Chapter 8

“…ke up. Wake up, jagiyaaa~” a voice whispered into her ear. Jiyoon clapped a hand over her ear and curled into a ball, feeling the onslaught of pain in her stomach. A finger poked her in the side before a pair of arms wrapped around her waist. She squirmed in the bed and tried to kick Luhan. She’d finally gotten used to the morning assaults from him a week after their date. He’d tickle her, poke her, whisper in her ear until she would throw off the covers with huff and stomp to get ready for school.

“Urgh. Go away. I need my sleep,” Jiyoon moaned. She could feel a searing pain in her lower back and didn’t want to move. “Can you… get umma please?”

Luhan slowly pulled the covers away from her face and saw her pained expression. From the way she clutched her stomach so tightly, he knew that it was that time of the month all girls experience. He didn’t say anything, only getting up and going downstairs to tell her mother. When he came back upstairs with her mother, Jiyoon hadn’t moved even 1mm still curled up around her stomach. Her mother tutted before shooing him out the door. “You get ready first,” she said distractedly before closing the door.

“Come on, get up,” Mrs Park said, pulling the covers off Jiyoon and exposing the red stain on the bed.

“Do I have to?” Jiyoon complained.

“Yes, unless you want Luhannie to see?”

“Fine. Where is the stuff?”

“You know where, dear.”

“M’kay. Is he in the bathroom?” Jiyoon asked, standing up slowly as her mother busied herself changing the sheets.

“Probably. Just wait a while. He’s pretty quick,” her mother was already putting on new sheets.

“Right.”

Jiyoon tiptoed to the door and peeked outside. She saw that the bathroom door was open and hurried inside. After a warm shower and a fresh change of clothes, she made her way down at a snail’s pace. She glanced at Luhan and saw that he wasn’t looking and hurried into the kitchen. Her mother handed her a cup of water and pain killers which she downed quickly. Jiyoon placed the cup on the table and hobbled away.

“Do you want to stay home today?” Mrs Park asked.

Jiyoon turned around and nodded quickly, then hurried upstairs as quickly as she could manage. When she was upstairs, she crawled under the covers, curled up and closed her eyes taking deep breaths to calm down. Every now and then, a sharp pain would erupt from her abdomen and she would clutch her stomach even tighter. “It feels like someone poked me in the back with a hot poker,” she groaned.

A while later, Luhan came upstairs to check on her. He sat down carefully on the edge of the bed, trying not to wake her up but the slight dipping of the bed made Jiyoon groan in discomfort. He leaned forward, smoothing back her hair and rubbed her back.

“How are you feeling right now?” He asked.

“A bit stiff…”

“Want me to massage you?” He chuckled.

“Shut up.”

“Where are you feeling stiff?”

“…My back,” Jiyoon mumbled reluctantly.

“Come on, sit up. I shall work my magic~” Luhan wiggled his fingers in the air.

Jiyoon gave him a small smile and sat up gradually, allowing Luhan to massage her. The calming feeling of his hands made her sleepy again and she lay down, closing her eyes. Within seconds, she was asleep again. Luhan watched her breathing in and out, brushing hair away from her face. “Why are you hesitating, my love?” He kissed her forehead and went to the desk.

Pulling out a laptop, he set about looking online for the perfect surprise for Jiyoon. It’s better to do this early than late, he thought. He decided to make a photo album and fill it with their memories of now and in the future. It would be a nice present for Christmas, and I need a nice camera too for the photos. He browsed through countless sites until he found a photo album that would be large enough to fill with plenty of photos and bought a new Samsung camera as well. Pleased with his purchase, he went downstairs.

Both of Jiyoon’s parents had gone out to work and had left a note on the fridge door. Dear Luhannie, This may be a troublesome request but please look after Jiyoon while we’re not here. There’s food in the fridge that you can heat up for both of you and some cold packs that she likes. Thank you~ He laughed quietly as he read the note. He could see that Jiyoon definitely did not inherit her mother’s girly side. Luhan looked at the clock and saw that it was only 10:30am so he went outside to buy some flowers and a tub of ice-cream for Jiyoon, knowing that this would no doubt improve her grouchy mood.

He went to the shopping area nearby, the same street Jiyoon passes through when coming home from school, and headed straight for the florist. There were all sorts of flowers on display – roses, lilies, hyacinths, peonies, sunflowers. Luhan decided to pick one that subtly showed his love for her and chose a bunch of light pink peonies. As the florist wrapped the flowers in white wrapping, he picked up a single stock flower and handed that also to the florist. He smiled to himself, knowing what the flowers meant and payed for them.

Luhan then went towards the supermarket and bought a tub of vanilla ice-cream. He smirked, “If she doesn’t eat this, then there’s more for me.