Narrator POV

Normal people want hangover soup the morning after partying but Son Shownu wanted beef broth noodle soup with the noodles slightly brown on the bottom because Ara forgot to stir the pot… again.

However this morning, Shownu only had ice water.

He looked for aspirins to suppress his head ache but found an empty container.

Oh right, he remembered, I gave Ara the last ones.

Sighing, he settled with the coffee maker. As he waited, he rested his elbows on the table and held his head in his hands. How much did he drink last night? He couldn’t remember. He only recalled chugging cups after cups. Half the night people were congratulating him on his promotion. The other half of the time he was drinking like a heartbroken teenager. He wasn’t proud, but hey what could he do? How else was he able to erase the memory of seeing Ara and Wonho together?

At first he was mad at Ara but then again she did nothing wrong. It was his own fault. He was the one that couldn’t be with her on her most fragile day. Even though he hated Wonho, a part of him was thankful that Wonho was there.  At least when Ara looked up into the sky to watch the fireworks, Shownu knew that whatever Wonho had done, it was able to keep Ara together.

The coffee machine beeped and Shownu got up.

He reached for a cup as he checked his phone.

No messages.

Shownu’s fingers hovered over Ara’s number.

Hesitation

Something he had yet to experience with Ara.

In the end he pressed the button and brought the phone to his ears. After what seemed like a million rings, he was sent to voice mail.

Shownu hung up and shoved his phone in his pocket trying to not over think.

She’s probably still asleep, he reassured himself; you know how much Ara loves sleeping…

Pouring himself a cup of coffee with hands that were totally not shaking, Shownu set the jug down and reached for his cup handle. The phone in his pocket vibrated making him jolt, splashing the hot liquid over his hands.

Shownu swore and quickly wiped his fingers on his sweater before checking his phone.

It was only his alarm reminding him that his shift started in twenty minutes.

Sighing he ditched the coffee and headed for the showers.

“Screw my life.”

*                      *                      *

Ringggg… Ring…. Ring…

“Shownu,” Ara groaned without bothering to open her eyes, “Turn it off.”

A few seconds later her phone stopped ringing.

“Thank you,” Ara mumbled and turned to her side clinging onto him like a koala, “I love you,” she mumbled against his back.

“Do you sleep with him all the time?”

Ara stiffened.

Robotically she unwrapped her arms and legs.

Wonho took his time to turn around.

When Ara finally saw his face, she felt knots in her stomach. His painfully striking features betrayed no emotion. He just blinked his hazel eyes at her.

She never thought this could happen, but for the first time ever she felt shy waking up next to a guy. Even without looking into the mirror, Ara knew that she face was swollen, her cheek probably held a red imprint from the crinkled sheets, and her hair was a mess. She couldn’t believe that she was insecure over something so superficial but… compared to Wonho who looked like he was shooting for a magazine, she looked like she just got mowed by Grell’s Death Scythe. 

With that thought in mind, Ara slowly pulled the covers up so that only her eyes became visible.

Wonho stayed silent as his eyes studied her.

What was going on inside his head, Ara didn’t know.

“So,” he spoke, “You still haven’t answered my question.”

Question? Ara recalled hearing him talk but…

“You seem to mind a lot last night when I told you to sleep here,” Wonho corked his head on his elbow and stared her down, “But then you wake up calling a name that isn’t even your boyfriend’s.”

Ara could almost see a bright red sign with the bold letters: BUSTED on it. How did he know?

He leaned down making his face hover over hers and whispered, “You lied to me.” Through the thin piece of fabric, Ara could faintly feel Wonho’s lips brush against hers when they moved.  

“Do you know what that means?” Wonho asked, eyes never leaving hers for even a second.

Ara would shake her head but that’d meant creating more friction between their lips and that was the last thing she wanted to do.

“It means you owe me another lunch date,” he sat up and winked at her.

“By the way,” he reminded, “You still never owed up to your first lunch date.”

Ara responded by hiding her entire face under the blanket. Wonho chuckled at her action and headed to the bathroom.

Once Ara heard the door shut, she poked her head out and wondered if Wonho was bipolar. One minute he was all serious and his eyes screamed ‘don’t mess with me’ then the next second he was flirting with her again.

Just exactly what was going on in Shin Wonho’s head? Ara had no idea and this source of unknown was starting to make her feel… weird things.

Slowly, she didn’t realize she had started drifting back to sleep until she heard a loud, “WHOA!” and saw an excited Wonho looking at her from his desk.

“What?” she murmured as she rubbed her eye. Judging from his semi wet hair Ara guess that he had just stepped out of the shower.

Wonho held up the entire drafting board, “You finished my assignment for me!”

“Because what you had before