Waking up on the couch was not something Chaerin would call as comfortable. Moreover, Ryu Seyoon's lap could not come close to being as pleasant compared to the pillow.
But strangely enough, she managed to sleep the entire night peacefully and even slept half an hour more than usual. Even though she was occasionally tormented by the nightmares, they did not wake her up completely and left her restless as they usually did.
A sharp pain went through her neck, and her back ached as Chaerin sat up on the couch. As she groggily rubbed her eyes, she let out a soft yawn. Sleeping on his lap the entire night made her hair messy, and raising her hand, she brushed it through her hair in order to fix it.
While doing that, her eyes were on Ryu Seyoon the entire time. The back pillow of the couch supported his head as he had his eyes closed, and seeing how he had fallen asleep, Chaerin knew that he was in more of a uncomfortable situation than she was.
Although she knew that he stayed with her until she had fallen asleep, she had not expected for her to stay beside her the entire night.
Then, she recalled about on how she was comforted everytime all those horrible nightmares plagued her, and as her eyes went towards his hand, she could vaguely remember him patting her head.
A yawn escaped from Ryu Seyoon's mouth while he opened his eyes, and seeing that she had woken up, he faced her with a small smile upon his features.
"Good morning," he spoke out.
His voice and face did nothing to hide the fact he was lacking asleep. Chaerin had a clear idea on how she was reason behind it, and that made the situation even more confusing.
Why would he, a complete stranger, would be doing this for her?
"Why did you do all that for me?" she bluntly questioned.
Only after those words had left her mouth had she realized how rude they have been. The entire night he was unable to sleep due to her, and this was the first thing she could say to him.
Nonetheless, for this very reason, she could not help but be cautious of him. She was unable to read his intentions, and even if he was kind by nature, this was still too much.
"Did it inconvenience you?" he asked.
"It's not that," Chaerin said, "It doesn't make sense why you would be doing this for me. If you want to win my favour by doing this, this would not be giving you any benefits. Remember that."
With that, Chaerin got down from the couch. As much as she wanted to question the male further, she already woke up late, and even if this was the weekend, there were some matters she wanted to finish up.
Seeing that Chaerin was walking away, Seyoon spoke out, "I have won. You slept like a baby— well not exactly— but I guess you understand what I mean. Keep your part of the deal."
"Hmm," Chaerin replied— seeming disinterested.
°°°
As Chaerin clicked one of the keys on her laptop, a thought emerged within her. Because of how she was consumed with figuring out Seyoon's intentions, she had completely looked past it. It was how she managed to sleep on his lap without any problem.
To Chaerin, who had a sleeping disorder, this was completely baffling. It has been a long time since she had slept that comfortably.
Seyoon was a total stranger, and she did not trust the man yet. However, she managed to fall asleep without any hurdles last night.
"No, this must be just a coincidence. It could be because of how tired I were. After all, this time around I was unable to sleep for a week," she spoke out regardless of how she found those words a little unbelievable.
°°°
"Sleep with me tonight," Chaerin ordered.
Her words caught the male by surprise, and as he placed in a spoonful of soup inside his mouth, he began to choke on it. As his coughing calmed down, he raised his head to stare at Chaerin while his lips curved to have a gentle smile form on his face.
"You can not say those words out that casually, Jung Chaerin-ssi," he spoke out.
"Why not? It's not like I was thinking sleeping in some sort of dirty sense," she said, "Like last night, let's sleep together both of us. I want to check something.
It doesn't make sense for me to fall asleep that easily, especially someone as suspicious as you. Let's test it tonight as well. Don't worry. This time around, I will make to compensate you properly for it."
Shaking his head, he stated, "I am glad to help you, but you don't have to pay me for that. It would make it seem like as if I am doing this for money."
"Well, aren't you?" Chaerin questioned, raising one of her eyebrows.
A defeated expression formed on his face as a sigh escaped from his mouth, and staring down at his table, he said, "I guess, in a way, I am, but about helping you sleep, I don't want to be paid for that. I did that because I wanted to, not because of money."
"As much as I am fond of saving money, do accept this or else it would be making me more suspicious of you. After all, what purpose do you have for helping me with sleeping?" Chaerin honestly spoke out.
"Why don't you figure that out on your own, Chaerin-ssi? Quickly finish your lunch now. I have the entire day planned for us!" he excitedly voiced out.