When Barlen called, Zoey was in the midst of a confession. The noise around her was so loud that the ringtone of her phone was drowned out, unheard by her.The call continued. Barlen, listening to his phone, opened the door to a dark and empty home.After setting down his suitcase, he lightly touched a few sensors near the entrance. Instantly, the room lit up and the curtains drew close.On the phone, the music stopped. Zoey didn’t answer.Barlen, with his left hand on his collar, began absentmindedly unbuttoning his shirt, staring at his phone screen for a few seconds before texting Zoey: Asleep?Zoey, completely unaware of her phone’s ringtone, also missed the text notification.Suddenly being confessed to, she was caught off guard."Bob, Bob," someone whispered.Bob didn't respond.A classmate, impatient, couldn't resist kicking him. Bob, unsteady on his knee, nearly fell over in his nervousness, turning around abruptly in annoyance.His classmate gestured and whispered, "The flowe

Zoey woke up the next day after nine o’clock. She had fallen asleep on her stomach, monopolizing both pillows with her arms and coiling a leg over Barlen's abdomen, nearly pushing him off the bed. Her sleeping position, usually neat, had become more unruly since being with Barlen.Initially, Barlen was irritated by her bed-hogging ways, but over time, he indulged her quirks, though her bad habits were hard to break.Zoey carefully removed her leg from his stomach and shared half of the blanket with him. Barlen was deeply asleep, a rare occurrence unless he was truly exhausted. His biological clock was precise, and he was not one to linger in bed.Zoey watched him for a few minutes, noticing scratch marks on his shoulders and chest that she had left the night before. Rubbing her neck, she lay back for a moment before getting up to find a nightgown and heading downstairs for water.After drinking a large glass of warm water, her thirst was quenched. Her stomach growled with hunger from