Sleepover

“...Okay.” I said, after a second that felt way too long. “Yeah. I’ll stay.”

Yuna froze like she hadn’t expected an actual answer.

Then she panicked.

“I-I mean!... On the couch, obviously. And you don’t have to if it’s weird–”

“Yuna.” I cut in. “I heard you the first time.”

“...Okay.” she whispered.

A beat passed. Then she blurted, a little too fast: “I’ll make tea.”

She fled to the kitchen like the kettle would save her from this moment.

I sat on the edge of her couch, hands on my knees, and stared at the wall.

This was… weird. Not really in a bad way, but still, it was awkward.

The kettle started to hiss.

“...You can still back out.” she said, not looking at me. “If it’s… uncomfortable.”

“And leave you alone after a hospital scare?”

“...I’m fine now. The doctor said… as long as I rest and don’t stress.”

“Yuna… you don’t have to pretend you’re okay.”

The kettle clicked off.

“...You’re annoying when you’re right.” she said.

“I get that a lot.”

“From your chat?”

“No, my mom. Chat would just spam L + ratio.”

A laugh escaped her.

Awkward silence stretched again.

“...I’ll go get some stuff from my place. You know, toothbrush, charger n’ stuff.”

She nodded. “Okay… I’ll… um… tidy a little.”

It made 0 sense, because I’d already seen her apartment at its worst. Still, I went back to my place, threw a few things into a small backpack, and sent my sister a quick message.

Ren: Staying next door tonight. Just a heads-up so you know where I am. Don’t freak out.

Sis: ‘next door’ as in ‘PREGNANT NEIGHBOR NEXT DOOR’ ???

Ren: It’s not what you think.

Sis: That’s EXACTLY what people say when it is what I think.

I turned my phone off before she could spam.

When I stepped back into the hallway, Yuna’s door was already cracked open, light spilling out.

She peeked out like a cautious cat. “A-Ah… w-welcome back.”

“I left for 5 minutes. No need to welcome me like I just flew in from overseas.”

She puffed her cheeks a little. “Let me have this, okay? I’ve never had a man stay over before.”

I didn’t know how to react. But I didn’t have to… she kept talking.

“I mean–! Not like that! Just… you know.”

“Relax, I get it.” I said, stepping inside and closing the door behind me.

We sat back down on the couch.

Suddenly, a thought came back to me. Now would be the moment to ask.

“Yuna… I have a question.”

She looked at me. “What is it?”

“Since when… did you know I was Renno? The streamer Renno.”

She froze.

“Did you already know before that loud incident in the hallway? I asked.

“I– I, uh… well…”

So she did know, huh? Why did that make me a little sad…

“It’s not what you think! I didn’t know from the beginning. It was… during the collab. When we got put on the same team.”

She looked down at her hands.

“I recognized your voice immediately. And then I opened your stream… and your face was suddenly right there on my screen.”

“So it’s been a while.” I said quietly.

“I’m sorry.”

I sighed. “If you apologize one more time today, I’m going to start charging you a fee for every ‘sorry’.”

“I’m sor–!” she clamped a hand over her mouth. “Oops. I mean… okay. I’ll try. Please don’t be mad, I didn't say anything.”

“I’m not. I get it. I’m sure you had your reasons.”

She nodded.

“Yeah. I thought if I told you the truth… right after you moved here… after the doxxing… you might think I’d blurt it out. I mean… we barely knew each other:”

I smiled at her. “Thank you.”

“...So.” I said leaning back. “What’s the plan? Do we just sit here and stare at the wall until sunrise?”

“Movie?” she said pointing towards the remote.

I leaned back, taking a sip of tea. “Just nothing horror.”

“Why?”

“Because you’ll scream and then apologize for screaming and then stress yourself out and then we’ll be in the hospital again.”

“You’re exaggerating.”

“You screamed at the rice cooker yesterday.” I reminded her.

“It exploded steam in my face. That was totally a jumpscare!”

“Sure.”

She scrolled through the streaming service and stopped on a quiet-looking movie.

“It’s about someone who quits their job and starts over.” she said.

I stared at the title. “You’re joking, right?”

“I’m not. I just thought… maybe it’s comforting.”

“Fine.” I sighed. “Let’s watch fictional people have character development.”

She started it, then immediately sat straighter like she was hosting a guest and needed to perform the role correctly.

It was adorable.

“You can relax, Yuna.”

“Ah.. yeah. Right.”

For a while, it was almost normal and not awkward. We drank tea. Laughed at a few jokes.

At some point, she shifted a little closer, just barely.

Then her head tilted.

“Sleep if you’re tired.” I whispered.

“I’m not…” she yawned in the middle of the sentence. “...tired.”

“Sure.”

“I wanna see the end.”

5 minutes later her head slipped onto my shoulder.

My face heated instantly. If Yui saw me right now, I would never recover.

Okay… calm down. This is fine.

This was just… a neighbor using my shoulder as a pillow.

A very cute neighbor.

Yuna mumbled something unintelligible, shifting closer by accident.

“...Ren…” she mumbled in half-sleep.

“Yeah?”

“...Don’t go…”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

The movie kept playing.

The climax happened.

The credits rolled.

The streaming service asked if we were still watching.

My arm had fully died at this point from the lack of circulation.

At some point, I realized 2 things:

One: I could not sit like this the whole night.

Two: She couldn’t either.

Eventually I forced myself to shift. Carefully, I slid my shoulder out and lowered her head onto a cushion.

She frowned faintly but didn’t wake.

I pulled a blanket over her, making sure it covered her fully.

“I’ll protect you… Both of you.” I whispered, barely audible even to myself.

With the couch occupied, I had no choice but to sleep on the floor. Without a pillow or blanket.

Yeah… that was a bad idea. I realized that about 30 seconds after lying on it.

I quietly went back to my apartment to get a blanket and a pillow. It didn’t make much of a difference. The hardwood floor was unforgiving.

So… I just stayed awake.

At some point, I checked my phone.

2:03h

“...Great.” I muttered.

I pushed the blanket aside and quietly got up, stepping onto the balcony for fresh air.

The town was dark and still, free of neon lights and Tokyo noise.

I leaned on the railing. It felt nice… the perfect temperature for a summer night. I stood there for a good 10 minutes.

Suddenly a soft sound made me turn.

Yuna stood in the doorway.

“You should’ve woken me up. The couch is more comfortable than the floor, you know?”

“It’s okay, really. You looked peaceful. I didn’t want to ruin that.”

“I wasn’t peaceful.” she admitted, gaze dropping. “I woke up and you weren’t there. I panicked. I thought I’d imagined everything.”

“Sorry. Just needed air.”

“...I tried to sleep again after I woke up just now… but… every time I closed my eyes… I kept thinking about not streaming tonight… my brain keeps telling me I’m in trouble.”

“Give it a minute. It just doesn’t know yet that it’s allowed to rest.”

“Can we… go for a walk?” she asked suddenly. “Just around the block? I feel like that would distract me... and I can’t sleep now anyways.”

I stared at her. A walk… at 2 in the morning.

“I know it’s not what responsible people would do, but—”

“Responsible people don’t end up living like we do.” I cut her off.

“True.” she laughed. “So… you wanna go?”

I nodded once. “Yeah. But we stay close. If you feel weird, we turn back.”

“Okay. Deal! Thank you!”

“You might regret this, so don’t thank me. I’m terrible at small talk.”

She looked up, and for once her smile wasn’t fragile.

“Then don’t talk.” she said softly. “...Just stay.”

So we stepped out together… into the sleeping hallway… side by side, towards the quiet night.