Now it's time to sleep, silly girl. Look what time it is," and he showed me his watch. "It's 4:00 am already."
"Ooo nooo, we have only 2 to 3 hours to sleep, right?" I asked him.
He nodded his head and said, "But that will be more than enough for us."
"It will be more than enough for you, not me. I need more sleep. I sleep very much. You don't. Whenever there is no work for me at home and nothing to do, I just sleep only. I am a polar bear, you don't know. I like to stay at home, don't wanna go out, not even with family and friends also. I just like my comfort space only, and I never leave my comfort space," I said.
He immediately, after listening to this, hugged me.
"Sudden hug? Is everything alright, Mr. Yuan?" I asked him.
"Yes. Can I ask you something?" he asked.
"Mmmm, say it," I said.
"Can you… can you make your new comfort space here, right in my arms, like this?"
"Oooo, sooo romantic, Yuan, but let me tell you, this is not your drama scene going on. I won't fall for this trap," I said while breaking the hug and heading towards the room. "This one, right?" I asked him.
He nodded his head.
I entered the room. His room. My Yuan's room.
And what I saw the moment I entered the room was the big photo frame picture of Yuan right in front of me on the wall. This photo frame picture looks sooo real, like it is so lively. His beautiful features enhancing more and more, making him more dazzling and handsome.
"Done with the staring?" he said.
I immediately turned around, and he was standing there at the entrance of the door, folding his arms and slightly taking support of the door.
"Staring? Who is staring? I am just admiring God's finest art," I said.
He blushed and said, "Now, if you are done with admiring God's finest creation, then can we go to sleep?"
"Yes, of course. Who stopped you? In fact, you are the one who is wasting time since we entered here," I said.
He laughed a little and said to himself, "First she admires me and gets lost in it, and whenever I catch her doing all this, she just turns the tables and makes me the guilty one."
Then I saw a long, comfortable couch of red colour and went there and was about to sleep on it.
Then his voice came, saying, "What are you doing there? The bed is here," he pointed towards the bed.
I lowered my eyes and said, "Yuan, this is your home, your room. You should sleep on the bed, and I'll sleep on this couch only."
"What we have just said to each other a few minutes before, have you totally forgotten it?" he said.
"What?" I asked him shockingly, thinking hard about what he was talking about.
Then he took a deep breath and said, "There is not you and I anymore between us. There is only us. Only us."
He tapped my forehead with his finger and said, "Now do you get it, you short-term memory loss?"
"Of course I remember it, but I mean… this… you won't feel comfortable on the couch. Look, you are sooo big, I mean—"
"Wait. What are you trying to say? That I am some huge giant person or some monster that I can't fit on the couch?" he said.
"No, I mean, it's not like that. Okay fine, I am staying on the bed and you are staying on the couch. Now happy, my caring boyfriend?" I said while pinching his cheeks a little.
He gave a slight smile, of course his usual one, which makes my Mr. Heart melt.
"Now sleep, silly girl," he said.
Then I went to the bed and lay down on it. He also went to the couch and lay on it, trying to fit himself on it but failing badly.
Then I said while turning my side towards him, "5 feet 11 inch problems."
He smiled and said, "Teasing at midnight is not good, silly girl."
I immediately turned my face to the other side of the bed, and on that side wall also his photo—his big photo frame hanging there.
I murmured, "How should I sleep when you are staring at me like this, even in the photo also? No, whichever side of the bed I turn my face, everywhere is him only. How am I supposed to sleep like that? So unfair."
"Stop murmuring. Sleep. We need to go to shoot also tomorrow," he said while closing his eyes.
"It's not tomorrow, it's today only. It's already 4:30 in the morning. Check your time properly, Mr. Yuan," I said loudly.
He smiled while closing his eyes.
And then we both finally drifted off into deep sleep—a peaceful one. Yes, it was lesser than our usual hours of sleep, but the peacefulness it gives is something different, something I haven't experienced in my whole life.
Maybe… maybe it's because of him. Because he sleeps near me. I just feel the sense of security, the warmth that only he can make me feel.
This is the sleep that I never imagined I'd ever be able to get, but I did. I did.
And this is the end of this night, end of the troubles, because I know when he is beside me, sooner or later everything will be fine.
Then the Shanghai morning entered the room through the window. It's quite warm today compared to other days.
I woke up from the bed and saw the clock on the wall. It was 7:00 am in the morning.
I said to myself, "Good, Zhao Shiza. Even after sleeping very late at night, you perfectly managed to get up at the right time. Well done."
"But why are there two blankets on me?" I said to myself. "There was only one last night."
Then I immediately looked at the couch, and he was not there.
Then I heard some sounds coming from outside the room.
I immediately went outside the room and saw him standing in front of the kitchen counter, sleeves rolled up, wearing a white apron, looking like a professional chef making breakfast.
Suddenly I remembered a scene from his drama where he works in a restaurant as a part-timer and wears an apron like this only. I never imagined this scene would come true.
I smiled and walked towards him and stood in front of him, folding my arms.
He immediately saw me and said, "Sit on the chair. Breakfast will be ready shortly," while focusing on the food on the cooktop.
I didn't say anything. I just smiled and sat on the chair right in front of the kitchen counter.
Then a question popped up in my mind and I was about to ask, but before that he handed me a bag with one hand while his other hand was stirring something with a ladle and said, "Hold this."
I held it, and when I looked inside the bag, I saw my clothes.
But how did he manage to get them? They were in the dorm, and it's too early in the morning.
"Stop overthinking early in the morning, silly girl. It's not good for your health. Don't put pressure on your mind; it's already very small," he said.
"Then explain," I said.
He took a deep sigh, switched off the cooktop, and said, "I got it from Wang Ruoxi."
"Wang Ruoxi? I mean… how? She never wakes up early. I know her. She never—" I said.
"But I made her wake up early and give my girlfriend's clothes," he said.
"How?" I asked.
He smiled, lowering his face, both hands resting on the countertop, and said, "We are running out of time. I'll explain the how, when, and why to you later."
"You are really something. Very impossible to guess. You are really a mysterious person. Sometimes you just surprise me with your behaviour," I said.
"Don't you like surprises?" he asked.
"I do. I really do," I replied while smiling and looking at him...