moonflowers and jasmines

• twenty five •

thankfully, meredith broke the tension. what was jihan thinking, asking out merrick so straightforwardly? but when push comes to shove, the best way is to be direct instead of beating around the bush. life was too short for jihan to delay his love life out of apprehension. due to the ridiculous mindset of his parents, he already missed out on his high school puppy love. so he decided, he wouldn't let any more time pass by in vain.

so he gambled his nerves and asked merrick out. but merrick's response caught him off guard. merrick looked down at the floor, letting out a short breath with a tightened jaw and pursed lips. his eyes were tense, unease plastered across his face. with clenched fists, his fingers anxiously cracked his knuckles. not once did merrick look up at jihan.

frankly, this would be kind of a standard reaction one would exhibit after an unexpected confession. however, jihan thought merrick would have been braver. but seeing how merrick ran away that other day of their special kiss, jihan's first kiss, he didn't have much to comment on.

and like deja vu, it seemed merrick was preparing for another flight away from jihan. he took short steps towards to entrance, as if nothing ever happened. his head was still held low, as he seemed to be overthinking something.

"by the way, merrick," meredith called. "before you go, i want to let you know that new books are coming to the library. i may need your hand with them later, today," she informed. merrick stopped and turned. jihan saw how his eyes lit up like fireworks. it was very telling of how passionate he was about helping out in the library.

with an immediate change of expression, a playful glee spread across his face. "yes ma'am," he said fired, with a quick salute action. he waved goodbye to meredith and skipped out of the library.

feeling a sense of calm that merrick had seemed more up, jihan ignored the distaste he felt because of how merrick kept trying to run away. like just a few moments ago, he never responded properly to jihan and just left. he left just like that, so abruptly. a pang of hurt hit him.

is this what people call ghosting?

- .. -- . / ... -.- .. .--.

finally, merrick was done arranging everything. by now, the library was to close in less than five minutes. No one was there except merrick and meredith.

"phew, thanks a lot for your help merrick," meredith thanked him. "that took way longer than i expected."

"mhm, yeah," merrick replied, feeling the sweat dripping down his back.

meredith became silent. "merrick," she called, "i think you may have a task," she said, looking at something. at a distance, was jihan, with his study stuff all over the place.

"i think your boy is over there. help me escort his ass out of here, please. meanwhile, i'll switch off everything and leave," she said. then, she just walked to the switches.

jihan was laying his head on the study table he sat on. merrick walked over to remind him to pack up because the library was closing shortly.

awaiting him was a sleeping jihan. his eyes were closed, his lips slightly ajar, and drooling. his saliva was all over his arm that he rested his head on. he was cute as fuck. "aish, is this the kind of roommate i want," merrick muttered with a stupid smile on his face. anyone could tell he was whipped.

chop chop, merrick packed all of jihan's things quietly. his stationery laid around the table, scraps of worksheets stacked here and there between his thick-ass books related to music. his laptop screen was on, with a spreadsheet open. it had all the details about his upcoming exams and the revision schedule he had planned out. even the laptop was drained it immediately shut down due to no battery. merrick swiftly closed the laptop and inserted it discreetly into jihan's laptop bag.