Jihyun woke up from an uneasy sleep with a start, blinking her eyes to adjust to the sunlight shining through the windows. She wondered about the time and why didn’t her alarm go off as her hand reached out towards the bedside table in search for her phone, only to grab a digital table clock that did not belong to her. The clock indicated that it was 10 a.m which meant that she was extremely late for work. She gasped in surprise but struggled to raise to a sitting position due to a sudden pulsating headache as a cool cloth fell off her forehead. Great, she thought, she was definitely sick this time with a cold and a fever. But who placed the cloth on her forehead? The morning felt unusual. Her bed felt unusual. The fluffy pillows under her head and the soft duvet covers tucked warmly around her body, gave off a musky scent made her realize that she was lying in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room and had spent the night in a place that didn’t belong to her. Oh damn, what exactly happened last night?

As if on cue, a door in front of her clicked open and a guy, currently busy engaging in a conversation over the phone walked in the room, “Yes, I’d say it will take her two or three days to fully recover. Until then, she’s on a medical leave,” he glanced in her direction as she froze in place, “Sure, I will remind her that. Have a great day,” he ended the call while ambling next to the bed.

Oh. My. God. Were the only three words that popped up in Jihyun’s currently jammed brain as she tried hard to absorb the reality of the situation. Seeing her neighbour instantly summoned up flashbacks about last night’s incident. How they had a short marathon around the small neighbourhood; it started with them running away from a so-called stalker, to the romantic drama-like scene where she shared an umbrella with the most unexpected person, her next-door-neighbour, “D-Daniel! What a-are y-you doing here?” Jihyun asked slightly flustered, unconsciously pulling the duvet covers closer to her.

“The sleeping beauty finally woke up,” Daniel greeted, slipping his hands into his pants pockets. Jihyun ignored the second compliment she had received as she warily watched him, “Isn’t it obvious? This is my bedroom,” Daniel replied with an indifferent tone in his voice, “and that’s my bed,” he continued, gesturing matter-of-factly towards the bed.

“Oh, uhm…” Jihyun shifted uncomfortably to be proven wrong, no wonder the bed felt surprisingly comfortable. It wasn’t hers to begin with. She took a second to put the pieces of the puzzle together, she was currently in Daniel’s bedroom in his apartment, laying in Daniel’s cozy bed and wrapped in Daniel’s warm blankets and… “Oh my god! Wait! What am I doing in your bed!” she hastily leapt off the bed, the sudden change in position sending her wobbling dizzily towards the carpeted floor.

Daniel hurried forward and grabbed hold of her left arm and waist on reflex before she could hit the floor, “Careful Jihyun! You’re still sick,” he said worriedly.

“Hands off!” Jihyun shrieked, falling back onto the bed as she tried to push herself away from his grasp. She’d gladly choke him, however he was out of reach which forced her to grab the closest thing (a feather pillow) that could be used as both a shield and a weapon.

He sighed heavily, rubbing his temples at the misunderstanding that he hadn’t expect to happen, “Is that how you treat me for taking care of you? I had at least expected a simple thank you,” Daniel playfully hummed while slowly stepping closer to the bed.

“Don’t come near me!” Jihyun yelped, shielding herself with the pillow as her neighbour leaned closer and closer to her face.

“Not until you listen to my explanation,” Daniel responded by placing his hands on either side of her body, locking her in place (as if she had other places to escape now). Stunned by yet another close proximity of their faces, Jihyun eventually stopped struggling and went silent. He took her response as a signal to convey his side of the story and clear up the misunderstanding, “Before you have the wrong idea, I did not take advantage of you while you were asleep. If you haven’t noticed, you’re still in yesterday’s clothes. I simply brought you back to my apartment after you passed out last night and tucked you in my bed while I slept on the couch in the living room. You had quite a high fever so I didn’t want to wake you up just to ask for your password. Besides, I don’t think it’s wise to leave a sick person alone in her apartment fending for herself,” He finished explaining, slowly pulling himself away from her.

She took a quick glance of herself, Daniel was telling the truth, her clothes were still intact and she was indeed still wearing yesterday's outfit she had on for work; a pair beige blouse and black pencil skirt, “W-why should I trust you?” Jihyun timidly asked, still unable to let her guard down as she brought herself to a sitting position once Daniel was at a safe distance from the bed.

“Because Mrs. Jung also knew that you’re sick when she visited you earlier. She even made some food for you,” Daniel replied as he idly walked out of the room, coming back a few seconds later carrying a bowl and a glass of water on a tray. Jihyun watched Daniel in silence as he sat at the edge of the bed, “I just had this handed to me by Mrs. Jung in the hallway. Eat. It should make you feel better,” he set the tray on her lap and placed his hand on her forehead to check for her temperature.

Why was Daniel being nice to her all of a sudden? Was this all a dream or was she hallucinating? Or perhaps, she woke up this morning in an alternate universe where her usually annoying neighbour had turned into a caring gentleman? Jihyun's brain was pressuring her to ask about last night’s incident, but she was too distracted by his large, warm hand that was gently cupping her forehead to think straight. Daniel's rare acts of kindness made her choose a different, less confrontational question, “Who’s on the phone earlier?” she asked.

Daniel peeled his hand away and nodded to himself while muttering about how last night's rain might have worsened her fever, before tucking her neatly under the duvet covers again and retrieving some fever medications from the drawer of the bedside table, “Your assistant, Daehwi,” he simply replied, placing the phone he was using ealier in her open hand, “Since you’re still asleep, I took the call on your behalf and explained to him that you’re on a sick leave,”

Things were starting to make sense to Jihyun as she carefully eyed Daniel from head to toe. She eventually realised that she owed him an apology and many thanks for his help and care, but she had never directed the words 'sorry' and 'thank you' to him before, at least not sincerely, “Are you on a leave too?” Jihyun asked, once she noticed that he was casually dressed in a light blue knit sweater and a pair of black jeans on a weekday with his hair unstyled, shouldn't he be in his office at this hour?

Daniel brushed his messy hair with his fingers in an attempt to make it look somewhat presentable, but it refused to be tamed, “I’m working from home today,” he replied shyly while clearing his throat. The food was still untouched as Jihyun was busy staring at him with a look that carried a thousand questions in her head, “Still dizzy? Do you want me to feed you?” he offered, reaching for the spoon. Feeling worried was an understatement, Daniel was more than concerned that Jihyun had gone to sleep with an empty stomach, it would surely prolong her recovery process.

Jihyun swiftly took the spoon from him before he could dip it into the piping hot soup, “No, I’ll manage,” she politely refused. She no longer felt intimidated by his presence, but she was still not ready for the usually cold and aloof neighbour of hers to suddenly turn into her butler. She glanced at the bowl of chicken soup, it was steaming hot and smelled enticingly savoury. After carefully blowing on the hot soup, Jihyun wasted no time and sipped a spoonful of the broth, “It's tasty. Thanks Daniel,” she looked up to meet his eyes. The warmth of the soup filled her and having a little in her stomach helped to ease the awkward and unexplainable tension between them.

“Whatever, I didn’t make it,” Daniel replied with another nod, “I'll be outside if you need me,” he muttered while slowly retreating from the room, before reminding her to take the medications after she had finished the soup.

Well, that was something Jihyun didn't get to see everyday. Maybe there is a silver lining in getting sick after all? she thought.

*************

“Are you sure that's all that you guys talked about?” Jihyun whispered into the phone, eyeing warily towards the bedroom door. She had placed the empty bowl of delicious chicken soup prepared by Daniel next to her and was sitting comfortably on the bed while hugging her knees. Despite having eaten some medications, she could not fall asleep and had decided to give her asisstant a call before she could drown herself in the curiosity of his earlier phonecall. She didn't even give him enough time to greet her before he was bombarded with numerous questions, each one sounding more desperate than the next. Daehwi patiently and calmly answered all her questions, explaining clearly how he was the one who had called Jihyun first but had been pleasantly surprised to hear a male voice answering the call instead. Daniel had introduced himself as Jihyun's neighbour and had simply clarified that she had been asleep in bed with a cold and fever, not forgetting to add that she would be on a few days sick leave.

“Other than the fact that he cares enough about you to go to all this trouble? Yes, I'm one hundred percent sure,” he repeated himself, not forgetting to add an obvious but sarcastic remark.

Jihyun heard Daewhi sigh on the other end of the line, the boy must be rolling his eyes at her this very second, “Haha very funny Daehwi,” she retorted. She had yet to explain why Daniel had cared for her they way he did, but she was confident that it was not because of a romantic attraction towards her. He never seemed interested in her (except for that day when they were paired together during Sunmi's wedding, but she bet he was just being professional), and would always find a way to annoy her, she was certain he enjoyed every minute of that.

“How else do you explain his sudden change in attitude? Girl, the man's definitely attracted to you whether you like it or not,”

Jihyun bit on her lower lip as she slowly buried herself in the comforts of the fluffy pillows, feeling the warmth on her cheeks intensifying and this time it wasn't because of the fever, “Ey... but it's so sudden,” she muttered softly.

“Sunbae, he took care of you and let you spend the night at his house. He even started calling you by your first name. Explain that,”

“That's impossible...” Jihyun's voice trailed off, finding it harder to concentrate on the conversation.

“Also, explain why you're still lying in his bed, instead of going back to your house which is just next door? Sunbae, accept it, you're not all against him. The feeling is mutual,”

Jihyun hated to admit why she had willingly accepted his hospitality and she had no explanation of her own actions. Lying in Daniel's bed made her recall the manly scent and warmth from his embrace last night, they were ever-present in the warm duvet covers and silky soft pillows of his bed. Daehwi's frank statement made her realise that the longer she stayed in his house, the longer it would take for her to fully recover. So she decided that she should leave before all those thoughts get to her head and she would start feeling indebted towards him, “Argh! Whatever, you're just making my headache worse. I'm hanging up!” Jihyun snapped, ending the call before Daehwi could continue his pep-talk. Jihyun had no energy to engage her thoughts questioning Daniel's true intentions of helping her, so she mustered what was left of her stamina get out of bed and head to the bathroom.