The Hwang Hwang Couple
10

Before all these strange dreams began, he was a traveler.               Dream travelers, to be exact. Yeji has a 'special ability' to have a clear and vivid dream whenever she wants. He would travel from one place to another, even one he had never visited in real life. Some may say it is entirely bollocks; that it is just a dream. But Yeji knows every street, every shop, every food truck and sometimes, even the people living in the city. If you don't believe it, you can go to the place itself and find out that he didn't make up anything. People may even answer your question about a girl with cat eyes, if they ever see her in their dreams. And people will say yes. They never know who and how he got into their dreams. It was as if he was there, flesh and bones; it did not feel like a dream. It was pretty much how Yeji saw the world, through dreams.               But since last month, it has stopped. He no longer had such a dream. He had almost no dreams at all in his sleep. And when he did, it was just a random situation. Something ... normal. Like the kind of dreams people usually have. Something is made from the memory of them or people they know.               It's destroying. Throughout her life, that was the only way Yeji interacted with the world. He never really got out of his house. He made friends with others through his dreams. Girls in high school would probably never know anything about him if it wasn't his dream. No one in this small town would really know him if it wasn't his dream. And now, losing her ability, Yeji shuts herself off from the world.

*** Maybe, things would be easier if he didn't have to buy groceries.               He cursed himself for forgetting something as simple as groceries. This happened a lot recently, he forgot the stuff. Before he lost his ability, he remembered everything. Sometimes, he might even sneak into the grocery store owner's dream to tell her what he needs and she'll stop by in the morning. Everything becomes easier. He never needed to walk at eight o'clock in the evening to the store before. Now her life is more .. normal. And Yeji wasn't sure if she liked it.               Thirty minutes later, he walked out of the store with his hands hugging a large shopping bag. The owner asked why he had come so late at night, how it was so unusual. He only answered her with a thin smile that he hoped he would think he was just tired, not angry and almost crying. He was still trying his best to hold back his tears when he suddenly bumped into someone.               "Lord, sorry! Are you okay?"               Yeji was fine, but a few items fell down as she jumped a little, shocked by the sound. "I'm fine."               "Are you sure? Oh, wait, let me help you with that. " The man took the stuff and put it back in his bag.               It's a small town, which means, everyone knows everyone. But Yeji didn't know him. He's never seen her before. Before he could think of anything else, he said, "I don't know you."