Chapter 4 Morning Amnesia
Oom Eisaya did not sleep.
Technically, she lay in her bed for six hours.
Physically, she closed her eyes.
Mentally, she relived the same moment over and over again like her brain had been personally victimized.
“…don’t leave…”
Oom groaned into her pillow and flipped onto her back.
“Why would she say that?” she whispered to the ceiling. “Why would she say that to me?”
Her ceiling, unfortunately, offered no answers.
Instead, it reflected her current state: tired, confused, and deeply unstable.
She turned to her side.
Then the other side.
Then back again.
“…safe…”
Oom sat up abruptly.
“No.”
She pointed at herself, eyes narrowed.
“No. We are not doing this. We are not romanticizing this. She was asleep. She probably thought I was… a pillow.”
A pause.
“…a very supportive pillow.”
She dropped back onto her bed.
“This is fine,” she muttered. “This is completely fine. I just… accidentally became emotional support furniture for the most intimidating woman on campus.”
Another pause.
“…I need to drop out.”
---
By the time morning came, Oom had reached a very important conclusion:
It might have been a hallucination.
A very vivid, very emotionally damaging hallucination.
But still.
A hallucination.
“Yes,” she said out loud while brushing her teeth. “That makes sense. I was tired. Overworked. Sleep-deprived. My brain created a scenario where Bam Saralee willingly touched me.”
She spat into the sink.
“Unrealistic.”
Oom nodded at her reflection.
“Exactly. Case closed.”
Her reflection stared back at her.
Unconvinced.
“…unless it wasn’t.”
Oom froze.
“No,” she said quickly. “We already solved this. It was fake. Not real. Didn’t happen.”
Her brain, traitorous as always, replayed the feeling of Bam’s hands gripping her shirt.
Warm.
Tight.
Real.
Oom slowly lowered her toothbrush.
“…I’m going to need evidence.”
---
Which was why, an hour later, she found herself standing outside the same club room.
Again.
For the second time in less than twelve hours.
“I hate my life,” she whispered.
She hadn’t planned to come here.
In fact, she had very specifically planned to avoid this place for the rest of her academic career.
But then—
What if it wasn’t a hallucination?
And now here she was.
Back at the scene of the crime.
Or… the emotional incident.
Oom took a deep breath.
“Okay. We go in. We observe. We confirm reality. We leave.”
Simple.
Manageable.
Safe.
She opened the door.
---
The room looked exactly like it had yesterday.
Bright. Organized. Normal.
As if nothing had happened.
As if Bam Saralee had not turned into a completely different person within these walls.
Oom stepped inside cautiously, her eyes scanning the room.
And then—
There she was.
Bam stood near the window, flipping through a notebook, her posture straight, her expression calm.
Cold.
Composed.
Untouchable.
Oom stopped walking.
“…oh.”
Bam looked up.
Their eyes met.
And just like that, Oom’s entire internal system crashed again.
“…Oom Eisaya.”
There it was.
Her name.
Spoken the same way as before.
Calm. Neutral. Controlled.
Like last night had never happened.
“Hi,” Oom said, immediately regretting the sound of her own voice.
Bam closed her notebook.
“Do you need something?”
Straight to the point.
No hesitation.
No softness.
Oom blinked.
“I—uh—no. I just… came to check something.”
“What?”
“…the room.”
Bam raised an eyebrow slightly.
“The room.”
“Yes.”
“…why?”
Oom’s brain scrambled.
Think.
Think of something logical.
Something normal.
“Ventilation,” she blurted out.
A beat.
“I wanted to check the ventilation.”
Silence.
Bam stared at her.
Oom felt herself unraveling.
“I’m from Architecture,” she added quickly. “So I… notice things.”
“You came here to check the ventilation.”
“Yes.”
“In a room you’ve already been in.”
“Yes.”
“…in the morning.”
“Yes.”
Another pause.
Longer this time.
Then—
“I see,” Bam said.
She didn’t look convinced.
At all.
Oom wanted to disappear.
“Is it satisfactory?” Bam asked.
“The ventilation?”
“Yes.”
“…it’s very ventilated.”
“Good.”
And just like that, Bam looked back down at her notebook.
Conversation over.
Oom stood there.
Processing.
That’s it?
No mention of last night.
No weird behavior.
No—
“…don’t leave…”
Nothing.
It was like it never happened.
Oom’s chest tightened slightly.
“Senpai,” she said before she could stop herself.
Bam looked up again.
“Yes?”
Oom hesitated.
Should she ask?
Should she bring it up?
Should she risk sounding completely insane?
“…did you stay here late last night?”
Bam blinked once.
“Yes.”
Oom’s heart skipped.
“I often use this room to study after hours.”
“Right,” Oom said slowly. “And… did anything happen?”
Bam’s gaze sharpened slightly.
“What do you mean?”
Oom swallowed.
“I mean like… did you—did you talk to anyone?”
“No.”
The answer was immediate.
Certain.
Final.
Oom’s stomach dropped.
“…are you sure?”
Bam’s expression didn’t change.
“Yes.”
Silence.
Oom stared at her.
At the same calm face.
The same controlled tone.
The same person who—
“…safe…”
Oom’s hands curled slightly at her sides.
So it really was nothing.
Or—
She didn’t remember.
“…okay,” Oom said quietly.
Bam studied her for a moment.
“You’re acting strangely.”
Oom let out a small, awkward laugh.
“I always act strangely.”
“That’s true.”
“…hey.”
Bam didn’t react.
She simply looked back at her notebook again, as if Oom had become background noise.
And somehow—
That hurt more than it should.
Oom looked away.
Right. Of course.
This was Bam Saralee.
The untouchable senpai.
Cold. Distant. Unaffected.
Last night didn’t fit into that version of her.
So maybe—
It didn’t exist.
“Thank you for confirming the ventilation,” Oom said weakly.
“You’re welcome.”
Oom turned to leave.
Each step felt heavier than it should.
Her mind was quieter now.
But not in a good way.
More like something had been… shut down.
It wasn’t real.
That was the logical conclusion.
It made sense.
It had to make sense.
Because the alternative—
The alternative meant that Bam Saralee had held her like that… and didn’t even remember.
Oom paused at the door.
Just for a second.
Then—
“…you shouldn’t stay here too late,” she said without turning around.
Bam didn’t respond immediately.
Oom almost left.
Then—
“I’ll manage.”
Same calm voice.
Same distance.
Oom nodded to herself.
Of course she would.
She always did.
Oom stepped out into the hallway.
The door closed behind her with a soft click.
---
She walked aimlessly for a while.
Down the corridor.
Past classrooms.
Through the courtyard.
Her thoughts were quieter now.
But not settled.
“…it was a hallucination,” she said again.
The words felt weaker this time.
Less convincing.
Because no matter how many times she repeated it—
Her body remembered.
The warmth.
The grip.
The way Bam had held onto her like she mattered.
Oom stopped walking.
“…then why did it feel real?”
No answer.
Just the sound of students passing by, living their normal lives.
Oom let out a slow breath.
“Okay,” she said softly. “New plan.”
If it was real—
She needed proof.
If it wasn’t—
She needed closure.
Either way—
She wasn’t going to let this stay unresolved.
Because one thing was certain now.
Hallucination or not…
Bam Saralee had already gotten into her head.
And she wasn’t leaving anytime soon.
---
?? Author's Note:
Let's thank @dos1627 for asking an OomBam story. I hope everyone is enjoying it as much as I do.
Guys, let me know what you think of the story. Thank you for reading!
- CV ??