The Next Day | 76 Days Left | Seulgi

The throbbing in my head worsened as I set up, the first rays of sun beginning to shine through my window blinds. 

I sighed at the hopelessness of my situation, staring at Wendy’s shirt that I had held onto throughout the night. I folded it neatly and made my way downstairs, noting that I had gotten up way earlier than I was supposed to for work.

Downstairs, the house reeked of alcohol. I reached for the front door and opened it so fresh air could come in.

The next thing I saw was Joohyun’s shivering body on my front porch.

“Joohyun? What are you doing here?”

She should have left me after I had shouted at her last night.

“Seul…hi. Are you o-okay?” Joohyun turned towards me. Goodness. Her lips were tinged slightly blue, her breaths were coming out in quick pants and her eyes looked slightly glazed over.

“. Were you out there the whole night?” Hangover forgotten, I quickly bent down and pulled her into my arms. Her nose was ice-cold as she buried her face into my neck, nodding as she replied my question. I could feel her small frame shivering under the clothes she was wearing. My hand reached for her forehead and a hiss escaped my lips when I realised she was burning up.

“Let’s get you inside,” I quickly helped her to her feet but realised soon enough she was too sick to move them. I threw her arm around my neck and picked her up bridal style, quickly bringing her up to my room and turning the heater up. I rushed to get a spare comforter and wrapped Joohyun in it before calling Kyle, my boss.

“Seulgi! To what do I owe the pleasure for this morning call?”

“Hey Kyle, do you think I can be exempted from work today? Joohyun’s sick.”

“Oh, the girl you brought to hang with us yesterday right? Yea sure, sure. The team isn’t hard pressed to complete anything now anyway. Go and take care of her Seul.”

Right after I hung up, I grabbed a glass of water and some Panadol tablets from the medicine box before making my way back to Joohyun.

“Here. You’ve got to take this,” I coaxed Joohyun, bringing the tablets to her lips. I helped her up and rested her body against mine, arms hanging limply by her side. She turned to me, eyes hazy, but still managed to down the pills.

I pulled the jersey and hoodie off Joohyun before removing her jeans, leaving her in her underwear. What she needed now was body heat and all those clothes were just going to get in the way. She never resisted and just let me do as I deemed fit. Quickly, I took my shirt and pants off as well and pulled her shivering frame into my arms, feeling the coldness of her body hit me as I did so. I pulled the comforter over the two of us as I held her tightly, one hand around her waist and the other holding her head tight against my neck.

Soon after, Joohyun’s breaths began to fall into a steady rhythm, indicating that she had fallen asleep.

And for once, in a very long time, I fell into an easy slumber.

Joohyun’s POV

I awoke feeling feverish as hell. My head was spinning but I could vaguely tell that I wasn’t in my house. Using the remnants of my strength, I pushed myself into a sitting position, noting that I was partially as the comforter fell around my waist.

“Hey, you’re awake,” Seulgi’s voice pierced the stillness of the air. I turned in the direction of the sound, but all I saw was double and the room was swaying. A hand immediately went to the back of my back and I felt the bed shift under Seulgi’s weight as she sat next to me. I immediately leaned into her, my muscles sighing in relief as I did so. She was warm and her presence was comforting. I felt her free hand go to my forehead and she withdrew it quick, indicating I was probably running a really bad fever.

“I made you some food, you’ve got to eat this. Come,” Seulgi reached for the bowl of porridge on the table and brought her hand on my back around my shoulder to grab the spoon. Gently, she brought some food to my lips, coaxing me to eat it. I opened my mouth a little and she gingerly deposited the warm contents in my mouth, repeating the process until I shook my head against her neck, unable to stomach anything any longer. She set the bowl back on the table and got up, slowly laying me back on the bed as she did so. A pillow was placed under my head and the comforters pulled up to my neck before she stepped out of the room quietly, leaving me to fall back to sleep.

+

I awoke to some hushed voices. The sky was now dark, indicating that I had been asleep the entire day. My head was spinning less but I still felt rather fatigued. I opened my eyes a little to watch Seulgi talk to a man in a white coat – a doctor probably.

“She’s just hypothermic. Make sure she gets enough rest and fluids and she’ll be back to health in no time. I’ll prescribe some fever medication for her to help bring her temperature down.”

“Alright thanks Doc. Thanks for making the trip down.”

With that the two of them headed downstairs, leaving me shrouded in the darkness of the room with a faint light from the lamp keeping me company. I turned to the source of light, trying to figure out what time it was and was instead greeted by a photo.

Seulgi and Wendy.

It was a beautiful silhouette photo taken at the beach when the sun was setting. Wendy had probably jumped into Seulgi’s arms and Seulgi was hugging her waist while looking up at her. Even though their eyes could not be seen, the photo was overflowing with love.

“We took this when we went to Portland,” Seulgi’s voice came from behind. “It was Wendy’s birthday and I had surprised her with a new ring to renew our vows since our fifth anniversary was coming up. She was so happy…”

Seulgi trailed off, glancing into the distance. I could sense the sadness emanating from her being.

“Tell me about Wendy.”

I saw a sad smile grace Seulgi’s lips as she looked out the window. “She was beautiful, kind, amazing, friendly…she was everything. She made my bad days good and my good days better. We had a beautiful life together and even in her death, her soul shone brightly. She made me a better person but now…now I’m just so lost without her beside me.” 

A sigh left her lips as she knelt down next to me till we were at eye-level. “Enough about Wendy. How are you feeling?”

“Hot,” I answered honestly. Seulgi’s hand immediately went up to my forehead. “Other than that I’m not as dizzy as I was before.”

“You’re lucky that all you’re running is a fever. You could have gotten a worse hypothermic event out there. What were you thinking spending the night outside like that?” Seulgi’s voice was a mixture of anger and worry. I felt a lump form in my throat. I hadn’t meant to worry her but obviously that had all backfired.

“You were angry and weren’t in the right state of mind. I was worried you were going to hurt yourself. I wanted to check on you and make sure you were alright, but you locked the door so all I could do was wait outside and force my way in if I heard that something wasn’t right.”

“You should have just gone home. I can take care of myself,” Seulgi chided.

“You always say that but we both know that once you’re left on your own you wouldn’t even bother having a proper meal,” I replied, my hand mindlessly reaching out to graze the stitches on her lip. Seulgi didn’t pull away but just allowed me to do as I pleased.

“Now you have me worried though. And who’s gonna be taking care of who now?”

I looked away from Seulgi. She was right. I had been rash, put my life in danger and now she had to bear the consequences with me.

“I’m sorry.”

Seulgi sighed and got up. “I prepared some dinner for you. I’ll bring it up. In the meantime you can borrow my shower and put on some of my clothes. You don’t need me to help you shower do you?” I shook my head. “Good. The clothes are in the drawer over there. I’ll be downstairs if you