“Can I not sleep in one room with you guys? I’m scared that I might infect you all,” Jaein said as she watched the guys clean up.

“Kyungsoo has a really strong immune system so sleeping next to him won’t matter,” Minseok replied.

“Strong immune systems won’t make you immune to a virus,” Jaein retorted.

“Oh right, you’re a nerd- I mean medical student,” Baekhyun teased.

“And you’re an idiot,” she replied.

Chanyeol then suggested playing some games. Jaein’s fever didn’t get any better so Junmyeon told her to go rest instead of tiring herself out. Kyungsoo didn’t feel like playing games so he followed her to the room.

“Are you feeling better?” he asked, closing the door behind him.

Jaein sat on the edge of the bed and shook her head.

Kyungsoo took a seat next to her and starred at the ground.

“This was pretty fun… despite me getting sick and all,” she muttered.

Kyungsoo smiled.

“I got to step on a beach for the first time and tasted sea water,” she added.

“I’m glad you had fun,” he replied.

“This makes me not want to go back to campus. I just want to stay here forever,” Jaein rested her head on his shoulder.

 “We can extend our stay for a couple more days if you want. I’m pretty sure the boys would love to do so,” Kyungsoo replied.

“I can’t. I have papers and tests coming up. Not to mention midterms and also clinical exposure examinations. Why didn’t I pick an easier major?” she sighed.

Kyungsoo chuckled.

“Have you ever wanted do something, but because someone you don’t like wants you to do it too, you kind of don’t want to do it anymore?” she asked.

“Not really. The people I don’t like usually want me to fail at everything,” he answered.

“And that motivates you to do better…” Jaein mumbled.

“Is there something bothering you? You know you can tell me,” Kyungsoo said as he looked at her.

“It’s nothing. I’m just really stressed out,” Jaein replied.

Kyungsoo knew that wasn’t the case, but he didn’t want to force her to do something she doesn’t want to do.

“I downloaded a couple of movies on my iPad. Do you want to watch them with me?” he asked as he took his iPad from his bag.

Jaein nodded lightly.

“Do you have the new Star Trek movie that came out like a couple months ago? I didn’t get to watch that in the theatres,” she said.

“I do. I actually haven’t watched it as well,” he excitedly replied as he took a seat next to her on the bed.

Halfway through the movie, Jaein finally felt the effect of the fever medicine she took earlier. Their backs were leaning on the wall and she was slightly leaning on him. Her arms suddenly hugged his as she rested her head on his shoulder. Kyungsoo on the other hand felt flustered by her sudden gestures, but he wasn’t uncomfortable. He took in the sweet vanilla scent of her hair and the warmth that radiated from her feverish body. He soon heard light snores coming from ; making him smile. Kyungsoo waited until the movie finished before putting his iPad on the floor beside Jaein and carefully adjusted her body so that her head was lying on the pillow. He pulled the covers up and closed his eyes.

♦♦♦

“It’s almost 1am boys. We should really hit the hay since we’re going to leave at 11am tomorrow,” Junmyeon said.

“Yeah. Kyungsoo and Jaein are probably already asleep by now too,” Minseok replied.

“I knew Kyungsoo had a thing for her since the beginning. You could already see it in his eyes how much he’s attracted to her,” Baekhyun added.

“I’m glad he’s finally brave enough to take interest in another girl. I thought that Minhee had really broken him for good,” Chanyeol said.

“Don’t mention her name here. That girl really was and probably still is ed up,” Jongdae replied bitterly.  

Everyone stood up and bid their goodnights before entering their respective rooms.

♦♦♦

When morning came, Jaein’s eyes instinctively opened. She could feel a pair of arms hugging her from behind and started to panic. The sight of his fingers calmed her down because she realized who they belonged to. She turned her body to face him and was surprised at how close her face was to her. She wanted to poke his lips, to test how bouncy and soft it was. She also wanted to caress his face, to feel how smooth it was under her palms. But the sound of her stomach stopped her from doing so as she slowly lifted herself from the bed; carefully as to not wake the 3 boys from their peaceful slumber.

What would the boys like to eat for breakfast… Western or Korean? She thought to herself as she inspected the fridge for some ingredients. Jaein settled to make some kimchi jigae, fried sausages, rolled omelets, and tofu stir-fry. These were all her favorite recipes that her dad taught her when she little. His kimchi jigae has always been the best for her.

While she was finishing up with the jigae, she heard the door from one of the rooms open. Footsteps got nearer and nearer until she felt someone’s hand on her shoulder.

“Why didn’t you wake me up?” Kyungsoo asked, his voice still very hoarse.

“Good morning to you too. You looked so peaceful so I didn’t have the heart to wake you,” she replied as she tasted the soup and smiled at the perfect taste.

“I see you’ve made breakfast,” he said as he looked at the table covered in food.

“Mhm. Can you wake up the others? I don’t want the food to go cold,” she replied.

He mumbled an ‘okay’ before going inside each of the rooms and woke everyone up.

♦♦♦

“I’m sorry hyung, but she beats you at making kimchi jigae,” Sehun said to Kyungsoo.

“I was never good at making kimchi jigae. I’m better at doenjang jigae though,” Kyungsoo replied.

“I agree with Sehun. Whose amazing recipe did you use?” Yixing asked.

“My dad’s,” Jaein answered with a slight chuckle.

“Does he own a restaurant or something? I would eat there every single day,” Baekhyun questioned.

“Nope. He just owns an exporting/exporting company, but he really loves cooking for the family,” she replied.

“Wow. Your family must be filthy rich,” Chanyeol said.

Jaein replied with a light nod.

After breakfast, they started packing and getting ready to back to campus. By 11am, they left the cozy villa.

♦♦♦

“ACT found out how Stargardt’s disease can be cured by using retinal pigment epithelial cells found in the embryonic stem cells. Tomorrow, we will view and also analyze the process of curing Stargardt’s disease in more detail. Class dismissed.”

Jaein stretched her arms and legs after 2 hours of sitting down. She was glad that her classes have finally ended for the day because she hasn’t been feeling well since the morning. Her body felt fatigued and she knew exactly why. Although August had just ended, Korea has been very cold. This isn’t very good for her body because Jaein has anemia. On a happy note, she hasn’t seen Aeri for a whole month! But she knew that Aeri isn’t the type of girl to just give up. She’ll be back someday to torment her life once again.

As Jaein was packing up, her phone suddenly buzzed on the table.

‘Hey. Are you done with class?’ –Do Kyungsoo 4:09pm

 Jaein smiled. Kyungsoo and her has grown very close to the point where he sometimes hangs around in her room without the boys knowing. They were always so noisy, so Kyungsoo and Jaein would meet up secretly just to escape the craziness for a bit. He would also sometimes take her out to dinner or study with her in the library together. They would also talk about things they were insecure about and other things they wanted to get off their chests. She felt so at ease around him and he around her.

‘Yeah, just finished.’

‘The boys are having a movie night and they asked me to ask you to tag along. They know you’re no  going to reply in the group chat if they asked you. ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ’

‘I have to work on my report and study :(. Exams are coming up,’  

‘Exams are in November. Come on, it’s going to be fun. Even I think it’s a good idea.’

‘That’s because you love movies. My report’s due in 2 days. I haven’t even finished half of it.’

‘Jaein-ah. Don’t make us come to you.’

‘Bye bye :3’

Jaein had to quickly get out of the building and into her room before they find her here. She won’t be able to get out of it if they caught up to her. She quickly walked out of the building, but luck wasn’t on her side today because there were 3 familiar looking boys already waiting for her with a smirk on their faces.

♦♦♦

“Have you ever watched Miracle in Cell No.7 Jaein? It’s incredibly sad,” Sehun said.

“Yeah. But I didn’t cry,” Jaein replied, her eyes focused on the screen of her laptop as she typed.

“How could you not cry?! You heartless person,” Baekhyun exclaimed in disbelief.

“Even Kyungsoo cried!” Minseok added.

“Kyungsoo hyung easily cries in sad movies. Even in Prince of Tennis,” Jongin said, making the other giggle.

“Prince of what?” Jaein questioned.

“It’s an anim- OW!” Jongdae was interrupted by a kick in the stomach.

“It’s nothing,” Kyungsoo replied.

“I didn’t cry to in that movie,” Yixing pointed out.

“That’s because you slept through the movie hyung,” Chanyeol said.

“Alright now. What movie do you guys want to watch?” Junmyeon asked as he prepared the DVD player.

“Horror!!!” Baekhyun and Chanyeol shouted in unison.

“Horror my . You both won’t even last 2 minutes,” Minseok said.

“Yeah. And don’t think we’ll let you sleep in our room tonight,” Jongdae added.

They fought for 5 minutes over what to watch until Minseok and Jongdae finally gave in.

“Put your laptop away Song Jaein. The movie’s about to start,” Jongin said as he passed the popcorn around.

“I’m going to hit you with the TV if you don’t shut up,” Jaein replied bitterly. She was still pissed that they forcedly dragged her here.

Kyungsoo just chuckled and patted her shoulder.

Throughout the movie, there were endless screams from the boys – especially Baekhyun and Chanyeol. Even Kyungsoo let out a scream or two. Only Jongdae and Jaein were the ones that didn’t scream, but they sure as hell flinched a lot. When the movie ended, no one got up from their seats.

“That was a really bad idea. Why did we agree to that?!?” Chanyeol exclaimed.

“The dude?! You wanted that ,” Jongdae replied.

“Why didn’t you talk us out of it?!?” Baekhyun yelled.

“Shut up! The guy beside us will complain again about the noise again. Remember what happened last time?” Junmyeon said.

Jaein saved her work before standing up.

“Well, I have to get going now. It was a pleasure listening to your girlish screams,” she said cheekily.

“Wait, why the hell didn’t you scream? Aren’t girls supposed to be scared of these things,” Sehun asked.

“Don’t be ist Sehun. I was scared, but I don’t express it that much. And now I’m even more terrified because I just realized how far apart our dorms are from each other.” She replied honestly.

“You can stay if you want. We don’t mind,” Junmyeon offered.

“I have to finish this report, but my books are at my dorm,” Jaein said.

“You want some of us to accompany you?” Yixing asked.

“No it’s fine,” she replied.

“Our moms taught us not to let a girl walk alone in the night. So it’s either you stay here or we walk you back,” Baekhyun said.

“Fine. Let’s go,” Jaein said as she head towards the door, mentally sighing relief because she wasn’t going to walk back home alone in the dark where can jump out at her.

Kyungsoo and Baekhyun delivered her back to her dorm in one piece and went back.