An awkward atmosphere grew inside the dining area. Youngji wore a confused but worried look on her face as she watched Mark stop Jackson from eating the porridge she made.

Mark reached out for the box of pizza he bought and held it out in front of Jackson, "You eat this instead."

"What's the problem?! Why can't I eat gruel?!" Jackson was almost fuming because his friend was not giving him any proper response. Anyone would be puzzled by Mark's sudden action.

Two bowls of rice porridge were in front of Mark, who already had a stoic look on his face. Youngji bit her lower lip; she could feel her world crashing down because of her seemingly failed cooking. And what's worse was that it was Mark who gave her a negative response.

Jackson, too, was also puzzled by Mark, "Mark Tuan, give me my bowl, please," he seethed.

"I said you can't eat this," Mark responded.

"Why?!"

Mark slowly took his spoon and started eating the porridge, his serious expression was immediately replaced by a satisfied smile, "Because I'm going to eat all of these!" he beamed, which left Jackson and Youngji stunned with his response.

"What the--" Jackson hummed under his breath. Just a few minutes ago, Mark looked like he was cursing Youngji's porridge, especially with how he gave it a piercing glare. But at that moment, Mark just ate his porridge, and he was enjoying it too much that he took turns in eating the porridge in the two bowls.

"Mm!" Mark was blushing from too much happiness, his mouth already full of food, "Tish ish the besht porrish I've eaten!" he remarked before turning to look at Youngji.

He was expecting a flustered but relieved Heo Youngji, since the little scene he did a few minutes ago was just for the laughs. But the unexpected happened.

Youngji had her head lowered, while her hands held the hem of her skirt tightly. And it was pretty obvious that she was slightly trembling in her place.

Jackson and Mark were stunned, and the latter quickly stood up to see what was wrong.

"Ah, Youngji, are you okay?" Mark asked with a worried look on his face, before lightly tapping her shoulder, "Um, I wasn't serious about what I said earlier. It was just a joke. Your porridge tastes really good!" he forced a smile as he slightly bent from his knees to see Youngji's face. And his eyes widened at the sight of a distressed Youngji biting her lower lip as she tried to stop herself from crying.

"Ah! Yo--Youngji!" Mark ws startled. He made Youngji cry. He quickly turned to look at Jackson with a panicky look on his face, "Hey, she's crying!"

Jackson was alarmed, "What?!" he quickly stood up and gave Mark a glare, "You oaf! Why did you do that?!"

"Ah! What should I do?" Mark felt his heart beat faster as he watched Youngji tear up. She stood stiffly, her arms trembling while her hands clutched the hem of her skirt. She bit her lips and her nose started to turn red. It was evident that she was trying to hold back herself from crying, but tears just continued dropping on her face.

"I--I'm sorry," her lips trembled as she spoke, "I--I just got nervous with--"

She was about to explain that the only reason she cried was because she felt embarrassed by Mark's harsh reaction a while ago, but she was interrupted when Mark grabbed her by the arm and hugged her tightly.

Youngji was stunned.

Jackson was shocked.

"I'm sorry!" Mark exclaimed as he hugged Youngji tighter. He had his eyes shut with an extremely apologetic look on his face. His joke went too far, he thought to himself, that he made a girl cry.

"A--" was the only thing Youngji could utter while she was being hugged by Mark Tuan, and the latter didn't know the intense emotional struggle she was having at that moment. Youngji felt her heart beat a hundred times faster, and she was already wondering if Mark can feel her heartbeat with his tight hug.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey," Jackson quickly approached the two and pulled Mark from Youngji, "Hey that's enough. You guys are disgusting," he had an annoyed look on his face.

"Ah, you're so mean," Mark pouted after releasing Youngji from his hug, but he was still holding onto her arm.

Jackson glared at his friend, "Look dude, you didn't have to hug her to say sorry," his eyes shifted from Mark down to his hand which was holding Youngji's arm. Why can't Mark stop touching her too much?

Mark immediately noticed Jackson's sulky mood, "Sorry about that," he grinned playfully, "I just get too panicky when I see girls cry. I didn't know what to do, so--"

"Then go ahead, keep hugging her until she stops crying," Jackson snapped.

"But I'm not crying," Youngji muttered as she wiped her face with her hands, "I'm fine now and--"

But Jackson was already in a bad mood, "Why don't you cry again? You enjoy free hugs anyway," he gave Youngji a stern look, before going back inside his room, leaving Youngji and Mark with a confused look on their faces.

"Wh--what happened?" Youngji quickly turned to look at Mark, "Why is he being so grumpy?"

Mark sighed, "It's because of the fever, I guess."

-

"Such stupid people," Jackson mumbled to himself as he buried his head on his pillow. He could not believe that Mark hugged Youngji in front of him. He was not expecting such thing to happen, especially while he was suffering from fever.

Jackson had to admit, his heart stopped pumping after seeing them. Although Mark hugged Youngji only for a few seconds, it felt like years for him.

"Curse them," he furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance. Every time he closed his eyes, only the scene of Mark hugging Youngji played inside his head. And he disliked it.

He watched the tiny ants gather around the chocolate wrappers on top of the table beside his bed. And while he watched those, he suddenly felt a sharp pain on his chest.

No, he didn't have any heart or respiratory ailment, but his chest hurt.

The next thing Jackson knew, his vision was already blurry with water welling up in his eyes.

"Ah, crap," he hummed under his breath as he wiped his eyes with his arm, "Why am I even crying?"

Flashbacks of Youngji went inside his head. He could still remember how he first met her. It was during first year, when he transferred to her school from Hong Kong. It was Jackson's first day in his new school, and just like what transfer students usually feel, he also had some fears and insecurities about moving to a new school.

He was on his way to his assigned classroom when he got lost.

"What the--" Jackson mumbled to himself, "Shouldn't room 202A be here?!" he held his notebook in front of him as he tried reading the notes written by the supervising teacher when he first enrolled in that school. It was in Hangul, and the teacher's handwriting was hard to read. Indeed, Jackson struggled too much with reading the supposed important stuff for his first day.

The corridors were almost empty, since it was already time for classes to start. But Jackson Wang was still in the middle of nowhere like a lost puppy, looking for his classroom.

What's worse, he was still struggling with the Korean language back then.

"I'll be late," Jackson sighed as he held his forehead with his hand. If he only knew how difficult it would be for him to study in another country, he shouldn't have accepted the offer of joining South Korea's national team.

"Excuse me, are you new here?" a soft voice spoke behind him.

Jackson immediately turned to look, and saw a bit short girl wearing ponytails, with wide eyes and velvet cheeks. She looked like someone who wouldn't even hurt a fly.

"Um, yeah," a flustered Jackson spoke.

"A--are you lost?" the girl asked, to which Jackson responded with a nod, "I'm looking for room 202A," he added.

"Oh, you're in the wrong floor," the girl beamed, "It's downstairs, beside the music room, you know, that room with a glass door."

Jackson's face lit up, "Oh, I see. Thank you!" he had an embarrassed look on his face, especially after seeing the girl's warm smile for him.

"Please go to your classroom now," she spoke, "Your homeroom teacher might be there already," she bowed before walking away.

Jackson watched her disappear from his sight as she turned left on the corridor. He had regretted not asking her name, but they still met after a few months, when the class rankings of the first year students got posted. The ponytails girl stood in front of the bulletin board with a sad look on her face, after seeing her name on the second spot.

Another girl came up and held her arm, "It's okay, Ji, you can always try harder in the next exams."

And that's when Jackson discovered that the girl was Heo Youngji, the student he always beat in the class rankings until fourth year.

Jackson sighed; everything seemed like a game at first: the class rankings, the jokes and insults he gave her, and even the little deal he and Youngji had after he discovered her secret crush. Jackson was supposed to enjoy the last year he had with her by playing around, but falling for her was never a part of his plan.

But it was too late.

"Why am I being like this?" he thought to himself.

"Why can't I tell her how I feel for her?"

-

Youngji placed a cup of chocolate drink in front of Mark. The two were still inside the kitchen: Mark sat silently in front of the dining table while Youngji went in front of the sink to wash the dishes.

The two were still shocked and worried about the sudden mood swing Jackson had. And Mark was puzzled as to why his friend suddenly reacted like that.

"Youngji," Mark spoke without looking at her.

"Yeah?" Youngji turned to look at him while washing the dishes.

Mark cleared his throat before starting to speak. He had to make things clear for her, "Youngji, is there something between you and Jackson?" he had a calm look on his face.

Mark's question was enough to cause a churning feeling on Youngji's stomach. She didn't expect Mark to ask her such question, and although she was quite embarrassed to answer, she spoke, "No! Of course there's nothing between us," she laughed, "We're just... friends."

Mark nodded before giving her a smile, "I see. I thought he was already your boyfriend. I don't want to cause any trouble to the two of you, if you know what I mean."

Youngji bit her lip in anxiousness; so Mark had been thinking that she was in a relationship with his friend. Youngji started wondering if she and Jackson already looked like a couple to their other schoolmates as well.

A few seconds passed, and Mark's phone started ringing. He quickly reached inside his pocket for his phone, "Please excuse me," he smiled at Youngji before leaving the kitchen to amswer the caller.

A frustrated Heo Youngji let out a deep sigh after being left alone. No one knew how confused she already was, especially with Jackson's reaction and Mark's question. She knew she had no commitment with any of them, but she was still extremely affected with what they do.

Youngji turned the faucet on to rinse the plates. Since Jackson might already be asleep, she needed to finish everything and leave immediately. Besides, Jackson seemed like he didn't want to see her at that moment.

"Ah, Youngji," Mark spoke as he went to approach her, "Are you going home already?"

Youngji nodded, "I'll just finish these plates first. Why?"

"My aunt called me and she wanted me to go home immediately. Something just came up," Mark responded with a pretty gloomy look on his face, "I really want to walk home with you but I guess I need to go ahead," he scratched his head as he tried thinking of the right words to say, "I'm sorry--"

"Ah, it's--it's okay," Youngji forced a smile, although inside her head, she was already lamenting over her missed opportunity of being with Mark, "You may go."

"You'll leave to after washing the dishes, right?" Mark spoke, "I'll be going now, but promise me you won't stay here for too long."

Youngji nodded with a wide smile on her face. Mark took his coat from the chair and patted Youngji's shoulder, "See you tomorrow," he smiled before leaving the apartment.

Youngji was alone again with the dishes.

"I need to finish everything now," she sighed before going back to rinsing the plates.

It took a few minutes before Youngji finished washing everything on the sink. And just like what she promised Mark, she quickly prepared her stuff to leave. But as she was about to go out, she remembered something.

"I wonder how Jackson's doing inside his room," she creased her forehead. After Jackson's sudden outburst a while ago, he hadn't come out of his room yet.

Youngji dropped her bag on the couch again and went to his bedroom door.

"Jackson Wang?" she called out before leaning her ears closer to the door, "I'll be going now. I left some porridge inside the fridge, just heat it up if you're going to eat, okay?"

No response was heard.

"Jackson Wang?" Youngji called out again, and knocked the door two times.

Everything was silent.

"Eh, he must be asleep," Youngji thought to herself. But she was still quite worried about him; she needed to see how he was before she leaves.

"I'm coming in," she called out before slowly opening the door. And inside she saw Jackson Wang sleeping soundly in his bed.

Youngji carefully took her steps as she approached him, trying hard not to make any noise. She couldn't help but smile at the sight peaceful-looking Jackson Wang sleeping.

"You're a lot nicer when you're dozing off," she chuckled before adjusting his blankets, "I'm going now, bye," she mumbled to herself, not realizing that it was still audible for him to hear. Jackson opened his eyes and quickly held Youngji's wrist, pulling her down on the bed.

A surprised Youngji shrieked in horror, "Jackson you--!" she struggled beneath him, but he was too heavy to be pushed away.

Jackson immediately wrapped his arms around her before nudging his face on her neck, "Don't move. You're not going anywhere."

Youngji was stunned, "Huh?" her heart started beating faster than the usual. Jackson sounded calm, but weak. And Youngji knew that he wasn't himself that night. She placed her hand on his nape, "Ja--Jackson, you're hot! You're hotter than before!"

"I know I'm hot, shut up," Jackson's muffled voice spoke. He was too close to her neck that she could already feel him breathing.

"You jerk! Not that kind of 'hot'!" Youngji retorted with an irritated look on her face. Despite being pinned down by Jackson on his bed, her nervousness started becoming annoyance, "Your temperature! Did you take your medicine?"

Jackson didn't answer.

"Hey," Youngji tapped his shoulder, "Jackson Wang, stand up! Where's your medicine?"

But Jackson just stayed motionless on top of her. Youngji started feeling uneasy, "Jackson Wang?!" she called out.

"Hnn?"

"Get up! Get your medicine!" she exclaimed as she pushed Jackson away from her.

"I already have my medicine," he responded as he tightened his hug around her and adjusted his head on her neck to make himself warm and cozy. Jackson cracked a smile on his face; it was the most comfortable spot to sleep at.

On the contrary, a baffled Youngji stayed stiffly on her position. She wasn't moving and she almost stopped breathing. She never expected things to escalate too quickly.

Her plan was to cook for sick Jackson Wang and then leave. She never wanted Mark Tuan to arrive, give her a hug, make Jackson mad, and make him hug her too in his sleep.

"God, I've been a good girl all year," Youngji whispered, "Please deliver me from evil."

A few more minutes and personal prayers passed, and Youngji heard something weird from Jackson.

"Hng," Jackson muttered, which was followed by snoring sounds. And just by listening to it, it seemed like he was already in deep sleep.

Youngji froze.

"Holy crap," her eyes widened after a thought hit her.

"How am I supposed to go home now?!"

___

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Hey everyone! I'd like to apologize if this chapter took a loooong time before being added; I was busy studying in school. :) Anyways, thank you so much for keeping up with this story, and also to the additional upvotes given by LeeMarsiglia and karoline_, you guys are wonderful!

Let me know what you think about this chapter thru the comment box below. Happy reading~