Seunghyun now had a taste of how Jiyong must feel everyday. He woke up but couldn’t open his eyes. He was so tired. He got scolded at the breakfast table for being out so late with someone he barely knew. Also, for not opening his eyes because it was disrespectful. He could open them, for the record, but just not for very long. It took a lot of effort.

 He made it into class and collapsed. He didn’t work very hard but with the previous night’s light slumber, and last night’s late night escapades, he was exhausted. He wondered how Jiyong was holding up today before he slid into uneasy sleep.

He dreamt that Jiyong was being chased by a giant push broom/mop that was going to flatten him. He kept calling to Seunghyun to help him but Seunghyun was trapped behind glass and couldn’t get to him.

He jerked awake in horror, looking around him quickly, he realized class had begun over half hour ago. He reached in his backpack for his notebook and felt something small, hard and plastic in the bottom. He pulled out something that looked like a teddy bear action figure. It was plain looking but kind of cute. He’d never seen it before. Someone must have slipped it in his backpack. He smiled thinking of who it probably was and set the figure on his desk next to his notebook.

The little bear was enough to keep his eyes open. He kept looking at him and putting him in different poses, then looking at the clock, then scribbling in his notebook about this little bear’s imaginary personality. Time was going by so slow that at one point Seunghyun swore it had stopped, if not, gone backwards.

He stared outside and daydreamed of yesterday’s eventful day, especially of Jiyong and his smile. He smiled a lot yesterday. He wondered if Jiyong would smile for him again in class today. It was addicting, that smile. He couldn’t get enough of it. He wondered if he finished his rap he started and how it sounded. All of the stories in that notebook seemed so real. Would this one be the same?

Seunghyun worked on his assignments only when teachers walked by his desk. He knew they only did that to catch him in the act of daydreaming or sleeping. The hours leading up to math were long. Seunghyun knew he wouldn’t be able to talk to Jiyong but he’d at least get to see him and possibly hint to him that he got the secret bear.

The time was near. Seunghyun was almost made of springs by the time 10 o’ clock approached. He kept his eyes on the door. The door slid open and Jiyong came in. He looked worse than the day before. His cheeks were flushed and he was shivering slightly. He wiped at his nose and had a coat over his small form. He slowly walked to his desk, looking like he was sleep walking more than doing so consciously. He took out his notebook and a pencil before huddling up in a little ball shivering at his desk, completely oblivious to the world around him.

Concern covered Seunghyun’s face. Was Jiyong sick? If he was, why did he come to school? Would he go to work? Who was he kidding? Of course Jiyong would go to work like that. He wouldn’t take a day off just because he was sick. He loved every second at that job.

Seunghyun took out his math notebook and tried to start brainstorming ideas to help Jiyong. He could tell the teacher that Jiyong was ill but that might make Jiyong mad at him for ratting him out. He could make him soup and take it to his work but he didn’t know how to cook and he didn’t want to explain this to his mother. He could take over Jiyong’s shift tonight but that might reflect badly on Jiyong for not showing up. It might also make him look selfish. He could take notes for him in class so he could sleep but he wasn’t good at math and Jiyong would get in trouble for sleeping again.

Seunghyun wracked his brain, looking up at the board every now and again to make sure he looked like he was taking notes. He also glanced at Jiyong who was trying his hardest to stay focused on the teacher and take occasional notes. Seunghyun finally had the idea he was looking for. Feeling relieved that he could help him he was able to focus on the rest of the class and even completed the assignment, however horribly.

The day went by rather smoothly. Seunghyun paid attention in class, which shocked and baffled the majority of his teachers. He kept looking at the little bear at the corner of his desk and smiling. Hoping the boy was feeling better.

 Seunghyun ran out of the classroom when the final bell rang. He went down to the end of the hallway where the 7^th grade classes were and scanned the group of kids leaving for Jiyong. He waited there 10 minutes and Jiyong never came out. Maybe he left and he missed him. Seunghyun peeked in each classroom. Empty. Empty. Emp- wait. He looked back in the last classroom and spotted a boy in the second to last row. He was completely asleep at his desk, head plastered to his notebook, with a pen still in his hand.

Seunghyun smiled as he approached him. He touched his forehead. He was sweating. That was good, he thought. He gently shook Jiyong who opened his heavily lidded eyes, looking confused at seeing Seunghyun.

“Mmm. What are you doing here?” Jiyong asked sleepily.

“I’m here to help you,” Seunghyun smiled, offering a hand to Jiyong.

Jiyong took his hand and stood up. He started weaving like his legs had lost bone. Seunghyun put his hand on Jiyong’s back. His heart started racing and his palms got sweaty. Jiyong’s back had a slight curve to it and some muscle from all the sweeping and mirror cleaning.

“How are you going to help me?” Jiyong asked. He looked at his watch and his eyes bulged in panic.

“School has been out 15 minutes!” Jiyong exclaimed, scrambling to collect his things and his schoolbag.

Seunghyun took Jiyong’s bag out of his hand and put it over his shoulder. It was full of textbooks and various notebooks and an untouched lunch and was thusly very heavy.

‘Yah! What do you think you’re doing?” Jiyong asked angrily, grabbing at his bag.

Seunghyun poked him in the ribs, causing Jiyong to crumple for a moment.

“I’m helping you. Now we have to hurry if we are going to make that bus to Gangnam Station.” Seunghyun finally answered.

“We?” Jiyong asked confused, while wiping his nose with a tissue.

“Yes, I’m taking care of you today and you have to go to work so I’ll take care of you there. You don’t need to worry. You showed me everything I need to know yesterday.” Seunghyun replied to both Jiyong’s question and the look apprehension on his face.

Seunghyun guided Jiyong out of the classroom and out of the school to the nearest bus stop. He made a quick stop at a mart and a pharmacy nearby the subway station to get extra tissues and a fever reducer in case Jiyong somehow got worse. People always seemed to think he avoided responsibility but really he just needs the right motivation.

Walking up to YG’s building, Jiyong seemed sheet white. He kept asking to sit down while they walked the 3 block journey but Seunghyun always kept telling him they were close because he knew once Jiyong sat down, he wouldn’t get to his job on time.

Walking inside. Seunghyun smiled and bowed to the lady at the front desk who seemed surprised to see him again until she saw Jiyong’s defeated state. She then waved him in with a sympathetic look on her face.

Seunghyun lead Jiyong down the hall and set him on the same chair he had sat on just the day before. He got a water bottle out of the refrigerator and crouched down to look at his face. He looked worse than he remembered. Seunghyun started to panic. He didn’t know what to do. He tried to remember what his mother did for him when he was sick. He grabbed a clean towel and soaked it in cold water to put on Jiyong’s face. Jiyong protested against the towel.

“Cold.” Jiyong sleepily muttered with his eyes still closed.

“I’ll make you feel warmer. I promise,” Seunghyun told the fever addled boy.

Seunghyun took off his jacket to put on the younger. He didn’t have much since it was getting warmer outside but he didn’t know what else to do. Jiyong pulled the jacket close by his face while he shivered. Seunghyun sat on the floor feeling completely helpless. He wanted to help Jiyong but he never took care of a sick person before. That’s when he remembered the fever reducers in his pocket. He took them out and tried to think of a way to make Jiyong take them.

“Jiyong. I have something for you that will make you feel better. Will you take them for me?” Seunghyun softly asked.

“Will it make me warmer?” Jiyong shivered.

“Yes, it will make you warmer,” Seunghyun assured him.

Jiyong softly smiled. “Okay,” he said, extending his hand out from his pocket.

Seunghyun gave Jiyong the pills and the bottle of water. Jiyong took the pills quickly then huddled back under Seunghyun’s jacket, still shivering. Seunghyun smiled, feeling better about all of this. He went to the hamper and put the towels in the washer and went to count the water bottles in the fridge before sitting back on the floor and taking out his own rapping notebook.

He looked over his cherry blossom thoughts. He sighed and buried his head in his hands. What was he doing? He was being creepy towards this kid who he barely even knew and Jiyong probably didn’t even feel close to the way he feels. Before he changed his mind he reached into Jiyong’s pocket to pull out the music player and headphones. He put the headphones in Jiyong’s ears and pressed play on whichever song was next.

Jiyong smiled and snuggled even more into the jacket just like a little kid would with their baby blanket. Seunghyun smiled softly again, reaching over to brush his hair away from his eyes. He didn’t know very much but he did know that what he felt towards Jiyong wasn’t normal between friends. There was something more to it.

Seunghyun put the notebook away and took out the mysterious bear figure. He bent it into several different poses and made it walk across his hand. He smiled at how cute it looked. He wasn’t one for cute things usually but the bear was different. It was cute but still rigid and stiff. He wondered what caused Jiyong to like these bear things and why he thought Seunghyun would like them too.

He looked over at the sleeping boy and noticed his face was regaining its normal shade. Seunghyun touched his forehead softly, like he was afraid of being electrocuted. He felt cool to the touch so he took the towel off. He got up to put the towel in the hamper when he felt a hand grab his wrist.

“Gajima,” Jiyong muttered in a sleepy and whiny tone.