~~I’m sure you guise have noticed, but the italicized is either Tao’s or Rose’s thoughts ^^ just to clarify hehe and double update....i hope i'm not updating too fast, but the truth is, this weekend i''m going out of country and won't return till late june D: but i will have internet! its just updating will be A LOT slower, so i'm trying to update faster now ;P~~ oh right and there's swearing here towards the end....so i guess its like PG-13? ;__;

Tao’s POV

I woke up to the sound of stifled coughing. I jolted out of bed to find Rose collapsed onto the floor, writhing in pain. I immediately went to her and helped her up. She looked up through her pained eyes and stiffened at my touch. She violently pushed me away. I stood awkwardly with my arms still out in front of me. Rose collapsed to the floor again.

“Rose, let me help you,” I whispered. My head rushed with the memories from last night. She helped me even though she feared me. She didn’t pry into my life. She was, no she is probably the kindest person I’ve met besides my hyungs….Hyungs, I miss you guys…My thoughts turned back to Rose. I hated seeing her in so much pain. How can someone so innocent and pure suffer so much?

She whispered, “Water…..table.” and closed her eyes and continued coughing.

I blindly knocked into her table and grabbed the bottle there. I went back to her and tried to help her sit up. She pushed me away again.

“I can do it,” she whispered and grabbed the bottle from my hand. She drank the water slowly and after a few minutes she stopped coughing. I awkwardly sat next to her. She sniffled and wiped the tears from her eyes. I glanced at her. She’s in so much pain. I felt the sudden desire to wrap my arms around her and take away all her pain; to place her head against my chest and tell her it is going to be okay; to her hair softly, to kiss her gently…. What the Huang Zitao? What the hell is wrong with you? You just ing met her! Despite these thoughts, I felt the need, no desire, to help her.

“What time is it?” she asked quietly, her hoarse from coughing.

I glanced at the clock next to her bed.

“4AM.” I said.

“What!” She jumped up almost falling over again. “I’m gonna be late!”

“What late? No! You have to stay here! You’re sick!” I said grabbing her wrist.

“Let go…please.” Her whole body tensed again at my touch. I let go. What in the world has this girl gone through?

She quickly grabbed clothes and ran to the bathroom and changed.

“Where are you going?” I asked.

She looked at me curiously. “Work, of course!”

“4AM? What kind of person works at 4AM?” I asked incredulously. We got to her house at around 1:30am or so…its been barely 3 hours and she has to go out again?

I was going to go unlock her door and I realized that there were 8 locks on the door. I remembered my thoughts from last night.

I guessed she saw me attempting to unlock the doors.

“Not there. Relock the locks” She said simply. She turned and walked towards the bathroom. I peeked in. She climbed on the toilet then opened the window.

“Um. Are you going to follow me….? You can stay here to rest. Your arm still needs to heal. Just don’t….go out of my room.” She said softly.

“Uh.” I was dying of curiousity. What is she afraid of? What kind of sickness does she have? Why does she have to go to work now? What kind of girl is she?

I followed her as she climbed out the window. I stifled a laugh as I heard her land on the other side with an "OOMPF" and “Ouch. My !”

Your POV

You turned to look at the window and see….Tao (that’s his name right?) climb out of the window swiftly and gracefully. Pfft. He’s a convict….or gang member…or something…I’m not surprise he can do that.

You started on your brisk pace. He trailed behind and finally caught up.

“So where are we going again?” he asked.

“Work. Just follow and try not to get in the way.” You said. You mentally slapped yourself for that. What if I just indirectly insulted him? you thought

“And what exactly do you do that is so important you can’t rest for a bit?” he said glancing at you.

“You can see for yourself. We’re here.” you ignored the last part of the question and entered the store.

The store owner was already here getting his merchandise ready and yelled “Ya Rose, you’re late! Well you’re never late, so I’ll let you off this time. The milk is in the back.” He saw Tao. “Ya and Rose, don’t mess with your boyfriend here. You got a job to do!”

“Okay! He’s not my boyfriend.” you called back.

“Yeah whatever. Just do your job” you heard the store owner mutter. He was a kind man although rough and intimidating on the outside, but he was always fair to you and even gave you the leftovers from his store.

 You placed your stuff down and went to the back where the bicycle waited. You struggled and carried the first box of milk to tie it to the back of your bike. You turned to grab the second box only to see Tao carrying it.

“So this is what you do in the morning.” He smirked.

You ignored him. “Tie it to the back please”

He did just that and you got on your bike. You began to pedal. He followed in a comfortable jogging pace. You stopped at your first stop and placed the milk in the mail-like box.

(note: I'm not sure if they still do this, but in Taiwan someone could deliver milk to your doorstep. I’m not sure about Korea.  LOl just kinda made it up. just like how i made up her illness, but i think it really does exist. not sure though)

“How can you function with barely 3 hours of sleep? What kind of sickness do you have? Why do you need to do this?” he bombarded you with questions. You were surprised at his talkativeness. He didn’t look like a very talkative guy.

“I need to do this, that’s why.” You answered simply and calmly.

“But what sickness do you have that makes you…like that this morning? I mean it doesn’t seem like a cold.” He said again look at you.

You rubbed her temples. He talks a lot. You ignored him and pedaled faster. He jogged faster to keep up with your pace and didn’t ask anything else. In fact, he kept his mouth shut the rest of the time. You finished your round and returned to the store.

“I’m back!”

“Be on time tomorrow!” the store keeper yelled from the front.

“Sorry about that! I will!”

“I might have extra today. Come and grab some before you go home.”

“Thank you very much! You’ve always helped me a lot.” you bowed in his direction.

He grunted in response and then a rough “ Yeah, Yeah, see you later.”

You straightened up and turned around to find Tao’s dark eyes. You found them unsettling.

“Where to next?” he asked.

“Home. I’m gonna catch some sleep before my next job.” You said.

Tao’s POV

I was startled to hear she had another job. She delivers milk, does dishes, and also has another job? I shook my head in disbelief. This girl is strong in her own way.

“Um not to be rude…..or anything….but how long are you going to stay?” she asked hesitantly.

Gosh, girl, I’m not going to bite everyone I see!

“Long enough.” I said. I wanted to get to know more about her…I’ve never felt this way about anyone before. Screw the whole "treat her like a " thing. She's different from those s. I know.

She looked at me without expression. “Okay. But I’m not sure if I can feed two people. I can barely feed myself.” she said simply.

I looked at her incredulously. “Yeah no problem. Do you have a phone I can use to call someone?”

“No. I don’t have a phone. But….” She reached into her bag and pulled out some coins “You can use this to call whoever you need. I need to stop by somewhere before we go back and theres a public phone up front.”

She handed me the coins, and I noticed she was careful not to touch any part of my hand. She walked ahead and I followed. I couldn’t believe that at first, when she was delivering milk, I was asking so many questions. I wanted to punch myself ; I was so not slick in asking questions….but I couldn’t help it….she’s just so intriguing. We walked a good 10 minutes in silence before she stopped before a pay phone and a family run pharmacy center.

“Phone.” She pointed.

She disappeared to the back of the store and I heard her knock and a elderly woman cried “Ai! Rose! Darling, you are here early. Wait here.”

“Ahjumma, here’s the payment for last time and this time,” you heard her say.

“Aigoo. Thank you Rose!  You are so reliable! Here you go.”

I hurriedly pushed the coins in and dialed quickly, hoping Kai hyung would pick up.

“Hello?” I heard Kai say groggily.

“Kai hyung!” I said.

“The Tao! Its ing 6 something in the morning.” Kai groaned. “Are you okay? We haven’t heard from you in awhile. Kris hyung was gonna send the entire army for you, but Lay hyung convinced him that you would be okay. Kris hyung is worried sick.”

“I’m fine. I got….I got the you know from them.” I said.

“Really?! Daebak! Hurry and come back then! We thought you failed and was gonna send someone to look for you.” Kai said excitedly, forgetting his sleepiness.

“I can’t…not yet. You see…theres this girl and….”

“Tao!” groaned Kai. “Fine go with her all you want, but hurry and come back. In fact, you should drop off that here.”

“Yeah I was thinking that. I’m gonna pick up some clothes and cash when I drop by.”

“Woo hoo! Tao's getting serious!" I'm gonna punch him when I get back. "And Tao, you are out of their territory, right?” Kai asked with concern.

“Yeah…well I’m borderline I think. It’s no man’s land here.” I said. I saw Rose standing a few feet away, out of earshot.

“Okay Tao, be careful.”

“Yeah. I’ll drop by.” I hung up.

I turned to Rose. “Hey I needa do something. I’ll catch you later. You work….?”

Your POV

“Down there. There’s a café there and I work there.” you pointed down the street. You cursed inside. I can’t believe I just told him where I worked! But….then again….I am really curious about him. He doesn’t seem like other guys who just want to me. You winced at the thought.

“ Kay, catch you later.” He said coolly and turned and walked away.

You went back home and climbed back into the window with the stool you leave outside, so you could reach the sill. You climbed up the sill and into your familiar bathroom. You were exhausted and collapsed on your bed. You realized it smelled like him…musky and sweet at the same time. You closed your eyes and fell asleep with his smell around you.

You awoke with a start to the pounding at your bedroom door.

BANG BANG BANG. defintely not your alarm clock.