“Ah... again, big bro. Yeah, right there, that feels so good. Harder, big bro.”
“Thud...”
“Ouch,” Aurelia murmured, rubbing her head after banging it against the side of the bed.
“Ugh, why do I keep having dreams like that?” she grumbled.
She slowly got up and headed straight for the bathroom inside her private bedroom. Cold water poured over her beautiful body. She finished up quickly and hurried out.
Her eyes fell on the clock sitting on her desk. It was already nine at night. Apparently, she had slept for four hours since getting home from the café. Wearing an oversized T-shirt and shorts, Aurelia left her room, intending to get something to eat because her stomach had started protesting for food.
As she crossed the living room, her eyes accidentally landed on the sofa, which wasn't empty after all. A man was sitting there, staring at the phone in his hand.
“Hey, big bro, how long have you been here?” she asked, dropping herself onto the seat beside him.
“It's unusual for you to stop by this late at night. Usually, you're keeping your fiancée company,” Aurelia continued.
The man being bombarded with questions simply stayed silent, furrowing his brows as he looked at Aurelia without any intention of answering.
“Lia, what are you doing so close to Darren? Remember, he already has a fiancée. Go on, we need to discuss the business partnership.”
Her brother's voice suddenly rang out. He was carrying a stack of papers in both hands.
“Yeah, I know. No need to tell me—I already know. Who says I like him? I was just asking what Darren was doing here this late at night. He usually doesn't come over,” Aurelia said irritably.
Darren was Aurelia's brother Arden's best friend. Only Aurelia and Arden lived in the large classic European-style house, since both of their parents were still on a business trip to a neighboring country. Arden and Aurelia were five years apart. They often disagreed, but that never diminished the love between the siblings.
“What are you two talking about so late?” Aurelia asked, still perfectly content sitting beside Darren.
“You don't need to know. Now go on,” Arden said, shooing her away.
“Well, well, looks like I'm late?” someone called out, having just appeared from the front room.
“Very late,” Darren replied.
“Take it easy, bro.”
“Hey, big bro,” Aurelia greeted Aksa, waving with one hand.
“Still not asleep?” Aksa replied, taking the seat beside Aurelia.
“If I'm still here, obviously I haven't gone to sleep yet. What kind of small-talk question is that?” Aurelia teased.
Arden, Darren, and Aksa were best friends. The three of them had been close since high school. Now, the three were involved in a business partnership led by Arden.
Arden and Aksa were still known as lonely men because, despite being in their thirties, neither of them had ever been seen with a woman. Darren was different—he already had a fiancée and would be getting married soon.
“Grrrrooowl...”
The loud stomach rumble made all three men look at Aurelia.
“Heh-heh... I'm hungry, big bro,” she admitted, rubbing her stomach.
“Yeah, go eat,” Arden ordered, slightly annoyed as he looked at his sister.
“Yeah, I was going to the kitchen, but then I saw Darren and turned this way instead,” she replied with a smile before leaving the three men to refocus on the papers spread across the table.
When she reached the kitchen, Aurelia pressed both hands to her chest, feeling her heart pounding rapidly.
“Oh my God, why is it beating so fast? I only just sat next to him. We didn't even get to the part from the dream, so why? Ah... no... no...” Aurelia grumbled to herself, remembering the scene from her dream a few hours earlier. It had felt real.
At twenty-five, Aurelia had never dated anyone. A few men had approached her in college, but Arden had always stopped them, claiming Aurelia wasn't ready to date. After that, Aurelia had lost interest in thinking about men. She focused on her studies and building her café, whose initial capital she had asked her father for.
“Lia.”
“Kiss,” Aurelia blurted out when someone called her.
“What? You want a kiss?”
Aksa was half shocked and half amused. He gave her a crooked smile, and Aurelia's entire face suddenly turned bright red. The girl immediately covered her own mouth, her eyes widening in panic.
“N-no! You heard wrong, big bro. What are you doing in the kitchen?” Aurelia tried to change the subject as quickly as possible, her voice trembling slightly.
Aksa leaned his shoulder against the kitchen door frame. He didn't answer right away, only watching her with an increasingly broad smile. Then he stepped inside and took a bottle of cold water from the refrigerator.
“I wanted something to drink. Oh, right...” He paused beside Aurelia, then leaned his face slightly closer until she could smell the woody cologne he always wore. He lowered his voice to a soft whisper and gave a small wink.
“If you want to ask for a kiss, don't do it here. Arden might see, and he'll beat me up with that stack of papers. If you want one, come to my place. Just message me on WhatsApp tonight.”
He left just like that, abandoning Aurelia, who stood frozen in front of the stove. Her heart was now pounding much harder than before.
It wasn't just Darren.
There was Aksa, too.
And the worst part was that she had almost said something that stupid in front of the wrong person.
Aurelia lightly smacked her own head several times while grumbling under her breath. Why had everything gone so wrong tonight?
In the living room, Aksa returned to his seat. He opened the cap of his water bottle, then accidentally met Darren's gaze from across the table.
There was no smile. No words. Just a flat stare that, for some reason, suddenly sent a chill down Aksa's back.