"don't worry. It's just a flu." The doctor said with a smile.

Yoonjung let out a breath of relief.

"The weather haven't been good lately so you have to take extra care of yourself." The doctor added while writing notes on the paper. "There's medicine and vitamin. You can stop taking the medicine once you feel better, but try to finish the vitamin."

"She hasn't been eating well lately. Do you think it's because of the flu?" Yoonjung asked, while gently rubbing her grandma's hand.

"Possible. But you should keep to monitor her and come back if she doesn't get better after a few days."

"Ok. Thank you so much."

Yoonjung helped her grandma to get up and continued holding her arm as they walked out of the doctor's room. 

"I will drop you off at home. Make sure to get a lot of rest." Yoonjung said.

"What about your work? You have delivery today right?"

"It's ok. I will go once I get you settled. Do you want to eat anything? I can make for you."

She shook her head, "i just want to rest."

"But you still have to eat." Yoonjung replied. She was concerned at how much weight her grandmother lost the past month. "I will buy your favourite food on the way home tonight ok?"

 

------------

 

"How is she?" Yoonjung spoke on the phone. "Ok. I should be home in about an hour or two. Thank you so much for helping me out."

Yoonjung sighed. She didnt want to leave her grandma alone at home, but she can't just cancel the delivery last minute without replacement. Fortunately the aunty next door was willing to watch her grandma while Yoonjung is away. 

She looked at the time and it was getting quite late. The bus was not there yet. She finished later than usual because she only started after she took her grandma to the doctor and back home. Fortunately the last recipient was willing to wait for her to deliver late that day. 

The weather was getting colder and she sneezed.

"I hope I didn't catch it from grandma."

That was when her phone rang. 

"Halo?" She picked up the phone while hugging herself, trying to stay warm. 

"Are you at home?" Kang's deep voice sounded even deeper. It seemed like he just woke up.

"I am outside. I just finished delivery."

"So late? I thought you should be back a long time ago."

"I should have, but my grandma is sick so I took her to the doctor in the morning."

"Is she ok?"

"She caught flu. My neighbor is watching her now..." She finished her sentence with a sneeze.

"Where are you now?"

"Bus stop. I am waiting for the bus to come."

"Send me the address, I will pick you up."

"No need. I am okay."

Kang sighed deeply. "Just send me the address."

There was something in his voice that made her gave in, "ok. I will text you."

"If the bus come before I do, just get on it first and let me know."

"Okay."

She texted him the address right after the call ended.

The bus showed up ten minutes after, but she didn't get in. She knew Kang must have been on his way already and she didnt want his effort to go to waste.

She waited for another ten minutes in the cold. When Kang finally showed up, she almost fell asleep.

"The bus didn't come yet?" Kang asked. He got off the motorbike and wrapped Yoonjung with the extra jacket that he brought.

"It did."

"Why didn't you get on?"

"I figured you must be nearby already, so I thought i might as well wait for you."

Kang sighed again. He has been doing that a lot lately. "You shouldn't have waited for me. Look, your hands are freezing."

She just smiled weakly in response.

"Come, let's get you home."

She felt so exhausted. Had it not been for Kang squeezing or patting her hands once in a while, she probably would have fallen asleep. He must have done it on purpose to keep her awake. Before she knew it, they have reached her house. Kang helped her off the motorbike and inside the house.

"Halo, you're here." The aunty from next door welcomed the with a happy face, as if it was not already late into the night.

"Thank you very much aunty, for taking care of grandma. I am sorry I kept you waiting for so long." Yoonjung said politely.

Aunty waved her hand, "Oh no, please don't worry about it. You two are like family for us. So anytime you need help again, please just let me know, ok?" 

"How is she?" Yoonjung asked in a whisper while slowly peeking inside the grandma's room.

"She's sleeping." aunty replied softly as well, "she ate well, don't worry. She has no fever either."

"That's good." Yoonjung smiled in relief.

"Oh my... what a handsome young man." aunty exclaimed after belatedly noticing Kang standing in the doorway. 

"Ah. aunty, this is Kang." Yoonjung introduced, pulling Kang inside the house.

"I didn't know you have such a good looking boyfriend." aunty elbowed Yoonjung while giving her a mischevious smile.

Yoonjung could only reply with a nod and awkward smile. 

"Ok, I should go back now. If you need anything else, don't hesitate to tell me okay?" 

The house seemed quiet after she left. 

"Thank you for picking me up. It's very late, if you want to go home." 

Kang placed his hands on her shoulder and turned her around, slowly pushing her inside the house. "I will go home after you sleep." He stopped in front of the other room in that house that was not her grandma's room, "I am assuming this is your room?"

"Yes, but..."

He opened the door and nudged her inside. "Get yourself ready for bed. I will get you water."

"But..."

"No but." he closed the door and left her inside the room .

Yoonjung stood in the darkness for a short minute. It was the first time Kang went inside her house, and she didn't imagine it would be in this way. She imagined it would have been as an offiicial introduction between Kang and her grandma. But now, neither her grandma nor herself are in the good state to welcome him with proper hospitality. 

That thought could wait. She did feel very tired and she just wanted to sleep, so she started getting herself ready. 

Kang knocked on the door after waited for a while and she gave him a reply that it's ok to go in. When he walked in, she was already on her bed, in her pyjama with blanket on top of her legs. 

Kang sat on her side and passed the water to her. 

"How are you feeling?" he asked while touching her forehead, checking for her temperature. 

"Tired." 

"Why didn't you tell me that grandma is sick? I could have helped you." Kang asked. He had mixed feeling between worried and frustrated that he only knew belatedly what was going on.

"Because I am really ok, I could do it myself." 

Kang closed his eyes, controlling himself not to nag at her, no matter how much he wanted to. He took her hand in his "Yoonjung, I need you to let me help you."

"But I don't need help..." she muttered.

"I hope you don't get this the wrong way, but.... I want you to need me." he said, "You have no idea how much I want to help you. I truly admire your independence and I can feel that you don't want to trouble me with your worries. But I want you to. I want to be able to make you happy, or at least to make things easier for you." 

"I know." she does, she really does. but no matter how much she wanted to reach out her hand for him, she always held herself back. She was even more scared to do it, knowing that her feelings for him grew more and more every day. 

"I love you Yoonjung. I might have not said it before, but I have been for a while now. Your strength, your love for those around you, your independence, your warmth, your kindness. Seeing that, getting to know that about you, it made realise that I love you." he touched her face, "but it's not just that. I love you even when I couldn't reach you because you were sleeping for more than 24 hours, when you clumsily forgot our appointments because you have too many works, or even when you tried to do everything yourself even though you know people will be happy to give you a helping hand." 

She laughed softly. Her heart felt like it was beating 100 times per second. It was the first time he ever said that he loved her, and all her fatigue suddenly dissapeared. She wanted to scream out loud and dance around in joy, but of course she didn't. 

"I know it must be hard for you to open yourself up completely to someone else after being hurt before, so I will show you. I will slowly make you trust me. I want you to allow yourself to be loved, completely and irrevocably." 

The smile on her face was replaced with tears. Upon hearing Kang's words, the tears unknowingly rolled down her cheeks. It is too late now, she can't go back anymore. She has fallen deeply for this man. 

They kissed and hugged for a very long time. He stayed until she fell asleep and even longer. He sat there watching her sleep. He sat there while looking around her room. Room that looked very plain for a girl's room. There was no make up on the table or perfume. The wall was empty with no poster of idols and it has only a small wardrobe that probably can take only a little amount of clothings. There were lots of books though, which showed how much she loves reading. He then spotted the family picture on her table, of her mother and father and her together. She was much younger then, and much happier. Kang clenched his hand to a fist. He felt dissapointed at himself. They have been together for a while now, and yet, not even once did he ever make her look that happy, not even close. 

 

------------------ 

 

Yoonjung got up abruptly. She looked at the time and it was already almost 10am. 

"Fudged!" she jumped off the bed and scrambling to get ready for work, but she paused when she heard laughter from outside her room.

She opened the door and she could hear the laughter even more clearly. Kang and grandma were seen eating together in the living room. Yoonjung watched as they joked at each other, as if they have known each other forever. 

Yoonjung didn't know how long did she stand there for when finally Kang noticed her presence. 

"Good morning." Kang stood up and took her hand, "Are you feeling better?"

She noded, still dazed and confused. 

"Come Yoonjung, joined us for breakfast." grandma waved for her to come and sit next to her. 

She sat down and looked at the food on the table. There's soybean paste stew, egg rolls and side dishes from the fridge.

"Kang made all of this."

"It's nothing much." Kang laughed. 

"You really reminded me a lot of my husband." grandma said while placing her hand on her cheek, reminiscing her deceased husband.

"Oh, he must have been a very handsome man, then." Kang joked.

The two laughed again. 

"Yoonjung, I heard you have been seeing each other for a while now. Why haven't you brought him home all these time?" grandma slapped Yoonjung on the arm.

"ah, grandma. that hurt." Yoonjung whined. 

"What a waste, had I known you have a boyfriend like him, I wouldn't have fallen sick worrying about you." 

Yoonjung frowned, "Is that why you fell sick? because you have been worrying about me?" 

Grandma slapped her on the arm again, "It's a joke." grandma turned to Kang, "this kid never gets joke. She is always so serious." 

Kang laughed. He put a bowl of rice in front of Yoonjung, "Eat, before it gets cold."

Yoonjung looked up at the clock, "I don't have time to eat breakfast, I am late for work."

"Don't worry about that, I have asked Heejin to cover your shift. She said she will ask you to cover hers twice, in return." Kang said. 

Grandma laughed, "I always liked that girl."

"That's why, don't worry and eat." Kang squeezed her hand. 

Yoonjung finally obliged without saying anything else.

"So, how did you guys meet?" grandma asked.

"Now that's a funny story." Kang started telling grandma the story while Yoonjung was eating in silence. 

It has been a while since her grandma been that talkative. Yoonjung has always been so busy that even when they have meals together, it was always either she was rushing for work or too tired to talk after a long day of work. She let herself enjoyed that moment.

"I like you better than her previous boyfriend." grandma said.

Yoonjung snapped out of her daze the moment she heard Seojoon being mentioned. "Grandma, don't say that."

"Is that so? I am glad." Kang replied. 

"Yes. she used to cry everyday because of him." grandma whispered to Kang.

"It was not everyday!" Yoonjung denied. She wished her grandma would stop.

"Every other day, whichever, but you did cry a lot." grandma then continued in a serious tone, "Kang, please take really good care of her, ok? don't let oveworked herself and most importantly, don't make her cry."

"I promise, with my life." Kang held grandma's hand. 

 

 

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