Jessica was exhausted, trudging up to her dorm with Sooyoung behind her. She almost collapsed when she opened the door and first stepped into her room. Sooyoung caught her, laying the drenched girl on the bed as he shut the door gently behind him. Sooyoung sat next to Jessica, who had her eyes closed. Feeling sorry for her, he grabbed a clean towel from the bathroom and dried her arms and legs, leaving her hair for last. As he was doing so, he realised that she was bleeding. In the chaotic period of time earlier, he had not noticed the smell of blood from her left arm. The blood had dried; streaking all the way to her elbow and Sooyoung frowned. His dried arteries were screaming at him to it, to take her blood and feed on her, but his conscience drove away the need and he ended up cleaning her wound with a wet towel. Gently, he nudged the tired girl. Jessica’s eyes opened slowly, looking at him lazily as she was snapped from the edge of unconsciousness.

“Hey, you should change into dry clothes. You’ll get sick,” he said softly.

“Urgh…I’m too tired, Soo…I’m so tired,” Jessica had already dozed off, leaving Sooyoung clueless about what to do.

Wait! I’ve got an idea!Sooyoung stood up, careful not to wake Jessica up, and knocked on Tiffany’s door. A glazy-eyed Tiffany with messy, bed-hair greeted him.

“What?” she groaned as she scratched her hair and her right ankle came up to scratch her left leg. It was a sight, really.

“I’m really sorry for disturbing you, but could you please do me a favour?” Sooyoung clasped his hands together as if to beg.

And so Sooyoung waited at Jessica’s door as Tiffany changed Jessica out of her wet clothes and into her pyjamas. As Sooyoung waited, he took note of the photo-frame on the counter-top. It was a picture of Jessica and her parents. She was much younger in that picture, smiling brightly with her parents by her sides. He had never seen that smile on Jessica’s face, but somehow, he wanted to be the only one to see it.

“Sooyoung, you can come in now,” Tiffany appeared through the door, staggering to her room and shutting the door behind her before Sooyoung could thank her.

Sooyoung saw the sleeping angel on the bed, her soft snores causing him to chuckle as he sat on the bed next to her, staring at her beautiful face. She was beautiful even in sleep; there was no doubt that Jessica was indeed an angel sent just for him. He traced his finger over her features slowly, watching her in her deep slumber. She was imperfect, but that made her perfect to his eyes.

“God,” Sooyoung breathed. “You look exactly like her.”

Sooyoung had bandaged her wound after applying some antiseptic ointment on it and adjusted her position so that she would not worsen the injury. She barely stirred as Sooyoung shifted her to a much more comfortable position. He pulled her blanket over her, pulling it all the way to her chest and got off the bed. But as he did so, he felt a slight tugging on his wrist. Looking back with a confused frown, he saw Jessica’s hand on his wrist, and yet the blonde was still asleep. She had tears streaming down her face and soaking her pillow.

“Don’t go,” she mumbled in her sleep.

Jessica woke up to an empty bed. She felt the emptiness burn another hole in her and shatter her already-broken heart. That was until she heard the light yet heavy breathing on the floor next to the bed. Her head was aching and her eyes felt hot and teary, but, with much effort, she climbed to the edge and saw the sleeping Sooyoung on the floor, his arms outstretched as if asking for a hug and his head tilted to his side painfully. Jessica wanted to crawl to him and fall into his embrace, but her pounding head wouldn’t allow her to, and she let her head fall onto her pillow. Closing her eyes, she tried to sleep until she heard Sooyoung shift. He was sitting upright on the floor, with messy hair piled up on his head. Waking up from his dreamless sleep, Sooyoung peeked at Jessica, climbing back onto bed and touched her wounded arm with the gentlest of touch. Her eyes fluttered open at the pain, surprising him. But the mild surprise died down eventually.

Jessica flinched at the brief pain in her arm, but tried her best not to show it. Of course, being inhuman, Sooyoung could see it, and immediately began to message her arm gently, sending chills of pleasure down Jessica’s spine as the wound began to feel numb. Sooyoung checked Jessica’s temperature, his hand coming into contact with her warm, clammy forehead.

“Jessica, you’re still having a fever,” Sooyoung stated blankly, but Jessica swore she heard concern in his voice.

Sooyoung sighed and threw an arm over Jessica’s warm body. He rested his chin on her arm lightly, ensuring that she wasn’t supporting the full weight of his head. Sooyoung watched her with warm, brown eyes that were imploring. Jessica froze at the sudden contact, but felt her breath accelerate when Sooyoung laid his head against her face. His lips were on her cheek and his fingers were brushing away the strands of hair that were out of place. Again, Jessica was unresponsive.

“Jessica? Please say something. You’re worrying me. Are you still hurting? Do you feel uncomfortable? At least tell me that,” Sooyoung pleaded softly.

“I’m fine,” Jessica replied shortly, but her voice shook.

“Jessica…you’re really warm. You’re burning up. I should take you to the hospital. You don’t have to walk. I’ll carry you,” Sooyoung began to lift Jessica out of bed, but Jessica only grabbed Sooyoung’s shirt and refused to let go.

“Please, don’t take me there. Please, don’t take me to the hospital. I don’t want to go there. Please,” Jessica’s voice was strained and Sooyoung was contrite at once, but didn’t put her back on the bed.

“At least have a bath first. It will bring down your temperature,” Sooyoung carried her to the toilet.

“No, I just want to sleep, Sooyoung. Please put me back on the bed.”

“You don’t want to eat medicine, you don’t want me to take you to the hospital, but please just do this. Just take a fast bath, just to bring down your temperature. I’ll…I’ll help you.”

Jessica hesitated, but nodded weakly. Sooyoung carried her to the bathtub, and rolled up his sleeves. He would have asked Tiffany to do it, but after checking in on her, Sooyoung only found an empty, made-up bed with a note saying that she was going out. Sitting on the marble edge of the tub, he gave her a loose, long t-shirt for her to wear, which he had dug somewhere from her closet, and looked away as she changed. Sooyoung then the tap, letting the warm water fill the tub. Jessica relaxed into the water, closing her eyes. Sooyoung appeared with a bottle of shampoo and a container, which he placed under Jessica’s hair.

“What are you doing?” Jessica eyed him curiously.

“Washing your hair. I’ll be gentle,” Sooyoung promised as he rubbed his hands together, spreading the shampoo between and on his fingers.

Sooyoung began to wash Jessica’s long, blonde hair. Slowly, gently, he tugged at her hair, letting the spaces between his fingers streak her hair with shampoo. Then, he massaged her scalp. Jessica took a deep breath at the relaxing sensation. Tension flooded out of her as she soaked in the warm bath. If she had felt anything, it was appreciation for Sooyoung’s hospitability.

“Do you like it?”

“Hmm,” Jessica sighed.

“Do you feel better now?” Sooyoung’s hands were weaving in and out of Jessica’s smooth hair.

“Much better.”

Even when Jessica couldn’t see Sooyoung’s face, she could tell that he was smiling, relieved that he was able to help her in one way or another. After washing out the shampoo from Jesscica’s hair and his hands, he lifted her injured arm out of the water and began to massage it.  Jessica watched as Sooyoung cautiously massaged her arm, his eyes filled with guilt. After the bath, Sooyoung wrapped her in a towel, and looked away again when she changed back into her pyjamas. Sooyoung draped a kimono over her shoulders for extra warmth and inserted her arms into the respective holes, careful not to hurt Jessica, and carried her to bed. Lowering her down onto the bed, Sooyoung tucked her in, pulling the blanket over her as he lay next to her quietly. Sooyoung seemed satisfied that she felt better.

“If you’re cold, tell me. If you need anything, let me know. I’ll be here,” Sooyoung said reassuringly.

I’ll be here for you whenever you need me, always…

Readers’ Note:

How was it? I found it funny that I saved this chapter in Microsoft Word under Sooyoung’s hospitability. Nonetheless, a chapter delivered to you guys. I hope you enjoyed it! A battle of the brothers next chapter! Thank you for reading!

Yours Faithfully
Jazzign