The next morning, "ugh," Luke stretched his body on the bed, then got up and sat there, slowly opening his eyes. He looked around and saw the two empty beds in front of him.
"Oh... right... Noel and Ava are staying over at their partners' places," he muttered.
He glanced at the digital clock on the desk; it was already 8:00 AM. His eyes widened and he immediately turned to swing his legs off the bed, but then he remembered it was Sunday.
"Oh yeah... it's Sunday and I'm planning to rest, so whatever, just take it easy," Luke said inside his head.
He stood up and casually walked toward the bathroom while scratching his head, passing the sofa. He pushed open the bathroom door. "Huh." He was stunned to see Lorna inside the bathroom; she was just about to turn on the shower and was completely naked, also frozen at the sight of him. The air went silent as neither of them moved or made a sound. Only then did Luke remember that Lorna had stayed over last night.
"Sorry, I'm going back out," Luke said with a deadpan face, casually closing the door again slowly.
Then Luke stood there, leaning against the door, and "blush," his face started turning red. Burned into his mind were all the curves of Lorna's bare and clearly sexy body. But a moment later, "thump," he was startled as he felt someone shove the door from the inside, forcing it open just a crack.
"Luke... open up... hey, open up," Lorna shouted.
Luke turned around and opened the door. He was shocked to see Lorna, who had wrapped her body in a towel and was standing with her hands on her hips, staring at him with a pout.
"What's with you?" Luke asked, confused.
"Why was that your reaction... you saw me naked but you were so calm and casual about it?" Lorna shouted angrily.
"Wait... how was I supposed to act? Besides, we used to shower together all the time when we were ten, right?" Luke asked innocently.
"What... are you serious? Back then I was totally flat, top to bottom... now I'm actually sexy and have curves in all the right places... why didn't you have a reaction? Am I really not attractive to you?" Lorna shouted angrily.
"What exactly was I supposed to do? Pounce on you because I'm horny just from looking at your body? Is that what you want me to do?" Luke asked, starting to get annoyed.
Lorna went silent instantly. She realized she had said a lot of things she should have kept to herself. Finally, her face turned bright red and she ducked back into the bathroom, locking the door behind her. Luke let out a sigh and turned around.
"Good grief... I was trying so hard to control myself, and then she just comes out and shows everything off like that. Doesn't she know that seeing just a glimpse is even more tempting than seeing it all... turns out Lorna really is a woman now... ugh... I can't get it out the sight of my head," Luke muttered, leaning back against the bathroom door again.
Then Luke walked back to the sofa and saw Lorna's clothes from last night still lying there. He remembered changing her clothes last night and putting his own t-shirt on her while she slept. Suddenly, he clutched his chest because his heart started racing—so fast it felt like it might jump out of his body. But then he slapped his cheeks with both hands.
"Stop... just stop... Lorna is my childhood friend, there's no way... I should just go count last night's cash earnings instead... while it's still early... I'll do it downstairs, no need to come back up," Luke muttered, snapping back to reality.
After that, Luke immediately rushed downstairs, grabbing his spreadsheet and smartphone to calculate the cafe's earnings from yesterday.
***
Meanwhile, inside the bathroom, Lorna had turned on the shower and was crouching under the spray, hugging her knees. She let the water soak her as she stared down at the floor tiles, which seemed more interesting than anything else right now. Her face was still bright red and her mind was racing with all sorts of messy thoughts. On top of that, her heart was pounding so hard she could hear it in her ears even under the sound of the shower.
"Dammit... dammit... dammit... why did I say that? It was the right move for him to just leave out of respect for me, so why did I get mad because he didn't pounce on me... good grief... I'm so embarrassed now," Lorna said to herself.
Then she stood up and looked down, staring at her own body in the silence. She raised both hands and held her chest, weighing them and pushing them up. Then she turned to look behind her and began to lift her rear, before standing up straight again under the shower.
"Am I... not sexy enough... I know my hair is short... but my body is clearly a girl's, right? Is he really not interested in me? Even though he changed my clothes last night, saw me totally naked just now, and saw me just wrapped in a towel... but... there was absolutely no reaction... well, his face was a little red... from embarrassment? Or what? Man, my self-confidence is starting to shake," Lorna asked herself.
But before she could process anything further, she remembered the look on Luke's face when he started getting annoyed, asking her what he was supposed to do. Her face flushed red again and she immediately crouched down, covering her eyes with her hands; then, she let out a loud, muffled scream behind her palms. Once she was finished screaming and felt satisfied, Lorna just sat there in silence, staring straight ahead while hugging her knees.
"I feel like I'm going to die... this is so embarrassing... should I... should I just tell him straight up how I feel about him... but if I get rejected and we end up not being friends anymore, then what... I'm scared of being far away from him... what should I do... I'm so stressed... I'm actually afraid to face him right now," Lorna said in her heart while she thought it over.
***
Meanwhile, downstairs, Luke sat staring at his spreadsheet with the cash box full of money next to him, but he just sat there in silence, spinning his pen through his fingers without getting anything done. Of course, his mind kept looping back to the image already burned into his brain—one that was now impossible to kick out of his head.
"Click," he finally dropped his pen and clutched his head with both hands.
"Argh... what is wrong with me? Work, just work... why am I thinking about Lorna instead? She's my childhood friend... she's a childhood friend, nothing more and nothing less. I don't want to hurt her. Please, get out of my heart... I don't want to be rejected by her and end up with her not by my side anymore... please... just stop," Luke said to himself while ruffling his messy long hair.
"Thud," Luke finally flopped over and slammed his head against the table until it made a loud noise. After that, he sat back up straight and rubbed his forehead, then began taking the money out of the cash box and counting it seriously.