The Sweet Scent of Trouble
After returning safely to our room, Rain headed back to her own quarters. Since Amy hadn't arrived yet, I figured I could get away with not brushing my teeth just yet.
"Mmh." I popped a piece of chocolate I'd swiped from Jin's office into my mouth and rolled it around. The rich, sweet aroma spreading through my mouth brought instant bliss. It was so delicious. Sitting on the chair, my short legs kicked back and forth in pure happiness.
"It's strange..." Shine muttered, popping a chocolate into her own mouth.
"What's strange?"
"Well..." Shine frowned at my question, but the chocolate's sweetness quickly coaxed a smile onto her face. "Mmh!" But she wiped the smile away instantly. Watching her chew with such a solemn, serious expression was so adorable that I found myself reaching out to pat her head.
"I went there to get you what you wanted, Jeff."
"And?"
"But we came back without doing a single thing."
"It's the training period, so we couldn't help it."
"That's not what I mean. I can do anything you want me to do."
To be honest, I couldn't fully grasp what Shine was getting at. She probably just meant she was willing to do anything for my sake, right? My chest tingled slightly. Touched, I ruffled her hair affectionately.
"Yeah. But... it was strange. It was fine until we got back to our room."
"What do you mean it was fine?"
"I didn't feel anything strange while we were in Jin's office. It just felt like... that was how things were supposed to be."
"Well, yeah. The training period was set by Amy. If we break her rules, she'll scold us terribly."
At my words, Shine rubbed her cheeks and scowled. "I only started feeling strange after we got back to the room," she muttered softly.
After whispering that, Shine grabbed a handful of chocolates and stuffed them all into her mouth. She ate so much that her cheeks puffed out like a squirrel's, leaving only half of the pile. Watching her warily, I pulled the remaining chocolates toward me and hugged them to my chest.
"Since you ate half, the rest is mine, okay?"
Shine didn't even answer. She hopped down from her chair and, looking deep in thought, crossed her arms and began pacing in circles on the exact same spot.
Strange. Strange. It's like... Yeah. Is that it?
I could hear Shine's muttering. I got a strange feeling watching her. A long, long time ago, shortly after I first arrived here, she had looked just like that.
Shine was confused. What was making her so confused? I popped another chocolate into my mouth while watching her.
"Hey. Shine."
"Yeah." Shine, who had been lost in thought for a while, stopped pacing at my call. Her white gaze turned to me.
"Are you confused?"
"Confused?"
"Yeah. What you're feeling right now." Just as Shine was sensitive to my emotions, I was sensitive to hers. She was feeling anxious, confused, and restless.
"This?"
"Yeah."
"I see. I was confused."
"Why is that?"
"I don't know. No, I think I know."
"Really? Is there anything I can do to help?"
"You, Jeff? No, it's fine. This is something I can easily handle on my own."
"That's a relief then."
Shine's expression softened. She approached me with a much more relaxed face. As the distance between us closed, my heartbeat grew louder.
"Want a hug?"
"Yeah." Shine opened her arms wide. I got down from the chair and hugged her. Shine burying her face in the crook of my neck and sniffing me was a familiar routine by now. What did she like so much about it?
"Are you feeling calmer now?"
"Mmh." Shine's muffled voice came from my chest. How long did we have to hug? I silently lifted my head and looked at the ceiling. The ceiling was covered with glow-in-the-dark stickers that Amy had put up. It was full of my favorite dinosaur-shaped stickers.
"Hey, Shine..."
Sniff. "Yeah." At my cue, Shine gently pulled away from me. The spot where she had been hugging me felt hot. The room's air wasn't cold, but somehow it felt chilly now. I touched my neck, feeling a sudden emptiness.
"I think we should clean up before Amy comes."
"Yeah." Shine and I picked up the chocolate wrappers and took them to Baeksi. My friend, the teddy bear Baeksi, was very useful for hiding things we shouldn't get caught with by Amy. Shine zipped down Baeksi's back with practiced hands.
"Ah." There was an empty plastic bottle inside Baeksi's back. It seemed we hadn't cleaned up after drinking the cola Shine had brought before.
"What should we do?"
"We'll just have to stuff it in for now."
Baeksi's back had plenty of space. After pushing the plastic bottle to one side, we stuffed the wrappers into the empty space. I figured we could sneak back to the room during training later to clean it up properly.
Zzzip. After zipping Baeksi up, we stood him in a cool pose among the other dolls. Baeksi was the coolest of all the teddy bears.
"Thanks as always, Baeksi." I gently patted Baeksi's head. His soft, fluffy fur tickled my fingers.
"Jeff."
"Yeah?"
"I think we need to brush our teeth."
"Why?" I asked back with a pout. She glanced at the firmly closed door, then blew a gentle breath in my face.
Whoosh. Her soft breath brushed against my face and vanished. What remained was a fragrant, sweet scent.
"Chocolate smell?"
"Yeah. Both of us smell strongly of it."
I lifted my arm and sniffed. A faint, sweet chocolate scent lingered.
"Do I smell too?" I also blew a small breath toward Shine. At the puff of air, a small smile formed on Shine's face.
"Yeah. A very sweet smell."
"Really...?" Shine blew another breath at me with a small smile. The gentle breeze tickled my face.
"We'll get scolded if we get caught."
"Yeah."
"We'll get the punishment of drinking five glasses of green juice."
The "five glasses of green juice" punishment was what we got for eating snacks without Amy's permission. Drinking five paper cups of green juice in a row was no easy feat. I shuddered just imagining it.
"Let's go."
"Yeah." I took Shine's hand and walked into the bathroom. Stepping onto our usual footstool, we grabbed our toothbrushes side by side. What toothpaste should we use today? Chocolate, strawberry, grape, banana, mint—there were several options. When I asked for her opinion, Shine reached out and picked the grape flavor. The sparkling purple toothpaste looked delicious.
"Okay, let's go with grape." Squeeze, squeeze. We squeezed the grape toothpaste onto our toothbrushes. The sweet aroma of grape slowly wafted up, making my mouth water.
"Jeff, you're not supposed to eat toothpaste."
"I know that."
"You used to eat it all the time before Amy scolded you."
I didn't answer and shoved the toothbrush into my mouth. Brush, brush, scrub, scrub. The toothbrush moved freely in my mouth, cleaning between my teeth. Only when the white foam filled my mouth and started dripping did I open my mouth and spit it out.
"Pah." The foam fell into the sink, releasing a sweet scent.
"Jeff."
"Yeah?"
"Don't you need to pee soon?" I was about to brush my tongue, but Shine's words made me freeze.
"No, I'm still fine."
"You're not holding it, right?"
"Yeah."
"I want to go."
"Really?"
"Yeah." Shine said, hopping down from the footstool with her toothbrush still in her mouth. Taking quick, short steps to the toilet, she pulled down her pants and sat on it.
"Jeff, aren't you going to look?"
"I can see you in the mirror."
Shine's disappointed voice came from behind me. But I didn't turn around. Her reflection was clearly visible in the large mirror in front of the sink.
"Jeff~"
"I'm looking." Why did she keep telling me to look? I couldn't understand her behavior. I don't really want to look, though.
At the sound of a small trickling, I reached out and turned on the faucet. Whoosh. The sound of rushing water drowned out the surrounding noise. I filled a cup with water and rinsed my mouth. The water swept away the remaining toothpaste, leaving my mouth clean.
"Pah." It was very clean. Checking my sparkling teeth in the mirror, I saw Shine. She seemed to be finished, flushing the toilet. Soon, the loud sound of rushing water filled the bathroom.
"Are you done?"
"Yeah." Shine walked over slowly, climbed onto the footstool, and stood next to me. She washed her hands under the running water. I handed her a small cup.
"Rinse your mouth."
"Thanks." Shine filled the penguin-shaped cup with water and rinsed her mouth. After showing off her sparkling teeth just like me, she hopped down from the footstool and left the bathroom.
"Shine! You have to wash your toothbrush!" Shine didn't answer my call. I sighed softly and began washing the toothbrushes. After rinsing mine, I picked up Shine's toothbrush. It was covered in white foam. The very thing that had been moving freely inside Shine's mouth was now in my hand.
A strange feeling washed over me. A tickle in the corner of my chest. I turned my gaze to the bathroom door. It was closed because Shine had shut it on her way out. Swallowing hard, I brought Shine's toothbrush close to my eyes. It was a children's toothbrush, identical to mine except for the color. But it felt like it was saturated with Shine's scent. I began to sniff it. Behind the sweet smell of toothpaste, Shine's familiar scent lingered faintly.
What... what does it taste like? The sudden question popped into my head. I stuck my tongue out slightly and licked the bristles of the toothbrush. A bit of white foam got on my tongue, delivering a sweet taste. It wasn't a special taste. Just normal toothpaste. A familiar taste. But... I stuck my tongue out again and licked the foam. The soft bristles stimulated my tongue. Then, suddenly, I locked eyes with the white-haired girl in the mirror. Startled, I quickly pulled the toothbrush away from my mouth. The girl in the mirror was blinking with a shocked expression. I scratched my cheek and rinsed Shine's toothbrush under the water. The white foam washed away.
After finishing up and stepping out of the bathroom, what I saw was Amy hugging the large Baeksi. She was sitting in a chair, looking at me, resting her face on top of Baeksi's head.
"Jeff, did you brush your teeth well?"
"Yes..."
"Was the chocolate delicious?"
"Yeees..."
"Then you can enjoy some green juice just as much, right?"
"Ah..."
"What's your answer?"
"Yeees..." I whimpered, my face falling.