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Seok

It was Saturday today, seventeen days after I moved into Selena's room, not quite the middle of July yet. The two of us were slightly tense and awkward with one another, but I had to suppose that was normal. Most days, she'd sleep in until eleven in the morning and then be gone until ten or eleven at night. I barely saw her, except for the few times she woke me up shortly upon arriving home. I also, thankfully, had not woken up to find I had touched her in the middle of the night again.

Honestly, I was glad for that. The less I touched her, the better. It was already strange enough to be surrounded by her scent, to share a bed with another person just an arm's stretch from me. I'd never been so close to another person and it...unsettled me.

I'd never felt unsettled before, and I could only guess it was how my current state was based on the definition of the word.

Unsettle, verb: cause to feel anxious or uneasy; disturb.

I did not like this. I, in fact, would almost venture to say I loathed it.

Loathe, verb: feel intense dislike or disgust for.

Letting out a low breath, I rose up to a sitting position on the bed. Reaching out to the white shelf just within my arm's reach, I picked up the book I'd been trying to read for a while now, "The Killer Inside Me" by Jim Thompson.

Swallowing, I tried to force myself to focus on the book. I found it wasn't exactly boring to read a story where I did not, necessarily, have to guess the ending. Instead, I could simply read as the events unfolded and try to figure out more of the psychology of humans through the story. Sure, I knew it was fictional, but with events like these, it was completely plausible and most probably that someone had experienced these events somewhere in the world...

Letting out a breath, I lowered the book from where I'd been holding it up. Glancing down and to my right, I eyed Selena's sleeping face. It was 11:24 a.m. Was she planning to sleep all day?

My hand stretched out to start and shake her awake, but I jerked it back, blinking.

What was that about? Why would I...?

Shaking my head, I lifted the book back up and tried to focus on the words once again.

A soft knock twelve and a half seconds later made me glance up. Mackenzie was leaning against the open door, which she'd rapped her knuckles against in order to alert me of her presence. "Lunch is ready," she told me. Mackenzie worked through the weekdays since her job was of a secretarial nature at the small, local courthouse. Since today was Saturday, July 14th, she was free from her job. She flashed a small smile, gazing at Selena's sleeping face as well. "How have things been, concerning you two?" she asked softly.

I blinked, letting out another breath. Closing the book, I set it back down on the shelf again. "Things are just the same," I reported. "In fact, nothing has changed."

She looked disappointed for half a second before covering it up, nodding. "Yeah? Well, what have you guys done together?" she asked.

I shrugged. "We have slept in the same bed." It was true. I was asleep long before she got home and awake long before she was. We had the exact opposite sleep schedules of one another. Add in the fact that Selena seemed very determined to avoid me (and I had no wish to try and change her mind) and we spent no time together except when we were asleep beside one another.

Mackenzie pursed her lips in thought. "Alright. Well, you should ask her out," she advised.

I raised a brow, staring at her. "Should I?" I inquired. "I'm trying not to end up married to your daughter, Mackenzie. Would not asking her out have the exact opposite effect?"

She sighed, looking irritated with me. "Okay, yes, maybe. But even so, you'll be starting school in just a little over a month, Seok. If you two go out together, Selena could maybe introduce you to her friends. If you know some people before you get thrown into your first venture into high school, your life will be a lot easier," she assured me firmly. I could tell she was really trying to persuade me here.

I closed my eyes, mind whirling around in a tornado of thoughts that seemed too fast even for my capabilities. "...Perhaps I will think upon it," I said as I slowly opened my eyes once more. Pushing back the covers, I rose up from the bed. As I did, Selena let out a low groan.

"Ugh...What time is it?" I turned my head, observing her as she pushed her bangs out of her face. Her auburn hair seemed to light up like a dim fire in the reflection of the sunlight coming through the bedroom window. Glancing up, I saw that Mackenzie had silently made herself scarce.

"11:30 a.m.," I reported calmly as I finished rising from the bed. "Good morning, Selena," I greeted her evenly.

She blinked, throwing back more of the covers, blowing her bangs out of her face. "Mmm. Morning, Seok," she mumbled, sleepily. Her eyes lazily traveled along my body as I stared down at her, standing at the foot of the bed. "...Something wrong?" she grumbled, her tongue flicking out to run across her lips as she glanced up into my face.

"It has come to my attention that perhaps I should be asking you out," I explained.

Her lips twitched up into a reluctant grin as she stared up at me. "You want to go out now, half-dressed like that? I'll definitely have all the girls in town hating on me then," she laughed lightly.

I glanced down, taking in my bare chest, with the light covering of black chest hair and my dark grey sleep shorts. I'd worn sweatpants for the first few nights, but sleeping next to another person was much too hot, especially in the middle of summer. Living close to the Big Hole River Valley in Montana, I'd grown used to mostly colder summer nights. Here though, at times the comforter was much too hot for me. Lifting my gaze back up to Selena, I stared into her brown eyes. "Of course not right this moment. Obviously, I must be properly clothed, as do you."

She glanced down at herself, taking in her thin green tank top with the autumn leaves on it and her matching green shorts. "Hmm...I dunno. I think we might be able to pull it off," she teased, smiling up at me.

I shrugged. "If you would really like, I don't mind all that greatly."

Her face instantly flushed and she threw up her hands in a stopping motion. "Wait! No, no, no! I was just bluffing, Seok. Just bluffing! Seriously, Seok, do you have no shame?!" she demanded in irritated disbelief.

Thinking about it for a few seconds, I slowly shook my head. "No, I do not."

She let out a tired sigh, glaring at me. "I've noticed," she grumbled, eyeing me once again.

"You have not given me a sufficiently acceptable answer," I started.

"You haven't actually asked me a question," she shot back, crossing her arms over her chest.

My eyes started to be drawn to how her actions pulled the front of her shirt down, exposing more of her cleavage, but I stopped myself. Blinking, I focused instead on her pinched brow and tense brown eyes. "Selena, would you agree to join me on an outing together around the town?"

Her nose wrinkled in disgust. "You are so formal," she lamented heavily. Slowly, she uncrossed her arms, studying me intently. When she spoke a few seconds later, her voice was a little hesitant, almost reserved. "I'll agree to go out with you, yeah. But this is not a date!" she insisted firmly.

I stared at her, raising a brow. "Date, noun. Second definition: a social or romantic appointment or engagement," I defined. "Your words contradict the very meaning of one another. We are going out together, to the same place, as both a social outing and a potentially 'romantic' one," I reminded her.

She threw her hands up into the air, very clearly frustrated with me. "Okay! Fine! Throw the definition of the word in my face, Seok! It's a date. We're going on a date together and I expect you to pay for it!" she half-grumbled, half-yelled at me.

I blinked, shifting my feet slightly. "Are you not a 'strong and independent woman'?" I inquired. I was using the same phrase that she'd thrown at me last night when she'd been unable to open a pickle jar and I'd offered to help. "I thought you did not 'need a man's help'."

Her tongue shot out as she glared at me. "Yeah, okay, so you remember everything," she sighed. Kicking back the covers all the way, she got up off the bed. "It's too early in the morning for this," she muttered darkly.

"Selena, it is, in fact, twenty-one minutes away from being noon," I reminded her flatly.

She brushed past me, almost shoving her shoulder against my side. "Yeah, whatever, Mr. Literal. Learn what a sense of humor is, will you?"

"...If I gain a 'sense of humor', will you agree to marry me?" I asked, turning on my heel to watch her as she began rifling through her dresser.

"I don't know, maybe," she tossed over her shoulder carelessly.

"Then I do not need it," I decided.