Remember how they all promised not to be noisy and loud? Well, they broke that promise as soon as they entered the house. Once they stepped in, they spread around the lower floor like a bunch of cockroaches. I followed right behind and met a stunned Mrs. Kim standing in front of the kitchen.

“Ji Eun ah”, She looked at me. ”Where did all these people come from?”

“Mrs. Kim”, I bowed. “I’m so sorry. They asked if Kai could tutor them and I tried refusing b…”

“It’s fine”, Mrs. Kim smiled brightly while looking at the teenagers. “I’m actually thrilled to see so many kids in the house. Jong In never brings friends over so I never had to experience such a thing.” She looked at me. ”Now that I have a daughter it seems things keep happening.” She smiled at me. As she said those words, I couldn’t help but smile back. Hearing her call me her daughter made me happy for In a way I did regard her as the mother I never had.

“Are you going to do a school project?” She asked.

“No”, I answered, “they just need help with the final homework for the semester, that’s why they asked if Kai could help them.”

“That’s not going to be easy”, Mrs. Kim entered the kitchen and I followed her. “Kai is very…” Mrs. Kim stopped to think of a word to describe her son but it seemed she couldn’t find one. “You know what I mean.”

“I know”, I helped her taking out snacks. “At times he’s been really nice but then he goes back to being so… Kai like.”

“Nice?” Mrs. Kim asked. “Are you sure we’re talking about the same person?” I laughed.

“That’s why I thought it would be better if you maybe asked him”, I said. “If I ask he’ll just… say no.”

“Of course”, Mrs. Kim took one of the bowls.

“You don’t have to bother with that”, I said.

“B…”

I went to the living room and called the boys. Five boys including Se Hun and Tao came to the kitchen. They bowed while greeting Mrs. Kim who delightfully smiled.

“Such handsome young men”, she said.

“Could you please take these to the living room?” I asked and I took one bowl myself. The guys managed to take the remaining ones and we went to the living room.

“This house is really big!” Lime said.

”Thank you”, Mrs. Kim smiled. Everyone greeted her. “I’m so pleased to meet Ji Eun’s classmates. You can eat the snacks and please drink as much as you want, there’s more where that came from.” They all timidly looked at her. “Please, go ahead.” They looked at me and I signed that it was okay. In an instant they all jumped on the snacks. Mrs. Kim laughed.

“You must be Kai’s mother”, Lu Han suddenly said. He was standing next to us.

“Yes”, Mrs. Kim smiled. “And you are?”

“Ji Eun’s almost boyfriend”, Lu Han answered and I had a feeling that things were not going to go well at all. Mrs. Kim turned towards me and I innocently shook my shoulders. “You are way nicer than that assh-” I sneered at him and he realized his mistake. “Oh I’m sorry. Than Kai.” Mrs. Kim had an amused expression.

”I see”, she said. ”You must be that Lu Han.” Wait, how did she know that?

“Y-you know my name?” Lu Han was more than astounded and he wasn’t the only one. I was too, but then Lu Han widely smiled making me curious. “Did Ji Eun talk about me a lot?” Mrs. Kim jeered while I shook my head. That was his reason for smiling that widely?

“Actually she didn’t say anything at all”, Mrs. Kim said. “Kai did, but you should give up now. Ji Eun likes my son.” I was not expecting Mrs. Kim to say that at all - I mean who would? Poor Lu Han looked like someone had thrown cold water on his face. Also why would Kai talk about Lu Han with Mrs. Kim? As I thought I remembered Min Ho’s accident. Kai must have mentioned him when explaining how it had happened.

I was going to say something when another unexpected thing happened. The front door had opened. That meant he had come.

“Everybody be quiet”, Mrs. Kim said and silence took place.

We all heard the door close and for some reason the hair on the back of my neck stood up. I didn’t need to wait because I knew it was time for me to run and hide. I ran upstairs to the second floor and hid while making sure I could see what was going on. But just then, Min Ho who was seating on the couch on the second floor cloaked me.

“What are you doing?” He asked. I put my index on my lips to shush him down.

“I’m hiding from your hyung (big brother)”, I whispered. Min Ho shook his head and went back to what he was doing.

I heard new footsteps in the living room and bit my lower lip when I saw Kai. He was heading towards the stairs, obviously he hadn’t noticed anything, but then he walked back and faced the people in the living room. His brain must have had a slow reaction because he got startled even after staring at them for a few seconds.

“Welcome home Kai!” Everyone greeted. I frowned. When did they rehearse that?

“What in th…” Kai interrupted himself and turned towards the stairs and I hid. “Oh no! I’m not doing this.” I looked at the scene again. ”I did earlier with an idiot and I’m not doing it again with many more.” He looked up again and I knew. He knew I was hiding.

“Please Kai?” Everyone was holding their physics books and they made sure to have the puppy look on their face.

“Kai”, Mrs. Kim in, “they need your help.”

”Please”, Lu Han said. Knowing how much Lu Han disliked Kai it must have been difficult to ask, but of course Kai didn’t care about those things.

“No”, he simply walked upstairs and I ran to my room.

Inside my room I leaned against the door and bit my nails thinking about Kai. How mean could someone actually be? People, even his own mother, were asking for a favor so nicely yet he says no. H- 

The door was strongly pushed and I jumped on the bed and quickly hid under the bed cover without being seen. Or so I thought.

“You think I can’t see your purple socks?” He asked as he closed the door. He didn’t sound happy when he walked to my bed. “Don’t you feel sorry for me?” I didn’t answer because my mind was preoccupied with one thought only. *Don’t come closer.* The bed cover was pulled away from me, leaving me unprotected, and I closed my eyes shut and pursed my lips. “Look at me.” Like a reflex, my eyes immediately opened and I looked at him.

“S…sorry?” I unsurely said.

“Is that the only thing you have to say?”

“Fine”, I sighed. “I shouldn’t have brought them home. I know that, but I couldn’t say no when they kept asking. Please have a little compassion for me.”

”Have compassion for you?” He ridiculed. “What about you? Have compassion for me too. Do you know how tired I am? With everything that’s happened and me studying like crazy for that exam… ”

“Studying for an exam?”

“Never mind. You don’t think of my needs or wants yet you claim to like me. Why even like me if you keep doing such things to me?”

I frowned. Why was he talking like that? Normally he would say something short like:  "Are you dumb?" Or: "I’m not doing it." "Do it yourselves." Then he would have left, but why give this long speech? Was he really that tired?

Shaking these thoughts away I sat up.

“You don’t have to”, I said. “I’ll tell them to leave.”  I walked to the door.

“Oh goddddddddd!” He heaved out. “Why are you doing this to me?” After a moment of silent he exclaimed.  “Fine, I’ll do it.” I turned around more shocked than happy.

“Re-really?” I asked. “Seriously?”

“But then you’ll owe me a favor later.”

“Yes sir!” I bit my lower lip. “I’ll do anything if you help them.”

“Don’t do that”, he said.

“What?” I looked at myself. “Don’t do what?”

“Don’t bite your lips”, he stood up. “It’s uncomfortable.” He left the room and I let go of my lip and ran after him.

Down the stairs, all eyes were glued on us. I put my thumbs up there I was standing behind Kai and they cheered. Mrs. Kim was happy and so was everyone else besides Kai.

Seconds passed by, and after the seconds, minutes and then one hour came and then two hours had passed. Instead of noting down like everyone else, I was staring and admiring Kai. He looked so handsome from behind. His shoulders were broad and his legs were tall. I could stare at him for months and never grow tired.

“Pfft”, Lu Han said waking me up from my daydream. “Show off.”

For the first time since the two hours, Kai stopped what he was doing. He turned around, his eyes were searching for the person who had spoken. When he finally saw Lu Han, he looked surprised.

“Well if it isn’t Mr. I’m Ji Eun’s husband”, Kai smirked. “I didn’t know you were here.” He raised his voice and spoke slowly. “If you! Need me! To repeat! Something! You just have to ask!” Kai had spoken to Lu Han as if Lu Han was slow.  “Okay?”

“You little piece of sh…” Lu Han stopped himself. He tried holding his anger back.

“Kai”, I warned. Kai looked at me and then he smirked at Lu Han before continuing.

After three hours, the tutoring finally ended. The last hour was tense but now that it was over I was more than happy. Everybody – except Lu Han – thanked Kai and I before they left. Once they had left, Min Ho came down the stairs.

“Did your stupid friends leave?” He asked.

“They’re not stupid Min Ho”, I ruffled his hair although he tried to get away.

“Are you sure?” Min Ho asked. “I mean they must be if they’re friends with you.”

He snuck his tongue out and  struggled to run to the kitchen on his crutches. I simply shook my head and laughed at him trying to run with crutches. I was over him calling me stupid. He was just a kid who didn’t know better since he took after his brother, but also because in a weird way I liked how alike he was to his older brother.

“Do you have to laugh so loudly?” Kai sounded angry. He had lied down on the sofa in the living room with his eyes closed.

“I’m sorry”, I apologized and took a better look at him. “Is something wrong?”

“My head hurts”, he answered. 

 I didn’t need to be told twice. I was on my way to the kitchen to get some water when Mrs. Kim and I bumped into each other.

“Kai has a headache”, I said. Mrs. Kim went to the bathroom as I continued into the kitchen. She came back with pills and I came with fresh water. The both of us hurried to Kai’s side. Mrs. Kim gave Kai the pill and I gave him the water.

“You do look sick”, I touched his forehead and Kai winced. I pulled my hand back at his hot he was.

“Your hand is freaking cold”, he snapped and opened his eyes. “Don’t touch me!”

“I… I’m sorry”, I backed away feeling hurt. Why was he so angry at me all of a sudden?

“Jong In”, Mrs. Kim felt his forehead. “She was just trying to help.”

“Well don’t”, he snapped some more and got up. “You’re only making it worse.” Mrs. Kim held my hand and squeezed it gently as if she was trying to tell me to not take offense.

“You’re burning up”, Mrs. Kim got up.  “I think you have a fever.”

“I wonder why”, Kai looked at me with more anger in the eyes. 

I quickly looked down on my shoes averting my eyes from his because I felt guilty. He was probably sick because of all the hard work he did these few weeks being there for me as moral support, studying and at the same time worrying for his brother. I was concerned for him but it seemed my help was the last thing he wanted and it hurt me. It hurt me to see him sick but it hurt more that he didn’t want my help at all.

“Why don’t you take a shower?” Mrs. Kim asked. “I’ll make you some soup.” Kai left the living room. “Ji Eun ah, he didn’t mean it.”

“It’s okay”, I said. By deep down I didn’t believe he didn’t mean it.

A few hours later

“Ji Eun!” I left my room for the kitchen, where my name had been called. There I found a fully dressed Min Ho and a beautiful and dazzling Mrs. Kim.

“Yes?”

“Bring this to Kai”, Mrs. Kim handed me a tray with delicious food nicely served.

“B-but”, I looked at her. “Kai… He said not to help h-”

“Make sure he eats everything or you’ll have to deal with me later”, Mrs. Kim smile as she completely ignored what I said. “Min Ho and I are going to the cinema with the fathers. We’ll be home late.” I watched in defeat as Min Ho and her left the house. After pulling myself together, I went upstairs with a concerned frown I couldn’t hide.

Knocking on Kai’s door was the one of my most nerve wracking experiences after Min Ho’s accident. Who knew what Kai was going to do to me? I knocked again and opened the door. The handsome Kai was lying down on his bed with a wet towel on his forehead and two bed covers over him.

“It’s me”, I said.

“I thought I told you not to h-”, he said right before sneezing. 

“Your mother went out with your brother”, I said. “She told me to make you eat this so you better sit.” Kai sighed but he took his time and finally sat on the bed and I put down the tray on his lap. Kai took it easy with the food while I sat there and profoundly admired him. His profile was intriguing and captivating. I did not know one could look like that while eating. The way he handsomely chewed his food was perfect a…

“Am I that good looking?” He asked.

“Yes”, I absentmindedly answered. But before I could curse myself, Kai laughed. Although it was short and sounded like it hurt, Kim Jong In laughed. 

“I’m done”, Kai pushed the tray away not even five minutes after.

“You didn’t finish your food”, I complained. He hadn’t touched two third of the food.

“I’m not hungry”, he drank some water.

“No”, I grabbed the bowl with the soup and took his spoon. “You’re eating everything.”

“You can’t make me do something I don’t want to do ”, his eyes darkened.

“I can’t?” I smirked and sat next to him on the bed. “Open your mouth.” He shook his head. “I will show your album photo from when you were a kid to everyone at school if you don’t open your mouth and eat this.”

Kai’s eyes widened.

“I burned it”, he said. I smirked.

“If there’s one person you can’t make do what they don’t want to, it’s your mother.” I tilted my head to the side. “If I were you, I would start eating.” Kai began to eat the rest of the food and I sat there with a smile silently celebrating my win.

When he finished, I went downstairs to washed the dishes and then I made him some tea. When I came back into his room he was on his laptop.

“You need to rest”, I closed the door behind me.

“I don’t feel tired”, he coldly answered.

“But you’re sick”, I tried again.

“I’m just studying”, he whined. “Studying!”

I put the tea cup down on the computer table and grabbed his laptop away from him.

“Hey!” He yelled. ”Give it back!” I shut the laptop computer and put it far away from him.

“I’m not”, I said. “You’re sick and you need rest. I made you some tea s-”

“No one asked you to care”, he snapped. “You’re just being a pain in the .” I sighed.

“You know what you’re right!” I snapped back. ”No one asked me for help and no one asked me to care, but I do care. I care more than I should because I feel guilty and although I try my very best to help, you keep pushing me away. Those words you said earlier hurt you know.”

I waited for him to speak but he only stared at me.

“You can have your opinions but this time I won’t care so keep them to yourself”, I said. “I will sit in this room and look after you as long as it takes and when you’re healthy again, I will leave. So it up because you’re stuck with me all night.”

I sat down in front of his desk, turning my back on him, and his computer. I was going to continue watching Dream High as a reward for standing up against Kai, my evil crush.

Later that night or I mean really early in the morning, I was still watching Dream High. I was on episode five and things were getting so interesting I was even talking to myself.

“Can you please shut up?” Kai asked behind me. His voice was worryingly weak. Pausing the series, I hurried to his side.

“You alright?” I asked. I had already put behind all the anger I had felt before.

“No”, he answered. “I’m cold.” I carefully touched his forehead hoping he wouldn’t start yelling to wake everyone else in the house and thankfully he didn’t. He was extremely hot and sweaty and my concern for him grew.

“I’ll be right back”, I said.

In the bathroom I quietly wetted the towel that was on his forehead again and hurried back to Kai. After putting the towel on his forehead, I found a blanket. I put it over the two covers that were on him.

“I’m still freezing”, he said. I touched his feverish cheek trying to give him warmth the best way I could. Seeing Kai this sick made me uncomfortable because he looked so helpless. Helpless was one of the things he normally never looked like.

“What can I do to make you warm?” I asked. Kai turned towards me and contemplated for a long time before saying the most ridiculous thing.

“We can both get and you can join me in bed”, he said. I started hiccupping and my face grew red. “It’s easier to warm up that way.”

“O- hick - other solution”, I hiccuped.

“We can keep our clothes on and you’d still have to join me in bed”, Kai looked at me and I hiccupped again. Kai and I on the same bed? It had happened before but usually it was because of a situation, he had never actually asked me to join him.

“A…are you sure?” I asked. “Cause I think t-”

“If I was dying and the only way to save me was to do this would you hesitate?” He swiftly asked.

“Of course I wouldn’t”, I answered.

“Then get over here”, he said. “I just need some warmth that’s all. I promise, I won’t bite.”

I cleared my throat and - with deciding footsteps, made my way to the bed. I was about to lie down when he stopped me.

“Take off your sweater and your socks”, he said. “They’ll only block the warmth.”

I did as I was told and got into Kai’s bed dressed in only my pyjama shorts and a tank top. It was such a nerve-wracking feeling. And to make matters worse (or better)  I made sure there was space between the two of us but Kai turned to my side and grabbed me into a tight hug without warning.

My heart was beating so fast I knew he heard and felt it, just like last time. I was so nervous my palms were becoming sweaty and the hottest yet most terrifying part was that besides me wearing those shorts and a tank top, handsome boy was only dressed in pyjama trousers. Yes, Kai was half and yes I could feel every muscles of his upper body on me and I loved feeling every inch of him on me.

Who could have thought I would be here months ago? If I went back in the past to tell myself this was going to happen, I knew for sure my past self wouldn’t believe me. Being hugged by Kai was like winning one million dollar on lotto or even more money, not that I knew how that felt like. He was warm, comfortable, and hot and I had a crush on him. Technically, this was by far the b…

“I look ridiculous when I’m sick right?” Kai asked. I felt his breath on the top of my hair.

“Not ridiculous”, I responded. “But helpless.”

“Helpless?” I could hear the laughter in his voice. ”Who? Me?” He shook his head. “What an imagination you have.”

“That’s what I think”, I said and looked up at him. His face was close to mine yet so far away. Kai looked down at me and our eyes met. Although it was short-lived, I could swear that one moment was endless. I might have been exaggerating, but that’s how it felt like. 

“Y-you’re biting”, he said. “Let go.” It took me a while to get it but when I realised I was biting my lip, I stopped. This was now the second time he’d asked me to stop biting my lips. I wondered why it bothered him so much. “Good, now sleep.”

“But I’m not tired”, I buried my face in his neck thinking why not enjoy this moment while it lasted.

“It’s 3 in the morning”, he said with authority in his tone. “Sleep!”

“Fine”, I gave in. “But one last thing.” I touched his forehead and smiled. “Good, your fever is going down.” I pulled out of his hug and left more space between us, but he stubbornly pulled me back towards him and back hugged me. I could feel his head on my back. It was as if he was lying down or leaning on me.

“You’re warm”, he said. 

I knew he was only hugging me for warmth since he was sick, but it felt like an early Christmas present and I loved every second of it.

Soon we both fell in la la land - him with his arms around my waist and me with a content smile on my face.