[Nikki’s POV]

“Hey, stop spying on them…” I told Jackson for the nth time as he kept on trying to listen to Mark and Mia’s conversation through the wall separating the kitchen from the living room.

“Fine… fine…” He finally said, the two of us slumping our butts on the chairs in the dining area. “But I didn’t really expect to hear that question from Mark hyung. It just sounded so cool.” He giggled adorably on my right. “Maybe I should learn from him.”

“Why? Do you have someone you like right now?” I asked. The red lipstick mark on his left cheek continued to make him look charmingly hilarious.

“Ya. There are so many beautiful girls all over the world. It’d be weird if I don’t like anyone right now.” He said.

“You’re such a player.” I chuckled at his bluntness.

“I’m just trying to explore my masculinity.” He said.

“What the?! Hahahaha.” I laughed uncontrollably.

“Shhhh…” He subconsciously placed his right index finger on my lip… again! “Stop laughing so loud. They could hear you from here. You would ruin their moment.”

I slowly swallowed the lump on my throat and just awkwardly nodded my head submissively. He instantly removed his index finger as soon as he kind of noticed me being a bit uneasy.

And then I faked a cough. “Hey, maybe we can untie this one and tie it back later. They won’t know.” I suggested. His skin touching mine for almost half an hour now has been seriously sending me into a string of weird thoughts and bizarre bodily sensations. I could even feel his biceps muscles through his thin gray shirt. The night is unusually cold even indoors, but I could honestly feel some cold sweats running down my spine. This is just beyond crazy.

“Eyyy. Weren’t you told that it’s bad to cheat? Let’s just endure this one until midnight.”

“Midnight? What?!” I stared at the wall clock. It hasn’t even hit the 11 o’ clock mark yet.

“Why? Does this make you uncomfortable?” He asked.

“Why? Doesn’t this make you uncomfortable?” I asked back.

“I like it. It’s cold and my jacket’s still wet.” He stated.

“What? What’s your point?” I asked with creased eyebrows.

“You’re jinjja slow. Body heat, Nikki. It’s body heat.” He uttered casually.

I froze for a second or maybe, forever. Body heat? What does he even mean by body heat? I mean, I know what body heat is. But what is he trying to imply? My mind is literally going crazy that I could not think of anything that makes sense at the moment.

And just then, I felt him shiver. I just realized that his skin feels abnormally hot on my skin. Maybe it’s because my insides also feel so hot at the moment that I didn’t notice it right away. Something feels wrong and I am kind of worried.

“Hey Wang Kong, are you okay?” I asked anxiously.

His body continued to shiver. And I was suddenly caught off guard when he clasped his left hand with my right hand, our fingers intertwined. He then placed both of his arms across his chest, embracing himself. And naturally, my right hand, the one tied together with his left hand, was caught in between his arms. “It’s so cold.” He weakly replied; his eyes were kind of lost.

“Ya. You’re hot.” I said as I placed the back of my left palm on his forehead.

“I know. I’m Jackson Wang. Wild and y.” He forced a light chuckle.

“Ya. Stop joking. You’re sick!” I said and immediately attempted to remove my right arm from his embrace so I could untie the handkerchief. But he was so strong.

“Ya. What are you trying to do?” He asked.

“Hey. You can sleep on my bed and take a rest. I’ll just share the bed with Mia.

“Really?”

“Yeah. But let’s untie the handkerchief first so I could prepare a cool towel for you.” I said.

“Hey, I’m okay. It’s no big deal. I’ll just hydrate myself and then I’ll be fine.” He said. My right arm was still stuck on his strong embrace. Does he even realize what he’s doing to me right now? I could drown myself into a thousand crazy thoughts at the moment with this torturous skinship but then, I am also unexplainably worried with his current condition.

“Ya. Wang Kong, I know you’re the touchy kind of person but don’t overdo it to me. I might get the wrong idea.” I bluntly said.

I waited for him to respond but he just continued to shiver. His eyes were now closed and I suddenly noticed that his lips were becoming pale. I panicked in my head.

“Ya. Wang Kong!” I slightly shook his body using my arm which was trapped between his arms. “Wang Kong!”

“Ya. Don’t be so loud. You’ll disturb M&M.” He weakly muttered with eyes still closed and head leaning on the chair.

“M&M?”

“Mark & Mia. M&M.” He briefly answered. I let out a small laugh from his quirkiness.

“Fine. Let’s just go quietly to the bedroom. You should rest.” I said and dragged him up with all the energies I could gather. He meekly surrendered to my persistence and the two of us silently made our way to the room without having to pass by the living room. As soon as he was sitting on my bed, I immediately untied the handkerchief so that I could prepare a cool towel for him.

“Ya. Take a rest or else, I’ll call M&M.” I said.

“Fine, fine.” He obliged and crashed his body on the bed. “Whoah. This feels nice.” He said, forcing a smile.

“You may use my blanket.” I said and the heater. “I’ll go get some medicines for you.” And then I left the room.

When I returned, Jackson was already sleeping. I sat on a space on the bed which could actually accommodate two people and gently erased the lipstick mark on his cheek using a wet tissue. My hand was seriously shaking while touching his divine face. It’s still a wonder that I got to become this close to this Hongkong-born swagger. When his cheek was already lipstick-free, I slowly placed the wet towel on his forehead.

“Ya. Wang Kong. Don’t overwork yourself. Your health should still come first.” I said. I was not sure if he could still hear my musings but I continued to talk anyway. “You don’t have to continue proving yourself to everyone else. You’re already amazing just the way you are.”

And just when I thought that he was already in a deep sleep, I heard him murmur, “Thanks.” And a faint smile was plastered on the corner of his lips.

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[Mia’s POV]

“Do you hate it?” I slowly asked.

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