My throat was so dry that even coughing hurt. I opened my eyes, desperate for water. My gaze immediately caught the clock hanging on the wall, made visible by the faint light coming through the window. It was almost six in the morning.
When I turned slightly onto my right side, I nearly had a heart attack. The second I realized what I was seeing wasn't a ghost but Feyza's face buried under her own hair, I sat up in bed. I pressed a hand to my chest over my heart, which felt like it was about to leap out, and took a deep breath.
You don't wake up with a Samara waiting right next to you, obviously.
As I stared at my friend, two things crossed my mind: First, how could this girl breathe with that much hair covering her face? And second, what was she doing in my bed?
The moment I remembered what happened the night before, I looked around more carefully. A bunch of medicine was lined up by my head. In a corner on the floor were dirty sheets, balled up and tossed aside. On the left side of the bed was an empty chair with a shirt draped over it.
Had there been someone else in the apartment besides us?
I still felt a little weak, but I wasn't so bad that I couldn't stand. Curious, I got out of bed and walked toward the living room—only to freeze in the doorway at the sight in front of me.
Someone else, what someone else? It was like the entire engineering faculty had moved into my apartment.
Nil was cuddled up against Bora, and Bora had his arms around her. Demir had his feet propped up on the coffee table, and Aylin was leaning against Demir's chest.
Seeing those two like that made me consider the possibility that I'd woken up in a parallel universe.
On top of that, the place was a mess. Every table, every coffee table, and every empty surface had cups on it, and packages that were clearly leftovers from food deliveries.
My throat started hurting again, and I needed water before I fell into another coughing fit. I postponed waking them up and interrogating them, and went into the kitchen.
I filled a glass and took a sip—then when I turned around, I bumped into a body I absolutely hadn't expected to be there.
Half my water spilled onto him, but apparently this person didn't exactly have a shirt to get wet.
With my mouth hanging open, I stared at the solid wall of muscle in front of me. When I lifted my head and met that face and those piercing black eyes, I felt like a kid caught doing something naughty.
"Why aren't you in your bed?"
"Because I'm thirsty." I frowned and pointed at his bare chest. "Why are you walking around my house half-naked?"
As I spoke, my voice didn't even sound like it belonged to any specific gender—but with my throat like this, it looked like I'd be missing my own voice for days.
"I heard you coughing, so I got out of the shower fast to check on you."
After he pulled on the T-shirt he was holding, his gaze slid over me with obvious amusement, and I looked down at myself too.
I was wearing a summer pink shorts-and-cami pajama set. So what?
Then I lifted my head—and a few seconds later, glanced down at myself again, and let out a groan of pure humiliation.
Out of the millions of people in this world I could've stood in front of wearing a tiny pajama set that literally said "Do you want to touch? ☺" across the chest… why did it have to be Rüzgar?
Without looking at his face again, I rushed to my room and tore through my closet, throwing on the longest, biggest cardigan I could find. By the time I returned to the kitchen, still buttoning it up, he was making himself coffee.
The fact that he could find everything in one go was… interesting.
He was more comfortable in my house than I was, honestly.
I pulled out a chair and sat down. He set a glass filled with a ridiculously colorful liquid in front of me, then brought his coffee and sat across from me.
When I lifted the glass and brought it to my nose, I wrinkled it at the smell I didn't like and set it back down.
"I'm not drinking that."
"You don't have a choice."
I took his coffee cup and gave him the glass in front of me.
"Now I do."
"If you want to go to the hospital, be my guest."
My smile vanished instantly. I snatched my glass back and returned his coffee to him. Even if it was against my will, I took a sip and put the glass down.
The taste wasn't as bad as the smell, but I definitely couldn't call it enjoyable.
"How long have I been asleep?"
"More than a day."
"What?" A wave of panic dropped from my chest straight into the pit of my stomach and I jumped up. "My mom must be dying of worry. Where's my phone?"
I was about to rush out of the kitchen when he grabbed my arm. I stopped and looked at him.
"Aylin talked to your mom."
I relaxed a little and sat back down.
"And my mom didn't say anything even though I was too sick to talk on the phone?"
"I don't know what she said. But there's no problem."
I sighed and shook my head.
"Why is everyone here? I just caught a cold. You didn't need to gather around me like I came out of surgery."
"Yesterday, when your mom kept calling nonstop, Feyza called Aylin. I called Demir to bring clothes. Bora and Nil heard from Demir that you were sick. And no one wanted to leave until you woke up."
It was sweet that so many people cared about me, but I also felt awful for worrying them.
"Did you find me?"
"Yes."
"How did you get inside?" He took a sip of coffee and answered calmly.
"The key was on top of the door."
Considering what kind of state I'd come home in that night, it wasn't surprising that I'd forgotten it.
Not wanting to remember anything else, I drank half the glass in one go and moved on to the next question.
"Then why did you come, exactly?" He stared straight into my eyes with a blank expression.
"To get my jacket."
Okay. Now I was genuinely confused.
"What jacket?"
"The jacket I left you in the library."
"That jacket was yours?" The shock and suspicion I felt slipped into my voice too.
"Yes."
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?"
"You didn't ask."
If he hadn't looked so serious, I would've thought he was messing with me. I rolled my eyes and reached for my cup.
"Sometimes I can't decide what's more irritating—when you talk, or when you don't."
Before I could ask my next question, I started coughing again. I took a sip or two from my glass. It helped a bit, but my throat still hurt.
When my weird tea was finished, I noticed the orange lozenge he had set in front of me. I hadn't even realized when he'd gone in and out of my room.
I popped it into my mouth and studied him carefully.
"Are you taking this much care of me because of Kerem?" His gaze shifted for the briefest second, but his cold expression didn't crack.
"No."
Most of the time, I felt like he didn't even notice I existed. But every once in a while, I got the feeling he actually hated me—just like right now.
But if he hated me, then why was he doing so much for me?
Ever since we met because of Kerem, his attitude toward me had always been cold, like I'd done something wrong to him. Yes, maybe he was like that with most people around him… but when it was me, something changed.
And whenever Kerem wasn't around, he treated it like a duty to look after me and help me.
On top of that, he was overly careful and controlled about anything related to Kerem. And despite all his handsome looks and attractive style, not even a single female fly seemed to buzz around him—which didn't feel normal to me.
That left only one possibility in my mind.