I woke up in what felt like the middle of the night to find the room dark; only the bathroom light was on. I looked drowsily at the clock—it was ten o’clock. Had I only slept for two hours?
I got up from the bed and saw Pol fast asleep on the sofa. I grabbed my phone, which Chay had brought me, and scrolled for a while.
Waking up this late… How was I supposed to go back to sleep? Fuck! Why did I even wake up in the first place?
Suddenly, I felt wide awake. The medicine the nurse said would help me sleep wasn’t working at all.
Click! The door opened and I turned to look. Who was visiting me at this hour?
“Are you asleep?” a familiar voice asked. He came in dragging an IV stand, heading straight for the bed. I glowered at him before pushing myself up to sit.
“Why are you here?” I asked, watching Kinn’s every move. He slowly padded over and sat on the edge of my bed. I quickly scooted over to the other side.
“Pol is keeping you company?” Kinn didn’t answer my question, looking over to Pol where he lay dead asleep on the sofa.
“Hmm,” I hummed in reply.
“Pol…hey!” Kinn hissed at Pol, who sleepily rubbed at his eyes. “Pol!” Kinn said, louder this time. Pol opened his eyes, blinking rapidly, before jumping up from the sofa as fast as he could.
“M-Mr. Kinn,” he sputtered, startled.
“Go sleep in my room,” Kinn ordered him.
“What! Why?” I hurriedly cut Kinn off. Why was he chasing Pol away?
Kinn turned to whisper to me. “I’ll let him stay…if you can stand him seeing me sleeping cuddled up to you.”
I glared at him. “Who’s letting you sleep here?!” I was worried about Pol as he dragged his pillow and blanket away, getting ready to leave the room. I quickly tried to call him back. “Don’t go!”
Pol turned back to smile awkwardly at me, and hastened out of the room.
Kinn chuckled and went to recline on my pillow.
“Get out!” I used my arms and feet to push Kinn away, preventing him from lying down like he wanted.
“Don’t kick me! You’re hitting me right on my injury!” he scolded me. His voice was even, but his brow was furrowed.
“Then get out.” I stopped moving my arms and feet and turned to stare at him in silence.
“I know you’re having trouble sleeping. Go to sleep, it’s late,” Kinn said and grabbed hold of me, using his weight to pull me down onto the bed, hugging me tightly.
“Kinn, you bastard!” I shouted at him, but he was utterly shameless. He lay down on his side while cradling my head to his chest, his other arm sliding under my neck as a pillow. I could smell that familiar scent and feel his comforting warmth. I froze for a moment, my heart beating rapidly.
“Don’t move around,” he warned me. “If you hit my wound, I’ll hit you back!”
I didn’t listen, writhing around in his arms. He had so much strength—hadn’t he just had surgery? And did he not need that blood bag and heart monitor anymore? Was that why he could come annoy me now?
“Let me go!” I kept shouting, but then he quickly lowered his face to mine and pressed his lips to my cheek. Why the fuck did he do that?! I bit my lip as a shiver ran through my body, momentarily stunned into silence. My face flushed so hot, I didn’t know what else to do but bury it into his chest to hide from his laughter.
“Heh heh,” he snickered.
“The hell are you doing?!” I exclaimed, smacking his chest. I wasn’t sure why I was hiding from the shame by burrowing further into his chest, but it wasn’t like I had anywhere else to hide. Porsche, you idiot!
“Stop snuggling me and go to sleep,” Kinn said. I reared back, trying to get away from him, but he held onto my head. Where else am I supposed to go, Kinn?! You’re holding onto me so tightly!
“Let go!” I wailed.
“Your heart’s beating so fast—should we call for the doctor?” Kinn laughed. “Maybe you’ve got a heart condition.”
I felt like I was losing a lot of face right now. My body was such a damn traitor, reacting like this when I was around Kinn! Fuck! What was wrong with me?!
“Bastard! If you want to sleep, then sleep. But actually go the fuck to sleep, please!” I bargained with him.
“Shush! Sleep, sleep,” he said, obviously not listening to me. He never fucking listened to me.
Kinn rubbed at my back gently, as if he was trying to soothe me, until I stopped struggling. He withdrew the hand that was holding me to touch his flank with a grimace. I looked up at his sudden movement.
“Does it hurt? Do you want to call the doctor?” I asked as I leaned over to inspect his wound.
“Don’t. It only hurts because I overextended myself. Go to sleep.” Kinn pulled me down to lie on his arm like before and hugged me back into place.
Fine, I’d sleep. I’d better sleep—if Kinn died, his father would blame me! Fuck.
I didn’t know when Kinn’s unique scent had started comforting me so much. I felt safe and secure in his arms. His embrace made my heart hammer; even as I dozed off, almost asleep, my heart kept racing…
No, no, no, I couldn’t think about it! I wasn’t gay! How could I think about another guy like that?!
And this guy was so fucked up, too. How many times has he made you angry, Porsche? How many times has he made you hate him?! Motherfucker!