Dreams

The steely hoof sharply made contact with the side of her left shin.

Pain flooded her slim frame, robbing her of her senses. Her leg felt like burning. Cries of agony escaped her lips.

She could vaguely hear other people around her.

There was the brief feeling of being lifted. A slightly prickly, dewy surface met her clothed buttocks before she became aware of her surroundings again.

She clutched at her knee as tears streamed down her face.

People gathered around her. She could see their mouths moving but the ringing in her ears made it impossible for her to hear what they were saying.

Before she could do something about it, everything went dark. Looking around, she found she was alone. Still sobbing, she grabbed her leg and screamed for help.

"Help! Anyone, please help!"

Silence.

Fear crept within her.

Now panicking, she screamed louder, "Help me! Jebal!"

Clip! Clop!

The unmistakable sound of hooves echoed throughout the abyss. Jeongyeon snapped her head towards where the sound came from. From the ground, she saw four long, white limbs of a stallion standing beside her. Her hair stood on end. Shakily, she looked up to the massive white stallion with blood red eyes. The stallion bent its head towards her and snorted on her face. Her short hair was slightly blown off her face and her fear increased tenfold.

She wanted to say something but decided against it as she doubted the beast in front of her would be able to understand what she was saying. Not wanting to startle the stallion, she stayed silent and instead began chanting in her head, Help! Someone... anyone! Jebal!

As if knowing what she was thinking, the blood red eyes that stared through her soul began to narrow. Suddenly, the stallion stood on its hind legs, braying. Jeongyeon screamed this time. With her other hand that wasn't clutching at her leg, she brought her arm towards her to cover her face.

The stallion brought its fore legs down towards her...

...

"Hajima!" Jeongyeon shot up the bed in alarm, gasping harshly. Her eyes surveyed the dark room, it took her a while to register that she was in her bed. She was panting and sweating profusely as if she had been running for miles. Her hands felt clammy and her sweat caused her hair to stick to her forehead.

A hand came up to rest upon her shoulder and she flinched backwards, moving away from the dark figure standing beside her.

"Jeong, calm down. It's me," In the darkness, she recognized the voice to be Momo's, her roommate. It's been half a year that they've moved into a new dorm but Jeongyeon still considers her as a roommate and has Momo occasionally sleeping next to her.

"M-Momo?" she panted, swallowing the lump in her parched throat.

The Japanese turned on the light on the night stand and Jeongyeon had to close her eyes to avoid the sudden glare of light. Momo gasped slightly at her appearance. Jeongyeon was slick with sweat and once she opened her eyes, Momo saw they were bloodshot.

"What the hell happened to you?!" Momo scrambled to the bathroom and pulled out a towel from the rack. She returned to sit beside Jeongyeon and proceeded to wipe the sweat off her face and exposed arms.

"I-It's nothing, Momo. It's just a dream." Even in a somewhat delicate state, Jeongyeon still manages to reassure her.

"That was one heck of a dream, Jeongyeon. You look horrible!"

Jeongyeon chuckled at that.

"Ya, you must be crazy laughing at a time like this!" After drying Jeongyeon's sweat, she got up and said, "Stay here. I'll get you some water."

Jeongyeon nodded at her and watched as her roommate left. She propped up her pillow and leaned back. She then ran a hand through her messy, bed-ridden hair and sighed. The dream she just had flashed through her mind and she shuddered. She doubt she would be able to forget those eyes from her dream, as if she was looking at an angel of death. She knew her fear for horses seemed irrational but she couldn't help feeling that way. She brought her legs towards her chest and hid her face in her knees. Her hand made its way to her leg, rubbing the dent there.

"Jeong," she heard Momo call for her. She raised her head to see her roommate standing beside her with a glass of water. Momo handed it to her and she took it gratefully, chugging the water down her parched throat.

Once she had emptied the glass, she gave it back to Momo. "Gomawo, Momo-yah. I'm sorry for waking you up at this time. Jinjja mianhe."

Momo gave her a reassuring smile. "Gwaenchanha. I wasn't really asleep. I woke up a few minutes before you did because I was hungry."

Jeongyeon chuckled. Yes, that did sound like Momo.

"You alright now?"

Jeongyeon nodded at her and laid back down on the bed.

"Arasseo. I won't bother asking what you dreamt about, I know you'll talk when you're ready. For now, just go back to sleep, okay? I'll just take this back," Momo held up the glass at the last part. She brought her comforter up to Jeongyeon's chin and pat her head. "Jaljayo, Jeongyeon-ah."

Jeongyeon smiled gratefully at her and burrowed deeper in her bed. She then left Jeongyeon to return to the kitchen. She turned on the lights which she didn't manage to turn on a while ago when she was rushing to grab a glass of water for Jeongyeon. Surprising, since she was admittedly a coward and can easily get scared.

After washing the glass, she heard footsteps behind her. She turned to see Nayeon and Jihyo looking at her with amused expressions on their faces.

"Grabbing a midnight snack again, Momo-yah?" Jihyo teased, crossing her arms.

"Aish, your stomach really is something, huh?" Nayeon joined in the teasing with a smirk on her face.

Momo rolled her eyes at them and wiped her hands with a towel they had laying around. "What are you two doing here at this time? And, technically, it's not midnight if it's almost 2 in the morning."

"You're not that stealthy, you know? You're unnecessarily loud for someone who's just walking. It's natural you'd wake someone up with your loud ass footsteps."

"Ya, it's not like I did it on purpose, you know? I was in a hurry."

"Wae? Were you that hungry?"

Momo turned solemn and shook her head. "Aniyo. It's just..." she hesitated a bit, putting down the towel she had used to wipe her hands. She then continued, "Jeongyeon had a nightmare. She woke up screaming."

Jihyo and Nayeon turned serious at this.

"Mwo? Is she alright?" Jihyo asked.

Momo nodded to reassure her. "Ne, she's alright now. She was about to sleep when I left her."

Nayeon turned to walk away. Jihyo grabbed her elbow before she could do so. "Ya, where are you going?"

"Jeongyeon needs me. She probably can't sleep right now, especially after waking up from a nightmare. Jihyo-yah, don't bother waiting up for me. I'll be staying with her tonight. Momo-yah, can we please switch just this once?"

Momo gave her a thumbs up in accord. Satisfied with her answer- and internally squealing- Jihyo let go of her and watched her walk away. When she was sure Nayeon couldn't see her, she smiled widely and put a hand to her mouth to stifle her laugh. I can't wait to tease Jeongyeon tomorrow, she thought giddily.

She didn't notice Momo staring at her curiously.

...

Despite Momo's well-wishes, Jeongyeon couldn't sleep. She tossed and turned in bed, the dream still fresh in her mind that she could remember every detail. She shuddered at the image of the white stallion, the beast from her nightmare preventing her from sleeping. The thought of those blood red eyes wouldn't leave her alone. She was really tired and wanted to sleep but her mind wanted to play games with her.

She threw the comforter from her body in exasperation and sat up. She ran her hands through her hair, sighing, then pressed her palms over her eyes, rubbing furiously.

"Jeong?" a familiar voice came from the doorway and she assumed it was Momo.

Wait, Momo doesn't sound like that, she thought belatedly. She looked up in surprise and although her vision was bleary, she recognized the figure as Nayeon. Blinking rapidly to get rid of the blur in her eyes, she asked, "Nayeon-unnie? What are you doing here?"

Nayeon approached her bed and made a shooing gesture with one hand. "Move over."

Jeongyeon did as she was told and moved towards her end of the bed. Nayeon took her comforter and sat down beside her.

"Ya, Im Nayeon, you still haven't answered my question."

Nayeon gave her a bored look. "What does it look like I'm doing? I'll be sleeping here for tonight."

"Mwo?!"

"Don't play dumb, Jeongyeon. Momo said you had a nightmare." She paused for a while to see how Jeongyeon will react and when she stayed silent, she continued, "I decided to sleep here with you since we both know you don't have nightmares when I'm around."

And with that, Nayeon lay down beside her and beckoned her to do the same. Jeongyeon couldn't refuse her even if she wanted to. She was simply too tired to argue. She lay down, her back facing Nayeon and closed her eyes to try to sleep. Turns out with Nayeon there, she found herself more relaxed, thoughts of her previous dream disappearing like a distant memory now. Realizing she was finally dozing off, she decided to voice her gratefulness before she passed out. "Thanks for being here."

She felt Nayeon wrap an arm around her waist. "No need to thank me, Jeongyeon-ah. I'll always be here if you need me. You know that, right?"

Jeongyeon couldn't help but smile warmly. "Arasseo. Jaljayo, Nayeon-unnie." She barely heard Nayeon reply when she finally fell asleep in the older girl's embrace.

Another thing that she loved about Nayeon? She is a nightmare-repellent. For some unknown reason, she never gets nightmares whenever she sleeps alongside Nayeon.

So instead of a nightmare plaguing her sleep, she dreams of a happy memory. She unknowingly smiled in her sleep.

...

Jeongyeon could hear voices around her. Quite a lot of people surrounded her judging from the commotion. She groaned, her ears feeling like they might explode from the noise, the beeping beside her not helping matters. Suddenly everything went silent. She slowly opened her eyes. She found her bed was elevated and she was wearing a blue hospital gown. Her left leg was encased in a white cast. Her sister as well as her members were gathered around her bed.

She immediately registered that she had probably just finished surgery for her injured leg. She was filming "Law of the Jungle" while it happened- she had been kicked by a horse- and was immediately sent home for treatment. She felt bad withdrawing from the show, too. They all knew how much she looked forward to it. Stupid horse ruined my fun, she thought.

"Jeong?" a worried voice came from her right. She turned her head towards the voice to see her sister, Seungyeon, looking at her with her brow furrowed. Someone gripped her left hand and she saw Nayeon on her other side mirroring Seungyeon's expression.

Seeing the worried faces of everyone surrounding her made Jeongyeon feel uneasy. Her injury really wasn't that bad nor was it life-threatening in any way. She vaguely remembered the doctor saying it was only a Greenstick fracture and her leg was still intact. The bone within her leg had bent under impact, though, and she had been required to undergo surgery to realign it. She felt they were worrying over nothing. Instead of reassuring them, however, she was struck with an idea and decided to take advantage of the situation. She'd always wanted to try this anyway.

"Unnie?" she turned to look at Dahyun near the foot of the bed who looked too worried for her own good. Jeongyeon could never tell whether her expressions were genuine or exaggerated. She was quite known for the latter which always made her other members cautious whenever they try to read her emotions. "G-Gwaenchanha?"

Jeongyeon had to hold in a laugh before answering, "W-Who... are you?"

Immediately, Nayeon, Dahyun, and Momo burst into tears. Jihyo and Chaeyoung looked livid. Mina brought a hand over her mouth in shock and Sana paled, as if about to faint. Tzuyu and Seungyeon only looked confused. Jihyo suddenly turned around and burst out of the room, yelling for a doctor.

Before Jeongyeon could blow her cover and burst out laughing at Jihyo's action, Seungyeon flicked her on the forehead. She whined in pain. "Ya, unnie! Can't you see I'm injured?!"

Nayeon gasped. "S-She only remembers Seugyeon-unnie," she said and sobbed harder. She clung onto Tzuyu beside her, sobbing into the maknae's shoulder.

"Nayeon-unnie, stop crying," Tzuyu tutted. She was looking annoyed now. She might not be averse to physical contact like Jeongyeon or Jihyo but she wouldn't actively seek it either.

"J-Jeongyeon-ah, can you really not remember us?" Momo asked. She looked so dramatic with tears streaming down her cheeks, looking at Jeongyeon with despair visible in her face.

Mina had snapped out of her shock and began to look confused. She opened her mouth to say something but Jihyo had already returned, dragging a doctor- judging by the stethoscope around her neck and the white lab coat- with her hand clutched around her sleeve.

Jihyo dragged her towards Jeongyeon and dropped her sleeve, pointing at the patient. "What the hell did you give her?! She can't remember us!"

The doctor looked towards Jeongyeon in confusion and found her grinning sheepishly. "Jeongyeon-ssi?" the doctor asked with a raised brow.

Jeongyeon sighed. "Fine. It was fun while it lasted though." She pouted then turned towards her members who were looking at her in anticipation. "Mianhe, yeorobun. I was just joking when I said I couldn't remember you."

Mina and Tzuyu gave her an unimpressed look, they'd already figured her out. Nayeon, Dahyun, and Momo stopped crying and looked at her in confusion. Sana glanced back and forth between Jeongyeon and the doctor, frowning. Chaeyoung opened her mouth in shock before giggling. She gave a thumbs up to Jeongyeon who gave her a smug grin in reply. Jihyo, however, seemed unconvinced.

"I won't believe you until you name all of us here," Jihyo said, crossing her arms. She was looking at Jeongyeon expectedly.

Jeongyeon chuckled nervously and scratched the back of her head. "Jihyo-yah, no need to be so serious. I'm fine!" Once she said Jihyo's name, the other members began to catch on to what she had been doing and glared at her except for Mina, Chaeyoung, and Tzuyu. "Okay, if you still don't believe me: Tzuyu, Nayeon-unnie, Dahyun, Momo, Sana, Mina, Chaeyoung." she pointed at the member she mentions for emphasis.

Chaeyoung's giggling turned into full-blown laughter. She clapped her hands proudly at Jeongyeon. "That was great, hyung! You really had us going there!"

"Ya, why are you laughing?! She had you fooled too! You almost went with Jihyo-unnie to scream at the doctor," Dahyun snapped at Chaeyoung. The cub merely stuck her tongue out in reply.

Tzuyu shook her head. "You unnies are so stupid. How can she get amnesia from a leg surgery?"

Dahyun ignored her and continued to grill onto Chaeyoung in irritation. Nayeon, Sana, and Momo started scolding Jeongyeon, Jihyo looked like she wanted to hit Jeongyeon but refrained since she was injured while Mina and Tzuyu looked on at the scene with little to no interest. They were quite a sight. The doctor and Seungyeon could only shake their heads at the girl group's antics. You'd think being famous would make you conscious of your image, especially around strangers.

Ignoring the racket, the doctor turned to Jeongyeon. "How's your leg?"

Silence followed after the doctor's query. They all began to focus towards Jeongyeon. Jeongyeon tried to move her leg a little and found she couldn't feel anything underneath the cast. "Feels numb."

"That's good. You'd just gotten out of surgery so the anesthetics are still in effect. You might feel pain while you're still recovering so you'll be on painkillers for a while."

"When can she be discharged, seonsaeng-nim?" Seungyeon asked.

"She'll have to stay for two days here at the least. Once she's discharged, have her on bed rest for at least a week and no physical activity for seven weeks. You're restricted from performing with your group until then. Oh and you need to have a wheelchair and crutches with you whenever you're traveling."

Jeongyeon looked downcast at this. "S-So there is no chance for me to continue filming?" They all knew she was referring to the show she withdrew from.

Sana was beside her in an instant, jumping on the bed and pulling Jeongyeon in a hug. "You're already injured and you still want to go back?" Jeongyeon nodded into her shoulder.

The doctor looked at Jeongyeon sadly. "Mianhe, Jeongyeon-ssi. You're still healing so you can't go back. You have to focus on your recovery now."

Jeongyeon could feel tears in her eyes and she burrowed her face further into Sana's neck. Seungyeon rubbed her sister's back, feeling remorseful at her predicament. While in the process of comforting Jeongyeon, she turned to the doctor, bowing slightly, and said, "Kamsahamnida, seonsaeng-nim."

The doctor bowed then excused herself, exiting the room. Seungyeon glanced at her wristwatch to look at the time- 10:43 PM. Addressing the girls, she said, "It's time to go home, yeorobun. It's getting late."

They all looked averse to the suggestion. "Unnie, we want to stay longer," Chaeyoung whined.

Jeongyeon pulled back from Sana, wiping her eyes. She sniffed and said, "I'll be fine, guys. You need to go home."

Although Jihyo wanted to stay longer and watch over Jeongyeon, she knew Seungyeon would be enough to handle her. "Come on, girls. Seungyeon-unnie is right. We still have a schedule tomorrow." Jihyo bowed to Seungyeon then turned to Jeongyeon and ruffled her hair. "Get well soon, Jeong."

Jeongyeon smiled. "I will, Jihyo-yah." And with that, Jihyo turned to her members with a stern expression and walked out the room.

Defeated, the girls bid their goodbyes and followed after Jihyo... except for Nayeon. Jeongyeon and Seungyeon looked at her, confused. She approached Jeongyeon and with both hands, brushed her hair away from her forehead. Once the skin on Jeongyeon's forehead was revealed, Nayeon kissed her forehead tenderly. Jeongyeon's eyes widened at the gesture but didn't push her away. Pulling back, Nayeon gripped her hand and said, "Get well soon, Jeongie. I'll be back tomorrow."

She bowed to Seungyeon who returned the sentiment then exited, closing the door behind her. Still shocked, Jeongyeon could only stare at the door through which she disappeared from. There was a fluttering feeling in her chest and she brought a hand over her heart. "W-What the hell was that?"

She turned to look at her sister who only had a somewhat teasing expression on her face. Her reply came in the form of a shrug.

The following weeks after that was excruciating for Jeongyeon. Bed ridden and nothing much to do, she was bored out of her mind. She found consolation in the fact that she could still go with her members whenever they have events although she was sitting down for the most part.

She was grateful to her members who took turns in entertaining her regardless of their own busy schedules. They had even signed her cast which always brightened up her day just reading their supportive messages. Jihyo always made sure to ask if she was comfortable. Sana always came to give her a hug whenever she notices Jeongyeon feels down. Momo, surprisingly, kept sharing her food with Jeongyeon every time she was eating. Chaeyoung and Dahyun were there to entertain her in their own bubbly ways. Mina and Tzuyu were there to chat with her and made sure she didn't feel left out.

She was most grateful to Nayeon. Jeongyeon learned to lean on her unnie for support, both physically and mentally. Nayeon was there to push her wheelchair whenever she wanted to go somewhere and to hold onto her crutches whenever she was going up and down a flight of stairs. On one occasion, Jeongyeon was yet again sitting in the sidelines while her group was dancing their comeback in public for promotional purposes. While performing, Nayeon always made sure to check on her and smile. She had even turned towards her one time and danced in front of her.

But for everything that Nayeon had done for her, that kiss in the hospital never left her mind. Thinking about it always made her heart flutter for some reason. Jeongyeon felt conflicted about it for the duration of her recovery. A few days after she had fully recovered and removed her cast, she finally managed to shrug it off as mere shock at the act. She wasn't aware that time of how it was the start of a domino-like chain of events that would eventually lead to her future predicament.