"Heechul?"

The said boy bowed a little, trembling for his jacket was wet from the rain. He folded his umbrella and finally greeted the middle-aged woman in front of him.

"Good evening, Aunty. I heard that Jungsoo was sick. Is he okay—"

"He is. Gosh, come in, come in. It's raining this bad but you still come here. Are you drenched? Take off your jacket."

Heechul nodded, doing as told, and followed Mrs. Park entering the house. His attention immediately fixed on the upstairs, recalling Jungsoo's room was on the second floor. To be the most honest, he just wanted to check on Jungsoo and saw whether he was indeed okay. But he knew it was rude to do that without doing the courtesy to Mrs. Park. It almost killed him when he went to Jungsoo's class and found out that his boyfriend was absent. The fact that his calls were left unanswered did not help either.

Damn—his mind went haywire when Mrs. Park, instead of going to the stairs, led him to a small room near the kitchen instead. And of course, he had to follow, albeit his eyes still observing the rooms on the second floor.

"Chul, go take a shower first so you don't— Heechul?"

The said boy, being all jittery, finally snapped back to Jungsoo's mother after forcing him to peel his eyes off the rooms upstairs.

"I— I'm fine, Aunty. No need to— I just—"

Mrs. Park sighed and shook her head in disbelief. She knew what made Heechul uneasy; she was once a teenager in love. Grabbing Heechul's hand, she eventually headed to her son's room. She noticed Heechul seem relieved. In the first room from right beside the stairs, she knocked on the door. Heechul's heartbeat was rising rapidly.

"Jungsoo?"

"The door is unlocked, Mom."

Mrs. Park, then, turned to Heechul, tilting her head to the side. Heechul knew what she meant and he also wanted to just simply open the door. But their relationship was not that simple for him to barge into his boyfriend's room like that. However, he got no choice when Jungsoo's mother twisted the knob, pushing it ajar and walking away, letting him do the rest. Heechul looked at her going downstairs, chewing his lips out of nervousness, and after preparing his heart, he pushed the door wider.

"J-jung—"

"Why are you here?"

Jungsoo could still intimidate him with his question even when his voice was weak and throaty. And it only discouraged Heechul even more. It was obvious that Jungsoo—moreover being sick—did not want to see him.

"I... I just want to see you. I'll l-leave if you want to rest."

Heechul was about to step out of the room, already disheartened to ever think coming here in the first place when Jungsoo suddenly called his name.

"Hee."

Gosh—hearing his name being said out loud with that hoarse voice was a bad idea. He was easily swayed by the fact that Jungsoo probably wanted him to stay longer. And if Jungsoo did say he wanted him to stay, he would. No doubt.

"I didn't mean it that way," Jungsoo tried to explain. Truly, he never intended to insult Heechul but it was just that his question might have come off rude.

"Sorry—" Jungsoo stopped midsentence when he hissed thanks to the sudden headache that attacked him as he tried to got up. Heechul, hearing that Jungsoo in pain immediately turned around and assisted the latter. He helped Jungsoo to sit up, leaning on the headboard, as he fetched a glass of water on the nightstand for Jungsoo. Fear struck him full force and the first thing that crossed his mind was he had to call Jungsoo's mother.

However, he almost gasped when Jungsoo tugged on his wrist and he—not ready from the pull—almost fell on top of him, his body already leaning toward Jungsoo. Wait— This was too close for his poor heart. He mi