agreement

"Ya, will you be okay?" the leader asked their main vocal with apparent concern.

Eunji made okay sign with her hand, trying to save her voice as directed by the doctor.

"I know you too well by now that you will not agree on canceling the schedule, so I won't waste my energy on that. So at least take care of your health, all right?" Chorong handed her a thermos.

Eunji took a sip and made a heart with her hands for the honey-lemon their leader had prepared.

"Yah, don't forget to take your medicines!!!" Chorong yelled as Eunji rushed out of the door.

Although she put up a strong front in front of others, Eunji was feeling like she could drop dead at any moment. Jetlagged from the fifteen hours flight back from early this morning, her body ached because of the long flight and too was sore from daily concerts. Adding to that, she seemed to have caught cold from the air conditioning on the plane. To sum it up, she felt like a living corpse.

If only she got some sleep, she could at least feel like a human but sadly she didn’t have time. She had agreed to this schedule before hand, so she didn’t want to disappoint anyone by pulling out at the last moment. It was just some meeting, so she didn’t even have to be in her best condition. Telling herself to endure for just few more hours, she popped in a medicine while getting driven to the company. She was just about to fall asleep when they reached their destination.

"Oppa, why are we here and not in our office?" Eunji asked, while trying to adapt her eyes to the brightness outside.

"ACube office is undergoing some construction, so it will be on CUBE office today. " he explained as he parked the car expertly.

Eunji went and sat down on the lobby while manager oppa tried went to reception to ask about her schedule. However, he came to her with frown in his face.

"Eunji ya, it seems like people whom we were supposed to meet are delayed by few hours. Do you want to go back to dorm to rest or stay here and wait?"

She would have gotten a bit mad on other days, but today she didn’t even have energy for that. The trip to their dorm was too long to her liking, and remembering there was a cozy sofa in some room in this building, she made up her mind to crash there while waiting.

"Oppa, I'll wait here. I'll be in one of the rooms. So call me when they get here okay?"  After getting a nod, Eunji headed off in search of the sofa.

She opened several rooms, and it was at the end of corridor that she found the room with the sofa. She went in, her mind too fuzzy to care if this room belonged to anyone.

Her eyelids felt heavy, and the last thought she had before she fell asleep was about it was the medicines that were making her this sleepy.

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

"Aren't you coming?" Junghyung was called out by Doojoon.

"I am…" Junhyung searched around his pocket and let out a groan.

"Ya, you go ahead and wait for me in the lobby. I forgot my car keys in my studio."

"Arasso, hurry up. We will end up missing the show otherwise."

Junhyung nodded and hurried up to his studio.

He opened the door to his studio that was engulfed in darkness. He didn’t even bother turning on the light as he knew exactly where he had put his keys, and he knew the room inside out.

That is why he wouldn’t have noticed her presence if not for the sweet smell he had come to associate with her in past few years.

"Eunji?" He called out tentatively, but there was no reply. Thinking that she must have dropped by when he wasn't here, he was going to head out but stopped in his track after he heard a cough followed by a moan.

"Eunji ya?" he called out worriedly, heading to turn on a dim light.

With lights on, he could now see her sleeping in the sofa in fetus position. Nervous for some reason, he went over to the sofa, but all thoughts flew away as he took in her pale and sweaty face.

He placed his hands on her forehead to confirm what he already suspected. Fever. He searched around the room in panic, and wished he had kept more stuffs in his room. In the end, he went to cafeteria and brought back some ice and made ice pack for her.

"Eunji ya, drink this.." he tried to make her drink some soup he brought back from the cafeteria, but she was too deep asleep.

"Eunji, wake up for a while.." he shook her gently, and it seemed to have worked because she opened her eyes groggily.

"Jun…hyung oppa?" she cupped his face in confusion.

"Here, drink some soup.." he helped her into sitting position, and he knew exactly when she became conscious. She dropped her hands from his face immediately.

"You shouldn't be here." She told him coldly.

"Here, I'll go after you drink this." He handed her the soup, telling the lie to make her drink. He wasn’t planning on leaving her till her fever settled down. He had forgotten about Doojoon totally, so he messaged him telling he wouldn’t be able to make it today and something important came up. It was a movie he wanted to watch, but she was much more important than any movie.

She was right. He shouldn’t be here. Actually, he shouldn’t be anywhere with her alone. She knew that too. It wasn’t spoken, but it was something they had been doing for past one and half year. They avoided one another to the maximum. That had to be done, because being alone with her….was so good…. and dangerous. After being scarred by the public relationship with a celebrity, he promised to himself that he will never let him be in that position again…. But she made him want to break the rule.

He snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Eunji..to find her staring at him with raw longing in her face. She hid it under cold mask the moment their eyes connected.

“You shouldn’t be here,” she repeated her previous sentence which now sounded even colder.

A weak smile visited, Junhyung knew she didn’t mean it. It was something they had agreed with, it’s understandable. After all, he was the one who made her to become like this, to be this cold towards him. It was all because of him.

“I know,” he said weakly, but staying still.

She looked away, avoiding any more contact to his body. It would be much better if she wasn’t sick, at least she could just leave without much difficulty. It was hard, being next to him, it brought all the pain she wished she could brush away. It never really left her, she wondered why. As he told many times before, he strongly made a wall and she agreed with it, they had to. But it wasn’t an easy task. It hurt, and she hated herself for having this slight feeling.

To be honest, he’s cruel, by staying here. He should have known that it’s hard for her but he didn’t even move from his seat.

“Then go,” she eventually made it clear. Eyes lingered on a blur object in front of her. She wasn’t sure if it’s because of the fever, her vision got worse, and her voice too was a bit trembling. No. She wasn’t … crying, no, she was. She didn’t even realize she lost some tears.

Thank goodness the light was dim enough to cover the tears, she immediately wiped it, didn’t want Junhyung realizing it.

“I can’t,” he replied. It’s just for a second, but his words were more than enough to flatter her. She looked up, wondering if he genuinely cared. But then he continued, “I will, but finish this first, and I’ll call your manager.”

Of course. She silently commented.