Beyond Redemption || Lee Know

One.

I sit up in bed with my heart in my throat and my stomach in knots. I remain as still as possible while I listen again for the noise that woke me up. But all I hear is the deep pounding of my heart. I swallow hard to try to will it back down to my chest. After a few more minutes of listening, I wonder if I heard anything out of the ordinary at all.

It's a typical late-summer night. Once the adrenaline in my body starts to wear off, I can hear the familiar buzz of cicadas in the trees outside. I start to feel better and I chuckle at my uneasiness. You need to stop freaking out at every little noise and shadow, I tell myself.

Suddenly aware that my mouth is too try, I decide to get out of bed for a some water. I tiptoe out of my bedroom and into the hallway, trying to be careful not to wake my best friend, who's bedroom is next to mine. But I can see the bright illumination of the tv coming from the living room and I can hear the snoring coming from the couch. I shake my head. It never fails. Chan always falls asleep on the couch while watching tv late at night.

I grab a bottle of water from the fridge and take a few drinks before walking over to the couch where Chan is sleeping. He has his head resting on the arm of the couch at a terrible angle that must be hurting his neck, but he appears to be dead to the world. His light brown hair sits atop his head in a small, messy heap of curls. His full lips are parted slightly in the midst of his slumber and his eyes are closed so gently that it almost looks like he's faking it.

For just a brief moment, I smile because he looks kind of adorable when he's asleep. But then I'm quickly disgusted with myself and I shoo the thought from my head. This is the same man that leaves his sweaty gym socks in the living room floor and that eats my leftovers all the time. In response to my brain's sudden shift in perspective, I touch my cold water bottle to Chan's exposed, unsuspecting neck.

He awakens with a jolt and a small gasp. Confused, he looks around the room for a moment before his eyes settle on me and the bottle of water that's in my hand.

"What the hell?!" He groans, obviously annoyed. I chuckle at my success. I did actually have a reason to wake him up, I just thought I might get something out of it in the process.

"Don't you have work tomorrow?"

He sits up slowly and rubs his eyes. "Yeah."

"Then you might want to get in your own bed, or you'll wake up with a crick in your neck."

"So?" His thick Australian accent challenges me with defiance. He's such a child sometimes.

"So, I don't want to hear you complaining about it tomorrow! We're going to the fair after work, remember?"

He nods his head, eyes still mostly closed due to grogginess. "Of course I remember, you won't shut up about it."

I kick his foot playfully. "You're so annoying!"

Chan gives me a complacent, half-awake grin before finally getting up and shuffling to his room. I fluff the couch pillows and fold the throw blanket before—once again—picking up his socks that he peeled off of his stinky feet and left on the living room rug. Living with a man is the worst.

Despite the constant bickering back and forth, I really do care for Chan. He's my best friend. When he first moved from Australia to the United States during elementary school, I was the first person that tried to get to know him instead of making fun of his accent. He attached himself to me like a lost puppy after that, and that's when he first became the pain in my ass that he is today. Even still, the mutual friendship and affection was always there. We could fight with each other and call each other mean names, but the moment someone else tried to bully either of us, we were a team. It didn't matter if I was furious with him over something stupid that he did, we were always on the same side and always glued at the hip.