"Are you done playing around?" Chaerin questioned as she stared at the ceiling. Due to the darkness, she was barely able to make out anything.
Inside the living room, Ryu Seyoon was seated upon the couch while Chaerin's head laid on top of his lap. Her legs were stretched on the couch, and the lighting was turned off.
"My cat used to fall asleep when I did this," he spoke out as he patted on top of Chaerin's head gently.
Although the action felt quite comforting to Chaerin, it did not change how eccentric the situation was. Never did she imagine at the age of twenty nine she would be laying on someone's lap while that person patted her head as if she was his pet.
This entire situation was totally wrong. In this case, since Seyoon was the one brought by her, it would make more sense if he were to be the who was treated like a pet. But why was this happening to her?
Raising her hand, she wrapped them around his wrist, preventing him from moving his hand further, and said, "I am not a cat neither am I a kid. I doubt this method will be working on me."
As she was about to raise her head from his lap, it was pushed back by him, and while her head came in contact with his thighs, he lowered his head to stare at her. Due to the dim lighting, she was not able to make out the expression upon his face.
Nonetheless, Chaerin was grateful to that for she believed that looking at his face right now would only make her feel all those strange sensations all over again— just like how it had happened before— considering the distance between both of them.
"There are one more method I would want to try— the adult one. Exercise with you in the bed until you're tired and fall asleep on your own.
That method is quite effective, but since I know that you would not be comfortable with that, I have to stick with this. Don't worry! You are very much like a cat, so this would be reliable," he expressed.
"This is a waste of time," she said— somewhat baffled how she was treated by a cat.
Regardless of how hard she tried, she was not able to see the similarity between a cat and her. She wondered what made her similar to a cat in his eyes.
Once again, before she was able to raise her head, he pushed it back on his lap and said, "Disobedient cats will be punished. Now, be a good girl and close your eyes. What's the harm in doing so?"
"This position is quite humiliating," she spoke out.
"No one is seeing you. Not even I can see you, so it is fine," he said, "This is a service you brought with your money. That's why, it is alright to rely on it."
The exhaustion took over her body, and even if she was not able to sleep, she closed her eyes to give this a try.
A small smile formed on his face at how docile she had grown to become, and touching her head, he rubbed his hand on it softly.
Chaerin found herself concentrating on the constant rhythmic motion, and it brought warmth to her. This made her wonder on how long had it been for her to feel such warmth. Pushing back her pride just for this moment— which she was quite reluctant to do— she let herself relax.
That's when, catching her by surprise, he had started to hum. Chaerin was able to comment something on that before she held herself back. His humming was quite melodious, and it made her feel somewhat good.
More than that, she did not want to ruin the current atmosphere between both of them.
Although it took her about half an hour, she had finally fallen asleep, and noticing that, Seyoon stopped moving his hand. Clicking on a button on the remote, he switched on the lights inside the room.
A smile spread on to his face as he stared at her sleeping face. Extending his hand towards her, he pressed on the frown that formed in her forehead and eased. Using his hand, he pushed back the bangs from her forehead behind her ear.
"You are seriously cute," he mumbled.
°°°
It did not take long for Ryu Seyoon to fall asleep as well. While his back leaned against the couch, his head was on top of the back pillows. On his lap was Chaerin while his hand rested on her stomach protectively.
All of a sudden, creases formed between both of Chaerin's eyebrows while images flashed inside her mind.
In those images, blood was present everywhere, and screams ran inside her head. She found herself feeling suffocated at that moment, and stirring up in his lap, she clenched tightly on to the material of his shirt.
Tears began to form at the corner of her eyes, and as if noticing what she was going through at this moment, Seyoon subconsciously raised his head upwards to rub her head.
The small action from her woke him up, and while he patted on her head in order to calm her down, he opened his eyes slightly.
A silent yawn escaped from his mouth as he noticed the tears that formed at the corner of her eyes. The constant patting calmed her down, and soon enough, she found herself being drifted to sleep again.
Moving his hand towards her, he wiped away the tears from the corner of her eyes and said, "Sleep well, now. I would not let anything happen to you."