The muffled sounds of the television could be heard through the door. The sounds mean one thing she’s finally home. Jiyong smiled. He took off his shoes and slipped on his slippers. 

As he entered the living room, the room was dark. The TV was the only light source and it eerily highlighted the green muck on the slob sprawled on the sofa. A chill crept up his spine. He had an inkling what the dim lighting meant. He refused to acknowledge the possibility. He reached out to turn the light on.

“Yah! Turn it off! I’m in the zone here. You’re ruining the moment!” A mildly irritated voice reprimanded him coming from the direction of the sofa. 

He obediently switched the light off. “Aah. That’s better. I made pizza. Go clean up then eat before I finish everything.” 

“Made pizza my . More like reheated MY pizza.” Jiyong scoffed at the general direction of her voice. 

“In my book, reheating is tantamount to making it,” She countered unashamedly.

Jiyong couldn’t stop grinning as he loosened up his tie on his way to his room. She’s really back and its as if the past weeks didn’t happen. They were back to their old camaraderie. But then he did not want them to be like before. He frowned at the realization. 

He did not want to go back to how things were. The past two months were painful but he knew that they needed those so that they could move forward. But just when he thought they could have taken a jump forward, Dara goes stepping back to square one.

After a quick shower he changed into a pair of ratty sweats and moved to join her. He scooped Dara’s prone body up surprising the girl into dropping the TV remote. “Yah!” She moved to hit him to let her go but her facial mask was starting to slip because of the jostling movement. Her hand flew to her face to keep the dratted thing in place. 

Jiyong chuckled as he resettled their bodies into the sofa. Dara’s body stiffened at the familiar but at the same time unfamiliar feel of her body nestling on his. It’s been weeks. Before it just felt natural to cuddle with him. They’ve been doing it since they were kids. But with everything that happened in the previous weeks she didn’t know how or if she could carry on being in such close proximity with him. 

Greeting him casually a few minutes ago took all of her latent acting skills. She was nervous as hell but she thought that acting as if nothing happened would be easier for her. Best to sweep everything under a rug and keep things going as before rather than hashing everything out. She’d rather undergo an open heart surgery than wear her figurative heart on her sleeve. She didn’t think she could survive that much drama in one lifetime again. 

Jiyong shook her shoulders a little roughly. “Settle down, tokki. I can’t see past your rabbit ears. Show’s starting.” She took her cue from Jiyong. His tone was light. His body was relaxed. It was as if nothing happened as well. So Dara forced her body to relax and rested her body on his.