What You Are

Chapter 2-1

Chapter 2

Alex crawled out of bed the next morning feeling like a zombie. Gabriel’s parties always left him devastated, but he didn’t like to skip work, even if he had to put all his efforts into dragging himself around.

He worked in a pet store near the mall. He was the person who opened and closed the shop, and he would never leave the pets without food. He loved his animals. He wasn’t sure Karl, the owner of the shop, knew where to find anything in his own place.

He ran his hands over his face and pushed his glasses up on his nose. It was impossible to wear contact lenses as soon as he woke up, and he didn’t care if his roommates saw him like this—although it happened very rarely. He went to the bathroom, used the toilet, and then walked into the hallway, toward the kitchen. He was still wearing his pajama bottoms and a T-shirt. He yawned and scratched his head as he passed in front of the door and jumped when it snapped open. His reflexes were too foggy and he just tightened his shirt to his chest, stifling a cry of fright.

The shock passed within ten seconds, as soon as he realized—yes, he needed a little bit of time—the person who had just entered the house was Daniel. Alex stared at him in silence for a few seconds, and the other guy stared back. Daniel had been jogging, it was evident. He was wearing sweatpants and a white shirt, and he was visibly sweating, his dark hair plastered to his forehead.

“Oh.” Daniel blinked twice, as if he was awakening from a dream.

“Well,” Alex replied intelligently, clearing his throat. So what? It was dawn and he was drunk the night before. He was still recovering from a hangover. He deserved a little bit of pity, right?

“Did I scare you?” Daniel closed the door behind him. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

“Yeah, well. But no. You didn’t scare me,” Alex mumbled before heading toward the kitchen.

“I think so. You jumped and—”

“Okay, stop. You can be Mr. Morning but I’m not. I’m not scared and I don’t want to talk.”

Daniel bit his lip and nodded, frowning.