It’s been almost two months now. The book was almost finished. I missed Spots. I wondered if we ever have to go back to the city. Mingyu had said we would. But not yet. When I asked when, he didn’t give me an answer. I doubt he knew the answer to that question himself.

Although it’d been some time now, I still think about it when I sat alone. I was once a loner, all cooped up in my house and not daring to step outside. And every time, it was my best friend Soonyoung who’d come to visit every once in a while because he was afraid he might find a corpse in my apartment one day.

It was that faithful day that Soonyoung had encouraged me to interview for this job at the Kim Company. I even rejected at first. But thanks to his encouragement, I finally mustered up enough courage to walk into that building. I still remembered the first time I saw Kim Mingyu. Right then and there, I’ve already felt something special between us.

He was a kind boss to me, a considerate employer. Before long, he’d become my friend, having meals and talking like normal friends do. I wasn’t sure when that things started to become a little more complicated. We weren’t friends anymore. In fact, I didn’t know what we were. We didn’t make it official, not really. It felt like this unspoken thing between us. But we both knew how each other felt.

I guess…I should just live in the moment and not worry too much. He was here, with me. That’s all that matters, I supposed. It’s just sometimes, I still couldn’t believe all that’s happened. It was like a dream come true, only it was too good to be true.

 

 

~ ~ ~

 

 

It was like any other morning. There was no alarm clocks, no rooster’s crow, no honking of the cars, to wake us up. It was like any other day for the past 2 months. We woke up when we felt like we wanted to.

Mingyu turned around to face me, wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me closer to him.

“Good morning.”

I smiled and kissed him on the lips.

“Morning.”

“Sleep good last night?”

“The best.”

And he kissed me back.

“Want to get up?”

“Maybe five more minutes?”

“Okay,” he replied before getting up himself.

“Where are you going?” I asked.

“When you come down, breakfast will be ready,” he smiled and disappeared into the bathroom.

I rolled around in bed for a little while more before getting up. I washed up and changed into more suitable clothes. It’s another brand new day, I thought.

As I approached the kitchen, I saw Mingyu hunched over at the table. His hands gripped the edges of the table and his knuckles were white. And he was trembling, violently. He coughed and his whole body shook.

“Mingyu? Are you all right?”

His head shot up, surprised that I was standing there. He covered his mouth and tried to smile before another cough set in.

“Hey there, I didn’t…cough…I didn’t hear you coming in,” he said and forced a smile.

“Are you all right?” I asked in concern.

“Maybe we should go see a doctor.”

“No,” he said, “It’s nothing. I’ve probably come down with a cold or something.”

“It looks like something serious, Mingyu,” I said, scared for him.

“It’s nothing,” he said again, “Trust me.”

I bit my lower lip, something I hadn’t done in a long, long time. It was something I did whenever I was nervous.

“Want to try my breakfast?” Mingyu asked, excited.

“I’ve prepared seawood soup and kimchi pancake. Hope they taste okay.”

“Oh come on, it’s nothing serious, I promise,” he said, grabbing my arm.

“Come on, eat.”

And I did. For a moment there, the taste of the food made me forget all about Mingyu’s illness.

In the evening, we headed to the restaurant for dinner. After the delicious meal, we went for a stroll along the quiet beach.

“It’s so peaceful out here,” I commented.

“Yes, yes it is,” Mingyu agreed, “It makes me never ever want to go back to the city life, ever again.”

“Yeah, I love it here too,” I said, “But I miss Spots.”

“Spots?” he asked, turning towards me.

“Is he my new competition?”

I laughed out loud. “Maybe.”

“I had a dog once. But that was a long, long time ago,” Mingyu said, “Her name was Duchess. I still miss her though.”

“Maybe we could get a pet dog once we get back to the city,” I suggested. Mingyu’s eyes lit up.

“Yeah, maybe we could,” he smiled broadly before he had another fitting cough again.

“Come on, let’s get to the doctor,” I said, holding Mingyu in place so that he didn’t fall over.

“It’s no worries, I told you…,” Mingyu started to say but was unable to finish.

“Mingyu, are you alright?”

“I...help…,” he whispered before collapsing onto the ground.

“Mingyu!”

My voice attracted some passerby nearby. They hurried over to see what was wrong.

“Please help.”

There were six of us. We each carried a part of him, and together, we made our way back to Mingyu’s summer house. They plopped him down on the couch. I could never thanked them enough.

I wet a piece of cloth with warm water and gently brushed his face with it. Mingyu stirred a little. I breathed a sigh of relief.

“Hmm…hmm…” came his moans. I stayed by his side, hoping that my worst nightmares wouldn’t come true. I took his hand in mine and squeezed them hard.

“Please wake up, Mingyu…”

Without realizing it, I’d drifted off beside him on the floor. It wasn’t until morning did I open my eyes again. Mingyu was still asleep. His breathing was steady. I was relieved for a little bit.

Around 10am, he stirred again. His hand moved and he squeezed me back.

“Mingyu?”

His eyes fluttered open.

“Wonwoo?”

“I’m here.”

“Where am I?”

“Back at the summer house.”

He looked around as if he didn’t recognize his own house. Then, he tried to sit up.

“No, stay down,” I said softly, “You need to rest.”

“No, not like this…” he said softly. His words didn’t make much sense to me.