Chapter 6: Morning

Verena tossed and adjusted her position in bed, annoyed that she was not able to move around much. Even with her eyes closed, she knows that she has a lot of room to at least move a bit on her bed, but it felt like she was being pushed to the corner of the wall by something.

She used her hand to softly reach over to her side and tap on the mattress to check if she had accidentally left anything lying around, perhaps her bag or pillows, but there was nothing but something hard.

"Huh?" She was confused at first as to what it could be. She rubbed her eyes and slowly opened them, only to be surprised by something so unreal lying beside her. Oh, my God!" she covered her mouth quickly. She tried to close her eyes and get back to sleep.

Finally, Verena decided to slowly open her eyes, feeling disoriented. Her heart raced as she looked over the handsome young man lying beside her, half naked. Her mind raced with questions—who was he? How did he get here? And why was he sleeping beside her?

Just then, the events of the previous night came flooding back to her. She remembered everything—the strange book, the eerie moonlight, and Zoren Bullet. It was then that she realized that the man next to her was none other than the character from the book. She couldn't believe it—he was real, and he was lying right beside her. Panic set in as she frantically tried to remember what had happened after they had fallen asleep. What had they done? What had she said? She had so many questions, but had nothing as an answer.

"What is going on?" She heard his hoarse and deep morning voice as she tried to cover her mouth and pretend to not be there. He still had his eyes closed, so, of course, he won't be able to realize that she's still sitting right beside him. "I could hear you pant."

Oh, my gosh," she whispered. "How did you get here?"

"Ah, now we are back to square one, aren't we?" Zoren lifted up his arms to place them behind his head and used them as pillows before he slowly opened his eyes to meet hers. "I asked you that, I'm pretty sure, right?" He chuckled and wiggled his brows just to tease her a bit. "Don't you think we're moving a little slowly? We kept on going back to the topics that we talked about over and over again, not getting any of it resolved."

"That is not what I meant," Verena said, breathing harder. "How are you here... in my bed, and why are you half naked?"

"Do you expect me to sleep fully clothed in this hot weather?"

"It's cold!"

"I do not have the same body temperature as you do," Zoren grabbed Verena's hand to place her palm on top of his bare abs. "What do you feel?"

"What do I feel? Are you serious? Oh, you're hot."

"Thanks, I guess."

Verena rolled her eyes and immediately pulled her hand away. "I did not appreciate you sleeping in my bed. I already gave you a blanket, didn't I?"

"It's too early to argue, woman," Zoren sat up and looked at her with a questioning look in his eyes. "After letting me use my body last night as your personal warmer, you are going to grill me with a bunch of questions?" He used his pinky finger to check his ears. "I have sensitive ears; I told you, right? Don't be too loud around me, please; that's too much."

"Excuse me?  "I used what?"

Zoren rolled his eyes, looking annoyed that he had to repeat himself: "Don't you remember? You kept on hugging me last night, pressing your little head to my neck and mumbling happily about how warm it was."

Oh, my goodness, I would never do that!"

He crossed his arms and sighed. "How would you know if you were asleep?"

Verena knew that he had a point. But she can't just accept that. Especially after realizing that Zoren had sat up so his legs would trap her in between, he looked at her with a slight grin on his face, as if he were making fun of how she acted last night.

"You are in my world," Verena said. "You can't just come here and sleep on the same bed as a woman."

"Do you want me to sleep on the floor?"

"Yes!"

"Is that a bed?"

"No?"

"It doesn't make sense now, does it?" He proudly leaned in to get closer to Verena, trapping her even more. A naughty smile appeared on his lips as soon as he realized his effect on her. She could barely breathe; she couldn't even look at him in the eyes because of how shy she felt.

"You're turning red," Zoren commented. He leaned in to check. "Are you feeling how hot it is now?" he asked.

"Ye-yes."

"Lie."

Her eyes grew big as she looked up at him. "What?"

"How could it be hot when I feel cold?" he asked. Zoren giggled while her face turned a brighter color of red. "It's much colder right now; you lied."

"Well, it's--"

"It is alright; don't worry," Zoren tapped her shoulder. "I understand what's happening. I have the same effect on those women in my world. I think it's not your problem; it might have been caused by me."

"What the hell are you trying to say?"

"Nothing," he smirked. "What are we going to do today? Are you going to help me get back into my world, or are you going to trap me in here and take me as yours?"

"Oh my gosh, he lost his mind." Verena whispered to herself. "I am the one who's experiencing something so outrageous; how are you the one to lose it?"

"Are you saying that I am insane?" Verena tried to stand up and leave as soon as his voice began to rise.

"Uh, I need to freshen up and--ah!"

She felt a tight grip on her arm that pulled her closer. Then his chilling voice filled her entirely. Like a cold breeze, making every hair in her body stick up.

"I tried being nice," he whispered. "But you seem like you wanted something else; don't ever play with me again. You understand?"

"Ye-yes."

A soft kiss was planted on her nape, making her knees turn into jello. She can't even attempt to stand up after

"Good, very good."