3:42 AM

................Uggggggh.....................

You were literally dragging your feet in the hallway of your house, your robe hanging off your shoulders haphazardly, string undone and catching static on your plush carpet as you headed to the bathroom as fast as you could.

While you were sleeping, Mother Nature decided to launch a surprise attack on you-

-and you woke up to find out you were sleeping on the Japanese flag(A/N: take a second, think about it.)

-So naturally, in this crazy thing called life you had forgotten your own monthly bill was sneaking up on you, and now you were hurrying to the bathroom to try and save whatever dignity you had left-

-but of course, your cramps were always at their worst on the first 24 hours of your period, and 'hurrying to the bathroom' was more like 'Grandma Moses sliding her way knee deep in a pool of molasses'.

Needless to say, you were ticked off and sleepy, but there was no one around to be angry with/at as you reached your bathroom, slammed on the lights and fumbled around for the small canister of pills that held your salvation.

As you fumbled, your hand accidentally swept your hairbrush, oils, and cup with your toothbrush off the sink and onto the tile floor, causing you to stomp in frustration and squat to look for your other things-

-On the way up, you slammed your head into the cabinet door with enough force that your back teeth rattled in your skull, and you couldn't help it-

-throwing your head back, you yelled, " this !!!!!"

-coming out of the bathroom with a clatter and a bang, holding pills in one hand and a fresh pad in the other, you staggered back into your bedroom and dragged the sheets off your bed-

-to reveal your dread: that in fact, you had managed to soak through to the mattress beneath.

-sighing, all of the anger left you as you swallowed the pills dry and rolled your sheets into a ball, carrying that ball and depositing it without ceremony into your washing machine. With respect to your neighbors, you'd run the system in the morning.

Carrying some power detergent with you, you sprinkled a handful on the mattress stain and left in there to soak overnight. Trying to look on the positive side of things, the stain would wipe out clean in the morning and already the pills were starting to work.

Dragging a blanket from your linen closet, you took two pillows downstairs and crashed on the sofa, being sure to wrap your lower body closely to avoid anymore accidents.

It'll all be over in a few days............I just gotta keep swimming,just keep swimming...........

These words were your mantra as you managed to drift off.......

..................................................................................................................................................................................................................

9:35AM

........Whelp. the mantra.

It hadn't even hit the double digits in the morning and already you wanted to burn your school down.

There was traffic on the way to school, your mother chose that time to call you and lecture you about coming home and settling down, finding a spouse in the process(even from across the ing ocean you think you can rule my life, huh) and your classroom was in chaos when you tried to teach Geography that morning.

A kid recently discovered the joy of whoopee cushions- you sat down to ease the stress on your lower back, and was rewarded with the wonderful sounds of *BRRRRRRRUP* that echoed in the classroom.

Everyone laughed uproariously, especially when you jumped up and the whoopee cushion flew out from the chair with the force of your movement, stuttering and flipping in the air just like a deflating balloon.

It took you all of your patience reservoir to not throttle that kid, and mercifully the bell clanged for lunch an hour and a half later.

Your TA took the kids down while you popped more pills and held a hot water bottle to your stomach, closing your eyes and counting to ten slowly-

In dictation class, little Haejin discovered a cool new English phrase from one of her new music songs on her mp3-

-so naturally, she had to copy it so her friends learned it well-

-you came back from outdoor lab to find your TA hurriedly trying to wipe out WHAT'S UP CHOCOLATE Y SISTAH from her desk, but she used permanent marker on her desk......

-but that wasn't what brought you to despair-

-the crowning moment of the day came on your recess break when you tripped over a bookbag that Johnny didn't remember to put in his stupid ing cubbyhole, the wire came out of your bra, and you knocked over and shattered your beloved succulent plant that a student gave you two Christmases ago.

Mr Choi just happened to be walking by when he saw you crying, kneeling on the floor and trying to pick up the soil with your bare hands and placing it repeatedly in the broken jar the plant used to sit in.

"Aahhh~sunsengnim, I think you should go home. Take it easy for the rest of the day."

You looked up at him with teary eyes, face streaked with some mud, and he patted your shoulder, "Don't worry about this-we can clean it up for you and put the plant in another pot. The substitute is already on their way-just leave your lesson plans on the desk and set out."

You bowed, "Thank you, sir-I really appreciate it."

You gathered yourself up off the floor, picked up your bag and coat and left with whatever pride you had left.

Not looking back once, you got in your car and drove home, not even turning on your car radio that's how done you were.

You got home, ran a long, HOT shower in which you soaked in until you were sure you were human soup, then climbed out and put on pajamas and fuzzy socks.

You remembered that your sheets were still drying on the line outside, so you sighed and turned back to the living room, back to the couch again. Oh well.

As you plopped down, and settled in for sleep, this time armed with a book and your heated blanket, you couldn't help but feel as though you were forgetting something..........

..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................

8:10PM

..........Yongguk closed his eyes and flicked his lighter quickly as Daehyun looked at his watch,"............Where is she?"

Himchan leaned against the wall of your classroom as Jongup tossed his knife between his hands casually, "It's not like her to be late."

Youngjae immediately pulled out his phone and began fiddling with it as Zelo shifted his weight back and forth on his long legs, his face concerned as he thought about where you might be...

Of course, Jongup saw his dongsaeng's face and couldn't resist exploiting anguish. Standing slowly, he said smugly, "Maybe our..........jealous friends got to her first?To see what she knows....?"

His Korean came out in a drawl and he trailed off, enjoying the look of alarm that passed for a split second on Zelo and Daehyun's face,dodging a marker thrown at him by way of Himchan. The blue haired guy only laughed and continued, "I wonder how well she would do under torture-"

Daehyun grabbed his collar from the side, "Listen up, you ing punk-"

Youngjae stood straight up, holding his phone triumphantly, "The tracker is back online-hmmm," Yongguk opened his eyes and looked at Youngjae as Zelo looked over the brown-clad shoulder, "It says she is......at home!!!!" Zelo said, "Home? Are you sure?"

There were various sounds of shock/disbelief as Daehyun let go of Jongup and grabbed Youngjae's hand, turning it so that he could see the GPS with his own eyes, "What happened to her?" He didn't mean to think it, but images of you getting hurt in his head had him clenching up inside.

Himchan stood up abruptly, "I'll get to the bottom of this. Wait here."

He exited the room, Zelo looked at Yongguk in confusion-

-but that was cleared up as there was a "Hey!!!" from the hallway where Himchan had gone-

-and Himchan returned, pushing in front of him the smug, young guard from the front desk of the school.

Himchan promptly sat the guy down in a chair and sat down directly across from him, turning his own chair around so that he could comfortably cross his hands on the back of the chair and look the guard in the eye, "What is your name?"

The guard stuttered out, "Song Pyuk.......Kim Song Pyuk."

Himchan nodded, then gestured to the others, who were now watching with cool, trained eyes, "Alright, Song Pyuk-what is the problem here?"

The officer looked around quickly(gasping a little as Jongup's eyes flashed something unpleasant at him and Yongguk's gaze scorched his face in mere passing) before turning his eyes back to Himchan, "W-w-what are you talking about? There's nothing-"

Yongguk stood up, and Himchan backed off respectfully as Yongguk opened his lighter, the little orange flame bouncing cheerfully in the dim classroom, and set it down on the little wooden space between the officer's legs as he said slowly, "We are a class without a teacher."

The officer's terrified eyes now had a click of understanding as he said shakily, "Oh-didn't you hear what happened to ________-ah?"

In the background there were the sudden sounds of safeties being released from guns,knives drawn and bullets being checked in chambers as Yongguk tilted his head slowly to the side and leaned into the man's face, "Hear...........what?"

Song Pyuk,all bravado gone and sensing that his life was in immediate danger, said in a breathless rush, "N-n-noona was sent h-h-home earlier-they said she came d-down with a sudden s-s-sickness or something. There was a substitute for the m-m-morning class....but I s-s-see now that you weren't told. I'm sorry!!!"

This last part came out with a squeak, as Yongguk scanned his face one last time before he picked up his lighter and closed it, looking at Himchan with a nod as Himchan stood, making the officer stand with him and dusting off his shoulders in a congenial way, "Thank you, that will be all.You may go back to your post now," In his huskier, lower voice, Himchan said, "One last thing-Kim......"

"W-w-what?Sir?"

Himchan's eyes flashed once,dangerously, "She is your noona-sunsengnim unless she says you can call her otherwise. Don't get informal with our.noona.sun.seng.NIM."

The officer shot up and fled out the classroom as Daehyun sighed, putting the safety back on his gun. The tense air cleared up as well as guns and weapons were holstered, and Zelo brightened up,"I want to go see her-to check up on her!!!"

Himchan pinched the space between his eyes, suddenly appearing older as he spoke to the maknae, not unkindly,"That is nice of you, but you never know who might be watching us or her, even here."

"It's true- three weeks ago I saw a guy from our rival gang follow her into the grocery store-before he made contact though, I dealt with it,"Daehyun said from his chair, and Zelo sighed before perking up again, "But she might need more medicine or something-she's been bedridden all day!!!"

The youngest turned to the oldest with pleading eyes, "Puleeeeeeez...."

Yongguk closed his eyes and mulled over it as Zelo hopped a little in anticipation,".............Fine-but only for a few hours or so-and then you meet with me at our regular place with an update. Am I clear?"

Zelo nodded, already out the door and keys out in his hand as Himchan looked at Yongguk, "You think they'll be alright?"

Yongguk nodded with an small smile as they watched Zelo fly off in his car, eager to see his beloved teacher, "Would you rather I have sent Jongup instead?" ".............Point well taken."

........................................................................................................................................................................................................................

You were still in a deep sleep on the couch when Zelo showed up, quietly letting himself in(not only did Youngjae put a tracker on your car, but he also hacked and found all of your security codes for your doors to enter your house, the sneaky bastard.)

The youngest had made some stops on the way to your place-in his hands he held chocolate, random DVDs from his personal collection, instant ramen, cookies and juice packets, figuring in his head that you hadn't eaten all day and you were famished.....

Setting his prizes down, he stepped out of his shoes and quietly padded across the carpet to where you slept peacefully, momentarily questioning why you weren't sleeping in your room, but when you rolled over to your side, his thoughts left him as he saw you in all your natural beauty. Noona is really pretty......

His eyes took him on a visual tour of your downstairs area: walking around, he saw other gifts your kids had given you, as well as a few portraits and family pictures from home. Zelo randomly watered your plants for you, humming a little song to himself as he sprinkled the flora and fauna with generous amounts of water before coming back to you in the living room.

Watching you sleep, breathing peacefully, he couldn't help himself as he saw your face....

.......Leaning in until he could smell the soap from your shower, Zelo reached out a hand to your back slowly.....

......................................................................................................................................................................................................................

You were finally having a good rest. All of the stress of the day and your body had finally taken its toll on you, and when the adrenaline left you, it left- leaving your spirits just as deflated as that damn whoopee cushion from earlier-the irony was rich with that...

As you travelled your dream world, you realized something-

-there was a tickling sensation in the back of your head that you were being followed, that you were being watched, somehow.

But that's crazy, you thought to yourself hazily, I'm home alone and I am a light sleeper. I would've heard if someone-

-but then, as you started to come back to reality, you realized that your instincts weren't wrong, someone was in your apartment, another warm body, and.......that person was....petting you?

Indeed, your burglar was extremely affectionate as their hand ran up and down your back in comforting , alternating between lines and slow circles, actually helping you feel better-

-your eyes flew open and you shot up in the sofa with a short scream, reaching out and pushing the other person, who fell on their with a surprised yelp-

-you reached out a hand and yanked on the lamp chain, illuminating the room with a bright light as your eyes adjusted with an automatic squint at the intruder-

-Only to squeak out in surprise,"Junhong?!" as Zelo quickly held out his hands to you, "Noona-it's me~"

You rested your head back on the back of your sofa slowly, closing your eyes with a shaky laugh as Zelo murmured, "I'm sorry to disturb you-I wanted to check up on you."

You patted the cushion next to you, and he eagerly came over as you laughed, "Oh lovely child-I'm so sorry; I am not feeling well and they sent me home early. I am sorry I didn't tell you-but hey, in my defense, I don't exactly have any of your numbers." "That's alright."

Zelo looked at your face closely and blinked rapidly- you were surprised as he suddenly produced a thermometer from a pocket somewhere on his persona and slipped it quickly into your mouth, "Aah, sorry~but can you hold on to this for a second?"

You stuttered as the lanky guy took your wrist and felt for your pulse, looking at his watch with his other hand, nodding his head in time to the seconds going by, "Your pulse is steadying, and the thermometer says you're a little hotter than normal-but that's okay," he said, sliding the thermometer and reading it in the lamplight, and suddenly you laughed, charmed by his efforts to diagnose you as he said seriously, "Did you take any anti-depressants lately? Do you ever get nervous?"

You laughed outright, and couldn't resist pinching his cheek quickly, "Oh honey-I am not sick like that-I'm sick......in the female way.Today is my worst first day."

You watched with a small sense of glee as Zelo's wheels turned in his head, processing slowly what you just said, before turning a delicate shade of pink, "Oh..........OH."

You hugged him, "But I am feeling a lot better now-I took medicine earlier, and now that I have company, my stomach doesn't hurt so much anymore," you were quickly brought close to tears as you saw that small mountain of things Zelo bought, on the coffee table across from you guys, "Awwww-you didn't have to buy anything, that's so sweet."

Zelo, still that shade of delicate carnation pink, coughed and stood up gracefully, taking his chance and diving into the stack of things," N-no!!I wanted to!!!Here, there's food-you must be hungry-and I brought some movies we could watch together!!!"

He held up a movie, and you laughed as you read the title, "Home Alone? That's a classic!!!I'll pop it in right now!!!"

Zelo laughed as you tied your blanket around your neck as a cape, turning on your entertainment system as you crossed over to the TV. Popping in the disk carefully, you went and got a spare blanket for Zelo, tying it around his neck before crossing over to the table, "I'll get started on this ramen-" Zelo jumped to your side, "Let's do it together, noona!!!"

In the kitchen, you set up the pots and water as Zelo opened up the ramen, sauce packets, and other things from the store such as cheese, seasoning salt, and even some sausage slices to add to the broth.

You began adding things in slowly, under Zelo's careful guidance( the young man jumped at the chance to be the teacher for once, showing you how to make authentic Korean ramen with swag) and within no time at all, you returned to the living room,carrying drinks as Zelo carried the tray of dishes behind you, settling into a cushion fort you two made as the water was boiling, and the movie.

You two laughed throughout the movie, and just as you were feeling cured, Mother Nature came back to assert her dominance..........

-somewhere between Angels In The Outfield and Rush Hour, your cramps came back and you dropped your chocolate in surprise, curling into yourself at the sudden pain as Zelo returned from the bathroom,"Do you want some more food-noona?!!!"

He immediately dropped to his knees and scooted close to you as you held your stomach, "Pills........kitchen table, please."

You hadn't even finished the sentence when Zelo left and came back on the same breath, handing you pills and water, and watching as you swallowed carefully before taking a deep breath-he hated seeing you in any kind of distress, "What can I do?"

You managed a weak smile as you patted his shoulder, "Nothing, my friend, nothing-painkillers and bananas help, and rest and heat," Zelo thought about this carefully as you cursed, you left your electric blanket in your room-

-But to your surprise, long arms came on either side of your body as Zelo settled around you, his chest pressing into your back carefully as he arranged the blankets around you both, his legs outstretching yours by a good 3-4 inches.

You closed your eyes as Zelo said hesitantly into your ear,"I am not a heater.....but if I can do this for you, is it enough?"

You bowed your head as surprisingly, it was helping-alot," This is heaven Zelo, thank you very much...."

The movie was still softly playing in the background, but your eyes started to benchpress what felt like 50lbs each as Zelo began to rock you side-to-side slowly.

Feeling your hair move with his short puffs of breath, you realized to yourself that Zelo was actually rapping to himself as he moved you to his rhythm-a smooth but driving beat of rhyme, combined with Korean and English,"Zelo- be louder-I really like your style."

Zelo stopped, "Really? I didn't want to disturb you..." You squeezed one of his hands that held your arm, "No-it's really good!!! you should release an album, or something," the medication was working its magic as you sleepily ticked off on your fingers, "I could help with the manager stuff, or course-with no real fee, since you are my student. Imagine all of the tours we'd go on, the fan meetings, your hyungs supporting you all the way.."

Zelo laughed, "Actually, I wanted to be a superstar before I-" he stopped suddenly, and coughed as he tried to change the subject, "Oh look-Jackie Chan just shot someone!!!!"

You sighed, and squeezed his hand again," Honey, you are too young to be involved in........whatever you're involved in. You are much too talented and lovable-go out and live your life."

Zelo closed his eyes and took a moment,"........But how, noona, how?Tell me, please."

Zelo was silent, as he realized you had finally drifted off in his arms, sound asleep, and he smiled as he rested his chin next to your cheek, nuzzling your face before moving you to the couch carefully and turning off the TV, straightening up as he let out a sigh.

Coming back over to the couch, he kissed your forehead before he whispered in your ear, "I will stay with you until I get my answer-don't ever leave me....."