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Ame lay behind me on the bed, with her arm wrapped around me. Her breath warmed my neck, while her breasts warmed my back.

I had done it. I had sex with Sachiko's fiancé. The pleasure couldn't be compared to anything else I had experienced before, yet my jaw trembled and my breathing wouldn't remain steady. I managed to keep the tears inside, but why did I want to cry? This was what Sachiko wanted.

Something moist kissed my shoulder. It was Ame, still caressing my hip and waist.

"That was amazing," she said, "but I should go."

My breathing began to calm down as soon as she got out of bed. I avoided looking at her while she put her underwear back on and slid into her dress.

She bent forward next to the bed to brush my hair out of my face.

"Take your medicine and sleep, you have work tomorrow."

Her lips kissed my forehead, then she walked away.

The tears burst out when the door shut. I lay on my back, trying desperately to control the sobbing.

Stop…. I shouldn't be crying, I did nothing wrong. I even had… a good time. I can't call Sachiko like this, she's in a worse spot than me.

It took a couple of minutes for the sobbing to cease. My breathing returned to normal, so I called Jun's number. It took several rings for Sachiko to answer.

"How did it go?" she wondered.

"Sachiko, I… I'm sorry. We…"

"Stop, I don't need to hear the details. Just tell me if everything went well."

I took a deep breath.

"Yes, it seems like it went well," I answered.

"Good. I'm sorry I'm making you go through all of this."

"Don't apologize, you're the one who is protecting your loved one."

"Yes…. Don't worry, everything will be easier from now on. Just make sure to reply to her messages as soon as you see them."

"I will. By the way, she told me to take my medicine before she left."

"She was talking about the pills I take to be able to sleep. They are in the top drawer of the desk. Take three and you might be able to get some rest."

"Might?" I wondered. "Are three not enough?"

"Sometimes."

"Wow…. What if I don't take them? Maybe I'll be able to fall asleep when I'm in your body."

Sachiko yawned through the speakers.

"I'm sorry, I was falling asleep when you called. I doubt you'll be able to sleep without the pills, but you can try if you want."

"No, it probably won't work. I'll let you rest, then. Have a good night."

"Thank you, you too. See you at work tomorrow."

She hung up first.

I extended my arms on the bed, still holding the phone, and stared at the ceiling. I couldn't believe what happened today. We got stuck in each other's bodies and I had sex with a friend's fiancé, a woman I barely knew. It was more shocking that I enjoyed it. The pleasure couldn't be compared to when Jun and I had sex, and I couldn't understand why.

The phone vibrated in my hand. It was a message from myself.

Talking about Jun….

It was a little before midnight, so it made sense that he was just getting ready to sleep.

"How did everything go?" he asked in the message.

"As good as it could, I think. I had sex with Sachiko's fiancé."

I didn't want to add that last sentence, knowing he would make a joke about it, but I needed to vent it out.

"Seriously? It must've been weird as hell," he replied.

"You bet. I cried after we were done."

"Why? Didn't Sachiko ask you to do anything necessary for her not to get suspicious?"

"Yes, that's not the problem. I just… I don't know why. Maybe it's the guilt. I even came three times, unlike with you, where I struggled to have even one orgasm."

"Wow, did you really need to say that?"

A smile formed on my face.

"Was I that bad back then?" he asked.

"No, I don't think it's that simple."

"Maybe you're more into women than men."

"I doubt it. It's probably because I'm in Sachiko's body, and she likes women."

"Makes sense."

The chat came to a halt.

I yawned, so I closed my eyes, thinking I would be able to sleep. The tiredness was there, but it wouldn't weaken even though my mind was practically empty. I opened my eyes, getting anxious about my brain not being able to understand my desire to sleep. Only five minutes had passed. Jun had sent another two messages.

"My eyes keep closing, so I'll go to sleep. Goodnight."

The next message was a sticker of a pigeon covered with a blanket and wearing a pajama hat, sleeping like a baby with a teddy bear.

"Goodnight."

I left the phone on the nightstand beside the bed and closed my eyes again. I focused on the white noise of the wind and the cars passing by. Thoughts kept intruding into my head, but it wasn't something I hadn't experienced before. The tiredness kept growing, and it didn't seem like it was going to stop.

Almost one hour had passed without signs of being able to sleep. Growing anxious again, I removed the blanket and stood up. I opened the top drawer of the desk and grabbed the bottle with the pills. I read the label out of curiosity, though I didn't understand a thing. I poured three of the biggest pills I had seen in my entire life onto the palm of my hand.

Am I really going to swallow these?

I had no other choice. I walked into the narrow corridor leading to the front door and opened the faucet to fill a glass with water. I stared down at the pills in my hand. My naked body was growing cold, so I stopped worrying about it and put the first pill in my mouth to gulp it down with water. The ease with which it went down my throat surprised me, and it gave me the confidence to gulp down the other two in no time.

I returned to bed and closed my eyes. Nothing happened during the next thirty minutes, then my mind started to wander off. It kept doing so all night that I lost track of time.

The alarm jolted me awake. Weak sun rays passed through the small gaps between the window and the curtain. I grabbed the phone to turn the alarm off and see that it was five minutes to six. It felt like I had just fallen asleep.

Groggily, I stood up and did the morning routine. I didn't have to worry about stealing anymore, so I prepared myself some cereal. It was flavorless since all of the cereals I found were sugar-free.

I planned to leave after that, but I still couldn't decide if I should cook something for lunch. There were no leftovers in the fridge, so I ended up cooking two egg sandwiches with ham to return Sachiko the favor she had done for Jun, Kyōko, and me.

…

Ten minutes remained for the start of the workday when I arrived, though it didn't really matter since there was no entrance checker. I was headed to my desk when Mr. Yutaka called me.

"Good morning, Katō."

"Good morning, Sir."

Why did I call him Sir? That came out on its own.

"I hope you had a great weekend," he added.

Don't remind me. I wanna forget about it already.

"Likewise," I replied.

He smiled. "Please head to the office when you're free. There are some things we should discuss."

"Sure."

He walked away toward his office.

Is Sachiko in trouble? He didn't seem angry or anything. Now that I think about it, is Sachiko planning to keep our situation a secret from them as well?

A hand rested on my shoulder. I turned around to see Sachiko.

"Sachiko, I was just thinking about you," I said.

"Keep your voice down. Why were you thinking about me?"

"Shouldn't we tell Mr. Yutaka and Mr. Yoshihiko about our situation?"

She shook her head. "The more people we tell, the more likely it is for Ame to find out."

I sighed. "If that's what you want…. I'll leave the purse at my desk; Mr. Yutaka told me he wants to see me. I mean, you."

I started walking toward my desk, but Sachiko grabbed my shoulder again to stop me.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"To my desk…. Oh, right. Where's your desk?"

"Follow me."

We walked together to the first row of desks, next to a glass wall in front of Mr. Yutaka's and Mr. Yoshihiko's office. She was the farthest she could be from Jun, Kyōko, and me.

"Here," she said.

I put the purse on the desk she placed her hand on.

"Thank you. I just realized we're also gonna swap jobs."

"Yes, I just realized that, too…."

"Luckily, you'll have Jun and Kyōko to help you."

"But I'm still going to slow down work, and you're going to have a harder time than Jun and I again."

She frowned down at the desk.

"Maybe," I said, "but spending time with your fiancé made me understand your decision a little better. I still have some questions, but I'm not going to meddle more than I need to."

A smile appeared on Sachiko's face.

"Thank you."

We stared at each other. I hadn't thought about the fact that I was seeing Sachiko instead of Jun even though it was his body. It felt like I was looking at her the entire time, and that my chest had become warmer.

What…?

Jun appeared at the entrance with my body, distracting me from my thoughts.

"There he is," said Sachiko. "I'll go with him. Don't worry about me, I'll be alright with Jun's and Kyōko's help."

"Sure."

She walked away and approached Jun. They both walked together to the other side of the room, where my desk was.

Why did I feel like… that? I felt the same when I saw Jun for the first time in years a couple weeks ago. Is it because I was looking at him physically even though it was Sachiko?

I shook my head. There was no use worrying about it since I wasn't going to find the answer anytime soon. At least not alone. Instead, I walked around the glass wall to knock on Mr. Yutaka's and Mr. Yoshihiko's office. Not only was it nerve-wracking to step into the bosses' office, but I was also doing so in Sachiko's body without having any idea what they wanted to talk about.

"Come in," said Mr. Yutaka.

I turned the knob and pushed the door open to step inside. I closed it behind me before seeing Mr. Yoshihiko sitting at the desk next to Mr. Yutaka's. We greeted each other, then Mr. Yutaka asked me to sit in the chair in front of his desk.

"I'm sorry for calling you this early, and thank you for coming this quickly."

"It's alright. Is there a problem?"

"Well, as you saw over the past week, we've been struggling to organize everything around the publisher's demands, and I appreciate that you remain confident in front of your colleagues. It helps a lot, believe it or not."

Even though Sachiko was the supervisor, I didn't expect them to be this open with her.

Mr. Yutaka continued, "The thing is that we don't feel comfortable with hiding things from you after everything you've done for us. Also because you're the producer."

Wait, what? The producer? Sachiko's giving them money?