The rest of the day, after their little reunion at Ice was horrible for Yoona. Her nose is dripping and she can’t seem to stop sneezing. All she ever wanted to do was lie down at her bed and cover herself up, throwing away used tissues all over. But here she is staring at the umbrella laid out in front of her on the table inside her bedroom. No matter how inviting the bed was, she could never take her eyes off of the thing. She was silently brooding over the fact that she didn’t even ask for Yuri’s number from the girls. She wanted to bang her head on the thick glass table but she was too busy staring and sneezing to do so.

You’re too slow Yoona!

She could never stop hating herself for it.

So her evil conscience decided to help her get over it.

Oh come on, why are you being like this? She doesn’t want you! She doesn’t care!

She started pouting at the thought.

At that time, her other side started to fight back.

But she kissed me!

Because you kissed her first, remember?

I just wanted to give her umbrella back.

Geez, don’t you know how rich she is? She doesn’t need that thing! She can buy another one in a snap of a finger!

With her inner struggle, Yoona started slowly banging her forehead on the table making a rhythmic thudding sound in the room.

The sound only stopped when a loud sneeze was heard instead.

With her drooping eyelids, runny nose and pale face, she looked like she’s going to pass out any minute.

She laid her head on the table in retreat.

I’m getting crazy. Everything that I ever think about is you. Are you even thinking of me? Memories, they’re all that I have now.

She was so tired she didn’t even realize she fell asleep with her head on the table.

She woke up in a start, groggy, with her head spinning slowly with her sudden jolt.

Standing up, she touched the umbrella once more like caressing a new born child before retiring to bed, all her previous thoughts set aside. She collapsed on the bed with her face down, sitting up almost immediately when her face hit something hard, making her nose redder than it is.

“Clumsy me.” She mumbled as she took the phone off her face.

There were a few messages but a call from an unknown number was registered.

She frowned must be some of the girls. Maybe it’s Sooyoung! She’ll hate me if I don’t return the call.

She dialled the number and closed her eyes; she was getting so drowsy she can barely stay awake. When the other line picked up she answered immediately.

“Hello?”

Why isn’t anyone answering! Must be a prank caller.

She sighed before she decided to just end the call.

“Okay, just calling you back for not answering earlier, I’m hanging up.”

There was a small pause and she was about to doze off when she heard that single word.

“Hello?”

Like a lightning bolt, a single hello woke up every cell of her body, making her shot up from bed. She has almost fallen face first to the floor as she scrambled to get near the umbrella again.

Gulping nervously she tried to speak but she doesn’t know what to say. Was she imagining things?

She was sleepy, maybe she misheard?

She can sense nothing from the other line and the confusion is eating her alive with every second that passed.

So she decided to play safe.

“This is Im Yoona speaking, how may I help you?”

She sounded like a retard working at a phone company that is going bankrupt.

*

Sweat started pouring down Yuri’s head as she waited for a response.

Oh my, did she hear me?

All her thoughts and fear went out the drain when she thought she heard a robot speak.

Confusion clouded her brain.

What is this? Does Yoona doesn’t recognize my voice?

It hit her heart like a bullet train, when she realized how heart breaking it is when you know someone’s voice in a single word yet she doesn’t even know it was you she was talking to.

Should I just end the call?

She was about to end it when she heard a loud sneeze and sniff from the other line making her heart stop and her mind was flooded with worry.

“Are you okay?”

She couldn’t stop herself, if she forgets, then she’ll make her remember.

*

It’s really her!

She was so shocked that it made her speechless.

“Yuri?”

She hated how her voice croaked, making her clear .

“Yes, it’s me Yoona. Are you alright?”

The thought of Yuri caring for her made her heart weep.

You idiot! How could you think that she doesn’t care!

“Uh, yeah, just a col—achoo! Excuse me, uhm, it’s just a simple cold.”

“You sound a lot worse. Is someone taking care of you right now?”

Well, she dismissed Robert from entering her room. She pursed her lips as she think.

“Yes, of course, Robert’s here. *sniff* Do you remember him?”

She started to change the topic. The sound of Yuri’s worry made her really guilty.

There was a long pause and she really thought they got disconnected when she heard something.

“Liar.”

This just made her a lot guiltier than before. She bit her lips but she doesn’t want to be pitiful and that’s the last thing she would like from Yuri: pity.

“I’m okay.”

“Okay. I’m hanging up. Bye.”

It was the coldest goodbye she ever had in her life and it made her room a lot colder after that as she listened to her phone beep as the call ended.

*

“I want to ask for a favour.”

With that single command, the person on the other line started working. After going as fast as he could, he answered his mistress immediately, hoping to help.

“Thank you for finding her.”

*

If only she can bury herself on the ground instead of her covers, she won’t be having this massive headache right now.

She started to feel hot and cold sweat covered her body.

Instead of actually thinking of something to help herself, she couldn’t get the phone call out of her mind.

Didn’t she promise before? Never to lie again to Yuri?

She hugged herself as she shivered under the covers, slowly drifting off to sleep as a nightmare was waiting for her.

A hellish nightmare where she relived the moment Yuri left her.

*

“No—no, I’m sorry. Really, please—please don’t—don’t do this. I promise I—“ The figure wiped away the tears that escaped, and focused on giving the sleeping sick girl a tepid sponge bath. Yoona was impossible to wake; she didn’t get to drink her medicine yet.

She smiled her relief as the girl quieted down, but her furrowed eyebrows remained, reminding her of the nightmare the sleeping girl was in.

She rechecked Yoona’s temperature; it has gone down but still febrile.

She stayed there, beside the sleeping girl, wiping her diligently until her fever subsided.

*

Yoona woke up with a towel on her forehead. Her vision was still hazy and everything is just a blur. She blinked her eyes slowly as sunlight flooded her room.

She noticed someone on a chair beside her bed, leaning on the bed as she slept.

Mom?

She rubbed her eyes slowly and noticed how dry is as she gulped.

When her vision started to get clearer, she focused on the person beside her.

She froze as a pair of brown eyes stared back to her.

“How are you feeling?”

She was about to say she was okay but the person frowned, knowing her well.

“Don’t you dare lie to me again.”