“So you’re off schedule for the rest of the day,” Ji Min’s manager flipped through the thick, stapled wad of paper, carefully running her fingers over events, checking that she didn’t miss any. “Don’t,” she eyed Ji Min carefully, “go running off and doing anything that might upset you.”

Her manager was all too aware that Ji Min had a relationship with Jong In, and she knew just how head over heels the girl was with the star. Personally, she disapproved immensely of it; her client was busy and was far too young to be frolicking around with boys three years older than her.

Ji Min nodded and her dry lips. She was careful enough to avoid her manager’s eyes. She knew it wasn’t good for herself to be running after Jong In after less than three hours sleep, but it’s not like she was planning to anyway; she was as hard headed as a mule and wasn’t planning on giving in anytime soon.

Her manager’s warm hand patted her soft but sallow cheeks. “Get some rest and go eat a hamburger or ten.” The beautiful teen chuckled quietly. “Kay.”

-

Ji Min lived in a small but very modern apartment a few blocks from the YG Entertainment building with Hye Na’s sister Hyo Na who studied at the local university. Her parent’s house was in rural Seoul and it was just too much effort to go to and from her parent’s house to Seoul, especially with her ever-changing schedule.

She neared the entrance, holding a heavily packed Country Road bag with her most important items. A few days earlier Hyo Na had texted her about some kind of college boarding seminar that she was required to attend.

That meant Ji Min had two whole weeks by herself to mope.

She was quite looking forwards to settling down on the couch with a nice cup of Ginseng tea, but as she took out her keys, she stopped in her tracks.

The door was open.

Ji Min’s neck prickled and her mind ran wild with images of a robber inside the apartment. What was she going to do? In a rare display of courage, she ran into the door, slamming it to the side and making as much noise as possible by banging her bad against the wall.

“Hi.”

The unexpected greeting made her jump into the air, and her loud shriek echoed in the hall. Her heart thumped painfully in her chest as she turned to face the intruder.

“Kris!” She cried out angrily, tears of shock coming to her eyes. To Ji Min’s absolute horror they spilled over, and she glared pitifully at Kris while wiping at her eyes with her shirt.

The tall young man rushed over and patted her on the back, his face contorting. “Stop Ji Min, stop, please.” He never dealt well with tears, and this was no exception.

She shrieked. “What do you think you’re doing? Why are you here! Do you know how rude and plain stupid it is to come in to someone’s house unannounced and when they’re away?!”

Kris sighed uncomfortably. “Ji Min I’m sorry, but I only have a short amount of time… how are you?”

“Oh I’m just dandy.” She drawled sarcastically, dropping her bags heavily on the floor.

“No.” His large and heavy hand was on her shoulder. Ji Min shifted her eyes from him, uneasy.

“Really.” Kris carefully enunciated every word. He liked to make sure he conveyed his points without using too many words. “How are you?”

Ji Min’s lips twitched. Her eyes flared with annoyance and she stepped out of Kris’s hand and glowered at him with as much hate as she could muster. “Fine. I’m doing brilliantly.” Her voice dripped with acidic sarcasm.

Kris folded his arms across his wide chest, lifting his chin, prompting Ji Min to do the same.

Out of all of EXO, Ji Min was least close with Kris. Their talks usually ended up in arguments, since he had grown accustomed to being the leader and Ji Min refused to be led. When they weren’t biting at each other’s faces, they were awkward and quiet, but no matter how distant they were, they knew each other inside out. Ji Min knew that Kris was at her house because he wanted something and she was determined that he wouldn’t get it.

“Why are you so skinny?” He demanded, looking at her bony body.

“Oh I don’t know,” she said bitingly, “maybe because I work!”

“Don’t raise your voice at me!” he boomed.

“If all you’re going to do is shout at me, I’d rather you leave.” She finished, rather coldly.

Kris scoffed. “Don’t be so difficult Ji Min. I’m here to check on you and I’m glad I did too because you’re looking like you haven’t eaten in three days,” he cocked his head to the side with a venomous smile on his face, “or is that actually true?”

Ji Min flinched, then hesitated for a moment before moving away from Kris and walked calmly to her room and closed the door with a loud bang.

“For God’s sake.” Kris swore. That’s how they always were, taking jabs at each other but he hadn’t expected her to take his comment so seriously. But then again, she really did look very haggard.

He knocked on her door. Once, twice and then a third time. Finally he resorted to jiggling the doorknob. “Open up Ji Min!” He used his closed fist to pound on the door. “God you know I didn’t mean it! Open up before I –“

He stopped.

He listened.

Ignoring the sounds of the city and the bustling of the people outside, he zeroed in on the sounds beyond the nice, white French door.

Kris hissed and narrowed his eyes once he identified the sound. It was the terrible sound of someone vomiting his or her guts out, all the sick liquid rushing out of the person’s throat and into the toilet bowl.

He closed his eyes and leant on the door. How could he have not seen it? Half of the girls in the company did it, so why wouldn’t Ji Min? And she was a model too… “Damn…” this was not good news to report back to the guys.

There was a slight sound of the toilet being flushed before Kris heard her light footsteps tread on the floor and towards the door. He shifted his weight back on to his feet and waited for it to open.

It creaked open slowly, and Ji Min stood in front of him, her small frame worn and thin. There were small dips in her cheeks and her shining eyes were now blank and hollow. A lump caught in Kris’ throat when he saw the large tears drip down her face. “Come here.” He drew her into his arms, frowning at the way it felt like he was hugging a pole.

Ji Min cried loud, open-mouthed sobs into the warm chest of Kris. She was exhausted, hungry and homesick. And she missed her boyfriend, who had seemed to fade from her life a little.

Minutes passed, and eventually her cries diminished into little emotional hiccups. Exhausted by the effort, Ji Min pulled back and wiped messily at her eyes. “I’m tired.” She announced quietly, and made her way back into her room, sliding under the covers of the bed. She closed her eyes tightly, waiting for Kris to leave. There were a few moments where she could feel his hesitancy, but at last he moved away from the door to her room and left the apartment, leaving her to her own thoughts.

She waited a few minutes after he had left before she to her back and let the tears slide down her face again, wetting her cheeks, her ears and the pillow. Her whole body ached, she was hungry past the point of pain, to the point where she felt it no longer, and she felt so alone.

It took her a long time to get to sleep. It could’ve been one hour, it could’ve been a minute, either way, she was writhing around in her bed in agony; her bones ached, her muscles were taut and sore and she was shivering.

But finally, she fell into a restless sleep, where all her pain stabbed at her from inside her dreams.

-

With a sudden jolt, Ji Min woke up. A ball of sweat rolled down her face and past her nose. Her breath was heavy.

Making a move to sit up, she was stopped by a heavy arm that was lying on her stomach. Her eyes trailed up the smooth skin of the arm and her heart squeezed itself painfully when she looked into the dark eyes of her boyfriend.

Jong In didn’t say anything and merely stared at her. Then, slowly, his hand went to the back of her neck and drew her face into the crook of his neck, softly massaging the tense muscles in her shoulder.

For the second time that day, Ji Min cried into the arms of a boy.

-

She had no idea.

She had no idea the hurt that overcame Jong In when he saw her.

When he first walked into the apartment, he was prepared for a massive fight. After rehearsal Kris had literally dragged him into the company van and quickly but discreetly dropped him off at her door with a pair of keys, offering no explanation.

It took him a while to walk in, and he was immediately hit with the sweet scent of Ji Min’s perfume wafting around the hallway. His eyes trailed to the bags strewn messily on the couch and the doorway, making him frown. Ji Min was never messy.

She wasn’t in the living room and wasn’t in the kitchen, so he walked slowly to the bedroom. She must’ve been asleep. Jong In pushed the door open with his palm, wincing at its loud creak and peered inside.

At first there was relief that she really was sleeping, but as he walked closer, the relief was shadowed by the horror and shock at the sight of her. Jong In could barely stand the sight of her! Her bones were sticking out, and you could make out the shape of her ribs even with the shirt she was wearing. She looked so malnourished you’d never think she was from a first world.

Fury swept over Jong In and he clenched the bedpost angrily. How could she have such blatant disrespect for herself? How could she take so little care for her body?

Ji Min whimpered in her sleep and her body twitched before relaxing again. Jong In forced himself to push the anger away for another time and instead took his jacket off and crawled into the bed beside her, internally cringing at the feel of her cold, gaunt body against his. “What happened? ...” He whispered, his fingers running up and down her arms.

He could have stared at her forever, memorising and comparing the difference between her now and the girl he had seen weeks ago. He could see the puffiness of her eyes and the dried tear tracks on her face.

Suddenly, Ji Min convulsed and her eyes flew open. She panted heavily and he shifted his weight the tiniest bit to allow her some room, but never took his arm off her waist.

In a moment he had taken her into his arms and the next Ji Min was sobbing into his neck. The action tickled but he ignored it, instead he wrapped his arms around her waist and then burrowed a hand into her hair, rubbing her freezing skin.

She pulled back and stared at him. Without another thought, she pushed her lips against his, an action that he welcomed without hesitancy. But a minty taste broke through the kiss and Jong In flinched. It was the taste of toothpaste, and suddenly he knew exactly why Ji Min was so skinny.

In the darkness of the room you could hear the shattering of his heart.

Please check out my other stories in order of age:

I’m Kim Jae Joong’s Sister In Law... || Bringing Back the Gods of the East || My Little Heartbreaker || Intoxicated by Jae || Lessons in Heartbreak || The Blind Side || Breaking Bad || Intense Attraction || Forbidden Fruit || At Long Last || War of Words: Unravel Me || The Way You Tease Me || How To Turn Your Boyfriend Gay || The Porcelain Club || It’s A Long Story (Request Shop)

Or, in order of bias:

TVXQ -

I’m Kim Jae Joong’s Sister In Law... || Bringing Back the Gods of the East || My Little Heartbreaker || Intoxicated by Jae || Lessons in Heartbreak || Breaking Bad ||It’s A Long Story (Request Shop)

Teen Top -

The Blind Side || It’s A Long Story (Request Shop)

B.A.P -

Intense Attraction || It’s A Long Story (Request Shop)

EXO -

Forbidden Fruit || At Long Last || War of Words: Unravel Me || The Way You Tease Me || How To Turn Your Boyfriend Gay || The Porcelain Club || It’s A Long Story (Request Shop)

Thank you.