Jung Wooyoung, my mind goes back to the sheet of paper San showed us today. If he really went missing then who is this Wooyoung? Does that mean he is not lying and he really has no clue about how he woke up in this body? My mind is flooded with questions and I am still struggling to wrap my head around everything that has transpired in one day. For someone who has trust issues as deep as the Pecific ocean, situations are testing me otherwise.I am still skeptical about San and Wooyoung but given that I am not being offered any choice but to go with the flow leaves me in a pool of helplessness.
This is the third argument I have lost to Naomi today. Of all the people that have walked on this earth and have known me, only Naomi has been given the power to convince me to do things I would never agree to do on normal days.
"He could have just stayed in a hotel." I bristle while pulling out a blanket from the cupboard.
"Only if he had an identification proof and money most importantly." Naomi taps my shoulder, walking past me. We are currently inside the storeroom, trying to steal a private conversation after a long day of socialising with potential threatful strangers. It only took a short conversation with San for Naomi to invite Wooyoung at our home but it started an endless loop of me telling her a thousand different ways this situation could have been avoided.
"I just hope we don't get killed in our sleep." which is a totally normal concern to have when a stranger stays in your house, much less someone who claims to have no idea of who they are and have been reported missing and eventually dead.
The events of today were unpredictable, with me meeting Wooyoung in the morning and then him staying at my own home.We tried to convince San, well I tried but he didn't bat an eye.
"He cannot stay here, it's as simple as that." That was just plainly an edict from him and the rest is history.
"You can sleep on the sofa." I place the blanket and the pillow on the soft cushioning of the furniture as I speak to Wooyoung, who is stood in my living room. He removed his trench coat long ago, the black shirt he is wearing is hugging his torso and chest in right ways like it must have been tailor made.
"Okay" He says. That's all he says. Wooyoung has been comparatively quiet since we left San's place. For the only few hours that I have known him, he hadn't kept his mouth shut for more than a minute but a pensive look has been smothered upon his face for an hour now. With being okay, yeah, thanks, the only words which have left his mouth in a while. He only showed the tiniest bit of expressions when we ate fried chicken on our way back home. This has made me come to a decision that he must have had gone through a rollercoaster of emotions if he woke up in this body only a day ago.
"Okay" I respond back to him trying to cut off the awkward silence which has sneaked between us. If one could look from a 3d view, we would probably look like sims standing unwieldy in front of each other.
"I am gonna turn the lights off." Ruling out to not to speak anymore than that I make my way to my room, turning the lights off midway. I hear the light noise of Wooyoung's body crashing on the sofa as I turn my back.
"You know we could have offered him my room since we are sharing one." Naomi pulls the blanket over her, snuggling into my bed.
"I think we are being generous enough." I lay down next to her. A sudden wave of exhaustion engulfs me as my body sinks into the soft mattress below me. Today has been tiring both mentally and physically and I ran over three miles and fell onto the ground. I feel a sudden pain in my back as the memory of falling comes back to my mind. I have been too preoccupied with everything that I forgot about my back.
"Are you alright?" Naomi turns her body towards me, resting her head on her palm as she supports it with her flexed elbow on the pillow.
"Yeah it's just my grandma back." I let out a tired breath. We both fall silent for a few seconds, trying to take in today's events and letting our minds take a break.
"I hope we are not doing something we shouldn't." I speak as my eyes trace the star stickers on ceiling of my room.
"We are going to be just fine Ayelin. We are just gonna figure things out and forget that this ever happened once it's sorted." Naomi grabs my hand which is resting on my stomach before giving it a soft squeeze.
"It's easier said than done." I turn my head to look at her. She blinks her eyes taking a deep breath in at my response. She might have been leading us all day today but I know that she is just as scared as I am. It's not often that she lets her guard down to let anyone see through her. What makes this situation even more difficult for me is the fact that I know she is doing this for me and it only adds to the mountain of guilt I have been carrying.
"We will be fine and none of is going to die. At least you won't die until you have me." An assuring smile forms on her face, she is finally responding to the concern I made in the storeroom a few minutes ago.
"You are not making this easier with your choice of words. I am not going to let you die. Death will have to walk past through me first before taking you." I speak up enraged, my words are sincere but a laugh leaves her mouth as I finish.
"That was cute." She chuckles.
"I am serious." I say with an exasperated expression.
"Yeah yeah, I got it. None of us is dying. End of discussion. Let's go to sleep now." She shifts back into the bed making space for me.We have mentioned death an odd number of times today. I am not scared to die, I have never been but I am scared to lose. I would happily put my life at stake for people I love, for my family but I can't be the one to be left behind to live with the feeling of loss and grief. It makes me feel selfish and greedy to feel this way but when San talked about Wooyoung's death today, it only convinced me more for the same.
"Try to sleep well." She ruffles through my hair with her soft fingers before pulling the blanket over her face.
"Goodnight" I whisper softly, closing my eyes.
*-------------------------------------------------------*
A shiver runs up my body as my feet touch the cold flooring of my room. It's nearly 2AM, I have been shifting uncomfortably in my bed for the last two hours and sleep hasn't even brushed past my brain. It's almost like a brain freeze. At first, my body felt heavy and then as minutes passed by I became more awake.
I cross my room and slowly pull the door trying not to wake Naomi up. After contemplating for the past few minutes I finally lost the battle against myself and decided to check Wooyoung, just to be sure. Maybe then I can fall asleep. There hasn't been any noise since I left him outside in the living room which made me more anxious than relieved.
I take some feather steps and my eyes finally land on the sofa, which to my surprise or not surprise is empty. I suddenly feel my heart drop and a series of thoughts cross my mind. This could just be all of my nightmares coming true at once. His coat is still where I last saw it, folded on the centre table. I hear a creak of wood and I turn my body speedily to the direction of sound. And then I see him, stood leaning against the chair in the kitchen. I sigh of relief seeing him, unsure if I am glad that he is not trying to kill me or that he is here not doing anything. His arms are crossed across his chest and his hair are a little messy.
"Can't sleep?" I ask ascending towards the kitchen.
"Still getting used to how this human mind works. I felt too uneasy to sleep." He brings his arms to the top of chair now, holding the corners. I lean against the kitchen counter across him. He has changed into a sweater and sweatpants now, the ones he requested San for before leaving, emphasising he couldn't sleep in the tight shirt and pair of pants he was wearing. San agreed and eventually lent him some clothes when Naomi insisted that he might not fit in ours.
"Why are you awake?" His voice brings me out of my thoughts and I realise I have been too busy looking at him to respond to his last answer.
" I was worried that you might actually kill us so I came to check on you." I stand back up and walk towards him. He lets out a small giggle at my honest response.
"I would have finished my job by now if I were actually a killer."
I narrow my eyes at him. His lips are stretched into a smirk. My steps slowly come to a halt once I am close enough to him and I notice the mole on his lips. How is it that I am seeing it just now. It's very much visible and it's very well placed on his plumped bottom lip.
"What were you looking at?" I turn my body to face the fridge which is decorated with polaroids of my family.
"Is that you?" He places his finger on one of the photos. It's a picture of me from the annual function in middle school with mom, dad and Naomi. I have the biggest smile on my face and I am holding the trophy for the dance competition I won. Naomi is just next to me with her arms wrapped around my torso. Some things never change, she still loves to squeeze me in her hugs.
"Yeah, it's from middle school." A smile comes on my face as I mention the memories to Wooyoung.
"That's my mom and dad." I point them out. "And if you can't already tell that's Naomi" I smile fondly.
"You look different from your parents." Wooyoung points out the obvious. It's not too difficult to tell the difference apart. My hair are pitch black and I have brown eyes compared to my rest of the family who have blonde hair and green eyes and then come my asian facial features.
I let out a soft giggle at his remark. I am kinda used to people reminding me this.
"That's because they are not my real parents." I look at Wooyoung. We are standing next to each other now, our shoulders brushing against eachother as I lean in to point the pictures. He looks at me and his lips slowly part to speak but he doesn't say a word.
Our gazes rest on each other and it feels like there's not a lot that needs to be said.
"I am adopted." I give him a small smile. It doesn't really hurt me telling people that I am adopted and Naomi isn't my real sister but it's the reaction I receive from the people which makes me wonder if it's a bad thing, not that it affects me to the slightest.
"I think I prefer brown eyes." His words come across out of the blue. I feel a sudden rush of adrenaline. Or maybe it's my anxiety but it doesn't feel phoney. I feel my cheeks warm up a little.His dark brown eyes haven't left mine for a second.
"Oh" I break the silence which his sudden confession has caused. My eyes instantly look away, not being able to hold the eye contact anymore.
"Aren't you hungry?" I grab the door of the refrigerator and swing it open looking for something to eat.
"I think I can eat something." He takes a step back making room for me and I hear him pull the chair back to take a seat as I hide my face inside the fridge. I take a deep breath and my eyes find the leftover apple pie from the morning and a delightful smile sneaks on my face. I quickly grab the container and turn around closing the fridge.
"I don't know what you have eaten so far but you are about to taste one of my best delicacies." I place the container on the table and pull the chair in front of me to take a seat next to Wooyoung who is sat in the host chair. Finally a small smile forms on his lips. The smile which I haven't seen for a while now, which I was dreadful to see without even realising it. Two dimples form below the apple of his cheeks as he looks at the container and before I knew it I was smiling too. Contrary to my concerns about him, his smile doesn't look threatful at all, instead it's one of those sunshine smiles which could fix the broken and blossom a sunflower. I just can not tap my finger on my feelings for him.
I open the lid and grab two spoons from the small cutlery holder handing one to Woooyoung. I push the container towards him slowly and nod my head gesturing him to take a bite. He doesn't say anything but a content look spreads on his face as he digs in the pie I made. Not a lot of people have tasted my food but seeing him gives me a warm feeling in my chest. We finish the entire leftover pie in a little less than five minutes and soon our conversation changes from food to why the human world works the way it does.
"I feel way more energetic at nights like I can do everything I set my mind to." He leans a little closer on his toes as I rest my head down on my arms which are crossed on the table. I am starting to feel tired. Maybe it was the pie or maybe it is Wooyoung and the fact that he is not trying to kill us.
"Yeah me too, I always get random bursts of motivation at 3 am. I did about 50 squats once because I felt so energetic." I giggle lightly at the stupid memory. Wooyoung lets out a chuckle at my honest confession.
"Wow, I think I can do that too." He laughs resting his chin on his hand. His tongue keeps sliding in and out of his mouth licking across his lips as he speaks which I notice is a habit of his, biting his cheek often and fixing the strands of his hair with his index fingers every once in a while when a strand falls in front of his eyes.
"Yeah? We can challange eachother some time." I laugh lightly and I feel my eyelids getting heavier. Wooyoung's face was the last thing in my mind before I slowly dozed off to sleep. His crescent moon eyes as he smiled and how the corner of his lips met his dimples every time he chuckled. I don't know where this is leading us and what we are doing but no matter how many times I tell myself that I shouldn't trust him, I find myself adoring a little piece of him every time wondering if it's just another nightmare or the beginning of a daydream.
*________________________________________*
"He is late." I pout while kicking a small pebble with my foot. We are currently stood in front of the main building at the community centre waiting for San who hasn't arrived yet.
"Are you sure he didn't just ditch us?" I say checking the time on my watch. The minute hand lands on 4 indicating its 10:20 AM. We were supposed to be here by sharp 10.
"He could have just said no then." Naomi leans against the wall behind her hiding her hands in the pockets of her jeans.
"He won't ditch us." Wooyoung takes a step ahead moving to stand next to me, his voice sounding confident. We both fell asleep on the dining table yesterday and things have been tranquil between us since then or you can say we haven't argued for a while. He gives me a small smile every once in a while when I catch his eyes and then looks away with the coldest expressions on his face.
"You sound very sure." I turn my face to him, his hair fall lightly on his eyes still as perfect as they were when I first saw him yesterday. The prominent shape of his jaw forming a soft v as he looks at me.
"Yeah, something tells me he won't leave us hanging." He gives me a soft smile and raised his eyebrows. Human or not, he is surely beautiful. Beautiful enough that you won't want to take your eyes off him.
"I am sorry I couldn't make it on time." A familiar voice breaks us out of our small gravity. We turn around to look at San. He is dressed in a lose fit jeans with a white cardigan slightly tucked inside it. Top buttons undone highlighting his muscular chest and collarbones. In one sentence, he looks like he walked straight out of a pinterest post.
My luck has surely been weird with me meeting good looking men whom I can't bring myself to trust.
"It's all good now that you actually came." I tell San who is looking at Wooyoung. A content look is spread across his face as if he is glad to see him if not happy.
"Let's go without wasting any time." Naomi is now standing in between me and Wooyoung.
"I have a list of local courier services. We can start from the nearest one. There aren't a lot of them since this is a small place. It shouldn't be that hard to find the right one." I bring out the list of paper from my pocket which I spent nearly half an hour on in the morning going through all the listed services on google maps and the directory book.
"Alright." San says nodding his head.
"Blink it services, that's our first stop." I hold the list in the air while speaking.
"That's about a four minute walk from here." San says turning around directing the way to our first location for the day and just like that we are onto our initial track for this clueless adventure that awaits us.
*________________________________________*
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