Jong Hyun POV:

I was holding a towel to my face; I think it was the third one since I had gotten to the emergency room. My nose just would not stop bleeding. The person in the ambulance had already set my nose back in place. When they had gotten to my car, it had been slanting towards the left.

The doctor said it was a good thing that the emergency service worker had put my nose back into place before the swelling got too serious. By then it would have been hard to put it back to its normal place. Thank goodness for the fast emergency service of Korea. The only problem now was that my nose was still bleeding and my shirt was ruined. Suddenly the curtain was pulled aside.

“Yah, what happened to you?” Asked Onew seeing me.

“Oh Hyung! You’re here,” I said trying not to move my face too much. It was still hard to breathe through my nose so I was breathing through my mouth. And I think I had a headache.

“Why is there so much blood?” Asked Onew.

“Oh, my nose won’t stop bleeding.”

“What happened to your nose?”

“I think I fractured it or broke it.”

“Let me see,” said Onew moving closer.

“Promise not to laugh,” I said seriously. “It really swollen and if you laugh, I’ll laugh.”

“Okay. Just let me see.”

I slowly removed the towel from my face expecting laughter.

“It looks really bad,” said Onew taking a closer look.

“You really didn’t laugh,” I said surprised.

“Of course,” said Onew hitting my shoulder. “With our current schedule, you think I have time to laugh at your being injured?”

“Sorry, Hyung,” I said putting the towel back under my nose.

“Just what were you doing out so late at night?” Ask Onew sitting down on the bed.

“I just, um, went home for a bit and it got late.”

The look on Onew’s face said that he knew I wasn’t telling the truth but he wasn’t going to press it. He nodded before pulling out his phone.

“I’m going to go out and call the other members. Heo Manager said he’ll be back after calling the CEO. The x-ray should be out soon. Hang in there,” said Onew patting my back a few times before disappearing on the other side of the curtain.

Thank goodness it was late and there weren’t that many people in the emergency room. There was a kid with a dislocated knee cap. Then there was a college student who got mercury poisoning because he put a thermometer into his ramyun. The thermometer overheated, broke in there and he ate it because he didn’t notice.

 Oh, and then there was the drunk driver that had crashed his car into mine, causing me to crash into the guard railing and causing my nose injury. Again the curtain was pulled aside and a nurse walked in.

“Jong Hyun-ssi, you can put an ice-pack on your nose now,” said the nurse taking the towel from me and handing me a clean towel wrapped around an ice-pack.

“Thank you,” I said putting it against my nose.

“Your x-ray results will be out in another half an hour. I’ll go get a hospital gown for you so that you can change out of your bloodied clothes,” said the nurse before leaving.

Another half hour? I leaned back against the pillows. Heo Manager came back a few minutes later with a form for me to sign.

“Where is he?”

“Over here,” said Onew pulling aside the curtain. My members tumbled into my make-shift curtain room looking concerned.

“Hyung! That’s a lot of blood,” said Tae Min.

“My nose wouldn’t stop bleeding until just a while ago,” I said looking down at my shirt. “The nurse said that they’ll get me something to change into.”

“What happened?” Asked Tae Min.

“He got into a car accident obviously,” said Key moving past Tae Min. “How bad is it?”

“It doesn’t hurt that much. It’s like having a headache and it keeps pulsing at that spot,” I said removing the ice-pack.

“Wah,” said Key shaking his head. “It looks really ugly.”

“So how did you get into an accident?” Asked Tae Min.

“I crashed into the guard rail because the other driver was drunk and crashed his car into mine. I hit the steering wheel pretty hard,” I said trying to explain what happened.

“Hyung are you okay?” Asked Min Ho. He stood the farthest away from me but I didn’t say anything about that. I just nodded in reply.

“What about our comeback?” Asked Key looking around worried.

“The CEO said that depending on Jong Hyun’s results, we might have to continue without him,” said Heo Manager. “You’ll be told about the changes tomorrow morning.”

“Really?” I asked. Heo manager nodded.

“I guess we’ll be even more busy,” said Key sighing. “Meanwhile you’ll just get to rest.”

“It’s fine,” said Onew. “Just rest, get better quickly and come back soon.”

“You guys can stay here for only a few more minutes. I’ll be outside making a call. Five minutes only,” said Heo Manager taking out his phone again.

“Yah! Daebak! I just thought of something!” Exclaimed Key suddenly.

“What now?” Asked Onew.

“Once you get to your hospital room, you should call that girl Na Sang Dae over,” said Key excitedly. “Ah, so lucky. You must have gotten hurt so that you could see her while the rest of us are busy.”

“It’s not like that,” I said glancing at Min Ho who looked uncomfortable.

“Not like what?” Asked Key hitting my shoulder lightly. “Don’t lie.”

The nurse walked back in with a set of hospital clothes.

“Let’s go guys,” said Onew. “We’ll come see you tomorrow.”

“Bye Hyung,” said Tae Min.

“We’ll bring your stuff over tomorrow,” said Key walking out.

“I’ll talk to you later,” said Min Ho attempting to walk out only to run into Key.

“Don’t forget to call her,” said Key poking his head back in.

- - - - - - o - - - - - -

It was only the next day, and early morning at that, but there were already many articles about my accident. I closed the lid of my laptop and placed it on the table next to my bed. I had been shifted to a private room after my x-ray results had come out. Feeling bored, I leaned back against the pillows and thought about going back to sleep when I received a text message. I quickly sat up and picked up my phone.

From Sang Dae:

Are you okay? I read about your car accident.

To Sang Dae:

What is this? You said you’d explain about yesterday but you only text me now.

For a while, there was no reply. Worried I sent another text.

To Sang Dae:

I’ll forgive you if you call me Oppa.

Again, no reply. I was about to sent another text when I got a reply.

From Sang Dae:

I’m sorry… Oppa? Actually… I wanted to explain… but I didn’t think it would be best to talk to you over the phone.

I smiled. I got Sang Dae to call me Oppa! Wait a moment; didn’t Key say something about girls adding ‘ya’ or ‘ah’ to a guy’s name when they had a closer relationship? I’d have to ask Key later. Remembering what he said last night, I slowly typed in my next message.

To Sang Dae:

Then… will you come visit me at the hospital?

From Sang Dae:

Am I allowed to? Are you well enough to have visitors?

To Sang Dae:

No, I’m not okay. You should bring me something to eat.

From Sang Dae:

What should I bring? What would you like? What do you want?

To Sang Dae:

I want... your cupcakes. Come soon!

From Sang Dae:

I don’t have any cupcakes right now. It’ll take at least half-an-hour for me to make them. And, I won’t be able to stay long. I do have one morning class.

To Sang Dae:

That’s fine. Let me know when you’re done and I’ll text you the address of the hospital.

From Sang Dae:

Okay. I’ll see you in a little while.

To Sang Dae:

Oh, and one more thing. Make sure to wear a hooded jacket or a baseball cap before you come.

- - - - - - o - - - - - -

Sang Dae POV:

I stopped at the sight. There were a bunch of reporters and fans camped out in front of the hospital; literally with tents and everything! Just seeing this, I had a feeling that there were probably reporters and/or fans inside. How was I supposed to get in? Hearing my phone ring, I took it out of my pocket. It was Jong Hyun.

“Yes,” I said whispering although I didn’t really know why.

“Where are you?” Asked Jong Hyun.

“Me? I’m just outside of the hospital. But how do I get in? There’s so many people!”

“Just head into the hospital and head to the information desk. My Noona came to visit me and she’ll meet you in the lobby.”

“But I don’t know what your sister looks like!”

“Don’t worry. She’ll find you. Just come in and act normal,” said Jong Hyun before ending the call.

“Hello? Wait!” I exclaimed into the phone. “He cut the call. Now what?”

I bit my lower lip as I pondered whether to go in or not.  Breathing out, I clutched my bag and walked towards the doors. The reporters looked up as I passed. I held my breath as I walked in through the doors. I almost felt claustrophobic at the amount of people that were there. A few people looked at me. I froze. Suddenly someone linked arms with me.

“Ah, Sang Dae-ah,” said the person next to me. “You came to see your brother again today?”

I looked next to me and realized the person next to me was wearing a nurse uniform. Her face was covered in a mask but the look in her eyes said to just go with it. I nodded slowly.

“There are lot of people here today right? Apparently, a celebrity is here in our hospital,” said the nurse starting to walk. I almost stumbled but steadied myself with her help.

“Really?” I finally managed to squeak out.

“Of course, I’m not allowed to go near but one of my Sunbaenims was saying that there is someone here. A singer or something,” said the nurse babbling.

“Ah, really?”

“But anyways, your brother is doing a lot better compared to yesterday,” said the nurse steering me into an elevator.

“That’s… good?”

“Whew,” said the nurse pulling down her mask and fanning herself as the elevator doors closed. “That was close.”

“Are you by any chance…”

“I’m Jong Hyun’s noona, Kim Song Dam,” said Song Dam smiling as she pressed the floor bottom.

“Ah, Annyeonhaseyo,” I said bowing politely.

“The things that Jongie makes me do,” said Song Dam shaking her head as she leaned against the wall of the elevator.

“I’m sorry,” I said bowing again. I didn’t mean to trouble her.

“It’s okay. You must be a good friend of Jong Hyun.”

“No, not really. He’s my teacher and Sunbae at school.”

“Ah, I see,” said Song Dam nodding. “You can relax. You can call me Song Dam Unni.”

“Yes… Song Dam Unni.”

“Let’s put that hood up,” said Song Dam pulling my hood up and pulling my cap lower so it covered my face. She put back on her face mask just as the elevator came to a stop. “Let’s go.”

Song Dam steered us through the hospital before coming to a door that was guarded by two security guards. The security guards, recognizing her, let us through.

“Jongie! I brought your friend,” said Song Dam pushing me playfully from behind into the room. Spotting Jong Hyun I waved awkwardly. His nose was covered with a metallic band and his face looked really swollen.

“Oh! You made it,” said Jong Hyun sitting up.

“I’ll be going now,” said Song Dam getting what I assumed was her bag. “I have to get going to work anyways. My boss is very picky and hardly lets me take a break.”

“Okay Noona! I’ll see you later,” said Jong Hyun waving as his sister left the room.

I almost didn’t want her to go. I watched as she disappeared out the door.

“Sit down,” said Jong Hyun indicating to the chair next to him.

I slowly walked over and sat down. Aish. Why was I so nervous?

“What did you bring me?” Asked Jong Hyun looking at the bag.

“Ah,” I said taking out the box. I tried to look cheerful. “Tada! Dark chocolate cupcakes.”

I had written ‘Get Well Soon’ on each of the cupcakes with icing. It was hard to fit it in but I managed. Jong Hyun excitedly picked one up before reaching over to his bedside to retrieve a fork. I waited for his reaction as he took a bite.

“Mm,” said Jong Hyun chewing carefully. “This is good. I like the ‘Get Well Soon’ message.”

“Really?”

Jong Hyun nodded before wincing when he nodded too hard.

“Does it hurt a lot?” I asked concerned.

“Of course it hurts. A lot. I sprained my ankle too,” said Jong Hyun wiggling the toes on his right foot that was in a crepe bandage.

I nodded, still not knowing what to say.

“So, did you think up of an explanation for what happened last night?”

“Actually, about that,” I said after a pause.

“He’s your cousin right?”

“Huh? I mean, yes, uh… he’s my cousin but then, ever since we were little… we weren’t close… so I pretended not to know him and…”

“He’s the reason you didn’t listen to Kpop before, right?”

“Huh? I mean… I guess?”

“Then it’s okay. I understand,” said Jong Hyun. “Even my Noona has to be careful because fans sometimes stalk her to find me.”

“Huh?”

“Even if you had a good relationship with Min Ho, which you apparently say you don’t, it makes sense that you pretended not to know Min Ho even though he’s your cousin. Scandals happen a lot, and even if you are a direct family member, you can get harassed by fans a lot.”

I nodded not knowing what else to do. There was silence as Jong Hyun finished his first cupcake. I sat there awkwardly not knowing what to do or say. Why was I still so nervous?

“Sang Dae-ah,” said Jong Hyun after a while.

“Yes?”

“So, did you think about what I said last night?”

“Last night?” I asked not looking at him. Why was he asking me this now?

“I told you that I liked you last night,” said Jong Hyun being straight-forward.

“Mm,” I said not able to look up. Aish! Why was my heart beating faster? Of course I remembered! He was the first guy to tell me that he liked me. Well, besides this Babo who used to follow me around in middle school and a little bit of high school. But Jong Hyun was different.

“Do you like me?”

I nodded slowly after a minute.

I did like him. Why did I have to like him? Why couldn’t I lie to him? Why did he have to be so much cooler in person? Why in the world did I get married to someone I didn’t even like before I met the guy of my dreams?

I slowly looked up and stopped when I realized Jong Hyun was staring at me, intently.

 “Then,” said Jong Hyun. “Do you want to date me?”

Why did he have to ask me that question?

 

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Next Chapter up! Finally Jong Hyun pops the question. :D

And For those who are wondering. The mercury poisoning story is true, except, it was to a middle school student at my boarding school in India. So it wasn’t ramyun noodles but Maggi noodles. Oh actually, it was three middle school boy students and two of them were Korean.