“I told you to leave me alone. My matter, my life, it’s none of your concern, Park Niel. We share the same dormitory room, we take the same classes and we eat the same food in this boarding school. Apart from that, stay out from my life. Draw a line from me. You’re from Seoul High. That wretched school for the rich and spoiled. You wouldn’t understand me. Not the slightest bit.”

My heart turned cold.

My mind reeled to the time where he had reinstated, to draw a line between Park Niel and Kim Myungsoo. That night where he had his emotional breakdown, Myungsoo had said that. He wasn’t a man of his words.

Being Park Niel, I kept my words.

“No,” I replied sternly. “I’ll be fine, Myungsoo.”

Myungsoo’s prominent cheekbones were pushed in. His gaze pierced through mine. “I don’t want you to fall even more sick. You need to be well, Niel,” he stated firmly.

“He’s right, man,” Sungyeol added in to the rising awkward atmosphere. “Dude, don’t mean to break it to you but we’re kind of living in the same dormitory space. Breathing the same air. So, it’ll be great if everyone’s healthy and fresh. You know what I mean, right? Just like that time, we played with the farting-” he cleared his throat, knowing that nobody in the dormitory was giving a reaction.

“I-I’ll shut up now.”


Woohyun remained silent, making subtle eye contact with me. The glint in his eye explained everything. Woohyun was frustrated that I wasn’t giving in.

Annoyance and mixed emotions gripped me, as I stared blankly into all of their faces. My rebellious image kicking in. I was on the verge of retaliating. Myungsoo was waiting. His arm stretched out in an act of reconciling and in the end, I shoved it away.

“I insist.”

“Dude, I can manage.”

“Why are you so stubborn?” Myungsoo hissed.

“What are you? My mother?” I muttered, infuriation exploding in my head. I couldn’t conceal the cough and itching-to-escape-sneezes that has overwhelmed me. My palms clasping my mouth in every split second, the stupid flu just had to kill the freaking momentum. I was supposed to be strong, remember?

White blood cells, freaking work with me.

“Hey look. We live in the same dormitory. It does makes sense that we should care for one another,” Myungsoo responded. His lips were unhinged slightly. I could tell that he was controlling his anger. It was like every nerve in his skin has caught on fire.

In the dormitory, I figured that I wasn’t the only one with a short-temper. He didn’t want to be on the losing end, and so was I.

“Oh, so we’re talking about caring for one another now?” I said, trying hard to avoid unleashing my inner feistiness. “What happened to drawing a line, Myungsoo?”

I knew that I had pushed the last button. He came close. I could feel his breathe running away. Inhale and exhale, he shoved my blanket away from me. "Look, I apologize for whatever that happened that night-"

Annoyed, I grabbed the auburn sweater off my lap and had made up my mind to bolt from the mess. My mess.

"Let me explain," Myungsoo hissed.

His eyes fixed on mine.