cold coffee / ijb

+ four

chapter four
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it had been a week of awkward, soundless nights in jaebum and aera's room. aera was always the first to fall asleep and whenever she did jaebum was always doing the same thing, sitting below the window with his head in his hands. despite being the first to fall asleep, aera was the last one to wake up. by the time the first beam of sunlight struck aera's eyelids, jaebum was already in the bathroom brushing his teeth and getting ready for work.

jaebum had looked at baek aera differently ever since the first night. she assumed it was only because of their awkward situation but she couldn't help the curiosity that had made a home in the back of her brain.

"caramel macchiato with extra caramel and no whip," aera said, handing jaebum the man's order.

aera's fingers lightly brushed jaebum's during the transfer, causing him to flinch back and slam his hand against the counter.

does not like skin to skin contact.

aera recalled miss im's information sheet.

"scratch my hand," jaebum said, extending his hand to her.

"what?"

"just scratch it. scratch it where you touched it, please," he ordered.

with furrowed brows, baek aera clawed at jaebum's hand and he sighed in relief. aera's eyes were glued to jaebum although he had already started to make the drink.

"hello," a lady on the other side of the counter called, annoyed.

aera rushed over to take the lady's order, not noticing jaebum watching her over his shoulder with a hint of a crooked smile.

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baek aera rolls around in her sleep. that's one thing jaebum noticed about her. it was especially weird the first night but after that it felt like a routine to him.

jaebum laid down on his half of the mattress after aera had fallen asleep. he positioned himself on his side, facing her so that he would have enough room to breath. just like she had the first night and the nights after that, baek aera rolled over, slung her leg over jaebum's hip securely and gripped his shirt in both fists, resting her head on the same pillow he was occupying.

the first night she was barely wrapped around him, which is what made jaebum begin to pull away. that's when she had held onto him tighter and he had decided to let her sleep.

this night was different for jaebum. he felt slightly guilty for not telling baek aera about their nightly routine. in fact, he usually found himself waking up before she did so she wouldn't discover what had taken place. but it wasn't that big of a deal, was it?

aera's hip bones pressed against his own in the kind of faintly painful way that he enjoyed. her leg latched around him in a sort of fashion that she wouldn't possibly fall if he were to stand up.

jaebum bit back a groan when he realized that he was letting an unconscious girl wrap herself around him like he was her life line.

he felt the urge to rest his eyes and with that, he fell asleep, completely forgetting to set his alarm.