant than I thought.
“Did I . . . do something wrong?”
“No!” Yifan says immediately, “Sorry . . . ” he says after he sees Junmyeon jump from his sudden loud voice, “I didn’t want to tell you because I’m afraid that you’ll get turned off . . . ”
“Will you tell me anyway?”
And so Yifan does. He explains that he had a dream of watching TV in an apartment that is identical to Junmyeon’s, with a man held in his arms. He also mentioned that he had been having the same dream for five nights in a row. That’s the reason why he knew where everything is without Junmyeon having to tell him.
“So . . . basically you had a flash forward about . . . us living together here?”
“ . . . yeah, basically.”
The room is then washed in silence as neither of them seemed to be afraid of opening their mouths. Until Junmyeon opens his mouth.
“ . . . do you want to . . . I don’t know, act it out?”
Yifan’s eyes widen as he looks at a blushing Junmyeon, “ . . . are you serious?”
“Wouldn’t hurt, would it?”
Yifan smiles softly at Junmyeon’s blushing face, “If you’re fine with it, sure,” he then moves the popcorn bowl off the couch and puts it on the floor beside him. He lies on his side along the couch with his right arm stretched out, “Come here.”
Junmyeon doesn’t stop blushing as he slowly lies his head on Yifan’s outstretched arm. He then presses play on the remote control and the show continues. To Yifan, the feeling does seem familiar, but he knows for sure that it doesn’t feel the same. Something just feels different, but he can’t put a finger on it.
“Actually . . . ” Junmyeon suddenly says, “I also had a dream of watching TV in someone’s arms like this. But . . . it’s kinda different, isn’t it?”
Yifan’s eyes widen when he realizes that Junmyeon’s thoughts mirror his. He then tightens his hold on Junmyeon and kisses his hair, “ . . . I don’t mind.”
Neither of them knew that the ‘flash forward’ will come true a little bit further down the road.