“No, really, Yunho, I am quite full,” I said, pushing the plate of sushi towards him. “You should eat a little bit of it to keep up your own strength.”

“It’s just three more rolls, you can do it.”

“How come you’re not eating anything?”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Well, I’m not either,” I retorted.

“Yes, well, I’m not the one who practically starved himself for a month and a half,” he said with a tone of finality in his voice.

Growling softly, I stuffed a roll into my mouth and chomped on it with a vengeance. Yunho laughed lightly. “Good boy.”

Things became even more embarrassing when the bill finally came rolling in. Once the thin white parchment hit the table, I hurriedly tried to grab a hold of it, but Yunho was too fast and beat me to it.

I groaned in defeat. “B-But, Yunho, I ate everything. I should pay for it!”

“Yes, but I was the one who made you eat everything,” Yunho said with a smirk.

“At least let me pay for some of it!”

Yunho raised an eyebrow. “Do you even have any money on you?”

That stumped me. I lowered my head in mortification. “No.”

“So it’s settled,” my professor laughed while I blushed at my financial oversight.

“I’ll pay you back!”

“I’ll refuse.”

“I’ll sneak the money into your pocket.”

“I’ll sneak it back into yours.”

“Then I’ll be very sad,” I pouted.

“Then I’ll find some way to cheer you up,” Yunho flashed his trademark smirk at me and immediately the corners of my mouth betrayed me by curling upwards.

“Unfair,” I muttered.

Chuckling, Yunho dropped several bills onto the table and stood up. He draped his coat around me again. “Come on, I’ll take you back now. It’s only three blocks down.”

I followed Yunho out of the restaurant and winced at the sharp coldness of the late autumn climate. Yunho, on the other hand, did not seem to notice the freezing temperatures at all even if he was not wearing an overcoat. Severely dizzy after being blown around by the uncaring wind, I finally made it to the front door of the place where I thought I never wanted to step foot into again.

“Thank you for walking me back,” I said with a grateful smile, clenching my jaw tightly to keep it from chattering. I took off Yunho’s coat and handed it back to him with a slight bow.

“It’s no problem at all,” Yunho ruffled my hair playfully. “I’ll walk you to your dormitory while I’m at it.”

I widened my eyes. “T-T-That’s not necessary, Professor! I can f-f-find it myself. You should rest or something; you have done too much for me already!”

My professor just rolled his eyes before opening the door for me. “My name is ‘Yunho’, not ‘Professor’.”

Heaving a sigh, I walked through the door with Yunho close behind. Warm air suddenly hit me and blood rushed out of my head. I stopped in mid-step for a little bit to regain my senses. ‘Oh no! Not now!’

“Jaejoongie, are you alright?”

“Yah,” I nodded hastily, “I’m fine.” Before Yunho started worrying, I forced myself to continue walking and hurriedly pressed the elevator button UP↑. ‘Hurry up,’ I urged, feeling as if I would collapse at any moment.

“You look really pale,” Yunho frowned. “Are you okay?”

Mustering up my most convincing smile, I nodded. “Yah.”

Yunho’s frown deepened while my sight gradually started deteriorating.

DING! ‘Finally!’ Yunho followed me as I quickly entered the stuffy elevator and pressed the button to the third floor. My breathing quickened at the change in air pressure and I did my best to keep it level, evading the worried glances Yunho gave me. I watched desperately as the numbers above the elevator door one by one morphed into a light orange. By the time the number 2 lit up, I was leaning against the ledge for support, legs giving in. ‘Come on, faster!’ I bit my lip.

DING! The doors flew apart and I managed to stand up with much difficulty. Head spinning and practically blind, I took a step forward, then another, and another, and another—until I made it in front of Room 307. Fumbling with the keys, I finally unlocked the door.

“Jaejoongie, are you sure you are—?”

Yunho didn’t finish his question before I fell backwards into his chest. “I can’t breathe,” I whispered hoarsely.

I felt a hand on my forehead. “Oh my god, you’re burning up.” He quickly pushed the door open, carried me bridal-style into my dormitory room, and carefully laid me on the bed. “Take deep breaths. I’ll be back in a minute.”

Unable to open my eyes, I heard him dash out the door. Using most of my strength just to focus on breathing, I started to lightly pound the bed with my fists. ‘Stupid, stupid, stupid!’ I yelled at myself. ‘Why now of all times? My competition is in a week, Yunho just bought me an expensive dinner, and now I just made Yunho worry about me!’

My irate thoughts were interrupted when I felt a damp towel on my forehead. “Yun… Ho…?” I managed to croak in between several deep breaths, opening my eyes only a little bit so as not to suffer from another migraine-ridden headache.

“You have a really serious fever, Jaejoongie,” Yunho rambled with worried eyes. “I believe it’s either from being outside or because of the food you ate. Judging from the fact that you haven’t vomited, I would think it was because of the changes in air pressure and temperature. You weren’t used to such cold weather, weren’t you?”

I shook my head.

He flipped the towel over to the cooler side. “Tell me the truth: you haven’t left the conservatory whilst I was away, am I right?”

Too drained to lie, I shook my head slowly. “Never went near the front doors,” I whispered, barely audible.

“When was the last time you went outside?”

I inhaled and then exhaled. “That day you invited me to your flat.”

“Why didn’t you go outside more often?”

“I had to practice.”

“How long did you practice everyday?”

“At least nine hours…” I breathed out raucously.

“Did you go and have fun once in a while?”

“No.” I shifted my head away from Yunho. “I was too afraid.”

“Of what?” Yunho’s voice was on edge.

“Of people. Of facing their stares. Of playing badly at my next lesson.” I trailed off, hardly conscious of what I was saying. “You weren’t there to help…”

“I’m here now.”

“You weren’t there, you weren’t there,” I mumbled frantically, “I missed you so much while you were away. You weren’t there for me.”

“Jaejoongie, I’m here now. You can hear me, can’t you? I’m right here!” Yunho gripped my cold limp hands.

“You went to Japan and left me here in this horrible place!” I droned on unintelligibly. “Oh Yunho, I hate it here! Everybody is so mean and nasty! I’m so lonely!”

“But I’m here with you now, Jaejoongie, so you won’t be lonely anymore. You can trust me on that!”

“Don’t leave me,” I whispered before slipping off into a deep and dreamless sleep. I faintly remembered the affectionate way his fingers intertwined with mine and the soft surface of his lips on my cheek.

Back then, I deemed it the most embarrassing moment of my life. I mean, being force-fed by my piano teacher slash guardian slash love interest and then collapsing in front of him is not exactly the best way to end a day.

And yet, luckily for me, judgments change.

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Yay, an update.
So if you guys don't get it, Jaejoong caught a fever after going through too many changes in air pressure from the outside.
It is possible to get a fever like that, by the way.
Trust me on this.