Morning After

By the time Nitya came out of the shower, she had forgotten about the dream and gotten preoccupied about her first day at a new college. She knew she was blessed to have a caring family, a lovely best friend and admiring friends, but there was still a lingering fear in her mind. She walked towards the kitchen where Surbhi was already cooking breakfast, singing to herself. Nitya smiled to herself, gazing adoringly at her best friend. Although Surbhi was just one month older than her, she had always cared for her like her own mother. To escalate it further, whenever she got together with Nitya's mother, they always ended up making plans on Nitya's behalf- as if discussing a little kid! Well, she was not a kid going by her physical age; but she knew that in their minds, she was always going to be the kid. And if there was even 1% chance of changing this dynamic, that also ended the day Surbhi started dating Mukul- Nitya's twin who had preceded her by a mere 5 minutes but always acted like there had been a 5 year gap instead! Then there was her elder brother Mehul, who was 9 years older than her and fiercely protective. Speaking of Mehul bhaiya, she realised she had lost track of time. She quickly glanced at the clock, and then ran up to Surbhi.

Making a petulant face, she said "Baby, today is the first day of my college; I am so excited but I am a bit scared as well!"

Surbhi turned towards her and looked at her in disbelief, 'scared? Her best friend was scared!' Then she recalled the incident from this morning and assumed she might still be freaked out from the nightmare, and now it was time for Surbhi to freak out!

"What happened, are you getting the same nightmares again? Was that the reason you were screaming in the morning?! Are your panic attacks back? Do you think we need to go to the doctor? Should I call Mukul, or Mehul bhaiya? Or rather Aunty? Uncle? Tell me something!"

Nitya laughed after seeing her best friend's reaction. It was not like she was reacting in this manner for the first time, but Nitya felt really lucky to have a best friend like her; she was indeed her lifeline, her soul sister, she couldn't imagine her life without her.

"I will, if you ever consider giving me the time to speak! And here the whole world says that I speak fast, they really need to meet a freaked out Surbhi!" She spoke, just to receive a light slap from her best friend and then they both giggled.

"Now speak, what's bothering you?"

"It's nothing, it's just the fact that everything is so new; I am feeling a little uneasy."

Surbhi could tell Nitya was lying, but she also knew that there must be a good reason for that. She decided to give her the space she needed and spoke, "Relax, Ni. I know everything's gonna be just fine; and Mehul bhaiya is going to be your new professor as well. If something is bothering you, you can talk to him, and of course me and Mukul are always there."

"I know, but the fact that Mehul bhaiya is going to be a permanent faculty is also bothering me; you know I can't tell him the reality of his students because most of them pull off an innocent role in front of him!"

**********************************************

Ji-Hun was still thinking about the dream, it was the second time he had gotten the same dream.

'But who was that girl? He was pretty sure that she was not Korean, but then how was she speaking Korean fluently? She might have learnt it, but the bigger question was where had he met her before, and why in the world did he kiss her?! Who was she to him, that kissing her felt so right; as if there was nothing wrong with doing so with someone he had just met? He was nothing like the flirty guys who can easily kiss anybody, he always believed in love and he had always hoped to marry the love of his life, then what was her place in this?'

He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't even notice Dae Jung entering his room.

He slapped his shoulders and having startled him, said "What happened dude? You look tense!"

"Nothing! And how did you come to this brilliant conclusion that I am tense?"

"Huh! Try your smartness somewhere else, you know very well that you can fool anyone in this entire world except us, and definitely not me!"

Ji-hun knew Dae Jung was stating facts, he couldn't hide anything from these guys, and especially him. They were just like his family to him after his grandma passed away; and Dae Jung was the one who always acted as the bridge between the brothers. DJ and Ho-jin were practically the same person and Kaoru hyung also treated him as his own brother; and don't even get him started on his mother! Well Dae Jung was his best friend, but he always acted like J was his child; and even when he had met J's mother, they had ended up talking about him for hours, as if he was the kid of the family instead of Ho-jin! He was really blessed to have a family and friends like this.

'Everything in the world that a person desires, he already had: money, fame, friends and family; then what was this feeling he had these days, just after the dream had started showing up? Were they nightmares? Did he need help? He answered his own question within seconds, these dreams could be called anything, but definitely not nightmares! Should he tell everything about his dreams to DJ? He wouldn't judge him, he never does; but he himself was not sure what he was dreaming of, he didn't want to end up sounding like a teenager from high school.'

Dae Jung slapped J lightly on the back, as he noticed that he was lost in his own world.

"Are you going to spill it or not?"

"DJ, actually...actually-" Ji-hun was stammering, wondering how exactly he was supposed to broach this topic.

"What 'actually'? Say something, you know that you can share anything with me, right?"

"Yes. Actually I am having a dream, like it's the same dream...which is repeating-"

"And what's the matter then?"

"It's about a girl!"

****************