Maybe This Time | Saida

Chapter 8: The Aftermath

Everything was hot. Her body felt like it was burning, as if she was laying right next to a fireplace. No actually, worse than that—it felt like she was being cooked inside an oven, like a rotisserie chicken. Beads of sweat were trickling down her forehead and her neck was glistening in perspiration.

That's when she realized that her whole body was wrapped in her thick duvet. With her eyes still shut, she struggled to get out of the sheets while mentally cursing at herself for not changing them into a thinner set that suited the summer season more. As she was squirming, she felt something squeeze her body through the thick blanket.

Her eyelids instantly flew open when she realized that it wasn't something but someone holding her tightly.

Dahyun let out a loud screech the moment she saw the person lying beside her and instinctively pushed herself away, resulting to her slipping down to the edge of the bed and hitting her head on the nightstand as she landed on the floor with a thud. She groaned loudly and clutched her head painfully.

"What was that..." Bed shuffling, a quiet raspy voice above her said.

Here's the thing: Dahyun rarely ever swore. Like once-in-a-blue-moon type of rare. The times that she did can be counted with just one hand. But it's not like a curse-free life was what she devoutly adhered to; it just didn't come naturally to her. Cursing was reserved for life-threatening situations and times when something scared the absolute life out of her.

A good example was now, when she unexpectedly woke up next to the woman who just kissed her the night before.

"Holy shit! Unnie! Why the hell are you half naked on my fucking bed?!" Dahyun spat out in a panic as one hand continued to rub her the side of her head while the other held onto her pounding chest.

Realizing something, she immediately glanced down on her own body and released a deep sigh in relief when she saw that she was still fully clothed.

"Dahyun...?" Sana croaked out, sounding half asleep still. There was a short silence before a high-pitched shriek pierced throughout the room. "Oh my god! Where am I? Where're my clothes?!" Then a gasp. "Wait, don't tell me you're... Did... Oh my gosh! Did we—? Did s-something happen... b-between us?!"

Despite still being shocked to the bone, Dahyun felt a familiar heat travel from her neck to her face and pinched the bridge of her nose in a poor attempt to stop it.

"N-No! I don't think something happened. I'm still in my dress," she stuttered to explain and ran a palm on her face in embarrassment. "Can you please... can you dress up so I can stand?"

She heard Sana let out a shaky breath before getting off the bed and shuffling around the other side. She then appeared in front of Dahyun—thankfully now wearing the dress that she had last night and now fully awake—and frowned upon seeing a crouching Dahyun who's massaging her scalp.

"Dahyunie, I— I'm so sorry for scaring you like that. I must've unconsciously gotten rid of my dress in the middle of the night. I mean, the AC's not turned on, the windows are closed, and it's summer..." Sana guiltily trailed off with an apologetic look plastered on her messy face. She knew that her hair was everywhere and a trail of drool was probably visible on her chin but she didn't think to fix herself because like a reflex, she held out her arms for Dahyun to take.

Dahyun glanced up and studied Sana's face very intently, trying to see whether she remembered what happened last night. Her perfectly shaped brows were knitted deeply, pink lips were pursed into a tight line, and brown eyes were glanced down on her with nothing but guilt, concern, and a pinch of confusion laced within. Definitely no indication of recollection because if there were her eyes would be bigger, mouth slightly agape, and brows shot up in a horror and probably regret.