KongArtWeek 2022 - Oneshots and Manyshots

Day 2 - Memento Mori: Caput Duo

AN: Day 2 - Time Loop.

This is the second chapter of my paranormal story that is also published here. The third and last chapter would be released on halloween.

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Arthit's POV

I… fell asleep. Embarrassingly in the presence of my two visitors. What a nice host I was, right? But I did my job as a host when I ordered takeout for our breakfast, so at least they were fed. 

I woke up to the shrill ringing that definitely wasn't my alarm. It sounded louder…? Or no. All-encompassing. Like it was coming from a surround sound speaker. 

What was that? It sounded vaguely familiar. I heard soft padding of footsteps, and then a door snicked open. Ah. It must've been the doorbell then that I've heard.

Just then, I decided to heed the sweet call of sleep to follow her back to dreamland. I have my temporary roommates to entertain the guests…

Temporary roommates? Wait, no. They're supposed to be guests…

"Uhh… Arthit?" a soft voice called out. 

I groaned in response, burrowing further into the warmth of my blanket. 

"Arthit. Your cousin's here," the voice said again, accompanied by a gentle shake on my shoulder.

With herculean effort, I managed to pry open an eye and stared blearily at the face of one of my guests.

"What?"

"Your cousin. She's here," Em repeated.

"Oh..  Elle?"

"Yeah…"

"Where is she?" I asked him when I didn't see her around.

“Uhh, she’s by the door? I’m sorry, I didn’t know what your cousin looked like, so…”

“It’s okay, Em. Thanks.” I mustered up a smile at him as I clumsily sat up from the comfy cushions. 

My limbs were so uncoordinated that I got tangled up in the blankets. I bumbled around like a newborn foal, almost face-planting onto the carpet. It was a good thing that I managed to grab the back of the couch and stopped my descent before I crashed into–

A very handsome face. My face was so close to his sleeping figure that I could count his eyelashes. Wow, I haven’t noticed how long his eyelashes were. Pretty.

I heard a shutter sound from somewhere in the room, snapping me out of my daze. I was quick to stand upright after that, suddenly more alert after remembering the other occupant of the room and why he woke me up.

I cast him a warning glare, meeting his smirking face. Then I stomped my way to the door, redness creeping up my cheeks at the embarrassment of being caught ogling someone.

“Oi, you bastard! Why did you call me nonstop– Why are your cheeks red? Are you having a fever?” Elle asked, mistaking my blush for a different meaning.

“I’m fine… Thanks for coming. Did you get what I asked you to?”

“No need. The file’s online. Why are you asking me this suddenly? And who was that who opened the door earlier, by the way?” 

We made our way back into the house with her usual way of firing off questions upon questions. She had always been inquisitive and while other people found this annoying… well I do find it annoying sometimes, but I’ve been with her since diapers so I was used to this trait of hers.

“Arthit?” she prodded. Then we arrived at the living room where Em was back to fiddling on his laptop while his partner was still dead to the world.