-Sehun’s POV-

Aerin came out of the restroom after showering the following night. She just came from her afternoon walk around the hospital grounds with Chan Yeol hyung. The moment her attending doctor said she could start walking around to exercise her joints, she immediately jumped up and called one of the nurses to get the dextrose disconnected from her arm then went straight to looking for a fresh change of clothes and showered. She was so stubborn. Even if we could already see her grimacing in pain whenever she tried to move around, she still claims that she was fine. Chan Yeol hyung, who was now allowed to visit her whenever he pleased, wasn’t helping. He even encouraged her. I kept throwing daggers at him with my eyes whenever he’s around. He’s just so annoying, not to forget that he had Aerin all afternoon to himself.

She started limping towards me as she combed her hair, sporting a pair of pastel violet pajamas and a razor-back top. I sighed then walked towards her, helping her get to the bed. She looked at me then smiled. “I had fun today.”

I rolled my eyes at her. “Yeah, right, except that you’re stressing yourself.”

She giggled. “No, I’m not. Stop worrying about me.” I seated her on the bed and stared at her. Her bruises were almost gone. The nurse also removed the sterile strips that secured the cut above her brow. Aerin began tying her hair into a messy bun at the back of her head then began peeling off the soiled bandage on her forehead which concealed the stitches she got just below her hairline. “Ow!” she yelled when one of the tapes that secured the gauze got caught in her hair.

“You look pathetic. Here, let me help,” I said then stood in front of her, carefully removing the bandage. “The nurse should be doing this for you.”

She pouted. “That nurse is mean to me. I think she’s moving clumsily around me on purpose.”

I arched a brow at her. “Why do you say that?”

“Duh! She likes you. I could tell by the way she stares at you,” she answered, making a face. “Cradle snatcher,” she muttered under her breath.

“Cradle snatcher…” I laughed at that. “What are you saying? Maybe she just doesn’t have light hands.”I took out the antiseptic that the hospital provided for her then started dressing her wound.

“I don’t care,” she said stubbornly. “Honestly, can you imagine yourself being handled by her evil claws?”

“You’re stressing on it too much. Just let her be. You’ll be out here the day after tomorrow and she won’t see me anymore.”

She sulked. “She’s still mean and I don’t like the way she looks at you.”

I was taken aback by what she said and I stopped what I was doing momentarily to stare at her.

“What?” she said when she noticed. “She looks at you as if you’re some morsel. Ew! It’s disgusting. She’d pass as a middle-aged woman. Can’t she get a grip?”

I continued what I was doing. It was evident that we weren’t on the same page. Aerin was really smart, but she could really be dense and blind when it came to her emotions. How did she put it before, emotion is irrational? She definitely got that from watching too much House M.D. on her free time. She practically had every season of that show. I laughed at her as I stuck the gauze on top of her stitches. “You’re not jealous, are you?” I said. I meant it jokingly, but she burst out saying, “Yes, I am!”

I took a step back from her. “You are?” I asked.

She pouted further. “Of course. I don’t want anyone else looking at my properties that way.”

Oh my god, this girl. “Properties?”

“You heard me.”

“Since when? I’m not your property, Miss Kwon,” I said, but I really wanted to be hers. Ironically, it sounded off because I knew she didn’t mean it the way I wanted her to.

“Since you saved my life, you’re responsible for me. Therefore, you’re my property.”

I shrugged. “That’s dumb. Shouldn’t it be the other way around? I saved you so your life is mine. You’re my property. I’m not even thinking of that and you are?” I smirked at her. “You really hit your head hard. You lost your sensibility.”

“Yah! What’s that supposed to mean?” she demanded.

“You’re not making sense.”

“Since when?”

“Since now.”

She made a face. “You’re still my property.”

“It doesn’t make sense, princess~,” I said to her in a sing-song manner.

“It does in my book!” she retorted.

“What book?”

“Whatever, Sehun.”

I chuckled then she smacked me on the arm. She was still too strong considering her state. “Ouch.”

“Stop whining and tell me what I have to know,” she said out of the blue.

“What –”

“Uh-uh! Don’t give me that. I heard Chan Yeol. Now spill,” she interrupted me. Uh-oh! How was I going to tell her now? I feel stupid all over again. I breathed in, feeling the heat on my face.

“Hey! You’re blushing. What the hell?” she said, amused, but she wasn’t smiling or anything. Her eyes were just as wide as saucers.

“I don’t know how to tell you.” I sighed then sat down beside her on the bed, thinking of how I would phrase it.

“Just tell me already. You’re wasting precious time. Delay it or say it now, either way, you’ll end up telling me. I won’t stop bugging you until you say it. Consider yourself warned.”Scratch that. She still makes sense.

“I-I…uh…Damn it, this is so hard!”

“What is?” she asked then I seized her on both shoulders.

“Don’t laugh, okay?