"Naeun-ah..." Naeun's mother said as she tenderly caressed her daughter's tear stained cheek. She then wiped them dry before placing a kiss on Naeun’s forehead. It was her fragile touch that she had missed most.

She was still ever so beautiful, and if the heavens were her eternal neverland; she would never age. Naeun held onto her mother’s arm securely. “Mom? Please stay.” She cried. But the beautiful figure smiled and lightly shook her head.

“I’m always with you, sweetheart.” Her mother said. ‘Sweetheart’...the word that Naeun thought she would never hear come out of her mother’s lips again.  “We will be together again ,my daughter.”

Unanticipatedly, a gust of wind blew before them and then all at once. Naeun felt the hold on her mother weaken as a strong force began to pull her away. She held onto her as tight as she could but she wasn’t strong enough. “Mom! Please don’t go!” She begged. “Don’t leave me again!” Now the tears were uncontrollably rampant.

However, instead of responding, the woman closed  her eyes and down trickled a single tear. It was as if she was saying “sorry”. And at that moment, she let go of Naeun completely. Clouds surrounded them as the winds only grew stronger. Ultimately, “I love you” came out as a last whisper before the heavens reclaimed her mother forever.

“Nooo!! Mom!” She yelled, but all she could hear now was her own echo and Naeun was alone yet again.

“Naeun!” Suho called with such volume. He shook her vigorously, hoping that she’d awake. The intense kicking and screaming brought Suho running to Naeun’s room and there he was , trying to get her back to reality.

Suddenly, red liquid came dripping out of Naeun’s nostrils , which terrified Suho even more. It wasn’t the blood that scared him, but the fact  that something was wrong  with Naeun.  Luckily , Naeun had a box of tissue paper in the room so Suho grabbed a bunch and hurriedly placed it under Naeun’s nose.

But, Naeun continued to budge and fidget as she cried loudly in her sleep. Suho had no choice but to wrap his arms around her in order to restrain her from moving further. At this point, he was literally on top of her. “Shhh….It’s okay, Naeun. You’re okay.” Suho spoke to assure her. Eventually Naeun came to her senses, she hugged Suho back, and continued to cry on his shoulder.    

“My mom...she...” Naeun sobbed ;however, Suho hushed her before speaking. Then she realized the soiled  tissues near her face. “Ohh..” She said, and the frequent bloody nose was nothing to her . But now she was afraid that she worried Suho. “I must have  gotten really hot under the blankets and all.” She lied.

“Are you sure?” He asked, followed by a nod from Naeun.  He decide to go with her excuse for now. “You were talking in your sleep.” He said. After being around Naeun for a while, he figured now that Naeun came back to her senses, she’d probably feel awkward with him there. Especially with physical contact. So he decided to take his arms off of her immediately. Soon after, they were caught up in a long stare before Suho turned to head back to his room.

“Wait, Joonmyun.” Naeun called. He stopped before he reached the door and faced his attention toward Naeun. “Can you stay here tonight? Or at least, until I fall asleep?” She asked. Suho smiled at himself because he found it ironic how the girl who once always wanted to be alone, well...never wanted to be alone all along. He nodded to the girl and laid over the quilted comforter that also covered Naeun. As soon as he was settled and laying next to Naeun, she asked him, “ How bad was it?”

“Hmm...well, I was in strong belief that something terrible happened to you in your room. All the screaming nearly terrified me. I mean, it was so bad that  I had to bring my baseball bat.” He chuckled and Naeun smiled along.

“Sorry about that.”

“No, I understand. You had a dream about your mother I assume. I guess I have those too except in my nightmares about my mother, I’m usually telling her to get away from me.” Suho said.

The two of them were now just laying on Naeun’s bed and talking abou the most unthinkable topics from cat videos to their favorite childhood nursery rhymes. Why not? It was 5 AM on a saturday morning anyway.

Despite how tired he was, Suho let Naeun talk until she tired out ; but he didn’t regret a single moment with the person he cared about the most. As he watched Naeun sleep for the second time, Suho knew that he would love her despite Naeun's opposition.

Suho didn't feel sleepy anymore so he stood up and looked around Naeun's room; not to be nosy, but to explore her world. It seemed to be that Naeun had maintained the room’s original look except for a few of her own picture frames.  He picked up the one of  the family portrait that must have taken place not too long before the accident. The content of each frame displayed the happy faces of the Son family.

Naeun looked more like a mix of her parents; having her mother’s  nose and lips and her father’s eyes.  Her young brother had similar feature besides the fact that he was still a child and he had more baby fat.  Adorable, Suho thought.

He stared at the picture of Naeun’s mother, So you came for a visit huh? He thought as if he were speaking to Mrs. Son. You must be worrying about her a lot, But don’t you fret, I promise you that I will take care of Naeun. I won’t let anything happen to your daughter.

And that was a promise to them; he would certainly keep his word.

He then backed up as he tried to put the frame down and accidentally knocked a journal onto the floor.

Oops. He first glanced over to the soundly asleep Naeun and felt a huge relief when she didn’t wake to the sound of the fall.

The notebook must’ve fell open because it was open to a page of a sketch of a man who Suho recognized as himself. Naeun had actually taken the time to draw him. He felt giddy inside because no one had ever drawn him and it was the first time seeing a himself through another individuals eyes...especially Naeun’s.

In the portrait, he seemed to be asleep as Naeun captured his side profile. It must have been a time when they were together and Suho must have fallen asleep.

Suho closed the notebook and set it down gently on the table and smiled at Naeun. I think I know now…

He seemed to have figured out that despite what Naeun felt about him, he would love her unconditionally.

…

Naeun woke up the next morning and noticed that Suho was no longer there. He must’ve returned to his own room. It only came to show that he really did respect Naeun. She then remembered tje last night when her nose bled and the look on Suho’s face; worried and distraught.

He wasn't supposed to see that and he would never see it again.

Now, it wasn’t like Naeun never questioned her body’s strange behavior because she did; every single time she felt her world spinning. It was painful, being dizzy and feeling sharp jab like migraines. The nosebleeds only seemed unnecessary to her because it attracted attention and she hated that the most.

Naeun got out of her bed and walked out of her room. On her way to the stairs, she noticed that Suho’s door was open, as usual, especially after last night. He was snoring kind of like a broken engine; very loud and stuttery.

Out of complete curiosity, Naeun quietly tip-toed to Suho’s bedroom. She peeked first to make sure he was still asleep before proceeding. He was messily sprung across the whole bed, the blanket was barely on his legs that were hanging off the bed.

It was quite a funny scene; in fact, Naeun was so ready to take a picture, but she decided not to because one: she didn’t have a camera on her and tw0: she didn’t want to make another trip back to Suho’s room. Why would she?

But here’s the real question, what was she doing in his room in the first place? The answer…she did not know herself. She just couldn’t keep her eyes off the handsome man. Yes, she’d always acknowledged the fact that he was good looking, it was just that she didn’t want to think of Suho in anyway that would make her want to think of him more, if that made any sense. In other words, she didn’t want to know him.

Ironic enough, he knew everything about her and she didn’t know anything about him. She was curious, yes, and now a little change of heart has got her asking all of these questions.

“If you’re going to stare, you might’ve as well sketch another picture of me while you’re at it.” Suho grumbled as he rolled over to yawn quite loudly.

Naeun felt completely embarrassed to have been caught daydreaming about Suho...in front of Suho...BY SUHO HIMSELF. OMO

“I was, uhh, you were ridiculously snoring and… I didn’t know how to shut you up without waking you, if there even was a way.” Naeun said, though her excuse did sound pretty much like her. "Wait a minute, did you say something about sketching? Me sketching you?"

"As a matter of fact, I did. Are you going to deny it?” He asked the raised his brow.

“I mean, uhh not at all." She blushed. "Anyway, I was just heading downstairs to find something to eat before I took a short pit stop over here.” She told him.

“Then how does breakfast in the city sound?” Suho asked. Please don’t say no!

“Well…” She started

Please, Naeun…

“ That sounds good to me. I guess I’ll get ready?” She asked.

“Yes!” He said over excitedly. “Okay, I’ll meet you down in a bit.”

“Okay.” Naeun said before she went to her own room to get ready. It was her turn to know Suho and she was hoping he’d have answers.