- 008 -

Like Jongdae had expected, Jisoo caught a cold. A bad one. She couldn’t stop sneezing and coughing, her body temperature was skyrocketing and her nose running like an open water faucet. They got scold by Jongdae’s mom for being too careless leaving the house in the rain with no umbrella.

Her reasoning was nothing more that she had no idea it would be raining when she came out of the house, because she just wanted to take a short stroll to ease her mine. And she deliberately didn’t tell anyone because she wanted to be alone for some time. It didn’t make her aunt happy though, but at least everybody stopped asking and making more fuss about it.

She almost didn’t sleep last night. After few minutes dozing off, she was awakened by a nightmare. Her heart was racing with the thoughts of Sehun leaving her in the darkness at her dream. She never felt this scared before, and the feeling led to a migraine and it got worse after an hour. Because everything was suddenly so blurry and literally spinning around.

And she didn’t know what time it was when she started feeling nauseated, Jongdae found her puking her guts out at the bathroom afterwards.

Since they didn’t wish to wake her dad, her aunt decided to call Yeonseok instead. Jisoo was half conscious when she heard Yeonseok’s presence by her bed side, along with her concerned aunt retold him the drama that happened earlier. He put his hand on her brow for a couple seconds, then he caressed her cold sweaty head, his voiced was so soft when he spoke on her ear,

“Alright, Jisoo, it’s going to hurt a little, okay?”

She felt someone hold her hand and forearm and a second later she whined painfully when she felt something stung just below her thumb.

“It hurt.” She whimpered. Her voice was weak, she wasn’t sure if anyone heard her.

But Yeonseok did, because he calmed her by her arm gently while applying adhesive plasters on her wrist and at the back of her hand. Then when he asked Jongdae (most likely, because he used casual language at the time) to remove his hand on hers, the pain on her hand slowly disappeared, so did her consciousness.

She woke up as the sunlight peeked through her open window. Her extreme headache had gone, she had stopped sneezing and shivering. Right then she found out that she had IV drip on her left hand when she tried to move it, and that’s when she realized someone was on her bed.

As she turned around, she found Yeonseok fell asleep at the other side of her bed. He sat and leaned at the head board, arms folded on his chest, while his head limped to his right side. Much to her surprise, she stretched out her arms to reach him, but before she did that—she coughed.

And it woke him up.

“Hey, you’re up.” Yeonseok greeted her while pinching his nose bridge.

“Why are you here?” she asked, dumbfounded.

He slided off from her bed, took a stethoscope on the bed side table and made a round to her side. He then helped her to get up and put a pillow behind her back to lean on. It’s so natural of him, Jisoo felt this weird pleasurable feeling gripping her heart.

“Your aunt called me in the middle of the night,” he put his hand on her brow, then to her IV drip-free hand to check on her pulse, “Telling me that she had this particular niece who was in the brink of the death, because she had a striking high body temperature, severe dizziness and throwing up, not blood, fortunately—can you take a breath for me?”

Jisoo straightened her seat and chuckled at his personal joke, then she took a deep breath as he pressed the chest-piece on her back. She remembered his gentle voice ringing on her ears last night, she thought she was hearing things because it gave her an unexpected soothing effect.

It made her pain go away.

Now she felt bad for him to stay with her all night when he was supposed to take a rest before the wedding.

“I never had something like this before, is it a bad thing to feel that extreme pain on my head and throw up?” she asked few moments later.

“One more breath, please.” Jisoo did one more like he said, “Okay. I won’t say that I’m not concerned, but no, it’s not a bad thing. I assumed it’s just a panic attack, coupled with the cold and those restless days you spent at the hospital. They could take quite a toll on your health.”

Was that what he called it? That she had a panic attack? Jisoo was wondering if this was him being truly oblivious or indifferent for the underrated diagnosis, because no, she absolutely had no panic attack, it’s not even near that—she thought. But she felt much guiltier right now as he said that.

“I’m sorry.” She mumbled in a guilt-ridden tone.

“No, don’t be sorry. It’s not even something you can plan. Some people may experience prewedding blues when they’re getting married, so I think this may explain the mood-swings and all. And this might have taken a lot from you, but I’m sure it will get better as soon as we get over it.”

Jisoo nodded willingly, she had nothing to say but letting him believe what he wanted to. It’s better that way anyway.

When he decided Jisoo had enough immune booster, the next thing he did was releasing her from the drip. Jongdae came to visit her with her dad, and he was slightly fuming because no one told him about her breakdown the night before.

“No one cared about this old man feeling, leaving me in the dark when my daughter is seriously ill.” He complained.

“Dad, I’m not ill. I’m fine.”

“She’s alright, Doctor. It’s just exhaustion, she’s healthy as a horse now.”Yeonseok came in rescue. He explained him the medication he had injected on the crystalloid hydration through her drip, suggesting that she needed to stay in bed for a couple hours before she started today’s activity. With that, they agreed to rearrange their schedule and had the hair and makeup stylists did her preparation at home instead of the venue’s longue, then they could transport her to the Raum when everybody’s ready.

And when he saw there’s nothing more he could do to help, he excused himself to go back home and get some rest.

“You need to work on the way you address me, Son. I’ll be more than a colleague for you after today.” Her dad remarked after Yeonseok politely refused his invitation to have breakfast with the family. He was too comfortable addressing him by ‘doctor’ rather than any other familiar name.

“Dad!” Jisoo whined on embarrassment.

“I’ll do that after I pronounce my vow this afternoon, Doctor.” He chuckled as he turned to her to bid his goodbye. “I’ll see you at the wedding.” He said and proceeded to leave her room after giving her a goodbye kiss on her cheek… In front of her dad! For God’s sake.

She flinched lightly from the skin contact; even Jongdae was surprised to see his blunt move. She couldn’t take her eyes off of

 his back when he’s gone with her dad, leaving her with Jongdae trying to hold back his laugh.

“Jee, I think you have blood stain in your cheek,” Jisoo raised her eyebrow, half shocked as she put her hand to where he pointed on. But Jongdae scratched his words a second later, “Oh no, my bad. It’s not blood, you just blushed.”

Alright, that’s it. She could take all his jokes but not this one. Jongdae sprinted out of her room when Jisoo briskly turned to her bedside looking for something to throw.

The house became busier two hours later. The makeup crew from Han Seojung’s salon arrived in Yeonseok’s request right after Jisoo finishing her breakfast, she took a good shower before letting them help her to get ready. She sat on her vanity while the makeup stylist did her face and two other ones did her hair. They curled it with jumbo hair curlers, and styled it onto high curly updo covering her ears with a dutch side braid.

Time flashed so fast, it felt like that jumping stone you threw at the river’s surface. Jisoo was in daze, that she failed to follow everything happening around her most of the time. One time she was still in her bedroom, and the next moment she was surrounded by strangers at the bride’s lounge. Most of the guests were either her dad’s or Yeonseok’s family colleagues and relatives, she herself didn’t have that many friends other than those who had been in her study groups, so she really didn’t have much to say rather than a formal gratitude.

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