Ayeon’s first thought when she woke up was that someone had slammed her head against the wall.

It took a moment for her to fully realize that no, it was much, much worse.

She was sick.

stung and burned at the same time, her head throbbing violently to the point where she could feel it in her gums. Even the sun bleeding into her room was too bright that she squeezed her eyes shut. ing Mina. If it wasn’t for her, she wouldn’t have been outside for 2 hours in the freezing cold.

Ayeon laid limply in bed for a few more hours, hoping that passing out would somehow heal her. Safe to say, it didn’t. She didn’t know how she could be both sweating through her shirt and shivering until she couldn’t write her name properly. Regardless, she somehow found the strength to slap a coat and hat on, still in her pajamas, and make it to the small pharmacy to buy the strongest bottle of cold medicine she could find.

She didn’t know how she made it back to her apartment, but the minute she kicked her door open, she stood in by her kitchen and chugged the entire bottle in one shot before dropping the emptied bottle and falling face first back into her bed.

She wasn’t good at getting sick.

When Soya got sick, she would make herself herbal tea, healthy soups and stay active. Jinah just worked until the sickness was exhausted out of her. Ayeon, on the other hand, would just lay like the dead until whatever bug passed over like a cloud.

She could feel the cold medicine start to take over as the throbbing turned into a dull beating and soon she was delightfully passed out.

She hated getting sick.

-----

She didn’t come in.

It threw Jaehyun off, and he had stood in the middle of his shop for 5 minutes, uncertain what to do when Ayeon didn’t come strolling in like she normally did. It disturbed him, it felt like he was wearing uneven shoes.

It was then that he realized that so much of his ecosystem hinged on Ayeon being there. He didn’t know what to do with himself without her lingering around, in her own silent bubble as they both worked harmoniously.

He tried to push it out of his mind, he tried to focus on his job, his long list of ‘to-dos’ that had slowly been pushed aside as they built up. He tried to keep his mind in one piece, because it was Ayeon, and she probably got caught up in something important and would probably be strolling in after lunch with a list of things that annoyed her that morning. It’d be fine.

But then Soya came in.

And Soya never comes in.

He looked up, the shock too evident before he the customer service voice, with slightly more warmth that he’d usually use, “Hi, how can I help you?”

“She’s not here?” Soya blurted out.

Now see? That was concerning.

His face tensed, “Ayeon? No, I haven’t seen her all morning, I assumed she’d be with you or at the precinct.”

Soya looked uneasy as she hesitated by the door. He frowned and moved around the counter to get closer to her, “What’s wrong?”

“She hasn’t answered any of our calls and Ayeon always answers her phone.”

He thought about what he had said to her last night, about how if she worked with Mina things would get very difficult and dangerous if anyone found out. A disgusting fear starting gnawing at him.

Surely no one had seen them in his shop last night.

“I can go to he-“

“It’s fine.” Soya said quickly, cutting him off, “I have a key, I’ll go check but…let me know if you hear anything?”

He wished he could do more, but he just nodded, “Of course.”

She sighed and gave him a small smile before running out of his shop. Triple sat up, ears perked as he tracked Soya with his eyes. He looked up at Jaehyun, as if demanding an explanation. Jaehyun scratched the top of his head before turning away.

He wondered if it was normal.

He wondered if it was normal to feel like he couldn’t focus without her near.

-----

“I almost lost my do you know that?” Soya hissed as she pressed a damp towel on Ayeon’s forehead.

Finding Ayeon faced down on her bed with a burning fever was probably the best-case scenario.

Ayeon moaned, upset that she was forced awake before the medicine had worn off, “Thank you.”

Sora’s lips twitched, Ayeon was drugged out of her mind, “Non-drowsy would be smart, you know, for next time.”

“Shhh, you’re too loud, wench.” Ayeon slurred.

Soya glanced at her watch nervously, before adjusting the comforter around Ayeon. Her temperature was too erratic, she couldn’t be left alone like this when she was too loopy to form a proper sentence.

“You need to go?” Ayeon whispered quietly, staring at her friend blearily.

“Um…me and Jinah have a conference out of the city, our flight is in 3 hours, but it’s okay, Jinah can just go on her own or take someone else. I’m going to stay with you, okay hon?” She cooed softly.

Ayeon weakly lifted a hand and waved her away, “Noooooo, I’m fine, I’m good to go. Go with Jinah, I just need to nap.”

Soya scoffed, “I’m staying.”

“No, look, I’m getting up and getting ready to go to work.”

Silence fell before Soya spoke, “You’re still in bed.”

“Just gooooooooo.” She said into her pillow.

Soya rocked nervously on her heels, she couldn’t just leave her friend here, if the roles were reversed, Ayeon would never walk away.

“Please.” Ayeon croaked when she saw her friend unmoving, “Go!”

“Okay, okay, just go to sleep.” She picked up Ayeon’s phone from her nightstand, “I’ll put our hotel’s number, okay? You call no matter what.”

Ayeon waved her hand weakly before closing her eyes. Soya opened Ayeon’s phone but stared at the unread message on her lock screen.

Jaehyun: Haven’t seen you today. Please call me if you need anything. I hope you’re okay.

Soya chewed on the inside of her lip in thought, contemplating how much she truly wanted Jaehyun interwoven with Ayeon before swiping to reply.

Ayeon: Hey, I’m super sick, stuck in bed. Could you maybe come around with some soup after work?

Soya winced as she hit send, knowing it sounded nothing like Ayeon but hoping that Jaehyun would be too worried about her to notice. 

Jaehyun: I’ll close early and come over now.

Soya let out a stunned laugh as she stared at his response. She was starting to see why Jinah refused to give up Jaehyun, he really gave you his all when you have him. She looked over at her sweating and unconscious friend and felt a rush of emotion overwhelm her knowing that Ayeon had someone in her phone like that.

She set the phone back down and smoothed her palm over Ayeon’s hair, “Help’s on the way, hon, I’ll never leave you on your own.”

-----

Jaehyun nudged her front door open with his toe as he heaved bags through Ayeon’s threshold. He knew she looked sick last night. He was a little mad at himself for not checking in on her earlier. He paused by the kitchen where he deposited the bags and stared at her couch. The last time he was here, he was beaten and bruised with Ayeon making it her personal mission to make his life so, so much better.

It felt like ages ago, and he felt like a much different person as he stood in her home now.

He moved around the counter when he kicked something on accident, he looked down and stared at the empty bottle of cough medicine by his feet and let out a despondent sigh. He eyed the bedroom door that was left open wearily and approached it, bracing himself for what was on the other side.

Her room was exactly what he thought it would look like, clean lines, simple colours with books strewn around her desk and some clothes tossed on a chair. Ayeon was spread out sideways on the bed, her hair damp and messily stuck to her face. Her breathing was rasped and uneven as she slept, and he felt the frown deepen. He didn’t think it was this bad.

He walked over quietly as to not wake her up and pressed his palm against her forehead, his eyes widened at the freezing cold. She groaned, peeling her eyes open to stare at him. She blinked a few times to focus on his face before the recognition kicked in.

“Hi, detective.” He said with a small smile, “How are you feeling?”

Her groan was louder and more agonized, “Everything hurts.”

He crouched down next to her and surveyed her, “I brought a hot water bottle, I’ll fill it and you can hug it to sleep, okay? Bring your temperature up.”

She rolled towards him and just stared into his eyes, unfocused, “You smell like roses.” She mumbled, blearily.

He grinned, “Peonies actually but I get your point.”

She hummed and felt her eyes droop, “Do you taste like roses too?” He stilled, letting out a breath before standing and stepping away as if minimal distance would do anything to help.

“Sit tight, detective.” He muttered before turning away.

He made sure to give the bottle of medicine on the floor a bitter kick on his way.

------

He couldn’t remember the last time he fussed over someone this much. He would constantly be coming in and out of her room to replace bowls of food with glasses of water and tea. He’d switch hot water bottles with damp towels and change pillow covers when she could sweat through them. He couldn’t sit still, he needed to do something to feel like he was helping her.

He was hoping the pain and soreness that sometimes came with a cold was subsiding because she was no longer groaning.

She was just staring.

And she wasn’t stopping.

He kept his ey