The night dragged on in that eight-square-meter boarding house room. After the incident with Mrs. Nining that morning, a new problem arose when the clock struck eleven. It was time for bed, but the room seemed to shrink even more once the folding foam mattress was spread across the floor.
"You sure you fit in there?" Excel asked, rolling up the sleeves of his T-shirt. He stood watching Ian try to lie down with his tall, massive body.
Ian tried to straighten his legs.
Krek.
His ankle bumped into Excel's plastic cabinet, while his head nearly touched the opposite wall. The five-centimeter-thick foam mattress looked tragically bowed beneath the CEO's weight.
"I fit," Ian answered flatly, even though his position looked excruciating.
"How do you fit?!" Excel clicked his tongue in frustration. "Your legs are folded up like a cockroach's! Here, move the mattress a little to the left."
"If I move it left, it will block the path to the door," Ian objected tersely.
"Better that than breaking your legs by smashing into my wardrobe?!" Excel stepped closer and forcibly tugged at the edge of the folding mattress. "Move! You're huge, but you absolutely suck at compromising on room layout!"
Ian let out a short sigh and was forced to get up for a moment. "This mattress is too thin. The foam inside has already lost its density."
Excel shot him a sharp glare. "What, you think this is a five-star hotel?! This is a fifty-thousand-rupiah folding mattress I got on sale from the orange store! Be grateful I'm even willing to share floor space!"
"I can buy a new one," Ian said spontaneously.
"With what? Moringa leaves?" Excel shot back sarcastically. "Your ID situation isn't even clear, and you're acting like you can buy a new mattress. Just sleep there! Don't be so fussy!"
Ian finally lay back down on his side, bending his knees slightly so they wouldn't hit the wardrobe. The space left for Excel to walk through was now just a narrow gap barely a foot wide.
Excel picked up a faded blue kapok pillow and threw it straight at Ian's face.
THUD!
Ian removed the pillow from his face without blinking. His gaze was sharp and cold. "Why'd you throw it?"
"That's your spare pillow!" Excel shouted without a trace of guilt, then flopped down on his own bed, a single kapok mattress shoved right up against Ian's folding mattress. "Besides, you're stiff as a museum statue. Relax."
"You could have told me before throwing it," Ian replied quietly, arranging the kapok pillow beneath his head. His long hands adjusted the thin blanket.
"Jeez, so demanding," Excel muttered. He turned his back to Ian, preparing to close his eyes. However, after only two minutes of silence, Ian's overly long leg accidentally nudged Excel's calf as he tried to find a comfortable position.
"Ow! Your leg, Ian!" Excel groaned, turning around. "Your range of motion is terrible!"
"The room is too small," Ian argued, unwilling to lose.
"You're the one who's too big! What did you eat when you were a kid?! Power poles?!" Growing more annoyed, Excel immediately grabbed his body pillow and slammed it into Ian's chest.
THUD!
Ian didn't just take it this time. With quick reflexes, he snatched the kapok pillow from beneath his head and swung it up to block Excel's attack.
"I only moved my leg," Ian said in the same flat tone, but his hands were quick as he struck back at Excel's shoulder with the pillow.
"Whoa, you're picking a fight now?!" Excel's eyes widened. "You crash here for the night and challenge me to a pillow duel?!"
THUD! WHUMP!
The sound of pillows colliding echoed through the cramped room. Excel attacked wildly, laughing freely, while Ian stayed on the defensive, precisely blocking Excel's attacks with the efficient movements of his long arms.
"Fight back! Don't just block like a goalie!" Excel shouted with a loud laugh, hitting Ian's broad chest again.
Ian paused for a moment as he watched Excel's uninhibited laughter from such close range. Without realizing it, the corners of Ian's lips lifted. He deliberately swung his pillow gently, brushing it over the red-haired young man's head until his messy hair became even more disheveled.
SMACK!
"Hey! My hair!" Excel protested, clutching his head, but he couldn't hold back his giggles.
"Sorry. I missed," Ian replied briefly, his face feigning innocence.
"Missed?!" Excel flung his pillow into Ian's chest, then lay down, panting from laughing so hard. "Ugh, I'm exhausted. You're not bad to fight with."
Ian put his pillow back beneath his head and lay on his back, staring at the dingy ceiling. The exhaustion chasing after their laughter made his mind, usually weighed down by corporate burdens, suddenly feel light.
"Excel," Ian called softly in the darkness.
"What now? You gonna complain about the hard mattress again?" Excel mumbled with his eyes closed, his voice slowing as sleep began to take over.
"No. The pillow... is pretty soft."
Excel chuckled softly without opening his eyes. "Of course it is. It's an expensive pillow—thirty thousand for two. Now go to sleep. You have to get up early tomorrow and help me."
"Help with what?"
"Don't ask so many questions. Sleep."
Ian shifted slightly onto his side and looked at Excel's thin back, asleep within arm's reach. Without realizing it, he pulled up Excel's thin blanket, which had slipped down a little, covering the red-haired young man's shoulders so he wouldn't get cold in the night breeze.
"Good night, Excel," Ian whispered so softly it was almost inaudible, before finally closing his eyes atop the curved folding mattress.