After he had calmed down, you lead him by the hand to the living room, and you cuddled on the couch, wrapped in your blanket, in comforting silence.

He held you close as he mindlessly caressed your back; and you just laid on top of him, hugging him around the chest.

After a while, you spoke in low voice against his chest, “Are you feeling better now?”

His hand on your back stilled, and a moment later he asked curiously, “Doesn’t your throat hurt?”

You smiled, lifted your head up to look up at him, “Mhmm. A bit, but not as bad like it used to.”

He shifted, forcing you to sit up, kneeling comfortably in-between his legs. He gazed at your face, hands on your waist. “Have you been taking speech therapy? Um, vocal therapy..?”

You grinned and shook your head, “No… I’ve just been practicing slowly…whenever I can with Junu and Mina…and sometimes Woohyun.”

Yongguk grimaced at the mention of Woohyun. “I had the worst assumption when I saw that guy answering your front door shirtless,” he told you, making you drop your jaw. Laughing, you smacked him on the chest. “Ow!” he rubbed his stinging chest, “Any man would think if they saw a shirtless man in house of the girl they lo—” he started to argued but stopped short when he realized what he was about to say. But you caught it.

Ears perked, he saw your eyes sparking. He suddenly felt heat creeping up his neck and across his face. You grinned and tilted your head, leaning in close to his face. He pulled back slightly, looking away. “…you’re red,” you heard yourself say teasingly. “Rebel-ah, look at me,” you told him. “The girl they what?”

It hasn’t been long since you started talking, you still could only speak in a low volume since it did sting a bit but you could talk more now. Thanks to months of help from your patient friends. And right now, you just want to talk more, to , which was mainly fueled by the rush you felt seeing his flustered self. Your heart was beating in excitement, you were sure what he was going to say, but you needed him to really say it to know for sure. And you planned to hear it tonight. Even if it means you have to force it out of him.

“The girl you what, Rebel-ah?” you asked again. He felt another wave of heat through his body. You may think you were just speaking in a low teasing voice, but to him that voice sounded so alluring and seductive. He pressed his lips together, still averting his gaze away from you, concentrating on a spot on the wall.

“Yongguk?”