I'll make your heart skip a beat

"My secret?", Sushi asked thinking about what to confess.

"Yeah, your secret. According to no.9, you have to..", June reciting the clause.

"Uh, understood, no need to repeat every time", she replied with annoyance.

"Quickly spill the beans if you've understood. I'm feeling sleepy," he murmured, drawing her closer into his embrace from behind as they reclined on the expansive bed.

Sushi got excited as she was so close to him that she could feel his breath at the back of her neck, her hair dancing on his face, the situation making her feel butterflies in stomach.

She tried to move farther and remove his arms from her waist.

He pulled her again, "You smell nice, be like this for a while", he is touching his cheeks to her sensitive neck.

An awkward silence between them. When Sushi decided to tell her secret, she started the conversation hesitatingly.

"I know you didn't ask anything about SmallTown and why I went there. You just simply took care of me. Aren't you curious?", she asked.

"I am", in his sleepy voice.

"Hmm, It's my mom. She was my aunt actually but she is more than everything to me. When I was 9 years old...", she explained her secret but no sound is coming from June.

"Y..Y..You listening?", she asked.

Still no sound. Zzzz Zzzz...,

She slowly turned back to see but she found June sleeping and didn't listen to a single word that she said.

She smiled looking at him sleeping so peacefully by holding her as if he was catching up on days of sleep all at once.

She turned towards him, his hands still over her waist so tightly that he had no intention of leaving her at all. She slowly touched his eyes, nose and lips, playing on his face.

"How come you are so close to me? I never thought I would be beside you again.

Thank you, June. Although I don't understand the reason why you are doing this.

But if you behave like this, I don't think I can let you go.", she murmured seeing June got into sound sleep.

As June stirred awake the next morning, he discovered his body nestled in her embrace, as if she had been cuddling him throughout the night. 

Alarmed, he hurriedly sat up, concerned that he might have inadvertently caused her discomfort. Gently, he kept her hand beneath the blanket, attempting to make her more comfortable.

Reassured that she was undisturbed, June settled back beside her, his cheeks flushed with embarrassment as he watched her sleep. 

Just as he was about to reach out and touch her face, Sushi suddenly moved, her eyes meeting his in a moment of shared uncertainty as they both slowly returned to wakefulness, unsure of how to come out of the moment.

"Did you sleep well?" Sushi asked in a sleepy voice, breaking the silence.

"Hmm, yeah I think I got a nice sleep, better than usual," June replied groggily, rubbing his eyes as he tried to recall the events of last night.

As June attempted to piece together the fragments of the previous night, Sushi's words stirred something within him. He remembered snippets of their conversation, the warmth of her voice and the intimacy of their connection.

"I... I think you told me something last night," June began tentatively, his words hesitant as he tried to grasp at the memory.

"I told you my one of my secrets," Sushi replied as she tried to rouse herself from the bed.

"What? But that's not fair, you told me while I was sleeping!" June protested.

"That's your problem, I started while you were awake, you fell asleep," Sushi retorted, attempting to get up.

June, however, wasn't ready to let her go just yet. He held her hand and pulled her back, causing her to fall onto him.

Sushi's morning face was chubby and pretty, and June couldn't help but caress her hair and touch her face.

"Tell me now what you told me last night, otherwise I won't let you go, Mrs. June," he said playfully, holding her tightly and about to kiss her. 

In his grasp, he found himself captivated by the sight of her morning face, the tender moments between them overshadowing his question.

But Sushi was not one to be swayed easily, her determination matching June's own playful stubbornness. With a quick escape, she left him pondering the mystery of her secret, a puzzle he was eager to solve in the days to come.

She pushed him and roused from bed saying, "You missed your chance to hear my secret. Don't blame me, sleepyhead."

She quickly ran towards the restroom, leaving June to wonder what he had missed out on.

A short while later, as they embarked on their journey to got to work together, Sushi began moving her hand multiple times, as if in discomfort.

June, glancing at her while driving, voiced his concern, "I'm sorry, I think I might have hurt your hand," his worry palpable in his voice as he examined her hand.

"It seems like I was lying on your hand the entire night. Do you feel numb?"

Sushi shook her head, offering him a reassuring smile.

"No, don't worry. I usually sleep like that. It's a habit of mine to keep some pressure on my hands while I sleep. At home, I usually use a giant teddy bear for that purpose. But last night, I used you," she explained with a playful glint in her eye.

June's memory stirred, drawing a parallel to Chloe, a memory from his past.

"You're just like Chloe," he remarked, his surprise evident.

"Despite being twins, how is it that your sleeping habits are also identical?"

"Means?", she asked.

"Did you know that your sister also has the same habit?" June inquired.

"No, she doesn't. She doesn't like it when anyone sleeps beside her and puts legs and hands on her," Sushi replied.

Reflecting on his past, June began to explain, "No, probably you don't know since you guys were never together.

My parents used to leave me at Chloe's house for summer break so that I could have some fun.

When I first met Chloe, she was so tiny. She used to follow me everywhere and never leave me alone. Even at night, she would come and sleep beside me, holding my hand.

But by the time we woke up in the morning, I used to find her hand beneath me as if she needs pressure on her hands.

How many times, have I tried to remove her hands, but she still used to do it. 

I still remember vividly because I thought she was so weird and wondered how she got into that strange habit to sleep."

For a brief moment, Sushi forgot about her current situation and burst into laughter, reminiscing about those incidents.

Between laughs, Sushi replied, "Haha, I remember! You used to play video games non-stop, from morning till evening, without any breaks.

My teacher once told me that gaming for longer hours can hurt our backs, and it's better to sleep with something underneath for support. So, I started doing that to give you support, and it gradually became a habit. Now, I can't sleep without some pressure on my hands."

June was taken aback. "You did that for me? What are you saying?" his sudden braking caused Sushi to jolt forward, bumping into the car.