PART TWO

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A string of profanities rolls off Donghyuck's tongue as he reaches to turn off the blaring alarm on his nightstand. It is the weekend and he doesn't have any classes today (he probably turned it on last night out of habit). He lets the darkness pull him back in after the rude interruption, but it doesn't last long before his sleep is interrupted once more by the door bursting open followed by his roommate saying something incoherent to his groggy mind.

He reluctantly opens his eyes and immediately squints at the natural light pouring through the windows that makes them sting. Yawning, he asks Mark─who is oddly dressed nicely on a Sunday at ten in the morning─what he is doing in his room. He notices the older is wearing his favorite cologne (that he wouldn't just use on a normal day) when he sniffles to rid of the clogged feeling in his nose.

"I'm going on a brunch date with Ysabelle." Mark says with a grin so wide it reaches his eyes. Donghyuck just nods, wondering why he was woken up just to be told that. He would've been more enthusiastic but, in this moment, he is too sleepy to care. "Also, Sae is outside."

All drowsiness vanishes when it registers in his mind and he sits up faster than on the days he would realize he is late for class. "Saeryeon?" He exclaims. "Why is she here so early?"

"Dunno," Mark shrugs. "She just suddenly showed up, like, ten minutes ago. Well, I'mma go now. Wish me luck, man, I'm planning to ask Ysa to be my girlfriend today."

Donghyuck half-heartedly mutters a "good luck" and rushes out of bed to look at himself in the bathroom mirror. As he brushes his teeth, he combs his fingers through his bedhead hair then stops when he realizes what he is doing and pauses to ask himself why he even cares about his appearance. Saeryeon has seen him like this a thousand times before and he didn't care then, so why should he start to care now?

He rinses the toothpaste foam from his mouth and exits the connecting bathroom between his and Mark's room with an erratic heart and a stomach that is bubbling with anxiety. Or maybe, it is just hunger. Yeah. Probably just hunger. Nothing else.

"Good morning, sunshine," Saeryeon says to him with that gummy smile of hers. "Sorry for coming over so early. You were probably planning to sleep in today."

"It's fine," he says and eyes the oversized pink tee and Powerpuff Girls pajama pants she is wearing. "Just got out of bed too?"

"Woke up to my roommate getting railed at nine in the morning," she tells him and shudders at the memory. "So, I left as quietly as I could and went to the McDonald's down the street for breakfast and then I decided to crash here."

"At nine in the morning?" He exclaims. "Damn, I'm sorry you had to go through that."

"We all have to at some point in our college life." She says jokingly with a shrug.

He laughs, "Not me though."

"We still have a few months left, you never know." She drawls the last part then lets out a yawn, laying her head on the armrest of the couch. He notices she brought along with her the rugged stuffed bunny she has had since she was little when she pulls it from behind her to wrap her arms around. She looks back at him and sees where his eyes are, a glint of amusement in them. "I don't make fun of you for having to listen to a lullaby to fall asleep, so don't make fun of me for still sleeping with a stuffy."

"Aw, you still call them a stuffy." He coos and sluggishly walks towards the mini fridge beside the TV stand to grab himself cereal for breakfast. She doesn't reply and lets out another yawn instead.

When he turns back around, her eyes are closed. A small smile adorns his lips and he continues to eat his preferably soggy cereal quietly. The sight of her asleep on the couch brings him back to their first few months of college where she would sneak into his dorm room almost every night and fall asleep until the next day when she would realized she was late for class and dash out in a hurry. At the time, she wasn't getting along with her roommate so she stayed most nights on their couch and sometimes beside him on his bed.

He takes one last bite of his cereal and places the bowl in the sink to wash later. The clanking of the dish on the metal wakes her up and he apologizes with a sheepish smile, but she tells him it was fine as she yawns. They fall into another silence, and he stands still unsure if he should move or speak as she just blankly stares at the ceiling. A few more awful, silent seconds pass before she turns to look at him and gestures for him to sit beside her.

"How's it going with Mark?" She asks suddenly, propping her legs on top of his.

He frowns in confusion then remembers the lie he told her the time they got locked in the campus library during an all-nighter. Their conversation somehow switched from which Marvel superhero is the most powerful to who they have a crush on. He could've just told her he doesn't have one, but he panicked and blurted out his roommate's name. The little white lie branched out into a whole plot and instead of telling her the truth, he just keeps on adding to it.

"Oh, uh, I haven't confessed yet," he says awkwardly, but she doesn't seem to notice his weird tone. "I don't think I will."

She frowns, "Why?"

"He's actually going on a date with this girl he likes today and is, um, planning to make it official between them." He tells her, the lie rolls smoothly down his tongue. Feeling guilty about not telling the truth when he sees a genuine look of sympathy in her eyes, he adds, "I'll be fine, it was just a little crush."

"Still sucks though," she purses her lips. "I'm sure one day you'll find someone else who will reciprocate your feelings."

"Speaking of feelings," he smoothly averts the topic. "You didn't get to say who your crush is that night."

She smiles and closes her eyes, "I'm sleepy."

"Hey! That's unfair, I told you mine." He says and flinches at another lie he just told.

"I'll tell you one day." She mutters, genuinely sounding groggy.

He watches as her mouth falls slightly agape and a few strands of her hair cover a part of her face. Her arms are wrapped around her stuffed bunny still and a smile slowly makes a reappearance on his lips. He catches himself before it does though, and it bothers him that he keeps smiling at the sight of her peaceful, sleeping face. No, actually, it doesn't bother him. It scares him.

Because just when he thinks he has gotten over her, he finds himself falling all over again.

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