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Nishimura Riki and Son Iseul have been best friends since childhood.
They were born on the same day, their mothers are very close, and they happen to live right next to each other.
But sometimes they don't get along.
"Sma...
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Iseul quietly stepped out of the room and walked to the kitchen sink. Iseul always did the dishes when she was feeling stressed or overwhelmed. It was a thoughtless task that allowed her to calm down while doing something productive.
She picked up a dirty plate and rinsed it off. Unfortunately, doing the dishes wasn't a quiet job and she didn't want to wake Ni-ki. So she picked up each dish one by one, careful not to make any harsh noises.
She often spent time thinking about what to do with her life after high school. The anxiety was starting to kick with sophomore year coming up soon and she still had no idea what career she wanted to take. She wanted to make money so she could be a boss bitch and make her own living, but she also was a lazy bitch and only wanted to sit in the park and watch as clouds passed by for the rest of her life.
Apparently Iseul was pondering too hard and a plate slipped out of her hands and to the floor.
Iseul could hear Ni-ki rustling in bed, so she squatted down and tried picking up the pieces as fast as she could. Ni-ki emerged from her room squinting his eyes. His hair was sticking up in all sorts of places and it looked like he could barely see.
"Soul?" When Iseul looked up, an incredibly sharp piece grazed against her wrist. She hissed from the pain and retracted her hand, dropping the pieces she was holding.
Ni-ki realized what happened and said, "Do not try to pick anything up. Go sit your ass at the table and stay."
Iseul tried arguing, "But I-"
Ni-ki gave her a look and said, "Just sit." After seeing Iseul sit her ass down on a chair, Ni-ki vanished into the bathroom to come back a few moments later with a first aid kit. He maneuvered around the glass and sat his ass down next to her. After pouring the acetone on a q-tip he gently picked up her hand and dabbed her wrist. Iseul was used the stinging feeling since she was very clumsy.
"I swear you have two right hands or something. Why are you so clumsy?"
"Isn't it two left feet?"
"Well 'feet' doesn't work in this situation because you cut your hand and you're left handed so it wouldn't make any sense," he explained.
"Well that's dumb." Iseul mumbled under her breath. Although she thought it was quite silly how Ni-ki changed the saying to match her.
Iseul had finished writing her essay, but she noticed how the side of her hand was gray from the led. She scowled at her left hand for being more articulate than her right. She rummaged through her bag to find her travel size wet wipes but realized she left them at home after doing her homework. She looked to her side and saw Ni-ki already searching through his bag. He casually pulled out a whole cylinder of lysol wipes. Iseul gave him a half-disgusted half-impressed look.
He opened the lid and held it towards her, so the only thing she could do was accept one. She was still a little freaked out by him, as he just pushed it back into his bag like nothing. How did he have wet wipes in his bag but not his math textbook? That was the real question.
Ni-ki had finished by putting a band-aid on her cut and pointed to the room. "Go to sleep," he interrupted again, "I will murder you just to make you fall asleep. Just go into the room."
Iseul walked slowly towards the room with her arms folded. Ni-ki could hear her mumbling, but exactly what she said wasn't clear. He picked up the bigger pieces as quickly as he could with only the moonlight from the window. He made sure to sweep the floor so none of the smaller bits were still there.
Iseul didn't feel like climbing back onto the bed, so she just plopped down onto the mattress Ni-ki was sleeping on. She pulled the covers over since it was pretty chilly. After moving around so much, her body was anything but sleepy. She grabbed onto the closest pillow, probably Ni-ki's, and hugged it to her chest. Hugging something while sleeping helped ground her and brought her back to earth. She tried slowing down her heart rate but just thinking about it made it beat faster.
Ni-ki walked into the room a bit drowsy, grabbed Iseul's pillow from the bed and laid down facing her back. "You're not going to sleep on the bed?" Iseul questioned.
"It gets too cold up there." He heard a hum of acknowledgement from her side. "You still can't sleep?" A grumble was all that he could hear. "Let's play a game. I'll draw something on your back and you have to guess what it is."
"Ok."
Ni-ki started to trace the outline of his favorite animal. It was a little bit ticklish for Iseul, but she got used to it quickly. A circle with two tall ovals as ears. This was already enough for Iseul to guess, but before she could say anything Ni-ki said, "Don't answer yet. I want to finish my masterpiece."
"What masterpiece? You're drawing on my back with a non-existent pencil. It's a bunny."
"Shhhhhh. You need to be quiet," he said in a soft voice. He drew a couple more pictures. A flower, a kitten, a happy sun. Iseul felt herself getting a bit drowsy.
"Just let it happen. I'm tired too."
Iseul was confused until he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer so that she was the little spoon. He buried his face in her neck which made her shiver. He fumbled a bit to find her hands, which were ice-cold.
"Why are your hands so cold?" He asked sleepily. He proceeded to hold both of her hands one by one to warm them up, occasionally picking at the bandage on her finger.
Iseul propped herself up on her elbow to turn around, but Ni-ki was holding her down.
"Relax. I'm just turning around. My arm fell asleep." Ni-ki then let go, but wrapped himself around her once she settled back down.
He picked up her hand again and kissed her pinky finger with the bandage. "I hope you feel better tomorrow, Soul." Eventually Iseul could hear (and feel) the even breathing of Ni-ki near her ear. She allowed herself to doze off with Ni-ki's hand holding hers.
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Word Count: 1171 words Published: January 28, 2023
A/N: Smaller chapter? Or do you all like this size?
