The steam trailed behind as you exited the bathroom, hair wet but all dressed with your fluffy blue towel hanging on your shoulders when Jongdae shoved you aside to enter the steamy bathroom.

You scowled at him as he shut the door on your face, “Ugh! Did you release a stink bomb in here or something?”

How dare he…, “No, I didn’t. Maybe it’s the smell of your own B.O!”

You shouted before flicking the switch to the lights, leaving your brother in the darkness.

“Hey! Turn it back on!”

“No can do.”

You headed into the kitchen, the pink sweatpants you wore dragging along the floor, and saw your mother slicing fruit. It was papaya.

“Oohh, is that for me?” your hand swooped in to grab one of the cubes. Only to have it slapped by your mom. You pouted as she refused to allow you to have the papaya cubes. It was for your father, she said. You poked her shoulder and when she faced you, you slowly raised a finger vertically as a sign that you’re only asking for one piece.

“Please,” you mouthed.

She sighed and fed you a piece. You chewed happily, smiling as you made yourself a warm drink.

“How are your studies coming along?”

You looked at her, still grinning. You gave her a thumbs up, “It’s going great, mom.”

She smiled this time. Her eyes twinkling mischievously, “And he’s helping you isn’t he? That Jung boy…”

Your smile dropped when you were reminded of him, of Daehyun. Your fingers stopped stirring the tea in front of you, letting the light brown liquid settle from the tiny whirlpool the spoon had created.

You took a small sip before adding another spoonful of sugar. The taste was too bland, the sweetness to weak. You stirred the contents again in order to dissolve the granular glucose.

“He isn’t. We broke it off,” you continued stirring. “I guess we just didn’t click together.”

Your mother stopped slicing, her eyes watched you with sympathy. You had a strong heart, she was sure but she also knew that it still hurt to be heartbroken.

Her warm hands grasped your spinning ones, stilling them. Her eyes though aged through the years still looked at you with love only a mother could have.

“Do you need to talk about it?”

You shook your head, telling her it was fine. You couldn’t cry, you wouldn’t cry.

She nodded, understanding your decision. “Well, you can have some of the papaya.”

She places a few cubes onto a plate before handing it to you, “I actually sliced them for you anyways. I just wanted to tease you a little. Now off to your room, you have school tomorrow.”

You grinned and placed a quick kiss to her cheek. You had to bend down a little as she was slightly shorter than you.

You hurriedly made your way to your private sanctuary, passing by your father in the living room and Jongdae who was still showering in the dark. You placed the mug of tea and plate of fruit on your study table before running back to the bathroom to flick on the lights for your brother.

As the light shone from the gaps of the door, he shouted, “Thanks!”

“No problem.”

* * * *

With a towel on top of your head and smartphone in your hands, you multitasked your way through your room. Texting, cleaning your room and drying your hair. All at the same time. Everything was going well until your feet got caught by the straps of your shoulder bag that was thrown to the floor.

You fell, face first but fortunately, managed to save your complexion from dealing with any harm. Couldn’t say the same for your elbows though.

“Oww…,” you rubbed your elbows as you untangled your feet from the straps. You menacingly glared at the innocent black bag, unmoving on the floor. Clicking your tongue, you reached for it to remove its contents before you could hang it somewhere safe where no elbows shall be harmed.

“Stupid bag…”

As you rummage through, your hands got a hold on something soft. You pulled it out to find the plush toy you won earlier. Now that you had a closer look, you noticed that it was a bunny.

Its fur is grey and had markings resembling the military’s camouflage patterns, it had fierce white eyes and was wearing red gas mask made of plastic.

You flicked the gas mask and listened as it made a hollow sound, “Yup, definitely plastic.”

The toy was barely the size of your palm and was light. Picking it up by the ear, you twirled it around once, then twice before finally reading the tag behind its neck.

Shishimato, Matoki species from Planet B124AP224.

“Shishimato? Matoki?” You brought it to face you, still picking it up by its ear, to your eye level.

The white eyes seem to stare back at you and you blinked rapidly to remove yourself from a trance-like state.

“Well, Shishi. I have one thing to say to you.”

You clicked your tongue.

“You are one ugly bunny.”

You stared at it a little more before deciding that it wasn’t very interesting. The toy was dropped onto the bed but it slowly slid down to the floor as the sheets were too smooth. You didn’t pay it any mind though. It fell with a soft plop sound.

After removing the contents of your bag, you hung it behind the door of your bedroom next to your towel. Your bedroom had light green walls for a calming effect and white furniture to brighten up the room. You moved around your room, arranging your things on the shelves and table.

Grabbing your books, you were placing them on the table to begin your studies when your feet kicked the forgotten plush toy.

You looked down to see it a few centimetres from your foot. Crouching down, you picked it up and dusted it lightly, removing the tiny specs of dust that clung to the fabric of the toy.

You blew at the stubborn ones before gently picking them out. You smiled at it after the cleaning. The matoki toy was placed on your study table, beside the fruits you brought in earlier.

Halfway through your studies, the smartphone placed in front of you vibrated. The screen displayed the name of your closest friend, Yerim.

You answered the call, a soft hello greeting her. She on the other hand was frantic, “I got your message. What happened?”

Ah, the text message about her break up with Daehyun must have reached her. You spun your chair away from the table and propped your feet onto the bed. “I don’t know what I did wrong, Yerim…”

A long silence took over. “I’m sure it’s not your fault. Hey, do you happen to know the answer for Miss Cho’s question on the uhh…  plant thingy?”

“I am heartbroken over here and you’re asking me about our Biology homework?? From last week?” you shouted into the phone. “Some friend you are...”

Yerim sheepishly responded, “I didn’t finish it yet, okay? Besides, you can think of this as a means of distraction. You shouldn’t be too hard on yourself.”

“Yeah, I know…,” you got up and walked away from the table to the book shelf next to your bed. Your hands searched for your Biology book as you continued to speak to Yerim.

Because you were facing away from the table, you didn’t notice the movements behind you. You also didn’t hear the sound of the fork being picked up and poked into a papaya cube over Yerim’s whining about not understanding the question.

When you turned back, after assuring Yerim that you’ll explain the question to her tomorrow, you sat back down at your study station. Your hands reached for the fork to get a taste of the papaya.

Looking at the plate, you realised that a few cubes were missing. The corner of the plate was empty. You were sure that there were some cubes on the corner before, the juices were still there.

“Did I eat some already?”

Papaya cubes don’t just disappear… I must have eaten some. Oh well…

You finished your snack plate and called an end to your studies at a quarter to eleven. You slept soundly that night, dreaming of Schnoodle puppies and fluffy alpacas.

A/N:  Andd.... nothing too interesting for this chapter..

Forgive me if you're disappointed.. :)

Comments are much appreciated! Let me know what you think.. :D

Stay cool!