"Oh, hello there dear. How are we feeling today?" a middle aged nurse was checking all the monitors around him and adjusting his IV accordingly.

Originally he was only supposed to stay overnight, but his flu proved persistant and ravaged his exhausted body, turning into pneumonia. He would have gone crazy being stuck in this tiny sterilized prison if not for Hanbin. Of course, Hanbin wasn't doing it out of the goodness of his heart, rather his parents, who were in the States and couldn't very well abandon their jobs to come running over half the world for a stuffy nose, guilted Hanbin into taking care of him. And so he had done, very conscientiously.

Bobby could hardly believe it. Hanbin had come after work every single day, doting on him as if he was the prince of some unpronounceable country. He had even started stopping by before work too, annoyingly making sure he ate his breakfast. Oddly, Bobby didn't hate having Hanbin around so much. Quite the contrary, he was starting to look forward to seeing him.

"Professor Kim, have you seen him yet?" he asked the nurse hopefully.

"Oh, hon, he just left, you must've missed him by only a few minutes. But he left strict instructions for us not to let you eat only the good stuff, but to make you finish the whole tray." she giggled. Bobby sighed. Every morning they had served his absolute least favorite side dish, steamed broccoli, on Hanbin's orders mind you. He had gotten it in his head that this was the way and the only way to get him better in the fastest way possible. He was probably tired of having to take care of him, trying everything to get out of it as quickly as he could. That thought shot through his chest like a poisonous arrow and a familiar war started in his brain.

If Hanbin didn't want to be around him, would he have said what he said that night? Thinking about that moment caused his insides to dissolve into butterflies. It wasn't real, he told himself. It had been an hallucination, caused by the heavy dose of flu meds he had been given, he tried to convince himself for the millionth time. His stubborn brain was refusing to listen to reason. It had felt so real. It still felt real. Bobby heard Hanbin's voice whispering in his head, 'because I'm not allowed to like you'. He got goose bumps.

But even if it had only been the delirium conjuring up this impossible scenario, why this scenario? Why not imagine himself wowing the prettiest girl in school? Had Hanbin been right all along, was he.. that kind of person? Had he been acting out something that was buried so deep in his subconscious that not even he knew about it? Did he have feelings for Hanbin? A knot started forming in his stomach. But on the other hand, dreams could be absolute bull, so wouldn't the same go for hallucinations? Or maybe it had been the incarnation of his desire for Hanbin to stop bullying him and his need to fit in. Yeah, that sounded intelligent, right? Like something a therapist would say?

He wasn't sure. The only thing he was sure about was that he didn't want this to end. Sure, he wanted to get better, which he was doing a little too quickly. But would Hanbin pay this much attention to him after he was discharged? Not a chance. Okay, they still had the song to finish, but it wasn't the same. Work-Hanbin was really serious and focused. He admired him greatly, but he couldn't deny that he kind of preferred this new, sweet Hanbin more. And what would happen when the song was ready? Would they just never see each other again? Bobby could feel his chest turning blue, starting to miss him when he wasn't even gone.

"I brought ice cream!" Jinhwan sang loudly, a grin plastered on his face. It was a sight for sore eyes. Not just because he could have ice cream instead of broccoli for breakfast, but also because Jinhwan was saving him from himself. It wasn't a good idea to get stuck in his head. There were too many weird thoughts floating around in there.

"Dude, what are you doing? You're supposed to be in class!!" Bobby panicked when he realized whose class Jinhwan was skipping to be here.

"Calm down. I'm here on official business. The professor sent me." Jinhwan informed him with a super serious face, as if he was a soldier on an important mission, but it didn't take his smile long to break through the facade. Bobby could hardly believe it. He had let Jinhwan skip class just so he wouldn't be alone. He felt himself melt into the covers of the bed. It just made him miss him even more. Which was silly, since they usually didn't really do all that much when he was here. But it was just better somehow if he was around.

"Ya! You two! You dare skip my class?!!" Hanbin came storming into the hospital room, looking angrier than ever. Poor Jinhwan, his shoulders nearly sinking to the floor, his body shaking, he cowered before him. Bobby didn't buy it for a second. He knew he should perhaps fake a little bit of fear to make Hanbin feel more comfortable, but he was just so happy to see him, he couldn't but grin his huge, dorky grin at him.

"So you're not even afraid of me in the slightest anymore." Hanbin sighed in defeat. Bobby shook his head vigorously, not able to stop grinning. Hanbin chuckled heartily. Jinhwan looked like he had seen a ghost. He had probably never seen this side of Hanbin before, Bobby thought, amused. He knew how he felt. Like how could anyone so scary, be so incredibly charming? It was hard to wrap ones head around it. But Bobby was already used to it, he even kind of liked it, trying to predict how his mood would be or what his reactions would be. Never a dull moment, although Hanbin was more predictable than he thought, or that was what he had recently been finding out.

"Nurse Park, did he finish his breakfast?" Hanbin asked the nurse before she could sneak out undetected. Bobby panicked. He had only had like two spoons of rice and then a whole lot of ice cream. He hadn't touched the soup, let alone the broccoli. He was in so much trouble. He held his breath as the nurse opened .

"Every last bit." she lied with a smile, sending Bobby a warm wink. Phew. Bobby smiled back to her, thankful.

"What's up with you?" Hanbin looked at him with scrutinizing eyes. Bobby felt as if he was X-raying his mind. He was going to be caught red handed.

"Heh.. just.. happy to see you, I guess." he snorted, giving him an unsure wink. It was supposed to be sassy, but it just turned out weird. Ah, he would never buy it. Jinhwan looked mortified.

"Anyway.. good news, they say you can probably be discharged tomorrow." Hanbin cleared his throat and averted his eyes. He was acting weird. Why didn't he call him out on his obvious and poorly executed diversion tactic? There was no way Hanbin hadn't see through it. Instead he was aimlessly reorganizing the bedside table. Maybe Hanbin was so beside himself with relief over not having to take care of him anymore that he wasn't paying attention to anything else. And those were the worst good news ever, Bobby thought. There was nothing good about them. His heart sank.

"I'm off! Rooting for you to get out of this prison tomorrow. Fighting!" Jinhwan sent him a cute smile as he waved his fist around. Bobby gave him a weak smile back. He appreciated his encouragement, but didn't want to be reminded of how little time was left.

"Well, I'd best be off too." Hanbin said shortly after Jinhwan had left. They had been sitting in awkward silence. Even so, he didn't want him to leave. He wanted to make up some excuse for him to have to stay, but other than faking his own death, which might be a bit too extreme, he came up empty.

Before Hanbin had the chance to escape, nurse Park barged in, dragging a portable cot with her.

"I just thought it would be more comfortable for you to sleep in here instead of napping on that uncomfortable chair in the waiting room all night long." the nurse gave Bobby a quick wink and started setting up the bed.

"You.. you've been sleeping in the waiting room?" Bobby's mouth fell open, blankly staring at him in surprise.

"Well, ehm.." Hanbin scratched his head, looking uncomfortable. "In case of emergency, you see.. it's safer that way.. since your ehm parents put me in charge.." he let out a gentle cough, running to help the nurse with the preparations.

"Good night. Just wake me up if you need anything." Hanbin's soft voice traveled through the darkness. It sounded so close, yet so far away.

"Okay. Good night." Bobby whispered shyly. He felt strange having him there, lying almost beside him in the pitch dark. He could hear him breathing. It was a faint, comforting sound. He could tell he was still awake.

Bobby was hyper alert to every little sound, straining his ears so he wouldn't miss a thing. He heard him adjust his position. He worried if he was uncomfortable. He wanted to ask if he needed another pillow, prepared to offer him his own if need be, but the words got tangled in his tongue, not making it outside his lips. He sighed in frustration.

"You can't sleep?" Hanbin asked kindly. "You want me to get you some water?".

"Nah, I'm fine." Bobby said, even though he wanted to say so much more. The words were burning in his chest, itching to get out, but no matter how hard they tried, they never made it to the outside.

"Prof... Hanbin?" he whispered into the nothingness after a while. He wasn't sure if he was still awake, but he couldn't wait until tomorrow. He had finally gathered enough courage to ask about what was really on his mind. He had to know if it had been real or just his imagination. No matter how hard he tried to suppress the possibly false memory of Hanbin's confession, it kept popping back into his mind. It wouldn't leave him alone.

"Yes?" Hanbin answered, he sounded tired.

Bobby took a deep breath. This was it. He could do this, he tried to convince the knot in his stomach to let go just long enough for him to confront him. It didn't listen of course. He took another deep breath. His throat was dry.

"Thank you." he mumbled hoarsly, mentally kicking himself for being such a wuss.

Hanbin let out a low chuckle. "Aigoo, babo. I'm going to get you some ice water.".

Bobby heard him get up and leave the room. He let out a breath of disappointment. Oh well. Since Hanbin hadn't mentioned it again nor shown any sign of having a clue about any of this all week, it was probably just all in his head.