‘What do sick people eat?’

Convenience stores used to be Jinyoung´s favorite, a world where he could dive into its goods. The variety of snacks, meals, and instant noodles with diverse flavors was heaven. Usually, he would spend hours, starting with Shin Ramen, and dumplings with zero coke then. a dessert combo of ice cream and strawberry cake. However, He got stuck.

Right from the start, it seemed extremely tiring for someone who had never taken care of anyone other than his closest friend who taught him how to do so after multiple attempts. He was afraid that he would make the same mistakes again and could already see this happening based off of the products he was paying for.

‘This is harder than I expected.’ The dark-haired boy sighed to himself, carrying the tote bag he stole from his roommate in hand while his brown-leathered laptop bag was over his shoulder as he made his way to his sick partner.

‘You did this, so fix it.’ He repeated to himself. He walked down the warmly lit hallway that was calmer than his floor until he reached her room at the end. He knocked twice before turning the doorknob gently.

Sunlight, Vangogh posters, plants everywhere. Jisoo’s room was breathing, the opposite of his dull dark room. She lay snoozing peacefully, her braids of silk draped across her angelic face. Her small hand rested close to it on the white pillow. A wooden tray with papers with pink highlights, notes, an open calculator, and many colored pens rested next to her on the bed.

He cautiously placed his bags on the orderly bed, creeping closer to her. His arms extended out to reach the wooden tray while he glanced at her stirring from slumber; purring like cats and softly saying his name. This made him startle which wasn’t a part of his plan.

“Jinyoung?”

He should have stayed composed rather than recklessly dropping the tray on her injured leg or clumsily stumbling back, knocking over the untouched cold tea on the nightstand in an attempt to steady himself.

“.” He was panicking, his shaky hand grabbed the mug that spilled its drink on the nightstand and carpet. 

He snatched some white napkins to wipe out the mess he created; her hand collided with his helping. Their eyes met and Jinyoung swore that her calm bare face was angelic enough to dissipate his panic. He expected anger, annoyance, shouts, or punches in the face, not the opposite. 

The mind and heart weren't prepared for the warm smile and the worried brown eyes of an angel. Seconds ago, his brain was running from one flashback to another, but all the thoughts suddenly became one: to run his fingers through her hair, fixing the messy bangs. 

He expected to see her frown or slap him on the face for not answering her texts or calls for the past two days, but all he got was a silly question.

“What are you doing here, Jinyoung?”

“I’m taking care of you.”

“That’s my question. Why are you forcing yourself?”

“We have deadlines.” It was partially true because simply he wouldn’t tell her that he cared or came to fix things or to get rid of his guilt and worry combo.

She rolled her eyes. “If you care about them, you would have replied to my messages. I had to call Prof. Jun and Jihoon to push the deadline.” 

“They told me when I submitted our work on time,” Jinyoung said with a shrug, taking the dirty paper napkin from her hand, and collecting the others to throw in the bin.

“You did what? Are you summoned?” she asked in disbelief. “You should have at least replied that you would. I was worried for nothing.”

“About me or deadlines?” He chuckled.

“I hate you. Give me 10 minutes to go.” She huffed, her lips turning into a pout.

“You aren’t going anywhere, Mark’s order.”  He picked up the paper spread over the sheet and put it back on the lap tray before moving it to the white desk, putting everything in place.

“Mark’s?” opened wide, not believing that Mark’s name came out of his mouth without a hiss.

“Long story. Do you want to freshen up before we start?”   He ran his hand through his hair, asking.

“Oh, yes.” She let out an awkward cough, removing the bed cover with her healthy arm. He took closer steps toward her, giving out his hand, and bending over to reach her level. “Hold me,”

She looked up uncertainly, her small hand reaching his shoulder. Then his large one found its place around her tiny waist to pull her up. The peril of their closeness was overwhelming, with her body heat radiating to him as he escorted her to the bathroom. She seemed to cast a mesmerizing spell on him, making it difficult for him to focus on anything besides her. A different kind of panic, one that seemed better than the ones that hunted him day and night.

Jinyoung set the golden pan on the heater with enough water to bring it to a boil. He then got Mark's bag and took out two Shin ramen, kimbap, and egg bread; he placed these items on a tray. As soon as he heard the water bubbling, He added the yellowish, uncooked noodles, and the dried vegetables