I woke up with a massive headache and an aching pain on my right arm. My nose kept running and clogging up the air; my throat felt like as if I had ate a dozen packet of hot sauce. I tried clearing my throat a couple of times, but the more that I cleared it, the hotter it felt. I couldn’t find the will to stand up and get myself ready because all I wanted to do sleep. Turning onto my side, I stared blankly at the wall; confused and dazed. My breathing was starting to become longer and my vision started to blur. I closed my eyes and swallowed in a ball of spit, which was more difficult than it should have been. With a shake to my head, I re-opened my eyes and tried to force myself to sit up but as soon as I do, an echoed pain bounced within my skull. I lied back down and exhaled. I can’t be sick, can I? I asked myself as I placed the palm of my right hand on top of my forehead.

Beads of sweat made contact with my hand; a hot sensation burned from my head. A tightening squeeze ached within my throat, causing me to cough violently. I breathed heavily after seconds of the cough and quickly got out of bed to walk to the bathroom. I opened the cupboard above the sink and tried to look for a bottle of pills that would rid of my headache. I refused to acknowledge that I am sick—I never get sick. Grabbing the bottle, I walked out of the bathroom and towards my small kitchen. I poured myself a glass of water; then swallowed two pills and gulped it down with water. I closed my eyes and inhaled, this is nothing but a small headache. It’ll go away. Opening my eyes, my body wobbled for a couple of seconds, which I quickly try to balance myself. I decided that it was best I head back to my room and maybe lay down for a bit.

The last thing I remembered was falling onto my bed.

-

Prying open my lids, I found myself to be sweating from head to toe. My hand weakly lied atop my forehead, which was now burning at a hotter degree than before. My throat clenched as I swallowed back; I breathed heavily and slowly, trying to figure out what had happened to me—and what time it was. Turning my head to side—which gave me a huge headache for such a small movement—I noticed that time had passed by quicker than I thought! It was nearly 8pm. I began to panic for many reasons: one, I had missed school, and two, I missed the tutor session with Jaehyo. Of course, it wasn’t like I wanted to be at the session, I’m just sure that he would freak knowing that I didn’t show up. The only good thing was that I didn’t have to work today.

I sighed and closed my eyes. I could not deny the fact that I was sick now—better yet, I had a fever. Just as I opened my eyes, my phone started to ring—and I was sure I knew who it would be. With the amount of strength that I still had left, I reached for my phone—which sat beside me—and tapped on the screen without looking at it. As soon as I placed the device next to my ear, his panicked voice was heard on the line.

He breathed out my name, “Why weren’t you at school today?!”
“I overslept,” I replied, deciding to not tell him I was sick but I wasn’t exactly lying to him either.
“Overslept?” He repeated, “Did you not set your alarm?”
“Nope,” I answered, which my nose decided that it was going to give hint to Jaehyo by deforming the tone of my voice.
“You sound weird,” he said, “are you sick?”
I laughed, “Of course—” A sneeze wheezed out, “not.”
“Liar,” he clucked his tongue, “you’re sick, aren’t you?”
“Um…”
“You know it’s no use to lie to me,” Jaehyo cautioned, “I’ve spent a good amount of time with you, and can almost read you like a book.” I gulped and sniffed back. “I’m coming over—”
“Don’t,” I interrupted him, “I’m fine. I can get over whatever I have, alright?”
“But—”
“Look, there’s no need to get yourself involved with me. I can take care of myself.” I assured him, “I’ll be in class tomorrow to prove it that I’m okay.”
Jaehyo sighed, “Fine,”
“Bye,” I said and hung up. Placing a hand on my forehead, I exhaled and closed my eyes. Hopefully this fever goes away tomorrow. I can’t miss class tomorrow or else I’ll be too behind on homework.

-

I stared blankly ahead, unconscious at the fact that the teacher had started class and began to lecture. My mind was lost. I couldn’t concentrate at all this morning. The minute I woke up, all I wanted to do was sleep again. But instead, I forced myself to get ready because I wanted to show Jaehyo that I was fine. And I was fine—to say the least. With a sigh, I leaned back and lightly shook my head, hoping that it would wake my brain up.

“Alright, your assignments are posted online; you guys may leave.” The professor announced. Sounds of chairs being pulled back filled the air and soon the rise of chatter deafened all noises. I leaned forward and sat in my seat for a couple of seconds before realizing that I needed to get out of the classroom.
“You look sick,” Jaehyo commented. I looked up and squinted at his face as he leaned down. “You didn’t even show up for our tutor session this morning.”
I internally gasped and stiffened, “R-Right, I was running late.”
“I noticed,” Jaehyo said as his face stopped just a few inches before me, “don’t tell me you got sick after we ran to your house from the rain.”
I sniffed; I hadn’t thought about how I had gotten sick, but since he brought it up, it did make sense. Clearing my throat, I began to gather my things, “It’s none of your concern of how I got ‘sick.’” I said, “I’m fine now.”
“You don’t look fine at all,” he shook his head, “I bet you didn’t even know what the teacher was lecturing about.”
“Of course I do,” I frowned, “he… was talking about parabolas,”
Jaehyo snorted, “He mentioned that word once,”
“Well, I got the word right.”
He laughed, “When’s your last class today?”
“2pm,” I answered nasally—and casually.

“Where is it located?”
“Building M,” I softly yawned and stood up from the chair. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to find some place to sleep before I head to my next class in 30 minutes.”
“Hey, how about I take you to Hana’s place? She lives in an apartment just two-to-three minutes away from here. You can take a rest there—”
“No thanks, I’ll just go to the library,” I waved a hand at him, “I would be an inconvenience to her.”
“No you wouldn’t,” Jaehyo grabbed my arm, “she wouldn’t mind a thing.”

I sighed annoyingly, “Do you not see the looks she gives me when she sees me?” I asked; though I knew that I shouldn’t have blown up on him—which was partially due to the fact that I was really tired—I did anyways. “She hates my guts; she hates seeing me with you because… because she’s probably still in love with you and you’re dumb to not notice it!”
Jaehyo raised his brows, “You don’t think I notice?”
I scoffed and tried to jerk my arm away, but Jaehyo tightened his grip, “Let go,”
“I notice every look she gives you, but saying that she still loves me is wrong.” He exhaled, “She’s my childhood friend whom only looks out for me.”
I snicker, “You’re dumber than I thought.” I freed my arm from him and walked out of the classroom. But the minute that I exit the classroom, a rush of nausea hit my head and I stopped to calm it down. It seemed that talking to Jaehyo took a lot of energy out of me. Without looking back into the classroom, I headed for the library.
 

author's note; thanks for reading!!!