The familiar aftermath of a drunken stupor chases away my chance of going back to sleep the moment my consciousness seeps in.

“,” I groan.

My throat and tongue feel so dry in my mouth as though I’ve swallowed a fistful of sand and another, my head pounds like it’s being axed over and over with a blunt ax desperately trying to get to the center of my brain, and my body feels peculiarly heavy, too heavy to even move.

In short, I feel like .

With a frustrated grunt that barely passes my lips, I wait for my sight to adjust to the unforgiving bright morning light, but I’m left even more confused when my view finally comes into focus.

I have no recollection of passing out on the couch in the living area, but here I am, with a woman deep asleep on top of me who, I just realize, is the very reason why I can’t move. I guess that’s one thing I cross out from the list of what my hangover did cause.

All her deadweight pinning me down and her limbs entangled with mine, that it’s hard to distinguish where I end and she begins, make it impossible for me to even wiggle away, leaving me no other choice but to wake her up.

“Hey, Jisoo?” I try again and again, my hoarse voice reaching the peak of its volume, but she just won’t budge. Desperate, I manage to free an arm and I gently shake her shoulder, once, twice, until I wasn’t being so gentle anymore, and that finally makes her stir a little.

“Jisoo, can you move? I really need to—”

“Shut up,” Jisoo grumbles just clear enough for me to understand, slapping my hand away.

“Drink. I was gonna say I need to drink... I mean there are many ways to shut me up but letting me die from dehydration is a little mean, I think.” I retort, but soon realize my efforts are futile when it’s her soft snores that answer me. “Well, I guess not.”

I chuckle feebly as my still stinging hand reaches out to tuck the strands of hair sprawled all over her face and just like always, I catch myself staring at her beauty with nothing but absolute awe.

How anyone can look this good while sleeping is beyond me. Waking up next to Jisoo happens often, but it still amazes me how she looks like an angel when she sleeps; so beautiful, so serene, so dazzling to the eyes, even more luminous than the morning sun, but never blinding.

But as much as she's pretty to look at, I really badly need a glass of water.

“Okay, let me just…” I slide my arm trapped under her to her hip, trying to be as careful as I can to move her without pushing her off this stupidly small, stuffy couch, but Jisoo stirs again and mumbles unintelligibly, nuzzling further in the crook of my neck.

“Fine, I'll stay.” I take a deep breath to release a resigned sigh, but the faint scent of bacon wafts through my nose, then shoots straight to my stomach, causing the famished monster in there to growl loud enough to wake up the entire neighborhood.

That's what finally jolts Jisoo awake. She prods herself up on her elbows and I try hard not to laugh at how disoriented she looks.

“Lisa?”

“Hi, I'm down here.”

She looks down, squinting. “What the was that? Thunder?”

“Sort of,” I smile, wiping away the sleep around her eyes. She furrows her brows when she sees the pristine weather condition outside. “Not out there. It’s from my belly and I’m thankful it woke you up.”

“That's how you wake me up? You can’t do it like how normal people do?” The adorable bags under her eyes become more prominent when she chuckles groggily.

“Perhaps if you sleep like a normal person and not like a ing log,” I bite back. “Also, fyi, I tried, but you slapped my hand away and gave me mad attitude again. Not cute!”

“Oh.” Jisoo's face falls at that, pursing her lips, and buries her face on my shoulder. “I'm sorry.”

“What?” The guilt in her voice surprises me as much as it confuses me. I was expecting a snarky comeback, not an apology. Jisoo should know I wasn’t being serious like, we bicker all the time. "You know I'm just messing with you, right?"

Jisoo slightly tilts her head just so she can look me in the eye, her face just inches away from mine. I huff a soft chuckle at the pout on her lips, resting my hand on the small of her back.

“I mean not everyone can say a pretty girl was sleeping on top of them when they woke up this morning. Who am I to complain?”

"Shut up," Jisoo says, but she laughs and visibly relaxes as the tension leaves her body. "I just thought—"

“Oh, please! Get a room!”

Jisoo and I roll our eyes and grunt at the same time, turning our heads towards the archway where a tall blonde girl is now standing, eyeing our very compromising position with a disgusted frown on her lips.

“On the couch? Really?”

“Roseanne, stop,” Jisoo warns sternly.

But, Rosie just smirks, unbothered. “I’m not saying you two are—”

Jisoo moves so quickly that I could've sworn that the empty can of beer now in her hand has just magically materialized out of thin air.

“— ing, but that’s exactly what I’m saying!” Rosie gabbles the rest of her sentence and zooms out of sight, the empty can Jisoo throws just barely missing her.

Rosie's loud cackle echoes in the apartment, “Get your asses in the kitchen when you’re done being girlfriends! Brunch is ready!”

“That dumb .” Jisoo stands with a scowl