39: In Front of You

   “Do you believe in love at first sight?” Baekhyun asked.

   For as far as Jeongri could see, there was nothing but white empty space around them. They were perched together on a simple white sofa, dressed in pure white clothes, and there seemed to be no end nor no beginning to the expansive space that surrounded them. Baekhyun sat back comfortably, hands behind his head, without a care in the world. Neither of them seemed bothered by where they were, or why they were there.

   “No,” Jeongri replied, “Do you?”

   “Yeah.”

   “Really? Who?”

   Baekhyun shrugged his shoulders, “Someone.”

   “Who is it?” she persisted.

   The hem of her white silk dress slid across her legs as she turned to him. She rested her head in her hand, peering at him curiously as she leant back into the sofa. Jeongri couldn’t imagine Baekhyun in a relationship; she’d never thought of him in that way, and the idea of having someone she didn’t know by his side made her feel strange.

   Baekhyun clutched as his chest dramatically as though he was feigning a heartache, “Someone who probably will never know.”

   Jeongri side-eyed his antics.

   “That’s so sappy, Baek. Who do you think you are?” she smirked, “The lead in some angsty story?”

   “Sappy? How am I the sappy one when you’ve just started a new relationship?” he asked, eyeing her up with a knowing smile.

   “How do you know about that?”

   Jeongri hadn’t told anyone about her and Kyungsoo, and she was sure that Kyungsoo hadn’t told anyone either. For a moment, her excited curiosity towards Baekhyun was tinged with unease. She didn’t like that Baekhyun knew already. She wanted to be the one to tell him; to be the one to break the news.

   “I know everything,” Baekhyun said simply.

   Jeongri gave him a questioning look, expecting more of a reaction. He seemed so calm, the news of her relationship not bothering him in the slightest. Then again, what response was she expecting? As time went by, she felt her unease melt away; it was always comfortable by Baekhyun’s side. Today felt like one of those lazy summer days back when she used to go to his house, and they’d stay up talking about stupid stuff.

   “Do you love him?” Baekhyun asked.

   Jeongri shrugged, “I don’t know, it’s too early to say.”

   “You don’t, do you?”

   “I didn’t say that.”

   Baekhyun reached over and took her by the hand, commanding her attention. She’d never noticed just how striking his eyes were; they were captivating, lulling her into a world past her previous image of him. His playful nature had faded away, replaced by a sincere man who wanted to be heard.

   “Look carefully, Jeongri,” Baekhyun said softly, pulling her closer.

   “And what am I meant to be looking for?” she asked, raising one eyebrow at his mysterious instruction.

   “Don’t miss out on what's in front of you.”

   “In front of me?” she asked, “What’s in front of me?”

   Baekhyun bit his lip. He looked disappointed by her answer and gave a weak shrug, letting her hand go. The space around them began to brighten suddenly, and Jeongri looked around, confused by her surroundings. As her vision faded, Baekhyun turned away from her.

   “I’m in front of you.”

   Jeongri woke up to the smell of coffee lingering in the air, rousing her senses with its rich caramel aroma, and the faint but delicate scent of roses. She yawned out loud, stretching as she did, letting the blanket that was wrapped around her body slip away.

   What a bizarre dream, she thought, as she rubbed her eyes. It’d been a while since Baekhyun appeared in them, but that was probably because they were talking last night. Jeongri tried recalling what they were doing in her dream, but those memories had already slipped from her conscious mind. The only thing she remembered was feeling confused.

   Feeling a little cold, Jeongri went to pull the blanket back around her, but felt another unfamiliar material. She peeled back the layers and found Baekhyun’s HLV jacket, nestled within. Jeongri blinked a few times, allowing her tired mind to realise that Baekhyun must have covered her up last night, so that she wouldn’t be cold. She blinked a few more times, before looking around the living room. A spare pillow and blanket lay on the floor beside where she slept, and at the end of the sofa was a pile of Baekhyun’s belongings, strewn in a clump. On the other couch, Chanyeol’s clothes were scattered haphazardly all over.

   “Baekhyun?” Jeongri asked out loud, blinking a few more times.

   All of a sudden, Jeongri felt bad, wondering if Baekhyun had slept on the floor because of her. After all, she must have taken up his spot. The living room was empty beside her, which meant that Baekhyun and Chanyeol were up already. A small part of her questioned why Baekhyun woke up so early, since when they were younger, he was always the last to wake.

   Standing up, Jeongri stretched again. She wanted to find Baekhyun, to apologise to him for taking up his space. Wrapping the blanket around her once more, she turned to leave, but it was then when she noticed a small paper note accompanied by a red rose lying on the coffee table nearby. She felt a little confused at first, knowing that it couldn’t have been Baekhyun who would leave something like this. Gingerly, Jeongri picked up both and read the letter, her heart warming as she slid her fingers across Kyungso’s neat and familiar handwriting. Of course, it wasn’t Baekhyun.

   Kyungsoo had left her a message, telling her that he’d gone out with Luhan to scout for appropriate training grounds, and that they will all start training sessions sometime later today. He also said that he’d healed her body while she was asleep, hoping that she would feel better when she woke up, and that he would see her later. At the bottom of his letter was his beautifully scrawled signature, along with a single ‘x’. Jeongri couldn’t help but smile as she traced her finger across the small ‘x’.

   The rose that he left for her was beautiful, its intricate petals woven deep within one another into a spiral formation. There was a small thumb-sized bruise on the stem, but that didn’t matter to her. A smile lingered on Jeongri’s face as she took in its scent, wondering just when he’d the time to buy one for her. Today would be their first day as an official couple, and she couldn’t wait to see him. Taking both the rose and the letter, Jeongri left the room and headed for the kitchen to find a vase.

   From the kitchen window, she could see the others frolicking about in the sunshine. With another yawn, Jeongri stretched out again, readying herself for the training. Her body felt fantastic; the wound on her shoulder had been fully healed, leaving no trace of an injury, and the bruise on her ribs had dissipated. Kyungsoo was genuinely amazing, she was so lucky to have met such a man.

   “Thank you,” she said quietly, wishing that he was there to hear her.

   She wanted to see him so much; to find out how he was, and to let him wrap his strong arms around her one more time. She wanted to thank him for healing her once again, and for giving her this beautiful rose. He was always there for her; the perfect boyfriend. Jeongri let out a sigh, wishing that he’d come back soon. Resigning herself, she went to join the others in the garden to distract herself until Kyungsoo’s return.

   “Ah!”

   With a sharp prick, Jeongri dropped the rose and stared at her finger. A small bubble of blood was coming from the tip of her finger, and she cursed herself for being so clumsy. Quickly, Jeongri popped her finger in , in a poor effort to stem the bleeding, and started rummaging through drawers.

   “Plaster… Plaster…” she muttered under her voice, “Where do I find a plaster… Or Kyungsoo… Or something…”

   She was still dressed in yesterday’s clothes; a grey hooded top from Sehun which was far too big for her, and a pair of training bottoms from Luhan. Her hair was messy and tangled, but there wasn’t much she could do about it with a hairbrush. Jeongri knew that there would be plasters in the infirmary, but she didn’t like being in there, especially not alone. Unsuccessful in her endeavours, Jeongri sighed again and resorted to asking Sehun for help. She stood at the back door and saw Baekhyun sitting on the garden bench, laughing at Chanyeol and Sehun, who were having some sort of blindfolded sparring session.

   It was Sehun who spotted her first.

   “Oh noona,” he said, waving for her to join them outside, “Good morning.”

   Baekhyun turned in his seat and waved brightly at her, and a blindfolded Chanyeol waved in her general direction before resuming his session with Sehun. It looked as though Chanyeol was trying to catch Sehun, the latter who was making it difficult by teleporting every few seconds.

   “Good morning, sleepyhead,” Baekhyun said as she approached.

   He seemed restless and energetic, itching to join in.

   “Good morning,” she said, her finger still in .

   Jeongri sat down beside Baekhyun and shivered, pulling the blanket closer around her body. In the past couple of days, the weather had turned chilly.

   “How long have you been up for?” Jeongri asked.

   Baekhyun sat back comfortably, hands behind his head, without a care in the world. From somewhere within her, a feeling of nostalgia stirred. At least, she thought it was nostalgia.

   “About an hour or so?” mused Baekhyun, “Did you sleep well?”

   “I slept okay,” Jeongri replied, “I’m sorry if I took your spot last night.

   But he shook his head, dismissing her apology, “Don’t worry about it.”

   “Where did you sleep? On the floor?” she asked.

   She couldn’t help but smile at how unkept Baekhyun’s fluffy brown hair was, sticking up in all different directions.

   “Ah, somewhere,” he said vaguely, “It’s not important. At least you managed to sleep well, that’s all that matter’s, right? Anyway, I would have woke you up earlier-“

   Jeongri smiled gratefully, it seemed that Baekhyun had developed a sensitive side in the last decade.

   “-but I didn’t, since I didn’t fancy getting beat up first thing in the morning by a grumpy sleepyhead,” he laughed.

   All images of a sensitive Baekhyun were dashed instantly from her mind.

   “Hey,” Jeongri protested, laughing out loud. It was true that she wasn’t a morning person, but he didn’t have to put it like that, “I’m not like that anymore.”

   Baekhyun raised an eyebrow at her.

   She added quickly, “Kind of?”

   “Oh yeah?” he said, “Because last night when I tried to swap my jacket with this blanket, you almost kicked me in the face for taking away your only source of warmth.”

   “You’re lying,” Jeongri grinned, reaching out to smack him on the arm.

   Baekhyun pointed indignantly at her in an animated way, “See! Point proven!”

   “Stop being mean to me, I just woke up,” Jeongri said, pouting a little.

   She wasn’t actually going to hit him, but just a playful slap on the arm. But Baehkyun didn’t relent, only adding fuel to the fire.

   “Why are you your finger like a big baby?” he asked.

   Jeongri rolled her eyes and slapped him on the arm with her free hand. He would always be insufferable, but she didn’t mind it honestly. If anything, she kind of missed it.

   “I’ve been here for like two minutes, and all I’ve gotten from you is non stop grief,” she said, pretending to be mad. Pulling out her finger, she showed Baekhyun the small cut on her fingertip, “Look, I pricked my finger earlier, and I couldn’t find a plaster.”

   “How on earth are you going to survive training with us if you can’t even wake up without injuring yourself?” Baekhyun said, laughing as he examined the wound on her fingertip.

   Jeongri was about to reply indignantly, but Baekhyun held up a hand and stood up.

   “Hold that thought, I’ll be right back,” he said.