𝗄𝖾𝗍𝗌𝗎 𝗉𝗋𝗈𝖽𝗎𝖼𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇𝗌©
𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦
♫ ๑━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━๑ ♫
optional - when you see this symbol (♫♫), play the song
SEMI SQUEEZED HIS eyes shut, groaning and moving to bang his head on a nearby pillar, which was probably a violation of some kind of museum policy.
"you don't get it, do you?" he asked, his voice low, raspy, and wearied.
you tilted your head in confusion. no, you didn't get it. was that not clear from the beginning? "don't get what, semi?"
when you heard nothing, you looked up to find semi suddenly in front of you. you let out a stuttered breath as you tried to force yourself not to take a step back. but the way he shuffled closer and closer to you made it impossible. you ended up being cornered in the junction of a wall, semi's toned arms lifting to cage you in on both sides.
"s-semi?" you said, your gaze moving up from his arms to his face.
"someone as smart and pretty as you..." he leaned in closer, "should've figured this out a long time ago."
your lips parted at his words and you felt your face warm at his close proximity. and did he just call you pretty? you cleared your throat, trying to ignore the way he gazed intently at your lips.
"what should i have figured out? i wish you'd just be direct with me—"
"that i'd become completely enamored with you," he blurted out, unable to stop himself. "that i'd fallen head over heels in love with you the moment you—"
you jolted from your bed, breathing heavily. flashes from the dream—no, nightmare—you had incessantly played through your mind even as you rubbed your temples hard.
you woke up with a stuffy nose and a heavy head; those symptoms alone let you know that going out in the rain yesterday wasn't the best idea. it was reckless, to say the least.
straightening up, you pushed yourself into the corner of your bed, letting your gaze slide over to the left side of the room. your shoulders relaxed when you saw an empty bed, glad nobody witnessed you shooting up from your pillows like you got a bucket of ice water poured on you.
with a sigh, you grabbed your headphones from your bedside table. slipping them on, you tapped the side, letting a song play.
♫♫ semi left his bed unmade, and you could see where he threw the vinyl-filled comforter off of him—the plush corners bunched up at the edge of the bed.
at the thought of semi, your mind immediately recalled the dream you awoke from. involuntarily, you carded through images of him pushing you against the wall and kissing you—images of fake memories that made your face blaze with heat and your breath cut short.
you gripped the edge of your comforter, squeezing your eyes and trying to shake off the memories of something that had never—and will never—happen.
the night before, you had fallen asleep thinking about what semi was trying to say to you in the museum. though you acted nonchalant, you knew the message never got through to you. so you couldn't help but make up scenarios in your mind, trying to come up with the most realistic continuation of the conversation the two of you had.
unfortunately, it seemed that the theme of realism got lost in the haze of sleep clouding your mind because the events of your dream were anything but realistic. maybe you had watched a few rom-coms too many or read a chick lit too many, but clearly, your brain didn't get the memo.
frustrated, you slipped out of bed, deciding that eating something would distract you from this. when you got to the kitchen, you realized it was monday and that it was already lunchtime.
monday. that meant semi was at oxford, experiencing his first day in what you could only hope was misery. okay, maybe not total misery.
the hours flew by quickly, the house eerily empty without semi—and quiet, save for your mother's soft snoring. it made your heart clench because you knew she only snored when she felt completely drained.
you spent the day cozied up on the couch, scrolling through emails and trying to get yourself signed up for fall classes. first, you had to get through the hard part: picking a school.
eventually, you got tired of trying to decide and opted for watching a movie. besides, your head was pounding, and you could hardly breathe through your nose.
it wasn't until late into the afternoon that your attention was grabbed by something other than the images on your tv screen. when you heard the front door open, you turned your head to see who it was, though it could only be one other person.
"there she is," semi said, then sang loudly: "honeyy, i'm hooome—ough!" he was cut off by a pillow you threw at his face, shutting him up.
"shhh!" you shushed him, "my mom is sleeping, you idiot!"
semi looked offended by your interruption, putting a solemn hand on his heart. he looked apologetic but only rolled his eyes at you. "thanks for the warm welcome," he sniffed.
you blinked, fixating on his slightly nasally tone. "you're sick?"
"yup. sick for my first day of school, and it's all your fault," semi sighed, throwing his phone on the couch and plopping beside you.
"okay, well, i got sick, too, dumbass," you huffed, kicking his side. with a smile, you watched him slowly turn his head to you, splitting his attention away from the tub of ice cream on his lap. you had no clue when he got that from the freezer.
"um, ow!" semi cursed, reaching over to knock you on the forehead with his spoon. when your hand flew to your head to rub the spot, semi laughed at the shocked expression on your face. "i see you've missed me."
you knew it was a joke, but the statement caught you completely off guard. ignoring the heat in your ears, you rolled your eyes and tucked your legs in.
instead, you reached over and took the ice cream from his hand.
"you can't eat ice cream when you're sick, dipshit," you said, ignoring his protests.
"says who?" he asked, crossing his arms indignantly.
you shrugged, digging up some ice cream and bringing it up to your mouth. "dunno, but it's like... a principle," you said with your mouth half full.
"then why are you eating it?!?" semi asked incredulously, watching you snort and struggle not to laugh.
"shhh—shhh," you giggled, bringing a finger to his lips to quiet him. "don't worry about that. tell me about your day instead," you said.
it was almost instantaneous the way the boy's face lit up. suddenly, semi turned his body to face you, grabbing a pillow to lay on his lap.
you panicked at his reaction, instinctively ready to defend yourself. "don't look so happy! i only asked because you were all giddy when you walked in," you rushed to correct yourself. "not because i care or anything."
he nodded slowly with every word that tumbled uncontrollably out of your mouth, a condescending grin gracing his mouth. "riiight..." he drawled, letting out a short laugh when you scowled.
"well, you saw the campus—it was pretty fucking awesome," Semi continued, a glint in his eyes. "but it gets even better. we practice in the auditorium, so there's a stage and a whole bunch of seats lined up as if there's some invisible crowd watching us all the time," he grinned boyishly, making your spoon freeze midway to your mouth.
"don't even get me started on all the instruments. yn, they had everything you could imagine!" he leaned over to take the spoon from your hand, helping himself to the ice cream that you seemed to have forgotten about. "the crew i got assigned to even played me their song," you laughed as Semi brought his hand up to his head, making an explosion sound, "mind. blowing." he sighed, falling back. "they even had stage lights. it all felt so... real." he took another bite, then looked over at you, noticing how you were looking at him. "what?"
"huh? oh, it's nothing," you dismissed, recalling the shine in his eyes as he spoke with so much passion. he sounded so excited, speaking with his hands, all animated. "you were just nerding out so hard that i forgot i hated you for a second."
he rolled his eyes, ignoring you. even though you could place hints of a smile tugging at his lips. "it's just... i've never had a team before. well, i've been on a sports team but—not a music team. i'm technically in a band now," he smiled to himself, letting his head rest on the arm of the sofa.
a faint smirk tugged at your lips because, for the first time in a while, you found yourself not feeling envious while listening to him talk about his amazing day. the realization made you feel uneasy, causing you to clear your throat and shift uncomfortably. clearly, semi hadn't had the miserable day you had silently wished for him that morning.
"so what position are you playing?" you asked, finally spooning some ice cream and eating it.
semi's gaze lingered on your lips as they slid off the spoon. blinking, he looked back up at you, then at the spoon again. that was the same spoon he'd just eaten with. his cheeks heated. an indirect kiss.
"uh, semi?"
the sound of his name brought him back to reality and he snapped back alive. "oh! uh, i don't know yet. pretty sure i have to audition for a position. i think any position would work for me, though."
"right," you said in a bored tone, "because you're so multitalented." semi watched you get up from the couch, jaw dropped as you took the ice cream with you.
"hey, i wasn't done with that!" he whisper-yelled after you.
"sick people can't eat ice cream!" you whisper-yelled back from the kitchen. "do you want tea? i can make tea! i'm gonna make us tea," you said, not giving him a chance to respond.
semi smirked, "what else are you gonna do? wrap me up in a blanket, put on harry potter: order of the pheonix, and cuddle me till i fall asleep?"
you glared at him. "don't get ahead of yourself," you scolded, pretending his teasing didn't bring back memories of the dream you awoke from this morning. you could see him run a hand through his ash colored hair as you set two cups on the counter. "and really? order of the pheonix? what are you, a masochist?"
"maybe. but you're just as miserable as me, so you're still gonna put it on," he said it not like a question, but a claim.
"damn right i am," you scoffed.
all of a sudden, the house really didn't feel that empty anymore.
♫ ๑━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━๑ ♫
ketsu <3