Kissing the Demon (Seoksoo)

Seokmin

Forty-eight hours had passed since my impromptu decision to invite Joshua to binge the entire MCU back catalogue, and I was beginning to question my sanity.

As promised, Joshua arrived last night with a takeaway bag from my favourite Chinese, containing all the foods I usually ordered. When I'd questioned how he'd known what to get, he claimed Seungkwan told him. My best friend clearly had a better memory than I did. Hell if I knew what he usually got. I wasn't about to complain, though, if it meant I got to eat salt and pepper chicken with mushroom chow mein.

We'd eaten off cushions on our laps while curled up on opposite sides of the sofa. After catching up on the end of Captain Marvel, we flew through Iron Man 1 and Iron Man 2. While we watched, we traded stories about our past. I was amazed at all the different places Joshua had travelled to. I considered myself to have itchy feet, but nothing on Joshua, it seemed.

Once again, Joshua fell asleep before the end of the film. And once again, I couldn't bring myself to wake him. It had been far more difficult to walk up the stairs and leave him alone than the night before. It was like he wormed his way further under my skin every time we spoke. The only thing that persuaded my body to throw the blanket over him and retreat to my bed alone was the reminder that someone like Joshua would never be with someone like me long-term.

I wasn't overly surprised to find him gone again this morning, but I couldn't deny the disappointment that settled in my stomach when I spotted the empty sofa and neatly folded blanket. The sight of a coffee and pastry waiting for me in the kitchen dashed that feeling away, leaving behind a flood of butterflies that really had no business throwing me off that early in the day.

Like the previous day, I'd texted to thank him for breakfast. This time though, I pointed out that he didn't need to leave like a thief in the night. His response came back immediately, making me wonder if he was sitting with his phone in his hand, waiting for me to message. That was ridiculous though. Guys like Joshua didn't wait impatiently to hear from overweight PE teachers with commitment issues.

To my surprise, though, he suggested continuing our marathon that evening. Not only that, we kept up a steady stream of conversation throughout the day. While I was lesson planning, he was roped in by Vernon to help change some of the displays in the bookshop, but given how often my phone had gone off, he appeared to be taking every opportunity to message me with some wacky idea of something else he'd rather be doing.

Joshua: I'd rather be base-jumping off Table mountain.

Me: That's a lot of climbing for just a few seconds of adrenaline.

Joshua: Good point. Fine. I'd rather be deep-sea diving with great white sharks.

Me: Can you dive? That's awesome!

Joshua: Shh. Let me have this dream a little longer.

The first few times my phone vibrated, I tried to finish the section I was planning before giving into the temptation that was Joshua's wit. I found myself biting my lip as I shot back response after response, chuckling at his dry humour. I could almost picture him sitting beside me, gesturing dramatically as the conversation moved on to describing the antics happening behind the scenes of the shop reorganisation. Eventually, I gave up the pretence of trying to plan. Instead, I sat with my phone in my hands, watching the three dots dance across my screen like some teenager waiting for his crush to reply.

Eventually, Joshua had to put his phone down long enough to shower. He'd offered to pick up a takeaway on his way over again, but I wasn't going to have him buying me food all the time. Not that I was planning to cook either—despite my mom's best efforts, barely any of her culinary lessons had stuck. The only thing I could throw together without fucking it up was a curry. I was, however, more than capable of ordering a takeaway for us. God bless Uber Eats and all their drivers. They literally stopped me from starving to death.