08/05/12

How does Nichkhun react when Victoria gets the fever?

            Two days have passed, and everyone could see that Victoria was getting more sick. Her lips had no more color, there were dark circles under her eyes, her skin turned sallow, and her head seemed to be on the brink of falling off. In response, the people of the camp were all asking if she was okay or not, and that caused her to be in the crankiest mood she’d ever been in her life. On the second day, she even stormed out of the dining hall because someone had asked if she wanted to rest for a day.

            Everyone was cautious around her, and that made her attitude even worse. Finally, Nichkhun, who was trying not to get involved in the situation, had had enough. After dinner, he stormed into their room and shouted, “Victoria! I’ve had enough of your attitude! I don’t care if you don’t want to be dependent on anybody, but right now, you have to! You’re making your own condition worse, and it’s affecting the whole camp! I’m sorry to say this, but no matter how hard you try, you’re never going to be independent!”

            After his speech, Nichkhun looked at Victoria, who was sitting on her bed. She was biting her bottom lip and looking away. As she looked back at him, she shouted, “You know what, I don’t care! I never asked for help, and I’m never going to! So just do me a favor and ask everyone to stop giving me those pitying and frustrating looks!”

            Nichkhun could have sworn he felt steam come out of his ears. “You know, no matter how hard you try to make it seem like you don’t need somebody, you do! Actually, I think you secretly want people to notice you! That’s why you sacrifice your health and make everybody worry about you! You secretly enjoy the attention!”

            “What?!” Victoria was shocked. “How could you say that?”

            “You must have noticed!” he answered. “The more you refuse, the more worried they get. It’s better if you just succumb to their advice and get better as soon as possible!”

            “You know how ugly people look when they look at me?” she shouted. “Their eyebrows are all twisted, and they look at you as if you’re so pitiful that they wouldn’t even think of trading places with you! It’s disgusting!”

            “And that’s why they want to make your situation better!” he argued back. “They care about you, and they don’t want to see you in pain! Don’t you understand?!”

            Victoria rolled her eyes and looked away. “Worrying and caring are such sissy words.”

            Nichkhun roughly turned her shoulders so that she’ll face him. “What’s wrong with you?! Without care and worry, you’d be dead by now! You should cherish them!”

            “And do you think I want to be alive after I killed my parents?!” she retorted.

            “You didn’t kill them!” he shouted.

            “Yes I did! They died because they wanted me to live!”

            “That was their goal! If you die now, wouldn’t you be bringing all their efforts to waste? They died satisfied because they knew that you were going to be safe! Didn’t you say that you had to make sacrifices in order to live life to the fullest?! That’s what they did! They sacrificed their lives because they loved you, and that’s why they were able to die happily!”

            Victoria looked away again. “I hate you.”

            Nichkhun’s anger rose even higher after hearing that. “What did you say?!”

            She turned back to face him for a second. “I said I hate you!”

            While she was facing him, Nichkhun realized something. His anger level sank rapidly. As he stepped closer to fully see her expression, she stood up and pushed him away from her. “Get away from me! You’re an , you know that?! Why do you always have to win?!”

            She quickly turned and faced away from him. Nichkhun walked closer and heard her sniffling. “Oh god. You’re crying.”

            Victoria whipped back around. “So what if I’m crying?! People cry! It’s part of nature’s course!”

            She covered her face with her hands. Nichkhun didn’t know what to do. He started to step closer to her when she whispered, “Get out.”

            He wasn’t sure if he heard her correctly. “What did you say?”

            Victoria uncovered her face. “I said get out!”

            He stood there like a statue, not knowing whether to obey her or not. Victoria had had enough, “Fine! If you’re not going, then I’m going!”

            She stormed out of their room, leaving Nichkhun standing there.

                                    :::::

            When Hyuna went out of her room the next morning, she found Nichkhun standing there, staring at his feet. Looking up when he heard her, Nichkhun said, “Good morning.”

            Hyuna smiled. “Wondering where Victoria is?”

            “Is she with you?” he asked.

            She nodded. “Yeah. She just barged in last night and practically bear-hugged me for the rest of the night. Now, my neck is all sore.”

            Nichkhun smiled weakly. “I’m afraid that’s my fault. I said something that I shouldn’t have.”

            “I kind of guessed that,” Hyuna said matter-of-factly. “Just curious, what did you say to her?”

            He told her what happened. Hyuna nodded with understanding. “Then you don’t have to worry about her. She’s just crying because almost everything you said was true, and she hates being wrong.”

            “I kind of guessed that,” Nichkhun copied.

            Hyuna smiled. “Yeah, but next time, when you want her to do something, never yell at her. Because if you do, she’ll do the exact opposite of what you tell her to do.”

            Nichkhun shook his head in disbelief. “I can’t believe she’s such a child.”

            “No, she just wants love,” Hyuna told him. “Although she will never admit it, the thing she is lacking is the thing that she will do anything to avoid. She’s a contradictory person.”

            Nichkhun let out a small laugh. “Anyway, I heard today was going to be a very hot day. Make sure Victoria gets a lot of water. Combined with what happened yesterday, I’m afraid she’ll finally reach her limit.”

            Hyuna smiled. “When did you get so protective over her?”

            “Well, it was kind of my fault that she got like this,” Nichkhun shrugged. “I just felt like I should take responsibility.”

            Hyuna shook her head and smiled. “You two are just perfect together, you know that?”

            He frowned. “What do you mean?”

            “Neither of you will ever admit it,” she replied.

            “Admit what?” he asked.

            Hyuna just smiled and walked away.

                        ::::::::::;

            Nichkhun was right, Hyuna thought to herself. Today is really hot.

            It was the afternoon, and there was one hour left before it was time to stop for the day. Hyuna wiped the sweat from her forehead with her sleeve, and looked ahead of her. There, Victoria sat on her own camel, with her head resting on its hump.

            “Victoria, are you awake?” Hyuna asked. When she heard no answer, she felt her stomach wrench. “Victoria?”

            She saw a slight movement coming from her head. “It’s okay; you don’t have to get up. Just nod.”

            Victoria nodded. Sighing with relief, Hyuna looked up to the heavens. “Thank goodness. You scared me for a second, Vic.”

            She saw Victoria smiling weakly. Letting go of her held breath, Hyuna thought to herself, Dear Victoria, how come you are so troublesome?

                        :::::::::::

            There were fifteen minutes left until they ended their daily journey, and Hyuna was checking on Victoria every so often. It was time to check on her again, so Hyuna asked if Victoria could hear her.

           There was no response. Hyuna’s stomach wrenched for the second time. “Victoria? Don’t scare me, okay?”

            She still didn’t see any movement, and Hyuna’s heart began to race. Quickly looking around, she tried to find the doctor. Oh no! The doctor is all the way in the front. Only the females are in the back!

            “Hara!” Hyuna shouted to the person in front of Victoria. “The queen is unconscious! Pass it on to the doctor!”

            Hara quickly turned around to confirm the situation before she passed it on to the person in front of her.

                                                ::::::::::

            Hyunseung tried to catch up with Nichkhun for the third time. I can’t believe somebody can still be walking at this pace, he thought. Right after they stopped for the day, Nichkhun almost jumped off his camel and started walking toward the end of the line, where Victoria was.

            Hmph, and he insisted that he just felt guilty, Hyunseung laughed to himself. The moment he passed on the news to Nichkhun, Hyunseung was able to see his face rapidly drain of color. After that, Nichkhun wasn’t able to stop fidgeting.

            When they got there, there was already a crowd around Victoria. Then, Hyunseung heard somebody shout, “The king is here!”

            Everybody looked up and backed away from the queen, everyone except for Hyuna. He finally reached her, and knelt down.

            As Hyunseung followed behind, he heard Hyuna whisper to Nichkhun, “I’m sorry that I didn’t notice earlier.”

            He saw Nichkhun lift the corners of his lips. Not taking his eyes off the unconscious girl that was leaning against her camel, he softly replied. “It’s okay.”

            Hyunseung watched Nichkhun take a deep breath and lift Victoria up, with one hand at the crook of her knees and the other supporting her back. Princess-style. Hyunseung smiled as he noticed all the girls giggling and eyeing each other. Looking back, he wondered if Hyuna was doing the same.

            As he turned his head, Hyunseung’s eyes locked with Hyuna’s. He felt some kind of electric shock go through him. Quickly turning back around, Hyunseung found himself breathing hard. For a split second there, he thought the whole world disappeared before him, leaving only Hyuna standing with him.

            “Hey, Hyunseung!” he heard a voice behind him. Turning around, Hyunseung thought he saw Nichkhun next to him. Realizing who it was, he smiled. “Hi Taecyeon.”

            “Did you see how my brother just carried off his future wife?!” Taecyeon laughed. “And who would’ve thought that those two hated each other even before they met.”

            Hyunseung rolled his eyes. “Alright, alright, Taecyeon. You won. You don’t have to rub it in, you know.”

            “No, actually, I have to,” Taecyeon said. “Especially since you didn’t believe me at all when I said that they were going to be an item. You should have believed in my ESP!”

            Hyunseung shook his head and laughed. “If you say so, boss.”