The heavy weight of the pillow resting against my abdomen has me groaning in protest and blindly swatting it away. When I take in a deep breath, my eyes twitch in perplex at the masculine scent of the other pillow buried within the crevice of my neck. It smells a bit like old spice. There is also another undetectable scent underneath it all. I think it might be apples.
Come to think of it, when was the last time I have eaten apples? Then again, it is not often that I eat fruit. Perhaps Kai wasn't wrong when he said that I'm an unhealthy individual who disregards ways to keep myself away from unhealthy behaviour.
Wait a minute…
Why the hell does my pillow smell like old spice?
My pillow has never smelled like old spice. Why would it when the owner of the room doesn't smell like old spice?
Was my brother in my room? He is not allowed to sleep in my bed. He knows how much I hate it when he does. It leaves a congested atmosphere in my room. I don't like it. What is with the apples too? I have never sneaked apples up into my room.
My brows draw nearer in my sleepy state. I flutter my eyes open, grateful that there isn't any light blinding me today, just like any other day when my mum decides to draw the blinds up. It seems like a ton of things have decided to go differently today. Why hasn't my mum woken me up and demanded that I bathe the twins?
When the pillow groans into my neck, my eyes fully snap open, the sleep already escaping my body and I scream. Is there someone sleeping against me? I fearfully push the person off me and, fortunately, they end up rolling off the bed and taking a tumble onto the floor with an annoyed groan. The loud thud confirms it.
Who the hell is that and most importantly, what are they doing in my bed? Last time I checked, it's not often that I have someone sleeping with me. Did someone crawl through the window and sleep in my bed?
"What the fuck?" the person grumbles, his voice gruff after having just woken up.
To make myself appear intimidating, I grab a lamp from the bedside table and hold it close to protect myself from him just in case he tries anything. In my panicked daze, I glance around the room but when I catch the grey walls that is when I realise that this is not my room. Cautiously, I slide over to the other end of the bed and peek over the edge. A shocked gasp leaves my lips when I spot the body which is lying there on the floor.
"Kai?"
As he runs his hands through his tangled, unkempt hair and blinks up at me in confusion, my mind begins to fill with images of the reason why I'm here with him. Until I remember the previous night and the events that led to me ending up in his bed.
"Jesus," he mutters under his breath, and I can't control the shiver which runs down my spine from his gritty voice. "Way to wake a guy up."
Sheepishly, I put the lamp back on the bedside table and say, "Sorry. I forgot I slept over."
He rubs an exhausted hand over his face, pinching his eyes shut to prevent the bit of light peeking into the room from stabbing his eyes and again, a soft groan leaves him. Through his blind state, he smiles up at me and the adorable dimples that appear in his cheeks, have my heart skipping a beat.
"Morning," he murmurs with a bit of a quite, mirthful chuckle.
"Morning," I murmur back softly with an amused grin. "You should probably get up from the floor. You'll catch a cold lying down there."
Instead of getting up, he holds his hand out for me to help him up, and after rolling my eyes and shaking my head, I grab a hold of his hand and pull him up. The sheets which were draped over him while he was lying on the ground, fall off swiftly and before my eyes can linger anywhere below the belt, I quickly avert my gaze and feel my ears heating up in embarrassment. I do not remember him taking his trousers off last night.
While rushing to put his trousers on, he mutter awkwardly, "Sorry, it gets really hot at night. I normally sleep in the nude but I kept my briefs on just in case."
"Thank you?" When my gaze focuses on him again, he has his trousers back on. They are a pair of Levi jeans resting lowly around his hips.
"I don't usually have people over and when I do, they don't normally sleep in my bed with me so…"
Well, that's good to know, that I'm one of the few he has let into his bed. I'm curious though, how many people has he had over to his house? Was one of those people one of the five or six people he said he once had feelings for? Was his first time doing the deed in this very bed? He does seem like he has a pretty interesting social life and it makes me wonder who else might have caught his eye?
Before I can ask him the questions floating around my head, a knock on the door interrupts me, causing my entire body to tense.
"Hey," I hear another man's baritone voice coming through from the other side of the wooden door, although a bit muffled.
My eyes widen out of fear.
He puts a finger on his lips, narrowing his eyes at me pointedly. "Bhaee?" he answers, trying to keep the nervousness from seeping through his lips.
"Aap theek hai na?" the man, who I'm guessing is his older brother, muses in concern and just to be safe, I bring the sheets up to my chin. "I heard a scream, a really girly one."
"Yep, that was me. I'm just practising my… astrological scream like they told us to do at school. It's an assignment that I have to do. It's a way to call upon the stars bright and early in the morning."
"Yah hai?"
It is? I frown in confusion.
"Haan, Bhaee," he responds in the language they are communicating with each other in and I don't miss the blush on his cheeks.
It's not, is it?
"Are you sure you're okay?"
Surely, his brother must know that something is up. Especially with the cover up story that Kai came up with. What kind of lie was that even? An astrological scream to call upon the stars in the morning? He is a terrible liar, even worse than me, and that is saying something.
Curiously, I whisper loudly, "What are you doing?"
He hushes me. "My brother has the hearing of an elephant."
"What was that?" his brother demands through the door.
I purse my lips, holding my breath too in case he hears that too.
"I'm fine, Ismael. I just…" he trails off as he tries to come up with a plausible idea and this is what he thought was a plausible idea. A moan of ache leaves his lips. "I'm not feeling well right now."
"Should I tell Mum to make you some soup?"
I can hear just from his tone alone that his brother is worried about him especially from how peculiar Kai is being right now. It makes me feel a little guilty that he is lying to him to protect me from being found out. I do not want to already be on his brother's bad side though.
When the doorknob rattles, Kai immediately sprints over to it and slams his back into the wooden platform, shutting it before his brother can even think of coming into the room.
"Keiji, what is this? What are you doing in there?" Ismael mutters from the abruptness of his action.
Even I know that his brother cannot, under any circumstances, come in here. What will he think when he sees his younger brother with another boy in his room? Kai already said that he didn't take the news of him coming out as bisexual very well. What would his reaction be to him hiding another boy in his bedroom on his bed? What if he calls my parents on me? My mum would absolutely body me if she were to find out that I spent the night away from home to sleep in someone else's bed. I would never hear the end of it.
"No, thank you," he answers quickly, chuckling nervously. Then he turns the lock quickly and the door clicks shut. Spinning around on his heels, he watches the still rattling door.
"Kya tumane daravaaja band kar liya hai?" his brother muses sounding as though he is in disbelief.
"You can't come in here right now."
"Why not? Open this door right now."
Oh, we are done for. This is it. This is the end of my life as Seong Jin Lee.
"Uh… I cannot do that right now."
"Why not?"
"Uhm… because I am..." He turns around to look at me for help.
I shrug unknowingly.
"I can't open the door right now because I'm," he pinches his face as if he is in pain and grits out, "wanking right now."
My breath hitches in my throat and unsurprisingly, we are met with silence from the other end of the door. Of all things, wanking?
That's until his brother muses darkly, "What?"
"Yeah, I am actually masturbating right now so you cannot be in here at all."
"Why didn't you just take a cold shower?"
"Ismael, what are you busy yelling about?" another voice chimes into the question, this time a feminine one. "You are making a ruckus."
"Your son is busy masturba—"
"Bhaee!" he snaps hurriedly, a crimson heat splashing onto his cheeks and if I was not someone stuck in this situation with him, this would be absolutely hilarious. "Can you not talk about that with Mum right now?"
"Oh, sweetie, you don't have to be embarrassed. It's normal."
While shaking his head with his ears tucked into his shoulders, he pleadingly says, "Mum, please stop talking."
"It's healthy."
"Okay, please leave now. I don't think I will even be able to get in the mood to do anything after this."
"Next time, just take a cold shower."
"Got it, Ismael," he grumbles.