It’s been two weeks.

Two weeks since the car incident. I didn’t call Kyu, and he didn’t call me. Even though, I was waiting for him to do so. I guess we were giving each other time. Or rather, space to breathe.  I do admit that there was a few times where I wanted to call him so badly because I missed his voice. I missed him terribly.

There were times, well, maybe almost every day, I felt lonely. There were no back-hugging, no playful fights on the couch, no Kyu. I sighed as I leaned my head back on my headboard. Two weeks have passed. How long more can I stand being away from him?

Not long I guess.

I needed clothes. That day when I left his house, I only managed to pack three quarter of the stuff because I was angry so I didn’t bother about the rest. But now, I was running out of things to wear and I remembered I had extra clothes left at his place.

And I still had his extra set of house keys. Maybe I could pop by his place during lunch since he’s usually out around that hour to get my clothes. Not to mention a few documents that I left in his study.

I got out of bed and proceeded with my morning routines; bathing, freshening up, breakfast.  The moment I was done, I grabbed my keys and headed out to the living room.

Somehow, I felt really anxious about going back to Kyu’s house. I rested on the sofa and thought. What if he changed his house locks? Because he knew I had an extra set? I mean, through these two weeks, not a single call or text message or email from him? I don’t know what’s going through his mind.

What if he was home?

I shrugged. I was just going back there to get the rest of my stuff. That’s it. No other things. No other reason, just clothes and work documents.

I sighed as I got up and left my house. I drove to Kyu’s house and as I was parking, I noticed his car was in the carpark as well. Could he be at home?

I hope he isn’t home. I don’t think I can meet him now that I’m right at his apartment lobby. The lift came and I went in.

I took out the extra set of house keys and went in. It was quiet.

That was a good sign. Maybe Kyu went to the grocer. That’s even better, I knew how long he would stay there, and his love for grocery shopping was something that I underestimated. He could stand in front of the row for minutes, just deciding which bottle of sauce was better. Comparing prices, brands and how to apply the sauce. There was once we stood at the fruits section for half an hour because Kyu was busy choosing his apples.

Gosh, I still remembered that time when we-

Park Shin Rae. Stop there. Stop this. Stop it. Stop thinking about it. I walked down the narrow corridor and the photo frames were still on the wall facing the shoe rack. He didn’t take any of those down at all.

I stood in the living room, and looked over to his basket on the side table. His set of house keys was in the basket. He was home? But the house was so quiet.

Kyu couldn’t be home. I pushed that thought to the back of my mind as I walked straight to his study room to get my work documents. While I passed by the kitchen, a new set of photo frames were hung in one straight row across the kitchen wall. It was a different set of pictures from the ones at his corridor. I stopped and stared at the photos.

This new set which I’ve not seen before were candid pictures of the both of us. Whenever we were together with Kyu’s camera, I would snatch it away from him and be the photographer myself. So there were definitely candid shots that I took of him. I’m not surprised that there were shots of me.

Kyu had purposely developed the photos in black and white. I wondered why.

I turned at the corner, Kyu’s house was known for its openness, there were no doors to different sections of the house except the balcony and the bathroom.

But there was something different about the area.  A huge photo frame was hung on the wall facing the mahogany table. I knitted my brows. What was going on in his house? What was with the changes?

I stared at the photo frame. It was the exact same one he had in his room. Unless he changed that one and brought it over here?

I frowned. Did Kyu take this photo frame out on purpose? Did he threw me out of his life? That’s why he didn’t call?

I bit my bottom lip as I decided it wasn’t the right time to be sad. I was here for clothing and work documents. Clothes and work documents, nothing else.

I opened the few drawers where I used to place my stuff and was happy that my work documents were still kept neatly intact. I went out to the kitchen and placed my work documents on the kitchen counter before walking to his bedroom, taking out a folded reusable bag to pack the rest of my things.

“Who’s that?” A voice whispered out.

I stopped.

“Anybody around?” The voice became louder but it still sounded weak.

I froze.

Kyu was home after all. My opening and shutting of the drawers must have alarmed him that he wasn’t the only one at home.

Kyu coughed. It sounded terrible.

“Anybody there?” His voice faded and I knew why.

I looked up from the ground to meet his piercing red eyes.

He looked awful. His face was so pale, his shoulders shrunken, his hair was in a mess, and his eye-bags were so heavy and dark. He looked worse than awful.

“Rae?” He whispered which ended up in a cough. He was sick.

I took an uncertain step forward. I couldn’t bear to see him like that. My heart ached. He was sick and there was no one around to take care of him. There used to be someone who could have taken care of him. That someone was me.  

But he noticed as he took a step back.

“Don’t come near me, I might pass you the virus.” He said in between his whizzing and sniffling.

I opened my mouth to speak but he beat me to it.

“Why are you here?” He asked directly, not looking at me.

“I-I left a few stuff- Kyu, are you alright?” I said, taking two steps closer to him.

He sneezed right after my speech of concern.

“No, you’re not alright.” I muttered, almost too loudly that he heard it as well as his eyes looked straight into mine the moment I said it.

He didn’t step back this time. “Yeah, you left a few work documents and some clothes. I’m fine.” He said.

I shook my head. “Don’t say ‘I’m fine’ when you’re clearly not.”

I took a few more steps forward until I was right in front of him. My palms went directly to his forehead and to his cheek. It was hot, very hot.

“You’re burning!” I immediately shouted, shocking Kyu in the process as he flinched when I yelled out.

He pushed my hand away softly. “I’m-..”

“Don’t even think about saying the word fine because you are not.” I said, guiding him back to his bed.

“Rae, what are you doing?” He asked quietly as I was tucking him into his bed with his blanket.

I looked at him and thought the same question to myself. What was I doing? I decided to ignore his question as I turned my attention to his bedside table. There were a few packet of medication.

“Have you taken your medication? Was this given by your family doctor?” I asked him, eyes still fixed on the medication as I read the individual instructions on each packet.

Kyu touched my hand as I turned and stared at him.

“Rae, what are you doing?” He asked once again.

I sighed.

“I’m taking care of you, Kyu.” I replied. 

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Hey readers! *waves*

I know I know. I practically just left you guys hanging when I didn't update. I'm sorry. Please forgive me!

I admit, I was lazy over the weekend. I was actually reading another fanfiction and it was so gooooood that I felt my story wasn't good enough. In addition, I didn't know how to continue the story from where I stopped.

I'm sorry I didn't update.

Anyway, I know what to write for the next few chapters so please do anticipate them! 

I'll be going on a short trip from this saturday to the following thursday. Fear not, I'll try my best to update okay? Heh. 

In the meantime, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. 

Commmmmmmment. 

Xoxo.