The day ended slowly. Or at least my last class did. For most of the lesson ı stared at the empty chair besides me with a frown. It was weird to be alone. I didn't like it. One plus from today was that it seemed ı had gained three shining knights in armour. Not that ı'd need them, but it was nice to think that someone genuinely cared. "Hello" ı greeted the driver out of my good mood. He looked at me with surprise through the review mirror and nodded his head slightly. I sighed and sunk happily into the leather car seat. Suddenly my phone rang. I answered it without checking the caller ID.

"Jessica!" My brother greeted me eagerly. I groaned. "Oh, it's you." Kyle scoffed on the end of the line. "Yah, what manners have you got to treat your oppa like that?" He said in fake offence. He spoke in English, since at work he was too busy to concentrate on getting the words right in Korean. I frowned. I was beginning to hate the word oppa.

"None, now can ı hang up?" I snapped in a bland voice. I was still mad at him for keeping the announcement party a secret. "Look, ı know you're pissed. I'm sorry. Better?" He consoled me in a tolerate voice. I frowned. "No." Kyle sighed. "Yah, why do you have to be so stubborn?" He said.

"Oh don't you start. You're just as bad as me when you want to be and we both know it Ji Hoon-ah" ı snapped. The driver looked at me through the review mirror in concern. Though he didn't understand English and therefore had no clue what ı was saying, he could obviously tell ı was yelling. Kyle chuckled. "So, ı heard you gave poor Sehun a concussion?" Kyle said, changing the topic. I scoffed.

"It wasn't my fault!" I protested. He "hmmm"-ed on the other end of the line. "Are you sure? I mean we both know you'd use violence to get out of this wedding" he joked. I my teeth at him. "I'm telling you it wasn't! Anyway, if you're just going to scold me then ı'll be hanging up" ı stated.

Kyle laughed. "Well ı have to go now anyway. I'll see you soon. Try not to kill him" Kyle advised. "Aigoo, just wait until ı see you" ı threatened before hanging up. I blew out my cheeks and let out a long sigh. Soon afterwards we arrived at the underground car park. I un-buckled my belt and waited for the driver to open my door, like always. Since it was winter it was especially cold in the car park that was surrounded by concrete and brick, not a single drop of sunlight available.

My breath was visible and goose bumps had rose all over my skin, even though ı was practically covered up. Quickly ı made my way to warmth of the lobby and couldn't wait to get home so ı could put on some warm socks and make a hot drink. The thought made me punch the button of my floor and jump up and down with excitement as ı waited for the lift to arrive at the floor. I entered a still apartment, the air undisturbed. I frowned as ı took off my shoes and jacket. Why was it so quiet?

Entering the apartment ı looked around for anything amiss. But everything seemed fine. Well, everything except for the high temperature. The heating wasn't normally turned up so high. I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. It wasn't usual for me to be so paranoid. Then something in the living area caught my eye. I walked towards it only to see a sleeping Sehun. He was curled up in multiple blankets like a cocoon. ı couldn't see his face, but his hair stuck out from the top of the stripy blanket like a wig. The sight made me smile.

"Sehun-ah?" I said warily, nudging his foot slightly. He groaned but didn't move. I couldn't tell whether he was awake or not. "Yah, Sehun" ı said a bit more firmly. He didn't respond at all. Sighing ı pulled back the covers from his face. He still looked ill, yet for some reason his face looked even more shallow and pale and deep shadows were cast under his eyes to his cheeks.

Without thinking ı lightly traced the curve of his eyelashes. They were soft against my fingertips and tickled my skin like feathers. Then ı traced his cheekbones and wondered how much he'd had to eat recently. They were more prominent than they had been and the skin clung tightly to the bone. I couldn't help but wonder if his illness had been my fault, since ı had caused his concussion. Then ı told myself not to be so ridiculous. They had no link whatsoever. My hand hovered millimetres from his skin as ı stared at his sleeping face.

Suddenly Sehun's hand wrapped around my own. I jumped back slightly in shock, but Sehun had a tight grip on my hand and didn't let go. For some reason blood rushed to my cheeks and roared in my ears. I swallowed the lump in my throat. After a couple of seconds Sehun's eyes slowly drew open. The white of his eyes were tainted with red and had lost some of their shine. His lip curled up slightly in a faint smirk. I inwardly rolled my eyes. Even when he was ill he could still pull that stupid expression.

We stayed like that for a while, with my hand clasped in Sehun's hand. For some reason ı was unable to brake my gaze away from his unblinking eyes, like ı was stuck in some sort of trance. It was so quiet that it was deafening. Then Sehun's eyes slowly closed and his grip on my hand slackened. I guessed he had fallen asleep again and so ı carefully slipped my hand away from his. I stood up straight and brushed down the front of my t-shirt uncomfortably, clearing my throat. For some reason ı had been holding my breath and ı suddenly took in a big gulp of air, which sent blood rushing to my brain and made me feel dizzy for a few seconds.

Then, as quickly and quietly as ı could ı walked away from Sehun and hurriedly made my way towards the bedroom. On my own, ı gave a long sigh and landed like a bunch of weights onto my bed, my head in my hands as ı tried to clear my mind. It felt like jelly and was giving me a headache. Looking for something to do so ı could get the thoughts of Sehun out of my mind, ı picked up my school bag and searched for something that would keep me busy. Eventually ı found some assignments to do. Not my idea of fun but if it distracted me then that was good enough for me. I got started, fighting to keep my attention on the work and not let my mind drift elsewhere. However school had never been my strong point and as hard as ı tried not to ı lost interest. Soon ı fell asleep.

My dream was, well ı wouldn't describe it as a dream, but it wasn't a nightmare either, because it wasn't scary. It was annoying though, and confusing. My mind was thrown into a whirlpool of wool, where my thoughts jammed together and ı struggled to get through. The only thoughts that were made clear were of Sehun and Kai. Even in unconsciousness ı could feel my mind be twisted and pulled by them both, until ı finally awoke with a sudden jerk, shooting up in my seat. "Ahh, my head" ı moaned as ı rubbed my temples and closed my eyes, trying to fight against the approaching headache. I sighed and leaned back in my chair, pushing away from the desk and spinning in the chair.

Eventually the throbbing pain in my head faded away and ı could open my eyes without it hurting. I let out a big puff of air as ı stood up. My desk was a mess, stationary scattered across the white wood along with sheets of random paper. I picked up my workbook and frowned. I had only done one side of an A4 page, yet somehow it had made me drift to sleep. I sighed and dropped the paper back onto the desk. Just at that precise moment a loud bang was heard, followed by a shattering sound. I jumped and stared at the door in shock, trying to figure out if the noise had been real and what it was. Then ı suddenly thought of Sehun and rushed out of my room, heading towards the kitchen.

I stopped at the entrance and looked around at the shards of glass on the floor glinting in the bright kitchen light. I looked around until ı finally saw a shocked, paralysed looking Sehun. He stood with his mouth slightly hanging agar. A few cuts dripped blood down his face. I gasped at the sight. It looked like he had been in an accident. Then, without seeming to think, he turned to the counter and began to collect up the shards of glass. "Ah!" Sehun let out a hissing sound and dropped the shards of red glass, fresh blood staining the floor. A few shards were still stuck in his skin. "Sehun-ah" ı managed to force out, still shocked at the amount of blood on his face and hands. He looked up from his red skin and a small smile crept across his face. "Jess-ssi!" He exclaimed in almost delight. I stared in disbelief. Was his illness driving him crazy?

Suddenly my brain snapped into gear and I walked into the kitchen to help Sehun. Though ı had house slippers on ı was still careful to not tread on pieces of glass that could puncture through the slipper. When ı finally approached him ı couldn't see any hint of pain on his face. He seemed almost oblivious to his injuries, his cold eyes lit up like a child's. For a second ı got distracted by them, captured to their shine.

I quickly snapped out of it and mentally scolded myself for being so stupid and do something to stop all of his bleeding. "Where's the medical box?" I suddenly asked. He frowned slightly before pointing to the cupboard on his left. I side stepped around him and searched for the red box. When ı finally found it ı took Sehun's wrist. "Come on, let's get you bandaged up" ı said, trying to avoid covering any of his cuts.

Sehun's POV~~~~

ı followed Jessica to the living room. Her grip on my wrist was warm and made my chest tighten up in a weird way. I couldn't feel the pain of my injuries. I barely noticed the warm blood trailing down my cheeks or the pieces of glass embedded onto my skin. I had felt them, when the glass fell and cut my skin. It had stung. But then the pain went away as shock barged in to replace it. It wasn't that ı was squeamish, but the sight of all that broken glass reminded me of what had happened in America. But that was long ago. Or so it seemed. Then like an idiot ı had gone to tidy up the glass with my bare hands, cutting my palm until there was a pool of blood. Boy had that hurt, more than the cuts on my face.

That was when ı noticed Jessica standing at the doorway, her baby eyes looking at me with worry. It had made me smile to see her there, looking so concerned. Then suddenly ı couldn't feel the pain so much anymore. And now ı could barely feel it at all as she sat me down on the sofa and turned my palms upwards. "Does it hurt?" She asked in a quiet voice as she opened the medical box. I shook my head, lost for words and unable to remove my eyes from her face. Time seemed to stand still as she treated me. I didn't even notice when she pulled out the pieces of glass from my hands, or taped them up tightly. I didn't even flinch when she applied pressure to my cuts. I was too entranced by the mere sight of her. She looked so cute when she was concerned. It was like her defences had been let down, and her real self that ı always saw was made visible for everyone to see.

Except only ı was here to witness it this time. But ı didn't mind. I wanted Jessica all to myself. I would have her all to myself. I had, honestly, missed her today. My body seemed to have failed me, giving in to a fever. I had felt awful all day, my body cold no matter how high the heating was, how many blankets ı wrapped myself up in or the amount of warm soups ı would eat. And not having Jessica to make me smile and laugh had worsened my condition.

But she was here now, solid and breathing in front of me, with me on her mind as she took care of me. That's all ı had really wanted, to be on Victoria's mind. Victoria. The name floated about in my thoughts as ı stared at the girl in front of me. Everything was the same. The jaw, the skin, the eyes and even the small nose. Everything was perfect. Fragile features belonging to a fragile mind in disguise. They were so alike, and in my eyes their faces merged together. They both smiled at me. Their hand waved in front of me.

"Sehun-ah, are you okay?" They asked in their soft, feathery voice. I smiled, a warm feeling creeping up my neck. Then suddenly their face was close to mine. Their breath lightly tickled my skin as they wiped away the blood from my cheeks. My heart seemed to stop beating at their proximity and ı couldn't find it in myself to look away from their eyes. And suddenly ı didn't want to hide anymore. I didn't want to push her away or play a game with this person. I wanted to care for them and protect them. I wanted them to keep them close. And everything ı had said in the past suddenly disappeared from my mind as ı gazed into her eyes. Their eyes. Victoria's eyes. I knew ı couldn't fight myself any longer, despite how selfish ı would be or what heartbreak ı would cause.

I stared unblinking at her brown, hazel eyes. "I'm going to marry you" ı suddenly said in a determined voice. She seemed surprised but didn't back away. "Why?" She asked, her voice no more than a light breath. I fought back the uncomfortable lump in my throat and found it impossible to look away, or to stop myself from answering her question. "I don't know" ı murmured. In the darkness her face was dimly lit by the outside light, but ı could see very detail on her face clearly. I suddenly closed the gap between us and kissed her lightly on the lips, my lip's grazing lightly against hers. It wasn't long, but it felt like those couple of second lasted forever.