Despite the fact that there weren’t any suspicious men lurking outside of the café and how we were now on decent terms, the girl disappeared again.

Another few weeks had flew past without a sight of her.

I mean, I should be happy.

My boss wasn’t very pleased to pay me double for the unscheduled extensions.

At least my manager tried to protect me from the scolding with the ‘strange man’ card.

Life resumed back to how it used to be, and not before long I got used to her absence.

I didn’t expect her to return, nor do I really think about her anymore.

I got to close up at normal hours and properly rest back in my apartment.

Just like how everything used to be.

How it’s supposed to be.

… Until she actually ree night.

Hammered, one could describe her.

She crashed straight into our glass door- which is now locked while I was cleaning, thanks to our previous experience.

“What the hell?” I stammered as I dropped the mop and rushed over towards her.

She was leaning against the frame and fell straight into my arms as soon as I swung the door open for her.

“One carajillo please.” I heard her muffled slur as her face was stuffed within the crook of my neck, sending shivers down my spine with her warm breath tickling my bare skin. “With five shots of whisky in it.”

“I am not letting you take in more alcohol.” I snapped while I assisted her over to the sofa, plopping her staggering body down with an exhausted grunt. “What have you done to yourself?!”

“Whisky in my carajillo, please! I need to erase tonight away from my brain completely.” she whined while laying her head on the cool table. “I don’t want to remember anything.”

“You’ll only regret this decision the next morning.” I huffed in disbelief, “You need water in your system right now, not a semi-alcoholic coffee.”

“I’m a paying customer, so you need to take and make my order!” she nagged, and I eventually gave in to her stubbornness.

“Gosh, and I thought you were annoying tipsy.” I groaned before making my way to the machines.

Same tactic as before.

Make her coffee- which of course, won’t have five shots of whiskey in it- satisfy her cravings, then go home.

… I should probably get her address so I don’t have to babysit her at my apartment again, though.

“Hey, where do you live?” I asked as I returned back to her side with the drinks, joining her as soon as I placed them down onto the table.

“Why, do you want to come over after this?” I saw her smirk at me, resulting an automatic response of me slapping her on the arm.

“I’m only going to drop your drunk- off to your place so I could sleep in peace tonight.” I growled. “Now tell me before you pass out again.”

“But I don’t want to go home! It’s so lonely and quiet there.”

“Then where else do you want to rest for the night? A nearby hotel? The police station?”

“Your place.”

My heart skipped a beat upon getting surprised by her unexpected response-

And no, I did not fall for a drunkard, thank you very much.

She’s a pain in the , and I’d really prefer not to deal with her business.

It’s just that I’m too nice of a human being to leave her in this state, okay?

“I’ve told you before, I’m not going to take care of you again.” I sighed. “Just tell me your address already. I won’t change my mind for you.”

I watched her as she fiddled with her mug, a visible pout on her face. “If I can’t stay at your place, can you stay at mine then?”

“Why are you insisting on sticking by my side like an abandoned stray?” I frowned as I tried my best to ignore her puppy-eyes.

They were incredibly powerful, but I was determined to not give in.

I can’t give in.

She’s merely a stranger who bothers me.

Strangely, it was her turn to let out an exhausted sigh.

Before I realised it, the sorrow I once witnessed in her eyes had crept back in.

“I… I lost my mother this afternoon. She’s all I had, as my family.”

We were now engulfed within a heavy and suffocating silence.

Her words instantly slapped me with guilt, and I cursed myself for every mean thing I had ever said to her.

I felt ashamed of myself.

I was careless with my words and behaviour, once again.

Look at what you’ve done, Son Naeun.

After checking that her mug was empty, I cleared out my throat to end the dreadful silence in between us.

Her gaze was still on the table when I stood myself up with both of our finished drinks in hand.

“Come on, let’s go home.”

“I told you, I don’t want to.” she replied quietly, her sadness audible in her voice.

“Not yours.” I replied softly as I washed the mugs we’ve used. “Mine.”

As I wiped the mugs dry, I saw her stumbling towards the till with her wallet in hand, barely walking properly.

I quickly finished my duty before rushing over to her side.

My arm found itself around her slim waist, assisting her with standing up straight.

She was swaying slightly as she tried to take out her card.

“There’s no need to pay tonight. Take it as a treat from me.” I said as I tried to drag her away from the counter.

Unfortunately for myself, her stubbornness struck again.

She wouldn’t budge and insisted on paying for both of our drinks, despite never saying that she’d treat me to one in the first place.

I simply made one for myself just so she didn’t have to drink alone, but I guess she appreciated that gesture.

“Debit, please.” she slurred as she handed me her card with wobbly hands.

I went through all the necessary steps as fast as I could so that we could leave quicker.

With her condition right now, she’s going to experience a dreadful morning soon.

She’ll need all the rest she could get.

We proceeded to repeat the same process as the time we first met one another.

The only difference was that she was still awake- which was honestly a surprise since she’s way drunker than the time she had passed out before.

I still spent the same amount of effort dragging her inside of my apartment, though.

Despite being conscious, her whole body was shutting down on her.

She completely relied on me to support her weight.

“I’d suggest for you to take a shower to feel better, but honestly you’re too wasted to even do that safely.” I commented while dragging ourselves towards the living room couch. “I’ll go grab some clean clothes for you to change in- YAH!”

I automatically shrieked out loud as I found myself being pulled down abruptly.

The girl crashed herself onto the couch as soon as we were close enough, and had somehow thought it was a good idea to drag me down with her.

I was now laying on top of her body, her arms instinctively wrapped around my torso.

With my face directly above her chest, I felt it raise and lower itself, slowly and repeatedly.

Her breaths were long and her pulse was thankfully stable.

“L-Let me go.” I demanded weakly against her warmth, which had spread throughout my whole body also. “I need to get you a blanket at least.”

“You are my blanket.” she hummed quietly, sounding as if she was almost crashing into dreamland.

“I’m not going to sleep with you, so let go.”

“Which kind are you talking about?”

Embarrassed from just noticing how it came out, I tried to push myself away from her body.

Unfortunately for me, it only made her tighten her grip.

She adjusted her position so that both of our legs were entirely on the couch, making sure it was comfortable enough for the two of us.

It was indeed comfy, but I’d very much prefer to sleep in my own bed and not on top of some drunk girl.

“Hey, can you release me already?” I attempted to free myself once more, only for her to start the back of my head ever so gently.

“Shh, sleep.” was all she replied with.

And to my utter surprise, I eventually did.

The next morning, I woke up in my bed with my blanket covering me warmly.

With the memories of last night still fresh in my brain, I shot right up in confusion and headed straight for the living room.

Weirdly, she was already gone, but just like her first ‘sleepover’ she had left a note on the dining table that read:

Hello beautiful,

Sorry that I left before you got up again.

Needed to fix my awful hangover asap.

I am once again in your debt, so I shall see you soon.

Don’t worry, I won’t let you miss me for too long this time xx

I stared at the note, flabbergasted.

With mixed emotions, I tore it into small pieces and threw them all into the rubbish bin, ending up just like her first note.

“W-Who the hell does she think she is?!”