I froze at the touch. My head jerked sharply. I was face to face with Sehun.

Of all the times, I thought.

“Hey,” he said. His face was normal at first, then it creased within a second. “Eri—“ He corrected himself quickly. “Uh, noona,” he said.

As much as I wanted to look casual, the broken look on my face was too obvious to hide. Then I saw Krystal popping up from behind Sehun. She was cheery, then like Sehun, her expression changed in a blink of an eye.

“Unnie,” she said. “Are you okay there?”

My mouth quavered. “I-I-I—”

The two of them looked at me, and the words were getting twisted even more. I heard the sound of high heels clacking against the marble floor.

“Rika.” Another voice appeared. I looked up, noticing that Jessica wasn’t even five feet away. She, like the other two, stared at me. “I thought you weren’t coming,” she said.

“W-Well, I—”

They saw it already. Me. Dancing. With Kris.

“Yo, Erika!”

Speaking of bad timing.

Kris was jumping till he got to me, and I was facing a crowd of faces, explanations waiting to be sent to each.

“I thought you said you were going to rest up,” Jessica said.

Krystal nodded. “Yeah. You’re not supposed to be up and about, remember?”

“Why not?” I heard Sehun ask.

“Because she— Oh my gosh, unnie, did you remember to change the bandage on your head?”

I was caught off guard. “Huh?”

She pointed at my forehead and started to stammer.

“What?” I asked her.

She bit her lip. “B-Blood.”

The blood. It had already seeped through the bandage.

Henry’s eyes widened. “What— What happened?” he asked me.

“Nothing happened,” I quickly said. “Nothing at all.” I heard my own voice, filled with panic. I felt like everybody was crowding me. My heart tightened as I closed my eyes shut.

“Unnie,” I heard Krystal say softly, “you’re…pale.”

Pale? What else is new?

I wanted to cuff my ears right there, until I heard Kris speak at last.

“Rika?”

“What?” I said, my voice barely above a whisper.

“Breathe.”

I blinked my eyes open—and only then had I realized that I had been holding my breath. My face was turning white. Everybody was looking at me. Everybody was staring.

Krystal looked worried. “Unnie, are you okay—”

“I…” I cut her off, and hurriedly dashed through the wide-open doors. “I need some air.”

“U-Unnie!”

I heard my own footsteps as they thundered down the wide hall, and I passed through, my hand holding onto my chest, as if that could help me. If I could, I wished there was a bed I could fall on so I didn’t have to walk anymore.

No. I wasn’t walking. I was running.

As soon as I stopped, I realized that I was already on the streets, the party going on just behind me. I didn’t want to turn back. Turning back is bad, right? We should always move forward. And that’s what I did. I kept on walking, till I finally came to a stop. I was on the sidewalk, my limp arms falling down my sides. I cupped my mouth, feeling my warm breath.

My heart continued to race. Then, after a minute minutes, it returned to its normal pace.

“Erika!” I heard Kris’ voice coming from behind me. He didn’t stop calling, until he finally reached me.

I was as still as a statue, my chest pumping in and out as I breathed. I felt nausea creep up.

“What’s up? You okay there? You had Jessica and Krystal looking worried sick,” he told me. Then he paused. “E-Erika?”

“Maybe I’m the one who’s sick,” I said.

Automatically, his hand shot up to feel my cheek. “You don’t have a fever,” he said.

“Then how come I feel like throwing up?”

His eyes moved over to the leaking bandage on my forehead. “You’re losing blood there,” he told me. “A lot.”

I felt the world spin around me. The effect was moving in faster.

“Not to mention you’re as cold as ice,” he added. I whimpered, closing myself with my arms, and the ground slid beneath my feet. “Whoa there!” With his stretched out hands, Kris successfully grabbed me at the last minute. “M-Maybe— Maybe we should get you back inside.”

“I don’t want to go back,” I said.

“Don’t be stubborn.”

I didn’t answer.

He sighed. “Fine. Let’s get you inside the car.”

When we got to the parking lot, he rushed to open my door before I could, and carefully he pulled me inside. I was seated in the passenger seat. My feet ached, and I took my shoes off and tossed them away. I pulled my feet up, rested my chin on my knees, and hugged myself to warm up. Kris was sitting beside me in the driver’s seat. For a moment he stared, my half-opened, as if there was something he wanted to say. Then he pulled away and looked at the wheel instead, the only thing he had to gaze upon.

He cleared his throat after we had settled in for two minutes. “Are you cold?”

I shook my head like a brilliant mime.

“Hungry?” he asked me.

I shook my head again.

“…Hurt?”

I nodded. In what way was I hurt, he didn’t quite understand.

“I’ll get you to the hospital to get that bandage changed,” he said as he switched the engine on in a second. I surprised him when I grabbed his hand that was handling the wheel.

“No,” I said. “I don’t want to.”

As usual, he sighed. “Scaredy-cat,” he muttered. “You have to get it changed. Do you even see yourself?”

I didn’t need to be told to know how badly the blood was seeping through. I could feel it gush through my skin, the wet and cold feel.

“Hey, Kris?”

He looked up.

“Thanks,” I said.

He blinked. “For what?”

“Being my Love Angel.” I could hear myself chuckling a bit.

He wanted to laugh, but after getting a good look at the expression on my face he didn’t seem satisfied at all.

“Erika,” he said. “What—”

“I think I’m just going to let it pass already,” I told him. I wasn’t looking up, I was staring at my bare feet as I spoke. “It was a good try, though. Thanks for helping me out.”

I saw his mouth drop open wordlessly.

“Yeah. I failed,” he said.

I shook my head lightly. “No, you didn’t,” I told him, but I could see him grinding his teeth silently.

None of us wanted to return to the party. It wasn’t just me, but I thought Kris’ mood had dropped even more than mine did. He started driving, and I noticed his tense face harden.

He slowed the car, and then came to a stop. I looked around, and realized that he had stopped by the side of the road. His hands were still on the wheel, as if he wasn’t quite sure on whether to keep driving or not.

I looked out the window. “I thought we were going to the hospital?”