My hands reached for the ceiling as the bright sun sneaked its way through the curtains. Huh? A-achoo! I felt the blood rush to my head and felt sore everywhere. Oh damn. I felt my nose blocked and my throat all scratchy. My eyes felt dry and it itched. All because of the rain from last night. Sigh. ______, what have you done?

I got off the bed lazily and walked down the stairs. I was wearing shorts and a baggy hoodie over my tanktop, I think I should have just stay in bed, I told myself. I let my feet step on each downstair and made my way to the leather sofa. Atlas! No more walking. I rested my head on the armrest and closed my eyes. 

"Woah' You look sick. " Not bothering to look up, I moaned in pain and nodded. So lazy. Right now. 

"Hey. Sleepyhead. " I felt Kevin"s hand reach my chin and raise my head up towards him. He smiled and then frowned. "It's your fault for being dramatic and walking through the rain. " He chuckled and stuck out his tongue. "You know what? I'll make you my best soup!"

"What? Instant Ramen?" I teased, last time I heard he couldn't really cook. He rolled his eyes and laughed; maybe. He chuckled. 

I moaned in pain again as I couldn't breathe through my nose. "Can't you just heal me? With those powers of yours?" I snapped grumpily, sick of being sick. He turned around and said sadly: "Wish I could, babe. But I'm still learning. "

B-babe? My cheeks flared a bright red as he called me babe. Eli used to call me that but... hearing it from Kevin, his words tugged the end of my heartstrings like no other. 

"Babe?" I asked curiously. He turned away from the boiling pot of water and smiled. "You don't like being called that?" He asked teasingly. 

"It's not that I don't. It's just... a matter of getting used to. I guess." You formed a shy smile and felt your heart beat increase as he walked over to peck your cheek. You covered your face and muttered; I-I'm sick you know!" He chuckled and landed another on your forehead. 

"Then. We'll both be stuck at home. I wouldn't mind that. “He chuckled. You punched his arm lightly and sent him back to the kitchen as you heard the boiling water start to bubble. Oh. Kevin. You laughed and hugged your knees. 

"Hey." I stared back at Kevin who was in front of me with the bowl of soup on a pillow on his lap. I reached out for the bowl but he pulled away. 

"Wae?" I pouted. He stared back seriously and asked quietly: 

"What do you think about Korea? South… Korea?" He studied my reaction and waited for an answer. Uh...

"uh. Pretty?" I let out awkwardly. He stared at me blankly and facepalmed. "W-what? I've never been to South Korea before! I wouldn't know. Sheesh. A-achoo!" 

He cringed at sneeze and fed a spoonful of soup. "Why are you asking me this?" I mumbled. He shrugged and sighed. No reason in particular, he said. I tilted my head and stared at him without letting him feed me. "I'm not a baby, you know. "

"Yes. You are. My baby. " I rolled my eyes as he started to cite out cheesy corny jokes. Psh. This guy. I frowned and patted his arm playfully. 

"Tell me the tru--" 

"Did you know that the apartments in South Korea are really spacious and.... modern?" He let out unexpectedly as he shoved another spoonful of warm soup in my mouth. I mumbled and got cut off again as he continued boasting about his oh-so-proud country. 

"And! The environment could be really friendly, not to mention, affordable, the market stuff, I mean. " He let out an awkward smile and fed another spoonful of soup. Guh' I held his hand that was encompassing the spoon and showed him a horrible expression. You're feeding me too much. 

"S-slow down. I almost choked. " I caught my breath as he apologized with an awkward smile.

"Now. May I ask again on why you're telling me this?" 

With a free hand, he scratched his head and shrugged. Yeah right, I scoffed. As if you don't know and just spurting out questions for no reason, I growled at him. 

"Well. I.. I thought maybe... Did you know that ..."

I quickly stuck finger onto his lips and crushed him. I shook my head and frowned. "Why are you telling me this?" I raised an eyebrow and quickly took the bowl of soup from his hands, landing another spoonful of warm soup in my mouth. I pointed my spoon at him and hummed; “Well?”

“I don’t know. I guess I just miss… home.” He confessed. I stared back at him sadly and let down the bowl of soup on the glass table. Of course, he misses home. I would too. I stared at the ground and didn’t know what to say to comfort him.  “I.. I also thought. That maybe, you’d give Korea a chance.”

“A chance?” I tilted my head and stared at him. “What do you mean by ‘a chance’?” I scooted a bit closer towards Kevin until our knees contacted and studied his expression playfully. He smiled and pecked my cheek.

“I mean..”  He trailed off as he decided to change the subject quickly, running up the stairs.

“Y-Yah!” I yelled, soon coughing. What a child. I gulped down the rest of the soup and placed it in the sink. Where did my little kid go? I growled and walked up the mahogany stairs slowly as I felt my body become sore. Ugh… Why is he making me run up after him? “Kevin!” I called out, hallway on the stairs. No answer. Obviously. What is this kid doing? “Kevin..?” I roamed through the hallways, tippy-toeing, making sure I won’t wake my parents. Oh gosh. Last night… when I told them about Kevin and I….

[ Flashback ]

“Do we have to?” I murmured, holding on Kevin’s sleeve as I felt long strides of the rain drops cover my face. He rolled his eyes and growled; “I don’t have to be secretive with your parents, I mean come on… I want them to approve of me. You know?”

“B-But. Our.. .” I whispered, avoiding his gaze. He always hated that, for some reason. “ I know.. it’s 4 years apart. And that’s really not bad, considering the fact that my parents are in fact 9 years apart but.. I mean. I’m 17, not legal yet. And you’re 21, beyond legal.” I pointed out, trying to get out of this scary situation. He pulled my arm and I felt my head crash against his chest. His lips met my head as he whispered;

“Listen. It’s not… it’s not we’re getting married, you know. I mean.. yeah, you’re young. But you’ll be 18 soon, shouldn’t you choose your life’s path… you know, being with me, being my girl. ______, I love you. I want to be approved by your parents, recognized that I’m the right guy for you. Because I am, and no, I’m not trying to be cocky.”

I muffled a giggle and dug my head in his chest, inhaling his husky scent. I’m scared. I’m just scared that they wouldn’t accept it and we couldn’t be together. I closed my eyes shut tightly and sighed. Retreating away from his warm chest, I looked deeply into his eyes and nodded.

“We better get going. I’m scared. But I’ll do it. For us.” I smiled. He smiled and led the way.

***

“You. Him. DATING?” My father yelled. I cringed and stayed silent. Unlike my father, my mother clapped her hands together and smiled; “Oh! How wonderful.” “WONDERFUL?” My father roared. “This is outrageous. This is unlawful. This .. this.. is horrible, disgrace, stupid. No. I will never allow this-this-this rel—alliance!” I facepalmed at his choice of words but tried to convince him.

“Papa. I know… I know you’re just trying to look after me. But, daddy, I’m not a little girl anymore. I love him. I want to get to know him. It won’t affect my studies, I swear. Daddy, I will always be your little girl. No matter what, papa.” His face went pale and sadness filled his eyes.

“What happened to Eli though?” He growled.

"Papa…” I murmured.

“He.. we had our misunderstandings, sir. I… I love your daughter. And I would do anything to make her happy and anything to meet your expectations. I’m not the perfect guy, I’m not flawless. But for your daughter, I’m willing to do my best to be the perfect man for her. You will always be her father, you are someone I will look up to.”

I felt my heart beat even faster as he took a step closer to my father, hoping he’d acknowledge what he has said. Hoping that he’d let out his hand and shake with his. My father stared at Kevin’s hand with a great distaste but as his eyes stared towards me, his expression softened. “If you ever. I mean ever. Hurt my daughter. You will never see the light.” My father grabbed his hand roughly and shook it. “This doesn’t mean I’ve fully approved you yet. I’m watching you.” Kevin nodded and smiled towards me. “We have to set some rules first.” My father growled. Kevin stood up straight and nodded. He turned back to look at me and winked. I’m so happy, I held my mother’s arm as my two favorite men practically ‘negotiated’.

[end of Flashback]

So the result of last night was obviously the following:

“No late dates after 10pm.”

“No ‘smoochyness’ in front of Papa.”

“No hitting” (Really? Daddy? Really?”

“No sleeping together.” That was the one that made me blush so hard, I swear, I’m a tomato.

I sighed awkwardly and called out for Kevin; “Kevin? Oh come on. Don’t be such a child.” I opened his bedroom door and found the room to be empty. I turned around and heard someone walking around my room. Kevin? I walked in my cold bedroom and found him sitting next to the desk, opening and closing my biology book. “Oh, look. An egg.” He randomly coughed.

“Pardon?” I stared at the chapter and noticed the title; “Reproductive Systems” Oh god. I slammed the book close and felt the heat rise up to my face. Kevin let out a laugh and coughed awkwardly. “You’re such a child, you know that? I actually wonder who the adult is.” I teased, poking the side of his tummy. He cringed and laughed sarcastically. “Ha-ha-ha. We all know who’s the most mature.” He growled. I rolled my eyes and hugged my knees onto the bed. Kevin walked beside me and sat next to me, pulling a strand of my hair away from my forehead.

“Is it too early to ask..”

“To ask what, Kevin?” I stared at him and felt his hand stoke my back as he seem to try to choose the right words to say out loud. Hmmm? I hummed and stared at him in question.

“If maybe, you’d want to go to South Korea with me? You know. For a few days.” His eyes wandered around the room, avoiding my shocked gaze. South Korea? Vacation? With him? We have just been dating … not even a day! I doubt my parents, especially my father, would accept this.

“Kevin… My Father.. he’d. He’d flip!” I complained. “It’s too early. It really is.” He sighed and got off the bed.

“Alrighty then.” He muttered, pouting cutely. Don’t do that, I swear. Don’t do that, I growled at him mentally. His eyes started to glow and his hair started to shine brightly. “Aren’t you lucky? Having a starlite as your boyfriend.” I smiled and nodded shyly.

“But.. Ren told me he wasn’t allowed to fall for anyone. Starlites can’t be with humans.” I stared at him worriedly and he just shrugged.

“I’m sure we’re an exception.” He quickly landed a kiss onto my lips and pulled me in closer. I closed my eyes shut tightly and pulled away, trying to catch my breath from the sudden passionate kiss he just decided to land. “Sorry.” He whispered, satisfied with his work.

“I-I’m sick ,remember?” I yelled at him, punching his arm roughly once again.

“Does it look like I care?” Once more, he pulled me in again, this time, I started to restrain a bit. But I underestimated his strength. His lips crashed onto mine, feeling the sudden warmth of his body against mine. Inexperienced and unfamiliar to this kind of kiss, his hands cupped my cheeks and I felt my air supply run out quickly. K-Kevin. I tried to mumble. But nothing came out, obviously. Especially with his lips all over my own. I covered my chest with one hand as I used the other to keep my balance on the edge of the bed as he kept leaning. He pulled away and tried to catch his breath. Before even giving me time to breathe or protest, he landed another. This time, rougher, yet soft. I didn’t know how to explain it. His tongue slid my bottom lip as he tried to enter my mouth, but me, obviously, the naïve and inexperienced one, panicked. I pressed my lips against his with pressure, and he got the idea. He pressed his lips one more time and retreated, giving me space to freaking breathe.

“Damn it, Kevin!” I growled, wiping my lips. He sat back on the wooden chair and looked away shyly.

“Sorry. I couldn’t help myself. I’ve been wanting to kiss you for ages.” He smiled bashfully, his lips, and then proceeded to bite it. “And don’t lie. You liked it.”

I felt my cheeks flared a bright red. “Sh-shut up. I’m sick, remember! So don’t even bother.”

“So I could do that when you’re not sick? We better heal you as soon as possible.” He smiled and shyly looked away. “S-Sorry. That was.. kind of out of hand , wasn’t it? We’ll.. I.. sorry. We’ll concentrate on getting you to feel better first.. And we’ll see.” I’ve never seen this bashful side of his before. I smiled at his thoughtfulness and landed a kiss on his lips. He stared back at me in shock, as his cheeks shown a bright pink.

“I…” Kevin hesitated.

“Love you.” I smiled and accidently coughed on him. O-omo! I covered my mouth and apologized quickly. He smiled and laughed.

“I love you too. Now. Stay here.” Kevin tucked me into bed, and landed a soft kiss on the forehead. “Let’s get you some medicine. I’ll just go to the pharmacy and get some supplies.” He took his jacket and went towards the door. Before he left, I muttered softly;

“Kevin.” He turned and nodded his head. “I’ll consider that little vacation of yours.” His eyes lit up and he smiled. “But I can’t guarantee that my Father will like any bit of it.” He nodded excitedly like a little boy and said;

“Thanks _____. Now, sleep tight until I get back. Call my cell if anything.”

***

[ Kevin’s POV ]

Okay, I got everything. Cold drops. Soup. Hot patches. Cold patches. Vicks. Am I missing something? I looked through the plastic bags before entering _______’s room. Hm. I think I got everything. I walked in and found my baby sound asleep. I smiled at the view and placed the plastic bags onto her rug.

“Baby.” I cooed. I walked to the edge of her bed and stared at her angel-like face. I love her so much. It still feels like a dream to actually call her mine. I took off my jacket and got the Vicks ointment out. Swabbing some ointment, I rubbed my fingers on her forehead and neck. She cringed and fluttered her eyes slowly’

“You’re back.” She smiled.

“Yeah. I’m done putting your ointment. I’ll be back to give you some more soup and some ginger tea.” She grabbed the bottom of my shirt when I stood and asked her if she wanted something.

“Could.. could you stay with me?” She coughed and tugged on my shirt.

“I’ll sit here then.” I gestured towards the wooden chair and frowned as ______ shook her head.

“Could you stay here? Beside me?” She mumbled weakly, sleepily, I would say.

I smiled and watched her scoot over a bit. “I’ll stay until you fall asleep, baby.” I cooed. I laid down beside her and faced her pale face. She looks pretty weak. Why did you have to run when it poured? I kissed her soft nose and watched her smiled warmly with her eyes closed. “Do you want me to sing you a lullaby?”

She nodded and dug her head against my chest as my hand rested on her waist. I cleared my throat and proceeded to sing softly as I could for her to fall asleep;

“Reminiscence, The day when we first met
I can’t explain you, I can’t put a word on you
Cause you are my destiny of the world

No matter where we go in this world, no matter who I met besides you
There is no love like you, I assure you with my senses

Like? More than that – Love? No a bit more
Fate? Mm, what to say, what to say, what to say
It’s a special fate, stronger than a first love”

                                                                                                                                            (It Must Be Fate – UKISS)

Slowly, her soft snores filled the room. I pecked her sleepy lips as I tried to pull away slowly, I decided to stay a bit longer. This is where I want to always and forever be. Right beside you. ______, I love you. Let’s make sure it’ll be like this forever. I heard my cellphone start to vibe. I looked at the Caller ID slowly, trying not to make any sudden move, waking her up. “Chanyeol” Damnit. Not now. I turned off my phone and rested my head on _____’s. I’ll call him back later…