It feels as if time froze. The only sound in the room is the clock ticking. 

As 10 seconds (that feels like an hour) passes, Yoseob suddenly lets me go. "Pancakes..." he mumbles and goes back into the kitchen. I remain frozen on the floor. 

My jaw drops as I watch him enter the kitchen. After a short while I turn my head to my friends who all have the same disapproving look on their faces. But I don't care. I have no idea what's going on.

"Explanation, anyone?" I hiss and point at the kitchen. Min Ah is the first to react. She grabs my arm and leads me to the couch and signals me to sit down. Then she sits down next to me. The two others head back into the kitchen. 

"You fainted at school." She says. "You had a high fever and the nurse was worried about you. She told us to head home with you. We were very worried, you know." I feel guilty for attacking her the way I did when I see her sincere expression. I smile a crooked smile and nods. "Thanks, I guess." I whisper. "But, shouldn't we head back to school? I'm pretty much okay now." I say and get ready to stand up, but Min Ah forces me back into the couch. "Anita, we're not going to school." She says and points at the clock on the wall. My jaw drops for the second time in 5 minutes. "5pm!?" I say and feel the despair building inside me. . This is not good. "You've been asleep for a long time. The nurse gave us some pills to give you. She said they would make you feel better. I think you've sweated out the fever. Also, she said she'd talk to your teachers so that the day wouldn't count as an absent day. She was very understanding when we told her your situation." I throw myself around her neck. "Thank you thank you thank you!" I whisper. She returns my hug and stands up, ready to leave. I grab a hold of her arm and pull her back down.

"I wasn't done." I say with a smile. She smiles back. "What is he doing here?" I say as pleasantly as I can. Her smile sort of fades. "That's... my fault." She says and laughs hesitant. I raise an eyebrow. "Oh really?" "Well..." she starts and scratches the back of her head. "He called your cell around 2, so he hasn't been here that long. I answered when I saw it was him and, well.. told him about your situation. He seemed to know where you lived, I didn't tell him! Although I offered him directions, but technically I never gave them to him!" I sigh. I'm not angry. After all, it makes me happy that he cared enough to come here. There was still one problem. "Mom and dad should be home any minute. He can't be here then, and to be frank, neither should you guys." Min Ah smiles cleverly. "Oh, that's all taken care of. Sin Yeon already called your mom and told her you were sick. She made it sound a lot worse than what it was. If your mom ever asks, your nose was so runny it was as if the germs was having a parade out your nose. Anyway, we told her we'd take care of you, and once we'd said that, she pretty much booked a stay at a hotel. She won't be coming home until the parade is over. She even had us swear to clean up after you when you're better. Seriously, your mom really doesn't like germs." She says and rolls her eyes. I have to laugh. About everything. Mom's weirdness, my friends sillyness and the whole situation. Then I remember. "Oh! What about dad?" Min Ah holds up her hands to calm me down. "Your mom said she'd talk to him. Knowing your mom, she won't rest until she gets a hold of him. She'll refuse to touch him for weeks if he comes over here now." I sigh and fall back into the couch. I love my parents, but it's good that they're gone for now. "PANCAKES!" Sin Yeon calls from the kitchen. I nudge myself out of the couch and head for the kitchen, but I'm stopped by Min Ah's hand on my shoulder. "CHANGE!" she mouths and points to the stairs. I shake my head, smile, and head upstairs, followed by an eager Min Ah.

5 minutes later I head for the kitchen, wearing a basic white top and jeans. Min Ah had tried forcing me into a bright pink dress and doll me up, but I had put my foot down. Disappointed, she had gone downstairs a couple of minutes before me. I walk into an empty kitchen, except for some pancakes on a plate on the table. I go back into the living room, but it's empty as well. "What the..." I say and go back into the kitchen to see if they magically returned. Still nothing. I stop to listen for some sounds, but it's completely quiet. "What in the world.." I sigh and head for the living room once again. I don't get that far. As I turn around, Yoseob is standing in front of me. He looks a little confused. "Eyh? Where did everyone go?" He says and looks around. I just stand there, staring at him. "Oh well.." He says after a while and shrugs. Then he gets serious and walks towards me. Not sure quite what to do, I close my eyes and back up. Just after I close my eyes I feel his hand on my forehead. "Hmm.. Your fever's pretty much gone. Good." He says and removes his hand. I slowly open my eyes and see that he already sat down by the table. He signals to me to sit down, and obedient and confused as I am, I do. 

"So..You have no idea where they went?" I say and stare at the pancakes. I am pretty hungry. "Nope. All I know is that I said I needed to go to the bathroom. They were all here when I left." He says and puts a pancake on his plate. Suddenly my phone starts buzzing. A new text message arrived. I grab my phone and open it. The message is from Sin Yeon. "I figured you wanted some privacy. We're closeby if you need us, but it better be an emergency!" I clench my teeth. Deciding for yourselves, what the... I sigh and put my phone down again. After hesitating I take a pancake and place it on my plate. My first ever real meal with Yoseob has begun. 

"So..." Yoseob says after a while, with his mouth full of pancake. "This is your house." He looks around curiously. I hide a smile. "Yup. Why, you don't like it?" I say with a hint of playfulness, to see if he catches on. He doesn't. He's too busy scanning the kitchen. "No, no! I think it's nice. Reminds me a bit of our dorm, only a little bigger. You're lucky." He starts digging into a new pancake. "That reminds me..." I say and put down my fork. "Don't get me wrong, I don't mean to be rude, but aren't you an idol?" Yoseob swallows the quarter of a pancake he forced into his mouth just now. "Yeah. Why?" He says and takes on a third of the pancake. "Well... How come you're always around? Aren't you busy?" He stops chewing and puts down his fork and knife. For a moment he looks like he's about to leave, and I get confused. Whoa, what did I say? He doesn't leave though. He just puts up his hand and signalizes he's gonna say something. I wait, confused. A few moments later he's finally done swallowing the piece of pancake. This time I don't hide my smile. "Oyh..." He says and shakes his head. "That one was a little too big." He takes a sip of water and leans back and stares into the ceiling. I just stare at him, a little bit amazed. How can one be so serious, yet so carefree at the same time? "The answer to your question is quite simple, Anita. I make the time to be around." He starts playing with his fingers. I pick up another pancake with my fork and put it on my plate. "Oh really? How come?" I ask as I stretch for the syrup over on Yoseobs side. "Because..." Yoseob says and leans in while he snatches the syrup away. His face is only and inch away from mine now. Then he whispers;

"I like you."

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Maybe not my best work... >__> But, it's 1am, and I promised a chapter today (or yesterday), so here it is!
Oh well. I have a plan from now on.

... Sort of.

Anyway, hope you liked it!