Lightly kiss their collarbone and their jawbone just below the ear, and then whisper I love you.

“Baby, I’m he—oh.”

Xiumin drops the plastic bags he’s carrying on the floor and immediately rushes to her side. He places his hand gently on her forehead, trying to feel her temperature. Just this morning, Kyung fell from the stairs. Fortunately, Xiumin was at home that time and he caught her before she could hit her head on the floor.

He almost had heart attack.

Kyung rarely gets sick, Xiumin notices. She isn’t a picky eater and she eats anything that is prepared on the table. Sometimes, when she can’t cook, Xiumin would. His cooking isn’t half as good as hers but it’s edible. Kyung doesn’t even tell him the truth when he asks her how it tastes.

But when she gets really sick, her skin turns pale and she has strange spasm attacks. She could barely stand. The first time Xiumin saw her being sick, he panicked. He almost cried. He thought Kyung would die, wondering what life would be without her.

Few days later, Kyung suddenly wakes up and kisses him on the cheeks. Xiumin really cried.

“Stop crying, Xiumin,” Kyung coos one morning, wiping the tears rolling down his cheeks with her thumb. She cups his face in her hands and leans in. Xiumin stayed with her the entire three days she was sick. “Baby, please? I know you were scared. I’m sorry if I scared you.”

Xiumin sniffs. “I was dreadfully scared! I thought you were going to die!” He buries his face in her chest, hiding in embarrassment.

Kyung could only laugh. “Baby.” She normally doesn’t show her expressions but seeing Xiumin cry because of intense anxiety, she realizes how lucky she was to have him in her life.

Xiumin pulls her tightly to him. “I wasn’t going—sniff—to cry! But—sniff—I was—sniff—really, really scared!”

Kyung faintly smiles at the memory. Xiumin notices it, and he smiles back. He knows she remembers it. He wouldn’t have liked it. It’s just awfully embarrassing. Xiumin shivers in disgust as he recalls the memory inside his head. That is the first time he ever showed tears in front of her, looking very vulnerable.

Normally, for someone as bubbly as Xiumin, he doesn’t easily cry.

“I bought medicine,” Xiumin whispers, resting his head next to hers.

“Don’t leave me anymore,” Kyung tells him very quietly but enough for him to hear.

Xiumin smiles reassuringly. “I won’t. Ever.” He tilts closer, lightly kisses her collarbone and then that part just below her ears. “I love you, Lee Kyung.”