I think computer viruses should count as life. I think it says something about human nature that the only form of life we have created so far is purely destructive. We've created life in our own image.

Unfortunately for Chanyeol, she wasn't on the bus the next day. No matter how long he waited, she never appeared at her stop. He didn't have time to come find her this time, though, because he had to catch up on his classes after the day before, when he didn't actually make progress on his project when he said he would.

To double his bad luck, she wasn't on the bus back, or even the bus the next morning. It was as if she was either avoiding him, or something worse.

Her father wasn't trying to kill her, right? She wasn't kidnapped again, was she?

Due to his paranoia, he soon found himself at her doorstep on Saturday, another free day, pressing the doorbell.

CHEN: How many have you used so far?

S4INT: Neves dnuora.

CHEN: That doesn't sound good. Have you done anything about it?

S4INT: Srotcod tsurt t'nod I tub, ti rof ffuts edam ev'i.

​CHEN: Yet you trust a random stranger you found online once. That's smart.

S4INT: I ma, liaj ni ton m'i?

CHEN: True. It doesn't mean someone isn't tracing you now.

Seung looks at the separate monitor from her lab top, white symbols flashing on a black background as it sets up a firewall.

S4INT: Erus ytterp.

She leans back and starts to unroll a roll of toilet paper, blowing her nose into the wad and stuffing it into a spare grocery bag she was using as a portable garbage. She rubs her temple as she waits for Chen to respond, wondering where Yoora went for groceries. Knowing her sister, she probably went to Goodwill and repeatedly used their hand sanitizer dispenser until she felt clean.

It wasn't her fault she developed a sickness after being in the rain. It started with a sore throat, but when she was freezing cold and couldn't be bothered to leave the bed, it took a 101.2 degree fever to convince her to rest while Yoora tried to act motherly, which she failed at.

The next night, however, was filled with fever nightmares. She would wake up every five minutes because some random person kept making her solve unbeatable equations and it would make her rise to half-consciousness, shivering and wishing she would die to end the torture. When she went to sleep long enough, she had a dream that she went to high school and sat down at the lunch table, only to pass out and be taken home by Yoora, who accused her of planting ants in the basement. Their hills were all over the walls and even on the ceiling. Afterwards, they went to a farm and Yoora made a child cry, to which Seung jumped in and promised that they would play a game next time and then she was trapped inside a bouncy house by a gang who would throw her against the walls and wouldn't stop.

Let's just say, she isn't looking forward to sleep tonight.

CHEN: What has the computer geek done this time?

S4INT: Keeg gnillac uoy era ohw?

She sneezes painfully and she feels burn, tightening the grip on the blanket draped across her shoulders. It was too cold in the house, not to mention the fact that it wasn't sunshine and rainbows outside either. She could only wait until Yoora came home, or decide to get up and make muffins again, or something to heat up the house.

The doorbell rings and she gives off a cough that makes her wince, feeling like she scraped the entire length of her esophagus.

He couldn't hear anything from inside. Was that a good sign? Maybe she wasn't home after all, and she just was avoiding him. Sure, it was better than being in danger, but it didn't help his confidence in their friendship.

No, he could hear something faint. It was alike to a scraping noise, but it also sounded like something, or someone, was being dragged. Chanyeol turns his hands into fists and keeps them by his side until the meticulous sounds of the lock being slowly opened hit his ears and the door opens a crack, revealing a brown eye.

"Hello?"

Her voice was thick and rough, definitely not normal. At first, he didn't recognize her, but she opened the door more and narrows her eyes, nose red and hair mussed beyond control.

"Chanyeol?" She croaks. With a shiver, she steps away from the open door and Chanyeol rushes inside, planning on embracing her or some other dramatic reunited cliché,  but instead grabs her shoulders to get a better look at her once he realized she didn't look good.

Her skin was paler than normal, except for the redness around her nose, and her eyes were glassy. He places a large palm across her forehand and gasps.

"You have a fever." He worriedly mumbles, kicking the door shut.

"Chanyeol, what are you doing?" She asks when he starts to lead her back upstairs and towards the living room. He has to tear his gaze away from her free hair. It's the first time he's seen it down and not either up in a pony tail, or forcefully curled from heat and hairspray. 

Seung lets him drag her over to the couch and lay her down, taking the closest blanket and laying it over her. She shivers and he looks up, wondering what to do next. He takes out his phone and quickly dials the house, walking in a circle. Seung weakly looks at him and produces a roll of toilet paper in her hands, ripping a section of paper off and blowing her nose into it.

"Hello?" 

"Kyungsoo! Help! Seung's sick!" Chanyeol cries into the phone. Seung makes a noise from the couch and narrows her eyes again. She didn't want him fussing over her.

"How sick?" Chanyeol wasn't there to witness it, but Kyungsoo actually dropped the mail in his hands at the first thought of someone being hurt.

"Uh, she has a fever, and nose stuff. Seung, what's wrong?" He asks, placing his palm over the microphone on his phone to look down. She closes her eyes and covers her face with the blanket in annoyance.

"I'm on it." Kyungsoo replies. The phone goes dead and Chanyeol pulls it away from his face to kneel by Seung until she slowly uncovers her head and stares at him.

"Kyungie's going to bring you stuff." He whispers. She huffs as much as she can with a stuffed nose and frowns.

"Why are you helping me?" She asks.

"Because I care about you."

"Why do you care about me?"

"Why not?" 

Seung goes silent, yawning widely and snuggling in the blankets more, shivering still. Chanyeol gets back up to his feet and starting to walk around the house. He texts the address to Kyungsoo and searches for blankets, stumbling on a closet filled with them. He avoids the room with a snoring man inside and brings the blankets back, covering her shaking body with them until she stopped trembling from the cold.

Rethinking on what his mother did for him when he was sick, he goes into the kitchen and wets a washcloth with cold water, coming back and folding it. When he places it on her forehead, she scrunches her nose up and looks him in the eye.

"What are you doing?" She asks. He runs his hands across the blankets on her body absentmindedly and smiles softly.

"Taking care of you."

"Yoora should be home soon." She replies, blinking her eyes. On cue, the door starts to open and Chanyeol races to the top of the stairs, excitedly looking down on the woman entering the house with bags hanging from her hands. She stops and looks up at him with a confused expression.

"Who are you?" She asks. Chanyeol runs down the stairs, almost tripping, and grabs her arm to drag her back up and over to Seung, pointing at her.

"Save her!" He demands. Yoora shifts the bags to the other hand and shakes it to relieve the s