MY RIVAL BECOME MY LOVER

Chapter 10:The Morning After

Jay woke up and immediately knew something was different.

First, he was not in his own bed.

Second, his bed was way too warm.

Third, there was an arm around his waist. A heavy, muscular arm.

He opened his eyes.

Brian was asleep next to him. In Brian's bed. They had fallen asleep talking, then kissing, then talking again until 3 AM. Jay's head was on Brian's chest. Brian's #14 jersey was on the floor. Jay was wearing Brian's oversized black t-shirt which went down to his knees.

Oh my god. They had slept together.

Not _that_ way. Just slept. But still.

Jay had never shared a bed with anyone before.

He tried to move quietly, but Brian's arm tightened.

"Don't go," Brian mumbled, still half asleep. His voice was deep and raspy in the morning.

"I'm not going anywhere. I need to pee," Jay whispered.

Brian opened one eye. Then smiled. That soft morning smile that made Jay's heart do gymnastics.

"Good morning, roommate," Brian said.

"Good morning... boyfriend?" Jay tested the word. It felt weird and exciting on his tongue.

Brian's smile got wider. "Boyfriend. I like that. Say it again."

"Boyfriend."

"Again."

"Boyfriend boyfriend boyfriend. Are you happy now?"

Brian pulled him back down and kissed his forehead. "Very happy."

Jay giggled and hid his face in Brian's chest. He could hear Brian's heart beating. Strong and steady.

"Bri, what time is it?"

Brian reached for his phone on the nightstand, not letting go of Jay. "8:47 AM."

Jay shot up. "8:47?! Our class is at 9 AM! Econ!"

"We have an A already, we can skip," Brian said lazily, pulling him back.

"We cannot skip! Davis will kill us! And we're wearing... we're in one bed! What if someone comes!"

"Nobody has a key except us."

As if on cue, the door handle rattled.

Then banged.

"JAY! BRIAN! OPEN THE DOOR! I KNOW YOU TWO ARE IN THERE! I HAVE NEWS!"

Maya.

Jay panicked and fell off the bed. Tangled in the blanket. Onto the floor.

Brian sighed and got up, pulling on sweatpants, shirtless. He opened the door.

Maya stormed in holding her laptop. "You two are TRENDING! Look!"

She showed them the campus anonymous page.

A photo: Brian and Jay under the small umbrella yesterday. Another photo: Brian pointing at Jay on the basketball court. Another photo: them walking back to the dorm, Brian's arm around Jay, from last night - the photo Maya took.

Caption: "Is Business Department's Ice Prince Brian Kim OFF THE MARKET? Spotted with his roommate Jay Lee. Room 14 is getting HOT. #Room14 #BLRealLife"

It had 847 likes. 200 comments.

*Comments:*

- "OMG I KNEW IT"

- "Room 14 is canon"

- "They share an umbrella = married in my country"

- "Sera is crying rn"

Jay wanted to die. "Maya! Delete that!"

"I didn't post it! Someone else did! The whole dorm building saw you two last night! You were not subtle!"

Brian, surprisingly calm, closed the laptop. "Let them post."

Both Jay and Maya stared at him.

"What?" Brian said. "Let them look. I said that yesterday. I meant it."

He looked at Jay, who was still on the floor in his oversized shirt.

"Are you embarrassed?" Brian asked quietly.

Jay thought about it. Was he embarrassed? Yesterday he would have been. Yesterday he would have denied everything.

But today, after waking up in Brian's arms, after being called lucky charm and boyfriend...

"No," Jay said, standing up. "I'm not embarrassed."

He walked to Brian and, in front of Maya, took Brian's hand.

Maya screamed. "OH MY GOD YOU ARE HOLDING HANDS! MY SHIP HAS SAILED! MY BABIES!"

"Can you scream quieter? The whole floor can hear you," Brian said, but he was holding Jay's hand tightly too.

Maya took 50 photos. "For memories! For the wedding! Okay I have to go tell everyone that Room 14 is officially dating! Bye!"

She ran out, leaving the door open.

Jay closed it and leaned against it. "Everyone knows now."

"Is that okay?"

Jay nodded, then smiled shyly. "Can I... can I have a good morning kiss? For my boyfriend?"

Brian walked over. He cupped Jay's face like he did last night. "You can have anything."

He kissed him. Morning kiss. Soft, a little messy because Jay hadn't brushed his teeth yet, but Jay didn't care. Brian didn't care.

When they broke apart, Jay whispered, "Your t-shirt is too big."

"It looks better on you than on me," Brian said, kissing his nose. "Keep it."

"But you love this shirt!"

"I love you more."

Silence.

They both froze.

Did Brian just say love?

Brian's face turned bright red. "I mean... I mean I... I like you more than the shirt! That's what I meant! I..."

Jay started laughing. Then he was crying a little. Happy tears again.

"You said love," Jay whispered.

"I know. It slipped. Too fast, right? I'm sorry, I—"

Jay kissed him to shut him up. Hard.

"Don't be sorry," Jay said against his lips. "Say it again."

Brian hugged him tight, lifting him off the floor a little. "I think I'm falling in love with you, Jay Lee. My annoying, noodle-eating, sock-stealing roommate."

"I'm not annoying!"

"You are. But you're my annoying."

Jay hit his shoulder, but he was smiling so big his cheeks hurt. "I think I'm falling in love with you too, Brian Kim. My cold, rude, towel-stealing roommate."

"I don't steal towels, I—"

"You do!"

They fell back onto the bed, laughing, kissing, forgetting about the 9 AM class completely.

At 9:15 AM, Prof. Davis marked them absent.

At 9:16 AM, Maya sent them a photo of Davis's face and wrote: "He knows you two are skipping to make out. He said 'Tell Room 14 I want their assignment on my desk tomorrow or they both fail.'"

Brian texted back: "Worth it."

Jay looked at the text and then at Brian.

"Worth it?" Jay asked.

Brian pulled the blanket over both of them, hiding them from the world, from the trending page, from the 9 AM class.

"Worth everything," Brian whispered, and kissed him again under the blanket fort that was now officially theirs.

And Room 14, which started as two strangers sharing a small, cold dorm room, was now the warmest place on campus.