somnambulism ✦ mark lee {on hold}

one ★彡

"Make sure you take care of yourself, hm? Don't forget to eat your greens, and please, for the love of everything good, stop eating watermelons all the time because they are very high in sugar."

A few advices and kisses on the forehead and cheeks later, Mark Lee was left alone on the porch of his new home, his mother having left to go back to their old house. The 16-year-old had wanted to move out, claiming he had to be more independent as it was his last two-and-a-half years of high school. His parents would transfer enough money to him every month, and that was how he would live. It was much better than what he had to deal with in his previous school anyway.

The new house was located in a beautiful neighborhood, very peaceful with very friendly neighbors, and much closer to his new high school as well. It was perfect, really, and all that he could ask for.

Sitting himself down on the plastic-covered couch in his box-filled living room, he sighed, knowing he had to attend to the arduous job of unpacking and organizing everything. Just as he was about to get up to unpack one of the many boxes, the doorbell rang.

"How can I have visitors? I mean I'm new?" he questioned himself, scratching his head before walking over and opening the door.

He was met with the sight of a tall, slightly tanned guy who looked to be about his age, holding a plate of chocolate chip cookies in his large hands. "Hey! You're the new neighbor, right?"

His booming voice shocked Mark a bit, but he quickly composed himself and silently nodded.

The stranger grinned. "I'm Huang Xuxi, but you can call me Lucas if you're more comfortable with that, and I'm your next door neighbor. Mom made cookies and told me deliver some to you as a welcome gift. Here you go!" Xuxi plopped the tray in Mark's hands, the grin still plastered on his face.

"Uh, I'm Mark. Mark Lee. Do you wanna come in, uh, Xuxi?" Mark started walking back into his house, placing the cookies on the kitchen counter. Sure enough, Xuxi followed him in, shutting the door behind him before looking around.

"Bro, why do I feel like your house is bigger than ours? It looks like there's enough space to play mini football or something, you know?"

Mark tilted his head. "Isn't it just because I haven't unpacked yet?"

Xuxi appeared to think about it for a little while before shrugging and grinning again. "Yeah, that may be it. Sorry bro, I'm only brawn, all the intelligence goes to my sister."

The boy sounded proud, and this time Mark grinned. This Xuxi guy wasn't so bad. "No worries, bro. So--"

"YOU CALLED ME BRO!" Xuxi excitedly exclaimed. "Sorry, okay continue."

Mark chuckled. "I'm going to attend the high school that's like, four blocks down the road. Do you know anyone that goes there?"

Xuxi's face lit up. "Both my sister and I go there, too! Don't worry, bro, I'll show you around. Why are you transferring in the middle of sophomore year, though?"

"How did you know I'm a sophomore?"

"Intuition." Xuxi shrugged. "But yeah, my sister and I are sophomores, too." Patting Mark's shoulder, he said, "We got you, man."

"You're twins?" Mark realized, having to slightly tilt his head up to look at Xuxi's face.

Xuxi laughed. "Yeah, I've been stuck with her since mom's womb." He then glanced at his wristwatch. "Oh, I should get going now. I finally convinced dad to play Mario Kart with me. It was really nice meeting you, Mark!"

"Same here, Xuxi! Take care!"

Just as Mark was about to close the door, he heard Xuxi call out to him. "One more thing. It completely slipped my mind when we were talking earlier, but I wanted to warn you about my sister's sleepwalking habit. She kinda tends to do that when she gets too stressed, which she is now because she's vice president of the Student Council and there's this Art Performance thing happening that the council is in charge of."

"Okay? What does that have to do with me, though?"

"Sometimes she sleepwalks out of the house. It's pretty rare, but before you moved in, a nice old lady lived here and for some reason, my sister thinks this house is our house in her sleepwalking state. The old lady's daughter moved her to a care home, and now you're here."

Mark's eyes were the size of saucers. "So..." he trailed off.

Xuxi sighed. "I know this may be too much to ask from a guy you've just met, but if you hear the doorbell some time in the night, just know that it's my sister." The boy ran his fingers through his hair. "Mrs. Na always told me my sister falls right back asleep once she sits on her couch. It hasn't happened in a while, but with the Art Performance coming up, I felt like I had to warn you."

With that, Xuxi waved, his long legs carrying him back to his own house in under a minute.

And Mark was, once again, left alone on the porch, this time feeling slightly dumbfounded.

Disclaimer: I know next to nothing about sleepwalking. The only things I know are from what I found on Google so please excuse me if you find mistakes!