That Sunday, Alia sat at home, alone. She hadn’t bothered to change out of her pyjamas, even though it was already late into the afternoon. Her laptop lay open beside her, insider photographs and press photographs constantly appearing from JaKyung’s party. She scowled as she once again refreshed the page, more tagged photos from the party appearing. She felt a mixture of emotions that made her feel confused. A part of her was glad she wasn’t at the party because it meant she didn’t need to wear one of the horrible dresses and dreaded high heels that her mother picked out for her. She was also thankful for the break from having to be polite to people whose names she could never remember just to give her father face with his business associates. She wasn’t the social butterfly her mother was.

On the other hand, when a photo appeared of Yoongi and JaKyung, the photo perfectly capturing Yoongi laughing at something that JaKyung must have said, she suddenly regretted not going to the party. She slammed the lid of her laptop closed, pushing herself off the couch and pacing back and forth across her living room. “Well it looks like they’re having a great time.” she muttered bitterly, the image of Yoongi’s adorable smile burned into her head. She started biting her thumbnail, a habit she had developed when she was super stressed out. She continued pacing for almost ten minutes before she stormed into the kitchen, pulling a tub of ice cream out of the freezer. She briefly considered putting some of it into a bowl but instead opted to wrap the tub in a towel so that it wouldn’t freeze her hands and grabbed a spoon.

She threw herself back onto the couch, purposely not looking at her laptop so that she wouldn’t need to see the photograph again. She flicked through her movie options, pressing the buttons a little harder than necessary to skip by the romantic comedies. She finally settled on a horror movie, convinced that it was the perfect thing to distract herself, even if it meant she probably wouldn’t sleep for the next week.

When the movie was halfway through, her phone started ringing, she picked it up, JaKyung’s face flashing on the screen. Her finger hesitated over the answer button, in two minds about whether or not to answer. She finally clicked the answer button just before the answering machine kicked in. “Hey, JaKyung.” She said, hoping she didn’t sound as grumpy as she felt as she pushed the almost empty tub of ice cream away from her, the sickly sweet smell making her stomach churn. “Alia! How are you?!” JaKyung said, way too cheerfully for Alia's taste. “I’m ok. How was the party?” Alia asked, knowing that the party was the sole reason JaKyung was calling her. “Oh my god, Alia! It was amazing!” JaKyung gushed.

“So many people turned up and Yoongi did too! He even brought me flowers! How sweet is that?!” Alia grit her teeth, the hand that wasn’t holding her phone into the material of her shorts. “He did? That was really sweet of him.” She said before JaKyung launched into a detailed account of her interactions with Yoongi throughout the day. Alia barely responded, her one word answers becoming grunts every now and again to indicate that she was still listening. After almost ten minutes, JaKyung finally picked up on Alia’s attitude. “Hey, are you ok?” she asked, her voice laced with concern. “You sound a bit off.”

“You know what? I’m actually kinda sick. Do you mind if I call you back later?” Alia said, feeling a little guilty for lying to her friend, but she couldn’t listen to her talk about Yoongi for another minute. “Oh no! Do you need anything?” JaKyung offered. “No, I’m fine, thanks though.” They said their goodbyes and hung up, Alia dropping her phone next to her, her head falling back to rest against the back of the couch. Her claim about being sick wasn’t a complete lie. Ever since she saw the photo of JaKyung and Yoongi together, a horrible feeling had settled in her chest, making her fidgety and uncomfortable. A part of her was screaming that the feeling was because she was jealous that JaKyung and Yoongi seemed to be getting along so well, but she pushed that thought down. “Stop being ridiculous.” She whispered to herself as she closed her eyes, pretending that her eyes weren’t burning with unshed tears.

The day after the party, Yoongi drove over to Alia’s work, hoping to surprise her for lunch. He grabbed the lunchbox that he had prepared and made his way to her office, her secretary beaming at him as soon as she saw him. “Mr Min! Its lovely to see you!” she said cheerfully. Yoongi gave her a smile. “Call me Yoongi, please. Hearing Mr Min makes me think that my father is here.” He said with a chuckle. The secretary blushed at his words, before schooling her features. “Are you here to see Miss Alia?” she asked. Yoongi nodded, holding up the lunchbox. Her smile faltered slightly.

“I’m really sorry Mr Yoongi, but Miss Alia isn’t in her office. She called in sick this morning.” She said, her tone apologetic. “She’s sick?” Yoongi said, surprised at the sudden information. The secretary nodded. “Yes, I’m not sure exactly what’s wrong, but Miss Alia contacted me this morning to cancel her meetings and that she would be working from home today because she wasn’t feeling well. I have to admit that I’m a little worried. I’ve been working here for three years and Miss Alia has never taken a day off before. The last time she had a fever over a hundred degrees and she still insisted on coming in! She ended up passing out during a meeting!”

Yoongi frowned, his fingers itching to pull out his phone and call her. “Ok, thanks for letting me know.” He said as he made his way out of the building, barely managing to wait until he reached his car before pulling out his phone and calling Alia. He cursed when his call was forwarded to the voicemail service, his mind suddenly racing at all of the possibilities. Was she in pain? Had she eaten? Was she lying in bed with a fever? What if she had she passed out in her apartment and cracked her head open?

He tore out of the car park and headed towards her apartment, having convinced himself that she must be dying alone in her apartment. When he reached her door he quickly entered the code for the door, not bothering to knock. “Alia?” he called as he kicked off his shoes, putting the lunchbox on the table as he passed by it. “Alia?” he called again, this time a little louder. He heard her call his name from her bedroom. He rushed to her room at the sound of her voice. Her voice was rough; like she had been crying. The thought of her crying alone made his heart ache. He pushed her bedroom door open without knocking.

She let out a yelp at his sudden intrusion, pulling her blankets up to cover herself. She hadn’t been expecting any company, so she was wearing a pair of shorts and a tank top. “Yoongi! Why are you here?” she asked as Yoongi approached her. She shuffled away from him as he perched on her bed. “I went to your office and your secretary told me you were sick so I rushed over.” He said as he took in her appearance. Her hair was a mess, it looked like she hadn’t combed it in a couple of days, she was a little pale and her eyes were red like she had been crying. “What’s wrong with you? Have you seen a doctor?” he asked, his voice laced with worry.

“I’m fine.” She said, suddenly incredibly self-conscious about her appearance. She had never felt self-conscious in front of Yoongi before. He had seen her when she had just woken up, her hair a mess and in her pyjamas before, but for some reason, something had changed in their relationship that made her feel embarrassed for looking like such a mess. Yoongi frowned at her, “You don’t look fine.” He said bluntly. “I’m going to call doctor Kim to come and take a look at you.” He said as he pulled his phone out from his pocket.

“No, don’t. I’m ok.” She protested, covering his hand with hers. “Honestly, I’m fine.” She said, quickly pulling her hand off of his like she had been burned. Yoongi suddenly leant forward, cupping her cheek with his hand. She froze under his touch as his hand moved up to rest on her forehead. After a few seconds he pulled his hand back, looking at her seriously. “You have a fever.” He muttered. “I’m ok, I just need some rest.” She said, hoping that he would leave, her heart felt like it was going to beat right out of her chest. She was surprised that he couldn’t hear it.

“Have you eaten anything?” he asked, ignoring her hint that she wanted to rest and for him to leave. “No, I don’t have any appetite.” She admitted. “That’s no good. I originally brought you some lunch, but I think I should make you some porridge instead.” Her eyes widened, shocked by his words. “You don’t need to do that, honestly! I just want to sleep. I can eat something later, besides, don’t you need to get back to the office?” she said, knowing that he would be busy in the afternoon. “I’ll call the office and tell them that something came up.” he said as he gently pushed her back so that she was lying down before pulling her covers back up. “You don’t need to do that. I’ll be fine. You should get back to work.” She said, suddenly desperate for him to leave.

Yoongi huffed loudly, “Aish, stop arguing with me already. I’m calling the office and telling them that I’m looking after my sick girlfriend and I’m going to make you some porridge, so just close your eyes and try to sleep, ok?” he said, his tone leaving no room for argument. She nodded dumbly, her stomach twisting at the word ‘girlfriend’. He nodded at her, happy that she had finally stopped protesting. He gently moved her hair away from her face. “Get some sleep.” He said gently before getting up and leaving the room. Alia turned over, putting her back to the door. She let out a deep breath, her eyes squeezed shut and she willed her heartbeat to calm down and for the tight feeling in her chest to pass.