The first thing Cheng Xiao noticed when she woke up from her deep, uninterrupted sleep, was how much the pain on the back of her head had lessened – the lingering headache also gone. Then, she noticed the lack of blankets on the floor, and the absence of Eunseo. She must have overslept.

Only when she sat up did she see the piece of paper taped on the headboard.

“

I’m going to see SeolA unnie and then I’m going to get groceries for lunch. I promise I won’t take long. Please don’t be scared.

I’m in the kitchen preparing our lunch. I hope you like bibimbap~ Come say hi when you wake up~

“

Lunch? What time was it already? She had to get up soon and apologize. But she couldn’t ignore the fact that Eunseo had thought of what she said about being scared of being alone and left her a note, then taking the care to update it so she wasn’t alarmed. That was… really, really sweet.

“Oh! You’re up! Good afternoon. How are you feeling?” Eunseo’s bright smile greeted her as she stepped into the kitchen/living room area. She looked quite busy with cooking, and the sweet scent resulting from her efforts had already invaded Cheng Xiao’s nostrils.

“A-afternoon…? What time is it?”

Eunseo checked her phone for a second.

“12:23.”

“Oh my god! I’m so sorry!” Cheng Xiao bowed.

“Don’t be silly. You had a really long day yesterday. If you tried to wake up early, I would have forced you to sleep more myself.” Eunseo grinned. “So… how are you feeling? You didn’t answer me. Did you sleep well?”

“Oh, right.” Cheng Xiao smiled coyly. “I’m feeling great, actually. My head hurts so much less, and so far no dizziness. I did sleep really well… your bed is very comfortable.”

That’s why you should have slept on it too. With me.

“That’s great to hear! You know, you can remove your bandage now. Doctor Nam said you’d only need to keep it for a day.”

Cheng Xiao felt her head and noticed the bandage she had already forgot out about. She chuckled, pulling on the tape, then started to unwrap the bandage. After removing it, she felt the pressure on her forehead release.

Eunseo soon finished preparing the food, then setting it on the dinner table, at which Cheng Xiao was already sitting.

Cheng Xiao was surprised with how good the bibimbap tasted, compared to the ramyun of the night before. Not that it was bad, but the cook had definitely overdone the spiciness. Had she bothered Eunseo so much she got distracted with cooking? Had this turned out better because she was asleep, and not annoying her?

No, that was nonsense. What mattered was that the meal tasted heavenly –  and she had to make sure to compliment Eunseo on it. The latter responded happily, her chest puffing with pride.

After a quiet moment in which they both enjoyed their food, Cheng Xiao thought of something she was curious about.

“So, you talked to Kim SeolA, right? You seem to be in a much better mood today. How did it go?”

Eunseo stared at her for a few moments, her eyebrows knitted together.

“Oh, yeah, I did leave you a note. I was just wondering how you knew.” She rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment before continuing. “Well… I think it went as good as it could have, under the circumstances. SeolA unnie was a lot calmer and more receptive at least. It was a lot easier to talk to her. She even apologized for the scene she caused yesterday.”

Cheng Xiao’s eyes widened as the corners of her lips raised.

“That’s great, right? So that means she gave you another extension?”

The author’s head dropped, and she faced away.

“I guess you could put it that way if you want to. But… not exactly. We halted the release.”

“What do you mean?” Cheng Xiao’s smile flipped into a frown, noticing the slightly somber tone Eunseo had taken.

“I mean that… it’s sort of in a hiatus. But kind of canceled-ish at the same time. It’s uncertain – sort of a complicated situation. But it essentially means they’re going to halt the plans for the release of the book and also my funding for the time being.”

“But… isn’t that bad?” Cheng Xiao leaned forward and titled her head to get a chance to read Eunseo’s expression, but she really couldn’t figure her out.

“Typically, yes. But hey, they didn’t completely drop me. Which means they still trust me and are willing to keep publishing me in the future. And besides, I really have to acknowledge I’m in no condition to produce quality material at this time, and I was just causing trouble by fooling myself into thinking I could do it. And it’s not like I’m going to starve or sit around all day.”

Eunseo now faced Cheng Xiao again, giving her a bright smile, then continued.

“I don’t just write books, you know. Nobody survives like that these days. I write articles and columns for newspapers and some online publications, and I also do some copywriting. I really love what I do and it definitely puts my less-than-great food on the table.”

Cheng Xiao chuckled and politely denied that her food was less-than-great.

She was amazed with Eunseo’s positive attitude showing again, despite the obviously bittersweet moment she was going through. It was evident that the halting of her book hadn’t been good news, but she still managed to see the positive side in it.

And what exactly did she mean with “not being in the condition to produce quality material”? What had lead Eunseo into that ‘condition’? It was just another mystery she was hiding behind the cheerful façade she tried to keep on everytime. Even when she had cried and let out that she was hurting, Cheng Xiao still felt like she couldn’t get to her and understand what she was really feeling underneath or why.

But she wouldn’t try to ask. She figured it would be best to let her open up to her with time, if she wished to do so. They had bonded quite a lot over the day she remembered, and possibly a bit before that as well, but she wasn’t sure they could be considered close.

Then, the place her train of thought lead her to made her stomach sink.

“Eunseo, all of this… wasn’t possibly my fault, was it?” Cheng Xiao’s lips were in a straight line, her eyes wide open in fear of what she might hear as an answer. She continued as if afraid of leaving Eunseo with time to respond. “You had deadlines to meet and instead you took care of me and had to handle the emergency. I can’t possibly think of a way to apologize.”

Eunseo’s lips were parted, her head cocked and her eyes squinting in confusion.

“Wait, what? No! No way, what are you saying? Cheng Xiao.” As the writer called her name, she held the Chinese girl’s hand with both of hers and faced her frontally. “Do you know how much time I had in total for that handout? Two months. Do you know how much I got done? Way less than half of what I should have done. Two. Months. And I couldn’t do it. Believe me, even if nothing had happened, two days wouldn’t have been even close to sufficient for me to fix up my mess. There was no avoiding this situation. This is in no way your responsibility. Besides, what kind of person would I be if I prioritized my work over saving your life? Would you really expect me to do that?”

Cheng Xiao couldn’t possibly answer that. She could only force a modest smile.

“Now, finish your food.” The writer’s face lit up in less than a second, making her excitement absolutely transparent. “I’ve got a surprise for you.”

“A surprise?! What surprise? You shouldn’t have bothered! What is it?!” Cheng Xiao eagerly squirmed on her seat, simultaneously embarrassed, anxious, and delighted, her eyes sparkling.

“No, no, no. Food first. Eat up!” Eunseo scolded her as if she was scolding a little kid trying to skip her veggies, but about as cutely and softly as she could possibly scold someone.

The author took Cheng Xiao’s chopsticks, took a chunk of the food on them, and then extended her arm in the direction of the girl’s lips.

Cheng Xiao was as flustered as she could be, unable to stop her face from heating up unbearably. Her cheeks tingled as her eyes widened even more. How cheesy and weird was it that Eunseo was literally feeding her? Cheng Xiao reasoned with herself on how she should have felt awkward, uncomfortable, or some sort of second-hand embarrassment. But it wasn’t anything like that. She felt nurtured, cared for… special. Her neighbor had been making her feel that way ever since she picked her up at the hospital, and strangely, she enjoyed it way more than she was worried about bothering her. She didn’t think she could forgive herself for thinking that way, but why be worried when there was a chance Eunseo was enjoying it just as much?

But Cheng Xiao realized she had been daydreaming for way too long soon enough, as Eunseo faced her with wide open, making an “aaaaah” sound, once again as if she was trying to feed a toddler.

Cheng Xiao had to comply, however, in an almost too fast to see movement, snatched the chopsticks out of Eunseo’s hands, dropping her head to face her food. Not even once was she able to raise her head and let Eunseo see the redness on her face again before finishing her meal, which she did – a lot faster than she thought she was capable of when it concerned eating.

Lingering on the back of her head was the anticipation over finding out what kind of surprise was awaiting her. She would have daydreamt about what it could be, but what had just happened, plus the drive she had to focus on her food kept her mind occupied.

“So?! It’s done, see!” Cheng Xiao asked eagerly, taking the empty bowl and holding it in front of her face, still trying to hide it just in case it was still too embarrassing to reveal to her neighbor.

Eunseo smirked, then took the bowl from Cheng Xiao’s hands, putting it aside on the table.

“Close your eyes.” 

---

A/N: Oh hey :D Sorry about the lateness of this chapter, I had written most of it earlier this week but only now could I find time to finish it. You asked for more Eunxiao moments and here they are! I hope you like them and that you're satisfied with the chapter ^_^ Do you have any guesses as to what Eunseo's surprise will be? ;) Hehe. Clearly there will be more Eunxiao up next, but you can also expect some characters to make a comeback soon. 

Thank you so much for supporting this story :)!