𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐄𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐄𝐑 | xɪᴀᴏ x ᴀᴇᴛʜᴇʀ (On Revision)

023

Xiao

My patience is waning.

I really want to ask Aether about what he said on the balcony, but Venti ruined the plan because he planned another activity for the slumber party—a horror movie marathon.

As usual, there are consequences. Whoever screams first will get smashed by a raw egg above his head.

I know that this may sound like a party pooper, but I really hope that this will be the last activity. I had enough regrets for one day, and the only thing that matters to me now is my problem with Aether, which hopefully will be taken care of after the movie.

We are watching Insidious 2. It's not actually scary, but it has a lot of jump scares. What scares me the most is our seating arrangement.

I want to smack Chongyun in the head because he was the one who created this idea, and he made Aether sit beside me.

It's not that I don't want to, but there's a lot going on lately. I feel very uncomfortable whenever he's close to me, especially now that I know he likes me.

I don't want to avoid him, but sometimes I want to hide myself because whenever I see him, my heart beats faster than normal, my brain cannot function properly, and my stomach feels sick. I don't know what this emotion is called, which is why I want answers to end this so I can peacefully sleep at night.

My thoughts were interrupted when Aether leaned closer to me. "Please, don't go in there," he whispered.

Look at him. Curling himself into a ball and hiding half his face with a pillow. He's obviously scared. And to think that he was the one who said earlier that he loves horror movies. It made me unexpectedly chuckle. Wait. No! Stop that.

"Xiao." It took me by surprise when he suddenly whispered to my ears, which almost made me yelp. I would've lost to that.

"Yes?"

"I'm scared." God, why did that sound cute? No! It's not. That doesn't sound cute at all. Who said that? It wasn't me.

"It's not scary."

He gently held my shirt and moved closer to my side. It made me blush and gulp because it looked like he was hugging me.

"But it is." He mumbled, and his shaky voice sounded like he was about to cry.

My brain suddenly stopped functioning. I don't know whether to pat his back, give him a hug, or just reassure him with words. I really don't know what to do.

See? This is what I'm talking about: whenever he touches me, I become weird. My brain doesn't know what to do with the fast heartbeat and the sick sensation in my stomach.

"If it's scary for you, just close your eyes." That was cheap advice.

"I don't want to. I want to know what will happen in the movie. But is it okay if I move closer to you?"

Damn! What should I do to respond to that? Do I say yes? If yes, then it would be awkward and uncomfortable, so the best response is to say no.

"S-sure." Fuck!

He genuinely smiled and moved closer to me. I can feel his warm body pressing against me. My body suddenly feels hot. Someone probably turned off the room's AC.