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Kris POV:

 

I woke up with my head pounding a little. My whole body was sore and slowly I set up. A towel dropped from my forehead onto my lap. My hand went to it and it was wet, still a little cold. Someone changed it recently. I looked around my room but there wasn’t anyone around. My eyes landed on the basin nearby and the tray of food. I took off the cover and it was porridge. Next to it was some medicine and a note.

 

You had a fever yesterday so I gave you medicine and sponged you. I hope you don’t mind. Your fever has dropped so when you wake up, have the porridge for breakfast. It’s something light but it will be okay for your stomach. I’ve placed another dosage of medicine there so do take it after you eat. You never know when the fever might come back again.

Take care of yourself and don’t fall sick again.

 

Who did these, all of these? Taking care of me all night, giving medicine and making me food.

The only person who leaves me notes was Rin. Was it her? I ran my hand through my hair and bits and pieces of memory came back. I was slipping in and out of unconsciousness yesterday, my head was throbbing and I could only remember that it was really hot. It was vague but someone touched my forehead, then something really cold was placed on my forehead. I hissed from the sudden coldness. It stringed a little.

“Shhhhh, you are sick. Why didn’t you tell anyone?”  A girl’s voice. I remembered something on my forehead and arms. There was a tap on my shoulder.

“Kris? Can you hear me? You need to take some medicine in order to get well.”

I know that voice, I tried to open my eyes but they wouldn’t let me. My head was fuzzy and the throbbing got worse. Something slip into my mouth but I couldn’t swallow. It was really bitter.

“Kris, you have to drink it okay? Even If it’s bitter, it’s to make you better.”

I couldn’t swallow. I wanted too but my body wasn’t responding to what I want. Then there was towel being pressed against my cheek and neck. I heard her sigh.

“I’m sorry, but this is the only way.”

Then I felt something on my lips. It was different. It was soft and cold. It was a very familiar feeling. Those lips, I’ve kissed them before.

The drink slip into my mouth, it was bitter but having her lips on mine, it became sweet. She lifted my neck so the liquid could slid down my throat. After a while, she pulled away. It was a gentle ‘Kiss’.

“Get well soon. Don’t fall sick again.”

 

My head was fuzzy and I wasn’t sure if what I remembered was correct. I may have been hallucinating, no one knows. Her voice was a little fuzzy, it was unclear. Or more like I couldn’t hear her voice. I definitely knew that voice, it was someone I knew but right now I couldn’t remember who it was. My hand went up to my lips and pressed against it.

It was the same as my previous dreams. It was the same when I kissed that girl. There was a faint scent of vanilla in my room. Where have I smelt that before?

“Was it Ri-“ I was cut offed. My door was opened and in came Xue. The vanilla scent faded away and was replaced by a cherry scent.

“How are you feeling?” she asked me and sat on my bed.

Was it her? Was she the one who took care of me all night? I watched as her and went up to my forehead.

“You fever has gone down.” she smiled. “Are you hungry? Want to eat the porridge?” she asked as she took the tray and placed it on her lap. She took a scope and blew on it. It was still hot.

“Ah.” She held the spoon in front of me and when I didn’t open my mouth, she pouted.

“Gege. You need your energy.” I slowly open my mouth and ate.

“Good.” She beamed and took another spoonful. “You know. I was worried. Your fever didn’t come down, it was quite high.” She knew about me having a fever, she knew about the porridge and it made me believe her.

‘It couldn’t have been Rin, she wouldn’t have done that. She is just a friend.’ I told myself and looked at Xue.

“You took care of me?” she nodded.

“I hope you don’t mind. I was worried.”

So she was the one who took care of me. No wonder I felt it so familiar. That lips, that voice and that touch, it was her all along.

Everything was coming together. She took care of me. She stayed up all night, fed me medicine and even made me breakfast. I wanted to believe that it was her. But somewhere inside, something bugged me. That touch, that voice. It didn’t belong to her. If it wasn’t her, who could it be? A part of me was curious. I shut out those thoughts and focused on what is in front of me right now.

“Thank you, for taking care of me.” I said and smiled a bit. Forgetting about that vanilla scent, it was the only clue to who really took care of me.

 

She helped me out of bed, I was a bit weak but other than that, I was fine. We went down to the living room area and I sat on the couch. The others were having their breakfast, I told Xue to go and eat. I looked around the table and noticed that someone was missing. I counted the heads there.

15 people.

There should be 16 people excluding me. Then I realised who was missing.

Rin.

I looked around and didn’t find her around. It was weird, usually she would be up by now. I was about to go upstairs to check if she was in her room when she walked into the room. She went to the garden. I took a look at her, she was pale and had dark circles under her eyes. She looked really tired and it reminded me of the conversation she had on the phone yesterday. She saw me standing there and gave me a small wave.

“How are you feeling?”

“A bit tired and my body is aching but other than that, I’m good. How about you?”

“Tired.” She smiled weakly and I took note of how skinny she got. She didn’t look like those really sickly patients lying in the hospital. She still looked healthy, just that she lost some weight. I preferred her with her cheeks, now they were gone. I couldn’t help but think that she must have had a hard time with us.

“Have you eaten?” I asked and she nodded.

“How’s work?” she asked me and I looked at her. “Everyone seemed a bit stressed out.”

“Yeah, we ran into some problems. The client isn’t easy to win over.”

“Tough luck. You should just knock them out.” I raised my eyebrows at her sudden change in attitude. She never spoke that way, not since she had an outburst 1 week ago. It made her seem a bit bipolar.

“We can’t do that though I have to say that is really tempting.” She just smiled wearily and sat down on the couch. I turned the TV on and watched the airing drama. Her eyes were fixed onto the TV and she was super focus on the drama. It looked like she understood what they were saying but that was not possible right? She doesn’t know Chinese, did she?

“Hey, do-“ I was cut offed by her phone. She picked it up and answered the call.

“Hello?”

“Angel!” I heard. “Miss me?”

‘English?’ She didn’t say anything she looked a bit shocked to me.

“Hey, RinRin? Can you hear me?”

“Hun oppa??” she finally spoke. Her tone and that name made me frown a little.

“The one and only. How are you baby?” her lips turned upwards a little.

“Where have you been you brat? How could you just disappear like that?” she exclaimed softly in English which surprised me. “You are so dead when I come back. You and yongie. Be prepared.” She stood up and went out to the garden.

She knew English. And from the way she spoke, she was fluent in it. That made me think actually. How much do I really know about her?

I didn’t ask about her a lot, mostly talking about what is present and not the past. I was slightly put off by the endearment that guy called her. I didn’t want to ears drop but I could hear him, but I could hear him from over the phone. It was either her volume was too loud, he was loud or the room was quiet.

‘Was he close to her? Is he just a friend or more than that? Is he the guy she found?’ I couldn’t help but think about it. I kept looking at the direction where she went.

‘When is she coming back?’

I saw her coming back in and quickly turned to the TV. She sat down next to me and I took a peek at her. I could tell that her mood was slightly better. Just by receiving a phone call, it made her look so much better. That must have be someone important.

“You look happy.” I said and she looked at me, straight into my eye.

“What makes you think I’m happy?” the look in her eyes were the opposite of the way her voice sounded. They looked sad and I felt that she was looking right through me.

“I-I it’s just that you look much better after that phone call. You don’t look so tired.”

“Is that so?” Her tone turned cold. “Next time don’t say things like that.” I felt a shiver down my spine. “You don’t know me.” with that she stood up and headed to the door.

“Mei! Where are you going?” Lay came out of the kitchen.

“I’m just going to walk around. It’s stuffy.” She walked out of the house.

“I’ll come along!” he called out after her and grabbed his jacket nearby.

‘You don’t know me.’ That sentence kept repeating in my head. I didn’t know much about her at all.

 

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Your POV:

They don’t know anything about me. Nothing. I walked out and I heard footsteps behind me. I knew who it was, judging from the way he ran. I slowed down my pace for him to catch up. He fell into step next to me and we walked on as the sun rose up in the sky. It wasn't really hot, it was cooling, and the sunlight provided some warmth while the wind prevented us from perspiring a lot.

Winter was coming.

“Tomorrow is the last day.” I nodded. Another 3 days with them and I’m free. “You know, I’m going to miss you a lot when you leave. Can we at least meet up once a week as friends?”

I turned and look at him as he looked forward. His side view can’t match Kris’s one but he was good looking. I took a closer look and realised that he looked really lonely.

“You will still have the others and Xue.”

“It’s different.” He looked at me. “They are friends and family, yes. But it’s hard for me to tell them about certain things. Certain things that I am keeping from them because I’m not ready to reveal it to them yet. Things that I worry about, I won’t have anyone to talk to.”

“It’s funny, with you, I can easily talk about these things without having to worry about how you might look at me. Being with you lets me be myself. It’s strange because I’ve never felt this comfortable with a female before besides my mother that is. We have so many similarities. We like the same kind of food, we think alike and-“ he stopped walking and paused. He turned me to face him.

“We are beginning to look alike too.” he said softly. I was worried. Did he find out about me? About us? I didn’t want him to find out about me. I, now knew how much he hated himself when I was kidnapped. He has been in pain all these years. But he persevered. He didn’t lose hope or gave up. He knew that I would still be alive, waiting for him to save me. He was my prince after all.

“I think we have been hanging out too much for you to think we look alike.” I forced those words out. It hurts me to say them to him and it hurts me even more to see him hurt by my words. But I had no choice. “Maybe we should take a break?” I suggested.

“No. Sorry I got too caught up. Something must have come over me to think that we look alike. I’m sorry if I offended you.”

“No, it’s fine. If I look like you it’s a good thing right? That means I’m not that bad looking.”

“You are pretty. I’m not too bad looking myself I must say. So be happy when people say that you look like me.” he grinned and I smiled.

I loved being with him. I will definitely miss him.

“When is your birthday?” I asked as I walked on.

“October 7, 1991. When is yours?”

“November-“ I stopped. I couldn’t remember my real birthday date. Only the day when I was sent to the orphanage. That day became my birthday. “November 10.”

“November 10.” He said “It’s close to her birthday.”

“Whose?”

“My sister.” He looked at me sadly. That date was near my real birthday? I wanted to know.

“When is it?” I asked softly.

“November 6, 1994. Just 4 days before yours.”

“I’m sorry.” He was reminded about the incident. I couldn’t really remember much about it. Only bits and pieces. I was young. So now I knew when my real birthday was.

‘6 November.’ It was a date to remember.

“It’s okay. I’m fine.” He patted my head. “I know that she is still alive, waiting for me to find her. I can feel it. I promised to be her prince and I’ll keep my promise.”

I was really touched. I really wanted to tell him who I was right there and then. There was an internal struggle inside and I was torn between whether I should tell him or not. I wanted to stay. I wanted to be loved by them.

But.

Staying with them hurts. It hurts so much. It was because of him. Because of him, I couldn’t stay, I had to leave.

I had to let him go.

“Let’s go back. We have been out for a while.” I turn back and traced my steps back to the house. He followed me and whistled to a song. It was the song I heard in the car on the way to Busan.

“What’s the title of that song?”

“Xin Bu Liao Qin or Endless love.”

“Endless love.”

I could relate. It’s been happening to me. Over and over again. In my previous life, this life or the next. I always fall for the same person.

That one person who was supposed to look at me only.

He promised to love me and only me. But in this life, he didn’t keep his promise. I still ended up falling for him.

Endless love.

I looked down and sighed. Suddenly he grabbed my hand and held it in his.

“I know it’s hard but let’s keep in contact okay?” he swing my arm a bit, just like what kids do. “Just call me when you want too. I’ll pick up even if I’m working.”

“I won’t tell the others. I promise.” He held up his pinkie and I looked at it. He shook his hand a bit. I slowly lifted my hand and interlaced our pinkie. We just made a promise to stay in contact with each other. Though I did say that I didn’t want to be in contact with them, he was my brother. Who would say no to family?

Smiling, he let go of my hand and pinched my cheeks with his two hands.

“It’s a promise, mei. Don’t suddenly leave without telling me. If you do that I’ll hunt you down.” I didn’t say anything and just looked at him. Then he chuckled.

“You are really very cute you know?” together we walked hand in hand back to the house.

As we entered, we were greeted to a small scene. From the tense atmosphere, I could tell that something is wrong. He let go of my hand and walked towards Xiumin who was standing the closest to the door.

“What’s wrong?”

“Xue is making a fuss about which dress to wear tomorrow. She is saying that she doesn’t have enough dress or she doesn’t have THE dress.”

I could tell that she wasn’t happy. Her face was all scrunched up and a bit pink. All this for a dress?

“And Luhan is just adding oil to the fuel. No one knows what to do.” I made my way inside and stood near the stairs as I always did.

“How about this?” Luhan lifted up a radiant pink tube dress. “It complements your skin colour.”

“No. it’s out of fashion. It was last season. I need to wear something that is from this season.” She stomped her feet. She was being a brat again. I sighed internally. I was tired having to hear her whine about this and that.

“You got a lot of clothes this time, why don’t you pick one out from there?”

“Argh!” she let out a frustrated sigh. All of them stood there and watched her.

“Kris ge, what will you be wearing tomorrow?” she turned to him and asked in a cutesy voice. ”I’ll match you.”

“Just a normal tux.” He said as he looked at her. Did I see wrongly? His cheeks were a little pink. Did the fever come back or was he shy?

“What colour shirt will you wear? Any tie?” he looked around, a bit lost. He has always been one of the most fashionable one of the group. He and Tao were into fashion and they had the height to pull off almost anything. The others dress well too, quite surprising from a group of agents. He must have influenced them.

“Just a normal white shirt.” She frowned and stood in front of him.

“You need to wear something that will make you stand out. Like wear a different colour suit.”

“Xue, why are you telling me what to wear? I thought this was about you finding your dress?”

“Yes, but I want to match you. Where are your suits?” she grabbed his hand and tried to pull him up. Of course she couldn’t pull him seeing that he was much heavier than her and she never really worked out most of her life.

“Why don’t you just wear what you want to wear?”

“I want to look pretty for you.” she exclaimed and let his hand go. “You look good in anything, I feel that I won’t be able to match you. You are tall and handsome, you look good in everything. I just want to look nice to you.” he lowered her head and her shoulders shook a bit. She was crying.

Everyone knew that she like Kris since she first laid her eyes on him. It was just so obvious. Even though she had been trying to get his attention the past few months, she never did outright admit that she likes him.

This was the first time she admitted. And it was in front of everyone.

“You don’t have too.” he stood up and walked to her. “You look nice in almost anything.” She looked up at him as he stood in front of her. “You shine in your own way. Why would you want to match me when you can shine brighter than anyone?”

“B-but, I want to look nice for you.”

“You don’t have too because you look really beautiful all the time.” I choked on some air, it was like the air in my lungs were knocked out all of the sudden. Good thing I was far from all of them, they didn’t hear me cough.

“You are someone that all girls are jealous off. Guys want to make you theirs because you are not only pretty but nice. Don’t try to match me. You don’t need too because I’ll match you.” when he said that, I say almost all and I mean 12 mouths dropped.

“So just wear something you like okay?”

“Why?” she asked a bit stunned.

“Why? He lowered himself to be level with her, eye to eye. “Because, I like you.”

Sounds came out from the others, What? OMG! Tell me this is not a dream. Could be heard along with gasps of surprise. They surely did not expect that.

I did.

But I didn’t expect something will happen to me right then and then.

My heart clenched and it hurt a lot, it felt like someone was grabbing and squeezing my heart oh so tightly. I couldn’t breathe properly. Tears filled my eyes and I was sad and hurt.

“What did you say?” she asked him, probably not believing what she heard.

“I like you.”

I closed my eyes and all I could feel was pain. I was starting to feel dizzy and the numbness came back. This time, it was much faster and stronger than the last time.

“I’ve been thinking a lot. I tried to ignore the feeling, I thought it was nothing. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t get you out of my head. You changed me. I was once an emotionless guy that was cold. I didn’t feel anything but after meeting you, I started to feel.” He reached out to hold her hand. “Thank you for coming into my life. Thank you for changing me and thank you for caring for me last night.”

She immediately hugged him and he hugged back. He wore a smile. The others were shocked.

“I like you too.” she said and he smiled brighter.

“I know.” then there was cheers everywhere. They were happy for him. The curse is broken! Could be heard.

He thought she was the one who took care of him. The pain accelerated. I was beginning to shake and I felt drained. I reached out for the railing by the stairs and grabbed onto it to stable myself.

‘This can’t be happening. Not now.’ I felt weaker by the second. It was coming fast. I turned around and climbed the stairs with all my strength. I was gasping for air, it became so hard to breathe. I made my way up the stairs with whatever strength I had. I needed to get out of here. I didn’t want to hear it anymore. Tears were streaming down my face.

My legs were going to give way and my head was spinning. I was getting weaker by the second. I pressed my speed dial, I needed her. I managed to place the phone at my ear and the dialling felt like forever. I was beginning to feel numb and it was happening so fast.

‘Please pick up.’

“Rin?” I gasped into the phone, my breaths were coming out short. It was hard for me to breathe.

“What’s wrong?” I heard the urgency and worry in her voice. “Rin, what’s wrong? Tell me!”

“I-I-It h-hurts-s.” I managed to say in between breaths. I grabbed my chest and made it to the top of the stairs. I turned to the corner and paused for a moment. There was an excruciating pain where my heart is and I was gasping for breath.

"Where does it hurt?"

“S-Someo-one, p-p-please-” was all I managed to say before I fell and everything turned black.

 

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Another friend for Rin? Guess who, clue is Angel.

 

Just want to say a big thank you for reading my story and for commenting. Every time I see a new comment, I'm really happy!!!!

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