Chapter XIII – Movie Night

“I’ve left the snacks and drinks on the kitchen table. Could you set them up for us in the living room? Just pour the snacks into a bowl,” Sophie asked Arthur, as she grabbed Ari’s hand. “And you’re coming with me.”

“Fine, need anything else?” Arthur asked, crossing his arms and leaning against the door frame, giving off a soft smile.

“That’ll be all,” Sophie spoke in a very princess-like fashion. “Now for you, Ari, go to the bath and get ready. I’ll bring us some clothes to change into.”

“You girls are going in together?”

Ari remained quiet, only blushing a bit.

“It’s not that weird, nor uncommon. . .” Sophie argued though she didn’t leave much room for discussion as she dragged Ari away.

“Well, whatever,” Arthur mumbled, shaking his head.

After a few minutes of rummaging through her stuff, Sophie finally entered the bathroom. Ari was still dressed. Placing the spare clothes to the side, Sophie chuckled and started to strip naked.

“Ari, what’s wrong?”

“It’s just that Arthur is in the other room waiting for us. Is it really alright for us to do this? Besides, we haven’t taken a bath together in forever.”

Sophie, who was topless at this point, slowly circled Ari.

“Are you telling me that my best friend, Ha Ari, is actually shy around me? Have I been asleep for a hundred years?” Sophie teased with a mischievous grin on her face.

“It’s not that. . . I’ve just thought. . .” Ari was flustered.

“Is it because I’ve outgrown you?”

“Outgrown me? I’m bigger than you!” Ari argued, turning around to face Sophie.

“I know you’re. You’ve always been, and I’m envious,” Sophie kept on teasing, but there was a bit of truth behind those words.

“Why would you be envious? You got a killer body. Every boy in class wants to ask you out.”

“But you still got bigger boobs, don’t you?”

“I’m more than my boobs you know?”

“I know, but got to love that about you as well,” Sophie commented before bursting into laughter.

Ari smiled and sighed. She would always give in to Sophie’s desires, but that’s just because Sophie made things she wanted to do herself easier, using her demands as an excuse.

With the girls stripped down, and with the bath being filled with hot water, the two finally settle down across each other.

“You don’t often keep your hair straight,” Ari commented. “Always keeping it in that ponytail.”

“You think I should switch it up?” Sophie asked, grabbing her hair and pushing it to the front. “I just like it in a ponytail. I do keep it loose when around the house and so on.”

“Maybe mix it up? I definitely would not give up on the ponytail.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

The two relaxed for a bit in silence.

“Thank you,” Sophie mumbled. “For being there for me, and for enduring my stupidity.”

Ari sighed leaning up, cupping a bit of water with her hands and pouring it over her body.

“You weren’t stupid, nor is there a reason to thank me. . .”

“I was being stupid though. I was avoiding hanging out with you. . .”

“Yeah, but I only regret not knowing how to help you. Besides, I have no idea how you truly felt during all that went on.”

Sophie leaned up as well. She placed her hand on Ari’s knee and sighed, all while being on the verge of tearing up.

“You tried to help me. I was just too stubborn to accept it. Still. . . If you weren’t there, I don’t know how I would have reacted. Your words kept me sane enough to run away. So thank you.”

Ari remained quiet for a few seconds.

“Maybe you will catch up to me one day now that I have a proper look at you,” Ari commented on Sophie’s breasts, with a smile on her face.

Sophie chuckled, grateful for the fact that Ari was such a good person and her best friend. She felt like she couldn’t have asked for more.

“Don’t get me wrong, I love them,” Sophie commented, cupping her breasts. “But I think that’s it for me. . .”

Ari couldn’t hold her laugh in. Sophie’s mood switched back to a cheerful one.

“Anyway. . . Enough about my boobs. I want to ask you, what happened? I know you told me the basics of it, but what truly happened?”

“You should have seen it. Almost as if it was scripted. The way he talked, and moved, I didn’t think your brother could fight like that. With him by your side, you’re invincible!”

“I’m sure you’re exaggerating it a bit. . .”

“I wish I was, then people would believe me.”

Sophie remained silent, blushing and diving deeper into the water.

“I don’t think you have anything to worry about. Even if Hana goes after Arthur, there is nothing she can do. I’ve seen a few people fight Sung-Ho, but he didn’t look half as good as Arthur did. Trust me. . .”

Ari still refused to show the footage to Sophie, not even mentioning it at any point. Hearing about her brother being in a fight, and seeing it were two completely different things. Even though he won, if she saw him fighting, she might have kept imagining it happening again.

“But Sung-Ho did bully by Oppa before. . .” Sophie mumbled, a fist formed in her right hand.

“I don’t exactly know how to tell you this. . . But your brother is completely different than before.”

“You’ve noticed too. . .”

Sophie’s frustration quelled quickly. She was proud of Arthur. Worried, but proud nonetheless.

“I mean. . . He looks cool now,” Ari explained, turning her back towards Sophie. “I bet the girls will jump him soon, so you should probably hold onto him tightly or he might disappear.”

Ari was teasing, but Sophie wasn’t biting. Taking a sponge, Sophie dips it into the water and begins to scrub Ari’s back.

“Would you go for him?” Sophie asked, not sure if she was okay with the idea.

“Well. . . You never know,” Ari kept on teasing.

“Hey!” Sophie responded but both burst into laughter.

“Real talk though, I’m glad the two of you are connected now.”

Sophie nodded. “Me too. . .”

“I’m scared. . .” Arthur mumbled to himself, holding onto a bag of unmade popcorn in front of the microwave.

Truth be told, he claimed that he figured it out, but he forgot about it the next day. With how handicapped he was with tech, he began hating to admit his inability to adapt.

“I give up. . .” Arthur sighed, and proceeded back to the living room.

Sitting down on the couch, he observed the remote, thinking if he should challenge it or not. It has been a while since the girls went into the bath, they were probably nearly done.

“Oh, what the heck. I got to learn one day!” Arthur comments confidently, grabbing the remote.

With a single click and loads of focus, he finds the red power button. The TV turned on and started playing an animal documentary. It was a bit loud, but Arthur couldn’t figure out how to reduce the volume. Having an older remote that has the letters blurred out didn’t help.

“This isn’t really that fun. . . I should probably look for a movie for us to watch. I’m sure I remember Sophie pressing something like this. . .”

Pressing numerous buttons and nothing happening, Arthur paused for a moment. The color seemed to have adjusted a bit, but nothing else. It was only on his 5th attempt that a channel finally switched.

“Aha! I got it. Now I just got to remember this button for next time.”

Cycling through channels, he finds a few movies playing but they seemed rather boring. It was sudden when the reality of what one might find on TV finally caught up to him. The loud noise of moaning echoed through the living room, as a sex scene appeared on the screen. It wasn’t porn, but Arthur had never witnessed sex acts on TV, especially not on a movie channel.

“Art, what are you?” Sophie mumbled, entering the room.

Arthur dropped the remote in shock, as the scene continued to get more intense. It was softcore at worst, but still, it made a funny scene for Sophie who had Ari come right behind her.

“It’s not what it looks like!” Arthur tried arguing, while desperately looking for the remote that fell somewhere on the couch.

“How bold. . .” Ari teased, placing her hand over her mouth, acting shocked.

“I never knew Oppa was interested in that sort of thing. Ari, maybe we should leave him alone. To think Art would act so perverted as to watch such indecent things in front of his sister and her best friend. I didn’t know I was living with such a beast.”

“Truly terrible. . . I feel sorry for you Sophie. It’s not too late to go to my place.”

Arthur sighed in defeat. Nothing he could say or do would fix the situation.

“Oh relax. . .” Sophie commented cheerfully, approaching the hidden remote as if it were never lost. “It’s just a movie scene, you’re bound to see more of these in the future.”

“I mean. . . I watched that movie already,” Ari explained, a giggle escaping her.

Sophie finally switches the channel and mutes the TV.

“I told you this already, but he is simply just clueless about tech. . .”

“To think I wanted to ask you in the past for help,” Ari teased.

“Yeah, yeah. Pick on me some more, won’t you?”

He was taking the jokes well, sitting back down on the couch. Glancing over, the two were wearing shorts, but different tops. Sophie was wearing a panda shirt that she wore around the house the first day he arrived, and Ari wore an oversized shirt, which looked fairly familiar.

“Is that my shirt?” Arthur questioned.

“Deal with it Oppa. She is too big for my regular sleeping shirts, so I just tossed her one of yours rather than searching for something bigger.”

“If you mind, I can switch back to the uniform or get Sophie to search for an actual shirt that fits me. . .” Ari offered, but Sophie’s raised eyebrow towards Arthur spoke volumes.

“No, I don’t mind. I just found it familiar,” Arthur explained, knowing he just dodged a bullet, it wasn’t as if he minded.

“Thanks,” Ari commented with a smile.

“You forgot how to use a microwave, didn’t you?” Sophie asked, holding an empty bowl with unprepared popcorn.

“I’ll make some,” Ari interrupted, grabbing the bowl and hopping her way to the kitchen.

Sophie crashed down next to Arthur and leaned against him.

“You’re hopeless. . . But I love that about you.”

Arthur couldn’t help but smile.

“Yeah. . . I am.”

The two sat in silence for a bit.

“What are we watching anyway?” Ari asked from the kitchen.

“I was thinking of a horror movie!”

“Horror movie?” Arthur questioned.

Returning to the room, with popcorn in hand, Ari looked at Sophie puzzled.

“You’ve never liked horror movies. . .”

“I never got to watch them with the two of you though. Besides, don’t you wish to see if Arthur is easy to scare?”

“Me? Why would I be scared? Is the movie dangerous?”

“It’s just a scary movie. However, most of the events are predictable, so I don’t typically watch them.”

“Oh? In that case, I doubt it’ll affect me. I’m not the type to get scared easily,” Arthur spoke with confidence.

“Sure. . .” Sophie mumbled sarcastically.

While Sophie navigated the remote, Ari collapsed onto the couch next to Arthur, sharing freshly made popcorn. The two girls flanked him. It was nighttime, and the mood was just right. With the movie title ‘Haunted Castle of Zadralan’, the stage was all set. Arthur took a deep breath, and full of confidence leaned back. Sophie set up the movie and paused it right at the beginning, all in order to turn off the lights.

“Wait, why total darkness?” Arthur asked.

“Things are scarier in the dark, aren’t they?” Ari responded. “Scared already?”

“Tough chance. . .” Arthur grinned.

Sitting back down, Sophie smiled leaning against Arthur. Without saying a word, she enjoyed the moment she truly believed impossible. Her best friend and brother were about to watch a movie with her.

“Hush now, I’ll play the movie,” Sophie whispered. “Good luck.”

The movie started interesting. The story followed a group of college students, as they went on vacation to Eastern Europe and decided to explore the infamous haunted castle of Zadralan. The six of them, two being girls and the rest guy, heard rumors about the place. The locals claimed that the castle was full of vengeful spirits and other eldritch horrors. Studying filmography, the group of students could not resist the urge to venture inside and record the truth.

With the camera ready, they stood in front of the entrance. The night was dark and full of terror, or that’s at least how the movie tried to portray it. Strong wind and haunting noises echoed.

Max shoved the gate open, presumably the main hero of the story, as the others stood back and watched. They forced him to do it by telling him that he should turn and run, since he was always a coward and against the whole idea in the first place. With the echoing creak of the rusty gate, dozen crows flew up in the air from the castle grounds, making some of the students tremble in fear. Of course, it was quickly followed by teasing and jokes by the others.

“So they know that there are monsters in there, and all they brought was a camera?” Arthur asked.

“Well, they don’t believe them to be real,” Ari explained.

Sophie placed a finger on her pursed lips, hushing the two.

“Dumb. . .” Arthur whispered, making Ari chuckle.

The courtyard was gargantuan and overgrown. The sinister feeling it gave off made all the students quiet, at least until they reached the front doors to the castle. Entering inside, they began exploring.

Arthur found the next half an hour of the movie nerve-wracking. It wasn’t for the fact that something happened to the cast, as much as it is just their lack of awareness. During the exploration, numerous paintings had their eyes observe the students, objects would move around, chuckling echoed through the hallway, and even a ghost of an old butler would clean up after them, always on the verge of discovery.

“Did you see that?” Arthur asked grabbing hold of Sophie’s foot. “I swear that if Max walks past one more table and doesn’t notice an item missing, I’ll go crazy!”

Ari and Sophie kept on chuckling. Sophie was relaxed, with her legs on Arthur, while leaning on the side. She seemed a bit bored with the story, Ari couldn’t blame her. She on the other hand was curled up, holding her knees tucked in. If anything, the most interesting part about the movie was Arthur’s innocent reactions.

The thing that freaked Arthur the most was a six-year-old child, a ghost, which kept on running through the hallways laughing. When the action finally started, the lack of weapons or any countermeasures alarmed Arthur. The slow and steady movie shifted into sudden chaos. Tentacles grabbed one of the girls in the hallway and dragged her away. The butler mercilessly killed the cockiest of the students, using his blood to clean the kitchen floor. The ghost of a child chased the cast around, with one arm disfigured into a long monstrous claw.

“I told you! They should have brought a weapon just in case!” Arthur yelled, overwhelmed with emotions of helplessness.

It was true what Arthur said, he was a hard man to scare. If it were him, he would have been perfectly fine. He had already seen things far worse than that, but he could not bring himself to watch others struggle and make stupid decisions.

“Don’t go in there. You’ll die. . .” Arthur complained biting his lower lip and squinting his eyes.

He couldn’t handle the feeling of being powerless. Left with the constant feeling that it was him who was being hunted and without the ability to defend himself.

While it was funny to watch him jump around, Sophie reached her limit.

“Quiet down!” Sophie kicked Arthur off the couch as she burst into laughter along with Ari. “It’s not even that scary he said. . .”

“Guess you’re not good with horror movies,” Ari stated.

“No, I’m fine! It’s just that they keep doing stupid stuff,” Arthur argued, turning his back towards the TV.

“Fine, fine, whatever. Just sit down and don’t jump too much,” Sophie sighed, making space for him to sit again.

“I’ll just sit like this, don’t worry,” Arthur said as he sat down on the floor, his back leaning against the couch.

The three proceeded to watch the movie as Sophie laid down on the couch, her head on Ari’s lap.

The action eventually died down with only three cast members left alive. The plot began developing, as the three of them had a single task and that was to run away. The front doors were of course locked, and all the ground floor windows were barred. Jumping out of the window was one idea. However, there was a horse-sized undead hound that circled the courtyard. They simply couldn’t risk sustaining an injury, afraid of being mauled by the monster as they run for it.

The notebook they found spoke of a key that led into an escape tunnel used by the nobles that lived in the castle. This tunnel was originally used as a last resort during a siege. While they searched for both the tunnel and the key, the horrors within the castle began observing them again, clearly playing with their food.

Arthur’s focus was impeccable. He observed every detail and searched for any clues along with the cast. Ari poked Sophie’s cheek and hushed her in secret. The two exchanged glances, and without saying a word came up with a devious idea.

The music turned up the suspense and darkness surrounded Max. He was about to learn the truth about the child that haunted them, but the butler was slowly creeping behind him. With the flickering light, Arthur’s senses sharpened and his eyes went wide.

“BOO!!!” the girls yelled behind Arthur, grabbing him by the shoulders.

Arthur jumped in place and yelled out panicked. Pushing himself up, he turned towards the girls and gazed at them disapprovingly. However, his gaze was overshadowed by the sheer laughter of the two. They couldn’t stop as Sophie nearly fell over, only remaining on the couch because Ari grabbed onto her.

“You should have seen the look on your face!” Ari yelled out.

“He screamed so loudly! I bet even the neighbors heard him.”

“You. . . You little!” Arthur yelled out with a devious grin.

Lifting her, Sophie’s eyes which were full of tears began begging for mercy.

“I’m sorry!” Sophie yelled out but failed to stop laughing all while hugging him around the neck.

Arthur sighed and simply held Sophie in the air.

“As if I would show mercy. . .” Arthur whispered.

Sophie’s eyes went wide, as she was suddenly overwhelmed by a tickling sensation. Her laughing cries echoed through the entire house. It was only when she exhausted herself, that Arthur finally dropped her onto the couch. Ari watched and kept on laughing thinking just how cute the two were.

“Weren’t you in on this,” Arthur asked, as his gaze dropped on Ari.

“Me?” Ari asked baffled, pointing her finger towards herself then glancing at Sophie who was exhausted. Realizing what his words meant, she turned to panic. “No, no, no!”

Her plead was overshadowed by cries of laughter, as Arthur took his revenge.

A few minutes passed, and the movie got paused for them to settle down.

“You’re so mean Oppa. . .” Sophie complained exhausted, drinking a full glass of water.

“It’s your fault. Maybe next time you’ll think of the consequences before acting upon your desires.”

“To think you’d show no mercy. . .” Ari mumbled weakly.

“Worth. . .” Sophie whispered.

The three eventually continued to watch the movie, but the rest of it was relatively uneventful after the whole mischief.

“So that’s it? They just escape. . .” Arthur seemed disappointed.

“Told you, the genre is struggling to make something good,” Ari commented.

“I thought it was fun, but next time let’s watch something else. Maybe a comedy?” Sophie stated, turning off the TV. “Anyway, it’s getting late so we should go to bed. Ari, you want the right or left side of the bed?”

“I get to choose? That’s rare.”

“Maybe in return, you won’t kick me off the bed this time. . .”

“Sorry about that!” Ari chuckled. “To be fair, it was mid-winter and you love heating your room to the point where one might mistake it for a sauna. I needed air.”

“Well excuse me that I did not wish for us to freeze to death.”

“You act as if you’re any different in the summer. . . Good luck to whoever ends up with you.”

“Hey!” Sophie chuckled.

“Well, I’ll clean this up and hit the bed. You girls have a good night's rest.”

“Hey, let’s help out,” Ari spoke up.

“No need. It’s late, and I enjoy doing it on my own.”

“Okay. . .” Ari responded but was unsure if it was truly alright.

“He’s weird like that Ari, don’t bother,” Sophie showed her tongue to Arthur, shoving Ari towards her room. “Thanks, Oppa.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

The girls proceeded to the room and prepared for bed. After cleaning up, Arthur went to his room and gazed out the window into the night sky. Hearing the girls chuckling in the other room left him wondering just how happy can one person get. If there is a person out there for him, he could not help but wonder who she’d be. For now, there was no need to rush.

Chapter End.

Thank you for reading.