Hyejin and Byulyi convinced me not to go out today because of the incoming storm, but it just convinced me to go out more today. Other than I’m meeting Yong, I have to get to Ggomo as well. I’m not sure if Yong would still meet me today because of the storm though but I really have to get to Ggomo or else he won’t be safe from the storm.

I wore a navy blue hoodie over my shirt and a black coat to protect me from the strong winds. I held the container that held Ggomo’s food and hid it in my coat so it wouldn’t get wet in case the rain started pouring down.

When I reached the front entrance of the university, I jumped on my heels, heating my body against the cold weather, while I waited for Yong. If she won’t be here in roughly fifteen to twenty minutes, I’ll run to Ggomo and find a place for him to stay.

I didn’t wait longer though.

I saw Yong’s car rushing towards me before it stopped in front of me. I climbed inside right away and saw her remove her seatbelt. I placed the container on my lap before I leaned forward and wrapped my arms around her waist while I buried my face on her neck. She wrapped her arms around me and squeezed me tightly before she started brushing my recolored hair.

“I missed you a lot.” Nothing, not even her own jacket, could compare to hugging her in actuality.

“I missed you too,” she whispered.

I wanted this hug to go on longer but I’m still worried about Ggomo. I’m really glad that she still came despite the storm though.

I pulled away first and broke the hug before we fastened our seatbelts. I leaned forward and stared at the clouds above us. The wind started to increase while the skies turned darker. “Yong… Could we see Ggomo? I have to feed him first.” I also have to bring him somewhere safe, but I’ll figure that out once I get him already.

“Is he going to be okay there today? I knew a storm would be coming today. Wind’s starting to wreak havoc”

It does, which made me gulp hard while I thought of how Ggomo is doing right now. “He wouldn’t. I’ll have to find a place to keep him while there’s still a storm out there” I whispered. I might just sneak him to our dorm and ask Hyejin and Byulyi for help.

I bit the inside of my cheek while my knees bounced restlessly on my seat as I stared at the skies. It’s still morning but in just the span of a few minutes, it seemed like it’s almost evening already by how dark it is outside.

I gripped the container on my lap while I jumped on my seat when I saw lightning. I wanted to cry and reach Ggomo right away, but I can’t demand Yong to move the car faster. She’s having a hard time driving with the strong winds already, I don’t want to pressure her more.

I saw another lightning appear in the sky followed by the delayed thunder. Then suddenly, I saw a couple of drops on the window before it completely broke into heavy rain.

“Oh no…” I groaned, biting my bottom lip hard while I blinked my eyes fast to stop myself from crying.

“Don’t worry. We’ll go get Ggomo as soon as we can” Yong said beside me before she drove the car faster.

I would never forgive myself if I would lose my baby boy because of this storm. I have to get to him as fast as I can. I don’t care if I’ll get sick, Ggomo has suffered a lot because of me already.

I squinted my eyes and saw that we are already near the park. I hurriedly unfastened my seatbelt and placed my bag and the container in the backseat of Yong’s car. I pulled my hood up on my head before I reached a hand on the car door, ready to jump when the opportunity arrived.

I felt the car slowing down, so I unlocked the door and opened it right away. I swayed when Yong suddenly pulled the car to a full stop but it didn’t stop me from jumping out of the car before I closed the door behind me.

I wasn’t out for a full minute but I’m completely drenched from the rain already. I ran faster, thinking that Ggomo must’ve been wet too. Water splashed wherever my feet landed but I didn’t mind. I just need to reach Ggomo.

When I saw the wild grass and the bush where I kept him, I ran even faster despite how hard I’m breathing and how bad the stinging in my legs were. I immediately knelt in front of the grass and cupped my lips as I shouted on top of my lungs, “Ggomo! Ggomo! Where are you?!” I shouted repeatedly while competing against the harsh rain and loud thunders.

“Ggomo!” I exclaimed worriedly and took off my coat when I saw him peeking from the bush. I bundled my coat and motioned for him to jump on it. He was hesitating at first but jumped on my coat after convincing him a lot of times.

I stood up and covered him with my coat before I pulled him close to my chest, hugging him tightly. Then I ran back again to where Yong’s car was.

When I was a couple steps away from Yong’s car, I saw the passenger seat was opened. I moved right in front of the opened door but stopped when I realized I was covered in both sweat and rainwater.

“I’m wet, Yong. I don’t want to ruin your car” I shouted.

I saw move but didn’t hear what she said. I figured out that she was asking me to get in though based on her hand movements.

I bent down and slightly leaned forward. I gulped hard when I saw her glaring at me. “I’m wet. I don’t want to ruin your car!” I shouted again.

“Dammit! Just get inside the ing car, Wheein!” she shouted angrily.

I wanted to protest but I’m scared when she got mad at me. I hurriedly climbed in the passenger seat, albeit reluctant, while I breathed heavily as I tried to catch my breath. I closed the door, muffling the noise of the rain outside right away.

Yong grabbed Ggomo on my lap and transferred him in the backseat while I tied my hair in a bun so I wouldn’t wet the passenger seat even more. She handed me her coat as she said, “Take off your hoodie and wear this. You’re soaking wet. I don’t want you to get sick”

I only fidgeted with her coat as I mumbled, “The passenger seat is already wet because of me. I’m sorry”

“They’re leather,” she said as she unfastened her seatbelt. “Now, change” she said in a scolding tone as she moved to the backseat.

She’s already mad at me and I don’t want her to get even more mad at me by not following her. I hurriedly took off my hoodie and shirt, leaving me in my bra, before I wore her coat. I buttoned it up and wrapped it around me tightly when I started to feel the effects of the coldness.

I placed my wet clothes on the floor of the car while Yong moved to sit on the driver seat again. My hands involuntarily trembled while my teeth clashed against each other from my shivering. I curled myself up and hugged myself tighter while Yong the heater and directed all the vents to me.

I closed my eyes and leaned back on the seat when my muscles started to feel weak. “Where are we going?” I manage to ask Yong.

“My house” I heard her answer.

She’s doing way too much for me already. I already felt guilty and I still felt like I owe her a lot after everything she did for me. I don’t want to bother her even more. “You can bring me back to the dorm, Yong” I whispered, trying to move and reach for my bag where my phone is. I’ll just ask Hyejin and Byulyi for help.

I heard her click her tongue loudly, so I moved back to my seat again. “Just shut up and let me drive, Whee” she hissed angrily.

I closed my eyes again and slightly turned my body away from her. I feel so ashamed and scared of her. I don’t want to anger her even more so I focused on stopping myself from shivering.

Suddenly, something itchy ran up to my nose, making me sneeze loudly. I groaned and completely turned away from Yong so I wouldn’t affect her. I heard her curse loudly so I curled myself up even more.

I shouldn’t have just made her come today. Now, she’s mad at me. I wanted to cry. I wanted to lie down. I wanted some hot chocolate. I wanted to just sleep right now. I wanted a lot of things but most importantly, I want Yong not to be mad at me. I tried suppressing my sneeze but I couldn’t completely control it.

I opened my eyes when I heard a door being opened. I faced Yong but only saw the door being closed. We must’ve been here already.

I reached for my seatbelt and grunted as I used a lot of strength to simply unfasten it. My side of the door was pulled open next and Yong reached for me, helping me out of the car. Then she moved to the backseat and grabbed Ggomo in there before passing him to me. I hugged him tightly with my remaining energy.

Yong grabbed our bags next before she walked me to a door. She pressed the code and unlocked the door before she pushed the door open, revealing her living room. Where we came from must be the garage to her house.

I’m too tired, too cold, and too sick to feel anything. If this was any other day, I might be excited and nervous. She never even hesitated to bring me here.

I was trying to hold myself upright while Yong was crouched down in front of me, helping me remove my shoes and my socks. Then she helped me into a pair of indoor slippers before she stood beside and laced an arm across my back. She walked us further into her house before opening a door, revealing a bedroom this time.

She left me standing in the middle of the room to walk into another door inside the room. “You can put Ggomo down here. You need to take a warm shower first”

I released Ggomo and he started himself again. I placed my coat down as his bed and placed him on it just as I heard water running from where Yong came from. I slowly stood up, shivering so badly, and watched Yong walk into another door, revealing clothes lining up on the wall.

That’s when I realized that I’m inside her bedroom. I thought this was a spare room but she brought me to her own bedroom.

She walked out of the closet, bringing clothes with her now. She held my hand when she walked by me and dragged me to the bathroom. “Be quick. Change into these. Call me if you need anything” she said as she placed the clothes on a dry area inside the bathroom.

“Thank you” I whispered before she closed the door.

I removed all my clothes and pulled my hair out of the bun before I stepped under the shower. I let the warm water soak me and engulfed me in a comfortable warmth.

This is the first time I got a glimpse of Yong’s life. She never mentioned anyone she knew other than her best friend, Sujeong. In fact, she never told me anything about her best friend at all. I only knew her name. I didn’t tell her much about Hyejin and Byulyi too, but I have told her some things about them. I’m sure she also heard Hyejin when she slept in my dorm last month, but that’s it.

Reassessing things, I realized that she’s been taking care of me and focused on making sure that I’m comfortable and fine. She even slept beside me so I wouldn’t be scared anymore. Even now, she was worried about me getting sick. I never felt so safe, protected, comfortable and taken care of than when I’m with her.

When I was done showering, I toweled myself dry before I wore her clothes. I have to use the scissors in the bathroom first to cut the tags in the underwear she gave me. I placed my wet clothes on the sink and hung the towel again before I hugged myself and moved out of the bathroom.

Yong stood beside me right away when I got out of the bathroom. She walked me to the closet and sat me down in front of the vanity mirror. I looked so sick. My eyes were puffy and my nose was so red.

“We’ll make this quick, okay? After this you can rest on the bed right away” she said before she blow dried my hair.

“Okay…” I whispered before I sneezed loudly.

Once my hair was dry, she guided me to the bed then helped me climb on bed and sit up. She propped pillows behind me before she covered my legs with the blanket. Then sat on the edge of the bed as she grabbed the noodles on the bedside table.

“I’ll cook something else later. This is the fastest thing I could prepare” she said before blowing on the hot noodles.

“It’s okay” I whispered before she started feeding me the noodles.

My colds seemed to have worsened because I’ve been sneezing and sniffing nonstop. She handed me a box of tissues and placed a small trash bin beside the bed for my used tissue.

Once I finished the noodles, she handed me medicine and a glass of water. I took the medicine and drank some water obediently. Then she helped me lay down on her bed and tucked the blanket under my chin. Too bad my nose was clogged. If not, her scent would have been all around me now.

She brushed back my hair, her hand felt cold on my skin. “I’m sorry I snapped at you earlier. I didn’t mean it. I was just really worried” she said while she frowned at me.

“It’s okay” I whispered and smiled at her, reassuring her that everything’s fine.

“Sleep now. You need to rest so that you’ll recover faster” she whispered while my eyes widened when she leaned forward and kissed my forehead.

I pulled the blanket right below my eyes, knowing how I blushed so hard. “Did you just kiss me?” I whispered in disbelief. Her