1st October 2017

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You were furious. Maybe the word furious was an understatement. But you knew most of it was because you were disappointed.

 

Disappointed because Jongin didn’t bother apologizing. Disappointed because he hadn’t sent one text to say he regretted what he did. You were beyond frustrated with the situation. It was last period and Jongin had been whimpering in his seat. Constantly fidgeting, constantly shivering. Stealing glances almost every minute. The day after the incident, Jongin had been somewhat possessive again. He was clinging on to you as though he hadn’t done anything wrong. It made you furious.

 

“I’m not talking to you unless you apologize to Kyungsoo.”

Jongin had been stubborn. He refused. He didn’t want to go anywhere near Kyungsoo. But he was always nearby. He didn’t seem to want to be apart from you but he knew you were mad at him. You almost gave in seeing his state. He ended up sitting alone for bus rides to and from school, during lunch period and even though he was sitting next to you during classes, you were bluntly ignoring him. That was what happened for the rest of the week. A part of you felt broken. Your feelings have been a big jumble mess after Tuesday. You didn’t understand your emotions anymore. Your thoughts didn’t felt like your own thoughts. But you were still yearning…

 

Jongin took another glance at you as you tried your very best to fight your urges and write down notes for your history report. Look away Jongin you thought and Jongin whimpered a little again, looking down on his lap instead. His fists were clenching. Body stiff. Several other times he would clench his jaw and shut his eyes. You were close to breaking; wanting to take care of him because clearly something was wrong with him. He shouldn’t be in school.

The last bell rang and you slowly packed your bag not wanting to walk off with Jongin. Again, he understood and walked off after throwing his stuff in his bag. You sighed and slung your bag on your shoulders. You stepped out of the classroom and stared down the hall at Jongin’s retreating figure, looking weak.

 

“Haewon? You okay?”

You continued to watch until the doors shut behind Jongin. Sighing you mumbled a tiny “Yeah, I’m okay.”

 

Soojung placed a hand on my shoulder, “It’s Friday. You wanna come over to my house? Or we could always go shopping?”

 

I gave her a tired smile and shook my head, “I’m tired. It’s been a long week.”

 

*

 

That evening after a barely eaten and lonely dinner, you were on your bed, lying on your stomach trying to read a book when you felt a vibration followed by a short beep from your phone - a text message. You held your breath hoping for it to be Jongin but when you unlocked your phone, your shoulders sagged in disappointment.

 

It was Kyungsoo. Just as he always is, the text was straight to the point: Let’s watch a movie tomorrow. You contemplated on what to reply when another text came in a split second later.

 

Baekhyun says he wants in (tell me why I can’t kill him again?)

- Kyungsoo

 

A smile tugged on your lips and your fingers worked its way across your phone screen, you felt a sudden urge to listen to Kyungsoo’s voice. After three rings, he answered.

 

“Hey.” Kyungsoo’s deep, almost seducing, voice rang on the other side of the phone line. You blushed a little. “Hey yourself…” You mumbled back then decided to answer his question, “You can’t kill him you know, you need him. He’s a friend. And, I wouldn’t mind a movie. What are we watching?”

 

Sounds of plates clanking were heard in the background and you knew he was doing the dishes. Kyungsoo’s voice though a little distant hummed, “Hmmm, you pick. I’ll watch anything.” Then a ping sound followed by Kyungsoo groaning, “Baek says he loves me. Please remind him I’m not gay.”

 

You stifled a laugh thinking of the story where Baekhyun actually tried to hit on Kyungsoo (They were in first year of high school and you’d give anything to see that happen in person), “Am I on loudspeaker?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Figures.” You rolled on your back and stared at the ceiling, trying to imagine Kyungsoo doing the dishes, “Baekhyun oppa’s just sad that he hasn’t confessed to Chanyeol sunbae yet. Don’t be hard on him.”

 

“Well, he should do it soon. He’s turning into a love-sick puppy.”

 

“You should help him. Be his wingman or something....”

 

“Hold on,” You heard a slam of a drawer and a few ruffling before Kyungsoo’s voice came again louder this time; he must have finished with the dishes. “You know I don’t invest that much time and effort on playing cupid.”

 

I rolled my eyes, “Just do it. No harm in helping, right?”

 

A door closed and Kyungsoo sighed, “Fine. I’ll try to do something about it.”

“That’s a good boy~” You teased.

 

“Don’t push it Haewon. I’ll come for you after I’m done with Baekhyun.”

 

Your smile grew bigger and before you could stop yourself, you said, “You won’t because you love me too.” A second passed before you realized how ridiculous it sounded. Kyungsoo went silent from the other end and you prayed hard he misheard or better, didn’t hear it at all.

 

“Yeah, I do.” Kyungsoo’s voice was barely audible but then he coughed and continued, “We’ll pick a movie tomorrow. Together. Be ready by 11, Baek’s driving his mom’s car. We’ll pick you up.”

 

Your heart was hammering against your chest. It’s just platonic haewon, don’t think otherwise.

 

“Won-ah? You still there?”

 

You screwed your eyes shut as though physically trying to keep your thoughts at bay and not say anything stupid again. “Yeah, I heard you.”

 

“Well, I’m going to bed now. I’ll see you tomorrow. Goodnight, don’t stay up too late.”

 

“Yeah okay, Goodnight Oppa....” and the line went dead.

 

You let a sigh and allowed the hand holding your phone to go limp, falling on the bed. Well that went smoothly. You took a glance at the clock that read five minutes past nine in the evening. You decided that a few more chapters of your book before calling it a night wouldn’t hurt. Rolling back on your stomach, you reached out to grab your forgotten book from the edge of the bed.

 

Just as your fingers brushed against the spine of the book, a loud bang was heard from the wall across your bed. You flinched at the sound and was instantly on your feet. What was that? Your heart began to race as your mind conjured the worst-case scenarios. Your eyes were trained on the said wall, the wall where the window was facing out to the woods. You had half a mind to draw your curtains. Ah what the hell it’s probably a bird

You gathered your courage to approach your window when another thud sounded - much softer than the previous one. It sounded as though someone was knocking on your wall. With shaky fingers, you pulled on the curtain to reveal the night sky and dark mysterious looking forest. Suddenly, a palm was pressed on your window causing you to let out a short scream.

 

“Help…” the person called out, muffled by the closed window.

 

Your eyes followed the hand and gasped at the familiar figure leaning himself against the roof of your house. Jongin? You rushed to open the window despite the unusual behavior. As soon as the window slid open, Jongin’s hand was clutching on your shoulder and pulling himself inside. Warm, very warm. Jongin’s body was heating up.

“Jongin, why are you here.” You mumbled as you struggled to carry his weight against your body. He was breathing heavily as though he ran a marathon, face pale and beads of sweat coating his body like second skin.

Jongin leaned his burning forehead against yours and winced a little. “It hurts. Help, Help me…. please,” His voice hoarse. His grip on your shoulders tightened.

 

You panicked and quickly moved him to your bed, laying him down carefully. You didn’t know what to do but his body was heating up so you assumed it was a fever. Trying to move as fast as possible, you grabbed a wet towel and proceeded on putting it on his forehead. You tried to find for a thermometer but you couldn’t find it anymore. Jongin’s soft whimpers were driving you to the edge. Frustrated, you grabbed your phone from your bedside table to call the local clinic but Jongin’s hand reached out to grab you and tugged you back.

“Please, just stay for a while.” His hooded eyes tried to focus on you.

Your brows creased with worry as you readjusted the towel and pushed his hair away. “I’m going to call the clinic, you’re having a fever. Where’s your mother?”

 

Jongin whined, “Not at home. I wanted to see you.”

 

“Jongin please, we need to get you a doctor.” You tried to pull your arm away but Jongin seemed to still have some strength in him. Sighing, you gave in and sat next to him. The corners of his lips turned upwards knowing he had won. “I’ll be fine, just...just stay here with me.” His grip finally loosened but his fingers began to softly brush against your skin.

 

You stared at him, not knowing if you believe his words. But the small smile on his face somehow convinced you that he was right, he’ll be alright.

“Okay. I’ll stay. Just let me see if I have any medicine for your fever, okay?” You laughed as his face scrunched in disgust at the mention of medicine.

 

After taking the medicine, Jongin made sure you sat next to him on the bed. His constant whimpers made you feel helpless so you ended up his hair and hummed softly - praying hard it’ll help somehow. After a while, he seemed to calm down and stopped whimpering as a whole. The pills were working you thought but his body temperature was still warm. Your droopy eyes searched for the clock on your wall. It was half an hour past eleven. You wet the towel one last time before heading to the bathroom to splash a little water on your face.

 

“Haewon?” Jongin called out.

 

You hurried over to his side, “Yeah?”

 

A sigh left his lips and he smiled, “I thought you left.”

 

“You should sleep, your body is still warm.”

He chuckled weakly, “It’s always warm.” You frowned realizing he was right. The next thing you knew, Jongin shifted to the side making space on the bed and patted it, “You need to sleep too.”

 

Your eyes widened and sputtered, “I-I... No, I’ll just sleep in my parent’s room.”

 

Jongin’s lower lip jutted out a little into a small pout, “But I’m sick...I need someone to be by my side.”

 

“I-I’ll...I’ll j-just…” Your mumbled while searching your mind for an excuse.

 

“I won’t do anything. I Promise.” He held out his pinky then held his hand out.

You stood there, staring dumbly at his hand. Jongin decided to take matters into his own hands and pulled you down next to him. You almost landed with a hand on his chest and you squeaked at the proximity. Jongin then proceeded on pulling your legs up onto the bed before throwing the covers on the both of you. “Don’t want you to catch a cold.” He explained and made himself comfortable on the bed that was made for one. You were still frozen laying on your side. Your hand was now pulled close to your chest, legs stiff not wanting to touch his.

 

“Goodnight Haewon,” Jongin mumbled as his eyes closed.

 

You stared at his face with the light from the lamp on your bedside illuminating his features. Prince charming was sleeping on your bed and that was making you a flustered mess. It’s okay, I’ll just wait for him to fall asleep then sneak out of the bed. You thought but you couldn’t help but to fall in love with the view in front of you. His serene face made you want to touch him - if he’s real. Then you realized how much you missed him, being close and not distant like how it has been the past few days. You realized you were supposed to be mad at him but how could you when he needed you. Just this once…

“Can you switch the light off? I can’t sleep with the lamp on.” You didn’t realize Jongin’s eyes were open again, staring directly into yours. You snapped out of your daze and twisted around to press the button. When you turned back, Jongin was still staring at you. You gulped and instantly shut yours. It went silent for a split second before you heard a low rumbling sound - one that was from the chest and not the stomach. Somehow, that sound made you relax and comfortable. Arms wrapped themselves around you and you fell into a deep slumber listening to the beating of his heart.

 

 

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A/N: I didn't proofread; might edit in the future
Thanks for reading :')
(I don't expect comments but it'll be nice if you do 💕💕)

~ Dee