A sigh. 

 

"We know. But you just can't keep sneaking in and out of this room everyday. It's not good, plus, She hasn't been up for 2 days." A female voice had said. 

 

Eerily familiar. 

 

"The doctor said something must've triggered her brain to shut down..." She trailed off. "To... Well, like rest or something. He said she's exhausted mentally, and she's not in very good shape." Seohyun tried to open her eyes that felt like it had been glued shut. 

 

"I mean, look at her." Another voice said, as familiar as the other two. "She hardly ever gets sick. She never gets sick." Seohyun heard footsteps coming toward her, suddenly slowing and somehow came to a halt, the same way the voices did. It sounded muffled to her from a distance until the room was silent.

 

She felt hands covering hers, sending warmth throughout her body. "Juhyun..." He muttered. Seohyun heard the door click, and assumed that his two companions had left the room. "How long will you make me suffer?"

 

As if on cue, Seohyun's eyes pried open. Though the room was lit only with a lampshade, her eyes took effort to adjust until she recognized a familiar face looming over her. 

 

His big eyes, long eye lashes, his dark hair that didn't need dyeing looked good in the dim light. His high indignant cheekbones were dominant, making shadows under his cheeks. He wasn't as thin as she remembered, but after all that had happened, she managed to smile. With all her strength she said, "Yong."

 

He squeezed her hand so hard it made her wince. He smiled sympathetically. "Is... Is it really you?" 

 

"Who else would it be?" The moment she said that, Yonghwa had pulled her into a gentle and strong embrace, the way he had hugged her in WGM on their last day. 

 

"You got me worried sick." He mumbled in her hair. He hadn't let go of her yet, as if backing from her was like waking up from a very nice dream. 

 

And if this was one of the many nice dreams Seohyun had had since she got to the hospital, she would not want to wake up.

 

The door opened, revealing Tiffany and Hyoyeon. Yonghwa broke away hastily, almost forgetting to lay Seohyun back gently. 

 

"JUHYUN-AH!" It was Tiffany, her high

Pitched voice filling the room. She ran to their maknae and threw her arms around her, hugging her tight. She kept muttering thank God thank God for so long Seohyun had to tell her she must breathe. Hyoyeon did the same in knocking out Seohyun's breath but she was ultimately happy to see them again. 

 

"We were so worried." Tiffany said, placing her hand over their maknae. Hyoyeon did the same to her other hand, as both her unnies sat on either side of her bed. Momentarily, Yonghwa was forgotten and was left on the side, smiling as he watched Seohyun talk to the people closest to her. 

 

Finally, Tiffany had the honor of telling her the story, of how she fainted during their performance, of how Yonghwa had carried and drove her to the hospital, - which made Seohyun frown, realizing she and Yonghwa had played dumb on lying to each other, but didn't dare mention it - and how her brain had a temporary shut down for two days. Tiffany was almost breathless as she finished the story.

 

Seohyun rubbed her temples that gave her unnies a worried look. She smiled at them. "I'm feeling better now." She managed to say. 

 

"Don't try lying to us." Hyoyeon blurted out. "We know when something's wrong with you so don't make an effort of making us feel comfortable when all of us know what the truth is." 

 

She's right. There was no point in hiding if they all know each other too well. Either way, she smiled at the thought of it. 

 

Tiffany noticed Yonghwa like she just remembered they were four in the room. She tried to suppress a smile. "Oh, yes, of course." She stood. "You see, Yong here, your night in shining armor has been visiting you ever since for almost..." She paused then shrugged, "all the time. Well, off we go, we still have early schedules for tomorrow, uh, I mean, later." 

 

Before Seohyun could speak, both her unnies left the room like lightning, their faces, plastered with evil grins. 

 

--

 

The next minutes turned to a staring game and as obvious as it was, Yonghwa lost. He just couldn't stand Seohyun's stare because it was what unsettles him all the time.

 

Despite her 2 days of not waking, her eyes were very clear like the stars. No matter how dim the room was, her eyes seemed to stand out. And he liked it so much he could just sit there and look at it. 

 

But this case was different. He can tell that Seohyun was mad at him. 

 

"You lied." She said, her eyes unwavering. 

 

"So did you." Yonghwa replied. He disliked having fights with her as much as he like staring at her. "It was the first time I lied." He paused, controlling his breathing. He still wasn't well, but he had managed to sneak out of the dorm to visit her. She was more important than anything else he could think of. "How many times did you lie to make me feel better? How many times have you said you were okay but really not? How long has that been going?" 

 

Yonghwa regretted saying it when he saw all the remaining color in Seohyun's face fade. "Look, sorry, I didn't mean to sco-"

 

She held out her hand to motion him to stop. She inhaled and composed herself. "Maybe from the very first time I decided to look out on you." She said calmly, an answer to his questions. "When I saw you that night, Yonghwa, God, I just know I had to take care of you. I.." She breathes out, suddenly struggling for air. Yonghwa was too stunned to move and even more stunned when Seohyun started talking again. "I can't help it." 

 

It was what he had said earlier. Both of them can't help it. They care for each other so much they forgot to think about themselves. 

 

Seohyun shrugged. "If the tables were turned, you'd do the same for me." She smiled. "Here you are now." 

 

He took her hand as he sat on the bed. He wanted to be close to her as possible, as if to confirm that she's real. "I hate that you know me too much." 

 

They shared the comfortable silence only they could understand. After all, they were at the moment they wanted the most - to be together.

 

"How will we deal with it?" Seohyun asked, breaking the silence. He looked at her expectingly. "You know what I'm talking about." 

 

Still, he didn't speak. He was thinking of it all the time. He was anxious to bring it up, as if the news were some grenade that would blow up the only good relationship he and Seohyun have. It was the least thing he wanted to lose. 

 

"You're asking me?" He said finally. "I'm the one who always messed up. I think you already know what to do. And I want you to tell me what it is."

 

"I may also hate that you know me too well." She sighed. "What is this anyway?" She gestured our hands. "What is 'us'?" 

 

Yonghwa felt like Seohyun had just punched him in the face. What is us? She had asked. What are they really? Even him, he didn't know. Part of him wanted to say that they never really broke up in WGM, but another part of him scolds him that there really wasn't something between them, since they were just a 'make believe' couple in WGM and an "I-do-not-know-" relationship status after 4 years. He wished Seohyun wasn't as smart as she was.

 

She squeezed his hand. "Oppa." Her voice was softer than before, like she had trouble in talking. 

 

"Seohyun-ah, are you okay? Do you want to rest?" Yonghwa started to move, but Seohyun stopped him, waiting for his reply. 

 

"Well, What do you want 'us' to be?"

 

She looked worried. Yonghwa regretted asking her. He knew she'll overthink everything. He gave her brain another reason to shut down. Great going Yonghwa. "I.. I'm not sure." She whispered than say. 

 

"I was a coward, Seohyun. I could've - we could have been together for the past years. I wanted to be with you so much it scared me that if I asked you to, you'll reject me. I didn't know it until that night. I didn't know we still felt the same until I saw it for myself." He noticed her taking all his words seriously, her head bobbing as she understood and she smiled when he paused. "I don't want to remake my mistake. I don't want to be a coward. I don't want to waste the next years of my life wasted knowing that we can't be us. And I can't afford to lose you again." He finished with a sigh, trying not to look at her eyes. 

 

"Do you trust me?" Yonghwa asked, leaning his face closer to hers. 

 

There was silence. Not the comfortable silence they had had minutes ago. This silence carried tension that had worried Yonghwa if Seohyun hadn't spoken.

 

"I trust you." She said.

 

He let out a long breath. He didn't know he was holding his breath all the time. All the tension, pressure, stress and pain inside him vanished. 3 words have never made him feel so much better. 

 

He leaned closer and closer, and gave Seohyun a kiss on her forehead. He was slow and careful, trying to be respectful to her. When he pulled away, she smiled with her eyes closed. Slowly her breathing was even and he realized that she had fallen asleep. 

 

"Then I'll have to wait here 'till tomorrow."