“He needs to undergo surgery miss”, a doctor said after checking up on Min Ho. “He has a concussion which needs immediate care and it would be of great help if you could sign here as his guardian.” I signed the paper he handed to me without hesitating.

“Please”, I told the doctor. “Please save him.

”We will do the best we can”, the doctor left.

”We need to call someone”, Lu Han said. I immediately took out my cellphone as quickly as I could and dialled Kai’s number. I had been so caught up in what had happened I’d forgotten about telling Kai and the Kim’s.

“I’m having class in one minute”, he answered. “This better be good.” I started crying once I heard his voice. For some reason me crying as soon as I heard Kai’s voice seemed to be a reoccurring theme. “Ji Eun? What’s wrong? Why are you crying?”

“Min Ho”, I cried as my entire body was shaking in fear. “MinHowasinacaraccidentjustnow. Therewasacarthatshowedupoutofnowhereandjust- Theysaidtheyweregoing-”

“Talk slowly”, Kai said. “Did you just say Min Ho was in a car accident?”

“I’m so sorry”, I apologised. “It was my fault. If I had just watched him closely it-”

“Where are you?” He asked.

“They took us to Seoul's central hospital”, I answered and tried to calm down.

“Okay, calm down”, Kai said. The tone of his voice now was more soft than the one he’d used at the beginning of the phone call. “I’ll be there soon, okay? Just, stop crying.”

I nodded although I knew he couldn’t see me and hung up.  I took deep breaths to calm myself down, like he’d said, and wiped my tears.

“Was that Kai on the phone?” Lu Han asked. I nodded and closed my eyes. All I think of was to pray to god to make sure Min Ho was okay

As time went by and I couldn’t just sit still so I was walking around in circles in the private waiting room hey had put us in. Lu Han was buying some coffee downstairs and I was left alone in misery and agony. I kept walked around the waiting room while praying with all my might when finallythe door opened. I looked at it thinking it was the doctor only for Kai and I to make eye contact. For a couple of seconds we just looked at each other until he ran towards me. As soon as he reached me I wrapped my arms around his neck and he pulled me in for a hug that I seriously needed. I cried in his shoulders but felt at ease as he was rubbing my back gently to calm me. I felt safe in his arms and I didn’t want him to let me go.

“Are they still doing the surgery?” He calmly asked. I nodded. I couldn’t understand how he managed to be this calm when his brother had just been in an accident. How did he manage to always be in control of every situation? “Tell me what happened.” This was the moment where I had to let go, so I released myself from the hug.

“I don’t know”, I began. My heart was racing and my hands where shaking. I was panicking when thinking about the accident again. “He was joking with us and then he ran off and then a car j-” I remembered the crash and refused to explain anymore as my tears shed. “I’m sorry.” I bowed. “It was my fault. If only I had warned him earlier about the car a- I would do anything to be the one in that room instead of him.”

“It’s okay”, Kai said. “It’s okay. Don’t blame yourself. Sit down and try taking it easy.”

“Here’s some coffee”, Lu Han entered the room. “Oh.” He looked at his rival. “Kai.”

“Why are you here?” Kai asked. The gentle tone he had used when speaking with me was gone. The one he was using sounded hostile. 

“He helped me”, I said.

”Thank you for helping Ji Eun and Min Ho while I wasn’t here”, Kai said courtly. “But I’ll take care of things from now on.”

“I’ll leave”, Lu Han put down the two cups of coffee he was holding on a table. I felt awful. Kai couldn’t just dismiss like that when Lu Han had been nothing but a great help to be but most of all to Min Ho.

”No”, I protested. ”You can stay Lu.” But Lu Han didn’t seem to have heard what I had said. He walked up to me and gave me a warm hug. “Stay strong.” I knew there was no point of arguing with him. He was going to leave no matter what I did because of his hate for Kai.

“Thank you”, I said. “Thank you for helping me.”

“No problem”, he smiled. ”I hope Min Ho makes it out fine.” 

When he left, I sat down next to Kai.

”You didn’t have to tell him off like that”, I said. ”He helped me. He helped Min Ho.”

”I’m sorry”, Kai eventually said after being quiet for a while. The fact that he had even said the s word in regards of Lu Han took me surprise “I contacted mom”, he continued. “They’ll be here tonight.”

6 hours later

The doors finally opened. I got up from the chair as the doctor walked to us.

“How did it go?” Kai asked.

“We’re glad to tell you that the surgery was successful”, the doctor answered. I felt my body had gotten a whole lot lighter than it was before. “Your brother was really strong. He was lucky he didn’t suffer any severe damages. We put him in a room where he is sound asleep for the time being. Besides the concussion, he fractured his left leg but it will heal with time.”

“Can we take a look at him?” I asked.

“Yes”, he said. “Follow me.” Kai and I followed the doctor up to another floor where where Min Ho was lying. When I saw him, I dropped my bag on the floor and slowly approached Min Ho feeling sorry for him and wishing the accidents hadn’t happened to him. His head was bandaged and so was his left leg. The heart monitor was beating and I could see his chest lift up every time he would breathe.

The doctors had left Kai and I in the room and we were now sitting on the two chairs that were present while waiting for Min Ho to wake up. 

“He is strong”, Kai said. “He’ll b-” The door opened and Mrs Kim, Mr. Kim and my dad came running in.

”Min Ho!” Mrs. Kim cried as she approached her son. Once she reached him the cries got louder. Listening to Mrs. Kim’s cries only made me feel worse.

“Oh my dear god”, my father hugged me. “What happened, Ji Eun?” I couldn’t answer. I was too nervous and afraid that they’d be angry at me for being reckless.

“A drunk driver was speeding”, Kai explained when I stood quiet. “The driver ignored the red traffic light and collided with Min Ho that was walking on the crosswalk. The driver was brought into hospital too but his injuries were not as bad.” I didn’t know any of the details regarding the accident that Kai had just said so I didn’t speak. Instead i was focused on Mrs. Kim’s cried. Mr. Kim was  trying to calm her down.

“He is going to be okay”, he said. “I spoke to the doctors and they explained everything to me. There’s nothing critical about his condition.” Right, I had forgotten Mr. Kim was a doctor himself.

“Ji Eun”, Mr. Kim called. “Thank you for making such a quick decision. If you weren't here things could have gotten out of hand. Thank you.” I shook my head because I didn’t think I deserved the thank you speech I was getting. I had done nothing but cry since the accident.

“Don’t thank me uncle”, I tried my best not to cry again. “I was to blame for not warning Min Ho in time. I was to blame for not watching over him as a noona.” I bowed. “Please forgive me.”

“It wasn’t your fault”, Mrs. Kim said in between tears. “It was the driver’s fault for breaking the law by driving under the influence.” She left Min Ho’s side and hugged me. “You did well today. I think you should go home and rest.”

“No”, I refused. “I want to be here when Min Ho wakes up.”

“We’ll call you when he wakes up”, my father tried convincing me.

“No”, I refused. “I’m staying just like you guys.”

“I’ll take her home”, Kai offered. He took my bag and pulled me out of the room against my will. I ended up giving up and let him drag me out of the hospital. A couple of minutes later, I was pushed inside a taxi.

I don’t really remember how I got back inside my room, but when I looked around after a while of staring blankly into space I realised I was there. I lied down on my bed and curled up into a ball feeling cold but mostly sad. I tried calming myself down, I tried keeping my emotions in check but I still somehow ended up crying. I knew crying wasn’t going to make things better but I couldn’t stop my tears. My heart was hurting too much due the guilt I felt about what happened.

There was a knock on the door and I quickly pulled the sheets over to cover my body. I didn’t want Kai to see me for the mess I was even after he had asked me to stop crying.

“I can’t decide”, he said. “Should I order pizza or two b-?” I heard him sigh behind me. “You’re doing it again.”

“I’m not”, I said but my voice betrayed me. He pulled the bed covers off of me.

“I’m not blind”, he said and sat down on the bed next to me. “Listen, comforting people is not my forte so you need to stop making me do it all the time.” When a loud cry left my mouth, he lied down next to me and held my in his arms. My wet face was buried in his chest. His hand was going up and down my back in an effort to calm me down and at times he would my hair.

“You know I was out of my mind when you called”, Kai began when I finally calmed down. ”I didn’t know what to do or expect and hearing you cry worsened my worries.” I looked up to him completely forgetting my face was a mess. “I’m still scared that something bad might happen.”

“You don’t look scared.”

“You shouldn’t be fooled by my face sometimes”, he said. “I might be able to control my emotions on the outside but deep inside it’s a lot harder to do.” I couldn’t believe my ears. Who would have thought the all mighty Kai wasn’t  stone cold but in fact he was just like everyone else? Knowing this made me feel much closer to him, like I knew him a much better than before. I buried my face in his chest again and breathed in his faint strawberry scent. We stayed like that for what felt like eternity.

“Thank you”, I said after a while. He responded by tightening his arms around me. 

Next day

I woke up by someone knocking frantically on the door but refused to open my eyes. I still wanted - no - I needed more sleep. It was just so comfortable and warm on the bed and the scent was wonderful. With no care for the knock, I tried entering dreamland once again.

“Ji Eun?” Mrs. Kim voice was so close to me. But why was she not at the hospital? Did something happen? She my hair. “Ji Eun?” She called again. I was about to sit on the bed when a couple of firm and strong arms tightly grabbed hold of me. I felt a head leaning against my back. What was that?

“Kai?!” Mrs. Kim’s voice echoed in the room. The hands that were grabbing hold of me let loose and I heard someone yawn inches away from me. “Wh-what are you doing in here?”

It all became clear to me. Kai and I had fallen asleep while he was consoling me yesterday. How did we fall asle--- Wait a minute! Holy Camoly! Kai and I had fallen asleep on my bed! Kai and I had slept together on the same bed! I immediately opened my eyes and jumped off the bed. I faced Mrs. Kim and apologetically bowed.

“I’m sorry”, I said. Kai looked at his mother while stretching, and of course he had that cool and casual expression he always wore. It was as if nothing was happening around him. Did he not realize his mother had just walked in on us in my bed?

“I didn’t think you kids were going that fast already”, Mrs. Kim had completely misunderstood everything. “How long has this been g-”

“Mom”, Kai said. “We fell asleep. Don’t get over your head.”

“I see”, Mrs. Kim said. “I’m sorry for misunderstanding.” She looked at me. “I need to go back to the hospital so I only came to pick up some clothes. I’ll see you later!” She left, leaving me by myself with Kai.

I awkwardly looked around the room not knowing what to say. I quickly took a peek at Kai and awkwardly froze when I saw he was looking at me. Was he waiting for me to say something? I didn’t know so I waited until I felt that’s what he was waiting for and opened my mouth.

“I’ll just go”, he said before I could utter anything and headed out but I stopped him.

“Thank you”, I said without looking at him, “for last night.”

“Someone had to do it”, he answered in a nonchalant way before leaving the room. There it was again, that cold side of him.