I know I said before that there's only epilogue chapter left, but it become too long to be just a epilogue, so I decided to add one more chapter. It's even the longest chapter in this work hahaaa. I hope you like it :))

Some steady noise slowly being processed by Jaebum’s mind. It started off quiet, but it went louder along with the consciousness that was slowly return to him. He opened his eyes to find Jackson snoring beside him, still in his dreamland. He groaned as he felt the wave of hangover hit him hard.

“You deserved it, man.” Jackson murmured, and yawned. “Just how many bottles you had last night? I’ve never seen you so beaten down before.”

“How did I get here?” Jaebum asked with a hoarse voice, ignoring the question.

“Well, you know how I befriended the bartender of that bar the last time we went there, right? Mark, that’s his name, woke me up at wee hours with a call, saying that my beloved friend was drinking his off and seemed like his consciousness flew away along with his mind. So as a good friend, I went despite the cold winter night and brought you to my apartment so I can continue my sleep.”

Oh yeah, he remembered it now. Jackson, being the easygoing person he was, always made friends with people anytime and anywhere, and the bartender was no exception since they frequently went to the bar. Moreover, since it seemed like the always over-spirited boy had a crush to the bartender.

“Are you sure you didn’t just want to impress your Mark?” Jaebum snickered, and Jaebum groaned as he was pushed out of the warm bed to the cold floor by a not-so-gentle kick from Jackson.

“Ugh, be a little gentle to your recently heartbroken friend, would you?” Jaebum grunted, throwing a pillow to Jackson.

“Whatever, just let me sleep more.” Jackson rolled his eyes and turned his back to Jaebum.

“Hey, do you know where my phone is?”

“In your jacket, drunkard.”

Jaebum reached to his jacket that was carelessly thrown to the floor supposedly by Jackson.  He fished out his phone from the pocket, and turned it on. He felt a twinge in his heart when he saw the notifications to dozens of missing calls and chat messages from one person. The chat messages started from him asking why he didn’t attend the class, then many apologies and pleas for him to talk, and he felt his heart stopped when he reached the end to the train of chats.

I’ll wait in front of your apartment until you come home.

He quickly picked up his jacket and rushed outside. He ran to his apartment, skipping two stairs a step as he went up. However, when the door of his apartment was finally in sight, he saw no one. The disappointment further broke his heart. Of course he wouldn’t be here anymore. Why would he wait all night only for someone he didn’t even like? Jaebum was a total fool for hoping. He sighed and walk to the door, not expecting to see a little box decorated by a bow and a piece of paper under. He picked them up to read the note.

Happy Birthday!

I’ll be back. We really need to talk.

I beg you.

Jaebum didn’t know what to feel about it. So he really did wait for him, and he would be back. But just what does he desperately want to tell me? To explain how he didn’t have any feelings toward me because he already had another? To hammer another nails through my heart? Jaebum thought bitterly. Even now it felt like his heart was being pricked all over again.

He took the key from his pocket and opened the door. He cursed when the hangover that was once forgotten kicked back in. But maybe he should’ve felt grateful, because the throbbing inside his head had overshadowed the ache in his heart, numbed it into a dull pain. He discarded the unopened gift and crumpled notes on a table, then proceeded to throw himself on his bed without even bothering to change his clothes. He closed his eyes, and all the pain he felt slowly faded into darkness.

--

When Jaebum wake up, it was already passed lunchtime. His stomach rumbled as he forced himself out of bed and took a shower. He reeked of sweat and alcohol, and he wasn’t going to spend the rest of the day smelling like that. He didn’t feel like cooking, so after putting on a comfortable pair of sweatpants and hoodie, he called for a delivery. His heart still felt too heavy to do anything, so he lied down and put his earphones on his ears, letting himself being engulfed by the music played by his phone, hoping it would help him felt better even just a little bit.

About ten minutes later though, he could hear a knock on the door. It surprised him a little since it usually took about thirty minutes from the call for the delivery to come. He get up to open the door, but the one he saw on the other side of the door wasn’t the delivery boy he was waiting for.

“What do you want?”

It sounded harsher than he intended. He could saw Jinyoung flinched a bit hearing the tone of his voice. He could barely hear him muttering “We need to talk,” muffled by the red knitted scarf that wrapped his neck to his nose. Now that his anger fuelled by surprise calmed down a little, he could see that the other’s eyes were unfocused, and he looked like he could fall down anytime.

“Get in.”

Jaebum stepped aside to let the boy inside. Jinyoung swayed a little when he walked in. It started to make Jaebum felt concerned. He wanted to ask if he was alright, but he held back. There was no chair or sofa in Jaebum’s apartment, so Jinyoung sat on the bed. Jaebum stood leaning on the wall, his arms crossed on his chest. They stay in silence for a while, unmoved.

“Are you not going to remove your scarf? You said you want to talk, and I can’t hear you through it.”

He could see the boy contemplated for a moment before hesitantly moved his hands to start removing the thick scarf, revealing the mask he was wearing underneath. Jaebum’s eyes widened, he could now hear the other coughing once in every few minutes.

“Lie down.”

Jinyoung looked up at him, startled and confused. “Huh?”

“I said lie down. You’re obviously in no condition to talk about anything, and I can’t send you home like that. You can go home after you feel better.”

“No, we have to talk. You have to hear me out,” Jinyoung said with hoarse voice, sounding desperate. Jaebum clenched his teeth.

“Okay then, I’ll hear whatever you wanted me to hear after you rest. Now, lie down.”

When Jinyoung was still hesitant, Jaebum walked to him and pushed his shoulder to the bed, then proceeded to cover him with the blanket. He sat on the floor, leaning to the edge of the bed. He reached for his phone and put on his earphones again, trying to ignore Jinyoung’s presence in his room. But he couldn’t, not when he could feel the other’s intense gaze on the back of his head.

“Close your eyes.” Jaebum said. And he didn’t feel the stare anymore.

A few minutes later, when put down his earphone and turned to look at the sick boy, he was already asleep. Jaebum removed the mask covering his mouth and nose and put it beside the pillow so he could breathe easier. He put his palm on Jinyoung’s forehead, and it was burning hot, just like what he had expected. He took a deep sigh, giving himself a mental slap. Am I that much of an idiot, to still getting concerned over him and think his sleeping face is adorable, even after all he has done?

He searched for a cooling patch in his apartment. He was sure he still had some of them left after he was down with a fever for a few days last month. After rummaging around for a while, trying to be as quiet as possible, he found it inside the kitchen cabinet. He attached it on Jinyoung’s forehead, resisting the urge to his hair or even worse, kiss him. So he settled for staring at the sleeping face, with every minutes spent stood as additional needles piercing through his heart. What are you, a masochist? Jaebum thought with a painful smile, mocking himself.

--

Jinyoung opened his eyes to find Jaebum still on the same spot as when he told him to close his eyes, wearing his earphones. The differences were there was a dirty dish sitting beside Jaebum, his mask was gone, and there was something cold and soothing attached to his forehead. He smiled, glad the other still care about him. He then noticed the unopened gift and crumpled paper he left behind earlier on the table across the bed. His heart clenched, draining the faint smile that was formed by his lips before.

He stared again at the back of Jaebum’s head, wishing the boy would turn his head and smiled brightly at him, as he usually does. But as it was, it would only remain a vain hope. So he pulled the cord of the earphone off of his left ear, and succeeded on making the other turned his face to him, only to find the look of surprise on his eyes quickly turned into one of indifference. It broke his heart to see Jaebum look at him that way.

“Oh, you’ve woken up,” Jaebum said while he pulled on the other side of the earphones and get up to put the dirty dish in the sink. But Jinyoung tugged on his hoodie, stopping him from walking away.

“I love you, Jaebum.”

Jinyoung didn’t know when his tears started dwelling up. He didn’t even understand what he wanted to achieve with blurting it out like that, knowing Jaebum would still be too hurt to just believe him. He just couldn’t contain it anymore. He was afraid Jaebum would reject him and pushed him away, but he neither moved nor said anything. He didn’t know if it was a good or bad sign.

“Am I too late? Sorry, I waited until early morning but my mom called, nagging me to come home after realizing I wasn’t home last night without notice. So I figured I’d go home and come back here as fast as possible. However I was down with fever as soon as I get home, and she wouldn’t let me leave. I waited for a chance to slip away and here I am. I know it sounds like an excuse but it really is what happened. Won’t you believe me?”

At this point, the pillow he rested his head on was already damped with his tears, and his cries only worsened his coughs. He shut his eyes. The silence that followed was choking him, so did the fear of losing Jaebum. He would do anything to prevent that, yet he didn’t know what he should do. Then he felt the bed shifted due to the added weight on the edge. He opened his eyes, finding Jaebum sitting beside him, but still facing away from him. He could barely hear the question thrown by the other.

“Then why did you kiss that girl?”

“No, I didn’t! She confessed to me and I reject her. She asked for a hug so I did, but she suddenly kissed me. That’s all, trust me,” Jinyoung managed to say between his sobs. He was so desperate. He had told him everything, all that was left for him to do was hoping Jaebum would believe him. Then he felt a familiar warm hand touched his cheek and wipe his tears. He looked up. Relief washed over him when he saw the smile he missed so much again on Jaebum’s face. Jaebum leaned to squeeze him in his arms, and his warm breath was blowing to his ear as he said, “I believe you.”

He cried again on Jaebum’s shoulder, this time from happiness and relief. He was so grateful to feel his gentle hand his hair again, patting his back. But when Jaebum was about to kiss him, Jinyoung blocked his mouth with his hand. He could see the confusion and hurt on the other’s eyes, and he quickly explained.

“You’ll catch my flu, idiot.”

Jaebum laughed, and the sound was comforting. Jinyoung had thought he could never hear it anymore, so he smiled so wide his cheeks almost hurt when he did. Jaebum took the mask he was wearing earlier, and put it on his mouth before kissing him. He closed his eyes as he felt the pressure of the other’s lips through the roughness of the fabric. He opened it again when Jaebum pulled away and grunted, “Ugh forget it.” He discarded the mask and kissed him again.

The kiss was so sweet it could melt him, and so deep he could’ve been drowned. The fluttering feeling in his stomach he felt when he first kissed the other was back. He was so happy. Now everything felt right. The kiss went for a while before he felt Jaebum smiled on his lips and pulled away again with his usual mischievous smirk on his face that often annoyed him before, but now made his heart skipped a beat.

“If I catch your flu, you just need to take responsibility and nurse me to health.”

Jinyoung laughed so hard and said, “At your service, sir.”

What he wouldn’t do for Jaebum now.