THE NIGHT SHE BRING A STRANGER HOME
1427 Words
Hermelyn gasped. “Oh my, Sir? Hey! Hey! Don’t you dare collapse!”
She rushed toward him, catching his arm before he fell in the sideways. The moment her fingers touched his sleeve, she felt the heat of his skin, hi jnweehe was either extremely drunk or running a fever. Or both.
The man lifted his head slowly.
And Hermelyn forgot how to breathe.
His eyes were half-closed, but he still saw their shape, in deep blur and framed by lashes far to say that she's really a woman. Her hair fell over his forehead in disheveled waves.
While Hermelyn noticed his jawline could probably cut through ice. He looked like someone who should’ve been photographed on the cover of a luxury magazine, not wobbling over a public bridge like a toddler learning to walk.
“Miss…” he slurred, blinking hard. “The sea… is calling me.”
“No, it is NOT,” she answered, horrified. “Don’t listen to the sea! The sea doesn’t know you!”
He blinked at her, confused. “It said it wants my phone.”
“Your phone?” Hermelyn stared. “Why would the sea want your phone?”
The guy pouted...actually pouted. “It hurts me.” he said. But this moment Hermelyn smiled in a little way, because she found him really cute.
“I’m sure it does. But you’re drunk. Super drunk.”
He sniffed, like a child. “I’m not drunk.”
“You smell like a distillery,” Hermelyn deadpanned. “And your feet are pointed in two different directions. Come on.”
The man suddenly straightened, wobbling like a freshly born giraffe. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, a ridiculously expensive one that didn’t belong anywhere near this situation.
“The sea wants this,” he whispered.
Before Hermelyn even processed his words, he lifted the phone dramatically above the railing.
“NO!” she shrieked.
She grabbed his arm, but his drunken strength was unpredictable. He lost balance, tilted forward, and fell toward her again. The phone slipped from his fingers, glinting once under the streetlight before spiraling down.
"Plunk"
The phone falls straight into the dark water below.
Hermelyn froze. “You. you just...your phone!”
The man gasped. “The sea ate it!”
“Yes because YOU FED IT!” she yelled, struggling to keep his heavy body from toppling over.
He didn’t seem to care about the phone anymore. He looked at her with a slow, and silly smile.
“You’re very… blurry.”
“That’s because you’re drunk!” Hermelyn insisted.
“You’re still pretty even if blurry,” he murmured.
Hermelyn’s ears turned dangerously hot. “Okay that’s enough nonsense. You need to get home. Where do you live? Sir? Hello?”
But the man was already half unconscious, leaning his entire weight on her until her knees trembled.
“Oh great,” she muttered. “Why is every handsome guy heavy?”
With no choice, she wrapped his arm around her shoulders and began dragging... no, towing him toward her apartment, which thankfully was just a few blocks away.
Every few steps he mumbled random things:
“The moon is judging me…”
“Ma’am, you smell like a bread.”
“Why are there three of you? Why don't you leave me alone?"
Hermelyn’s patience was the only thing keeping her from dropping him on the sidewalk. But despite her frustration, she couldn’t deny the warmth spreading in her chest, the kind that came from helping someone who clearly needed it.
And maybe, just maybe.. she found him impossibly cute in his drunken confusion.
In her small apartment, she kicked her door open, guiding him inside. He stumbled once, twice, then landed face-first on her sofa with an “oof.”
Hermelyn bent over, panting. "Sir… if you ever become sober, I hope you turn into a feather.”
She removed his shoes, covered him with her only extra blanket, and placed a small basin beside him in case he... Well. In case!
Then she sat on the floor, watching the rise and fall of his chest. It was the first time she ever brought a man, a total stranger, into her apartment.
And it was the first time she slept on the edge of her own bed, too afraid he might suddenly wander off or puke on her furniture.
When the morning came… and the drunk stranger did NOT wake up.
Hermelyn poked his arm. "Hello? Sir? Handsome stranger? Cute guy.."?"
He groaned, rolled to the other side, and fell asleep again. Hermelyn sighed.
But hours passed. She did her chores, cooking and eating. Before she washed the dishes she checked on him again.
Still asleep.
By the time the sun set, she sat behind the sofa watching some news on TV, hoping he will be annoyed of loud noises but still, asleep.
When the sun rose again, she was nearly convinced she’d be on the news, but it's not in fact she's falling asleep on the sofa while waiting for him to wake up.
Finally, at exactly the 24-hour mark, she heard a sudden, loud gasp.
Hermelyn jumped, nearly dropping her mug, as the man shot upright on her sofa.
His hair was a chaotic mess. His eyes were wide.
His expression was pure panic.
“WHERE AM I?!”
Hermelyn raised an eyebrow. “My apartment.”
He looked at her like she had declared herself as the Queen of the Universe.
“Who are you?!”
She crossed her arms.“I’m the person who prevented you from diving into the ocean and feeding your phone to the shark”
His jaw dropped. "You...what? Why didn’t you call someone to pick me up?!”
“I DON’T KNOW YOU!” she snapped. “How am I supposed to call someone when your phone took a swim?!”
He froze. "My… phone?”
Hermelyn winced. “About that…”
He stared at her with growing horror. “Where is it?”
She hesitated, then: "I lost your phone.”
The room went quiet. The cute guy blinked twice.
“You… lost it?”
“It’s not entirely my fault!” Hermelyn defended herself, throwing her hands up. “You wanted to throw it into the sea! I tried to stop you! But you fell on top of me... and your phone fell under the bridge!”
He buried his face in his palms.“I can’t believe this.”
Hermelyn huffed. “You’re welcome for saving your life, by the way.”
He looked at her again... and for a moment, his frustration softened. "You… brought me here?”
“Yes. Dragged you, actually. You’re extremely heavy.”
He blinked again, his expression shifting from panic to confusion to something almost grateful. Then he noticed her tiny apartment, the folded blanket, and the basin she left beside the couch.
“…Did I stay here all night?”
“More like all day too,” she muttered. “Congratulations. You broke your own sleeping record.”
A slow, embarrassed flush crept up his neck. He rubbed the back of his head. "I… owe you an apology. And maybe a new phone. Because this sounds like something I’d do only if I were extremely drunk.”
“You were extremely drunk,” she confirmed.
“And I stayed here? In your apartment?”
“Yes.” Hermelyn proudly confirmed.
“In your… living room?”
“Yes.” Hermelyn pointed at the sofa.
“And you didn’t..”
Hermelyn glared. “Finish that sentence and I will throw you into the sea.”
His lips pressed into a thin line “Right. Sorry.” But then his expression softened again, his voice dropping slightly. "Thank you....”
Hermelyn’s cheeks warmed. "Don’t thank me. Just— don’t get drunk near bridges anymore.”
He chuckled, and the sound was deep, warm, and Hermelyn found him too attractive.
“For the record,” he added quietly, “I’ve never woken up in a stranger’s apartment before.”
Hermelyn crossed her arms.“Same. First time I ever slept under the same roof with a strange man.”
Then they just looked at each other in silence. Both of them felt a bit awkward, but there was a warmth between them.
Then the guy cleared his throat, just to cut the moment “ Anyway my name is...”
And that was the moment Hermelyn realized… She never even asked his name.
- Writer
