“Hey, you’re still awake?”

Melody almost dropped the glass of milk she is holding. She turned around and she saw Leeteuk by the kitchen door.

“Yeah, I can’t sleep. How about you?” She sat on one of the stools because she could feel her knees starting to weaken. But then, he sat on the stool opposite her. So now they’re sitting face to face.

“I just put them all to sleep,” he answered.

“You really act like their father,” she told him. “But then, if I didn’t know any of you and I saw you, I’d think you are the youngest.”

“Really huh?” he smiled and she once again saw that really cute dimple of his. “If they hear you saying that, they wouldn’t feel good about it.”

“That’s why it should be kept a secret to both of us,” she lowered her voice then grinned.

“So we have a secret now?” he lowered his voice also.

“I guess so.” She continued looking at him. Even in his pajamas he looks so… handsome.

Then he speaks again, “So why can’t you sleep?” Did he just get conscious with her stare?

“Because I have insomnia,” she answered.

“Insomnia? What’s that?”

“You don’t know insomnia?” He nodded. She cleared then started singing, “Because I can’t sleep till you’re next to me. No, I can’t live without you no more… Feels like insomnia, ah ah… Feels like insomnia ah ah…”

Leeteuk’s laughing now. The sound of his laugh is like music to her ears. She’s more than happy that she could make him laugh like this. When he stopped laughing, he said, “So that’s ‘Insomnia’? That’s one famous song.”

“It is, indeed. But seriously, insomnia is an ailment wherein someone who suffers it has difficulty in sleeping.”

“Ah,” he looks somewhat disappointed. “I thought you really meant the song and you sang it for me.”

“Ha?”

“Because I can’t sleep till you’re next to me…” he sang the song again. He’s grinning now. “No, I can’t live without you no more… I just thought you can’t sleep because you’re thinking about me.”

How did you know? “Eh?” she said.

“But seriously,” he followed her tone from earlier. “Why don’t you take sleeping pills?”

“Ah… no. I don’t like the taste of sleeping pills. And sometimes, they even have side effects. I’d rather settle with my,” she raised her glass. “Milk.”

“So that’s why you’re always drinking milk.” It was a statement.

“Aha,” she nodded.

“And you don’t drink coffee?”

“No, it’s not good for my nerves.”

“Hmmm…”

Dead air. How she hated awkward moments. She just drank her milk. But then, he spoke again, “Can you speak in Filipino?”

“Filipino? Why so sudden?”

“Because I want to learn it.”

“Hmmm. Let’s see… Alam mo bang kinakabahan talaga ako ngayon? Sa totoo lang, ganoon ang nararamdaman ko sa tuwing nakikita kita. Bakit ba sobrang guwapo mo? Saka kapag ngumingiti ka nang ganyan, mas lalo akong nahuhulog sa iyo.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means… I will teach you how to speak in Filipino someday, when you can speak in English as fluent as possible. So I hope you’ll always be patient and… bear with me.”

“That’s what you said?”

“Yes.” He still looks unconvinced. What if he knows even a little about Filipino? If he does, it means she just revealed her precious secret to him. But then he said, “Okay. I’ll wait for it.” She smiled then finished her milk. She stood up, turned around from him, sighed, and then washed her glass. When she faced him again, he’s now also standing.

“You should go to sleep now. It’s really very late. And you are even our maknae,” he said.

“Yeah, I will… oppa.”

He smiled then said, “Your shirt looks too big on you.” Indeed, it is. She looked at herself. She’s really more comfortable wearing oversized shirts when she goes to bed. “But how come you look so y in it?”

“H—ha?”

“Goodnight,” he replied. But it’s only his back that she saw again.

When she was left alone, she muttered, “Did he just say I… I’m y?”

That night, when she went back to her room, she found another red rose. On the stem is another post-it note. It says, “Dream of me.”

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I guess you'll appreciate this chapter more if you're a Filipino because of what Melo said. Mas nakakakilig daw sabi ng iba...

But don't worry, you'll still learn what she said in the future... peace! ^^

Comments are greatly appreciated... that would give me boost to write another one and stop being lazy... :D