CLOSE TO ME | MARK LEE

11

She seemed a bit startled but then responded back. I have never felt like this. My stomach was burning and I had goosebumps at the back of my neck.

I backed away and looked at her and in response she turned her head away. I guess she was a bit embarrassed. The sun had set by now and only a dim orange light was seen. "We should go now." I indicated. Areum hummed in agreement and we both picked up the stuff and started walking to the car.

Once I started driving I noticed that she fell asleep. She was at her most vulnerable. I continued to drive and the road we were travelling on had no street lights. It is odd but I've seen roads like this before.

I continued to drive down that road and the car told me it was 8:47pm. All of a sudden a light appeared and it was coming straight at us. I immediately swerved the car to the side and stopped it. We were safe. It was so sudden that Areum woke up with a scared expression on her face.

"Are you alright Mark?" She asked worried whilst touching my face so she could check if it was injured. I grabbed her hands from my face and held them.

"I'm perfectly fine," I smiled "but are you alright? You're shocked."

"I just thought you got hurt so I got scared. How was I supposed to get help from around here?"

I gave her hand an assuring squeeze and told her I'm fine. "Let's see who was in the other car."

We both got out of the car and I locked it. We went behind our car and seen that there was no car out there, which I found odd. We walked back to our car and continued driving.

We had about 15 minutes before we got back to Seoul now. "Is your grandpa still out with his friends on that trip?"

"Yeah, he won't be back for another two weeks so I'm all alone." Areum explained the situation.  "Are your members back from Taeyong's home?"

"From the group chat it seems that they decided to spend another night there so our dorm is also empty..."

"Why don't you stay round at my home tonight?" Areum suggested.

I was taken back a bit as I didn't know how to respond.

"You don't need to if you're uncomfortable. I was just saying because you know, we're both lonely and we could have a sleepover or something. You don't need to but it would be fun. You know what, just forget that I asked."

I started smiling at her rambling on like that. "I'll stay the night."

"No, you don't need to. It was foolish of me to even ask."

"No we're going to your house tonight."

She gave me the directions and reached to her apartment block. We went up the elevator and entered her apartment. It was clean and tidy... unlike our dorm. She put the baskets on the kitchen counter and walked forwards and I just followed her. She lead me to a room.

"This was my brother's room before he left about 5 years ago and now it's just a bedroom. There's some spare washed clothes of his and I think they'll fit you. You can find anything comfortable to wear and I'll leave you to it. I'll be in the living room after I've had a shower."

I nodded and left whilst closing the door. I looked around the room and it was truly just a bedroom now. No trace of her older brother. I opened the wardrobe and just grabbed a plain T-shirt and some soft shorts.

I got changed and then went into the living room and laid down on the sofa. Not going to lie but I was tired now. A few minutes after Areum came into the living room and I sat up. She was patting her wet hair with a towel and was wearing more comfy clothes. She looked at me and stopped in her tracks. She stared at me and I got conscious if something was wrong with me.

"Mark Lee, you are looking especially good for some odd reason." She started smiling a lot after she said that. I didn't know what to say.

"Well after all I am an idol." I said and she started laughing hysterically and that made laugh a little.

"Are you feeling tired?" She asked me. I wasn't going to lie so I told her that I was tired.

We both walked to the room I was staying in. She got extra pillows out of the wardrobe and put them on the bed. She also turned on the air conditioning to a cool temperature so I wouldn't get hot as it has been the peak weather.

"You should get into bed now." She told me. I went closer to the bed and sat on the side of it.

"Areum, if you don't mind could you just stay here until I fall asleep. Don't ask why, it's just as habit if mine."

"I'll stay." She said warmly. I got into bed and she turned to light off. I felt her sit near the end of the bed. And soon enough I fell asleep.

I woke up in the middle of the night to feel weight on the left side of me. I turned around see Areum all huddled up outside of the duvet next to me. She was so close to me. She looked cold.

"Areum.." I whispered " get into the duvet"

I heard a 'hmm' and she moved to the side so I could get the duvet from underneath her. I then placed her side of the duvet onto her. Quickly she turned around and faced me as if it was instinct. She was still sleeping but she huddled right next to me. Having no idea what to do, I put my arm around her and fell back to sleep.