Taste | Changbin

Chapter Thirteen

Lennon woke up to warmth wrapped around her throat. She blinked her bleary eyes trying to remember where she was. This wasn't her apartment and, at first, she didn't remember where she was. A large TV sat across the room. The last thing she remembered was watching a Disney movie before she drifted off to sleep. 

Han and Seungmin had briefly argued over which movie they should watch. Lee Know put an end to it by turning on The Aristocats and telling them both to shut up. Lennon had laid her head on the end of the couch and that was that. Halfway through the movie, she ended up falling asleep. 

She grabbed the arm wrapped around her neck and attempted to move it. This only made it worse. The owner wrapped his arm around her tighter. Panic engulfed her, she tried to take a breath, but she couldn't. Their arm was squeezing her so tight that it cut off her oxygen supply. 

She frantically hit their arm and attempted to move her feet. That's when she realized someone else was wrapped around her legs. She was pinned to the couch with nowhere to go. Out of options and desperate to wake someone up to help her, she slightly moved her head. As gently as she could, she bit down on the owner's arm. 

A yelp came from behind her and they quickly moved their arm. "What the fuck?" Han's sleepy voice came from behind her. "What the hell are you doing? Did you just fucking bite me?" 

A groan came from down by her feet. "Can you two shut up? I'm trying to sleep in. It's the weekend, so we don't have to be up early." 

"Sorry, but you were choking me," Lennon got out. "I couldn't breathe and there wasn't really another option. It's not like I could make any noise and Hyunjin has my legs trapped. Why are we cuddling?" 

"You said we could last night. Usually, Hyunjin and I share the couch when we come over because it's big. You fell asleep last night and woke up a few minutes later. I asked if we could and you agreed." 

"I don't remember any of that." Lennon rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. 

"Probably because you were half asleep. Don't worry, nothing happened, unless you count you taking a bite out of Han's arm," Hyunjin mumbled. "Go back to sleep and shut up." 

"I should go back to my apartment. I didn't mean to fall asleep last night. I didn't realize how tired I was and I-" 

"Lennon, you're fine," Lee Know's voice came from the kitchen. "It's eight in the morning and so you slept here all night. It doesn't bother us. We've had people sleep over before. Stay for breakfast and if Chan wants to, we can leave for the arcade earlier. I think it opens at ten or something." 

"Is that why I smell bacon?" Han asked. "Excuse me, I gotta get up." 

Before Lennon could attempt to move, he shimmied his way out from behind her. The two had been spooning on the couch with Han as the big spoon. He tried to crawl over her and, in the process, he ended up bumping her shoulder. The same shoulder that Changbin had run into the day before. 

Lennon let out a yelp and shoved herself backwards. There was nothing to catch her. The front half of her body slid off the couch and Han fell with her. Hyunjin, still gripping her legs, hadn't realized what was happening. With her torso, and Han's weight, her body rolled. It didn't take long before all three of them were on the floor. 

Lee Know heard the loud thuds and groans. He poked his head around the living room entry way again. "What's going on out here?" 

"Lennon tried to murder me!" Hyunjin whined from the carpeted floor.

"I didn't mean to! Han tried to get out from underneath me and he knocked me off the couch. We got tangled and fell off, that's all." 

Han placed a hand on Lennon's shoulder. She hissed and jerked her shoulder away from his touch. "Are you okay?" He asked. 

She was sure that everyone would be pissed at Changbin if she told them the truth. "Yeah, I just ran into a door yesterday. My shoulder is bruised from it and I wasn't expecting anyone to touch it. I'm sorry that I caused you to fall off the couch." 

"I should be the one that's apologizing, I didn't mean to. Is your shoulder broken or something? Do you want me to look at it? Do we need to go to the hospital?" 

Lennon let out a laugh. "I'm sure it's fine. If I needed to go to the hospital, I wouldn't be calmly sitting here and talking with you." She glanced down at her feet. Hyunjin had landed on top of her legs. He must have fallen back to sleep because his eyes were closed and his chest was gently moving up and down. 

"Breakfast is ready," Lee Know called out. "Come get some before everything gets cold. I'm not going to be making more." 

Han scrambled up off the floor and hurried to the kitchen. Lennon let out a sigh and glanced down at Hyunjin. She didn't want to wake him up, but she didn't want him to starve either. She put a hand on his shoulder and gently shook his body. "Hyunjin, Hyunjin, wake up." 

"Hm?" 

"Lee Know made everyone breakfast; you should get up and have some before it's gone." 

"I don't want breakfast! I want to lay here and sleep. You're nice and warm and I'm freezing cold." 

"Hyunjin, you have to get off of me. I have to get up and go to the bathroom. I don't think you want me to pee on you and Lee Know is going to be pissed if I ruin the carpet." 

Hyunjin groaned again, but sure enough, he untangled himself from her legs. With his eyes still closed, he blindly fumbled for the couch. Upon finding it, he grabbed a pillow from one of the ends, and laid his head on it. He curled his body into a small ball, attempting to stay warm. 

Lennon forced herself off the floor and went into the kitchen. Lee Know and Han both had a plate of pancakes and bacon. "Lee Know, do you have an extra blanket that Hyunjin can use? He's back on the couch and he's cold." 

He got out of his chair and went into the hallway. She slightly rocked on the balls of her feet while she waited for him. Han reached out with a piece of bacon in his hand. "Do you want one?" 

"Not right now, but thanks." 

He shrugged and took a bite of it. 

Lee Know appeared with a fluffy pink blanket and handed it to her. "This should be good enough, it's pretty thick." 

Lennon thanked him and went back out to the living room. Hyunjin was still in the same position. She unfolded the blanket and lifted it up over him. She made sure to keep the edges of the blanket off the ground.  

Hyunjin must not have been fully asleep because he mumbled a thank you. He wrapped the blanket tighter around himself. She let her eyes linger on him a few more seconds before she headed towards the bathroom. 

She had to start the day at some point.