Chasing the Sun

078

I must have spent a good thirty minutes inside the bathroom because by the time I got out, the kitchen was already back to its pristine state and New's mom was already storing the cleaning materials back to the drawers.

"I'll make sure to wake up early tomorrow...New's cooking was..."

"Chaotic!", New's mom continued as if she knew the exact word that was in my mind.

I walked back to the living area to check if New was in there, but it was empty. I then paced through the back door, thinking he might be at sitting at the back garden to admire the morning view of the mountains, but I was greeted by the silence that steadily enveloped the surroundings. I felt tempted to stay and have my own peaceful time with the nature, but I figured checking in on New would be better.

"If you're looking for New, he's in your room. He said he wanted to stretch his legs after the tedious cooking show he did, so he wanted to rest a bit.", His mom said as I closed the door that lead to the garden. 

"I'll be going to the city proper to shop for some groceries, do you want me to get something for you?", New's mom continued as she fetched her bag on the counter top.

"I don't need anything, Ma. I'll take care of New while you're away."

"Well then, I'll get going now. And please, try to keep my son away from the kitchen before he tries to cook something awful again.", New's mom ended in a both joking and serious manner. I knew she was just joking about keeping him away from the kitchen, but was serious about how awful New's cooking was. 

I walked her to the gate and bid farewell to New's mom, then returned to the house and headed for the room. 

When I opened the door, New was lying on the bed and scrolling through something in his phone. Whatever it was he was doing, he seemed so invested that he didn't notice me opening the door and coming in.

"Looking up another recipe to cook again?", I whispered in his ear, to which he acted unnaturally surprised.

I opted to check what was getting his attention on his phone, but he quickly turned the screen off and looked at me smiling, as if he was plotting another sinister kitchen mess that he didn't want me to know.

"I have a bad feeling about this."

"What? I'm only reading a manga."

"Why won't you let me see it then?"

"It's not something you wouldn't be interested reading, so don't bother."

I leaned in closer to his ear, my breath tickling his auditory organ. He was obviously feeling uneasy and awkward, and I knew immediately he was thinking of something raunchy in his head. I remembered how he looked that night when he thought I was going to kiss him when I was just going to make a call, and smiled.

"Is it something erotic?", I asked in a modulated, raspy voice.

He seemed to have lost his sense of hearing because he didn't move, but his eyes grew wide the moment I talked so I knew he heard me. Then, New shook his head aggressively and kicked me off the bed.

"You perv! It's not an erotic comic!", New said, his face painting a bright hue of red from the embarrassment.

"Then why is your face red?", I teased him as I patted my butt that fell hardly on the wooden floor. How could he kick like that when he's already weak? I figured I was lucky I never got on his nerves when he was still all muscly because he I would've gotten bruised with his brute strength.

"I-It's because of the sun! I was too exposed that I developed rashes."

It didn't make sense as he didn't really go out of the house ever since we came and the room didn't allow sunlight to come, but I knew better than  annoying him any further.

Seeing how his mouth pouted and made a long face, I stood up and joined him on the bed. 

"Do you want to do anything today?", I asked as I wrapped my arm around his waist, carefully taming him so he won't get anymore annoyed at me.

As if waiting for me to say that, he turned to my direction and smiled menacingly.

"Should I cook something for lunch?"

I felt all the blood drain from my body when I heard him. My stomach had just recovered from the bowel battle that I had an hour ago, and I wasn't sure if I would be able to endure yet another stomach grumbling meal.

"I'm kidding, silly. I don't really have anything I want to do right now."

I felt relieved when he said he was just joking, but I figured our time together would go to waste if we didn't do anything. We lay there quietly, New staring outside of the room into the view of the mountains of Chiang Mai as I thought of something worthwhile to do.

Then, an idea hit me.

"Do you like dancing?"

"Uh, not really. It's not because I don't find dancing fun, but because I was never gifted with the talent to groove. I can't catch a beat whenever I dance, so I didn't really enjoy doing it."

"Then...shall we try dancing?"

"Didn't you hear me talk about how I miss the beat whenever I dance?"

"It's fine, we'll do something about that."

"No.", he replied firmly. 

"Please?", I said, my mouth pouting in an attempt to charm him into joining me.

"No.", This time, his voice was rather soft. I'm pretty sure my pouting face worked, but it wasn't enough to change his answer.

He didn't seem to buy my proposal as he still looked shy, so I had to think of a something to bribe him into dancing with me.

"How about this...if you dance with me, I'll get you a cake for your snack. Any flavor, just say yes.", I said. I knew he couldn't resist it, but I was still a bit hesitant on whether he would say yes.

"Any type of cake?"

"Yes."

"Any flavor?"

"Yes."

"Promise?"

"I promise.", I said, raising my smallest finger and tying it with his.

"Well...okay.", He said in a half-assed manner.

"Yes!", I replied, completely overjoyed that he agreed to dance with me.

"But just one song, okay? One song!"

"Sure, babe. One song is all I need."