You sat down to eat with Zen. You had not realized this but you were actually kind of hungry. I wonder how satisfying eating in dreams can be. You noticed Zen taking discrete peaks of your legs while eating and it made you gloat. But then again, you barely took your eyes away from him. You mentioned the food was good, he mention his habit of cooking for himself so he could eat healthy. When you were done eating, you picked up the plates and washed them. He finished cleaning the rest of the kitchen and stood behind you while you finished drying the last plate. He wrapped his arms around you and just… inhaled your neck, giving you goosebumps.

"You smell like me" he said, moving your hair out of the way so he could kiss your neck. Your hand slowly reached up to him and nestled on his nape. No more waiting. You turned around and kissed him again, except this time it was no longer a press of lips that gradually turned to more. This time it was as if you had been holding your breath all your life and you were finally able to breathe. He kissed you back with the same fiery passion and before you knew it he had lift you again and sat you on the kitchen counter, standing between your legs. You instinctively moved your hands down his torso and pulled his shirt up, which had him stop to remove it, tossing it to the side. You looked down at him and let your eyes sank into his beauty. You had never even seen men like this on magazines, he was perfect. He kissed you again and moved his head down, kissing your chin, your neck, your collarbone. You moved your head back to give him room and you unbuttoned the first two buttons of the shirt you were wearing. Another button would expose your breasts but once you got there he grabbed your hands and put them on the counter, holding them in place as he kissed the upper area of your chest.

"MC" he said, his lips barely moving. "Are you sure?" barely a whisper. He looked up at you, his chin almost resting on your chest. His crimson hued irises took your breath away, glossy from desire, yearning, and devotion. A hunger only you could satisfy.

"Yes" you said, nodding with a smile on your face. It was all you had been waiting for.

-******** Fade to black *******-

"Princess, I…" he started "I actually had a dream last night that I would meet you" he said, running his fingers through your hair as he rolled on his side, facing you. You scooted over to him lying on your side and pressed your body against his, embracing him, looking into his eyes. His smile was perfect. It looked chiseled out of porcelain. He continued "But I didn't think it was real. I didn't believe my own dreams." he moved a strand of hair away from your face. "On my birthday I dreamt you were in another dimension and I could never meet you. Somehow, that one felt more real… but I'm glad it wasn't. I have never been happier in my life than I am now with you" he chuckled "I even once thought you were programmed by Seven into the app and felt like the biggest idiot for falling in love with a program"

Your breath trembled. You couldn't tell him. This was your dream and you couldn't tell him. The moment was perfect, his hold on you, his words, his smile. His smile. You never wanted to be the cause of that smile fading. You never wanted to cause him pain, like you had picking those choices on his birthday, bringing to light that you were in different dimensions, that this was just a dream. But you could only hold back your own pain so much and before you knew it tears were rolling down your eyes again.

"Honey~ what's wrong?" he said, holding you even closer, wrapping your arms around you and nestling your head in his chest, as if he could protect you with his body from waking up from this dream.

"I'm just so happy to be here with you, I just… I just can't contain my happiness" you said, but your words haltered, your breath ragged, they just weren't tears of happiness.

"No, something is wrong" Zen said, moving to look into your eyes "Don't lie to me, princess". Those crimson irises could penetrate your soul.

"I…" how could you break this perfect moment. You should have better control than this. You should enjoy this dream for what it was, your perfect escape from reality to be with Zen. "I can't" You whispered, moving away from him. You just couldn't do this to him. You couldn't do it to yourself. You knew he'd say something amazing, you knew he'd say something beautiful and it would just make him even more perfect. You should just wake up already from this dream. It was as perfect as it was going to be. You got up from the bed and walked towards the bathroom, leaning over the sink. You heard him calling out your name and you asked him for a minute. You took a deep breath, opened the sink, and splashed water on your face. Perhaps that would wake you. Then you realized you had already taken a shower and that hadn't woken you up. Perhaps sleep would, so you went back to bed and saw him lying there, a god in white sheets, looking at his phone.

"Jaehee was worried something happened to you since you suddenly didn't reply her texts." Zen said "I just told her you were here with me and you were fine" he said "Come back to bed with me, princess" he said, moving under a blanket. It was roughly 11am but you went back into the bed with him, letting him embrace you again. "Please tell me what's wrong, I can handle it" he said, kissing your forehead.

"I'm worried I can't handle it" you said, a whisper barely noticeable.

"Please" Zen pleaded with you.

"This… being here with you. This is a dream." You said, closing your eyes. "I will wake up and this will all have been a dream." you whispered. "I can't bear the thought of never seeing you again. Of waking up in another dimension and not being able to touch you, to kiss you"

"But MC, we are together right now" he said, lacing your fingers with his. "I am real, you are real, and we're together in the same dimension. Before, when I dreamed we were separated, I couldn't see you, I only saw you through a glass and it was… it was different. It was not this" He took your hand and placed it over his chest. "Feel my heart right now. It is real. I am real. We are real and together. And if we weren't, my love would reach you in any dimension you were"

"Yes, you're right" You said, nodding in agreement. You closed your eyes and felt his heart beating. You moved in closer to him and rested your head on his chest. You exchanged "I love you's" and you kissed him again, before lying in his arms. "If only" you thought. Before you knew it, sleep had washed over you.

So there is a version of this story without the fade to black that will be published in AO3. My username is the same. You can look it up there if you want to read the whole thing.

This is probably not the end of this story.