“Sleepy, darling? You look like you can’t keep your eyes open.”

Those words that she’d listened to thousands of time were like words of enchantment. Sure, YouTube was full of audios like these. “[M4A / M4F] Boyfriend Comforts You to Sleep.” “Boy Confesses Feeling for You While Doing XX (Oral sounds/ Kisses / Lip Sounds).” “[Spicy] Waking Up Tied to the Mafia Boss.” “Making Your Incubus Boy Whimper #binaural #forwomen #deepvoice.” There was an ocean’s worth of what was colloquially called “boyfriend ASMR” content, no matter what one’s type was. Any trope, any situation, any voice type.

But for her, it had to be this. It had to be him.

* * *

16:9 frame ratio montage of Byul and Veggie sitting face to face, making eye contact, both smiling.

Cut to her pulling his new harness taut, putting it on him as he sits pretty. One second shot of his legs ending up in the wrong slot, and him looking up confused at her. Back to him looking perfectly dandy and sparkly.

Cut to her and Veggie walking side by side into a cafe, his leash in her one hand and a bouquet of marigolds in the other. Shots of his harness mesmerizing passersby every time he gets up and sits back down.

Cut to sunset. The crystals now shining with a gentler, golden hour glow.

Cut to them back home. Her opening her arms wide and Veggie jumping up to his hind legs and hugging her. Him falling into her laps and asking for pets.

His sleepy eyes closing shut as her thumb strokes the white spot on his forehead.

The video turned black with the caption: Thank you @lavieenCrystal_official.

“Tehe.”

Byul clicked “play again” on her own reel, giggling out loud. This was officially one of her favorite videos in existence.

Byul’s Instagram reel of Veggie in his new handmade Swarovski-studded harness had reached 2 million views. Her reels averaged 600k to 800k usually, so whenever a reel hit that blessed million, it was worth a celebration. She tapped the paper airplane icon by her own reel, looking for Crystal in the list of options that popped up. In this video: lavieenCrystal_official. She tapped Crystal’s Instagram handle and sent her a DM.

[im_byuristar] we did it joe

Not even a minute had passed when the typing bubble appeared on Crystal’s end.

[lavieenCrystal_official] hell yeah 2 milll

[lavieenCrystal_official] thanks to that beautiful face

[lavieenCrystal_official] oh

[lavieenCrystal_official] you’re there too

[lavieenCrystal_official] ;)

[im_byuristar] you’re just the funniest to ever do it aren’t you

[im_byuristar] but you’re right

[im_byuristar] he’s the star of the show 🙂

[lavieenCrystal_official] how’s he liking the harness?

[im_byuristar] loves. it.

[im_byuristar] literally goes to sleep with it

[im_byuristar] shines the brightest in any room he enters

‘My little attention h*e,’ she thought to herself, still high from watching Veggie’s reel. Veggie climbing on top of her as she laid on her stomach on her bed, typing on her phone. He plopped down on Byul’s back, trusting his hefty 35 pounds all on her. She let out an “oof,” but savored his weight and warmth.

[lavieenCrystal_official] he was already doing that

[im_byuristar] ugh. i love you

[lavieenCrystal_official] even when my dark circles are down to my chin?

[im_byuristar] bad night’s sleep?

[lavieenCrystal_official] more like no sleep

[lavieenCrystal_official] met two deadlines this morning 👏🏻

The video drove even more business to La Vie en Crystal too. Crystal’s studio was near one of Byul’s favorite cafes, Night Space City, and she made a habit of dropping by to see what Crystal was working on for the day.

[im_byuristar] coffee run?

[lavieenCrystal_official] always.

[lavieenCrystal_official] night space city?

After a few more coffee chats and studio visits, they had become pretty good friends.

‘Dates are overrated. Try friends like this for a change,’

Byul thought, smiling to herself. It wasn’t often that she felt like she was making a real, lasting friendship in her influencer circle. Before they had DM’d for long, Byul’s phone buzzed from a call from Crystal.

* * *

It took a few minutes for Byul to realize she was looking at the reflection of herself in a mirror wall at a party. She was dressed in a light grey flapper dress embroidered with white stones, a sparkly headband, and strings of pearls. A feather boa tickled her arms where it sat. The dance hall itself sported sleek geometric patterns and metallic finishes of the Art Deco style, à la The Great Gatsby.

‘A Roaring 20s themed party?’

She looked around. Everyone else was wearing similar flapper dresses and pinstriped waistcoats, walking around with champagne glasses.

“Arf!”

“Veggie?”

Startled, Byul looked down to her sandaled feet. She blinked but her eyes hazy.

‘The party planners must have a fog machine around.’

She thought. Everything from her shin down was covered in a white cloud that added a sense of mystique to the party. She couldn’t see clearly to the floor, though she could tell it was Veggie by his voice and the two little flappy ears sticking out. Surely, Veggie was smiling up at her, happy to have gotten her attention.

“Did I bring you here with me?”

She tilted her head, whispering to Veggie. She saw Kat and Crystal across the room, picking up chocolates from waiters walking around with metal trays full of sweets. Byul started moving to their direction. Veggie’s little ears bounced after her, flapping up and down like two yellow butterflies.

“Kat, Crystal.”

Byul called out to her friends.

“Byul!”

“You made it.”

“Geez, what took you so long? You look amazing though, queen.”

Her friends buzzed in excitement at her entrance.

“Want a bonbon?”

Crystal offered her the chocolate that she had taken from one of the waiters. Byul reached out to take it, but it slipped through her gloved fingers.

“Ack!”

Byul caught it midair. She let out a sigh of relief. Crystal laughed and said:

“What’s the matter? We can get you another one if you drop it.”

“You know chocolates are deadly for dogs.”

“Yeah, but there are no dogs here.”

“There is.”

Byul said. The fog machine must have been chugging along, as the white fog was rising. It billowed at her knees now, and only the very tip of Veggie’s ears were visible.

“What are you talking about?”

“Where?”

“Veggie. I brought him.”

Kat tilted her head, confused.

“Who?”

“My dog Veggie. He’s right here. See?”

Byul bent down and picked him up, proving her point. That’s when she noticed something sparkling near his chest. A deep blue diamond the size of a child’s fist. Veggie was wearing it like a collar, but it was no doubt a human necklace.

“Are you feeling okay?”

Crystal asked, putting a hand on Byul’s headbanded forehead.

“Byul, girlie, you don’t have a dog.”

Kat said.

Byul knotted her brows in confusion. He was right here. What did they mean, she didn’t have a dog?

* * *

Byul’s eyes shot open along with a twitch of her entire body. Veggie was sleeping tucked in between her arm and waist, and the sudden movement woke him up. He opened his eyes to make sure she wasn’t leaving his sight, but was still all pludgey and sleepy. He yawned and cradled himself further into her waist.

Clocking that she and Veggie were safely in her bedroom, she breathed out a long sigh and laid down flat again.

‘What a weird ass dream.’

Byul thought to herself and closed her eyes. Yes, the party had been a dream. She didn’t own a light grey flapper dress and hadn’t heard from Kat in months. She did, however, remember seeing the diamond that was hanging on Veggie’s neck somewhere before.

‘Where have I seen that?”

Her visit to La Vie en Crystal’s studio earlier that day came back to her. The diamond looked just like the one captured in the framed pictures of famous gemstones that Crystal had around her studio walls. But Byul had seen it somewhere else too. She recognized it from her visit to the Smithsonian Museum when she was visiting friends in Washington D.C. a few years back.

The giant blue diamond that was exhibited alone in a dark room, being illuminated by bright studio lights. How mesmerized she had been by its rainbow allure, its tremendous size. She recalled reading about it in the museum plaque.

The diamond was plucked from a statue of a pagan goddess in India by a French explorer. The goddess cursed those who would become the bearer of the stone, be it death, illness, insanity.

The diamond found its way to the United States by a gold miner's daughter. She bought the diamond and wore it constantly, whether on her gown or swimsuit. The woman who even put the cursed stone around her dog's neck.

‘Why would she do that?’

Byul had wondered, even back then. If the diamond brought bad mojo to those who wore it, it was a bad idea to own it, least of all let your dog be near it. It was cursed.

The name of the diamond was at the tip of her tongue-

“Hope diamond.”

She said out loud. Whew. Not knowing would have bothered her all night.

She thought about how grossly the diamond was misnamed. There was nothing hopeful about the curse it brought its owners. The plague. The despair and destruction.

The sight of the diamond hanging from Veggie’s neck was as if it was burned into Byul’s eyelids. She turned to her side, giving Veggie more room to snuggle into her. She decided to consider it as a bad dream. She went back to bed.

Maybe things would’ve been different if she hadn’t?

To be continued...