Jennie
I was bored. Really bored.
The entire day passed by while arranging my belongings. I had brought eighteen luggage, and all of them were unpacked now. Some were placed in Lisa's bedroom, and most of them were in the next room. At least one of the main tasks was completed-unpacking. Scratch that, it was the only task I had.
Five of my luggage contained my clothes while the other five had my shoes. Another two of my luggage had makeup and body products. Two luggage included different novels that I set on the shelf where Lisa kept space for me. Perks of marrying my best friend? He knew exactly how much space I would need and for what stuff.
Out of the four remaining luggage, one had my accessories while another had the giant purple teddy bear I called, 'Velvet.' Dad gifted it to me on my thirteen birthday and she has been my buddy since then. I placed her on the couch so that I could cuddle with her anytime I would want. I texted Lisa about it and he left me on seenzone. The nerve of that guy!
The second-last luggage had plenty of lingerie. I thought I would head straight to my honeymoon with Kai after my marriage, but who knew I would end up with Lisa?
The last luggage had merches of my biggest celebrity crush, Gong Yoo. In my eyes, he was the most handsome person alive on earth. Of course, I had to see that incarnation of hotness every day, so I hung one of my favorite posters on the wall of Lisa's room.
After unpacking, I talked to Dad in the evening, and he was in sound health. I reminded him to start dating now that I was settled too.
I was staring at Yoo's poster with my novel in hand because I just couldn't get into the mood for reading. I had even gone to chat with Chiquita and Grandma earlier. Lisa was still in his study, so I didn't bother him. Mommy Chitthip and Aunt Mary just got back half an hour ago, so I wanted to give them time to freshen up and rest before dinner. I would hit them up later.
But what should I do until then?
My thoughts were disrupted when Lisa stepped inside and his first words were, "Velvet can't be on the couch."
I looked at him with a tight-lipped smile. "Welcome to the room, Mr. Lisa Manoban."
He sighed and made his way to the closet room, saying, "Keep her somewhere else."
"Why?" I questioned him. "What problem do you have with my Velvet?"
"It's already weird enough for me to see you every time I step into my room. The last thing I would want is a creepy soft toy looking at me while sitting on my couch every time I step into my room. Include that Velvet can't be in this room as a condition." he explained to me.
I wanted to argue with him on how he could call my Velvet creepy, but when I realized he was technically right, I frowned.
"So where should I keep it then?" I asked.
"You can keep it in the room next to this one, where the rest of your belongings are," he hollered from the closet room.
I sucked in a deep breath and walked toward Velvet. "I am sorry, but you can't live here, Velvet. You distract Lisa." I carried her in my arms. "I should've taken you to the gym with me," I mumbled while struggling to gather it in my arms.
Lisa seemed to hear me because he again hollered, "You never went to the gym in the first place."
I rolled my eyes. "Shut up!"
I was about to take away Velvet when I heard Lisa scream, "What the fuck is this?"
"What?" I asked since I couldn't see due to Velvet blocking my vision.
"Why is there such a big poster of Gong Yoo in my freaking bedroom?" he exclaimed, and I put Velvet down to look at Lisa, who had a fuming expression on his face.
That was a rare expression. Interesting.
"Our, Lisa. Our bedroom," I corrected virtuously, and he shot me a glare. "And why wouldn't there be a poster of Gong Yoo here?" I asked innocently.
"No, it can't be here. Not at any cost. I don't want to have to look at your crush every morning after waking up," Lisa explained, and I gave him a flat look. "You know what? Add this to the conditions. Anything related to Gong Yoo can't be in our bedroom."
"No. That's the one condition I won't follow. You can remove Velvet, but not Gong Yoo. Gong Yoo stays in this room!" I argued.
"No, I don't want to feel like someone is staring at me all the time."
"That's your problem. But Yoo isn't going anywhere, and that's the end of the discussion," I announced firmly.
Lisa kept looking at me, and I maintained strict eye contact. It became a staring contest, and the one who would look away would become the winner. Needless to say, I won because Lisa sighed and turned away his head.
"Fine," he groaned.
"Yay!" I clapped excitedly. "Can Velvet stay too?" I asked hopefully.
"No," Lisa answered flatly.
I pouted and mumbled, "Lisa sucks."
He rolled his eyes and said, "Sure. Now, let's go down. It's time for dinner."
•••
Tonight's dinner was fun and lively. Everyone sat down together to eat and chatted about their days. I was a little overwhelmed, but good thing that I had always been good at social interactions.
After dinner, I caught up with Mom and Aunt Mary. After that, I was peacefully sitting on the bed, flipping the pages of the novel I was reading. I applied my face pack too which was my habit before going to sleep. I was in my night suit already that reached up to my knees. I had more that reached up to my thighs, but I wanted to avoid wearing those temporarily.
"Fuck!"
I shrieked hearing Lisa's sudden voice. I placed a hand over my chest and glared at him, only to find him glaring back at me. This was the second time he screamed today. Did he get scared by seeing Yoo again?
"What is wrong with you?" I asked in annoyance.
"Right question, but the wrong person to ask," he uttered. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
I furrowed my brows. "What's wrong with me?" I repeated.
"That is exactly what I asked you," he retorted and walked towards the couch with the laptop in his hand.
"What happened, though?" I was beyond confused now about what we were even talking about.
"Why are you sitting on the bed with a ghostly appearance?"
When I realized what he was talking about, I burst into laughter. "So you got scared because of the clay mask on my face?"
"Giving the face mask a better name doesn't change my mind that you look like a ghost," he deadpanned.
I was still laughing at his reaction.
He further spoke, "What do you ladies get by doing this stuff apart from scaring us?"
"I don't know about others, but I love doing skincare. It's kinda my unchangeable habit. Plus, the face mask gives me a refreshing vibe," I enlightened him. "Besides, this face is loved by millions of people if you are forgetting. So I gotta protect this beauty."
He chuckled at my words and looked at the screen of the laptop. He had gone to his study after dinner to continue working. I thought his work was finished which was why he came to the bedroom, but he was still working.
"If you didn't complete your work, why are you here?" I couldn't help but ask. He looked at me for a brief moment and answered, "Mom said that I was newly married, so I should give some time to my wife. She didn't know you were busy scaring the shit outta me."
I chortled and got up from the bed to wash my face when the timer on my phone went off.
Once I washed my face and applied my night cream taking my sweet time, I returned to the bedroom only to find Lisa now laying on the right side of the bed. He did everything following a routine, and now it was his time to sleep. He usually woke up at five to do his morning routine of working out, preparing himself for the rest of the day, and of course, more work. I used to sleep a little later, but since I had to wake up at seven and still get eight hours of sleep, I also had to go to bed at this time.
Anyways, fortunately, I loved the left side of the bed. Quietly, I hopped on the bed. It was weird sharing a bed with Lisa. We never had sleepovers in all the years of our friendship. I wasn't even mentally prepared for this.
I took my novel from the nightstand after tucking my legs under my blanket. As soon as I started reading, the room went into pure darkness.
I gasped in fear. "Lisa, did you turn off the lights?"
"Yes," he mumbled groggily.
"Turn them back on," I ordered.
He turned the lights on and asked, "What happened? Don't tell me you can't sleep in darkness because I can't sleep with the lights on."
I looked at him with my puppy eyes. "I have the habit of reading novels till I fall asleep, so I won't be able to read without light. And if there's no reading, I won't be able to sleep. Then my eight hours' beauty sleep will be ruined and -"I was interrupted by him.
"And you will have a pimple, I get it. I get it, now quiet."
"If you know it, why did you turn off the
lights?" I asked, narrowing my eyes in his
direction.
He rolled his eyes. "Because I won't be able to sleep with the lights on, and then, without proper sleep, I won't be able to work properly." The fear of not working properly was visible in his eyes.
"Then what should we do? We have to come to a conclusion, and it has to be right for both of us," I let out.
He twitched his lips. "You can keep the lamp of your nightstand on during reading and then turn it off after you finish reading. The other lights will remain off by the way."
I gave a nervous chuckle without uttering a word. Lisa seemed to read my thoughts as he asked with a sigh, "You are afraid some ghost might pull you by your leg when you sleep in darkness, aren't you?"
"Not my fault! You are the one who forced me to watch that kind of horror movie on your birthday eight years ago," I protested.
A smile formed on his lips remembering that day. "Yeah, you and I were the only people in the theatre, and you made sure I went deaf temporarily."
"You were even scaring me more saying someone will pull my leg from beneath the seat," I complained, which made his smile widen.
He shook his head and said, "Okay, fine, how about after you turn off the lights, you hold my hand before sleeping?"
I arched my eyebrow. "Are you saying I can hold your hand when I am scared, even if it's all night?"
He nodded his head. "Yes."
"Is it just for today?"
He gave me a warm smile as he spoke, "It's for every time you get scared."
I returned his smile with mine. "Thank you, Lisa. Goodnight. Sweet dreams."
"Goodnight. Jennie." He laid back on the bed. turning off all the lights. Only the lamp of my nightstand was on.
I finished reading a few pages of the novel until I started feeling sleepy. When a yawn escaped my lips, I closed the book and slipped my hand over Lisa's slowly.
I turned off the lamp and fell asleep, knowing even if some ghost pulled me today, I would drag Lisa with me. And if Lisa was there, I had nothing to fear.