It felt like sleeping next to a Jihyuk-shaped stone. “What’s happening?” I asked, rubbing my eyes off of the grogginess that lingered. She didn’t move, nor did she look up. She was trembling under the blanket and curled up at my side. “Are you cold?” I tried sitting up but she gripped on my bare arm and covered my mouth with her other hand. Her eyes were wide in fear as a knock sounded on the door. Jihyuk shivered as it looked like she was about to cry. “Hey,” I loosened her grip on me. “Relax. That’s just Hyukjae asking for whatever.”

“No,” Jihyuk said softly. “I know it’s not him.”

I watched her balled-up figure as she spoke. “Have you gone and checked who it is?”

She shook her head.

“Then how do you know it’s not Hyukjae?”

Jihyuk shrugged.

“If it’s not Hyuk, then who is it?” I prodded.

She hugged her knees closer and hid her face. Her hair was fanned out all over her pillow and matted across her forehead in sweat. Lips quivering, “It’s a ghost,” she said. Then the knocking sounded again, scaring Jihyuk more than ever. I laid there and waited, thinking maybe it was just another of Jihyuk’s surprise acting episodes. I waited for the time she would burst out laughing at my horrified expression.

But that didn’t come. As soon as I was sure that this wasn’t one of her pranks, I took her by her trembling hands and pulled her to lie on top of me, pressing her bare body against mine. “Baby, don’t be like this,” I whispered, her hair gently to calm her down. “Maybe you just had a bad dream. There are no ghosts, okay? You don’t believe in those, do you?”

“There’s one right outside our door,” she fought back, almost on the verge of tears. I can feel her warm cheek on my shoulder, and she pressed against me more after another knock sounded. I swear if that was just Hyukjae, I will kill him for scaring her so much… “What if the ghost is coming for us?”

It was a good thing that she had her face buried on my neck, or else she would have seen me rolling my eyes in disbelief. “Jihyuk…” I sighed. “There’s no such thing as ghosts.” I lifted her face up slightly to kiss her. “Let’s go back to sleep, hmm?”

“I don’t want to go back to sleep, not when there’s a ghost right outside.”

I ran my hands along her waist. “What do you want to do then?” I didn’t want to come off as suggestive, but we were both and in a ready position with her on top. All I needed was her permission. And when I kissed her, it was confirmed. She put her arms around my neck as I caressed her thighs, slowly spreading them to enter her. But the “ghost” had to make itself known again.

As soon as the knock sounded, Jihyuk stopped moving, even if I continued kissing her. “Baby, don’t mind Hyuk, okay? Just—ugh,” I groaned in frustration, while Jihyuk resumed her stone-like state. Fumbling for the phone by the bedside table, “What time is it, anyway?” 2:58 am. “Look, it’s almost three in the morning. Let’s go back to sleep—“

“What?” she pushed herself up by her elbows. “What time is it?”

“It’s almost three,” I repeated, pulling the covers up. “Come on, let’s sleep this off, hmm?”

“We have to get out of here,” Jihyuk said all of a sudden.

I scratched my head. “Get out? Of here? Why?”

She smacked my arm and looked at me as if I’m stupid. “It’s almost three, right? It’s almost the devil’s hour!”

Before I could ask again, she stood up, clutching the blanket around her, and yanking me with her towards the bathroom. Once we were inside, she locked the door securely and sat on the floor. Putting the lid over the toilet seat, I sat and patted my lap. “Come here,” I said and watched as she slowly approached. I felt her trembling under the blanket. “Sshhh,” I comforted, pulling her into my arms. “Don’t be scared, okay? I’m here.”

She smacked my arm lightly and looked at me. “You don’t believe in ghosts.”

“I don’t,” I nodded. “People are real. Ghosts are not.”

“But people can hurt you. Ghosts can’t. That’s why I prefer to believe in ghosts than to believe in people,” she said. “What about God?”

I trailed kisses along the length of her arm. “What about god?”

“Do you believe in God?” she asked, tilting her head to let me kiss along her shoulder.

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I believe in working hard to get what you want. I believe in science and in math. I believe in accuracy and precision. I don’t like not knowing. And religion is exactly like that – not knowing, not seeing, and not hearing but still believing. It’s crazy. Faith doesn’t put food on the table, nor does it pay the bills. Faith won’t steer the wheel when you drive. At the end of the day, all we have is who we are.”

Her lips twitched, indicating a smile. “You don’t believe in a lot of things, do you?”

I shook my head.

“What if nobody believes in you either?”

“I’m a doctor. They’ll believe in me,” I chuckled. “But you believe in me, don’t you?”

She nodded.

“That’s enough for me,” I said, leaning in to kiss her. It was a good thing I was sitting upright, and all I had to do was make her turn to face me and peel the blanket off. And the rest, they say, will be history. But a knock sounded on the door before the action could even start. I was starting to get mad at this “ghost”.

“Where are you going?” Jihyuk asked, terrified, as I stood up and headed to the door. She trailed behind me. “Be careful,” she reminded, as if I was going off to war.

Taking a deep breath, I opened the bedroom door only to find nothing. Shaking my head in disbelief, I closed the door and locked it, finally being able to convince Jihyuk that there’s no one outside. “See? I told you there is no such thing as ghosts.” I sat beside Jihyuk on the bed as she still processed the information.

When the information fully sank in, she stood up and started collecting her clothes from the floor. It took me a while to realize what was happening. “Wait, stay like that,” I hurried to her side.

“Like what?”

“Like…” I gave her body one up-and-down look. “…that.”

Suddenly feeling conscious, she covered herself with the garment in her hands. “What’s with the quick change of moods?” Jihyuk asked, blood pooling her cheeks.

 “Because…suddenly…” I stared down at my feet as I pondered on what to say. Then an imaginary light bulb lit up in my head and I rushed to embrace her, the sudden weight causing both of us to plop down on the bed. “Suddenly I felt scared.” I looked up, only to see her amused expression. “You have to stay like this.”

“I have to stay so that…?”

“So that I’ll be comforted?” I said, beaming at her with the most innocent face I could muster.

She laughed, pinching my cheek. “You’re a baby.”

“You love this baby anyway,” I teased, sticking my tongue out.

“You’re a baby.”

“Yeah right,” I kissed her urgently, and successfully shushing her, but not for long.

But she slightly pushed me away only to say, “You’re a baby.”

“Really? Is this the body of a baby?” I asked, taking her hand and letting it travel down my body. “Can a baby do this—“ I kissed down the curve of her neck, only to nibble at her collarbones. “—this—“ I ran my hand along the sides of her s. “—or this?” I ground my hips against hers. Each action made a gasp escape her lips. “Are you baby, baby?”

***

I came out of the room followed by Jihyuk early the next morning only to find Hyukjae dozing off on the couch. She shook him by the arm. “Go sleep on your bed. You’ll hurt your back,” she told him softly, but he only groaned and draped an arm over his eyes. She then advanced to the kitchen to prepare sandwiches for our breakfast.

Halfway into our breakfast, Hyukjae woke up and dragged himself to the kitchen, only to return to the dining table. He was staring at Jihyuk and me for almost an entire minute without batting an eyelash. Thinking he was sleepwalking, “Hyuk, go back to sleep,” I said faintly, preparing to stand up and lead him to his bedroom.

But before I could push my chair backwards, he had already grabbed the half-eaten sandwiches from our plates as well as the one we had put aside for him. Without sitting, he wolfed down the food in front of shocked and horrified Jihyuk and me. I thought maybe, just maybe, he would pause for a while to take a breath and sip some water.

But Hyukjae didn’t. He ate the food like a starved man. When he was done, Jihyuk scurried to get him a glass of water, which he downed in one gulp. “What is wrong with you?” I asked, terrified at his animal-like behavior.

He took deep, long breaths before answering, almost as if he was trying not to vomit everything he had eaten. “Ask yourselves. It’s all your fault,” Hyuk said, alternating dagger-like looks between Jihyuk and me. “You two know how my cooking skills only go as far as putting stuff in the microwave, and then you don’t leave me any dinner!”

“You came home late. We thought you already had dinner,” Jihyuk explained softly, keeping her eyes on her fidgeting fingers.

“That’s no excuse!” He slammed his palm on the table, making me almost jump a meter from the ground in surprise. Jihyuk clutched her chest to try and  calm her nervous heart. “I tried asking help from the two of you but you seemed to be too busy in your own worlds!” Hyukjae’s face was red from all his scolding. It was both scary and funny – scary because he looked really angry and funny because he was getting all hyped up just because of food.

I tried my best not to laugh, though. “You tried asking help from us?”

Hyuk nodded.

I glanced at Jihyuk. “We don’t seem to remember…”

“I kept knocking on your door!” Hyukjae yelled. “I knocked for, like, thirty times and got no response!” This time, I dragged Jihyuk with me as we dashed to the kitchen so Hyukjae wouldn’t have to hear us die from laughter. 

***

Happy new year everyone! I hope the year of the horse turns out well for all of you~ ^^