Rooming With The Criminal | ✓

03 | the criminal speaks

03

the criminal speaks

"FLEUR SAID SHE wants to spend the entire day with me and who am I to deny that? We will be at her place all alone. I agreed." Ha-eun squealed, her eyes filled with excitement and love. "You have our entire apartment to yourself. On a Sunday."

The morning of this Sunday didn't quite go the way Akari expected it to go, but she was grateful nonetheless. The more Ha-eun stays out of the house, the less troublesome. Akari gave her best friend a thumbs-up.

"Wow, you guys can't stay off of each other." Akari sneakily commented, making Ha-run shrug her shoulders proudly. "Have fun and don't do anything stupid."

"I won't," Ha-eun yelled, giggling like a teen as she put her shoes on. "I'm sorry. I'm leaving you all alone on a Sunday."

"Hey, you are not going to worry about me." Akari pointed her finger at her best friend. "I'm going to be just fine. I'm going to spend the entire day studying. I haven't touched my books and exams are starting soon."

"You can take my notes if you want." Ha-eun said as she unlocked the front door.

"You know I will." Akari crossed her arms across her chest, rolling her eyes.

"Wish me luck." Ha-eun waved her tiny fingers before shutting the door close and Akari watched the shadow of her footsteps walking off behind the door. It was silent for a few seconds and Akari rushed to the door, locking it before resting against it as she let out a breath she didn't realise she was holding.

Last night, after Akari had given Julian a bowl of Ramen to eat, the boy had gone straight to sleep, and Akari didn't get a chance to ask any questions cause she was sleepy herself. When she woke up today, the man was still sleeping and that's when Ha-eun had come knocking on her door, yelling the exciting news of her date.

Keeping her out of her room was slightly tougher than she thought. Akari's mind swirled back to the present. She decided to prepare bread toast and walked into her room with two plates of toast with jam.

Julian Jones was missing.

Akari was about to freak.

Was it all a dream? Had she been hallucinating?

That's when she noticed the door to her bathroom swing open, and her eyes widened at the sight of him struggling to maintain his balance. His footsteps were light, one leg never touching the ground, while his fingers gripped tightly onto the wall for support as he walked.

Immediately placing the plates on the bed, she rushed to his side, placing his arm around her neck as she guided him to walk slowly.

"Ouch." Julian hissed.

"Sorry," Akari whispered, her heartbeat rising as she realised the proximity. "Just a little more." She decided to place him on her bed instead. The distance to the couch was longer and she doesn't think she can carry his weight any longer either.

"How are you feeling?" Akari asked, taking a seat beside him as she grabbed her plates.

"Like shit." Julian grumbled.

Akari went silent. She grabbed the bread toast plate and pushed it into his hands. "Eat." She firmly said, before reaching to her water bottle and placing it against his thigh. "Drink."

It was silent for a while as they both munched on their toasts and Akari tried to steal glances at him occasionally, just in case. You could feel the tension in the air. Thousands of questions rested on Akari's tongue, yet none seemed to come out as she glanced at him once again, realising how he was taking in little munches instead of her big ones.