"Aren't you taking your blanket and pillow?" Alex asked Ken.
"Tsk. There's no space for another pillow. Let's just share the pillow and blanket," Ken groaned.
"No!"
Alex almost shouted.
"We can share the pillow, but not the blanket."
"Okay."
Ken rolled his eyes, grabbed his blanket, and climbed into the bed.
"I didn't know a single bed had this much space," Ken said loudly.
"If… if you have so much space, move."
"Is this okay?"
"No. A little more."
"I take my words back. There is no space."
Ken shifted slightly and turned toward Alex.
Alex, who was staring straight at the ceiling, felt Ken's gaze.
"What?" he asked.
"I'm curious," Ken replied.
"About what?"
"How did you come out of that room looking like that?" Ken asked.
"It's nothing."
Alex kept staring at the ceiling.
Suddenly, Ken grabbed Alex's jaw and turned his face toward him.
"I need to know."
No teasing. No sarcasm.
Just serious.
"It's a long story."
Alex gulped.
"I'll listen."
"Okay."
Alex explained everything that had happened.
Ken stared at him in disbelief.
"It's like a father and son… no, no. Father and father. Or maybe son and son."
Ken laughed.
Alex rolled his eyes.
"Wait a minute. I appreciate your joke, but why were you trying to make a scene out there when I clearly said it was nothing?"
"I was concerned."
"For what?"
"For you."
"WHY?"
"Because you're my best friend."
"Oh."
A pause.
"Right. I forgot that part."
Alex pulled the blanket over himself and turned away.
"Why—"
"I want to sleep. I'm hella tired."
Ken didn't argue.
Both of them stayed quiet, trying to sleep.
"You sleep?"
"Yup."
"Tsk… can you turn to this side?"
"No."
"Aish… fine. I'm going to the washroom."
"Hmm."
Ken came back after washing his face with cold water.
"Maybe this will help."
He looked at Alex.
Still still.
Still asleep.
He poked him once.
No response.
Again.
Nothing.
Ken exhaled.
"Man… why are you always like this?"
A small smile slipped out.
Then it faded.
His eyes stayed on Alex a little longer than usual.
Too long.
"…Why do I keep looking at him like this?"
The thought came without permission.
Ken frowned slightly.
He turned away.
"Tch."
He tried to dismiss it immediately.
Just friendship.
Just habit.
But his chest didn't agree.
He glanced again at Alex.
Sleeping so easily.
So close.
So careless.
Ken sat there for a second longer than needed.
Then he scoffed quietly.
"This is stupid."
He lay down again.
The room went quiet.
Too quiet.
Ken shifted slightly to get comfortable.
Then—
Alex moved.
Ken opened his eyes halfway.
Just sleep movement.
That's all.
But then—
Alex turned again.
Closer.
Ken's breath paused.
"…again?"
Before he could fully react—
Alex closed the distance completely.
An arm slid around his waist.
Loose.
Natural.
Unaware.
A hug.
Ken froze.
No jokes came.
No sarcasm.
But this time—
there was recognition.
Not confusion.
Not shock.
Just a name forming in his mind that he immediately refused to say.
"…this feeling again."
His fingers twitched slightly.
He should move.
He knows he should move.
But he doesn't.
That's the problem.
The moment he lightly touched Alex's arm—
the grip tightened slightly.
Not conscious.
Just instinct.
Like his body chose first.
Ken's eyes widened.
A sharp breath left him.
"…this isn't just nothing."
The thought came fully formed.
Clear.
Dangerous.
Ken stared at Alex's sleeping face.
And for a second—
everything connected.
The staring.
The heartbeat earlier.
The way he keeps noticing him.
The way silence feels different when Alex is near.
Ken swallowed hard.
"…I know what this is."
A pause.
His jaw tightened.
"No."
Immediate rejection.
Like slamming a door.
His hand slowly stopped resisting.
He didn't push away.
But he didn't accept it either.
Stuck in between.
Still.
Breathing uneven.
His thoughts split into two voices:
You already know.
Shut up.
Ken closed his eyes tightly for a second.
Then whispered, almost angry at himself:
"It can't be that."
But even he didn't believe the sentence anymore.