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The first thing she did was grab a towel from nearby and wrapped it around her waist. "Let me grab a robe for you. You can look at my scars later if we don't end up switching back bodies soon." She kept everything organized in her walk-in closet so it didn’t take long for her to find a robe. Once she had one, she hurriedly placed it around Cain. It was white with pink flowers, very girly but it didn’t matter as he was in her body.
"Aren't we going to take a shower though?" He fumbled to keep the robe closed. It almost seemed as if she had forgotten all about what they were going to do and it wasn’t like they could shower with a towel and robe on.
"Oh gosh, you're right. I guess that hit on the head made me forget. It's getting late now, isn't it?" She felt a sudden shakiness in the limbs and had to support herself on the bathroom vanity.
Cain being observant was able to pick up on Abby's sudden change of posture. He could tell she didn’t want to go to his dorms. But he knew of a way to cheer her up. He hadn’t yet told her who his roommate was, someone he was sure would make her happy the moment she knew. She had after all told him she wanted to meet him. “Do you want to know who I share rooms with?"
“Who?” Even though she preferred not to talk about the topic as it would only cause her anxiety, not knowing didn’t change the fact she would most likely have to live with others. The last time she heard Cain had been sharing a room with Lucas and Eli but roommates were usually changed ever so often. They could have changed for all she knew.
"Your bias wrecker."
Abby waited for him to say more but he didn't. She was almost certain he shared rooms with at least two members so the fact he only shared with one alleviated her somewhat. "That's it? You only share rooms with one member?"
It wasn’t the excitement Cain had expected from her so he wasn’t sure what to make of her reaction. "Yup. That's it. Just Abel and me. Lucas used to be in our room but he moved out recently and is now sharing rooms with Simon and Josiah."
"Do any of the members have their own room?" She wondered if it was possible for him to request a room to himself so she wouldn’t have to share with someone.
"Nope. There are only three bedrooms. The other two bedrooms have three members per room. Their rooms are bigger though. Abel and I have the smallest one so that's why it's just the two of us now. It was getting cramped with a third person so we made Lucas move out."
"Do you sleep on a bunk bed or single Twin beds?" She wasn’t sure which was worse. A bunk bed meant sharing a bed but as one was above the other, they would be some feet apart. With single Twin beds there would also be that distance except they would be on the same level. Room size however mattered as the smaller the room, the closer the beds.
"Separate Twin beds. The other two rooms have the bunk beds."
Not knowing how to respond to his answer, Abby went on ahead to the shower. "Well let's get this done, shall we?"
Cain nodded and followed after her. She still had the towel wrapped around her waist and he still had the robe on but having learned from their mistake, they didn’t take them off until once they were inside.
They scrubbed each other in silence as neither of them knew what to say. The situation was just as awkward for both of them. Cain however wondered why Abby had a second loofah when she told him she lived alone. It made him think she had a boyfriend and he couldn’t shake off the feeling he was perhaps using the loofah of another guy. What he didn’t know was that Abby kept a stash of them as they were disposable to her after one use. But the more Cain scrubbed, the more his curiosity gnawed at him that he could no longer stay silent. He had to know. "Do you have a boyfriend?"
"Huh? Why do you want to know?" She jerked her head back. It was the last question she would have expected from him.
"Just wondering if I'll have to play the part of a girlfriend while I'm in your body. It would be sort of awkward if I did, don’t you think?" It was of course only a lie as he hadn’t even thought about such a thing but he felt the need for an excuse.
"Well no need to worry because I don't have a boyfriend, I wouldn't be able to even if I wanted one."
"Why do you say that?" With her big hazel eyes, sun-kissed skin, long straight hair, and perfect body proportions he would have thought she had various suitors. He didn’t see why she wouldn't be able to get a boyfriend when she was as beautiful as she was. He would even ask her out if he could but there were two things that stopped him from doing so. The first being that they weren't even in their own bodies so it would almost be as if he were to date himself. The second being that he wasn’t allowed to date, at least not yet but soon. According to their contracts Adam had to wait at least three years till they could date but that anniversary was fast approaching. He however knew it was best not to date that soon as there had been many idols that lost fans just for dating and not only that but whoever they dated usually received a lot of hate.
"Why do I say that? Well there are many reasons I could list that it would probably take me all night just to say them. So to save us some time I’ll only say two, going out on dates and physical contact. Have you ever seen a couple not hug or kiss? I’m sure you haven’t as I myself have not. And not only can I not do those things but I also can’t even do something as simple as holding hands with someone.” With her two phobias, she thought it would have been obvious why she couldn't date. Her last committed relationship had even ended for those reasons. It was why she had accepted that no one would ever want to be with her.
"But we kissed..." Neither of them had brought up the kiss but Cain had been wanting to talk about it. He felt the need to apologize for having taken off her mask and face shield because that had been the only reason they ended up kissing. Had he kept them on, they wouldn’t have.
"I know but that didn't really count. It was more like I was kissing myself, it’s why I didn't freak out. But if I were to actually kiss someone else then that would be a whole different story."
"Well I think if you really love someone not going out on dates and not hugging or kissing shouldn't be a big deal. They could still spend time together and talk, sort of like we're doing right now. You don't even have to leave your apartment to have a date. Ever heard of Netflix and popcorn? Those two things alone probably make a better date than anything else."
“If only you were right...” Abby whispered the words as she turned off the shower.
"Actually, if you would like, we could have one right now. Do you have Netflix?" No longer feeling the water on him, Cain reached out for the set of clothes Abby set out for him. It was a pajama set as she thought it would be easier and more comfortable for him to change into.
"What do you mean we could have one right now?" He had left her with the impression that he couldn’t stay for long considering how he even refused to drink a cup of hot chocolate. And it wasn’t like anything had changed, he still had to return the car to his mom.
"Well I don’t know about you but I’m up for a movie. If you don't have Netflix it's fine, I can just log into Josiah's account. I'm sure he wouldn't mind. Got any popcorn though?" Just talking about Netflix had him craving the buttery snack.
"But don't you have to go?" Abby who only had a towel wrapped around the waist fumbled to find something to wear. All she had were small clothes, none of which would fit on Cain's body.
"Not if I have a sprained ankle." The fact he was expected at his dorms was something he hadn’t forgotten as he was already used to his curfew. He had however come up with a temporary solution, one in which not only would allow them to be together for a night but even a week or two if they were lucky. It was time they needed to try and figure out how to switch back. For his plan to work Abby only needed to be okay with sharing her apartment with him.
"I didn't sprain your ankle though..." She would have limped if she had but she had been able to walk just fine. She was even able to jump to get a one piece from the highest shelf in her closet. Although it wasn’t really necessary for her to do so as she was now taller, jumping to reach something from a high shelf was a habit of hers.
"It's called acting, ever heard of it? It's basically the same thing we did earlier at the clinic when we reenacted the fall."
"I know what acting is but I'm not sure I'll be able to pull it off.” It almost seemed as if she had gotten the short end of the stick as it would be her that would have to do most of the things that needed to be done.
"You'll do fine. All you have to do is call the manager and tell him you sprained your ankle and had to get it checked out. Say they put a cast on and that you're going to have to use crutches. But you have to say it will only take two weeks to heal and that you'll be staying with your parents during that time."
"And will you be staying with your parents?” She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at him. “And why two weeks? Can't you make it longer?"
“Hey, that’s so cool! Where did you get it?” He pointed at the llama one piece Abby had just gotten into. One of the nicknames he had been given by fans was drama llama so he had grown fond of the animal.
"Why do you ask? Do you like it? You can have it if you want. It was the only thing of mine I could manage to fit into. It’s a one size but it's too big on my own body. I think it looks better on you.”
"Are you sure I can have it?"
"Yup. Now can you answer my questions? Don’t think I didn’t notice you changing the topic. ”
"Well I obviously can't stay with my parents, at least not while I’m still you. You also probably wouldn't want to be living with two strangers. And it can only be two weeks because like I said before, the group will be having a comeback. I can't skip out on too many practices or comeback promotions."
"So if I'm not going to stay at your dorms and neither with your parents but you also can't then...does that mean you're implying we both share my apartment?" Her forehead wrinkled as she bit the inside of her cheek.
"If that's okay with you that is. What do you say, be my roomie?" He clasped both hands under his chin while he looked up at her.
Abby didn't have much to think about as she knew it would probably be the best solution they would be able to come up with. "Fine." She slumped into a chair in her bedroom. “You said I have to call your manager, right?”
“Yup, so here.” He gave her his phone which he had placed on top of a nightstand.
"What do you want me to say exactly? Like word by word." She felt the need to seem believable to his manager as he was one of the person’s closest to him. Because of this, fooling him would be harder and even though she had Cain’s voice, she had no idea in what manner he spoke to his manager.
"Do you have paper and a pen?" He thought writing out what she had to say would help her.
"Of course. What do you want them for?"
"Well all actors have scripts, don't they? I'll write you one and you can just follow it."
The idea sounded good but there was one flaw she could think of, he wouldn't be able to predict what his manager would say. Because of course the manager would respond back to her and in turn she too would have to respond to him. “So you’ll write me a script but without knowing what your manager will say? How is that going to work out?”
“Easy, we’ll just have the speaker on and with the pen and paper, I’ll write down what to reply to him."
“I guess that could work. Go ahead and write the first line.” She handed him a piece of paper and pen from one of her drawers.
“Hyung, bad news, I sprained my ankle after getting my vaccination.” Abby read what Cain had written several times but while trying to sound different each time.
"Go with the third, it sounded more like me. And don’t worry about the rest, you got this.” He placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it but she quickly pulled away.
The call ended up going just as they planned, the manager believed her, he however didn’t have the final word on whether or not Cain would be allowed the time off. But as part of his job, he would talk to the higher-ups and try to persuade them.
“Hyung is good at convincing people, I’m sure I’ll get the two weeks. So how about that Netflix date?” He took his phone from her and started to look up movies.
Abby knew he wasn't really asking her out but his words still made her blush. It was hard to believe her bias wanted to watch a movie with her but she had to act cool so as to not seem like a fangirl. "Only if you pick the movie.”
"Really? You’re okay with that? I thought everyone usually fought over picking movies." At least everyone in Adam did. And it was usually either the leader or the maknae that got their way.
"Yup. I’m curious to know what kind of movies you like."
A smile appeared on Cain’s face upon hearing she wanted to know more about him. Even if it was over something trivial, it meant she had some interest in him.
All that was left to do before they watched a movie was to return the car to his mom. But considering how she was a hugger and a kisser, he thought it was best if Abby didn’t meet with her. Instead he decided to text her and ask if she could pick up the car. All he had to do was say that it was in the parking lot outside a friend's apartment. His mom had an extra key and he was sure his dad would be able to drive her there.
With everything taken care of, they were finally free to browse through Netflix. Abby started to squeal once Cain got to one of the movies. He had gone through many as he hadn't known what to choose but it was the first movie that had gotten a reaction from her and it turned out to be an animated movie called A Whisker Away. He had been trying to find something she would like but he didn't know her enough to know all her likes and dislikes.
"Do you like cats?" He asked. If she did it would explain her reaction. He was more of a dog person but that was mostly because he was allergic to cat fur. But if she liked cats, he was certain she would get along well with his group member Lucas who owned three of them.
"I do.” She placed her head on the sectional’s armrest. “I actually used to have a Russian Blue back in California but had to leave her behind when I moved here. Then Jun bought me a Bengal but he got too attached to my Kit Kat that he took her away...” She felt as tears started to trickle but quickly wiped them away with her arm. Her cats had been more than just pets to her, they were like her children and she lost them both because of the same man that broke her heart.
“Kit Kat? Isn’t that the name of a chocolate?”
“Yup. I know it’s a little stupid to give a cat such a name but the moment she was given to me I was eating a Kit Kat. I just looked down at my chocolate and then at her and I just knew I had to name her that. Jun didn’t like the name at first but it soon grew on him just like the cat did...”
Cain noticed it was the second time she mentioned the name Jun but hearing how sad she sounded, he decided not to ask who it was. He could already guess it was an ex. “So shall we watch the movie then?”
“You mean this one? Are you sure you're fine with watching a cartoon about cats?”
"Absolutely. I actually enjoy watching animated movies so the movie is fine with me." He took a handful of popcorn from the bowl that Abby had made but then realized he wasn't in his own body. He hadn't stopped to consider if she would mind him eating as much as he usually did. And seeing how she was thin, he could only assume she took care of her figure. "Is it okay for me to eat?" He wanted to make sure so he asked. If she said it wasn't then he would stop and follow whatever diet she normally did. Since they would be living together, she could just tell him what to eat.
"Of course, it’s why I made them."
"You're very thin though. Do you perhaps diet or exercise?"
"I don’t do either." She shook her head. "As a Mexican I’m forced to eat all kinds of foods and especially more so since my parents own a restaurant so there's no room for a diet. My mom always has me try the new recipes she comes up with. I'm also too lazy to exercise."
"So you just eat whatever and still stay thin?"
"I guess. I've always been like this. I've never been able to gain much weight even when I tried. So go ahead and eat whatever you usually would and don't worry about it. Is there any special type of diet I should follow? Any foods I should avoid? And should I exercise?" Since Cain had been considerate enough to ask her, Abby felt it was only right if she did the same. She might have never been on a diet but that didn't mean she couldn't. She knew that as an idol it was important for him to maintain a fit body.
"Mostly they don't want us eating sugar so the popcorn you’re eating now should be fine. But since we can't have sugar, we only drink water. We do exercise a couple of times a week but it's mostly weights we do. You don't have to do all that though, at least not while you're still living here at your apartment. It's not like they'll know if I'm not dieting and exercising. Besides, they think my ankle is sprained so I doubt they expect me to follow my usual routines.”
"Well I've always wanted to try dieting. I do like challenges after all, at least ones I can do. So it should be fun. Exercising on the other hand might be a bit harder for me, especially if it's weights but I'm sure your body can handle them. I would just have to invest some time out of my day to do so." If doing those things were for his benefit then she wanted to do them.
