[Author's Current Condition]

Yay! An update after abandoning you guys for a week. My dad was hospitalized again, so I had to look after him, so I couldn't post this finished chapter. I'm sorry. Oh, and thank you for everyone that wished for my father's health on the last couple of chapters. You're all amazing readers! :D

[Author's Note] -MUST READ-

LOOK AT THIS SCREENSHOT! And read the foreword.

Yup, this will be A REALLY SHORT FANFICTION I WILL BE UPDATING REGULARLY for the next three days. It will be about TWO or THREE CHAPTERED FANFICTION. And yet, here I am on chapter 8, the story still has a long way before it reached the ending I had planned, and here I am, posting the longest chapter ever in this fanfiction with 4077 word count. But I don't plan to do this much, my fingers just tapped on my phone and when I pasted this on Word, I was shocked. So here goes the long update.

"Excuse me," JaeBum said, almost whispering, his blonde head popped from the small opening on his classroom door.

He had used to this stare everyone usually throw on him, but this time, he knew it wasn't because of his decision on JinYoung. This time, he really messed up. He noticed Jackson was shaking his head disapproving his very existence at the door. He saw the boy mouthed something he couldn’t quite decipher. Then he heard the voice he thought would bring devastation to his academic life.

"Oh, how wonderful it is for you to grace us your presence. So you decided to join us on the very last minute of our subject, Im JaeBum," he heard Mr. Song said, and he was pretty sure he would be done for in less than five minutes. And he could hear the class broke into whispers.

"Come in, now," the teacher in his late twenty said.

"I'm sorry, Sir, I was-."

"Late. I know you often abandoned the homework I gave to you, but since you were always on time, I let you off. But now, you've proven me wrong. Giving you too much compensation was wrong. Yet again, if you actually did your homework, I'm considering to leave you alone for today," Mr. Song said, tapping the marker on his grasp to the teacher’s desk.

JaeBum gulped.

"So, did you do your homework?"

"Mr. Song, I can explain-."

JaeBum stopped when he heard the intercom sounded.

"Student Im JaeBum, from 3 Science 4, please report to the principal’s office, immediately."

The class turned from whispering to actually just murmuring their thoughts despite their teacher’s presence.

"You go ahead first. I'll be there when the class ended. The principal might want to hear about this," the teacher smirked evilly.

Principal’s Office, 9.25 AM

"JaeBum-ah, I hope you have an explanation for the blonde hair I clearly told you to rid of. Cause if you don't, I'll have to call for your dad," Principal Fei crossed her arms, cocking an eyebrow at JaeBum.

"No, please don't tell him, Mam. I went to the saloon yesterday, I swear," JaeBum plead.

"Then why am I seeing your spiky blonde hair while we're having this conversation?" Principal Fei frowned, not so amused by JaeBum's reply.

"Ah, how do I put this? So it was raining yesterday, and then there's JinYoung, and, uh," JaeBum was at lost of words.

"JinYoung, you said? What does he had to do with you not getting rid of that blonde hair? Speaking of which, I still haven't seen him around," Principal Fei said, worried shown perfectly on her complexion.

"Yes, he was, sick, you see," JaeBum said hesitantly.

"What? He's sick? Is he at the hospital?" Principal Fei made it perfectly clear that JinYoung was and still is the one student she cared the most.

"No, Mam. He's at his home, now. I helped him to get home last night," JaeBum commented.

"You helped h-, what are you doing standing over there, dear?! Come sit! Sit over here while we’re talking," principal Fei motioned JaeBum to move the chair located across her table to her right side, which JaeBum diligently obliged.

"Oh, dear, please tell me, he's fine," principal  Fei was practically whining to JaeBum. A rather fresh encounter for the lad, but, still, he got to keep his mouth shut if he wanted to get out of there without his parents getting summoned to school.

And JaeBum told his principal, whom had listened to him like she was watching a Korean drama, how he was going to the saloon and accidentally met JinYoung. He, of course, skipped the details of his chit chat at the Bakery, in which Principal Fei was so curious about, she kept trying to dig about it from JaeBum. JaeBum, skillfully dodged the questions.

He may or may not have told a few things a bit differently, so that it concealed what actually happened inside JinYoung's house. He of course didn't tell the details about JinYoung reaching for his cheek, which happened out of the blue.

"Oh, God, was he in such a state? No wonder there wasn't any letter for the school," Principal Fei sighed.

"Yes, Mam. I didn't really know the details, but JinYoung was persistent on not going to the hospital. I even had to stay until past midnight before I could leave him," JaeBum said.

"Wait. You left him? You didn't stay with him?! But you said you were taking care of him?!" Principal Fei suddenly raised her voice. JaeBum’s body tensed again.

"No, Mam, I mean, it was already two in the morning and Mr. Song gave me assignment I need to submit today. The deadline's today, so," JaeBum could see the disapproval from Principal Fei.

JaeBum sighed. "In the end, I was too tired to actually do the homework. Well after everything I do. Who knew compressing him with towels and cooking that soup would be so tiring, though?" JaeBum reasoned.

Principal Fei cocked an eyebrow. "You cooked soup for JinYoung?"

"Yes, Mam. I called Jackson and he said I need to put wet towels too cool down his fever. And he told me soup would come handy, so, I put the warm soup and the meds next to his bed before I went back to my house," JaeBum explained lengthy.

To say principal Fei melted was an understatement. She was suddenly being hyper, squealing like a fangirl reading a fanfiction with her one true pairing as lead characters. And JaeBum just sat there confused as to where the rage of this middle-aged single woman had disappeared.

"Oh, dear, you even cooked him soup. What a heart of gold you possessed, JaeBum-ah," she then ruffled JaeBum's spiky blonde hair, creating a mess. But JaeBum just hold the annoyance in his heart, offering his radiant eyesmile instead.

"Tell me, what kind of soup did you made him? Did he like it?" Principal Fei rested his elbow on her thigh, her chin placed comfortably on her wrist, as she leaned her head towards the blonde student before her.

"I made him a chicken soup. I was planning to make some porridge as well, but I didn't manage to find where he put the rice, so, i sticked with just soup. Well, I went back to his house this morning and, he ate the whole pot I made," JaeBum proudly said.

JinYoung’s House, Earlier that Day.

"JinYoung?" JaeBum, who's already on his uniform called, his backpack hung loosely on his right shoulder.

The boy didn't hear any response from the said boy, so he proceeded to the kitchen and spotted the remaining dried mangos lying perfectly still on the dining table. The side of his lips curled up into a smile. He quickly dashed towards the table and grab the plastic bag, but soon dropped it back to the table, when a colony of ants crawled up to his arms. He rubbed his arms with his palms and blow the ants away from his skin.

That's when JinYoung came in.

In a bathrobe. Hair dripping wet, as he tried to dry them with a towel. It was..

'y? No, wait! I did not just think that the nerd is y!'

Their eyes met while JaeBum was still blowing on the skin of his arms. He was in a rather weird position, though. He just hoped that the latter didn't see the dried mangos he ate without the owner's consent.

"JinYoung, you're awake?" JaeBum said examining the boy a few feet across him. "And you're actually wearing that bathrobe," JaeBum commented silently.

JinYoung stopped drying his raven-colored hair, blinking abundantly at JaeBum, before replying, "Oh, yes, I just took a shower."

"Yeah, I can see that," JaeBum said looking at the boy up and down.

Silence took over, and it wasn't until JaeBum's phone rang, that they broke the silent eye contact. JaeBum fished out his phone and looked at the caller's ID. It's Jackson. He picked it up right away.

"Yeah, what's up?" JaeBum greeted through the phone.

"You're at my house? What for?" JaeBum asked not so calmly.

"I have something to take care of, first. You can go without me, Jackson. I'll see you in school," JaeBum said as he hung up.

Apparently, Jackson had offered to pick him up, since his car was still in the garage. But telling Jackson to wait on him would result in Jackson asking where he went, and that would lead to even more questions, so he had to ask Jackson to go without him. Great, he'll have to grab a cab to go to school.

JinYoung, however, wondered at the quite familiar name. Jackson. A bunch of thoughts played in JinYoung's mind. Was Jackson really close with JaeBum? What kind of relationship do they have? Was Jackson the reason JaeBum rejected himself?

"JinYoung? You're spacing out. Are you still having a fever?" JaeBum asked, and again, JinYoung had to mentally slap himself to stop imagining things, cause he saw the worried look on JaeBum's beautiful face.

"Slightly, but I'm fine now. You took a good care of me, last night, so, thank you, I guess. I'm just a bit dizzy. But I'll manage," JinYoung smiled. His eyes crinkled on the sides. Those crinkle only accentuate how