Seriously Yours

Chapter 32 - SeRial Kisser

So warm and cozy.

Snuggling closer, my nostrils pick a whisk fragrance of sandalwood. A scent distinctly exotic, sweet, creamy, and warm all at once. And strangely very familiar.

It smells like home. Smells like family.

I snuggle closer till the tip of my nose touches something soft, smooth, and... breathing?

An alarm suddenly goes off from the logical side of my brain, delivering me back to consciousness. I force open my eyes. The image in front of me is blurry. Fluttering curtains part me from what I only imagine to reality as I squeeze my eyes and blink once more.

I see dark and curly eyelashes. Dropped eyelids under thick eyebrows. A pointed nose. A half-parted plump lips. A cheek sunken on the softness of the foam. A... a- Jeong Hyeok?

"Ahhh!"

I move away from him instinctively in surprise, pushing him away at the same time. He quickly disappeared from my view while my back hit something sturdy and soft.

A thud echoes across the room as his bulk body slams against the wooden floor.

"Aaargh!" he yelps from pain.

Only now do I realize that we are in the living room, apparently tucked together on the couch. The idea that we, two adults, managed to fit in a less than a meter wide couch gives a chill to my bones. How closer was we? Nose to nose? Cheek to cheek? He even had his arms around my waist a while ago. Gasps!

I embrace myself intuitively, conscious of my body, although I'm fully dressed.

'What happened last night?'

"What did you do to me?! Wha-why are you sleeping beside me?!"

At that moment, the slight ache in my head gives answers to my own questions. The buttery and salty taste of abalones. The spicy and sweet rice wine. The delectable remains of the dinner party last night are so strong that I can still taste them in my mouth.

My eyes catch a half-empty bottle of rice wine at the foot of the couch, only proving my assumption.

Jeong Hyeok has already stood up when I return my eyes to him. Holding his shoulder, which I hope is not dislocated from his fall, he stretches his back and moves his neck in a circular movement. Then he turns to me with disapproving eyes.

"Seriously, don't tell me that you get amnesia every time you get drunk?" he accuses.

"Look, if I became violent again just like what you said last time, you shouldn't be lying next to me!" I snap back.

"Other than that, I believe I mentioned another thing," he counters, his point-blank stare challenging me.

"Hey! I couldn't possibly kiss yo-"

Kiss.

Like a password guessed by luck and accepted access to some files stored inside my brain. My jelly opens and reveals information I had rather left unchecked.

My mind travels a few days back in time when I woke up drunk from the welcome party the night before.

"You went around pinching others' cheeks and kissing them..." I can hear Jeong Hyeok say.

And before I can even attempt to reason with my brain, it moves me forward to the time when Jeong Hyeok enclosed me in his arms, concealing me from any threats in the surveillance mission we had. I can still feel the deja vu I felt back then when his face moved closer to mine. As if that memory is traceable with my fingers.

I lift my eyes back to Jeong Hyeok and through unspoken words plead for him to disprove my thoughts.

Which he didn't. He darts his eyes away and fidgets for a moment.