Chapter 70 - The morning after

6:00 am

Aki glared at his phone screen. Who wakes up this early on your free day? He did not have classes or shifts and would gladly spend the rest of his day in bed.

He rolled onto his stomach, determined to sleep some more. Last night was good. Great even. They all had a good time talking over dinner and playing games together. Afterward, Zy and Drew enjoyed the movie while Aki enjoyed talking to Liam. He hoped his roommate felt the same too.

The two of them spent the rest of the movie talking about random things, letting everything fade into background noise. Liam was no longer afraid after they finished watching.

Aki stretched and grabbed a pillow to hug. 'Last night was really good.' It was like a beautiful dream that you wanted to continue even after you wake up.

Except Aki chased after his sleep now, wanting to continue the dream there because who knows what would he find in real life. What if, instead of a dream, he found a nightmare instead? Instead of easy smiles, he would wake up to that same scowl, those furrowed brows?

He rolled again. Why was he thinking about his roommate? Why did it bother him? Why was he affected? It was as if…

'No. Stop. You won't. Don't say it. Don't forget what happened the last time you felt that way. Spare yourself the pain. Please.'

With a groan, he pushed himself up. Sleep did not seem like it would visit him the second time around. He padded across the floor and headed to the kitchen.

As he rounded the corner, he saw Drew and Zy's head drawn together in sleep, most likely cuddling. The two chose to sleep in the living room as they continued to watch more films after the first one. Liam excused himself seeing another horror flick coming up. Aki did the same. Other than not being in the mood to be the glorified third wheel, his worries the entire day sapped his energy.

Now, seeing the two like this, Aki was at a loss on what to do. Should he continue and pretend as if he did not notice? Would he feel that same old pain if he did? He had seen them together last night and the two were not exactly subtle with the way they look and touch each other. Not blatant PDA but any onlooker would have an idea about their relationship.

Aki was okay last night. Liam was a useful distraction with his worry lines and downturned lips. But now, faced with all this alone, in the quiet hours of the morning, would he still be okay? 'See? This is what I was saying. And here you are, trying to make another dark hole to sink yourself into when you've just barely crawled out of the first one.'

He was starting to get used to seeing the two as a couple. Yet he could not help but still feel awkward around them. It was as if he was walking on the thin line between moving on and brokenheartedness. He was caught in the middle of his feelings and he did not know what to do with them.

'I really should have just forced sleep even if I get a headache later.' He could deal with that kind of headache than the one he was experiencing now.

He considered going back to his room and sleep either by hook or by crook. As he turned on his heels, he noticed that the door of the storage room was open. Aki swallowed. They had an unspoken rule to never set foot in the storage room. It was never open and he never asked again about it. Liam looked like he was not ready to tell what was inside the room. Aki thought he would just wait until Liam trusted him to know what was inside.

Yet, as if a tempting forbidden fruit, the door of the storage room was open.