Jackson's eyes were fixed on the TV screen, watching a re-run of a football game in the sports channel. He was never a fan of football, but he had no choice; the other channels only had six o'clock news, and for someone as sick as him, watching and hearing about news regarding price hikes, flood, and accidents wouldn't help in the recovery process.

He just wanted the day to end already.

And the fact that Youngji was just outside his bedroom cooking dinner didn't help either.

Jackson furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance, "Why did she even come here?"

A few more minutes passed, and he heard the door open. Youngji peeked inside with a wide grin on her face, "Dinner's served, Jackson Wang."

"I don't feel like eating," he remarked bitterly without even looking at her.

"Ah, but you need to eat, or else you wouldn't get better," Youngji pouted before coming inside his room carrying a tray containing a bowl of rice porridge and a plate of chapchae, "You should eat because I cooked these!"

Jackson's eyes widened as he watched Youngji approach him, carrying the food tray, "Hey! I said I'm not going to eat!" he exclaimed. But Youngji was too stubborn to listen. She carefully placed the tray in front of Jackson.

"Enjoy your meal," she beamed before getting a chair to sit on. She placed her seat beside his bed, and from the giddy look she had on her face, Jackson could already tell that Youngji was too enthusiastic with the meal she prepared.

"I said I don't want to eat," Jackson spoke with an uninterested tone in his voice.

"Tch. Don't be hardheaded, young man," Youngji pouted before taking the spoon from the tray, "If you don't want to eat, then I'll make you," she took some porridge and held the spoon in front of him. And with the most childish voice, she spoke, "Here comes the train! Say ahhh!"

Jackson gave her a glare.

But Youngji still had a smile on her face, "Say ahhh," she repeated.

"I'm not a three-year-old," Jackson muttered.

"But you're not eating, so I'm doing this," Youngji retorted.

Jackson quickly swiped the spoon away from Youngji, but in the process, he spilled the porridge on his shirt.

"Ah! Oh no," Youngji exclaimed as she took her handkerchief from her pocket to wipe Jackson's shirt, "I didn't mean to--"

"Stop it!" Jackson already had a furious look on his face, "You klutz, just get me a clean shirt from my closet!"

An almost panicky Youngji quickly followed. She immediately ran to his closet to get him a shirt, "Whi--which one?!"

"Any shirt will do!"

Youngji hesitantly pulled a white shirt from the closet and brought it to Jackson, "Look, I'm really sorry the porridge--"

"Just calm down," Jackson interrupted before taking off his porridge-stained shirt, which made Youngji cover her face in embarrassment.

"You shouldn't be doing that!"

"Huh?" Jackson creased his forehead.

Youngji slowly moved her fingers to be able to see him. And there he was, half-, holding his shirt in front of him.

"Just--just wear your shirt already!" Youngji closed her eyes shut. And inside her head, she was already screaming her heart out. For someone like her, seeing a shirtless guy was already a sin.

"Pfft. You're lame," Jackson scoffed as he wore his shirt, "Don't tell me you haven't seen a shirtless man before. You can open your eyes now."

A blushing Youngji slowly removed her hands from her face, and the first thing she saw was Jackson Wang giving her a judging look. She immediately felt her heart beat faster because of two reasons: because she saw Jackson half- and because she knew she was embarrassing.

"I--I'm sorry," she mumbled before lowering her head, trying to hide her face away from him. Jackson, on the other hand, just stayed silent, with a fretted expression on his face. He was quite surprised with how Heo Youngji reacted after seeing him.

And the two suddenly felt everything become awkward.

Youngji broke her silence after a few minutes, "I--I need to wash the dishes," she forced a smile before dashing out of his room.

Jackson just stayed silent as he watched Youngji run from him, still with an embarrassed look on her face.

-

"Ah! I'm so dumb, this is so annoying!"

Youngji slapped herself while muttering the words to herself. She was already inside the kitchen, in front of the sink, ready to wash the dishes anytime... but then she remembered how terrible she might had looked in front of Jackson after her sudden outburst when she saw him shirtless.

Youngji felt her cheeks get warm again, "He thinks I'm weird now," she bit her lip in annoyance.

But after a few seconds, another thought struck her.

"Hey! Why should I be affected by what Jackson Wang thinks of me?!"

Youngji had a mortified look on her face. Why did she have to bother herself about Jackson's impression of her? It was not like he was an important person or something. Youngji immediately opened the faucet to start washing the dishes. And while she did it, she had an extremely annoyed look on her face.

"Hah. So what if I saw him shirtless?!" Youngji pouted, "It's not like it'll save mankind or something. And he doesn't look hot either," Youngji whispered to herself as she scrubbed the steel pot she used in cooking. She knew it. She had to blame Gayoon for always covering her eyes whenever they watch a movie and the scene had a shirtless man involved.

"Gayoon unnie," Youngji muttered with a disappointed look on her face. If others experience childhood ruined, she had just experienced adulthood ruined.

"Hey, Heo Youngji!" Jackson's booming voice called out from inside his bedroom which startled Youngji. She immediately left the dishes on the sink and quickly went back inside his room.

"What?! Are you dying already?" Youngji asked as she went inside to check on him. She might be annoyed by Jackson in a higher degree, but thinking about him being sick made her tolerate his irritating attitude that day.

"Get me another bowl of your gruel!" Jackson exclaimed as he held out an empty bowl in front of Youngji.

"Hey! That wasn't gruel! I made rice porridge and as far as I know, it tastes great to be considered gruel!" Youngji retorted, to which Jackson responded by rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, whatever," he scoffed, "Just give me another serving! Quick, you peasant!"

Youngji couldn't help but to sigh and to regret the decision she had made about being nice to Jackson Wang that day because he was sick. For someone who was experiencing fever, he was too bossy and annoying. She trudged her way back inside the kitchen to fill his bowl with porridge. She then immediately went back to his room to bring him his food.

"Here you go," Youngji spoke with a serious, uninterested tone in her voice. She was secretly fighting off the urge of spilling the hot porridge again, but that time, she wanted to spill it all over his face.

"Ah! Yes, the best gruel in town!" Jackson's eyes lit up before starting to take a spoonful.

"It's rice porridge, not gruel!" Youngji reiterated with a displeased look on her face. She went out of his room to get back inside the kitchen, but she was interrupted by a knock from the front door,

"Coming!" she called out as she walked towards the front door to open it. And she had the greatest shock of her life after seeing a familiar face outside the door,

"Oh, Youngji!" Mark smiled, "I didn't expect you to be here."

Youngji's eyes widened, with mouth agape. She immediately felt her whole body freeze after seeing Mark Tuan, who was carrying a box of pizza with him.

"Um, is Jackson there?" Mark asked, "Or am I in the wrong apartment?"

"Uh..." Youngji scratched her head. She wasn't sure how to respond to Mark properly. Well, she was more concerned about how to explain why she was in Jackson's apartment.

"Heo Youngji, who's there?!" Jackson called out as he went out of the bedroom.

"Oh, hey Jackson!" Mark greeted before making his way inside, walking past a horrified Youngji, who was still holding onto the door.

"I didn't know Youngji's also here," Mark remarked casually as he placed the pizza on top of the dining table, "By the way, how are you? Youngjae told me you have fever," he tilted his forehead with a curious expression before placing his hand on Jackson's forehead to feel his temperature.

"Wh--why didn't you tell me you'd come over?!" Jackson had a surprised face as he swiped his friend's hand away from him. Just like Youngji, Jackson was also horrified to see Mark catch Youngji inside his apartment.

"Eh?" an oblivious Mark Tuan responded with a puzzled face, "I just thought you'd like the idea of me giving you a surprise visit. I mean, I always do this whenever you're sick."

Jackson groaned, "I have never been sick before, you doofus," he spoke which was quickly followed by a cough.

"Yes, you are right about that," Mark chuckled nervously as he patted his friend's back while he coughed.

On the other hand, Heo Youngji was already having a dilemma inside her head. Everything was still going fine, she thought to herself, since Mark had not asked about why she was in Jackson's apartment... yet.

"You should be taking a rest right now," Mark spoke calmly as he tried pulling Jackson's arm to guide him back to his room, but the latter stayed still in his place.

"I--I've taken enough rest," Jackson muttered, "I--I'll stay here to--to eat!" he quickly went to the dining table to have a seat. But unbeknownst to Mark, Jackson just did not want to leave him and Youngji alone outside his bedroom.

"Is that so? Are you--" Mark was about to ask something, but Jackson quickly interrupted by calling Youngji.

"Yo peasant! Get me some of your gruel again! Make sure to fill the whole bowl!"

Youngji was interrupted from her thoughts, "Ah, yeah," she mumbled before dashing back inside the kitchen to get more porridge. And by just observing how she responded, Jackson already knew that she had been affected by Mark's sudden visit.

Jackson had expected that Youngji would glare at him and reiterate about the difference of 'gruel' and 'porridge'... but she didn't.

And it was because Mark was there.

The latter also took his seat adjacent to Jackson, "Youngji! Can I have some of your meal too?" Mark called out with a hint of enthusiasm in his face before turning to look at Jackson, "Did Youngji cook the food?"

Jackson nodded hesitantly.

"Ah, that's awesome!" Mark's face lit up, "I've heard Youngji's a good cook."

Jackson just knitted his lips in annoyance. Mark was indeed his friend, but he just appeared at the wrong moment.

"Um, here," Youngji came out from the kitchen carrying two bowls of porridge and placed it in front of the two. Jackson took a quick glance at her; she had a shy smile on her face as she watched Mark stir the porridge.

"Jackson, this isn't gruel," Mark grinned, " This is porridge!"

"Yeah, whatever," Jackson retorted, "They're all the same when they reach your digestive system."

Mark just shook his head; his friend was still the most stubborn person he ever knew, "Well, let's see how Youngji's porridge tastes like," he smiled playfully at an embarrassed Youngji, who stood beside him stiffly.

Jackson froze as he watched the two interact in front of him.

Mark took a spoonful, and his eyes stared into nothingness as he chewed his food.

Youngji felt her whole world stop; she was already hoping for a positive reaction or something, "If I only knew Mark would arrive, I should've made a better porridge," she thought to herself.

On the other side of the table, Jackson was already secretly hoping that Mark would get diarrhea from eating Youngji's porridge.

And a clueless Mark finally swallowed the food after a minute or two. He wanted to make most of the food's taste, "Ah," was the only thing he spoke afterwards, which made Youngji feel uneasy.

"Um, how was it?" she asked with a worried look on her face.

Mark's cheerful face was not there. Instead, he had a serious expression on. He slowly moved his bowl aside before pulling Jackson's bowl away from his friend.

Both Youngji and Jackson were surprised.

"He--hey, Mark," Youngji was almost on the verge of crying. Was her porridge that horrible to receive such heartless expression from Mark?

"Jackson, don't eat this," Mark remarked with a serious tone in his voice. But Jackson quickly held his bowl, "Why?" he asked.

Mark gave his friend a piercing look, "Listen to me and don't eat this," his voice already seemed like a warning. Mark swiped Jackson's hand away from the bowl and pulled it away from Jackson.

"Why?" Youngji spoke weakly, as she watched Mark pull the bowl of porridge away from Jackson.

"Jackson shouldn't eat this."

___

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Hello everyone. Thank you so much for the wonderful comments with the last chapter update. ;u; Thank you for making life more bearable for an overworked undergrad like me. Thank you for the 360+ subs and 52 upvotes too. Adding to it are miszeeta and LeeMarsiglia (you guys deserve all the chocolate chip cookies in the world!)

Haa~ I tried my best to finish this as soon as possible. Please let me know what you think at the comments section. Happy reading. :)