It was a few weeks after Madison’s accident and she was finally on the mend. Thanks mainly to the very attentive Jungkook, who had taken it upon himself to take care of her. He had brought all her meals to her when he was not busy with his schedules, and when he was busy, he would often message whoever was still at home to remind them that she was upstairs. When she was finally able to get out of bed, he was there to act as her crutch. His attentiveness had not gone unnoticed by the other roommates, their teasing only fuelled on by Jungkook’s actions.

For Madison, these weeks had opened her eyes to the truth that she had feelings for the younger boy. At first she denied it, thinking that she was just grateful for his help. But the more he helped her, the more he kept her company so that she wouldn’t get bored, the more she realised that her feelings had grown beyond a simple nuna / dongsaeng relationship. The thought terrified her. Luckily she was an actress, so she was able to hide her feelings from the others, even if their teasing made her feel like she must have been completely obvious with her affection.

She often caught herself looking up his latest performances and looking through photos of him on the internet. What the hell am I doing? I’m acting like a stalker! She thought as she threw her phone onto the couch next to her, just as her roommate, Youngji, brought her a drink. “Here you go unni.” She said with her big smile. Madison took her drink and thanked the younger girl who curled up on the couch next to her and started watching the drama that was currently playing on TV.

It wasn’t long before Madison once again had her phone back in her hand, her replying to Jungkook’s message leading to her looking though an interview he had done a year or so before. She mentally chuckled at the cliché question given to idols: “What’s your ideal type?” Despite her chuckle, she couldn’t quell the rising anticipation as she read Jungkook’s answer. Her heart fell when she read that he said he would prefer a younger girlfriend. She once again threw her phone onto the couch next to her.

She sipped at her drink, suddenly feeling gloomy. What was I expecting? Not many guys want a nuna. Especially one that’s five years older than them! Maybe this is just what I need to get this stupid crush out of my system. She tried to focus on the drama but a headache was growing more and more noticeable. After half an hour, the headache had worsened to the point where she felt physically sick. She excused herself and went to her bed to lie down for a while, making sure to pull the curtains closed first. She fell into an uneasy sleep in an attempt to rid herself of her headache.

She woke up a couple of hours later to the sounds of loud laughter from the upstairs living room. She muttered a quiet curse and wondered why they were all upstairs instead of downstairs. She shuffled into her bathroom and grimaced at her appearance. She quickly washed her face and applied some makeup before changing her clothes into something fresh.

She shuffled out into the living room where Jungkook bounded up to her. “Nuna! How are you feeling? Youngji nuna said you weren’t feeling well.” He asked worriedly. She gave him a smile. “I feel a lot better after sleeping.” She lied. She checked the time and noticed that it was already getting quite late. “I’m on cooking duty, I’m gonna go get started.” The others offered to help but she refused, knowing that Jackson would help her when he got home from his schedule, they had planned on making some of Jackson’s favourite dishes from Hong Kong for the others to eat.

She brought up the recipe lists on her phone and started looking out all the ingredients she would need to make the dishes. She quickly got to work, trying her best to ignore her lingering headache and the nauseated feeling in the pit of her stomach. She was chopping up vegetables and turned to grab something else when everything started turning black. She vaguely heard the knife she had been holding clattering to the floor. Her vision narrowed until everything went black. She was unconscious before she hit the floor.

Jungkook went downstairs fifteen minutes later, repeating the drinks that he had to collect for everyone upstairs. “Three colas, one water, and two herbal teas. Three colas, one water, two herbal teas. Three…” he abruptly stopped reciting when he saw Madison lying in the middle of the kitchen floor. All thoughts of drinks fled from his mind as he rushed to her side and pulled her against his chest. “Oh my god. Madison! Madison! Wake up!” he cried. Completely forgetting the honorifics in his panic. “Madison!” he held the older girl against his chest, as he frantically looked her over for any injuries.

He placed a hand on her forehead and frowned. “She has a fever… ! What should I do?” he looked around frantically, his instinct to call out for Namjoon or Jin as they would know what to do in this type of situation. Instead he cried out for the other members of the roommate household, hoping they would hear him over their conversations. Eventually his cries were answered by several of the other roommates who all panicked at seeing Jungkook on the kitchen floor holding an unconscious Madison in his arms.

“What happened?” Youngji asked. Jungkook shook his head. “I don’t know! I just came down for the drinks and she was lying on the floor. I think she’s really sick. She’s got a fever. I think it’s pretty high.” GookJu knelt down beside them and put her hand on Madison’s forehead. “Omo. Her fever is really high. We should probably get her to a hospital.” The others all agreed and she was quickly rushed to the hospital.

She woke up an hour later, groggy and disorientated. She frowned as she tried to make sense of her unfamiliar surroundings. Something in her left hand twitched. She looked down and her jaw dropped when she saw Jungkook’s fingers laced through hers. His arms were folded on the bed, his head resting on top of them as he slept. She couldn’t help but smile at his face. Her right hand gently brushed his hair away from his face. He shifted in his sleep and she quickly pulled her hand away. He blinked slowly as he woke up.

He looked up at her and when he noticed she was awake, he jumped out of his seat. “Nuna! You’re awake!” he said, not taking his hand out of hers. “Yeah, what happened? I was making dinner then next thing I know, I’m in here.” Jungkook frowned at her. “You passed out in the kitchen, I found you and we brought you here to get checked out. Why didn’t you say you still didn’t feel good? Someone else could have made dinner while you rested.”

“I didn’t think it was this bad. I really did feel a bit better after resting.” She said, feeling like the tables had turned and he was the oppa, and her the dongsaeng. He frowned at her. “You never take care of yourself.” He said as he tightened his grip on her hand without realizing it. She turned away from him and apologised quietly. He sighed loudly as he started rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb.

They sat in silence for a few minutes until Jungkook finally spoke. “I was so worried you know. Seeing you lying there like that. You didn’t respond no matter how many times I called your name. I didn’t know what to do… I felt so helpless.” She turned back to him and was surprised to see tears in his eyes. A wave of guilt washed over her. “I’m so sorry Jungkook.” She said, not knowing what else to say to make the young man feel better. He wiped away the tears in his eyes and turned to her with a serious expression.

“Madison nuna. You need to promise me something.” His sudden serious tone catching her off-guard. “Yeah, what is it?” she asked hesitantly. “Promise me that you’ll take better care of yourself. I’m not lying when I say I was genuinely terrified when I found you today. No matter what it is, no matter how big or small, you have to tell me when something is wrong ok? Even though I’m still young and there’s lots of things I don’t know or don’t understand, I’ll try to help you. Just please, don’t let me worry again.”

She nodded, finding herself unable to answer him. He held her hand tightly in both of his. He caught her gaze, and even though she wanted to turn away, his warm brown eyes pinned her in place. Her heart was racing, thudding in her chest so loudly she was surprised Jungkook couldn’t hear it. She could feel her palms turning sweaty and prayed that he wouldn’t notice.

What are you thinking about? There’s no point getting worked up. He’s Jeon Jungkook. There’s no way he’s interested in you like that. She thought to herself. Just as she turned away from him, he surprised her by gently grabbing her face, turning her back to face him before pressing his lips against hers.

Her eyes widened at the sudden kiss. His eyes were closed, his grip on her hand verging on painful. The kiss only lasted a few seconds before he quickly pulled away. “Nuna… I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to… I mean… that ki… I shouldn’t have.” He abruptly stood up and took a step back. She felt tears well up in her eyes because of his reaction. “I should go. Feel better.” he said quickly as he almost ran from the room.

Madison was left alone with nothing but her tears for company.