The three boys blinked at her. “Your project? As in...this bathhouse is yours?”

SoRae acted as if she didn’t hear her friend’s remark, so she walked down the hallway (inspecting the floors as she did so). “Oh, there’s a crack in the molding. I would hate for water to seep in there.” She made a mental note and continued until she got to the main desk. All of the keys were hiding beneath the counter. “Got it. JongUp-ah! Did you lock the front door?”

The boy scrambled to check the lock. “Yeh, it’s locked!”

“Great, lets get started.”

DaeHyun was completely dumbfounded. Was it some kind of ritual? he thought. Other than the surprise YoungJae showed for her ownership, they all seemed oddly content. “So...this one is yours?” DaeHyun reiterated.

“Yup.” She smiled brightly at him causing his knees to go weak. A frantic pounding in his chest made it difficult for him to breathe. “I’m going to go start all the rooms up if you guys want to take a look around. It’ll be two minutes. I’m only going to start the men’s tubs.”

DaeHyun waited until she was out of sight. “So we’re going to share the tubs, like...co-ed style?”

“We’ll check everything out on the men’s side first. Make sure it’s working properly. The next time we come we’ll do the women’s side,” JongUp explains. “Its usually the three of us that inspect everything together. Three sets of eyes are better than one.”

“Yeah, and it’d be a waste to set up both sides if only SoRae was the one to use it. It’s expensive for us to do this, but we usually catch all the problems.” YoungJae reasoned. “I like the decor in this one.”

“That’s because I got to choose!” SoRae’s sweet voice sang. “It’s not as bland as the others. No offense to Appa, but his style is...eh. Ajumma at best?”

She took the four of them to the men’s locker room. “For now, all of the clothing is in the lockers. Just choose one. They’re all open.” SoRae spun quickly on her heels to face them. “Swim trunks are in locker 335. Luckily Appa thought he would be coming with us so there are three pairs for you. I’ve gotta change, but I’ll knock before I come back...kay?”

YoungJae rolled his eyes. “You ask like you’re faster at changing than us.”

A faint pout formed on her lips. “I’m just being courteous." With that, she her heels and left the three boys to themselves.

“Hyung, do you think the tub is full by now?”JongUp asked once they were all in their trunks.

“Maybe halfway. Beats being out here.” The two boys grabbed a towel and exited to the mini pool.

DaeHyun however, stayed behind to fold his clothes, a habit of his that he would never rid of. He looked up when there was a knock and grunted for SoRae to come in.

“Do any of you have a pen for my hair? I can’t find a band anywhere.” Her voice was soft and leaked through the room. As DaeHyun looked up, he was surprised to see her standing in a blue two piece. Her top looked more like a bra, but the bottom was more modest with a hemline the almost reached her navel and had a skirt covering. “Uh...” Her voice became a drone as her cheeks reddened. “Are they already soaking?” she asked.

He had turned away from her as soon as she walked in and didn’t dare look at her. “Yeh...SoRae-ssi, you can take this if you’re cold.” His arm was outstretched with his jacket clasped in his fingers.

“But I’m not-”

“I’ll see you when you’re finished,” he rushed before running to the tub.

She held the jacket in her hands inspecting it. It was so weird. Why was he acting like that, she thought and placed the jacket next to his things. She noticed the drastic difference between his stack of clothes and the two wads her brother and best friend left. “Ha, I can tell who actually cares more.”

“SoRae!” JongUp shouted once her feet were at the water’s edge. There were steps and a railing for the elderly and took slow strides down to check the width. “SoRae, hurry up!”
She tried her best to keep her hair up and out of the water, but for the ends...it was no use.

“Great,” she sighed as her brother got closer. His arms wrapped around her waist and he lifted her up to his chest. “JongUp!”

He spun her gently letting YoungJae swim up behind her. Before she knew it he had covered her in water and JongUp dropped her with a splash. “So not fair!” she shouted bumping into DaeHyun. The boy grabbed her shoulder as a precaution and she turned to him slowly. Their eyes met for a brief moment but it sparked something in DaeHyun. His eyes narrowed and he could feel that sensation in his stomach. This time he doubted anyway to stop it. It was painful and her doubled over into the water grasping his chest. Maybe it wasn’t his stomach that felt like it was ripping in two, maybe it was a little higher.

He gasped in a breath of oxygen but his lungs were dissatisfied as he breathed in water, not air. He coughed, but the pain in his chest steadily increased.

“Get him out of the water!” YooungJae yelled and JongUp pulled him to the surface. As they rolled his body onto the floor, SoRae leaned over him listening for any breathing. Her hands were placed below his rib cage and she pushed down four times.

“DaeHyun, DaeHyun-ah...wake up!” she pushed down again and moved to his mouth. She pinched his nose together and breathed air into his throat. “DaeHyun, wake up.” Tears were streaming down her cheeks as she repeated the process. At the second push, DaeHyun’s head rolled over to the side and he coughed up small amounts water. He jumped up grabbing onto the closest thing near him, SoRae.

He coughed into her chest but she just hugged him. “I swear, I thought you were dead!” she sobbed not letting go of the hug.

DaeHyun wheezed as he slowly loosened his grip on the girl. He would have pushed her away, but the feeling that plagued him had step-sided. “SoRae-yah?” He looked her in the eyes to see the steams of water running down her cheeks. It was a mixture of bath water and tears, but he couldn't exactly tell. “SoRae-yah, why are you crying?”

“I thought you were dead. I thought you drowned in the pool.” Her forehead fell on his shoulder and he patted her softly.

“No, I’m not dead. You don’t need to cry.”

The two other boys watched as DaeHyun soothed circles into her back. They understood why she was like this and realize just how much explaining DaeHyun would need, but they also understood it wasn’t their place to tell.

“Let’s stop. We can go home and finish another day.” SoRae wiped the liquid from her face. She really didn’t know if it was tears or from the tub, either way, she didn’t care.

“No no, that’d be such a waste. SoRae, I’m fine. Really I am. I’ll sit out on the sides and you three continue.” DaeHyun tried persuading her that he was healthy but she wasn’t buying it.

“What kind of person would I be if we just acted like you were okay? You’re not okay. You could have died.”

He took her face in her hands. “How about I promise to see a doctor first thing tomorrow. That way they can make sure infection doesn’t set in.”

She could see that he was trying desperately to get her to stay. Her face lowered into his palms and she nodded. “If you don’t see a doctor tomorrow morning, I’ll kill you.”

He laughed at her and guessed it was her way of agreeing.

The four of them stood up and walked over to the green tea bath. DaeHyun stayed between the other two boys in case he needed help walking. He sat down by the edge and watched the other three as they soaked. They each sat opposite him so that they could talk.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” YoungJae asked moving the water with his hand. “We can take you to a hospital, it’s not a problem.”

He smiled at them and coughed deeply. “I’m fine, honest.” His smile lacked the effort to ease SoRae.

“Hyung’s right, it’s not a problem. We’re more concerned with your health.” JongUp took SoRae’s hand. He knew that she was having a difficult time with this and tried to comfort her.

“No really, I’m fine. I passed out in the water. That’s all. It wasn’t even that bad.” From the moment that DaeHyun felt the pain burn through his body, to the moment that he woke up, he was unconscious. He was certain that the amount of water he inhaled was small because of this.

“We can take you somewhere. The hospital’s not that far,” SoRae said as her brother and bestfriend held her back.

The feeling was starting to come again. The thirty minutes of peace ended and he was starting to feel pain once more.

“SoRae-ssi, can I ask you something?” the way he said it called for privacy and she stood up quickly to walk over to him.

She followed him back to the locker room. He grabbed onto his chest and sat on the bench.

“Are you okay? Is it your lungs?”

He looked at her and motioned for her to come closer. “When I was out, you only did chest compressions right?” He was trying to piece together what had happened, and what was going on.

She nodded. “And mouth to mouth.”

He felt the point of rage in his chest.

“DaeHyun-ssi, let’s get you to a doctor.”

He took her face in his hands and pressed his nose to hers. “SoRae, do you feel it too?” She looked at him perplexed. “Do you feel this pain too?”

opened to speak, but no words came from it.

“I can’t tell what it is, but it hurts so bad.” His fingers wrapped around her ears, nails scratching at her skin softly. “I just have all these impulses I’m fighting. Do you really feel nothing?”

Her breathing staggered. “What do you feel?”

“I don’t know.” His voice was much calmer than the pain in his chest. “I feel like my body might rip into pieces. I just can’t control these impulses. I’m scared of what might happen.”

She pushed him away to look at him carefully. Her hand slid down his cheek holding him still. “What kind of impulses?”

“I just...” He froze under her gaze. It was so embarrassing, but the pain was stronger. “I just feel this urge to kiss you.”

“It’s just a kiss, right? Nothing more, just a kiss?”

He gulped.

She turned her face and pushed her hair behind her ear. “A kiss on the cheek is fine. I guess the cat is out of the bag.”

He looked at her for a long moment and then slumped over. “I don’t think you understand.”

She faced the boy and gasped, “DaeHyun are you okay? DaeHyun?!”

He grabbed her hand and kissed her fingertips. “I think there’s a misunderstanding somewhere.” He demeanor was starting to change. “I don’t think you get it, do you?”

Her face flushed but she couldn’t pull herself away.

“I need your help.” It was almost as if DaeHyun wasn’t there at all. A needy, less discerning boy sat in front of her holding onto her limb. Pain shot through his chest and he yelped. “SoRae-ssi, I need you!” His eyes met hers, and for a second...she saw the sweet boy from the party. He let go of her and grasped his upper body.

“What’s wrong?” She jumped up and grabbed onto his shoulders. “DaeHyun?!”

“I-I don’t know,” he wheezed. Every part of his body hurt. The pain in his chest was so intense that it crushed his lungs.

“You said you needed my help!”

He tried catching his breath. He was fighting the urge to attack her and thus this pain swept over him. “Ki-kissu.”

“A...kiss?”

She stopped and looked at him. His anguish was genuine, but how could a kiss fix that?

“SoRae-ssi...please.”

--

A/N: So this is totally irrelevant, but I'm starting another fic soon. I've got two others that I'm working on...one is a YoungJae story and the other is kinda like TRK, the main male is a toss up between YongGuk and HimChan (beginning is a bit tragic...but it's not meant to be sad). I'm having trouble deciding which to work on. AND I want to keep working on TKE....aish. I'm just going to keep with my studies and what happens happens.

HAPPY ONE YEAR BABYZ!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAE!

HAPPY EVERYTHING!

asdfghjkl; /criestearsofhappiness-notsurewhy

MeiMeng~

PS: I'll be fixing the graphics soon and putting them up. I just wanted to post this ASAP!

--

@toowhiteforkpop : bathhouse belongs to SoRae, I think it's better explained here. ^^
Maybe... D:
actually I dunno! ;A;
okay, so in the eyes of the law...owned by JongUp's appa...but she will run it. It's like a test run to see if she can handle the busines. (Aish...I hope that makes sense... ;^;)
the ....ahahahahaha I like torturing my characters. >:3

@Gbbi15 : Likes: JongUp's arm dances.
(regrettably I only have these two gifs ><)

@icecubeeater : Omo...JongUp is so angelic because of that sweet smile of his (Like DAESUNG! ... excuse my mixing of fandoms /OTL)
trying to imagine a non-smiling Jongup is literally impossible for me

ahahahahahahaha /dies