Siwon slowly awoke with a bad case of nausea and fatigue. The heavy feeling in his head made him groaned quietly. He could’ve sworn that he never felt this sick before.

With his eyes still tightly shut, Siwon decided that he doesn’t want to wake up just yet.

But then he remembered something.

He bolted straight out of the bed, eyes snapped open and hand quickly grabbed his phone to check the time. To his horror, the digital clock on hid phone confirmed that he’s in big trouble.

He was terribly, terribly late.

He’s five hours late to his work shift, and about an hour late to the band’s showcase. The very important showcase that his boss, Kim Heechul, strongly warned him to come in time or else he’s going to suffer from consequences for ruining the important showcase.

“!”

Panicking, Siwon rushed to the door – or at least that what he tried to do as he felt his head spinning just by standing up and trying to move fast.

He groggily opened the bedroom’s door, directly to the sight of Yuri.

“Yah! Kwon Yuri! why didn’t you wake me up?” Siwon creaked in annoyance; he wasn’t even looking her as he walked past the girl to hastily find his backpack. “I even left you a note! Didn’t you read it?”

The band practice made Siwon comes home quite late last night. By the time he came back, Yuri was already fall asleep on the couch – Siwon felt so sick and weary that he decided to not wake her up; then decided to sleep on his more comfortable bed unlike the previous night. He also left Yuri a quick post-it note to wake him up in case he hasn’t woke up by himself as a precaution, all because of the importance of the showcase. He didn’t tell her about the showcase, of course. He hadn’t even told her anything about his new double job at Heechul’s Space Star Café.

 “I did, but you’re so sick so I –“

Siwon had guessed that would be her excuse, and it didn’t matter for him – he still had the showcase to worry and to attend to. “Where the hell is my backpack?” he asked, raising his tone in complete frustration. His head ached and his body felt hot.

“Look, you’re clearly still unwell… just take a rest for the day, okay?” said Yuri, sounding unexpectedly calm.

“Yah! Are you out of your mind?” he whined. “I can’t just skip work – Are you stupid or what? I might get fired! Don’t you understand how it is to us if I lost my job?” Siwon fumed, finally stopped looking for the backpack and met her eyes.

Yuri clearly wasn’t as calm as she sounded. She bit her bottom lip, keeping it from trembling.

“Heechul-sshi called,” Yuri quietly said, “I told him you’re sick…”

It was enough to make Siwon froze.

“You… answered my phone?” he lamely asked, his face redden – realizing that Yuri might had found out everything that he hadn’t got to tell her about. He felt like he was caught lying; even though he never has intention to lie to her in the first place, but still.

“I’ve tried to wake up,” Yuri muttered, ”The showcase is cancelled. Heechul-sshi said he feels like skipping the home showcase and just go straight to the country-touring part…”

Yuri momentarily closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to remember other things the interesting fellow told her on their phone conservation. “Ah, and he said you better come on this Saturday and bring the new material you promised, or else you’ll get fired and replaced for real.”

Everything about this situation was definitely not something Siwon had expected at all.

He was unsure how to react; his mouth fell open in a comical o, perfected by his furrowed brows. 

His unintentionally funny expression was something Yuri would heartily laugh at on a better day. It just hit her how much she enjoyed the stupid faces the Siwon often makes; she enjoyed it enough that it lighten her mood even for a tiny bit.

She didn’t laugh or even smile, though. She just pursed her lips tightly.

“You’re sweating a lot… It’s a good sign, isn’t it?” Yuri quietly pointed out.

“Yuri… I –“

Siwon knew he owes her some explanation, but he wasn’t sure how to do so. He was unprepared; and the way his head ache and body emitting heat from the fever wasn’t helping at all.

“Hey, just take a rest for now, okay?” Yuri softly said, now with something that vaguely resembles an assuring smile.

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

“Have you met your sister yet?” Kwon Junghyuk asked his son as the latter joining him on the dining table.

“Not yet,” Yunho answered, “She doesn’t even know I’ve come back from Japan.”

Junghyuk quietly nodded at his reply. He was still deeply hurt and disappointed of what happened at his last encounter with Yuri – and also, he won’t admit it, he had been worrying about his daughter more and more ever since.

“It’s her birthday soon, I want to surprise her,” Yunho cheerfully added, unaware that the tension between his father and sister has worsened when he was away.

“Yunho, I have to see that boy,” Junghyuk ignored what his son said; “I want to talk to Choi Siwon – I want to settle this once and for all.”

Coming from his father, Yunho wasn’t sure if it’s a good or a bad idea.

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

After finished working on the dolls, Yuri spent the night trying to read a maternity book Tiffany gifted her. She kept on failing to actually focus on the book because there were too many things occupied her mind. Her thoughtful best friend Tiffany whom she hasn’t met for weeks was one of them.

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