Crossed Dreams

Shared Interests

"The one in cheetah print. Turn slightly to your left and lower your chin. A little more. Perfect, now hold that pose." The guy behind the camera shouted.

Tae-joon and the rest of the members of Vortex stood in front of the Washington monument having their picture taken for a magazine. They were going to be featured on the cover. It was a monumental moment. It just sucked that it was so long and boring. That was saying something since Tae-joon was the member who liked having their picture taken the most.

After a few more clicks from the camera and a light touch-up to their make-up, they just had one more scene to shoot. The anticipation grew to a point where he could no longer contain it.

After the photoshoot, he would finally be able to grab something to eat. His mouth watered at the thought of a delicious American made hamburger. Korea just couldn't make them like they do here.

They finished close to an hour later. Tae-joon practically ran to the trailer that the guys were using as a makeshift dressing room. He quickly changed out of the gold and black, skin tight cheetah print suit that he wore and into the baggy, all-black outfit that he had worn on the way there. Nothing beats baggy clothes.

"Where to now?" Chan-woo asked as he struggled out of the sky blue suit. "They really make these tight in America." He threw the jacket behind him once he got it off.

Jin-woo lifted up one of Chan-woo's arms, the muscles underneath visible through the white fabric of the shirt that he wore underneath the suit jacket. "I think your problem has more to do with these..." Jin-woo pinched the muscle between two fingers causing the younger man to squirm.

"Hey!" Chan-woo exclaimed as he rubbed his bicep.

"Mr. Choi has already reserved us a restaurant." Joo-hyun stated as he pulled on his shirt, the black fabric almost acting as camouflage for the black writing that circled his bicep. "I'm informed that it's a place that caters to all of our tastes."

"Damn rich kid." Jun-hae slapped Joo-hyun on the back. "You always have to speak in a different language? We don't understand your fancy words."

Tae-joon laughed. Watching Jun-hae pick on the other members always made him laugh. This time he could understand where Jun-hae was coming from. It wasn't as if Joo-hyun was actually speaking in another language, he was just using fancier words.

All of the members came from various parts of Korea and all of them were considered average class, all except Joo-hyun. He was the privileged one out of them. He came from money, practically bathed in it. It was something that should have separated them apart but it didn't.

Joo-hyun never rubbed it in anyone's face and when they got paid, he would take a picture of the deposit and proudly show it around, proud of the hard work that he had done to receive it. The only time when one could tell the difference in status was when he started using fancy, non-everyday words, but that probably had more to do with his love of reading than his background.

In the beginning, when their group had first formed, Joo-hyun would become embarrassed when someone would point out his broad use of the language, using words that would require the aid of a dictionary. And that was exactly why Jun-hae would tease him. Teasing was how he got the other members to relax and open up.

Oh, at first it didn't work. It backfired in the worst way possible. That was until the others realized that the person that Jun-hae teased the most was none other than Jun-hae himself. The eldest member believed that having a healthy criticism toward oneself was a good thing and so he was never afraid to point out his own mistakes, even when no one else had caught them.

That was one of the reasons why Tae-joon had been drawn to him. It had been strange yet refreshing to see someone act like that. To see someone hold fast to their beliefs and to act on them even when at times, it could be downright embarrassing, or how easy it was for certain actions to be misjudged. Even during these times, Jun-hae never wavered, thus becoming their inspiration. It also didn't hurt that he was the easiest member to tease.

"Better watch it hyung, your accent is showing." Chan-woo teased.

After the six of them were dressed and ready to go, they gave thanks to everyone that they had worked with before parting ways.

The restaurant their manager Choi picked out was a buffet that had various foods available and menus that offered plates of dishes that weren't offered in the open buffet. Tae-joon ordered three hamburgers and fries while the others looked around the buffet. He just hoped that no one would try to steal his food once the order arrived. They would always share or try the other person's food which is why they would always double their order. He didn't do that today.

It didn't take long for the others to figure out what they wanted. They sat down at a large table that seats ten, all six of the members and their two managers.

In-jae pulled his phone out and started filming everyone. "You're using your phone?" Tae-joon asked. In-jae would almost always record the members when they ate after or during an event then upload the video to one of their social media pages for their fans. But this time he was using his phone instead of his camcorder.

In-jae gave a sheepish expression. "I kinda, accidentally broke my camcorder yesterday after we arrived at the hotel."

Chan-woo swallowed a piece of chicken before he started laughing. "How?"

Tae-joon didn't think it was possible but the sheepish expression on In-jae's face grew. "I, uh, may have kicked it off the bed." That was all the explanation that he would give them.

Four hours later, Tae-joon finally arrived back at his hotel room. He slipped out of his clothes and slid underneath the comforter. He had no problem in drifting off into sleep as soon as he closed his eyes.

Tae-joon found himself in a familiar room. Paintings of rocks and anime characters hung on the walls and rocks that were labeled covered the tri-layered tv stand. Everything was just as he remembered it.

The scent of vanilla drifted through the room, greeting him. He would recognize that perfume anywhere. A smile splayed across his lips. Slowly, he turned around to greet the new-comer. "Hi, there stranger."

The beautiful stranger stood in front of him with a smile on her face. Her grey eyes shining, almost appearing silver. "It's been a week." She greeted him.

He nodded, knowing what she meant. One week. It had been exactly one week since he had last dreamt about her. He wasn't sure why he was dreaming about her now but he would take it.

For some inexplicable reason, he felt drawn to her. It was as if something inside of him was compelling him to get to know her. "Are all these yours?" He gestured to the various paintings that hung on the wall beside him.

Her smile widened at his question. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Yeah. I still have a lot to learn and improve on though."

What! She still thought she could be better? "No way. These are amazing." His eyes may be untrained when it came to recognizing what set professionals and amateurs apart but he drew and painted enough to recognize talent. "Trust me."

Her chuckle called his attention back to her. She was playing with a piece of hair in an almost nervous manner. "Thank you." Her voice was barely a whisper.

He looked around the room hoping to find something to help him break her out of this nervousness. He knew how nervous and unsure a person could feel when showing off their work. It almost hurt to take pride in it, especially when you were a beginner.

His eyes fell on the dozens upon dozens of rocks that sat on the TV stand. "All these yours?"

When she saw where he gestured, she shook her head. "All the ones on the top shelf belong to my flatmate, Connor. Mine are on the bottom shelf. Collecting rocks and fossils is a hobby and a love that we both share."

His mind barely registered the words that she spoke. No, the only thing that his mind picked out and focused on was that the name of the person that she lived was Connor. Wasn't that a guy's name? He licked his lips, suddenly and desperately in need of a drink.

Light pressure on his shoulder caused him to jump. The stranger quickly removed her hand from his shoulder. "Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I was just...seeing if you were alright."

"Huh? Yeah, yeah. Sorry. It's just...you live with a guy?"

Her eyebrows raised into her bangs and she erupted into laughter. "Jealous. You're jealous. Don't be. Connor is practically my brother. He would say the same."

Relief flooded through his heart at her words. He wasn't sure why it bothered him so much. She was just a figment of his imagination, something that his subconscious had created. "So, he would say that you are like a brother to him too?"

Her face turned red. "I meant that he views me as a second sister."

A second sister. That thought made him feel better. "Does she live here with you?"

"No. We couldn't convince her to move off-campus." She shrugged her shoulders as if she wasn't bothered by it. "We only live five minutes away. Driving that is." She grimaced. "Twenty by walking." She sighed. "That stupid hill takes a lot of time to walk up or down it."

"You live on a hill?"

"Yep." She made a steep angle with her hand. "I hate hills now."

He laughed at the thought of trying to imagine the type of hill it was to have his dream girl dislike it so much. Actually, he decided that he didn't want to imagine it. His hometown was nothing but hills and he hated them for a time, especially since his school was located on one.

He shuddered, pushing the thoughts of hills far away from his mind. "So...you paint and collect rocks. Anything else?"

"I also like to cook, hiking, caving, reading-wait. What's with the sudden interest?" Her eyes pierced through him as if trying to read his soul.

"I was just trying to find a new topic to talk about and I wanted to get to know you." He walked over to the couch and sat down. "I like to dance even though that's more for my job than a hobby. I love to sing, and I'm quite good at it too." He winked at her, which received him a snide comment that he didn't quite catch.

"I can't cook. I'm more likely to start a fire than to fix something edible. I can draw and paint a little, which is how I know that you've got talent." He thought back to the most recent picture that he had drawn. Using nothing but a number two pencil, he had drawn a quick sketch of a corgi. His brothers complimented him and told him that he was getting better. Tae-joon thought they were giving him too much credit. The shading had been off. The ears had been off. The paws had been too small, and the head had been too large. His proportions had been completely off and his shading was done too thick. No, it was definitely not something to be complimented on.

"I like to take pictures and having my picture taken." He owned a collection of cameras and apps on his computer all just for his enjoyment of capturing and creating the perfect scenes. "Ooh, I also love anime! Whenever I have time I try to watch some."

"Can't beat a good anime...well, except for a good manga."

"Don't read those too often. And you sound like a nerd. Choosing Manga over a moving picture."

"And you sound like an old man." She shot back at him, hands on her hips.

He realized that she was wearing black again. In fact, he was pretty sure that she had worn black in every dream. "You wear a lot of black."

"Black, green, admirable blue, and plaid. Emily says that my wardrobe is the complete opposite of my personality."

Interesting. He'll have to find that out for himself. Especially since he loved wearing black himself. He even had a few fans comment on how his smiling, bubbly personality didn't match his color choices.

"So, what's your favorite anime?" Her words pulled him out of his thoughts. That was definitely the wrong question to ask, or maybe it was the right one.

He could spend hours talking about anime that he would like to see and spend days talking about those that he had seen. And he was pretty sure she could too with the way that her eyes appeared to light up with the topic.

And that was what Tae-joon spent his entire dream doing. Talking and trading knowledge of recent and old anime with his beautiful stranger.

. . .

Melissa woke with a smile on her face. Last night's dream still fresh in her mind. It was strange how something that was a part of her, a part of her imagination could feel so real. His likes and dislikes were similar yet different from her own. Even though it was a dream, it felt like she had talked to a real person for hours.

Too bad he was a dream.

The thought put a damper on her mood. With a heavy sigh, she pulled herself out of bed.

Maybe a nice long day full of busy work would help Melissa keep her mind off her dream guy. At least she was starting to get an idea of what kind of guy she was into. It was also nice to dream about someone that she could connect with. On the other hand, he was a dream. Maybe she should take Connor's advice and get out more. Nah.