Mark scrunched his face, feeling the morning sun glaring down at him, disturbing his sleep. Shifting around, the red haired male let out a grunt of pain, feeling his neck stiff from having slept in an awkward position. Forcing his eyes open, he looked at his surroundings in confusion, realising that he was not in his room. Even more confusing was the fact that he was not even indoors and what he saw instead was the glass sliding door that led into Baram’s flat. It had been left open and the curtain was drifting in the air from the wind. Moving his arm that had gone numb, the blanket that had been covering him slid off and he caught it just before it hit the ground.

Shaking himself awake, he groaned as he stood up, his muscles whining in protest due to him having fallen asleep while sitting on a bench in the open air. The morning wind sent shivers down Mark’s spine, thus he promptly wrapped the blanket around him and jumped back inside the flat, coming face to face with Baram who was sitting behind the kitchen island, staring at him with an amused glint in her eyes. Her hair was damp and a few strands were sticking to her neck, letting Mark know that she had just taken a shower.

“New fashion trend?” Baram mused, eyeing the way Mark was rolled up in the blanket like a badly shaped burrito; his red hair poking out in all directions even reminded the girl of salsa roja.

Feeling very self conscious of how he looked, Mark quickly slipped the blanket off and folded it neatly, placing it on the sofa. Running a hand through his hair in an attempt to flatten it, he eyed the mug of coffee Baram was holding, the steam wafting in the air looking extremely inviting. Noticing his interest in the coffee, Baram poured Mark a mug and slid it across the kitchen island where Mark was already sitting, eagerly awaiting the caffeine. The action by Baram caused a subtle scent of pine to drift towards Mark, making him raise an eyebrow at the girl’s unusual choice of shampoo.

Reaching for the mug of coffee, the male’s hand hovered momentarily, lingering next to Baram’s. He was overcome with the temptation to interlock their fingers together and pull her over the kitchen island and bury his face in the nook of her neck to inhale the rich aroma of pine. In that moment, Mark wondered if the fuzzy feeling he was feeling inside of him was what it would feel like to wake up cuddling next to her under a Christmas tree on a cold winter morning.

Before Mark could give in to temptation and wrap his hand over Baram’s, the girl retracted her hand and stirred her coffee instead. Mark let out an awkward cough, hoping that she had not noticed his intentions. Lifting the mug, he took a hurried sip and burned his tongue in the process.

“You are quite a heavy sleeper,” Baram commented, her tone flat. “I got woken up not long after sunrise because of the garbage truck, but you were completely dead.”

Mark widened his eyes in surprise, for he rarely slept so heavily. Usually he would wake up from the most subtle sounds; it was a habit he picked up ever since he got involved in the other side of business for Eclipse. Turning around to stare at the balcony, his eyes trailed along the sofa and landed on the blanket.

“Thanks for the blanket.”

“You were stuck to me and all my body heat in your sleep,” Baram mumbled into her mug.

Her comment caused Mark to choke on his coffee and his ears turned bright red, blending in with his hair. Rubbing a hand over his face to hide his embarrassment, Mark cleared his throat in an attempt to compose himself.

“You make a good pillow,” the male mumbled in a vain attempt to tease the girl.

“So I’ve heard.”

Baram’s voice was soft, lacking in emotions. However Mark caught the brief sorrow that drifted past her eyes.

Silence fell upon them as neither knew how to continue the conversation. Finishing his coffee, Mark placed his mug in the sink and tapped the kitchen counter three times, purposely imitating Baram’s signature move. As he put on his shoes however, he swore he heard a quiet ‘thank you’ coming from the direction of the kitchen. However he could not be certain for did he dare to turn and look at the girl again, or he might never be able to leave the place.

・・・

The next day, Mark remained holed up in his office, keeping himself busy with any boring administrative task that he had been putting off when he was suddenly disrupted.

“Hey Mark have you seen the honey—”

Jinyoung froze after swinging open the door to Mark’s office. Mark was sitting behind his desk — or tried to sit — however his shoulders were visibly weighing him down. Judging from the constant sniffling and the used tissues piling inside his bin, Jinyoung came to the conclusion that the red haired male had a cold. His suspicions were confirmed by