“Yah, i’m still really angry,” I said and continued to eat. “You should leave after you eat, you probably have something to do elsewhere yeah?” I finished my bowl of rice and walked over next to him in front of the sink to wash the dishes I ate from. He put his food down and pushed me aside.

                    “I’ve been ordered by Onew Hyung to take care of you and be here, soooo move out of the way,” he nudged me further away. I smiled at the sight but I couldn’t let him do it.

                    “Aiyah, i’m gonna get mad even more if you keep doing that, you should go rest at home, you just arrived last night from God knows where, doing God knows what,” I mumbled and pushed him aside until we kept fighting for the spot.

                    “Oh yeah,” he stopped and looked at me. “Was it true that you hit that woman yesterday? Everybody started murmuring when you got on the taxi,” he asked curiously.

                    “They said what?! I didn’t hit her! Okay, maybe I pushed her but she was trying to steal my taxi! There were 10 other people who tried to st-” he started laughing as I explained. I tilted my head wondering why.

                    “HAHAHAHA!” he started clapping his hands and threw his head back. “I just remembered...PUAHAHA! When you got on the cab and said ‘Thank you Korea!’ AHAHHAA I tried so hard not to laugh!” he kept laughing and when his laughter died down, we just stood there and looked at each other. He then put his hand close to my face and put a strand of hair behind my ear, this action made me move back.

                     “Uhh,” I said, because I didn’t want to confuse myself further, we were just friends. Just friends. How could I possibly mean more to him than just friends?

                     “What?” he asked and moved closer to me. I started moving back as he kept moving forward. “Don’t you want to know what I think about this? You’re the one who called me drunk and asked. Don’t you want to know now?” he asked until I hit the wall behind. I stumbled towards my couch and he followed. I didn’t know what to say. “I’ll tell you, th-” he started.

                     “Laaaaa! Lalalalalalalalala!!” I yelled out, covering my ears and faced him while I was backing up because he was still inching towards me. “Yah! Stop it! I don’t wanna hear it! Lalalalala!” I said, shaking my head repeatedly. He pulled my hands off my ears.

                    “You’re being really loud,” he said and put his face right in front of mine, so I pushed his head away.

                    “Yah! Ju-j-just because, uh- y- i’m your fan doesn’t mean we can just be okay after that long of not talking!” I stuttered because I was nervous. Well, he put his face right in front of mine, who wouldn’t be nervous!

                    “Waaaaaaah, you think i’m that prideful? That I would use that advantage to get you to not be mad anymore? WAAAAAAH! You’re really something,” he said, flabbergasted at what I said. “I was just going to say how I feel about thi-”

                    “LALALALAALALA!” I yelled even louder.

                    “Okay okay! Fine, fine, I won’t say it!” he threw his hands up in the air.

                    “Okay, ‘cause I don’t want to know,” I sat down on the couch, trying to calm myself down and closed my eyes. I still wasn’t feeling all that well and I think Key noticed this, because he left for a couple minutes and came back with a blanket and a wet towel. I stayed sitting down because I didn’t want to throw up with him here, I mean..we were already close friends but I don’t think i’m ready for him to see me throw up, even though Onew has seen that action.

                    “Aigoo,” he said and fixed my hair. “Making me work and take care of you after performing and meeting fans all day yesterday, tsk tsk,” he positioned me to lay down slowly and put the blanket over me. I hit his head when he was about to stand up straight.

“Yah, go home and stop bothering me,” I said.

“I’m just joking gosh, you’re so moody,” he mumbled the last part, scratching his head.

“What did you say??” I asked and raised my hand like I was about to hit his head again and he backed away.

“Nothing! Nothing, I said you look really pretty,” he said jokingly and curtsied.

“Aish, you’re lucky i’m sick,” I closed my eyes and let him fix my pillow.

“How am I lucky? I had to see your gross throw-up..yuuuuuck,” he joked again.

               “Aish! Yah!” I opened my eyes wide to stare at him angrily. He put his face closer to mine.

               “I’m just kidding...you’re the lucky one that you’re sick, you have SHINee’s Almiiiiighty Key taking care of you,” he said proudly again and put the wet towel on my forehead.

               “Yeah, i’m so grateful and excited to hear you bicker for this whole time while I try to get better,” I said sarcastically. He left to wash the dishes and fix the counter.

               “Do you want me to turn on the actual lights instead of the Christmas lights?” he asked while washing the dishes, I couldn’t see this but I could hear the water running.

               “No, it’s okay, I like this,” I yawned.

               “Oh wait wait,” the water shut off and I heard his footsteps near me.

               “Drink this first, medicine first then you can sleep all you want,” he handed me a glass or water and medicine. I sat up, grabbed these from him, and downed the medicine. He watched me lay back down and left to go wash the dishes again. I just laid down there and listened to him hum and before I knew it, I easily slept without feeling lonely and angry and hurt.

               “You used my what?!” I yelled.

               “Well, where was I going to sleep? You looked comfortable on the couch and your bed was so inviting,” he explained and rolled his eyes. “You seem much better,” he said casually trying to change the topic.

               “Mm-hmm,” I raised my eyebrows at him and the pyjamas he was wearing. “Wait, where did you get those?” I pointed at his outfit.

               “Oh this? Taemin-goon brought me some stuff to sleep in, my toothbrush too and everything I need,” he explained.

               “Waaah, do you think this is a sleepover or something??” I asked and kept myself covered in my blanket with only my head showing.

               “No! B-but, uh...if I was going to take care of you the whole night, I wanted to be comfortable at least,” he explained and sat down on the couch next to me. I nodded because I had stopped listening.

               “What time is it anyway?” I asked.

               “It is….” he paused to look at his phone, “almost 12 am,” he muttered.

               “What?! I slept for that long?!” I yelled and threw the blanket off me.

               “I slept for a while too,” he yawned, looking tired. I pushed him off and waved him away.

               “Go sleep again, go go,” I said and he looked back at me.

               “Okay...call my name out when you need me,” he muttered and walked off, half-asleep.

               “Kibum-ah!” I laid down.

               “What? What?” he said, alert.

               “Just checking to see if it works,” I smiled at him innocently and covered my head with the blanket. He chuckled while walking away and all I could feel at this moment was genuine happiness. It didn’t matter that I was sick as a dog, that I was living alone in a foreign country, and that none of my family members and friends live here, but having one person, who meant so much to me, was enough.

              “Kibum-ah!” I yelled out 10 minutes later. He didn’t appear but...

              “What!” he yelled from my bedroom.

              “I missed you!” I said loudly and concealed myself under my blanket so quick even though there was nobody in the living room to see my embarrassment.

              “I missed you too!” did he really just say it back?!?! “I can’t believe we’re living in the same country now,” he added, but this time his voice didn’t come from my room but 3 steps away. I sat up quickly and brush my hair down with my hands.

              “Aigoo, you’re so cheesy,” I smiled and patted the space next to me to ask him to sit down. He scoffed so loud, he might as well have spat in my face.

              “You’re the one yelling ‘i miss you i miss you’ to me,” he sat next to me and nudged my shoulder playfully.

              “Tch,” was all that came out of my mouth.

              “Wait… tell me this, why are you here so soon?” he asked and turned to me as he crossed his legs. I followed suit.

              “Oh… well, this is kind of embarrassing,” I scratched my head, wondering if I should even bring it up or what. "I kind of... took all the classes I needed and crammed it into two semesters," I said slowly and looked down at my crossed legs, facing the tv that wasn't , making this moment extra awkward. 

               "What?? Doesn't that mean...wait.." he started counting with his fingers, muttering to himself, then he gasped. "Omo-na, yaaaah! You finished your Bachelor's degree in...two and a half years?!" he hit my arm repeatedly so I shoved him to the side. I faced him this time, so he couldn't hit my shoulder anymore, but also because I wanted to look at him. 

               "Yeah... I worked really hard this year to finish it. I was actually going to take my time... but I wanted to come here sooner," I mumbled the last part. I looked at his flushed face, but only for a moment.

                    "H-how come you, uh, wanted to come here sooner?" he asked, clearing his throat about 10 times in between his words. I chuckled lightly at his shyness that always came out of nowhere. 

                    "'Cause to live here is part of my dream and I get to teach English but only have to work 4 days a week is... well, good," I explained, nodding my head at the same time and rocking back and forth. 

                    "Oh... okay, you don't want to be a lawyer anymore?" he asked as he leaned on his side, but still facing me. I don't know if it's just me or does this moment feel like a movie.. Dimly lit Christmas lights in our background, talking about life, with...well, a famous person, not the typical movie-guy-protagonist, who is usually a writer, wears thick rimmed glasses and knit sweaters and messenger bags... Wait-what am i thinking? This isn't a romantic relationship. THIS IS A FRIENDSHIP. Get over yourself, Ellie.

                     "I still do, but who knows, maybe i'll stay here if I end up liking my job here so much that I can't leave, or maybe end up hating it and moving back after a year...who knows, really," I said quietly and leaned on my side too. Our knees were touching since they were both crossed on the couch. We were so close to each other that I wanted to grab his hand and tell him how much I missed him and thank him for...being a one of a kind friend. 

We talked and talked until the night soon became early morning. Before we realized it, we fell asleep on the couch, not hugging each other nor sleeping with the same blanket but with our feet touching and our heads leaned to the side, almost being smothered by the couch. I admit it was a ridiculous sleeping arrangement but neither of us pushed the other away this time and just simply appreciated each other's company, so all in all, it could result in back problems, but I was as comfortable as I could be and I hope he felt the same.