My half-asleep body could feel the eyes staring at me more than the sun rays peeking through the blinds.

Kai’s fingers twirled a strand of my hair before he pushed it behind my ear. I shifted in my spot, which made him back away.

“Did I wake you up?”

I shook my head.

“You know, babe, it’s been two months we’ve been living together, yet I feel the same excitement every morning when I wake up to your face. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it.”

The words were worth popping my eyes open. I saw Kai lying on his front, his naked shoulder muscles in view. He smiled at me, mumbling a good morning. My heart melted, and my stomach erupted in butterflies. I scooted closer, letting myself be hugged in his arms. He kissed my forehead and squeezed me tight. Each morning, I woke up feeling better and better in his arms. In a swift move, he surprised me and rolled on his back. I ended up atop of him.

I yelped. “Your…”

“Morning wood,” he finished with a smirk and received a slap on his bare chest.

I never understood why men liked sleeping half-naked. Kai rolled his hips upwards to get the sheets away from under him. I sighed at the unexpected friction it made with my core underneath the nightgown. He pulled my face closer to his, so I was a centimetre away.

“I...” he breathed out with his morning voice. “I miss those sounds, baby.”

I smiled, my heart fluttering. Kai mirrored my smile, his thumbs drawing comforting circles on my hips. I noticed dark circles growing under his eyes, knowing well my sleepless and nightmarish nights were the reason. He stayed with me through it all. My hand cupped his cheek, and I dipped down to kiss both eyes, then his lips. He kissed me back in soft caresses, holding my nape.

I had a brave moment when my hand slid down between us until I was palming his erection. Kai hissed against my lips, and I smirked. I palmed him harder until he sat up.

“Baby,” he moaned, throwing his head back.

I leisurely kissed a wet trail down his body, his neck, collarbones, chest, navel until I was at the level of his crotch. I smirked up at him, playing with the boxers’ waistband.

“It’s excited,” I whispered against the skin of his v line.

He looked down at me with lustful eyes, squeezing the sheets. “Fúck, yeah?”

I nodded, locking my eyes with his. I bit the waistband between my teeth and slid it off while he arched off the bed. His erection sprung out, very much hard and leaking. I squeezed the base and licked a path to the leaking tip. Kai grunted and cursed, soon threaded his long fingers in my bed hair.

“What’s my name, Kai?” I murmured, starting to suck and flick his needy head.

“Mel, Mel, Mel,” he chanted as I gradually took more of him between my small lips. “Fúck, baby. You’re going to make me cum too soon like that.”

I popped him out, a thin string of saliva still connecting us. He twitched at the loss of contact. I spat on the head and proceeded to stroke and spread with my hand.

“Shít, that was hot.” He groaned. “You like this cock, baby. It’s going to shower you with hot cum all over, and you’re gonna like it.”

I moaned on his hardness. Then, my hand focused on his shaft, and I ventured to lick his balls. He leaked even more, the veins becoming more prominent. Kai started thrusting into my hand, picking up the pace to which I hand-fúcked him.

“You’re going to scream my name while you cum, Kai,” I whispered.

My tongue flicked around his red tip, then I took him in again deeper than before. I gagged, and my eyes rolled, but seeing the pleasure and lust in his eyes was enough to make me keep going regardless of any discomfort. The idea it was me doing that to him excited me.

“Baby, baby, I’m going to—”

When I felt him twitch harder and about to release, I stroked faster. The warm liquid hit my face and ran on my hand. He grunted my name as if his life depended on it, and I almost creamed my knickers at the excitement. When he was done, I wiped my runny chin with my thumb and licked it clean.

“Breakfast.” I smirked.

Kai chuckled. “Not for me.” He got up and went to the toilet. “I’ll shower and order Breakfast, baby, yeah?”

I nodded. After Kai was dressed up and ready, he picked up his phone to order. The doorbell rang almost immediately, interrupting our moment.

“Well, that was one good service. I haven’t even ordered yet, but they know what I want.” He giggled.

However, I already knew who was behind it, so I insisted I was the one to open it.

“Hey,” the delivery guy greeted and handed me an envelope. “This is for Melanie González.”

I showed him my ID card, and he nodded.

“Please sign here.”

I signed the paper and took my envelope before reclosing the door.

Kai came up beside me. He hugged my back and asked, “What’s this, babe?”

I read the report. I didn’t know whether to smile or cry at the expected result, so I opted not to react anyway. I looked up at him blankly, sucking in my cheek. The paper slipped from between my fingers unconsciously. I played with my finger as though I wore a ring I kept sliding in and out of.

“Apparently, Ryan is my half-brother.”

“What?” Kai gave me a shocked then a blank face. “Woah,” he muttered then kneeled down to pick the report, probably thinking I was telling a joke. After reading the content, he said, “Life’s... full of surprises? How would you think of doing a DNA test even?”

I shrugged. “Mum told me to.”

Our food arrived a few minutes later. Kai was merely nibbling in awkward silence. I guessed he was giving us the time to absorb the shock of what I had received, which I didn’t really need because I expected the results. An hour after I received the report, Ryan was knocking on our door.

“I can explain,” he said once I opened the door wordlessly, panting as he had just run a marathon. Maybe he did. His glossy eyes held panic and pleas.

I gave his posture a once over. “But I don’t have any inquiries. Everything is clear,” I replied with a sarcastic small smile. “So, Kai told you?”

The way he took care of me, stalked me on my first days, handed me to Kai safely in the forest, always told me to tell him if I needed anything, uncaring about the truth I spew to him in the toilet —all of it finally made sense. He already knew the truth and stuck to me like a guardian angel, yet I wasn’t sure if I was mad or appreciative. Why couldn’t he tell me? I left the doorway, letting Ryan hang on there with more questions than he came with.

It led me to a dreadful truth: I very much had a father, and we shared him. Mum was not bluffing. It made my nails claw on my palm.

He invited himself inside. “How would you get the idea to do that?”

I plopped down on the sofa and gestured for him to sit in if he wanted to. “Because you were acting weird around me, and we kinda share some physical features,” I told half of the truth. “How would you know about me yourself?”

He sat down, fiddling with his fingers. “One day when I was in my teens, my father was drunk and slurred the name of a girl I never heard of,” he started.

“Melanie?” I questioned.

He nodded. “I asked him who she was, but he didn’t answer me because Mum dismissed me and said it was nothing. I didn’t care anyway. I let it slide. The next day, we talked. He looked miserable, not just from the drinks he had from the night before. He told me Melanie Martinez wasn’t just anyone—she was his daughter, my half-sister.

“Dad shamefully explained to me the affair he once had with one of his workers and how it resulted in me getting a sibling. He said the woman ran away with the baby, and at first, he didn’t look hard for his daughter. All he wanted was to get Mum’s nagging and scandals off his head. He later felt guilty, filthy, as he once mentioned. So, we looked for you together under the name Melanie Martinez.”

“And you didn’t find me, one reason being my fake surname,” I added, eyes staring at my lap all the time.

Ryan nodded. “But who thought I could share a similar major to my lost sister in a university that barely hit one thousand students annually? Well, I did, and I couldn’t be happier, Mel.”

Was he genuinely happy? I recalled Kai and Kevin’s brotherhood. Kevin didn’t like having a younger half-sibling because he didn’t like competition, so Ryan’s words were under my heavy criticism. Then again, not all people were the same.

“Did you… tell him yet?”

“I did, but he isn’t brave enough to confront you. When he tried to, your mother’s death came as a shock to him.” When I gave Ryan an apathetic look, he added, “He reminded me to take care of you, though. Every day. He is regretful, Mel.”

A silent tear slid down my cheek. During that time, I possibly needed him the most, yet he didn’t have the courage. Whatever, I thought. I had Kai and my friends anyway. I never had a father figure in my life, so I wasn’t about to express any nonexistent longing.

I didn’t know Ryan moved from his spot until the space beside me got occupied. He side-hugged me, rubbing my arm and mumbling apologies he didn’t personally owe.

“Why only now?”

Ryan’s rubs stopped. “Because he is sick, Mel. He’s afraid of leaving the world before saying goodbye and hearing your forgiveness.”

. . .

Sorry for Ryan and Melanie shippers 🙊

Thoughts about Mr Martinez?

Ryan hiding it all?

Melanie's courage?

Kai’s reaction?

Do you think she’ll make up things with her father?

Expectations for next chapter?

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