Subin wasn’t the first one to wake up this time, or so he thought as he clumsily remembered which cabinets she had looked into the last time he was here in preparing his coffee. Truthfully, she had woken up a few hours earlier, but forced herself asleep when she saw who was breathing next to her. She had hopes that the next time she woke up, she’d be alone and have to avoid the smug face she knew would be waiting for her. But before she even opened her eyes, the sound of his shuffling alerted her that she couldn’t play dead for much longer. Wordlessly, she headed to the bathroom to fix herself, and reach for her robe again. This time, at least he had the decency to dress himself before she asked. 

“Morning babe,” he smiled at her as he held up his cup of coffee to his lips. She didn’t even blink at the greeting, moving instead to pick yesterday’s clothing off of the ground. 

“You know,” he continued, “if you don’t want me to be tempted to repeat last night right now, you should start wearing more.” 

“Let’s not do this,” Subin sighed, finally looking at him in the eyes. It always amazed him how different she was from their nighttime encounters. Of course, he didn’t expect her to be all over him all of the time, but the least he expected was a smile, or some indication that she was the same person, and that he wasn’t imagining their chemistry. He set down his cup of coffee, and motioned her to continue speaking. “Let’s not act like this is anything more than it is.” 

“And what is it?” he asked, partly being smart to see the cute expression that fell over her face when she was annoyed, and partly because he was genuinely curious about what she thought of their situation.

“Friends with benefits,” Subin shrugged, putting it nicely to avoid being crude so early in the morning. 

“That usually requires you to be, you know, friends. I don’t even know your name.” 

“Then, we’re one tier lower than that. I still won’t tell you my name.” 

He knew her name. He had repeated it a thousand times in his head the night before while they contrasted rough kisses with gentle embraces. He had heard her friends calling after her, but her mind was somewhere else then, so she had no idea he had this bit of personal information. Too personal for her, which was why she continued denying him the information. It was the same logic behind parents telling their children not to name stray animals, to avoid getting attached. Once something had a name, it was more than an object. Subin wanted to believe that she was stronger than to get attached to a stranger, but her desperation to find him the night before was proving otherwise. She guessed that her recent wound would lead her to seek anyone out if they gave her the slightest bit of attention, even if it wasn’t him. Even if they didn’t have the same magnetism. 

He took another sip of his coffee, not quite sure what else to do to fill the atmosphere. It was quiet, and neither knew what to say after that. He searched his mind for smart remarks, and debated finishing his coffee so she could kick him out, but his arrogance was convincing him that there was more to say to her. She didn’t know how to follow her statement, doubting that she could continue being cruel. She cleared , deciding that she too needing a sip of coffee. She poured herself a mug, crinkling her nose as she tasted what he brewed. It was stronger than she liked it, but for some reason, she worried about being rude by pouring it down the sink. The thought was ridiculous in itself, thinking back to her venom less than five minutes ago. 

“Do you want to know my name?” he asked, as they were standing shoulder to shoulder in her tiny kitchen. 

“Anything but that,” she scoffed, taking another sip of the bitter liquid. 

“Okay,” he settled himself atop her counter, and before she could tell him to get off, she became distracted by the way his eyes turned almost childlike as he searched for some sharable details of his life. He was almost embarrassed by how little he felt comfortable sharing. 

“I’m 23,” he finally said. She laughed, a loud, interesting laugh that you wouldn’t expect to come from such a delicate face. But it was more charming that way. 

“That’s what you came up with?” She snorted again. “You were thinking for that long and that’s the only thing you thought of saying?” 

“Well, did you