*Sometime is late-September*

Ding dong.

“Ugh…”

Jiyong stirred from his fitful slumber, rubbing his eyes blearily.  He felt a little like he’d been hit by a truck but considering that he’d hardly been able to move for most of the previous day, this truck was slightly smaller and slower moving than the one he’d been hit with the night before.

That was an improvement, he supposed.

In fact, as he blinked rapidly and sleep began retreating in earnest, he noticed that his head might actually be clearing up somewhat.  No more throbbing headache. Less of the fog that had been hanging around his brain for the past 24 hours or so.

Dare he say he was starting to feel better?

Ding dong.

Jiyong jolted slightly (proving that though beginning to improve, the emphasis was on ‘beginning’).  He’d forgotten that it was the sound of a doorbell had been what initially drew him out of his sad afternoon sleep.

He’d been pretty sure he imagined it actually.

Not sure if Seungri was home or out, Jiyong waited motionless where he lay on the living room couch - having collapsed there after making a pathetic attempt at entering the kitchen to feed himself at some point in the morning - wondering who would be ringing his doorbell in the first place.

Not hearing any rustle of movement from the back bedroom, Jiyong was forced to assume he was alone and therefore annoyingly responsible for checking to see who had come to their house.

It was probably a staff member sent to check on him.  It was extremely rare for him to miss any work ever - he was fairly healthy in general, but even when he was sick it was rarely so bad that he would skip important schedules.  He was lucky in this case it hadn’t hit during promotion time and he had been able to have most of the day rescheduled but he had dipped out on his last meeting the afternoon before and skipped his language lesson entirely.

That was more than enough to earn him a checkup from one of the managers or coordinator noonas, especially if they knew that Seungri had schedules for the day.  Still, he had to dig deep to attempt to conjure up the motivation to drag his sorry self off the couch.

Besides, shouldn’t they all have his door code?  Maybe he’d just wait it out here without moving…

“Jiyong-ah?” a curious voice called from the other side of the door.

He unintentionally shot up into sitting position (an overreaction that did not help his sensitive head- or stomach for that matter). Caden?

He heaved himself off the couch and lumbered across the room rather gracelessly before he managed to fling open the door.

A startled and mildly concerned looking Caden stood waiting for him on the other side.  So he had been right.

Already exhausted from all the sudden motion, he leaned heavily on the doorframe for support effectively wedging himself between the door and his apartment before it shut in his face.

“Caden ssi, what are you doing here?” he asked in an attempt at his normal casual tone, but it was more than likely he simply sounded miserable.

“I came to check on you,” she responded, pulling the door open gently to ensure he didn’t fall forward. “I heard you were really sick, which wasn’t hard to believe since you missed class yesterday.”

She paused to look him over, expression turning mildly concerned.  It wasn’t until she began examining him more carefully that he was hit with the realization of how terrible he must look.  He was suddenly acutely aware of his unwashed face, overgrown facial hair, and insane bedhead. He rarely allowed himself to become so unkempt except in situations like this so he could only imagine it was a shock for Caden.

She, in contrast, looked great.  She must have finished with her English lesson for the day because she’d let her hair down to reveal her artfully messy mane (he noticed she tended to keep it pulled back when she worked) and thrown on a fitted sweatshirt and some fabric shorts (which she never wore while she worked).  She had nice legs, he noticed. They weren’t very long - because she was short - but that didn’t make them less nice.

“Ah, you poor thing,” Caden’s voice drew his attention back up to her face. “You look okay, but you just seem exhausted.”

Jiyong leaned into the door frame without responding, playing into the sad ailing patient a bit to garner further sympathy.  He doubted that he was very convincing but it appeared that Caden was willing to humor him in his desire for attention just this once.   twitched and she furrowed her brows in exaggerated concern in an attempt to cover it up.

“I heard you’ve been here alone all day suffering,” she declared, sounding surprisingly convincing. “After I finished class I ran out to the store to bring you some provisions.  Can I come in?”

“Of course, be my guest,” Jiyong breathed, still fighting to sound something resembling normal.  So far his stomach seemed to be holding solid, which he appreciated - the last thing he wanted to do was throw up all over Caden.  His head, however, was not appreciating his upright position.

The girl seemed to take notice of this as she maneuvered herself around him, careful not to let the door shut on him as she made her way inside.

“You’d better lie down,” she advised, reaching out to take his arm and slowly return him to the couch.  Jiyong knew he could have most likely made it back on his own, but he was more than happy to allow her assistance in this case.  He leaned into her probably a little more than necessary, but she was so nice and warm. He only hoped that he didn’t smell.

They made it back across the room to the couch where he immediately plopped down firmly, closing his eyes as his body readjusted to being horizontal once more.  He heard Caden wander into the kitchen and the noise of setting things down and getting situated before her footsteps quickly returned. There was a brief pause before she inquired,

“Your comforter is looking a little worse for the wear… plus it’s probably full of two days worth of germs.  Where do you keep your spare bedding?”

“Uh, over… it should be over in that back cabinet back there…” he mumbled, eyes still closed.  His body felt much better laying down, but it also made him long for sleep. He had been sleeping for almost 18 hours straight and he didn’t want to miss out on the rare opportunity to experience Caden’s company, so he fought to shake himself out of it.

By the time he managed to crack an eyelid, she had already returned - having somehow understood his vague directions - with a fresh comforter.  She quickly removed his ratty, used one, making him briefly self-conscious as he realized that he was clothed only in an old, junky tank top and sweats.  That only lasted a moment, however, as he was quickly tucked into the fresh, clean bedding. He watched Caden disappear with the old one, presumably to deposit it somewhere out of sight.  

It wasn’t until a few moments later when he suddenly heard water running that he realized that she was actually washing it for him.

“You don’t have to-” he called out weakly, pulling the fresh blanket up to his head comfortably.

“Don’t worry about it,” she responded pointedly before he could argue.  “I came to help.”

“Well thank you then,” he declared cutely, attempting some slight aegyo to cover up his slight bashfulness.

“I’m surprised your mom isn’t here, to be honest,” Caden announced thoughtfully as she returned to the living room. “You’ve mentioned that you’re close.  Plus I heard from the other members that you parents visit you pretty regularly.”

She stood behind the back of the couch, leaning onto the edge to look him over carefully.  By now, Jiyong had the comforter covering him entirely so that only his face showed, but her sudden presence caused him to burrow ever deeper which served to make her grin.

“She would come usually, but they just so happen to be off visiting my sister and nephew,” he informed her, voice slightly muffled by the sheer amount of fabric surrounding it. “I didn’t want to cut their time short over a little cold.”

“Hopefully that’s all it is,” Caden sniffed, instinctively reaching out to feel his forehead.  Jiyong instantly froze as she pulled the blanket back slightly and laid her hand over his head - first with the front of her hand, then the back, feeling around his face and neck.  He remained as still as possible, feeling that a single twitch from him would scare her into stopping. Her hands were cool and soft and actually felt really nice against his skin.

“You’re a bit warm,” she announced after a moment, retracting from Jiyong to his slight disappointment. “But you’re also under about 4lbs of blanket.  Have you gone to the hospital?”

He was a bit surprised that she’d asked that.  Whenever any of the members talked about going to the hospital when they were sick, their American friends were always surprised.  Americans never seem to go to the hospital unless they’re practically dying. He supposed that Caden must have been around long enough now to understand the difference.

“I didn’t want to bother anyone to take me over something so small,” he replied, becoming somewhat apologetic when her expression turned critical. “Everyone has schedules and all I wanted to do was sleep.  Plus, my parents would have probably come back if they heard I checked into the hospital.”

Caden let out a sigh that seemed balance between sympathy and annoyance.

“Well, luckily for you, sir, I’ve brought practically the entire pharmacy for your benefit,” she announced cheerfully.  “Let me grab some options.”

He watched as she bounded back into the kitchen and began rummaging through a few plastic bags that he hadn’t even registered seeing her with earlier.  After a solid minute of lots of fiddling around and shaking of containers Caden returned. She was holding several boxes and a big cup of water.

She set the glass down on the nearby table carefully, then adjusted the comforter to make room to sit down near his legs.

“Okay, it’s your choice,” she declared, reading over a few of the boxes carefully.  “I’ve combined as many as I can that won’t impair one another. I’ve got Chinese medicine, Korean medicine, and Western medicine.  I would suggest a careful combination of these three.” She held three already open pills out for him to take.

“What are they?” he asked half-heartedly, knowing he couldn’t be bothered to choose anything besides what he gave her.  He carefully maneuvered a hand out from the depths of the blanket.

“One is a general non-drowsy cold medicine for the symptoms, one is an anti-nausea, and one is supposed to be a general cure-all herbal thingy,” she explained, handing them over carefully.  Jiyong propped himself up on his elbow slightly as she retrieved the glass of water. Caden watched with satisfaction as he downed all three pills, happily replacing the water once he had finished.

“How do you feel?  Better?” she demanded, leaning forward in her excitement.

“I don’t think any medicine works that fast,” Jiyong pointed out with a grin as he resituated himself back into the couch.  He noted the way she gently grabbed his knee in her enthusiasm.

“Ah, that’s true,” she admitted, deflating ever so slightly and returning her hand to her lap.  

Jiyong was keen to keep her around as long as he could, but he was beginning to feel bad about appearing so needy.

“Well, it was nice of you to come check on me,” he began with a grateful smile. “I’m sure once the medicine kicks in I’ll be as good as new.”

“I’ll have plenty of time to find out,” she announced, slapping her hands onto her thighs before standing and making her way back toward the kitchen.

“Are you staying?” Jiyong called out, looking around at her retreating back in surprise.

“Obviously,” she called back, promptly disappearing from sight.

“You don’t have to-” he began, only to be cut off by the sudden reappearance of Caden’s face - and only her face - from around the corner looking rather unimpressed.

“I purposely came over here to make you juk since you’re all alone and sad,” she informed him to only mild protest. “Since you’re sick, it’s required.”

Her floating head disappeared once more and the mysterious rustling began in earnest.  Jiyong pulled the comforter completely over his face, hiding the satisfied smile that appeared against his will.  He had considered ordering some juk for delivery since he hadn’t managed to eat anything all day and his mom wasn’t around to make it for him.  Whether or not it actually worked to cure illness, it felt like it was impossible to recover from being sick without having juk at least once. All kids grew up being fed juk by their mothers.

In fact, whether or not Caden realized it, the act of having juk made for him felt a bit intimate - if it wasn’t your mom making it for you, it was usually your significant other.

He buried his face further beneath the fabric at the thought.  He was being too much, he knew. But he couldn’t help feeling a certain vibe from the situation.  He would probably have the same flutters from any of the girls he knew...

It didn’t help that he was most likely loopy from lack of nutrition and general illness.

Eventually, he emerged from his self-made cocoon, releasing his face and arms as he began to overheat slightly.  He carefully downed the rest of the water from the cup Caden had left, beginning to feel more revitalized.

He laid back casually, listening to the sounds of food being made and his guest moving around the kitchen.  At some point, she had begun humming to herself, ever so softly, and he listened to the tune so low that he couldn’t even make out the song but managed to comfort him somewhat nonetheless.  It suddenly occurred to him that this sort of scenario was normal, even common for most people his age. Yet he rarely experienced anything so domestic.

He wondered what Caden thought about it - if she thought twice about it at all.  He had long known her to be casual and uninhibited in her displays of affection with just about anyone she was close to.

He supposed that this came just as naturally to her.

Though he had previously been fighting to stay awake, as time went on he found the grogginess in his mind beginning to clear and the threat of sleep retreating as well.  The medicine actually seemed to be working.

Soon after, Caden reappeared holding a large bowl and looking victorious.  It smelled right. He had realized belatedly that he was surprised she knew how to make it at all.  He hadn’t realized that Caden could cook in general, let alone Korean food.

“Have you ever made juk before?” he inquired, curling his feet out of the way somewhat in case she wanted to sit again.

“Only once, but it turned out pretty decent that time,” she answered, eyes focused on the bowl in her hands to prevent any spillage. “Korean native approved - unless they were lying to me.”

She sidled up beside him, bending to place the food carefully on the table.  He couldn’t help but notice her legs again and fought the sudden urge to reach out and touch her despite her proximity to his exposed hand laying conveniently beside her on the couch.

He watched as she carefully laid out a napkin and silverware, purposely avoiding glances at the place where her shorts ended and her legs began.  As she straightened up, he finally allowed himself to offer an appreciative pat, making sure to aim for a spot all the way down around her knee. Caden shot him a quick grin before sitting back down on the couch beside his legs.

“It looks great,” he offered honestly, looking over the presentation before him.  It looked and smelled like typical juk which was promising. She nodded in agreement, immediately reaching over for the spoon that she had just set out.

“Are you going to feed me?” Jiyong asked, only half joking from where he lay.

“Only the first bite,” she answered sincerely to his mild surprise.  He felt his stomach flip-flop unintentionally. He was still being too much.

Caden quickly scooped up a spoonful of the porridge, careful to get include a little of the corn and green onions she had garnished it with.  He watched as she brought it to her lips, blowing gently to cool. Then she held it out to him with a cautious hand beneath it in case of spills.  Jiyong bit back a laugh as she instinctively opened as she offered the bite. He accepted it, taking an extra moment of pretend consideration as she waited eagerly for his verdict.

“Owah, it’s actually good,” he pronounced finally, laughingly catching her pretend swats as she pretended to be cross.

“Why are you acting surprised?” she demanded with a grin, replacing the spoon into the bowl carefully. “You doubted me?”

“No, no, not at all,” he assured her, sitting up properly now in order to continue eating. “I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the flavors are nice - strong but not overpowering.”  Caden nodded enthusiastically, tapping her nose knowingly.

“I’ve heard that foreigners tend to make it too salty so I was careful to avoid that,” she explained, clearly self-satisfied.

“Well good job then.  Success,” he teased, scooting up beside her to take another bite.

Now that he was finally starting to feed it, his stomach seemed to come alive with the realization of his true hunger, letting out an enormous growl.

“Aigoo, you've suffered a lot,” Caden crooned, doing her best ahjumma impression, reaching over to pat his stomach playfully. “Make sure you get your fill.”

Jiyong turned to her, dumbfounded, which set Caden laughing hysterically as she stood once again.

“Make sure you eat the whole thing,” she urged him with a goofy grin. “I’m going to go clean up.”

It wasn’t until she disappeared once more that he realized that he had actually stopped with his spoon halfway to his mouth in his surprise at her behavior.

He shook his head with a chuckle, returning to his food.  He listened to Caden clinking away merrily in the kitchen as she tidied up, appreciating the fact that sitting upright no longer seemed to make him feel like dying.

Just as he had begun digging into his porridge in earnest, his phone - which happened to be sitting forgotten on the table beside him - buzzed with a new message.  He glanced at the preview to see that the text came from a contact he’d added as ‘Her (*.*)’. The message was brief, simply a cute “Hi~” in Korean and again in Japanese.  He felt a brief rush of surprise mixed with a sprinkle of satisfaction.  It had been quite a few days since he’d last heard from his ‘friend’. They had been talking and occasionally meeting when their schedules and proximity allowed.  He was fairly certain he had been the one to initiate their last few conversations and he had been trying to draw back slightly to ensure that he wasn’t the only one invested in their interactions.  He had always favored the ‘push-and-pull’ (mildang) approach, but talking to a foreigner made it a bit harder to predict at times.

He decided against opening the message before he finished his food, setting his phone back down on the table gently.  Caden was humming softly in the kitchen again, the sound blending in with the opening and closing of his fridge and the rustling of plastic bags.

“Do you have enough to eat?” she called out suddenly over the sound of running water. “I can give you more while it’s still warm, otherwise I’ll pack it up for leftovers.”

“This should be enough,” Jiyong called back, downing another spoonful.

She didn’t bother to reply, simply continuing to clink and clank around his kitchen.

“Did you eat, Caden ssi?” he called out teasingly as he ate.  “Or are servants not allowed to eat with the master?”

He heard a derisive snort at this.

“Don’t worry about me,” she assured him from inside. “You’re the one who’s sick.  You should only be worrying about yourself.”

“Ah, fine, fine.  A sick person isn’t allowed to look after you, I get it,” he joked, punctuating his statement with another bite of juk.

“Isn’t that the truth,” Caden shot back, opening and closing cabinets noisily clearly looking for something.  “Where do you keep your tupperware?”

“It’s in the lower shelf beside the sink,” he answered cheerfully.  Again, the only response he received was more shuffling around as Caden set to getting the food put away.  She’d made herself right at home, hadn’t she?

Jiyong eventually finished up his food, laying back comfortably on the couch, feeling better than he had in the past few days.  He wasn’t sure if this was just some sort of placebo effect or if Caden was actually a miracle worker. Either way, he was enjoying the results.

Finally, Caden reappeared from the depths of the kitchen, dusting off her hands and looking quite satisfied with herself.  She quickly spotted his empty bowl, quickly making a beeline for it.

“Nice, you finished it all,” she declared, sounding pleased.

“I can-” he started, not wanting to force more dishes on her as soon as she’d finished.

“I don’t want to hear it,” she interrupted breezily, shooting him a conspiratory smile.

She reached down to grab the bowl at the precise moment his phone went off once more.  She glanced over at it for the briefest moment and Jiyong had to force himself not to snatch it up on the spot.

As soon as she was out of sight he instantly fumbled for the device, flailing clumsily at it from his place on the couch.

A second message.

‘It’s been a while’ in Korean followed by ‘You’ve been busy, haven’t you?’ in English.  He grinned slightly - she was making an effort.  It would be bad form not to respond now.

‘You could say that.  What about you? Weren’t you filming reshoots?’

He read over his message several times to ensure it was error-free before pressing send.  He was always extra paranoid about making mistakes in English, but he wanted to make chatting easier for her by using their shared language instead of forcing her to use Korean.

It wasn’t until he laid his phone down on his chest that he realized Caden was standing just inside the living room with her hands on her hips, looking around - presumably for more to do.

Trying to downplay his minor heart attack at her unexpected appearance, Jiyong yawned, stretching widely in what he hoped was a believable manner.

He hardly needed to have bothered, however, since Caden continued paying him zero attention.  She spared him the briefest glance to make sure he was faring well before taking off in the direction of the laundry room.

He let out an unintentional sigh of relief, wondering what he was even worried about.

He twiddled his thumbs for a moment, feeling slightly more restless laying on the couch doing nothing now that he was beginning to feel better.  He hoped Caden was planning on leaving the medicine she’d given him - he wasn’t keen to go back to suffering after experiencing comfort again.

His phone buzz on his chest and he glanced carefully over the arm of the couch in the direction of the laundry room before picking it up.

‘You remembered ^^. It had been over a week and felt like I was missing something… and I realized it was your messages.’

Jiyong felt his pulse quicken slightly as his lips curled up into a small grin.

‘Ah, I know.  It’s been too long.  I haven’t even looked at my phone in the past few days because I got sick. Luckily I didn’t miss a message from you then...’

He read it over once, twice, three times before hitting send.

“Texting your girlfriend?” Caden asked brightly, breezing past him out of nowhere as she wrestled his comforter over to the balcony to dry.  Jiyong nearly threw his phone in surprise, juggling it a few times before managing to regain his grip.

“W-what do you mean, aish,” he half grumbled, sitting up in a manner that he hoped (but ultimately doubted) appeared natural.  He dropped his phone back on the table, rubbing the back of his head in an attempt to clear up his discomfort.

“Well, it’s only because I doubt texting Seungri makes you smile like that,” she called back, startling him again with the unexpected response from outside.

He slapped his palm to his face, shaking his head back and forth roughly a few times to shake himself out of it.  What was she doing to him?

He decided the best course of action was inaction, so he kept quiet as he waited for her return determined to present a more casual front than he had managed thus far.

Return she did, grinning teasingly as she wandered over, resting her elbows on the back of the couch as she watched him expectantly.

Jiyong looked at her for a moment before turning away with a chuckle.

“Why do you feel the need to tease me over every little thing,” he accused, picking up his all but empty glass.

“Oh come on, when do I?” Caden protested mildly, leaning over to elbow him affably. “You tease me more.”

“I don’t know… is this any way to treat a sick person?” he shot back, examining the glass for a few moments before downing the last remainder of contents.

“Oh fair enough, I’m very sorry,” she conceded, bowing her head with a grin. “You seem like you’re actually doing better now -are you?”

“It seems that way,” Jiyong confirmed, happy to allow the conversation to turn toward safer topics.  “Your medicine really worked.”

“Yes, I knew it,” she declared proudly. “Just call me ‘Caden pharmacist’!”

He chuckled at this with a shake of his head.  Caden merely grinned, straightening to make her way around to the front of the couch.  Just as she made to sit down, his phone buzzed again. The muscle in his arm twitched in response but he somehow resisted reaching for the thing.

“Aigoo, now I’ve made you bashful, I’m sorry,” she pronounced jokingly. “Don’t hold back for my sake.”

“That’s not it,” he responded, proud that he’d managed to keep any hint of strain from his voice.

“If it’s really a girl, you should let me message her for you one time,” Caden announced in Korean excitedly before momentarily switching to English to add, “I make an excellent wing-woman.”  Jiyong snorted at her clear lack of tack, among other things.

“What does that even mean?” he responded, also in English.  He spoke the language decently, but he wasn’t fluent and he definitely didn’t know all of the slang terms.  He was currently imagining a bird woman, though he doubted that’s what she meant.

“It just means that I’m good at helping people date one another,” she explained with a grin.  She reached out and batted at him, goading his approval. “Come on, pretend I’m not your teacher.  We’re friends - I checked on you when you were sick, I brought you juk - you can tell me about your relationships, come on.  I’m curious.”

“It’s not a relationship,” he allowed, shrugging her off with an eye roll. “It’s just ‘some’ - we’re only getting to know each other.”

“Well that’s the most fun stage,” she declared, clearly excited by the admission. “The perfect time for me to ‘wing woman’.”

“No thank you,” he responded turning to bow stiffly in feigned politeness.

“Okay, you don’t have faith in my abilities, fine,” she joked, elbowing him again. “Then at least tell me about her.  How did you meet? Is she famous? Is she from another company?”

“Ah, I’m so tired suddenly.  Talking with you really wore me out,” Jiyong declared, pretending to yawn before flopping back down on the couch and pulling the comforter over his head so fast that he accidentally exposed his feet in the process. “I guess we’ll have to speak another time.”

“Oh come on, don’t be like that,” Caden teased, poking at his uncovered legs. “I’m just interested in your life!”

“Well stop it,” he mumbled, batting her away with his legs before attempting to nudge her off the couch.  She only laughed at this.

“Why don’t you tell me about your love life if you’re so keen to promote sharing?” he demanded from under the blanket.  Caden snorted.

“What love life?” she asked dismissively, clearly amused by his efforts to turn the attention onto her.  He popped his head out, shooting her a dirty look.

“Your doting college kid collection,” he shot back, tone coming out a bit more accusatory than he intended. “Go on ‘friend’, spill the details.”

“What about them?  They’re just my close Korean dongsaengs,” she responded, clearly trying her best not to simply laugh him off with an eye roll. “How else am I supposed to learn about normal life in Korea?  From the famous idols?”

Externally Jiyong just scoffed but upon hearing this, he realized how curious he’d actually been about Caden’s relationship with her new friends.  For some reason, he felt a bit relieved that it wasn’t anything serious. They’d already lost one good teacher to marriage after all.

“It’s normal to us,” he pointed out, only half joking.  “But fine - tell me all about your ‘normal’ college kids living their ‘normal’ lives.  Shed some light on my strange, awkward existence.”

“Okay, now you’re just being silly,” she accused mildly, shaking her head with a grin.  Jiyong tried not to laugh, doubling down on his attempt to keep the pressure on her.

“Wow, Caden ssi.  You claim to be ‘friends’ and interested in sharing each other’s personal lives… How can you be unwilling to share details about your boyfriends but expect me to talk about my girlfriend?”

Caden’s face lit up in utter delight.

“So she is your girlfriend,” she announced smugly, eyes bright with amusement.

It took Jiyong a few solid moments to realize that he’d managed to lose the upper hand entirely in one fell swoop.  Without really meaning to he slumped down, wedging himself in between the couch cushions somewhat.

“Teacher, come on,” was all he could manage, pulling the comforter over his face once more.

“Oooh, I must actually have annoyed you since you called me ‘teacher’,” she teased, rubbing the spot on the blanket where she assumed his face was.  He tried to push her off the couch with his legs again, this time with a bit more ferocity.

“Alright, I’ll stop,” she pronounced with a grin, attempting to bat his feet away.  When he didn’t immediately stop, she leaned back into the couch to keep from sliding off.

“I said I’ll stop!” she cried, sounding a bit surprised by his insistence.  When he finally gave up, she huffed a little in annoyance. Jiyong remained firmly, silently beneath his blanket.

“I’m sorry for bugging you about it so much, but what can I say?  I’m curious about your lives,” she informed him, poking at his upper body from outside the comforter. “Especially you, since we get along well but I rarely get a chance to learn any personal details.  Of course, there’s always fan speculation about who you’re with and who you’re interested in, and I could take part in that but it just doesn’t seem right as your teacher and personal acquaintance so I stay away from looking anything up online but there are just certain rumors that you can’t avoid and I have to say my natural curiosity sometimes gets the better of me and-”

Finally, her babbling got the better of him and he snapped upright, grabbing the hand that was still poking and prodding at him incessantly.

“Caden,” he barked, a bit harsher than he meant to.  He softened his tone before adding, “Did you only come here to tease me, or what?”

For once Caden was left in somewhat stunned silence, looking him over with a combination of reproach and repentance, unsure of how to respond.

As the moment dragged on, Jiyong began to noticed just how close he’d actually gotten to her.  He glanced down at her hand that he still held, loosening his grip somewhat to create a more comfortable hold.

As soon as he drew attention to it, Caden instantly snatched her hand away.

“What’s with the overreaction, jeez,” she blustered, quickly standing and moving around the arm of the couch. “Sorry for bothering you.”

Jiyong watched curiously as she brushed herself off in an attempt to look casual before glancing around at the kitchen, balcony, and back toward his laundry room.

“Well, it looks like you’re all taken care of now,” she announced, finally forcing herself to look back at him again. “Now that your blanket’s all washed, and you’re all fed, and you’re properly medicated, I’ll probably get going… Oh!  Speaking of medicated…”

She quickly turned and dashed into the kitchen, returning only moments later with a small paper bag in tow.  She placed it carefully on the table in front of him.

“These are the three pills I gave you,” she informed him carefully, pointing at the bag as if it wasn’t obvious. “You can take them every few hours up to 6 times a day.  Don’t go crazy.”

Jiyong grinned, shaking his head at this.  He was tempted to allow her pause to draw out, but he decided that she had done too much for him that day to start playing games.

“Thank you for everything, Caden ssi, really,” he said cheerfully, finding just the slightest bit of difficulty catching her eye.

“Of course, it’s nothing,” she pronounced, waving his thanks away as she casually retreated around the table.  She glanced at her watch, then at the door. “Like I was saying, it’s getting a bit late now so I’d better head home.”  She met his eyes once more, smiling slightly and sounding more like her normal, casual self.

“I’m glad you’re actually feeling better.  I wanted to help as much as I could,” she said, looking satisfied.  “Don’t push yourself to come to class tomorrow. Recovering takes precedence - you’ll eventually learn Japanese either way.”

“Thanks for the permission, teacher,” he responded with a small grin. “I rest and get better quickly.”

“I’ll be going then,” she declared, making her way toward the door.  “Remember, you have juk in the fridge and your comforter is drying outside.”

“Goodnight Caden ssi,” Jiyong called with a wave.  She shot him a smile and returned the gesture before disappearing out the door.

Jiyong sat for a moment, stuck in the same position he’d been in since sitting up.  Aside from the slightly odd exit and all of the silliness, he was glad Caden had come over.  He honestly felt like a completely different person than the one who’d passed out on the couch that morning.

He thought over the events of the visit once more, wondering whether he was really being too much with his overreaction.  He thought he was probably justified in being annoyed. She was the one who overreacted to his frustration…

Since when did Caden wear a watch anyway?

The random thought crossed his mind like a fly, buzzing past with no purpose.  He’d never seen her wearing watches before today…

He batted the thought away like he would a pest, turning to look at the medicine that she’d left.  He was certainly grateful for that.

As he looked, he noticed that he had a notification blinking on his phone.  That’s right- the text.

As expected, it was a response from Her.

‘Oh no!  You should have told me so I could come take care of you~’

Without meaning too, Jiyong grinned widely.  He paused, thinking carefully about how he should respond.  He raised and lowered his thumbs several times, mindful not to preemptively prompt the typing bubble.  Finally, he settled on,

‘I’m feeling better now.  Luckily I had some staff come and check on me… It saved you an airplane ticket ^^’

He sent it and got a response within about a minute.

‘It saves me some money but it would have been good to visit again.  I miss… Korea’

‘That’s funny, I was just thinking about how I miss… Japan’

‘Maybe it’s about time we plan a visit ｡^‿^｡’

Jiyong leaned back, covering his mouth to keep from smiling.  The feel of his overgrown facial hair brought a sudden and stark realization that dropped his mood down several levels.  He’d forgotten how terrible he looked - how terrible he must have looked the entire time Caden was there.

Ugh, no wonder she’d scrambled to get away from him when he snapped at her.  He couldn’t really blame her for reacting awkwardly when exposed to his ugliness so close up.

He sighed, feeling far more deflated than he had moments before.

At least he was feeling markedly better.  He could finally drag himself into the shower and begin to clean himself up somewhat.

The idea of a nice shower revived his mood somewhat and he stood, setting his phone back on the table beside his medicine.  He stretched, rubbing his hair tiredly before managing to stand up and make his slow, clumsy way to the bathroom.

Once he was clean he would at least be satisfied.

Clean body, clean sheets, and recovery - that’s would make him happy enough for now.

=====================================================================

A/N

Surprise!  I'm alive! *face palms*

I'm soooo sorry I disappeared for months at a time again... to anyone one out there who still follows the story/cares (there are probably none T_T).  The last time I posted, I truly believed I would continue finishing chapters within a few weeks.  But we all saw how that worked out, lol.

I do apologize to anyone who has been waiting.  You've probably given up hope now that I've done this like four times lol.  I am currently working full time and finishing me degree online so inspiration has not been hanging around as of late.

That being said, I very much hope you enjoy the chapter - finally back with GD after god knows how long ^^

I do have an idea for what I'd like to do with the next few chapters, and I'm going to do my best to keep cranking words out.  Fingers crossed for no more disappearing acts!

Let me know if anyone is still reading (lol) and what you think below!