Chapter 25

When Jinyoung got ______’s house, Jaehyo was already there with Gongchan.

"Channie?"

Gongchan turned around to see Jinyoung there.

"Oh, Hyung!!~" he squealed.

"How did you get here so fast?"

"I remember how to get here...so I followed Jaehyo Hyung."

"You stalked me!~" Jaehyo chuckled.

"Hyung, piggy back me!~"

"Are you kidding me? I could when you were tiny. Now, we're the same height...I think I'd break."

"Noona would be laughing so hard."

“Yes, apparently, she finds my pain amusing or she bawls her eyes out. She’s sensitive.” Jaehyo said.

Meanwhile, ______ was talking to Jaehyo’s mother.

“Eomeonim, I’m really okay. I took a nap, most of the day, and feel better than this morning. Maybe not, perfectly healthy, but better.”

His mother placed her hand on ______’s forehead.

“You’re still feverish, but not as much.”

“Eomeonim, you didn’t have to come check on me, you know?”

“I did.” The older woman said with a smile. “Jaehyo told me that you were not feeling well and he felt guilty, for getting you sick. ______-ah, I love you like a daughter. I still have hopes that one day, you will be.”

“Eomeonim…”

“I’m sorry my son got you sick, after you took care of him all weekend.”

______ looked up at her, and shook her head.

“Jaehyo Oppa is special to me. I would do ANYTHING for him. I really mean that. I’m just glad that he’s better.” ______ said and sneezed. “Aish….”

“Aigoo, the two of you were always sharing everything!” Jaehyo’s mother laughed, handing her a box of Kleenex.

“Thank you.” ______ said taking a tissue to blow her nose.

“Be it food, toys, or illness, you shared it all.”

“I guess, that’s what happened when people are that close. We were inseparable. I really miss those days.” ______ said as tears began to form behind her eyes.

As his mother watched ______, the way she spoke about Jaehyo, she knew the girl still had feelings for her son.

‘Oh, ______-ah…’ she thought. “I remember when we first moved here. He was so afraid to be left out and then you instantly connected. I swear, every time we went somewhere, the two of you used the buddy system. You had it down! You even traded your least favorite foods.”

“Oh, like salads!!~” ______ giggled. “Jaehyo Oppa hates…”

Suddenly, the door opened and the guys walked in.

"What are you two talking about?" Jaehyo asked, eyeing his mother and best friend.

"Why?" ______ asked.

"You're talking about ME, aren't you?!" he asked, narrowing his eyes at them.

"No way, Oppa. Not everyone is talking about you! Oppa, do you have a guilty conscience?! Ooh, what did you do?!" ______ teased.

"Nothing!!~" Jaehyo teased back, in a sing-song voice. "What kind of crap are you talking about me?! What did you say this time?!"

“Nothing!~”

“I heard you say, ‘Jaehyo Oppa hates…’ and then I walked in and you stopped.” He said crossing his arms over his chest.

"Eavesdropping? Adeul, that’s a terrible habit!~” his mother said playfully. “We were just talking about your pure hatred for cucumbers."

"Ewww! Disgusting and disturbing! Why would you talk about cucumbers?" he asked and turned to his mother. "Yah, Umma, tell me that is NOT for dinner tonight! Are you trying to kill me? I didn't mean to get ______ sick. Isn't that punishment too harsh?! It's cruel!"

"I never said a thing about that." His mother said. "We were talking about, how ______ hate tomatoes and you hate cucumbers so they'd trade."

"Umma, was it that amusing?" Jaehyo asked.

"YES! It was funny, because it happened every single time."

"Oh, Channie!!!~" ______said, finally noticing the other two standing there, behind Jaehyo. "Jinyoungie, YAH are you trying to get sick? Oppa, why did you bring them?"

"I didn't!!~"

"Don't blame, Jaehyo Hyung, Noona. I followed him and we ran into Jinyoungie Hyung on the way. I have a mask!~” Gongchan said cutely, as he put on a medical mask, with a puppy face on it.

“Aigoo, my Channie, you are too cute!” she said.

He quickly ran to give her a hug.

"______-ah, you don’t like tomatoes?" Jinyoung asked. “I didn’t know that.”

“"Unless it's ketchup or marinara sauce...hell no." Jaehyo said. “She’d ALWAYS push her tomatoes onto my plate. MINE! NO ONE ELSES!~”

“You’re okay with tomatoes that’s why.” She laughed.

-------------Flashback---------------------------------

“Ewwww…there are too many cucumbers in here!~” Jaehyo whined, poking at his salad with a fork.

“Oppa, there’s only two!” ______ giggled.

“That’s TWO too many!~” he said dramatically. “What if I die?”

“Jae Oppa, you’re being dramatic.”

He pouted at her.

“NO! I am not!~ What if I’m allergic to cucumbers?”

“Jaehyo-ya, you’re no allergic to cucumbers.” Mr. Ahn chuckled.

“But, Appa, what if the doctors were wrong?! What if they left it out when they tested me for different allergies?! What if I eat this, and I die?!” he said picking up the cucumber slice with his fork, to examine it closely. He sniffed it curiously and freaked out when the tip of his nose touched it. “I feel like sneezing right now!~ See, I am allergic!”

The adult started to laugh.

“Oppa, you’re so weird. Usually, food allergies happen when you eat it.”

Jaehyo looked at her, like she was completely insane.

“What am I, a derp?!” he asked.

______ couldn’t hold in her laugh.

“Well…”

“YAH, don’t answer that!” he whined, pushing his cucumbers to the side.

He put the contaminated fork down, and picked up a new one to eat his salad.

“Hmm…Oppa, I’ll make a deal with you.” She said, making a face as she rolled the tomatoes around the plate.

“What?”

“How do you feel about tomatoes?”

“I’m okay with them, why?”

“Switch?” she asked. “I’ll eat your cucumbers, if you take these…deal?”

“DEAL!~” he said, with no hesitation, whatsoever.

She happily pushed her tomatoes onto his plate, and took his cucumber.

“Aigoo, you two.” Jaehyo’s mother laughed. “You are the cutest, EVER!!~”

--------------------------End of Flashback------------------------------------------------------------------

“She does it without even realizing it, nowadays.” Jaehyo sighed. “Maybe if she had the anti-oxidants, from the tomatoes, she wouldn’t be sick.”

“I got sick from hanging out with you, too much. I wish I had one of Channie’s adorable masks, when I babysat you.”

“Oh yeah, here Hyung’s, you need masks too!~” Gongchan said handing them the masks. “Fox for Jinyoungie Hyung, and Pikachu for Jaehyo Hyung.”

Jinyoung looked at the mask, as if deciding what he should do with it, before he put it on.

He sat next her.

“Are you feeling okay?”

“Yeah, I’m feeling better now. Thanks for worrying about me, Jinyoungie?”

“Of course...” he said softly.

“Awww Jinyoung, you really do look like a cute fox.” ______ giggled and turned to see Jaehyo put on his own mask. “Oh my god! Hahahahaha!~ Jae Oppa, your mask matches your Pikachu pajamas!~”

Jaehyo’s eyes widened.

“Yah! You’re are NEVER to speak of that again, alright?!” he growled through his teeth.

“Okay, okay! Sorry!~” She laughed.

“Whoa, you have Pikachu Pajamas? That sounds just like you, Jaehyo Hyung.” Gongchan chuckled.

“Not even!!~” Jaehyo whined.

“Yes, even!~” ______ laughed.

“Well, you’re obviously better than this morning.” He said.

“Mhm…you made fun of me, so I got my revenge, Oppa!~”

“Yeah, yeah…” he chuckled. “Just don’t give this flu, back to me alright?”

A couple of days later, ______ returned to school.

She was feeling a lot better.

She went to surprise Jinyoung at his locker.

"Annyeonghaseyo, Jinyoung-ssi!!~" she heard a familiar voice calling out to him.

"Oh, Naeun-ssi, Annyeonghaseyo!~" he said bowing to her.

'What the hell?!?!?!?!' ______ thought.

"How are you?" Naeun asked.

"Tired, but okay." he said. "How about you"

"Not good, my boyfriend and I are fighting." she frowned. "I caught him kissing another girl."

"Oh, really?! That's terrible. I'm sorry, Naeun-ssi." Jinyoung said.

______ clenched her fists at her sides.

'Why are they talking?! Why are they acting like friends?'

She turned to leave, bumping into Jaehyo in the process.

"Whoa! Slow down, Grace, you could injure someone with that speed. Are you trying to run me over? Yah, you're not a car, you know?" he teased.

"Oh, Jae Oppa, I'm sorry...I just..."

He looked down at her face.

He's the person that knew her better than anyone else in the world.

He could tell something was bothering her.

"______-ah, what's wrong? Why is your face like that?"

"What do you mean? Why is my face like what?" she asked curiously, touching her face to check. "Am I still pale? Is that it? I was just sick. I guess the color hasn’t come back yet."

"No, that's not it. Something is bothering you. What is it?"

"Nothing."

"Yah, Seo ______, Don't lie to me. What's the matter?"

“It’s nothing…”

“Are you, seriously, going to keep lying? If something is bothering you, don’t hold it in. I don’t want you to get sick again.” Jaehyo scolded.

"How do they know each other?! Why is he even talking to her?!"

Jaehyo raised a brow, quizzically and looked around for who she was talking about.

"Who?!" he asked, then his eyes landed on him. 'What the hell?!?! I thought I warned him? Is he deaf?! Did my damn warning go in one ear and out the other?!'

"Jinyoungie...and the evil wicked witch."

"I don't know. I just know that she came over to him the first day that you were sick…”

“SHE WHAT?!” ______ shouted. “WHY?!”

“I don’t know. She probably wanted to start drama, so I got rid of her."

"You did?"

"Of course I did! I'm trying to help him."

"Why would you help him?"

Jaehyo frowned.

"Why?! Am I such a bad, selfish person?! Yes, I admit that I want you for myself, but I'm not going to go and sabotage your relationship. I want you to be happy, even if I'm not the one you choose. I warned him, about her, for you.”

“No, Oppa, you’re never a bad person.” ______ said. “You’re the best. I’m going to class already. I don’t really feel like going over there. I’ll see you later?”

Jaehyo stared at her.

“______-ah, do you want me to walk you?”

“No, I’m okay.” She said and walked towards class.

Jaehyo turned to look at Jinyoung and Naeun.

‘What the hell is she up to, this time?!’ he thought. ‘I swear, if ______ gets hurt, again, someone is going to feel, physical, pain. I guarantee it’

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