An unsettling commotion aroused, out of the blue, in the east end of the vast corridor, catching his attention. Curious, he darted past the ocean of students, swiftly and cleanly, until he arrived at the center of the uproar. Before his eyes laid a fellow student; seemingly out cold and motionless. Upon this sight, he moved unquestioningly, lightly picking up the passed-out boy after checking that he was breathing normally.

While edging through the ever growing sea of students, he could hear not only muffled fangirlisms but also murmurs of despicable comments.

“Pft, trying to be cool in front of the girls,” he heard a male voice saying, every word laced with mockery.

“Yah!” a female voice countered, “Nichkhun-oppa is not a show-off!”

Hiding his smile, Khun picked up his pace and made his way to the college’s infirmary.

Khun, not wanting to be rude even though his worry for the boy was increasing, knocked on the infirmary door before entering.

“He fainted in the eastern corridor, doctor,” Khun said in a rushed tone upon entering the sickbay.

After setting the boy properly in the infirmary’s bed, Khun was told to wait outside the room while the doctor checked the boy.

A few minutes later, Khun was called back in.

“Doctor, how is he? Why did he faint?” Khun asked; concern clear in his voice.

“He has low blood sugar level and fatigue. Evidently, he has been overworking. A full day of rest and he shall be good to go,” the doctor informed.

“Thank you, doctor,” Khun breathed a sigh of relief.

“Now you better go. I’m sure you have class going on right now.”

“Certainly, doctor; I will come visit him in the evening.”

***

“Please hand in your assignments by next Friday. That is all, dismissed.”

Khun sighed, the fifth assignment for the week. He quickly packed up his books and speed-walked towards the infirmary, for the second time that day. Khun then stopped abruptly outside the door, his mind having an intense battle as to what to say when he saw him.

Drawing in a deep breath, Khun knocked on the door softly and opened a small crack, enough to see that the doctor was out. Khun pushed the door wider and saw that the boy was sitting in the bed. He entered.

“Hi, uh, are you feeling better?” Khun greeted the boy.

“Ni-Nichkhun-sunbae? Go-good evening!” the boy stuttered, quickly sitting up straighter and bowed his head. “I am feeling better now, thank you.”

Khun chuckled at his tenseness, “You don’t have to be formal with me, Wooyoung. Just call me Khun. I’m glad you look better now. You scared me back there ‘cause you looked so pale.”

Wooyoung widened his eyes, unable to believe that he was talking to the school’s best student and was being cared by him like he was his close friend. Wait, how did he know my name?

“H-how do you know my name?” Wooyoung could not help asking. “And, um, does that mean you brought me here?”

“Yep, though the doctor shooed me back to class. Plus, I kind of asked the doctor for your name so I could see if you’re resting well,” Khun lied at the second part of his reply.

Wooyoung chuckled silently at Khun’s reply. He was amused at how casually Khun spoke to him, he whom Wooyoung had never had the chance to greet, and much less talk to. Khun’s behavior was also far from how Wooyoung had imagined, which is quiet, formal, and possibly uptight?

“Kh-Khun-hyung, I just want to ask…” Wooyoung stammered with a tinge of shyness in his voice, “Why did you help me? I mean, I am just a nobody and-”

“Shh,” Khun gently cut him off by placing his index finger on Wooyoung’s lips, “None of that, Wooyoung. You are not a ‘nobody’ because you, like everyone else, have the right to get helped by the people who are willing to help.”

At the touch of Khun’s finger on his lips, Wooyoung froze; his heart skipped a beat and he felt heat creeping up his cheeks.

Seeing the shade of red appearing on Wooyoung’s cheeks, Khun withdrew his finger while mentally screaming, Damnthatwassocutemyheart.

Khun then quickly regained his composure and got up to leave, “Rest well, Wooyoung-ah.”

As Khun walked out of the infirmary, he mentally hit himself for lying to Wooyoung. However, as much as Khun wanted to tell him the truth, he could not bring himself to say it; that he had always been looking out for him; that he had been and still noticed him every single day.