Fortunately for me, my fever broke right away, sparing me from a doctor’s visit. I spent the next three days resting in the NCT dorm, claiming Johnny’s room as mine for the meantime. He didn’t seem to mind, brushing me off politely every time I apologized for the intrusion. Min-hyun and Kaituo barely left my side, following me everywhere to the kitchen and even the bathroom. Granted, I mostly only stayed in the room, the amount of medicine I was taking stripping me of my energy. The boys slept on the floor on an extra mattress, scared to even leave me alone for a second. The lack of privacy and alone time didn’t bother me that much, due to the fact that their energy and company helped me get better quicker. The other NCT boys were also darlings, helping me whenever I needed help and visiting me to wish me good morning and goodnight everyday.

I’ve spent time with all the NCT boys, all of them constantly hanging out in Johnny’s room. 

Wait- let me rephrase. 

I’ve spent time with all the NCT boys, except Jaehyun. That man went out of his way to avoid me, hiding in his room whenever I was out of mine. Jaehyun has slammed his door in my face countless times now, refusing to speak to me individually. But he lingered in the room when s were present, keeping a safe distance and watching me as usual. I made a pact with myself to confront him when I got the chance, deciding to focus on getting well first. 

My members and the NCT boys took shifts to watch and babysit me, making sure I ate every meal and swallowed every pill. On my manager’s and members’ orders, I’ve been eating a lot these past three days. I’ve eaten more meals in the last three days than I have in a normal week. I’ve grown a new appreciation for the NCT members, after seeing how caring they are for me. And I’ve grown even more comfortable with them, finding that I could be myself around them and they would never judge. 

It’s now the morning of the day before we’re set to leave for our beach vacation, and I have yet to pack. My suitcase and belongings are all back in my dorm and I have no idea how I’m going to get there yet. Manager Lee, Min-hyun, and Kaituo have finally left my side and are out on a spontaneous photoshoot to feed our fans some content. We’ve gone off social media for only 4 days and our fandom is raving, demanding for proof that we’re still alive and well. Min-hyun and Kaituo didn’t allow me to join, ordering me to stay and rest for one more day before our trip. They also refused to leave me unguarded, so they deployed two lovely NCT boys to watch over me. 

“SHOOT! BRO YOU GOTTA SHOOOOOOT!” Mark shrieks, his thumbs aggressively smashing the little buttons on the controller. Haechan’s doing the same, his tongue sticking out the side of his mount in concentration. I watch them in amusement, sandwiched between the two younger males as they shoot zombies on the TV.

“HEH! AH! WOAH! MARKKKK, SAVE ME!” Haechan wails, dropping his controller and shaking his entire body in frustration. The screen goes red and I watch his character slump onto the ground, becoming a zombie feast. 

Mark huffs, leaning forward with determined eyes. “Oh! OH MY JESUS. Ah. YAH! HEY! TIME TO DIEEE!”

Haechan starts jumping in his seat, clapping like a seal and cheering for Mark. “KILL THEM ALL! WHA-“

“Game OVER,” The TV sounds, causing the two to glare at the screen. 

“AHHHHHH! NOOOOOO.” Mark calls out, tossing his controller onto the carpeted floor. Haechan pouts and starts to curse the TV screen, jutting his finger out at it. I stifle a laugh and shuffle deeper under my blanket. 

“It’s ok, you guys did great. It’s just a game anyway,” I coo, reaching out to pat Mark on the head. 

He frowns at me, slumping back onto the couch. “We’ve been playing for 3 days now and still can’t beat this level!

“Yea, stupid bucket head zombies. They’re so hard to kill!” Haechan complains, pulling a large stuff teddy bear onto his lap and hiding behind it. “Stupid zombies,” he mumbles. 

“Alright, alright. Noona will avenge you. Give it.” I tell them, pushing myself up and motioning for the controller. 

“Are you sure Ella Noona? It’s really tiring to play,” Mark says to me, but hands me the controller anyway. 

I shoot him a confident smile. “I’m not sick anymore. I got this kiddo.” I’ve been watching them play and fail this level for three days straight. So, I knew pretty much the entire layout of the level and what to expect. Also, during my year of recovery and therapy, I played a lot of video games. It was a way for me to destress and stimulate my mind. I also liked the rush of adrenaline it gave me, from all the flashing colors and sound effects.

A door slams and the three of us simultaneously whip our heads up. Johnny enters the living room with Yuta, both of them in clean workout clothes. Yuta prances onto Mark, the two playfully tackling each other onto the ground. Haechan brightens up, jumping off the couch to join the playful fight. The three commence a tickle fight and slam pillows against each other. 

How they are so energetic in the mornings is beyond me. 

“Hey you,” Johnny greets me, claiming the spot beside me where Mark was sitting. “What’s up?”

“Mmm, nothing much. Just going to avenge Mark and Haechan by slaughtering some zombies.”

Johnny chuckles. “I have some time before I have to go workout. Mind if I join you?”

I shake my head and hand him the other controller. We press a couple of buttons to reset and finally start the game. Mark, Yuta, and Haechan notice that we’re starting so they join us on the couch, staring intently at the screen. 

“Ok...here we go,” I say mostly to myself, pressing the start button. The game starts off silent, me and Johnny going around looting and arming ourselves. But the solace doesn’t last, because the first zombie appears and Mark and Haechan start screaming. I jump at the sudden rise of volume but find myself laughing hysterically. Yuta and Johnny join in, all our lively laughs and screams echoing throughout the entire floor. 

Johnny carries both of us, leading me through the masses of zombies. I do what I can to help, sending waves and waves of bullets into the zombie’s heads. We’re just nearing the end of the level and I hear Haechan praise us in disbelief. 

“Woah! You guys are doing so well!”

Mark shushes his friend. “Shhh, let them concentrate.” Yuta doesn’t say much, but makes sound effects every time me and Johnny do something good. Haechan doesn’t listen to Mark and starts to commentate our game.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, Ella Noona and Johnny Hyung are making history! Are they finally going to beat the unbeatable level? Let’s find out- WOAH ONE SHOT ONE KILL. Nice kill, Johnny Hyung. WAIT! WHA-.” Haechan abruptly pauses and I flinch, watching Johnny’s character get tackled and eaten by a zombie that appeared out of nowhere. The screen turns red, confirming his death. “JOHNNY HYUNG IS DOWN! Only Ella Noona left. Will she succeeeeeed?”

I glide my thumbs around the controller and successfully dodge another zombie’s attack. Grabbing Johnny’s items, I turn my character around and hide behind a wall. The wails and screeches the zombies start to grow louder. 

“Uhhhhhh. What do I do? Guys! YAH!” I shoot down another zombie and turn to run in another direction. And then I see it. Bucket head zombies. “WHAT THE HELL!”

“They’re super hard to kill! You gotta shoot the bucket off first!” Mark tells me, shaking his legs in fear and excitement. 

“HOW DO I DO THAT?” I fire a couple of shots at the zombies, but the bullets just ricochet off the bucket. 

“Lower the angle of the gun and shoot twice at the edge of the bucket,” Johnny coaches me, pointing at the screen. His voice is rushed and slightly panicked. I follow his orders and do as he says, only to fail. The zombies advance towards me and everyone screams. Haechan hides behind his stuffed teddy bear. 

“WHAT- HOW?” I shriek. 

Everyone is on the edge of their seat. Johnny yells back, “Lower your angle!” 

“I’M DOING THAT!” I frantically yell, feeling my fingers freeze in defeat. Well, this was it. Goodbye, Robert the Zombie Hunter. “I GIVE UP!” 

“NO!” They all yell at me, everyone but Johnny jumping up fromthe couch. 

I welp, aggressively shooting at the zombies to keep them away. My fingers start to stutter and I lose my hand-eye coordination for a second. 

“Ella, tilt your gun!” Johnny yells from beside me. 

I blink blankly at the screen, the zombies inching closer and closer. “Wha-“

“Here let me,” Johnny says suddenly. I expect him to take the controller out of my hands and play the game himself. Instead, he leans over and encircles his arms around me. He grips the controller over my fingers and I freeze, shivering at the warmth of his body against mine. Mark, Haechan, and Yuta are too busy watching the screen and don’t notice us. Letting go of the controller, I quickly ignore our position and fall back into the game. Johnny’s fingers expertly maneuver the video game controller, shooting off all the buckets from the bucket head zombies. He lets out a sigh of relief, and his breath tickles the back of my neck. Somehow I know he’s smiling his cocky smile. 

Mark and Haechan are in a frenzy, jumping up and down as Johnny starts to kill all the remaining zombies. I grit my teeth, just as engrossed in the game as they are. 

“C’mon, c’mon, c’mon!” Yuta cheers loudly. 

Johnny sends the last bullet into the last zombie and we all erupt into cheers. We triumphantly watch the screen glow green, the words “LEVEL COMPLETED”, filling the entire screen. Out of pure astonishment, I turn to wrap my arms Johnny’s neck, hugging him. He laughs into my neck and I immediately break away, just making out what I did. I shoot him a sorry smile, before turning to celebrate with the others. Yuta is clapping like a seal at the TV screen while Haechan and Mark duet in their victory dance. 

Haechan jumps onto the couch, eyes shining. “ELLA NOONA YOU’RE SO COOL! YOU DID IT!” 

Mark kneels in front of me. “You’re amazing! You passed the unbeatable level!” He gushes.

I blink at them blankly before realizing they didn’t notice it was Johnny who beat the level. I opened my mouth to tell them, turning to point at Johnny. “Actually-“

“I agree. She’s amazing.” Johnny says simply, winking at me. He’s letting me have all the credit. 

“Noona, you have to play PUBG with me now. Chenle keeps beating me. But with you on my team, we’ll win for SURE,” Haechan tells me, tugging my arm lightly and jutting his lower lip out. I nod at him and he lets go of my arm. Jumping up, he yells that he’s going to grab his cellphone and find some breakfast. Mark follows him, only after shooting me two thumbs up. Yuta disappears into the kitchen, leaving me and Johnny alone. 

I quirk an eyebrow at him. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“Do what?” He says, feigning innocence. “You really are talented in video games, Ella. You beat the unbeatable level,” he teases. I roll my eyes at him and reach out to playfully smack him on the arm. But Johnny swiftly catches my wrist and smoothly intertwines our fingers. 

“Would you look at that? Perfect fit.” Johnny smirks at me, turning around our locked hands as if he’s inspecting it. I roll my eyes again, letting him fiddle with my hand. I open my mouth to say something, but someone else interrupts.

“Good morning, guys.” 

I jerk my head up to see Jaehyun and Taeyong saunter in. Taeyong has bed hair and he’s still in his pajamas. Jaehyun on another hand is neatly dressed. Both their sets of eyes land on me and Johnny’s intertwined fingers. I try to tug my hand away, but Johnny doesn’t loosen his grip. Instead, he lifts our hands in the air, displaying it. 

“Morning to you too,” he says, his voice dripping with smugness. Taeyong seems unbothered, probably too sleepy to fuss over it and plops down beside me. In contrast, I see Jaehyun’s usual blank expression falter. Something flashes through his eyes and he turns on his heel and exits the room without saying a word. I watch his silhouette disappear, confused at his reaction. I try to pull my hand away again, and this time Johnny lets me, leaning back into the couch with a grin plastered on his face. I look over to see Taeyong has dozed off again. Smiling, I stand and drape my blanket over him. 

Yuta re-enters the living room, now with two duffel bags swung over each of his shoulders. Johnny takes that as a sign and hops up to him. 

“See you later, Ella.”

“Bye guys. Have fun at the gym.” I tell them both, waving at them. They disappear out of the living room and I’m left with Taeyong. Taeyong is out like a light and I tuck him in even more, lifting his head to slide a pillow under it. Satisfied now that he looks comfortable, I make my way to the kitchen. I just realized I haven’t eaten any breakfast yet and my stomach growls the moment I step into the kitchen. Mark, Haechan, Taeil, and Jungwoo are all huddled around the dining table, chattering as usual.

Mark notices me first and pulls a chair out for me. “Oh! I was gonna call you when the food is done.”

I plop down beside him. “No worries, I’ll wait here with you guys. What’s cooking?”

Doyoung and Jaehyun are behind the stove, whipping up what seems like batter in separate bowls. I see that Jungwoo and Haechan are slicing various types of fruits. 

Doyoung answers my question, dipping a clean spoon into his bowl and scooping a small amount of the yellow batter on to it. “We’re going American style today. Pancakes!” He hands me the spoon. “Here, try my batter and tell me what you think.”

I the spoon clean, nodding with approval. “Mmmm. It’s great.” 

Doyoung beams at me, turning to Jaehyun. “HA! Mine’s better.” 

“Ella didn’t even try Jaehyun’s yet. She doesn’t know which one is better,” Taeil tells Doyoung. Doyoung makes a face at him and smacks Jaehyun’s arm with his free hand.

“Let her try your batter.” Doyoung urges him. Jaehyun has just started dolloping his batter onto the skillet, but Doyoung takes over. Shoving Jaehyun’s bowl into his arms and ushering him towards me. Jaehyun reluctantly makes his way to my side. 

“What’s this competition?” I ask everyone.

“Doyoung Hyung thinks he’s a better cook than Jaehyun Hyung. But Jaehyun Hyung disagrees, so they’re doing this now. If you ask me, both batters taste the same,” Haechan pipes up, murdering a strawberry with his small knife. 

“SAME? How dare- My batter is so much richer! How can you not tell?” Doyoung groans, cooking up more pancakes. The pan sizzles loudly and the kitchen starts to fill up with a sweet smell. 

Jaehyun clears his throat from beside me, holding the spoon with his batter on it. I take hold of the spoon and gently pull it towards me, but he doesn’t let go of the handle, allowing my fingers to linger on his. I eye him for a second before he pushes the spoon into my mouth. Jerking away and dropping my hand, I allow the batter to coat my palate, nodding yet again in approval. It’s a little sweeter than Doyoung’s, and so much richer in texture and overall flavor. Everyone looks at me in anticipation. 

“Well?” Doyoung asks, his eyes eager. Be it his pride or ego, I can tell from his eyes he really wants