17 Don't Fall

[Johan's POV]

Thick white silk clung to his limbs, swirling around his body. Johan struggled to break free, but the vicious rope only tightened around him, trapping him in a huge spider web. Despite the darkness of his surrounding, he could see the silhouette of an enormous tarantula crawling towards him.

Johan opened his mouth to scream. "Let go! Let me g—!"

A web coiled around his mouth to muffle his voice. Johan's eyes widened as the spider hovered above him. It was the size of a car, and a shiver ran down his spine when a long hairy tendril reached for his collar, its tip as sharp as a sickle.

"Mmph!" Johan thrashed around helplessly as the sickle-sharp tip shred his shirt and pants, exposing his hardened manhood.

"How dare you sleep with another man," the spider said in a deep male voice, and he shrieked when one of its hairy legs reached for his ass. "You're mine!"

"ARGH!" Johan shoot up from bed and fell on the floor. Cold sweat drenched him. What kind of fucking dream was that?

Adrian stirred in his sleep, pushing his head up, and glanced at him with bleary eyes. "Han? Something wrong?"

Johan shook his head. "Just had a weird dream."

"Come here." Adrian raised his arm and beckoned for him to lie on his bicep.

He's not going to decline the security of those arms offered. With trembling hands, Johan grabbed the sheets and crawled back on top. Warmth engulfed him the moment he laid his head on Adrian's arm.

"What did you dream about?" he asked.

"Nothing. I already forgot."

It was a lie, but he's not about to narrate how a freaking hugeass tarantula molested him in his dream. Johan shifted and pulled Adrian on top of him to serve as a human blanket.

Adrian kissed his temple and laid his head on the space above his shoulder. Their beating hearts melded in one rhythm, and Adrian fell asleep as fast as he woke.

Johan remained awake. The spirit of sleep didn't visit him until morning light flittered in the window's blinds. He just spent his time looking at his ceiling, hands running up and down unconsciously across Adrian's back.

While the fear had been drowned in their embrace, the remnant of the dream still lingered in his memory. That image was as horrifying as fuck, but that possessive voice only belonged to one person.

"Stupid spider," Johan grumbled and gently pushed Adrian off of him. He lifted a hand to comb away the sleep-tousled tuft of blond hair away from his face. After a second thought, however, Johan paused and retracted it. "Don't get too attached, Idiot," he reminded himself.

Yesterday's event flashed back in his mind. Lust had overcome him again, but he no longer resisted. He gave Adrian a taste of what he wanted, but that's it. That's how this relationship was going to be. For him to continue being Adrian's refuge in a time of sexual hunger, he can't allow himself to fall in love.

They're not lovers. There should be no feelings involved in this. He's just borrowing him from Rhia to sate both their loneliness and earthly desires. Eventually, Adrian would leave to build a family with his future wife.

Breathing in a lungful of air, Johan quelled the uprising emotions and stood to make his way to the kitchen.

He'll only be crushed if he invested feelings. It's best to pull out the seeds of love while it's still new. Because once its roots reached deep within, it'll be harder to remove it. Then he'll have no other choice but to cut it off. Again.

———

6:36 AM.

Johan was busy stirring egg for omelet when an arm circled around his waist. He stilled when Adrian's morning wood poked him from behind.

"Morning, Han," Adrian greeted as he yawned.

"Morning." Johan flushed a little. Why does it feel like their playing husband and wife here? And that silly nickname was something else. He kept hearing Adrian calling him 'Hon' instead of 'Han'.

'Alert! Alert! You're entering a dangerous zone called love zone! Back the fuck up!'

Despite the warning his brain was sending him, Johan didn't push Adrian away. Aside from falling in love, he also wanted to avoid drama. If he acted distant, Adrian will make a big deal out of it again.

He felt comfy with the body pressed against him, anyway. 'It's cool. Calm down, brain.'

Just like last time, Adrian simply watched him cook, his chin propped on top of his shoulder, his fingers intertwined on Johan's abdomen. From time to time, he would pinch at the cooked omelet, earning him a slap on the wrist.

"Wait until I serve it." Johan scolded. "And go rinse your mouth before you eat."

"You sound like my mother." Adrian laughed even after he whacked him with a ladle. "Stop it! I brushed my teeth yesterday."

True. He actually found a blue toothbrush nestled with his red one on his heart-printed mug in the bathroom. He should buy a new mug for Adrian. Johan paused at the thought and debated with his brain if he should buy one or not.

"Han, the hotdogs gonna get toasted," Adrian said, pointing at the frying pan.

Johan flipped the hotdogs to cook the other side. Then, a thought crossed his mind. "I just had eggs and hotdogs last night. Now, I'm eating the same thing again."

Adrian snorted a laugh. "Then you also played with my hotdog."

The stove clicked shut, and Johan spun to hit Adrian, who sprinted to the bathroom. "Come back here, you bastard!"

Vermillion colored his cheeks as he remembered the stunt he pulled on the couch and in the shower. Lust riddled him that time. Embarrassment held no relevance when he's in the mood for sexual play.

Right now, he was only trying to cook for breakfast. The last thing he needed was to be reminded of how kinky he could get.

Adrian pushed the bathroom door close, guffawing through the small opening as Johan wrestled to open it.

"Open up!" Johan yelled as he inserted the ladle in the small gap. "Don't hide in the bathroom, coward!"

"What are you gonna do if I open the door? You gonna play with my hotdog again?"

"YOU!"

The ladle fell on the bathroom floor when Johan used his back and shoulders to push the wood blocking him from strangling Adrian's neck. They were both red-faced; Johan from his angry embarrassment, and Adrian from laughing too hard.

Despite putting all his strength, Johan lost in the power struggle against Adrian's big mass of lean muscles.

"You're not getting breakfast! Go eat shit!" Johan stumped back to the kitchen with an angry scowl. When the door opened again, Adrian was gurgling water, mirth still evident in his clear blue eyes. Johan only glared and went back to the hotdogs he abandoned. "Fuck. Bring me back the ladle, Adrian!"

Adrian stepped out of the bathroom holding the stainless-steel ladle. When Johan approached him, he started swishing it around like it's a fucking samurai sword.

Johan rolled his eyes and just grabbed a spoon to remove the hotdogs from the frying pan. "Jerk."

The ladle clanged to the washbasin and Adrian wrapped his arms around Johan's waist, stealing a kiss on his lips. "Fresh!"

Johan tasted the minty mouthwash, and he chanted 'don't fall in love' in his mind like a broken record. "Can you wash the ladle for me?" he asked Adrian distractedly. "I still need to fry the leftover rice."

"Okay."

Johan grabbed two garlic heads and minced it. After heating the skillet and melting two tablespoons of margarine, he sauteed the garlic. The aroma wreathed his kitchen and Adrian went back to his position behind him, watching as he stir-fried the leftover rice.

"Why don't you prepare the plates instead of hovering behind me like a kitchen supervisor?" Johan said as he added salt and pepper.

"Okay." Adrian gave a little squeeze to his waist before grabbing two plates on the kitchen cabinet.

Johan resisted asking how Adrian knew where to get the plates and utensils when he's only been in his apartment for, like, the third time. 'It felt like he's living with me already.' Johan slapped both his cheeks at the thought.

When their eyes met, and Adrian raised his eyebrows, Johan clapped his hands together in the air.

"There's a mosquito," he said, even though his windows were sealed with mesh net to prevent insects from coming in.

"You're right. There is." Adrian's eyes darted above Johan's head.

Johan followed his line of sight. Wait, there's really a mosquito inside in the kitchen?

Adrian lifted his arm and grabbed the offending insect he couldn't see. "Caught it," he said. He slowly lowered his hand, but instead of showing him the corpse of the mosquito, Adrian crossed his thumb and index finger across his face.

A small laugh he couldn't prevent bubbled from his throat, and Johan slapped Adrian's Korean finger heart, covering his mouth with a snort. "You and your silly jokes," he said and went back to the fried rice he's cooking.

Tried as he might, Johan couldn't repress the subtle smile that graced his lips.

'Don't fall in love?' His brain scoffed. 'Good luck.'