“Meanie? You’re meaner than me, Kwon Yu–“

“You’ve got a fever!” Yuri’s brows contracted in a worried frown. She swiftly placed her hand on Siwon’s neck and forehead, confirming that his body temperature was indeed higher than normal.

“What?” Siwon titled his head, muttering, “Oh, yeah… I guess I caught the cold.”

He gently stopped her from examining his temperature and then inched away from her. He wasn’t feeling well the whole day, but he somehow momentarily forgot about it once he got home.

“Go to bed and rest, okay. I’ll bring you the medicine.“

“It’s just a cold… don’t worry,” Siwon shrugged. “You need to stay away from me, though.... It’s contagious. I don’t want you and our baby to catch the cold, too. I’ll just sleep here in the couch. I’ll be fine by tomorrow morning.”

Yuri shook her head, “No, no, don’t sleep here. I think you need to call in sick, Siwon-ah.”

He shook his head in return, “I can’t. I have to go to work tomorrow. Ah, I can’t go with you to the medical check-up tomorrow, though. It’s okay if you go alone, right? I have… um, overtime.”

“Overtime? But –”

Before she could say anything else, Siwon went on, “I’ll be fine tomorrow. Hey, I don’t even feel like I’m sick!”

“But you’re hot!” Yuri protested.

“Well, thank you. I’m always hot,” he joked, his lips pulled into a faux-conceited smirk.

Yuri groaned at her wrong choice of words. She usually would find his antics utterly annoying, but she couldn’t this time around – mostly because he’s worryingly sick with the fever and, also, because Yuri was secretly starting to get smitten by each time his smile created eminent dimples on his cheeks.

“I’ll be better by tomorrow morning,” Siwon softly reassured once again, “I never ever get sick to the point of having to call in sick. Trust me. In fact, the only time I was hospitalized was that one time a weirdo messed with my bike and put me in an accident…”

She heaved, unsure how to react at the shade he threw.

“I’ve completely forgive her, don’t worry,” said Siwon as he playfully poked her now chubbier cheeks. He then lay down in the rather uncomfortable sofa. “I still don’t want to risk sleeping near you, though, so it’s either me or you sleeping here,” Siwon narrowed his eyes, “you don’t want to sleep here with your back problems, do you?”

Yuri sighed. As much as she wanted him to sleep more comfortably, the lower back pain she suffered really was not something she could endure out of courtesy. The pain has getting worse and worse as her pregnancy goes. Not to mention that she’s suffering from Lupus; having an overprotective antibody means it’s best to avoid any other kind of sickness, or else the antibody will react too much and make everything worse by attacking her entire system instead of simply protecting it.

“Alright, I’ll bring you the medicine,” Yuri said in defeat, struggling a little to get up.

“Nah, I’m okay... Besides, do we even have cold medicine?” Siwon raised his thick eyebrows.

“Yeah, we do,” she softly smiled, feeling a sense of relief that she decided to buy a complete home first-aid kit sometimes ago after accidentally hurt herself when sewing the bear dolls’ eyes.

Few minutes later, Yuri came back from the pantry with the multi-symptoms cold medicine from the first-aid kit and a glass of warm milk she just heated.

“Here.”

Siwon simply nodded his thank-you and sat up, taking the medication quietly. Despite insisting that he’ll be better tomorrow, he did feel a little bit unwell, after all.

“Go to sleep and rest after you finished the milk, okay,” Yuri said, her eyes full of concern.

“Alrighty, Dino.”

“Goodnight,” she sighed, “and get well soon, okay?”

“I will,” he nodded again, smiling. Siwon finally understood what Yuri said about how weird it felt to have him being nice to her all of sudden. It was truly peculiar to have Yuri, who was his nemesis just few months ago, being concerned over his well-being.

He really felt unwell, but the way Yuri was so concerned has made him feel – for the lack of better words – delighted. It was new, but oddly delightful for Siwon to have her so worried about him.

“Oh, wait,” said Siwon as Yuri was about to leave his side. He reached into his jeans pocket and took out two modest rings. “Here, wear this,” Siwon said as he lightly grasped her left hand and put the smaller ring on her finger.

Yuri’s eyes widened, “Siwon-ah, is this –“

“Wedding ring, yes. I know we’ve talked about not needing these, but just wear it, okay…”

He put the other one on his left ring finger, “So that those busybody ahjummas will stop bothering you by asking if we’re married or not.”

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Everything made Yuri felt strangely warm that evening. The weather, the way she’s now naturally murmuring something to the baby inside of her, the way she instinctively rubbing her belly – and how the ring Siwon’s gave her felt in between.

By now, she had lost count at how many time she had visited the obstetrician office to check her pregnancy. It was not that many, of course, but enough to make her seventeen-year-old self feels like it’s a normal, not so self-conscious thing to do. But she still has to take deep breath, though; still trying her very best to ignore all those strangers’ judgmental gaze on her now obvious condition of being pregnant at young age – mostly because Siwon wasn’t there to accompany her this evening. It’s her third time going alone and it always makes her felt extra vulnerable each time.

“Shoulders up, Kwon Yuri,” a voice greeted her as she exited the obstetrician office, prompting her to fix her unconfident, slouched posture.

The familiar voice and made her heart skip a beat. She locked eyes with owner of the voice, feeling even warmer by the numerous feeling that washed her in an instant.

“Appa…”

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
 

“How is it?” Kwon Junghyuk softly asked, staring intently at his youngest child whom he hasn’t met for months. “How’s the baby? When is it due?” he asked again, making himself clearer.

“She’s fine,” Y