A few moments later, "Huh... empty?" Rose lifts the bottle to pour another drink, but it's already bone dry. She peeks inside the bottle.
"Hey, Rose, that's enough. You're drunk," Rex says, sipping from his own glass.
"But I still want to drink," Rose pouts, crawling toward Rex.
"Here," Rex says, handing her his glass.
Rose snatches Rex's glass. Her eyes widen as she looks at it, and she intentionally drinks from the exact spot where Rex's lips had been. "Phuaaah," she exhales with satisfaction and leans heavily against Rex. Meanwhile, watching this, Ruby lets out a "crack" as she squeezes her glass until it slightly fractures. Her face is flushed bright red, and she's swaying a bit, though her eyes remain locked on Rose, who is now snuggled up to Rex. Realizing Ruby is watching, Rose smirks. She turns and reaches up, tracing a finger along Rex's cheek.
"Rex, you remember when you first moved here, right? You know I used to be afraid of men, but you were so gentle and helped me without asking for anything in return... I was so impressed by you back then. And that time it rained at the office and I didn't have an umbrella, you actually brought one for me... I was so happy. Usually, there's no one I can turn to for help... men only know how to take and take... without ever appreciating my efforts... hick," Rose says, looping her arm through Rex's and pressing her body firmly against him.
"You called me that time, remember? And hey, move over a bit. It's stuffy in here, summer is almost starting... plus, you're drunk," Rex says, trying to pull away.
"Ah... no, I'm not drunk, and the air isn't hot at all. It's night, it feels nice and cool," Rose says, clinging even tighter, clearly wasted.
Rex finally gives up, but suddenly, he feels a soft, plush sensation against his other arm. When he looks over, he's shocked to find his arm pinned between Ruby's chest as she hugs him. Ruby's face is beet red, but she stares at Rex with a wide grin. The moment Rex looks away for a split second, Ruby's gaze darts toward Rose, looking ready to swallow her whole. Ruby stares her down with a mocking smile. When Rex looks back, she quickly focuses on his face again, stroking his cheek.
"Do you remember, Rex, when we were assigned that library project downtown? I got lost in the slums after we got separated, and I was surrounded by guys who wanted to do god-knows-what... but then you showed up, saved me, and held my hand. I was so happy because no guy had ever saved me like that without wanting something from me... I'm so happy, Rex... hick," Ruby says.
"Hey... you're drunk. Move over... seriously, it's hot," Rex says, struggling to free his arms, which are now sandwiched between two chests.
"No... I'm not letting you go... it's not hot... it actually feels good, hehe... hick," Ruby says, hugging Rex even tighter.
"Good grief, you two. You're both smashed. How did you finish a whole bottle that fast? How are you even going to get home like this?" Rex asks.
They stayed like that for a while. Rex was stuck; he couldn't move at all and just had to listen to their overlapping, incoherent babbling about god-knows-what. But after a few minutes, the room suddenly went quiet. "Zzz," a soft snoring sound came from his side. Rex looked over to see Rose fast asleep, still hugging his arm.
"See... already out. What a mess. They're definitely going to have a hangover tomorrow," Rex said, prying his arm free. Once it was loose, he held onto Rose so she wouldn't slump onto the floor.
Then he turned to check on Ruby. She had gone silent too. He leaned his head forward a bit to see her face, which was tilted down. Ruby was also out cold, her face beet-red and her mouth hanging open with a bit of drool escaping.
"Good grief, this one too? How does this even happen," Rex muttered in his heart.
He carefully extracted his arm from Ruby's grasp and her chest, then used one hand to slowly lay her head on his lap—a difficult task since his other arm was still supporting Rose. Once they were settled, he grabbed the wine bottle to check the alcohol content. It was 25%, and the bottle had been drained to the last drop. Rex shook his head; Rose and Ruby had been drinking like they were in a competition, while he'd only had two glasses.
"Tomorrow isn't even a holiday... and they just polished off a whole bottle like that... what a disaster. It's late, so whatever. I'll just carry them to the bed and sleep on the sofa tonight," Rex thought to himself.
He laid Rose down gently, then stood up and picked up Ruby. He carried Ruby bridal-style into his bedroom and tucked her in. She immediately hugged a pillow, wearing a weird, dreamy smile. Rex went back out, picked up Rose the same way, and brought her into the room, laying her down next to Ruby. He pulled the covers over both of them, then went to the closet to grab a spare blanket and pillow.
Finally, he walked to the door, switched off the light, and stepped out of the room. Once he was outside, he tossed the pillow and blanket onto the sofa. Then he sat back down in front of his laptop, put on his headphones, and started enjoying his music as if nothing had happened—and as if there weren't two girls currently sleeping in his bed.
***
The next morning, "Uhh," Ruby woke up with her head feeling like it was about to split open, and her entire body was sore. She slowly forced her eyes open and tried to sit up. She looked around, her brain struggling to process where she was since her consciousness hadn't fully returned and she was battling a massive hangover. But when she realized she was in Rex's bedroom, her face turned bright red and she grabbed her cheeks.
"I'm... I'm in Rex's room... kyaaaaa... I'm in Rex's room... oh man... I slept in Rex's bed... did he do anything to me? I hope he touched me or something... kyaaaa... I can smell Rex's scent... we've become one... kyaaa... I'm so happy," she said to herself.
But when she turned and saw Rose still sleeping next to her, her face went dark and gloomy. The joy on her face instantly shifted to pure rage.
"She's defiling Rex's bed... damn it... get out... get out," she muttered, kicking at the legs of the still-unconscious Rose, who was so out of it that her tank top had ridden up as she scratched her exposed stomach.
After failing to wake Rose up, a frustrated Ruby climbed out of bed. Acting like she owned the place, she walked over to Rex's closet and opened it. Judging by the way her eyes scanned his clothes, she clearly intended to add to her "collection," but she suddenly realized something was missing.
"Wait... where's his school uniform? Don't tell me he actually went to school? Oh no... let me check outside," Ruby said.
Ruby bolted into the living room. Her eyes widened when she saw Rex wasn't in front of his laptop. She started searching everywhere—under the sofa, in the trash can, even in the fridge. Rex was nowhere to be found. But when she looked at the coffee table, she saw two smartphones and a note underneath them. She recognized one of the phones as her own, then she grabbed the note and opened it.
"Rose, Ruby, I went to school because I was bored at home. If you leave, please don't forget to lock the door... Rex."
Ruby's hands trembled as she held the paper, and her face went pale. She completely forgot about her hangover and grabbed her phone. She opened a tracking app and saw a red dot right at the school.
"Phew... he really is at school. Good thing he's wearing the boxers I bought him yesterday... so I can track him," Ruby thought to herself.
"Hey... where's Rex?"
"Whoaaa!" Ruby spun around to see Rose standing behind her, rubbing her eyes with her black hair a complete mess. Rose looked around the room, and the color drained from her face. She turned to Ruby.
"Where is Rex?" Rose asked.
"School... look at this," Ruby answered, showing her the smartphone.
"Hmm... okay, I'm going," Rose said.
"Huh... where are you going?" Ruby asked.
"To your school, to watch Rex," Rose answered casually, grabbing her phone from the table.
"Huh... I see... okay... I'm coming too," Ruby replied.
Without wasting a second, the two of them rushed out of Rex's apartment and locked the door. They headed downstairs and out the gate, making a beeline for the school. Even though they were disheveled and hungover, they only had one thing on their minds: "I'll deal with this girl next to me later; right now, I can't let anyone get near Rex because he's so handsome and cool. He's mine," they both thought.