Jiyoon was sitting at the edge of the bed, busy with her phone. A sudden warmth spreaded on her back as she felt she was being backhugged. She turned. Changjo was sitting cross-legged behind her, on the middle of the bed. Jiyoon frowned since she wasn’t used to both his hug and his weird smile.

“I love you, Jiyoon-ah.” His smile slightly turned into a shy one. “You know it, don’t you?”

Jiyoon’s eyes widened at his words. “W-what? Come again?” she stuttered.

“Don’t play innocent, I know you heard it clearly. Well, I don’t mind to repeat it though. I love you, Kim Jiyoon.” Changjo leaned himself closer to her. He sheepishly smiled before encouraging himself to do what he got to.

Jiyoon was staring at him in disbelief when he landed his lips on hers. She smiled back at him, whose lips couldn’t stop forming a smile while kissing the girl, before kissing him back. “Do you know that I love you too?” she giggled between their kiss.

“I knew it,” Changjo laughed. Lying on his back, he asked Jiyoon to lie alongside him. She was then lying on her side so that she could face him. Changjo slipped a strand of her hair behind her ear as he admired her beauty which had captured his heart, unconsciously smiling at her all along. “You’re so beautiful, Jiyoon-ah.”

Jiyoon said nothing in reply to his words. She bent herself on him, kissing the guy on the lips. Without any doubt, Changjo kissed her back right away. His hands trailed down to her waist, trying to move the girl onto him. Jiyoon embraced him with one of her hand while the other one was pinned on the bed, supporting her body.

Changjo pulled her closer. Their bodies crushed, not wanting to have any inches separating them from each other. He dared his hand to wander on her body as their kisses made them left the world behind. The pace of their kisses and their breath were racing with their heartbeats. Changjo sneaked his hand under her tee, pulling it up slowly but surely, trying to take it off.

Jiyoon jerked up, panting in the darkness. Her heart was wildly pounding. Sweat dampened her palms as she grabbed her hair. The feeling inside her was all mixed between horror, shock, and a bit of frustration.

She the bedside lamp before hesitantly glanced to her side. Changjo was sleeping soundly with his clothes on. She turned to have a look at herself. Her clothes were still on, just the same. She gulped down her anxiousness before letting out a long relieved sigh. She threw herself back as she clenched her eyes. What a damned dream!

She slowly opened her eyes again, flashing back everything that had happened that day. She remembered walking through the hot day before checking into the hotel with him. Then they had dinner in the room. She remembered she watched a movie while Changjo was taking a shower, but she didn’t remember turning off the TV and moved to the bed.

She jerked up again, glancing around. She was on the bed.

Changjo was waken up by the ruckus she made in the last ten minutes. “What’s wrong?” he squinted his sleepy eyes.

“Woah!” Jiyoon jolted up once again, shocked by his sudden question, added by his appearance which successfully reminded her of the hot scenes between them in the dream she just had. “I… Uh... Nothing. I just had a nightmare,” she awkwardly chuckled. "By the way, how could I end up on the bed?"

"I moved you since you seemed uncomfortable." It's just him who wanted to have her sleeping beside him. Changjo sat up as he his bedside lamp as well. He checked his phone, it's just minutes past 12 in the midnight. He was observing her looks, still with his squinted sleepy eyes. “You’re even…sweating? Was it that bad?”

It’s not that bad, but it’s unbelievably weird. It’s just my first night here with you and I’ve already had such a dream. Wait. It's not that bad, you said? “F-forget it, I’m okay.” Jiyoon was avoiding his gaze all along. Her heartbeat couldn’t slow down yet. Everything just made her insane. “J-just go back to sleep,” she told.

“But you don’t look so good.” Changjo was doubting her answer. He held her cold trembling hand, feeling the unusual pace inside her veins. “Do you need anything to calm you down?”

Jiyoon cursed in her mind. The last time she had that kind of dream about him, she had Chunji beside her. And he’s not there anymore. She was being left alone with the culprit from her dream himself whom then asking what’s wrong and even trying to soothe her.

Changjo stared at her in silence. He was thinking for another plan since Jiyoon didn’t budge at her place, nor answering his question. Her blank gaze was staring at the TV’s off screen. Changjo knew what he got to do. He had done it before. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his hug.

The shock she got from being hugged by him successfully left her soulless. She let her limp body leaned onto Changjo’s tough build while rejoicing the warmth of his hug somehow, just before she remembered her dream again. She buried her face on his shoulder, wetting his tee by her tears as she unknowingly cried.

The two stayed still in silence. Changjo had been caressing her back gently as another attempt to calm her down. “I’m sorry, Changjo-ya.” She sobbed although she had stopped crying. “I was too upset,” she said.

“It’s okay. You should go back to sleep now.” Jiyoon nodded at his words, agreeing his advice.

Changjo then laid her back down slowly, but he didn’t move right away after it. Something made him stayed in his position, on his elbow. His fixated gaze right into her eyes unconsciously made the girl did the same. He broke the staring contest and kissed her forehead. “Good night.” He slightly smiled before reaching out to turn off her bedside lamp.

Jiyoon was too dazed to be able to respond him. She was frozen. Only her gaze which moved, watching his motion as he shifted back to his side of the bed, pulling up the blanket before finally turning off his bedside lamp as well, leaving the room as dark as her mind.

Jiyoon couldn’t sleep tightly because of both the make out scene and the real kiss on her forehead she just had. Her eyes were shut tight, but her mind was still busy. For something undefined, she kept stealing glances at Changjo whom already snoring lowly by her side. His hug wasn’t that surprising since she had been wrapped in it before.

A hug was completely fine, but not for the kiss. She was startled than ever to have Changjo kissed her, although it’s just a light peck on her forehead, not even on her cheek. She hadn’t been kissed by another guy in the last few months other than Chunji, which was an exception to her after what happened between them.

What surprised her to death was that Changjo, the cold-hearted guy who didn’t go along well with her from the start, could do such a thing on her. He wasn’t that kind of flirty guys, not even close. He’s on the farthest opposite part of the world, apart from Chunji’s. It made her wondering whether something was wrong with him, or was it just her.

Don't mind it. His words earlier resounding in her mind. She sighed, thinking of any way for her not to mind it which was kind of impossible to her. By that, her dream started playing in her head again.

It's her second time having Changjo kissed her in her dream. She still could bear the first one, although the shock was quite impactful to her sanity, but the second one had taken it to the next level. It wasn't just a kiss. It nearly brought her to the rated M scenes if she didn't wake up at the right time.

It made her frustrated to keep having those kind of absurd dreams of him. She didn't have anything about him in her mind which could trigger her to project such a scene about them. If it kept going, she really thought she would turn insane because of it.

She slowly got off the bed. She grabbed her hoodie and her phone, then sneakily went out. She took the elevator going downstairs. The receptionist flashed a smile at her as she walked through the lobby, heading to the swimming pool.

She glanced around the deserted area. She walked towards one of the wooden pool chair before lying herself on it. She sighed, staring at the ripple, listening to the soothing sound of water flowing out of the pool’s edge. She wanted to clear her mind for a while, being away from the object of her dream. She was sleepy as hell, but her mind didn’t let her to fall asleep, torturing her so bad. She had been staying still, doing the same thing, for almost half an hour when a voice startled her. She thought it was a part of her hallucination, turned out it wasn’t.

“Jiyoon-san?” Hiroshi was standing by her, frowning as he scanned the surroundings. “What are you doing here at this time? And…alone?” he asked.

“Oh! Hiroshi!” Jiyoon hurriedly sat up when he realized it’s him. “I… I can’t sleep, so I went here. Searching for peacefulness,” she chuckled a bit.

Hiroshi took a seat on the pool chair beside her. “Where’s Changjo?” he kept glancing around, like Changjo would appear out of nowhere.

“He’s sleeping in our room. I didn’t heart to wake him up,” she lied, perfecting it with a slight smile on her face. “So, why are you up at this time?” she asked after realizing that Hiroshi wasn’t in his uniform anymore.

“I exchanged shift with my friend for a day, he had something important to be done. I was replacing him when you two arrived here. My shift is actually the night one, so I’m not used to sleep at this time. I was just about to go out for a meal when I thought I saw you here,” he explained.

Jiyoon nodded before questioning another thing to him. “You stay here in the hotel?”

“Yup. The hotel has a part for some of us to live, for the ones who came from the countryside,” answered him. “Well, I’m going first, okay?” he grinned at her as he stood up.

“Where are you going to?” she raised her eyebrow, anticipating.

“Just a nearby small shop I usually eat at around this time, why? Do you need something? I can get it for you if you want,” he offered.

“Can I come with you?” she excitedly asked, biting her lip while waiting for his answer.

Hiroshi nodded vigorously. “Sure! Why not? Let's go.”

******

Changjo opened his eyes and found Jiyoon's side of the bed was empty. He grabbed his phone to check the clock again. It’s only 2 am. He hopped off the bed right away, checking the bathroom as he didn’t hear any sound from the inside. The fact that the bathroom was also empty had waken him up completely. He rushed back to his bedside, hurriedly dialing Jiyoon’s number.

Changjo was cursing all along while pacing back and forth as he anxiously waited for his call to be picked up. “Where the heck are you?” he asked right away when she finally picked up his call. His body couldn’t stay still in worries.

“I’m at a shop not far from the hotel,” she told. He was about to nag when she had already read his mind and cut him off faster. “I’m with Hiroshi here,” she added.

Changjo freezed on his feet. “Hiroshi? The bellboy?” he asked in disbelief, making sure.

“I think I don’t know another person named Hiroshi than the one you introduced to me before,” she replied. Changjo stayed quiet for a moment, not having any idea how he should respond. “Changjo?” she called his name since she didn’t hear any voice from the line across.

“Oh, yeah, I’m still here,” he answered, trying to manage his normal tone, while plumping himself back on the bed. “Just take your time. Have a good one,” he trailed off. He ended the call after exchanging goodbyes with her.

******

“So, is Changjo your boyfriend?” Hiroshi chuckled lightly. They’re en route back to the hotel, half an hour after Changjo’s call to Jiyoon.

Jiyoon’s eyes widened at his question. “W-what? No, he’s not my boyfriend.” She avoided his gaze right away. “Why did you ask that?”

Hiroshi shrugged. “Just wondering,” he laughed as he remembered the way Changjo threatened him earlier. “How long have you known him for?”

“I don’t know, probably around a month,” she answered. “We met here in Tokyo.”

Hiroshi was amazed by the answer. “A month?! Only a month?!” Jiyoon nodded at his surprised face. “Isn’t it weird to be in the same room with him? Just the two of you?”

“We’ve been roommates before. Well, with his other five friends too actually. But yeah the two of us have been roommates this week, just the two of us. So, it isn’t that weird anymore,” she explained. It’s not weird. My dream was.

Hiroshi just nodded at her words. “I really thought you two are dating,” he commented.

“No, we’re not,” Jiyoon chuckled along. We’re not, right?

******

Changjo was sitting on the bed in silence, leaning his back on the bed’s board, when Jiyoon arrived back in their room. He slightly turned his head at her appearance. His face was tautened. He pressed his lips together, holding back his words from hurting her, again. He then just stared at her who stopped dead on her track. “Why are you still awake?” she innocently asked him, frowning.

Changjo made sure that he spent a moment to stare at her deeply. He knew she would notice a slight glare which he shot in a split second. “Making sure that you arrived back here safe and sound after having a good time out there,” he purposely quipped. Without waiting for her answer, he slid himself into the blanket, pulling it up to his head, signaling the girl that it’s unnecessary for her to reply his words.

Jiyoon was startled by his coldness. His hug, his kiss, and his warm words, which she had before, felt so unreal as her mind was re-processing what she just saw and heard. His old self was back. She sighed with her eyes clenched shut. Her hoodie was thrown to the couch before she walked to her side of the bed, tucking herself into it. She positioned herself right at the edge of the bed, not wanting to have any contact with the mad bear.

She sighed again, whatever.