(A day later)

—Nobody’s POV—

A man walked into the dark room where a woman was standing by the window, holding a glass of red wine. He stood a few feet behind her, waiting for her to notice him.

“Junsung-sshi, what is it?” she asked him, swirling the red liquid around.

“I’ve done what you requested me to, Young Mistress. Master wants to see you in his study,” the butler replied promptly. The woman nodded and handed the glass to the butler.

“Tell appa that I’ll be there right away. Thank you, Junsung-sshi. You may take your leave,” she told him. The butler nodded and thanked her, hurrying away. He wished that he hadn’t been the one to run her errands for her. Somebody always gets in trouble.

“Just you wait, you jerk. I’ll make you regret ever dumping me.”

------------------------------------------

—Ryeowook’s POV—

Umma and appa were whipping up breakfast, and I was lounging around on the couch with Youngwoon hyung. I have time, anyways, and Sungie was only going out with me after noon.

“Wookie-yah, Youngwoon-ah; time to eat!” umma called from the kitchen. I stood up and turned the TV off, going to the dining table with Youngwoon hyung.

The smell of cheese omelette and bacon wafted into my nostrils and I sighed contentedly. Umma and appa’s cheese omelette tastes the best, seriously. I have never eaten cheese omelette that is softer than theirs. Some of their dishes taste even better than mine!

We sat down and waited for umma to bring the cutlery out. She passed each of us a set of cutlery and sat down beside me.

“I will eat well!”

And we began to eat our breakfast. There were enough omelettes for everyone to have a big portion of it, and I really ate well. I miss my parents’ cooking every time they go overseas, especially for long periods of time.

“Wookie, do you have any plans for later on?” umma asked me while chewing a piece of bacon.

“I’m going out for a movie and lunch with Sungie. Why?” I replied. Umma looked a little sad when she heard my reply. Did I say something wrong?

“I wanted to go shopping with you. Maybe another day,” she told me with a small smile.

“Aw, I’m sorry umma. I didn’t know. I can call Sungie and tell him that I’m busy today,” I said. Umma shook her head furiously and I was a little shocked. “Why not?”

“I don’t want to ruin your date with Jongwoon today. Are you free tomorrow?” she asked. I nodded and grinned. “Then we’ll go out tomorrow!”

“Ryeowook-ah, I understand that you’re in a relationship right now, but you can’t compromise your other relations and your results, understand?” appa asked. I sighed.

“Appa, has Wookie ever gotten anything less than an A?” Youngwoon hyung asked incredulously.

“True. Fine, ignore me,” appa said, pretending to sound hurt. The entire family laughed at his childishness and we just continued eating. Appa and umma started to tell us about their adventures in Texas.

----------------------------------------------

“…and we were almost run over by this bull!” appa exclaimed.

I took a look at the wall clock and my eyes widened, nearly bulging out of their sockets.

“Umma, appa, I’m going to be late! I’ll see you guys in the evening!” I pecked my parents on their cheeks and ran to my room to change into a pair of skinny jeans and a hoodie. I grabbed my wallet and phone, dumping them into a backpack.

Ding dong

“!” I cursed under my breath.

For the next few minutes, I was rushing around the house and packing my bag. Sungie was being an and kept pressing on the doorbell every twenty or so seconds. Appa, umma and Youngwoon hyung were teasing me and ignoring the annoying doorbell.

By the time I was finished packing, my hair was matted with sweat and I stood in front of the door, panting and catching my breath. What did I bathe for if I’m just going to get this sweaty again? I should have packed earlier.

When I heard the doorbell again, I almost exploded.

“Stop! I’m here, sheesh!” I shouted in Sungie’s face as I opened the door.

“Wookie. Hi!” Sungie waved to me. I resisted the urge to slap him and my entire family in the face. Instead, I pasted a smile onto my face and hugged Sungie, kissing him on the cheek as I did so.

“Ready to go?” he asked. I nodded and held his hand, bidding goodbye to my family before closing the door. I swear they were laughing at me even as I left the house. My family is filled with idiots.

I got into Sungie’s car – or his dad’s – and buckled my seatbelt. Sungie got into the driver’s seat and closed the door, starting the engine.

He drove out of the car park and made a turn to the right. The longer he drove, the more I was confused. Where are we going?

“Sungie, weren’t we supposed to head over to…” I trailed off and looked at him in confusion.

“Nah. I just made that place up. We’re going to this place that very few people know about,” he told me and smiled, turning his focus back onto the road. Why be so secretive? Oh well. I guess he wants to give me a surprise.

“So Wookie, how’s the first week of school been? I didn’t ask you yesterday cause I kind of forgot,” Sungie chuckled sheepishly. I shrugged. What did happen in school, anyways?

“You remember all the incidents were the couples fought and everything. On Tuesday, we learnt how to handle eel and we have a project for that. Nothing much happened on Wednesday and Thursday. As for yesterday…” I hung my head sadly.

Sungmin hyung had informed us that Kyuhyun hadn’t come around yet, and he still wasn’t fully out of danger. I don’t know what I should say to Kyuhyun when he can be discharged, or even when he wakes up. Because of my words, he got into an accident. He probably can’t go to school for the next few months.

When Sungmin hyung told us about Kyuhyun’s condition, his voice cracked and I wanted to cry. Why was I so careless and why did I have to be a smart aleck? I caused so much trouble with my words.

Siwon’s dad still hasn’t quite forgiven us, or Heechul hyung. He probably wants to sue Hankyung hyung for beating him to a pulp too. But Siwon’s mum is trying to calm his dad down. Hopefully HanChul won’t get into any trouble.

“Wookie, it isn’t your fault. Min was careless, and Kyuhyun wanted to do it. Nobody forced him to protect Sungmin. It’s alright,” Sungie told me, wrapped his free arm around my shoulder.

I leaned against him and sobbed quietly. I hate myself for being so weak, but I can’t do anything. Honestly, I don’t understand why I cry over the littlest of matters like this. I don’t cry for myself, but I cry for others.

Sungie was shushing me and patting my shoulder, trying to keep his eyes on the road at the same time. I can’t be so selfish. Sungie always has to think about me, and we’ve only been together for a little over a week.

I wiped my tears away and moved away from Sungie, smiling at him to assure him that I’m fine.

“We’re reaching soon. Just listen to music or calm yourself down, arasso? Sing a song, shout, whatever. Release all that pent up stress before we reach,” Sungie told me. I nodded and took in a deep breath, starting to sing ‘One Fine Spring Day’.

I got off the car and looked around me. We’d reached this unknown mall that was in the middle of Incheon. I’ve never known that such a place exists before. Having lived in Seoul for almost my entire life, I don’t believe that I have not heard of this place even once. I mean, Seoul and Incheon are so close to each other!

“Come on,” Sungie held my hand and led me into the mall. He walked to a restaurant on the ground floor quickly, as if he knows this place like the back of his hand.

“This restaurant is famous for its ginseng chicken. Let’s go in,” he told me and showed a card to the waiter. The waiter bowed and led us into a room at the back of the restaurant. He placed two menus on the table and bowed again, leaving the room.

“The ginseng chicken is a must. We can order two more dishes, and of course, the drinks. What do you want?” Sungie asked me. I flipped through the pages of the menu and pondered over his question. I stopped at a particular page.

Tofu pork cutlet.

The last time I ate this was with Sooyoung, five years ago. The first time I ate it was also with her. The memories… Sooyoung loves this dish.

“How about one portion of tofu pork cutlet?” I asked. Sungie smiled and nodded, writing it down on the order sheet. I continued looking at the other pages.

“How’s this? We order two main dishes, one drink each, and a dessert?” Sungie decided. I smiled at him and nodded, pointing at the dessert that I want. A banana split.

“As for drinks…” I looked at the beverages. “I want pear juice.”

“Ne. I’m done,” Sungie wrote down our orders and pressed the button for the waiter. The waiter entered the room and took the slip of paper, bowing and leaving the room.

“What drink did you order?” I asked.

“Pear juice, same as you. We all know that it’s great for the throat. As singers, we have to take care of our assets. By the way, who’s your music teacher?” Sungie replied.

I scoffed at the question. “Mrs. Im Jieun.”

Sungie pretended to puke when he heard my answer.

“I hate her. She just has this y look, doesn’t she?” Sungie commented. I nodded, completely agreeing with his point of view. Mrs. Im is the worst teacher I have ever met. She is an old, wrinkled woman who has mood swings 24/7. She can be all happy one moment and the next, she’s screaming and throwing stationery at us. I despise her.

“How about you?”

“My music teacher is way better. I have Junghoon hyung!” Sungie exclaimed happily. I gasped. How could he be so lucky and I’m stuck with a very certain Mrs. Im? Life is unfair.

I pouted. “Why am I stuck with that old hag?”

Sungie patted my head and chuckled.

“At least you only go for lesson once a week. Imagine if you had to see her everyday, like the rest of your class,” he told me. I thought about it and shuddered. No way.

“Ok, true. Well that was fast,” I said, pointing at the waiter who was carrying the tray of food in. This isn’t the same waiter who brought us in, but who cares? Our dessert would, of course, be served later. It’s standard procedure. Why would we have our dessert now? That’s just screwed up.

We stopped our conversation, thanking the waiter and beginning to eat.

“I will eat well!”

Sungie fed me a piece of tofu pork cutlet and I chewed it slowly, opening my mouth and fanning it as I ate. This is definitely freshly cooked. It burns!

I started tearing due to the hotness of the piece of pork cutlet and I drank some pear juice to cool my mouth down. Then I started chewing again and I could taste the pork cutlet properly.

It doesn’t taste as nice as the ones that I used to eat with Sooyoung. Then again, she brought me to where they sold the best tofu pork cutlet in South Korea. I don’t even know how she found the place since it was a small store, but it was amazing.

“Wookie, was it too hot? I’m so sorry,” Sungie apologised immediately. I shook my head, telling him that it was fine. I picked up a piece of pork cutlet and blew on it before putting it into Sungie’s mouth. He gave a big thumbs-up when he finished eating it.

We ate the tofu pork cutlet with some rice, finishing it before we moved onto the ginseng chicken.

“I am so full!” Sungie exclaimed, patting his tummy.

“Me too! Let’s go pay for the food and go buy our movie tickets,” I suggested. Sungie nodded and stood up, ensuring that we left nothing behind and leaving the room to go to the counter.

Sungie paid for the meal and we left the restaurant, going to the cinema to get tickets to the movie. We hadn’t really decided on what movie to watch, so we stood by the side and looked through the list of movies.

“Wookie, what do you want to watch? Romance or sci-fi?” Sungie asked. I immediately pointed to the romance movie and we began queuing for the tickets.

After we bought the tickets, we checked the time and realised that we could go in. As we waited for the ticketing person to check our tickets, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

I turned around and saw Sooyoung grinning at me.

“Wookie oppa! It’s such a coincidence! What are you watching?” she asked excitedly. The ticketing person returned our tickets to us and I showed it to her. Her eyes lit up.

“I’m watching this too! Where are you sitting…?” Sooyoung checked our tickets. I took a glimpse at her ticket as well. She’s sitting… beside us?! Oh god.

“Wow! Let’s go in together, oppa,” she latched herself onto my arm and started dragging me away. I looked at Sungie apologetically and he shook his head, smiling at me lightly.

We sat down in our seats and waited patiently for the movie to begin. The ads that they show before the movie are so annoying. It’s just the same few ads playing over and over again!

Sooyoung was seated on my left, chattering away about her week. On my right, Sungie was just stoning in his seat. Suddenly, he clasped his hand over his mouth and stood up, running out of the theatre. I looked at his empty seat and sighed. It probably isn’t anything serious.

“…so like I was saying, Taeyeon unni was being really noisy with all her nagging. Oppa, are you listening?” Sooyoung asked, waving her hand in front of my face. I snapped back to reality and smiled at her.

“Sure. Taeyeon was being naggy, right? And Yoona was being a show-off, bragging about how many people were wooing her and how she dislikes all of them,” I replied. That’s all I picked up since I am way too busy thinking about Sungie. He’s been gone for minutes.

The movie started, and the lead actors and actresses’ names appeared on the screen. Sungie still isn’t here. That’s it.

“Sooyoung, I’m going to the washroom. I’ll be back soon,” I whispered. She smiled and nodded, waving me off. I stood up and ran to the cinema’s toilet as quickly as I could.

 “Sungie, are you in here?” I called out. There didn’t seem to be anyone in the toilet, but one cubicle was occupied. I heard the sound of retching and I shuddered. If there’s one thing I hate, it’s looking at vomit, or even hearing it, much less doing it.

I waited for a while, and the vomiting eventually stopped.

“Sungie, is that you?” I asked again. This time, I heard a groan.

“Yes, Wookie. It-” Sungie couldn’t even finish his sentence before he began to puke again. I felt the hairs on my arm standing up and I walked over to the occupied cubicle.

“Are you alright? Do you need my help?” I asked.

“No,” Sungie replied weakly. A few moments later, I heard the toilet bowl flush and the door unlocked, revealing a very pale and sickly Kim Jongwoon.

He barely walked two steps before collapsing in my arms, and he smelt of vomit. I had to breathe through my mouth to prevent myself from vomiting as well.

I helped Sungie over to one side of the toilet. His face was full of sweat and his face was flushed yet pale. He looked like he was going to pass out any second. Luckily, I brought my face towel with me. I brought it to the sink and wet it, wringing it dry before I used it to wipe the sweat off Sungie’s face.

“Are you better, hyung?” I asked. The word just slipped out.

“Yah, Wookie. How many times have I told you not to call me hyung?” Sungie chided. I scratched the back of my head sheepishly, smiling lightly at him. I thought that he was fine, but my happiness was short-lived when he suddenly ran back into a cubicle to continue vomiting.

“That’s it. I’m getting the ambulance,” I announced and dialled the number for the ambulance. After I informed them of our location, I messaged Sooyoung.

{From: Wookie

Soo, I have to bring Jongwoon hyung to the hospital. He’s been vomiting non-stop since he came to the toilet! >< I’m REALLY sorry that I can’t hang out with you longer. :( I’ll see you another day?

To: Sooyoung}

After I pressed ‘send’, I went over to find Sungie. Again, he was leaning against the wall of the cubicle. His breathing was shallow and unstable. My heart started to beat faster as I began panicking. What’s wrong with my Sungie?

“Come on, Sungie. We’re bringing you to the hospital,” I told him gently. I supported his body weight as he sagged against me, too tired to even support himself. I managed to get the both of us to the ground floor without any trouble.

As we got out of the lift, I heard ambulance sirens getting louder and louder. We walked out of the mall and the paramedics got Sungie onto a stretcher, wheeling him into the ambulance. Naturally, I followed along.

“What happened?” one of the paramedics asked me. The ambulance had started moving and I silently prayed that the hospital was near.

“I have no idea. He’s been vomiting for at least twenty minutes before I discovered him,” I explained. The paramedic nodded, grabbing a paper bag from a rack on the side of the ambulance and holding it to Sungie’s mouth. Hello? I doubt that he’ll be puking again.

How do I know? Sungie is unconscious, dammit.

Sungie, please be ok.

I am sitting in front of Dr. Go Junyang. Sungie is in his ward, asleep after taking his medicine.

“Kim Ryeowook-sshi, how are you related to Jongwoon-sshi?” the doctor asked. How should I say this…? The doctor probably won’t judge, right?

“I’m his boyfriend. Dr. Go, what’s wrong with my boyfriend?” I asked.

“Well it seems that he has a pretty severe case of food poisoning. He was almost dehydrated, too. May I ask if you know what may have caused this? Food poisoning usually occurs two to four hours after food,” Dr. Go questioned.

“We ate lunch together before watching the movie, but we ate the same things! We shared all the dishes! No, wait… we didn’t share our drinks,” I remembered.

“I’ll be truthful. We found traces of rat poison in his system. It is almost completely scentless and tasteless to humans. The dose wasn’t too big, thankfully, or Jongwoon-sshi’s life might have been in great danger. I suggest that you take legal action against the restaurant, or at least get some form of compensation,” Dr. Go told me.

“I’ll keep that in mind. May I go and see Jongwoon hyung?” I requested. Dr. Go nodded and brought me to Sungie’s ward, leaving me inside with him.

I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket and I took it out, reading Sooyoung’s message.

{From: Sooyoung

It’s alright, oppa. I’ll see you next time.

To: Ryeong oppa}

I frowned. Sooyoung doesn’t usually message people like this. She loves using emoticons, and this is just… cold. Also, if I told her something like this in the past, she would be so worried for them and ask me to wish them ‘get well soon’. Why has she changed so much?

I pulled a chair to the bedside and sat down on it, holding Sungie’s cold hand and rubbing it to heat it up. The air-con in here is cold.

I sent a message to umma, telling her that I wouldn’t be going home tonight. Also, I asked Jongjin to inform the rest of his family about what happened to Sungie. The thing is that since both of his parents owned their own businesses, they can’t really take time off. They said that they’ll visit Sungie tomorrow.

I yawned and looked at the time. Today has been such a long day.

I kissed Sungie on the lips before resting my head on his abdomen, not letting go of his hand.

Goodnight, hyung. Get well soon.

And with that thought in mind, I let myself drift off into sleep.

Soooo sorry for the late update cause I was out for the whole day on Sat and my mum was being a PMSing yst and refused to give me internet access -.-

I hope you guys enjoyed this~ I rushed it out yst so I'm sorry if it's a little ish ><

For everyone who loves Sooyoung, I didn't mean to make her the in this fic. It just happened. She's my bias in SNSD too :/

Well I'll be going on a four-week hiatus after next wk cause I really have to study for my End Of Year exams...

See you guys next wk! Annyeong! ^^