Sleep comes easy, her drained body fully caves into exhaustion, and Morpheus welcomes her with open arms. That is, until she wakes in the middle of a dream, completely unsettled and out of sorts.

It’s cold.

It’s like the natural heat has left her body all at once and what was previously only a cool room with a bearable temperature has suddenly turned into something akin to the north pole.

Jisoo pulls the blankets tighter around her body and curls up into a small ball.

It doesn’t work.

She drags herself out of bed and digs through the closet for another quilt or comforter. After snatching up the two extra comforters provided by the hotel she tosses them both on the bed, right on top of the one that was already present, and crawls back under the covers.

She instantly feels the difference but…

Why is it still freezing?

She curls up and wraps her arms around herself, wishing the bed would just open up and swallow her whole, take her to a place full of warmth rather than this cold and dreadful hell. Her skin is heated but there is a chill within her body that she simply cannot shake. It seeps into her bones, flows through her veins, and coils itself around her limbs like a snake, unwilling to let the warmth reclaim its rightful home. Her grip on the covers tightens and a shiver runs through her body, her teeth chattering uncontrollably. Only a couple more minutes go by like this before she lets out a tired sigh.

She throws the covers off her body and gets up. She quickly digs through her bag for some thick sweatpants and a hoodie that she packed just in case, then snatches up a change of underwear before heading straight to the bathroom. Before stripping of her clothes, she starts running hot water, just to make sure it’s the right temperature and not be directly hit by the first stream of water, which is always cold. She puts her hair up in a bun and ungracefully strips of her clothes, throwing them aside in a hurry, and instantly regretting it as the cold air hits her exposed skin; goosebumps erupt all over. She rubs her arms over her exposed skin and stumbles into the stream of hot water, nearly slipping and falling in the process.

When the hot water finally hits her skin she lets out a sigh of relief as she feels the warmth wrap itself around her body. Slowly, she lathers up some soap and starts scrubbing at her body, cleansing away the sweat that clings to her skin from all the activities on that particular day. Soon enough her body is clean, but she opts to stay under the hot stream of water, enjoying the soothing effect of the torrent on her back as the hot water hits her skin and battles with the chill that settled in her bones.

After nearly half an hour of just standing there and enjoying the warmth she steps out, the steam from the hot shower keeps her from freezing as she quickly dries herself and gets dressed. She turns to the mirror and wipes away the condensation but stops as soon as she catches sight of her reflection.

The girl staring right back at her doesn’t seem like her at all. She looks pale and sickly; drained of life.

She drops her hand to the counter, accidentally pushing off the piece of paper that was resting near the corner. Her gaze follows the trajectory of said paper and something piques her mind. She carefully picks it up and scans it; it’s a pamphlet.

A pamphlet for the hotel’s hot bath house and sauna. Jisoo’s eyebrows crease for a second and she sets the paper back on the counter, not giving it further thought. However, that changes as soon as she opens the bathroom door and the cool air of the room swoops in to replace the warm steam. A chill runs up her spine and Jisoo falters in her steps. She grits her teeth and soldiers on, her path taking her directly to the bed and underneath the covers.

It’ll get warm soon, she tries to convince herself.

It doesn’t.

She shifts and turns under the covers, curls in on herself, and rubs at her cold limbs in an attempt to create some friction and heat, to no avail. Her thoughts cloud over and all she wants is a decent amount of warmth to surround her.

Is that too much to ask?

The pamphlet flashes through her mind and her eyes snap open with an idea.

Resolute in her decision, she gets back up again, praying to all the spirits that this idea will give her the outcome she has wanted all along.

She grabs a towel, sluggishly making her way out the door and to the uppermost floor. Every step she takes feels like the last, on the outside she is burning up but she feels like the inside of her body is experiencing the coldest winter day she has ever lived. She glances around, thankful that the elevator was conveniently located a short distance from what looks to be the entrance to the hot bath and sauna.

She lets out a tired sigh and makes her way inside. Immediately, she is greeted by a warm atmosphere. She fully steps inside and closes the door behind herself. On one side there is a row of lockers for the hotel visitants to store their items in before proceeding into the other room. On the other side there are a couple of changing rooms to disrobe in. She makes her way to one of those and changes as quickly as she can in her current state, taking off her clothes and wrapping herself in the towel, then stores her items in one of the lockers, fleetingly noting that all the others are empty.

She goes inside the bath room and gingerly pads across the squeaky-clean floors while barefoot. The air is thick with moisture, radiating heat and welcoming her. One look around the expansive dimly-lit room and her thoughts about being the only occupant are confirmed. Slowly, as to not slip and fall, Jisoo makes her way through the room and right up to the doors leading into the separate sauna area.

As soon as the door opens she feels the steam wrap itself around her frail limbs and guide her inside. She sits in the far corner and closes her eyes with her head resting against the wall as her body starts to better regulate her temperature.

A small sigh escapes her lips as the chill in her bones slowly dissipates. Sleep tugs at her addled mind and she falls right into its clutches, letting herself go, if only for a moment.

A moment becomes an hour.

An hour of sleeping away inside the sauna, her body sweating, expelling all the toxins, and banishing away the fever.

An hour for her body to lose the little water that had kept her going throughout the day and completely dehydrate.

Her thoughts are muddled when she wakes. Her tongue feels heavy in , unpleasantly dry, and her vision is swimming – almost as if she’s drunk.

Jisoo brings a hand up to hear forehead and presses at her temples while scrunching her eyes.

The headache is back.

She tries to take a deep breath and shakily gets up, her hands on the wall to try and keep a semblance of balance.

I can’t stay here, I need to get back to the room.

She slowly trudges to the door, pushing it open is like trying to push a boulder in her state, but she manages, and stumbles into the room with the ho