celestial strings | h.js

six.

"Which one is better, Jisung? Both of us sleeping on a soft surface or one of us sleeping on a bed while the other on the floor?" You raised a dilemma, which was hardly one, technically speaking.

Jisung shrugged. "You sleeping on a soft surface."

"But I want you to sleep on a bed," you pointed out. "It is your bed, not mine."

"Yeah, so I make the decision and I say you sleep on it tonight," Jisung said as-a-matter-of-factly, his thumb jabbing towards the direction of his room as he did so for maximum persuasion effect.

It was not working at all but you thought it was funny seeing him so worked up over this. "Look, it is either that or we are sharing the bed," you said.

You gave him a couple of seconds to process what just came out of his mouth. And when he did, recognition flew before his eyes and he pursed his lips together to prevent himself from screaming bloody murder. To mask his embarrassment, he cleared his throat and immediately put up a brave face.

Throwing his arms up, he exclaimed, "What? There is nothing bad about sleeping on a bed together! We are both sleeping, our brain functions are down, we can't feel anything!"

"You watch too many dramas," you said, your tone hiding an element of tease in it that Jisung would much rather not ask about just in case you retort him with something flustering again.

Giving up on a verbal argument (because as everybody could see, he was not winning it), Jisung acted upon a different approach. He leaned down to tug at your hand, pulling at your wrist with a delicate touch. His fingers barely grazed past your skin the first time he tried to pull you up, then they finally gained the courage to hold onto you so he could at least hold your arm up.

"Come on, [Name]," Jisung coaxed with a deeper, softer voice as he would use to a sleepy child he tucked into bed. He shook your arm lightly. "I promise my room and my bed are clean. Come on. I am not letting you sleep on the couch tonight."

You glared up at him again but your gaze had less harmful effect than it was intended. Jisung knew you didn't mean half the frowns you flash him, or at anybody. It was just a default expression of yours, he concluded, and there was no need for him to feel too worked up about the times you would give him a look of utter disappointment or more frequently, annoyance.

Still tugging at your hand, Jisung pushed on, "It's fine. I sleep on the ground all the time. Besides, like I said, my brain functions are down so I won't be able to feel uncomfortable at all."

If he cared enough to say all of that stupid shit, it did seem a little overboard if you reject his offer. You rolled your eyes at his words, finally standing up to comply with his request. Jisung was taken back when you stood up—and abruptly so—as he hadn't really been the farthest away from the couch and, well, you.

The second you did so, he turned his face away to avoid having to feel your breath on his face, which he knew would have made him a blushing, daydreaming mess as soon as you were out of sight and he was left to his own devices.

"Your logic needs some help," you muttered lowly after you stood up, and having completely disregarded Jisung's expression, you had spoken right at the skin of his jaw anyway.

Clenching his jaw tightly, he quickly took a step away from you and cleared his throat. "Um... uh... yeah! Great! Yay! You are–yeah, okay."

"Are you celebrating the fact that your logic needs help?" you asked, raising an eyebrow at him suspiciously. "You are acting weird, Jisung."

Oh, he was so glad you noticed. Pretty sure he noticed his own irregular heartbeat and the sensitivity of his neck too but tell him straightaway anyway. Having a double reminder would totally help.

"I am getting a little tired, that is all." Jisung laughed. "Um... my room is just down the hall on the left, the first door. You can't miss it. The second door leads to the bathroom and you can take a shower first if you want."

You sucked in a breath. It was finally your turn to feel awkward. It would be pretty questionable if Jisung sees you walking out of the shower wearing the same thing as you did today and a couple of days before. You have only gotten yourself a few needed pieces of clothing to switch them between days, and none of them looked remotely like a standard set of pajamas, unfortunately.

"Do you think you can lend me something to wear?" you asked, your voice gradually decreasing. "Just a shirt, a shirt is fine."

"Do you not have anything to wear? You have never changed out of these before?" Jisung widened his eyes, having gotten over the previous embarrassment rather quickly.

You did. You use time magic to reverse the dirt and damage until your clothes were back to being brand-new. It would be an easy concept to explain if you were talking to a fellow magic-user, but Jisung wasn't one. And even if he does accept your kind, which you were still clueless about, he would be the type to ask an array of weird questions you wouldn't know if you'd hate or like.

"There is this lady who owns a small clothing store and she lends me clothes sometimes," you lied. "As long as I clean it and return it to her, she is okay with it. But, um, I didn't exactly get to ask for a new change of clothes today."

Jisung stared at you. You felt your heart speed up at the process of him analyzing your features despite knowing he probably does not know how to detect a liar simply by their facial expressions, not to mention you weren't so bad a liar yourself. Thankfully, he was quick to release a sheepish smile, adding with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Aww, she is so nice! I am glad you found someone who could help!" He beamed. "But yes, I can lend you something to wear. How about you pick something! I have a lot of shirts!"

"Is that really necessary?"

"No, but I think that would be fun." He shrugged with a silly smile, then he frowned. "And also because I am indecisive. I want to pick something nice, but I have a lot of nice clothes."

It wasn't that serious, and Jisung knew. He was not sure what had gotten over him all of a sudden—just the pure idea of you wearing something of his gave him a rather interesting feeling. He would not hate to see it happen, that was all.

"Oh, just grab me something," you groaned out while stepping aside to shove past him. "I really need to take a shower."

"Oh, okay!" Jisung said, grinning. "Don't use up the hot water."

Watching as you held up your arm in acknowledgment, Jisung finally let his shoulder relax. He found himself staring at the ground as the clock ticked away, his mind reaching back to the conversation you two just shared.

It was all fine and normal until the fantasy dropped and he was thinking about your breath on his skin again.

Oh, there it was, as expected! The pink blush and the nonsensical daydream have finally appeared.