Happy?

“There’s nothing to worry about, it’s only a mild concussion” the doctor smiled assuring.

“Thank you doctor” Haru’s mother nodded with a smile. Her mother had arrived just as the nurse had finished changing Haru’s bandage. She had perfectly played the role of a worried and caring mother. Caring and concerned words were directed towards Haru, and in her mother’s warm yet stiff embrace, Haru almost felt love, she almost felt happy. But reality struck her, as the doctor left the room and her mother’s hand once again imprinted its mark on Haru’s cheek.

“How can you be so useless!” her mother hissed.

"Didn't I tell you to stay away from trouble in school?! You're not only useless, but you're also troublesome! I had to leave the charity event I was hosting, just because you decided to get yourself a concussion. Do you know how embarrassing it was, when I left stage in the middle of my speech? Or do you even know how much time I spent on that charity case Haru!? Three months! Now Choi Hyesun is hosting it instead, and she will get all the credit for something I planned. Three months gone the drain, just because of your stupidity." Haru's mother continued in a low, yet hostile tone.

"I-I-I'm s-s-sorry. It was an a-a-accident-" Haru stammered, as she took her cold hand up to her burning cheek, in her attempt to lessen the stinging sensation.

"You can stop with your bad excuses." Her mother continued only to exhale trying to calm herself.

"Call the driver when you get out and make the hospital send the bill to the house" were her mother's last words before she left the room. She left behind a Haru who was trying to hold her tears back, which threatened to drop from her eyes, and before she knew of it a couple of them were already dragging a wet trail behind them on their way down to the hospital blanket. Haru wiped away her tears and consumed a couple of calming breaths to lessen her shaking. She only hoped that the others would not come back before the visibility of her hurt and down state had disappeared. Luckily all the traces of her mother's visit had faded away when Jongin came back with his hands full of snacks.

"I didn't know which you wanted so I bought a little of everything" he smiled, placing himself on the chair right beside her bed.

"Oh thank you, but you really shouldn't have" Haru looked at the bag.

"You need to get your strength back right? And you don't have to worry about the amount, everything you don't like, I'll eat. So what do you want to start with?" Jongin smiled at her, as he had displayed all the different kinds of snacks he had bought on the table beside him. Being a bit hungry herself Haru closely examined the table, before choosing the cup-container with what seemed like yogurt topped with different kinds of fruits and musli. She had insisted in sharing it with Jongin, since he was the one who had bought it, but he had simply answered; "No it's ok you eat it. What you don't like I'll eat" and smiled. Tasting it, she loved how the sourness of the yogurt blended so well together with the natural sweetness of the fruits and the crunchiness of the musli.

"This is really good!" she exclaimed before taking in another spoon of it.

"I knew you would like it. It's from this new store not far from here. We should go visit it when you get out of the hospital" Jongin suggested, curiously waiting for her answer. He wanted to see how far he could go. How far he could push her. How willingly she would be, to be seen with him after all that had happened. Haru stopped eating at his suggestion and he could almost see how his suggestion went through her mental filters of; "should I say yes?" and "what would the outcome be, if I did say yes?"

"I-…that sounds like a great idea" she finally smiled and went back to the yoghurt. It had come to Haru's understanding she surprisingly really liked being in Jongin's company, as she had noticed that being without it had made her miss it. Of course Haru was still afraid of the outcome - scared out of her mind of what will happen. But since he had declared that he was not going to stay away from her and avoid her anymore, it would be impossible for her to avoid him and make him stay away - or at least that was what she had convinced herself of.

"Where are the others?" Haru asked, when she suddenly noticed their absence.

"When I left them, Aaerin and Yejin were arguing about whether to buy you dark or white hot chocolate, while the other three stayed to make sure they didn't start fighting each other. But they should be here any min-" before Jongin could finish his sentence, the five visitors cut him off by returning.

"Unnie here take some dark hot chocolate,” Aaerin said, as she reached out her hand with the cup of hot chocolate, intending to hand Haru the cup. But even before Haru could think of taking the cup, Yejin cut her off.

"No unnie, here take this instead, it’s white chocolate" Yejin smiled and copied Aaerin's movements.

"Who gave you permission to call my unnie, unnie?!" Aaerin looked at Yejin as if she did not believe what the girl just had said.

"It's not called permission, but logic, politeness and manners. You're calling her unnie, then shouldn't I also call her unnie, since we're the same age?" Yejin glared back at Aaerin.

"You-" Aaerin started as Mari cut her off.

"Ok, time out to the two of you. Here Haru, we've also bought some tea. The lady said that it's supposed to have an relaxing and calming effect, which I personally think fits a bit better to your situation and condition right now" Mari said and placed the cup of tea on Haru's table, while looking at Aaerin and Yejin, who defeated mumbled something incoherent in an agreeing manner, while taking their hot chocolate back.

"Why don't you two drink your hot chocolate? Maybe you could compete and see who can drink it the fastest and the winner will receive Haru's love, respect and take her home as a trophy" Mari teased the two girls, earning death glares from both the two girls and laughter from the four boys.

"Finally something you two agree on" Mari joined the boys’ laughter. The six of them seated themselves around Haru's bed, and started to chat and devour the snacks they had bought. Without any of them noticing it time quickly passed by and soon they went home, leaving Jongin and Haru behind.

"Uhm...don't take this the wrong way, but you should get home and get some sleep too Kai. It's late, and it's still a school day tomorrow, and your parents must be worried" Haru worriedly suggested, seeing how the boy next to her had yawned for the fourth time within five minuets. Truth to be told Jongin was indeed tired after everything that had happened today, and he was sure that Haru was at least as tired as he was. Though Jongin did not want to go home yet, as he knew that there was nothing waiting for him other than a cold apartment, but seeing how Haru was not going to go to sleep in his presence, he decided to go home anyways and let her rest.

"Don't you worry about it, because I can assure you that they definitely aren't. What about your parents? Did the hospital get in contact with them?" Jongin asked curiously. His question brought back the depressing feeling her mother had left her with after her visit.

"Oh…they did. My mom actually left right before you came in" Haru smiled, trying to hide what her mother's visit had done to her. Though it did not slip unnoticed pass Jongin, as he could not help feel how forced her smile looked and he could not help notice how her body language somehow had changed, as she looked a bit more uncomfortable than before. But Jongin did not put any deeper thought into it, believing and justifying to himself that her forced smile and uncomfortable body language must be the result of her tiredness and of what had happened to her today.

"That's good then. I’ll see you tomorrow." Jongin smiled, as stood up and took his jacket.

"Uhm you don't have to come tomorrow…I mean it's not like I don't want you to come, I would really like you to…wh-wha-what I mean is-“ before Haru could explain any further Jongin cut her off to spare the girl, seeing how red her cheeks had gotten.

“It’s ok Haru. I’m coming tomorrow because I want to and not because you think that I think that I’m obligated to” Jongin smiled assuring and received an understanding nod from a very embarrassed Haru.

                Too lazy Jongin decided to skip school the next day, but as promised his went over to the hospital, where Haru was staying. He decided to drop by the Juk restaurant, Kyungsoo had taken them to once, and get Haru and himself some breakfast since it was still early. It was first when he was in the elevator on his way up to her room, he realised how early it actually was and decide to see whether or not she was awake yet, by texting her.

To Haru, from Jongin


Morning, are you awake?

Luckily he didn’t have to wait for an answer, as Haru instantly replied, even though it was not the answer he was looking for.

From Haru to unknown

Yes, but who is this?

Haru had been awake for and hour or so, when she had received the text from the unknown number. Curiously Haru waited patiently for the number to text her back, but instead of receiving a text the reply was delivered personally instead.

“You deleted my number?” Jongin accused and questioned Haru at the same time, as he looked astonishingly at her, entering the room. It was not that Jongin was condescending or anything like that – ok maybe Jongin was a tiny bit condescending, but that is not the point - the point is that this had never happened to him before. Girls did not simply delete Kim Jongin’s number. It was Kim Jongin, who deleted their numbers. So when he realised that the sweet Kang Haru had deleted his number, while he had saved hers, it had surprised him. Though he was not clear on whether the surprised had been good or bad. Flustered by the truth behind Jongin’s accusation and question, Haru could not reply with anything else but the truth.

“Yes, I did. I’m sorry, but it was when- ” Haru slightly flushed, while looking down at her phone. She did not managed to finish her explanation before she was cut off.

“No, no need to explain. I won’t accept it” Jongin said in a serious manner, deciding to take advantage of the situation.  

“Give me your phone” Jongin reached out his hand and indicated twice, for Haru to place her phone in his hand, which she obediently did.

“I’ll forgive you on one condition.” He said, as he typed away on her old phone.

“You promise that you will never delete my number again and that you won’t changed what I’ve typed in.” Jongin finished typing and looked at Haru, who quickly nodded in conformation.

“Haru, I was born and grew up in a house of business men and women, do you really think that a nod is enough” Jongin teasingly continued, in a serious tone. He could almost not hold back his chuckle, as he watched how confused the girl before him grew, on what she then was supposed to do and on how she could prove to him that she was going to keep her promise.

“So, do you promise that you Kang Haru, will never delete my number again nor will you change, what I Kim Jongin have saved on you phone?” Jongin repeated, as he reached out his pinky, waiting for Haru to seal the promise with her own pinky. His actions had surprised her at first, but looking from his pinky and back Jongin’s now smiling facial expression, she realised that he not only meant it and was waiting for her, but she also realised that he had been teasing her all along.

“I promise” she said and timidly intertwined her pinky with his. Seeing him smiling at her made her even more embarrassed than she already was and her cheeks flushed into a greater pink colour than they already were.

“So, I’m hungry. Let’s eat!” he broke their connection off, as he gave Haru back her phone and began to unpack the Juk he had bought. Curious Haru looked at her phone, wanting to see what it was that Jongin did not want her to change. Handsome Kim Jongin; it had stated right above his number. Seeing her and hearing her let out a small, and almost inaudible chuckle, when she saw his little creation, made Jongin automatically smile. 

                The hospital had kept Haru for another four days before finally letting her go home. During those days there would always be someone keeping her company. Aaerin and Mari would come everyday after school with Luhan and Sehun, though they were not the only one who came to keep her company. As promised Yejin also came to the hospital everyday after school and she never came empty handed. Haru had told her that she did not need to, but every time Yejin came in the door, Chanyeol would always be right behind her, his hands occupied with carrying two bags of snacks, games and magazines. And even though Haru had told him not to skip school just to eat breakfast with her, she would during her few days in the hospital find herself eating breakfast Jongin had brought. Jongin, who had found it a lot more interesting, being in Haru’s company than being in school, had during those days automatically woken up at half past seven in the morning and bought breakfast for Haru and himself. He had then stayed with her until it had grown dark outside and until Haru had kindly told him to go home and rest. That had been his routine for those five days Haru was in the hospital. The last two days of Haru's stay, the rest of Jongin's friends had also joined the hospital visits. During these five days, the only silent moments Haru could find were before her schoolmates came to visit, because whenever they were not trying to keep Aaerin and Yejin from arguing and killing each other, they would be playing card or board games, which was at least just as loud as Aaerin and Yejin's yelling. Haru had grown to like the noise and loudness of her visitors. It made her and the room feel alive and happy, though she could not say the same for the nurses, as there would not go a day where they were not told to keep it down. On the day before her discharge, Jongin had insisted on taking her home the next day, but as Haru had repeatingly assured him that her mother had made sure for a driver to pick her up. Jongin gave in, but made her promise to write when she had gotten home.

"Uhm, where can I pay for the hospital fees?" Haru asked the nurse, who was helping her change the bandage on her forehead 

"You don't have to worry about that Ms. Kang, it had already been taking care of" the nurse replied politely.

"Oh? May I ask, by whom?" Haru continued, wanting to confirm her thoughts.

"Yes of course. It was one from you school, maybe one of your classmates. If remember correctly her name was Kim Yejin, she paid the day you were admitted" at the nurse's answer Haru remembered what Yejin had said and she made a mental note to return the money to Yejin the next time she saw her.

"There you go. I’ve given you an appointment again a week from now, so we can get rid of those stitches, but until then no scratching or touching” the nurse reminded, as she finished putting on the new bandage.

                “Hello Haru. Are we feeling all right again?” the driver asked, as she stepped inside the car.

“Hi Mr. Han. Yes everything should be fine now, thank you for asking. A-a-are they home?” She asked warily.

“Oh no, I have just driven Mr. and Mrs. Kim to a fundraiser, before picking you up. And I’m pretty sure that the young master is at one of his friend’s house” Mr. Han replied with a reassuring smiled.

“Do you want to go anywhere before we go home?” he suggested, in which Haru politely declined. After five days in the hospital, Haru just wanted to go home and could not wait to get reunited with her bed again. A pleasant and relaxing silence spread in the car for the rest of the ride and before Haru knew of it her tiredness had crept up on her and she fell asleep, only to be waken up by Mr. Han’s voice.

“Haru we’ve arrived.” His voice rang in her head.

“Thank you for picking me up Mr. Han” Haru said a bit groggily, as she had yet to recover from her little nap. Before she could open the car door, Mr. Han’s voice stopped her.

“Haru, I know I’ve said this before, why don’t you ride home together with the young master after school, at least for the next week? I’m sure that he’ll understand, with your condition and all. If you just ask him, I’m sure that we can work something out.” Mr. Han suggested. Even though Woobin was careful not to say anything cruel or evil to Haru in front of other people, the hostility and dislike towards her did not go unnoticed by the experienced driver, who not only pitied the girl, but also knew very well of her situation and the bad relationship she had with her stepbrother.

“No, it’s ok Mr. Han. I like to walk and I could use the fresh air anyway, thank you for worrying about me though” Haru smiled before opening the car door and was about to step out, when the driver’s voice once again interrupted her action.

“Haru. You know that I’m hired as a driver for a reason right? You can just call me whenever you need transportation.” Mr. Han reminded her, though he was fully aware that the girl had no intention of calling him, as it was not the first time he had reminded her of his job and function as a driver, without having heard any request from her. Just like all the other times her had reminded her, the girl only offered him a smile and a couple of nods. As Mr. Han parked the car, Haru went in the house. Instead of going up to her room, she went to the kitchen hoping to find something to satisfy her sudden hunger. As she was about to open the refrigerator, her phone vibrated and a message on it reminded her of something she had forgotten.

From Handsome Jongin, to Haru

Hi did you get home safely?

To Handsome Jongin, from Haru:

Yes, I just got home. I'm so so sorry that I forgot to write to you!

Feeling a bit guilty, Haru was staring at her phone wanting to wait for Jongin's reply. But her stomach distracted her, as it signalled its hunger. Putting her phone on the kitchen table, she went over and opened the refrigerator, where she surprisingly found a little container with a note stating her name and a message on it;

To my sweet Haru: I figured you were hungry when you got home. Remember to warm it up before eating. I hope you got my messages and I'm sorry I was not able to visit you. See you Monday morning like always. Mrs. Park

Haru smiled at the caring message and gift from Mrs. Park, as she put the box in the microwave. The old house maid had wanted to come and visit Haru in the hospital, but Haru knew too well of how busy Mrs. Park was and that she barely had enough time to take care of both her job and her own children. That was why, when Haru had received a message from Mrs. Park asking which room she was staying, Haru had assured the old maid that she did not need to visit her, since nothing serious had happened, and that she should focus on her job and her own children instead of wasting time on a hospital visit. After a lot of convincing and denying Mrs. Park the information of the room number, the old maid had given in.

Immersed in her own thoughts and with the microwave's noise in the background, the vibration of her phone indicating a new message passed unnoticed by Haru's attention. Too focused on her hunger and how stupid she was for taking the hot box out of the microwave without something to protect her fingers, Haru reached the dining table without her phone. Taking off the lid, the smell of the Kimchi Bokkumbap signalled to her stomach that food was near, making it growl even louder than before, but as she was about to dig in, a familiar figure stepped in the room.

"W-w-we-welcome home" Haru quickly and surprised greeted her stepbrother, who ignored her polite bow and walked over to the refrigerator, while Haru sat down again. That was when Haru’s incredibly bad luck and off timing hit again, as her phone on the table right beside the refrigerator once again reminded her of the text from a certain Handsome Jongin. Noticing the sender’s name, Woobin picked up the phone.

“I see someone has become brave. A round of beating hasn’t scared you away huh?” he snorted. It was not until Haru saw that Woobin was holding her phone, she understood what his comment meant.

“There’s one thing that I’m really curious about, though. How in the world did you manage to lure back the notorious Kim Jongin, who wont sleep or talk with the same girl twice?” he began to walk towards her, with a stiff smile plastered on his lips.

“Because you’re neither pretty nor the slights bit interesting. So how did you do it Haru? Are you really that good?” He placed the phone on the dining table, but instead of walking away, Woobin kept the position, where he was hovering over her. Haru whole body froze not only by his questions and accusations, but also by the fact that she could feel how dangerously close he was standing, as his warm breath kept on hitting her hair. Her mind started to wander to a place she wanted and had tried to forget, her body slowly started to tremble. Feeling wrongly accused, Haru wanted to defend herself, she wanted not only to voice her own innocence, but also Jongin’s innocence, but not a word left her lips. The only things that came out of her were signs of how utterly terrified she was. No matter how had she squeezed the spoon, neither her hand nor her body stopped trembling, while the salty water in her eyes was threatening to run down her cheeks.  

“But then again, what do I care” Woobin took a step back, satisfied with the reaction he had caused.

“Though I must admit that I admire your ambitions and persistence. Aiming at the top, right from the beginning. I guess there is something to it, when they say; like mother, like daughter” he commented, as he walked up the stairs, to his room.

                Looking impatiently at his phone, Jongin wondered why Haru had not replied yet. Then again when you think about it writing; It’s ok, nothing to worry about. Just happy that you’re home safe. Was not really a question, so Haru really did not need to reply, but nonetheless it still bugged him that he had not heard from her since yesterday, where he had sent the message. Too deep in his thoughts and too focused on his phone, he had not noticed that his upstairs neighbour had let himself in.

“You are aware that you have to push the button, to make it work right?” Sehun said, looking weirdly at his friend. Sehun sudden revelation of himself surprised Jongin, and made him jump in his seat.

“Five years of my life, right out the window, thank you very much. You know, just because you know my code does not mean that this can’t be considered as a break-in. What are you doing here anyways?” Jongin asked a bit irritated, as he could still feel his heart beating away.

“You were the one who asked me to come down for a game of FIFA? But if you would rather sit and stare at your phone, it’s fine by me. I can find other things to do, than to sit and entertain an absentminded Jongin” Sehun concluded, as he looked at a confused Jongin.

“You know, like you’ve been the last few weeks. Physically you’re there, but mentally somewhere else” Sehun tried to explain, but seeing how the confused look still has not left his friend he irritatingly gave up.  

“Forget it! Are we doing this or not” Sehun asked boringly.

“Yeah, come in” Jongin went over to the kitchen to get to glasses and a bottle of coke. The two started of the game, but not before Jongin made sure that his phone was not on silent mode. It did not take more than a couple of rounds, before Sehun suddenly paused the game without any warning, and Jongin’s reaction to it was the perfect example, of the absentmindedness Sehun had tried to explain earlier. Jongin, who had no clue that Sehun had stopped the game, was still pressing away on the game controller, but instead of being on the game, his eyes had wandered off to the phone right beside him.

“As much as I enjoy winning all the games, I have to ask you. What are you waiting for that’s so important?” Sehun raised one of his eyebrows, looking at his friend. At Sehun’s question Jongin looked up and he realised that, they were no longer playing.

“Where are you going?” Sehun looked confused, Jongin stood up and began to walk in the direction of the front door.

“Up to Mari” Jongin simply answered, making Sehun even more confused, than he already was.

“Uh…Why?” Sehun raised his eyebrow even higher than before.

“I want to ask her if she knows Haru’s address” Jongin said, as he began to put on his shoes.

“She’s not home, so there’s no need to bother” Sehun said and a smirk almost appeared on his face, as he watched his friend irritatingly kick off the shoes he had gotten on and walk determined over to the living room table. Before Sehun could ask why his friend had taken his phone, Jongin had already dialled her number and ready to speak to the screen.

“Hey Mari” Jongin waved to Mari, who had appeared on the screen. 

“I just called to ask if you know where Haru lives?” Jongin continued.

“Oh, ok. But do you know if Aaerin knows Haru’s address? Could you text me her phone number? What do you mean your not allowed to give me her number? Mari please text me her number, I promise I wont tell her that I got it from you. I’ll say that Luhan gave to me. Come on Mari, how can you be afraid of her? She’s younger than you, and she is smaller than you, plus she’s in a wheelchair. How much damage can she do? Hello? Mari? Hello?” Sehun listen and watched in amusement to Jongin’s video call.

“So I guess she won’t text you Aaerin’s number” Sehun commented, as Jongin threw Sehun’ phone back to him. Sehun watch how Jongin lifelessly threw himself on the couch before letting out an endless sigh.

“You do remember that Kyungsoo is the principle’s son right? I mean of course there’ll be a huge lawsuit, if they ever find out that you got her address from Kyungsoo. Besides you’ll probably meet her tomorrow morning and then you can ask her yoursel-“ but before Sehun could even finish his sentence and point out how crazy it would be for Jongin to actually carry out the suggestion, Jongin was already on the phone again. To Sehun’s surprise though it wasn’t Kyungsoo’s name Jongin had said, when the other line picked up the phone.

“Mr. Lee? Do you remember the girl I asked you to drive home some time ago? You do! Do you still have her address? Could you text me her address please? Thank you!” Luckily for Kyungsoo, Jongin was suddenly reminded of the incident with Mr. Lee driving Haru home, after she had visited him. So instead of calling up Kyungsoo and beg him to hack into the principle’s computer, Jongin had opted to the less illegal, but equally stalkish option. Jongin ended the call and flashed his victorious smile on his lips to Sehun, who could only shake his head in defeat, and as if timed, the screen of his phone lit up, informing that a message from Mr. Lee could be found under unread messages.

“Soooo, what are you planning to do with it?” Sehun asked curiously.

“Visiting her what else?” Jongin walked in the direction of the front door. To irritate his friend a bit, Sehun waited until Jongin had put on his shoes, before he pointed out the obvious.

“You really are the epitome of a stalker, huh. You do realize that it’s eleven pm right? You’ll probably scare the girl half to death and get her banned from seeing you ever again, by her parents. But then again what do I know.” Sehun smirked and went back to the game.

“You right” Jongin sighed defeated and kicked off his shoes irritatingly, before going back to the couch. 

“What are you still doing here anyways? You would usually be asleep by now, since it’s a school day tomorrow” Jongin took the game controller and joined the game.

“People keep telling me to let loose and have some fun, so here I’m” Sehun casually replied. Jongin could only smile at his friend. Knowing Sehun, Jongin was sure that the young man had already made and prepared all the homework and assignments for the week, before he went down here to “have some fun and let loose”.

                Jongin had no idea what had possessed him, when he woke up early the next morning and thought it would be splendid idea, to surprise Haru and take her out for some breakfast before heading to school. As he was standing outside Haru’s supposed house, Jongin too lately realise how bad an idea it was – cause how was he supposed to explain to Haru why and how he had gotten a hold of her address, without looking like the stalker he suddenly had become. Waiting for someone to open the door, Jongin took a mental note to listen to his upstairs neighbour a bit more. Long seconds passed and the door was still closed, and it was also then Jongin really hoped that Mr. Lee had given him the right address.  

"Yes?" A voice said, bringing Jongin back from his thoughts. Instead of a door, Jongin was now looking at an elder woman wiping her hands off in her apron and waiting for him to introduce himself and tell her what he was doing here, at this early hour.  

"Good morning. I'm sorry to disturb you so early on, but does Kang Haru live here?" Jongin asked politely. He watched how the elder woman looked suspiciously yet confusingly at him, before her eyes suddenly lit up, as if she had just figured something out.  

"Oh you must be the extra lunchbox. You know you should really try to eat some vegetables" the elder woman smiled. When Haru, a little more than a month ago had asked her to make an extra lunchbox, Mrs. Park had been more than happy to know that Haru had made a friend in school. And when the petite girl had slipped that the owner of the extra lunchbox was of the opposite , Mrs. Park was more than happy to turn their little morning ritual, where Haru came down to help the elder maid prepare the breakfast and make lunchboxes, into small third degree interrogations about how this friend was and what he looked like. After a lot of persuasion and persistence, Haru finally opened a bit up and Mrs. Park got a little description of the frien