26. Fluttering Heart

Your heart pounded in your ears louder than you had expected at the sight of his line of vision directly down at your lips. You gulped, unsure of how to respond to what he just said, besides the fact that your imaginations thought of the only possible outcome that would result in such close proximity. You squeezed your eyes shut, before speaking softly, "...what is it?"

He simply chuckled, as if you could inhale his hot breath at the close proximity of your faces at one another. Yet, in the midst of the moment, you held your breath—kept your breathing at a minimum, while wondering when on earth he is going to answer your question.

Suddenly, a soft wave of breath blew against your nose causing a flinch to nearly overtake you. Your eyes met with the same violet orbs once again, except it was ones filled with mocking amusement.

"There's dry skin on your lips," he replied nonchalantly. "You better drink more water."

"HA—?!" You blinked repeatedly before a burst of red erupted on your cheeks in plain embarrassment. You immediately swivelled your face away from him and towards the opposite direction, with your bottom lip in between your teeth, as condemning thoughts rummaged in your head at thinking he was about to do something more.

"Tch," he scoffed with an evident laughter that escaped his lips before he shifted closer to you, brought his head near your ear and whispered," ...Why'd you close your eyes? Were you expecting something more for me...to do...to you?"

Your jaw clenched, face rigid on the spot as you fixated your fuming eyes onto the carpet floor as you kept your breathing steady and slow—despite how it was beating harder than you imagined—after the soothing whisper of his words ringing annoyingly pleasant in your ears.

"N-NO," you replied, much louder than intended, still clearly flushed in your visage before you swivelled your face back to him with a furrowed brow, nearly forcing a glare just to keep yourself composed. "...I have NOTHING to expect from you, Shinsou, you know I already have a boyfriend and I'm not expecting you to do anything more than JUST being...friends."

"Oh?" He raised a brow, clearly unfazed yet quite amused at your sudden reaction. His cherry red lips soon parted to reveal a Cheshire grin, nearly causing a skip of a beat in your heart. At this point, you were sure to get a heart attack, yet you were still unsure why you'd feel such a thing for the roommate when you knew and admitted that you despised him.

"Then why did you..." he drew closer with a taunting tone and narrowed eyes of mischief. "...bother mentioning THAT if it wasn't the case?"

"W-What—?"

He tilted his head with confidence, kept his violet gaze onto your own. "...The fact that you mention it shows that you thought of it, therefore you had expected for me to do something to you at that very moment," he raised his arm expressively, "...Proven even with the fact that you closed your eyes."

You blinked repeatedly as you shook your head in protest, lips pursed in a thin line with a clear warmth that radiated off your cheeks. "...Y-YOU'RE just thinking through this too much...!! I didn't expect anything from you and there's that."

You kept your gaze away from him once again, unsure why you'd be so affected by the sudden confidence in his expression at the unexpected scene. As if he was dominant over the whole situation—not that he already is.

"Hah, especially with how red you are now, you know you can't deny it," he chimed assertively. "...Even your face is on my side, I have more evidence stacked up against you than your own words."

"..." You remained silent, wondering how he was so intellectually observant, or maybe what he said was true, and you were just simply too obvious in your expression towards him—out of all people.

You inhaled and exhaled sharply, cleared your throat as you kept your eyes shut and swivelled your head towards him gracefully before you batted a single lash at him, keeping a confident gaze—though it was hard, especially with that amused look on his face.

Gosh he looks hot cute, no, no I cannot think of such things with this intellectual stupid pervert...

"Pftt—You're barely holding on, [Name]," he commented while laughing gently, right before he flickered your forehead playfully, before he positioned his legs, crossed to face your direction while his neck leaned closer towards you.

When did he start calling me by my first name...? I'm not complaining...

"Hah?! I-I..." you crossed your arms. "...have NO idea what you're talking about, I...um," you raised your body to stand with clenched fist to suppress the annoying excitement in your stomach. "...I'm going now, ba-bye."

"Ha?" He snarled with a light chortle. "It's the evening, we're expected to stay in the dorms after this time, you're not going anywhere, sweetheart."

You looked back waywardly, watching the cool and unmoved expression in his features. You swallowed hard, inwardly hated how such a small word would rile you up all over again, clinging in the inner recesses of your heart like a ringing cymbal.

He's just a friend. Just a friend, and nothing more than that...for sure.