"Hey, J."

"Yes?"

"Can you.... tell me your real name?" Taeyeon propped her head up to look at the right side profile of the girl beside her. 

"J."

"J as in... J- A- Y?" Taeyeon pried.

"J as in J."

Taeyeon frowned. With her two palms pushing the concrete, she sat up. 

"Okay then." She internally sighed.  No luck tonight.

-

The two girls stared hard at the phone that their friend was holding up in front of their faces.

"Umm... Taeyeon, are you sure that you're not befriending a ghost or something?"

"What?! Of course not! How can you even say that?"

"Not to be mean or anything but..." Sunny reached for Taeyeon's hand holding the phone, and tilted it back to her. "It's too dark and I can barely see a thing! See?"

"Yeah, Taeyeon. Why is it so dark in that picture? Where was that taken, in the basement?" 

"No, it's not! It's-" Taeyeon stopped herself. What was she gonna say? That it was taken on the rooftop? No way. There was no need for them to know that. She took one good look at the photo she secretely took of J the previous night. She hated to admit it, but her friends were right. It was too dark for them to even judge it. She sighed.

"I'm sorry. I'll just... take another one." 

-

"The weather has gotten a lot colder now, hasn't it?"

"Mhm... we're just a couple of months away before the year ends anyway. It's almost winter."

"Ahh~ I miss eating warm food with my friends during this time of the year." J looked at Taeyeon as the latter got lost in her own thoughts. "We'd always go out together and eat during fall and winter. Sometimes going to night markets to buy street food. Those were the days."

"You really miss them, huh?"

"Every single day."

A gust of wind blew which got the both girls shivering.

"It's getting too cold out here. We should head in, Taeyeon. Let's meet up tomorrow night."

"Ah, sure." Taeyeon got confused. They were meeting up almost every night anyway, but for J to say that...

"Wait for me, okay?"

"Of course."

"But if I don't arrive by midnight, go back inside, got it?"

"It's not like you're not gonna come, right?"

J laughed. "Yeah, but just in case." 

-

The wind was particularly strong tonight. Taeyeon looked up. The absence of stars above told her that dark, thick clouds were covering them. She looked at her watch. It was seven o'clock. She was particularly early tonight. They'd usually meet up around seven- thirty or eight, but she couldn't deny that she was excited for something she wasn't even sure of.

Tick-tock.

Tick-tock.

Tick-tock.

Taeyeon checked her watch, 8:22 p.m. 

J is running a little late, but it's okay.

J said she'd come. So I will wait. 

Tick-tock.

Tick-tock.

Tick-tock.

9:30 p.m. 

It's so cold out, but I can't leave. What if she comes and I'm not here?

Tick-tock .

Tick-tock.

Tick-tock.

10:54 p.m. 

Woah those are thick clouds. Taeyeon stretched her legs. Where are you, J?

Taeyeon could hear a roaring sound, then soon after, droplets of rain started to fall on her skin. 

"Oh, come on. Why must it rain now?" As if the heavens itself wanted to test her patience, the rain poured harder, completely soaking her clothes.

Tick-tock .

Tick-tock.

Tick-tock.

11:48 p.m. 

Dammit, I can't see anything. Why didn't I bring an umbrella? When will this rain stop?

Tick-tock .

Tick-tock.

Tick-tock.

12:16 a.m.

Should I wait some more? 

-

Taeyeon hugged herself. Her clothes were soaked, and she tired and shivering, but she managed to go down and hop back inside her room. 

Is it a wrong decision to come down? What if she went after I came down? Should I go back up? 

Should I check on her?

Is she sick again?

But my head... I'm getting dizzy...

I don't even have the strength to close this window. 

Ugh. Wait, why is my eyesight blurry?

-

"Miss Taeyeon... *knock knock* "Miss Taeyeon, breakfast is ready. You're gonna be late for school." *knock kock* "Miss Taeyeon?"

"Miss Taeyeon!"

-

"Aaggh..."

"Miss Taeyeon, are you alright?" Taeyeon opened her eyes, blinking a couple of times to adjust to the light. One of the maids came into view.

"Do you want us to take you to the hospital?"

"No."

"Food is ready, Miss Taeyeon. Do you want to go down first to eat?"

"No."

"But you need to eat your meal first before you can drink your medicine. You're temperature is pretty high, miss Taeyeon." 

The girl lying on the bed groaned, and covered her head with the blanket.

"Do you want us to spoon feed you instead?"

What the heck?!

"Just place it there. I'll eat it later."

"Are you sure, miss Taeyeon?"

"Yes, I just want to sleep for now."

"Very well then, miss." The maid then stood up and proceeded to whisper something to the head maid by the door. Only when she heard the door clicking close did Taeyeon release her breath. Her head felt so heavy, was so dry, and her body was aching. 

-

"Miss Taeyeon, miss Taeyeon..."

"Mmm.. what is it?" She mumbled.

"I brought your lunch and your medicine for this hour."

"Just leave it there." She turned towards the opposite way.

"Please make sure to eat it, miss Taeyeon, you haven't touched your breakfast."

"I will, I will. Now please leave me alone."

-

Taeyeon slowly opened her yes. It was dark. She realized that she slept all throughout the day, that it's now night time again. Then she felt a warm hand on her arm. Feeling irritated, she blindly shrugged it off.

"Please just leave the food and medicine there."

Then she felt it again, a warm hand on her arm.

Taeyeon didn't want any more distractions. Her throbbing head is already giving her a hard time, and this isn't one of the days where she could bear to repeat herself over and over again.

"Please go away."

"Taeyeon, it's me." She was about to snap when in the darkness of her room, and the throbbing of her head, she processed whom the voice belonged to. "Taeyeon-ah, are you sick?" She then felt the warm hand touch her forehead.

"J?" Taeyeon croaked. She slowly tossed to the other side. It was dark, so she could only see a silhouette of a girl, thanks to the moonlight coming in through her window.

She heard her gasp. "You're burning hot!"

"W-what are you doing here? How did you get in?"

"Your window was open."

"Wha-"

Just then, a sound of a grumbling stomach reverberated inside the dark room, and Taeyeon's question was left unfinished.

"Have you eaten?"

"Not yet."

"What is this I'm seeing on your table? Yah, you haven't eaten breakfast and lunch, haven't you??"

"Umm..."

"How are you supposed to get better with that kind of attitude?"

"You're sounding more and more like my mom."

"Come on, sit up."

"But my head feels so heavy." Taeyeon whined.

"Come on."

"I'm so dizzy."

"Slowly." J found Taeyeon's left hand, then used her right to support Taeyeon's back to make her sit up. "Why are your clothes damp?"

"I... waited for you last night."

"You what?"

"I waited... for you.."

"Even when it rained?! Why didn't you go back inside when it rained?"

"You told me to wait for you." 

"But it rained!"

"You told me to go inside when it's past midnight, but you didn't tell me to head in when it rains."

She heard J sigh. 

"Taeyeon, you idiot." 

"I heard that."

J didn't respond, and instead fixed the pillows behind the sick girl.

"Are you comfortable?"

"Yes, but my head is still throbbing. Why?"

"I brought you some hot soup."

"Really?"

"Yeah, now I need you to eat this."

"Can I eat it later?"

"Nope. You have to eat it now." Another sigh was heard. "If I have to do this to make sure you eat it, I will."

"What?"

"Open your mouth."

"Why?"

"Open up."

"Ahh"

"Hot hot hot!"

"Oh my gosh, I'm sorry!" Taeyeon heard blowing noises, before she felt the tip of a spoon being tapped on her lips. "Here, this is better."

"Ahh" 

Taeyeon chewed in silence.

"Mmmmm. Is this crab and corn soup?"

"Yes."

"This tastes amazing! Where did you buy this?"

"I... actually made it."

"Wha-, really?"

"Mhm. I was actually supposed make it and bring this to you yesterday, but unexpected things happened and I couldn't come. You told me how much you missed eating hot food during this season with your friends, so I decided to make you some soup. I'm sorry if I came here like this, you must think I'm a creepy stalker, but I'm just really worried. I'm sorry I made you wait last night. I'm sorry I didn't come. If I'd known you'd wait for me I would've-"

"Hey, hey." Taeyeon found J's wrists in the dark. "It's okay, you don't have to apologize. It did shock me at first how you were able to get in my room, but that must've taken a lot of effort. And it's my fault for waiting out in the rain. Thank you for the soup. Now that I think about it, it's the perfect food now that I'm sick. I mean, wow. No one has ever done this for me before. Thank you so much for thinking about me."

...

"N-no problem. Let's get you to finish your soup."

"Ahh~"

...

"That was delicious."

"You already said that earlier."

"But it's true! And it really was delicious."

"I'm glad you liked it. Oh, wait." Taeyeon heard J stand up and make her way towards her bedside table. She heard some clinking sounds, and soon the bed dipped, signifying she was back. "Here, drink your medicine."

"That tastes disgusting."

"Come on, drink this now. You haven't drank your medicine since this morning."

"Fine." 

"Here's some water."

"Thanks."

"My head still hurts really bad." 

"You still feel dizzy?"

Taeyeon nodded, but realized it wasn't smart to do so since it was dark and the other girl probably wouldn't see it. 

"Yes."

"Okay, let's lie you dow- oh wait!"

"What?"

"Where's your closet?"

"Oh. It's to the left, in front of the coffee table, but there's a plant right next to it, so you have to go right, but then again there's a shelf so you have to go around it to the side, then walk two steps to the left, then you can see a straight pathway after that, it will lead to my closet."

Two seconds of silence passed.

"Just how big is your room?"

"Not that big."

"Uh...huh. Anyway, any shortcuts to your closet?"

"There are no shortcuts. You'll just see it. You can turn the lights on."

"Let's not turn the lights on."

"Why not? It'll help you."

"If I turn it on, your eyes will be dazzled, and it won't help since you're still dizzy and lightheaded."

"Hm... you're right."

"Why do you even ask where my closet is?"

"Because you have to go change. You haven't changed since yesterday."

"It's okay though. I'll be fine."

"It's not. Your clothes are damp so you'll get even more sick. You might wake up with a cold tomorrow morning, and I swear it's not what you want right now."

"But I'm so lazy and dizzy to even get up this bed."

"That's why I said I'll get it for you."

"I already told you where the closet is, you just have to turn the lights on."

"I said we won't turn the lights on. Don't you have any other pieces of clean clothing lying somewhere?"

"No, the maids clean my room almost everyday. They put everything in their right places."

J sighed for the nth time that night. It was longer and heavier than the rest. "Well then you leave me no choice." Taeyeon heard some sounds. "Taeyeon, please raise your hands up." She did so, before she felt her shirt being lifted up.

"H-hey! What are you doing?" She grabbed the hem of her shirt and pulled it down.

"I'm changing your clothes."

"I-I can change my clothes by myself."

"Can you really?"

"Of course!" 

"Well by all means, do so." Taeyeon tried to do as she was said. Piece of cake, she thought. She's been changing her clothes by herself since who knows when. But she realized that it was different when you're sick. She barely had enough strength to raise her shirt up beyond her shoulders.

"Why is it so damn hard..", Taeyeon mumbled.

"Are you done?"

"N-not yet, just give me a minute." J heard struggling noises of Taeyeon trying to pull her shirt up. "You know what, I'll just change later when you leave."

"I doubt that."