Promise
Trouble in ParadiseOpening the door, my eyes quickly scan over the room for Himchan, to see him curled up on the sofa, sound asleep.
The quiet scene makes me exhale out, as I then go to soundlessly close the door behind me. I then carefully tip-toe over to him, to shake him a little, as I need to know if he's eaten anything, to figure out the amount of tablets to give him.
Himchan stirs a little from my touch, but that's about it.
Since he doesn't seem to want to wake up, I feel a little unsure of what to do. My hand then instinctively makes its way to his forehead, and when I feel his temperature to be unnecessarily warm, it makes me flinch; it's not life-threatening, but it’s still something that shouldn't be over-looked.
Kicking off my shoes, I then toss my bag to the side, and begin to rummage in the medicine cabinet for the thermometer. It doesn't take me too long to find that, and I waste no time in using it to check Himchan's temperature.
And as expected, his body is much warmer than the average person, causing me to immediately grab a few items from around the house, to help cool it down.
Now with my lukewarm bowl of water, I set it down before me, and then squeeze out the excess water from the small cloth, just before gently placing it onto Himchan's forehead. He's still soundlessly sleeping away, and so I decide to use this chance to head into the kitchen, to start making something suitable for his stomach.
Throughout my time of cooking the congee, I make sure to change the damp cloth on his forehead every now and then. Himchan's temperature is still a bit too hot, but I then briefly set aside my worry, to have a small taste of the simmering food.
The congee is now ready, and so I begin to scoop out a decent amount, just before turning off the stove, to head back outside.
Silence envelopes me once more, after I carefully set down the steaming bowl, onto the table. A part of me feels a little bad for having to wake him up, (since he currently looks so vulnerable) but my more logical side knows that it's for the best. Reaching out for his arm, I then begin to gently shake him a little, all while calling out his name.
Himchan only moves a little, and because he still doesn't seem to be waking up, I then start to put in a little more force.
"Go away..." he at long last mumbles, in exasperation. “I want to sleep some more..."
His comment makes me sight a little. "Come on, you need to get up," I kindly say. "You need to eat, and then take your medicine."
"Eh?" utters the blonde, after a second or so. His eyes now slowly open up; "Yejinnie, is that you?"
"Nope," I mockingly say. "I'm actually Yongguk in disguise."
Himchan dismisses my sarcasm, as he then bit by bit, sits himself up. "What are you doing here?" he quietly questions, looking rather dazed. "You're not supposed to be home until six?"
The fact that he knows my working hours makes me smile a bit. "Well, I'm home early today, because I can't afford to have you dying on me," I nonchalantly reply. "How did your cold end up turning into a fever, anyway?"
Himchan's fatigued eyes blink at me for a bit. "I don't know," he says, with a pout. "All I know is that everything hurts, especially my head, with it feeling like a bowling ball."
His comment makes me sigh again, as my facial expression eases up at him. "Here," I say, while holding out the bowl of congee. "Eat this, and then take some medicine, so that you can feel better. But be careful though, as it's still very hot, okay?"
Himchan slowly accepts the bowl from me, and taking in my advice, he then begins to carefully eat away.
I sit there with him as he quietly does this, and when he's finished, I then take the empty bowl away into the kitchen, to bring back some tablets. Himchan takes them, and then settles himself back down against the pillow, as I go to grab him some more water.
When I come back, I pull out the thermometer again to check on his temperature, to see that it's dropped down by one. Unimpressed by this, I then place my hand onto his forehead to feel the temperature for myself, and I guess the sudden action must have been a little unexpected, as his eyes are now a little widen.
I click my tongue in displeasure, and then withdraw my hand back to myself. "You're still a little too hot," I say, with a frown.
All the surprise from Himchan's face suddenly melts into that smug 'look' that tells me when he's about to say something cheeky. "Tell me something that I don't know," he remarks, with a smirk.
I give him a skeptical look, and it makes him snigger to himself. "Anyway, I think you'll break out of this fever by tomorrow morning," I inform.
And despite me telling him to lie down and just get some rest, Himchan seems rather keen on staying awake, to talk to me.
We somehow end up playing a game of scrabble, but don’t exactly get to finish it, as I then scold with force, for him to lie back down.
Although, because he's a little hard-headed, the only way that he would cooperate with me, is if I let him rest his head on my lap. I decline his request right away, and it makes him mopey, as he then proceeds to go on and exaggerate on how much he feels like death and that being closer to me, will 'cure' him faster.
And so, grumbling to myself, I end up allowing him to do this, and I have to admit, but that ecstatic look on his face, is somewhat...adorable.
"Have I told you how you make a great pillow?" rambles Himchan, with his cheerful eyes on me; "I have, haven't I?"
"Probably," I idly reply, while changing the television's channel.
Himchan chuckles to himself, as he smooths out the blanket. "Yeah, most likely," he chirps.
The two of us silently watch some TV for a bit, and I can see that Himchan is rather tired, but for some reason, he appears to be trying his best to fight away the feeling.
And so because of this, I then tell him to go to sleep, and, surprisingly, that one comment gets him to slowly nod his head in agreement.
But before I can ask for him to get up, so that I can leave for my room, he stops me.
"You know, even though I currently feel like death, it's not so bad, with you here," he murmurs. "I don't care what Yongguk says, but...can you to stay with me, tonight?"
My eyes round a little from surprise-curiosity, as two questions now occupy my mind.
I then decide to go with the first one; "What did Yongguk say?"
Himchan frowns a little. "He said that you don't like skin-ship, and that I should back off," he responds, with an unhappy blowfish face. "But I think he's just jealous, because his best friend likes to spend more time with her wonderful boyfriend." He then beams at me; "Am I right?"
I don't answer his question, and force myself to laugh it off.
Moving on, I then cautiously ask Himchan about the last part of his comment, to which he gently nods his head. He repeats it again, and instead of it sounding like a request when he first said it, he now sounds more certain of himself, making me motionless.
"Honestly," says Himchan. "Stay here with me."
The unusual plea in his voice makes me ease up my muscles, as I eventually agree with a sigh. "Alright..." I hesitantly say. "I'll stay here, if it will make you sleep."
Himchan's face lights up at my approval. "Really?!" he happily says. "You'll really stay?"
I bob my head, giving him the affirmative, and it seems to make him a little less tense.
But even though he looks really touched by my response, there's still a speck of doubt in his eyes, and that doubtful feeling is confirmed to me, when he sudden takes a hold of my hand. "Promise me, okay?" says Himchan, rather delicately. "Promise me that the first thing I see tomorrow morning, when I wake up, is you here, by my side."
His wish makes my heart squeeze with a really strange sensation, and I soften at him. "I promise," I assure, after a second. "I won't be going anywhere, so just...please get some sleep, okay?"
Himchan seems more at ease now, and just before he closes his eyes to doze off, he gives my hand a minor squeeze, as if to remind me about what he's just asked for.
I don't think it takes long for him to drift off to sleep, as he now looks a lot more relaxed.
My eyes then find themselves beginning to trace over his features, and I find myself feeling rather soothed, at how content he currently looks, in comparison to when he's awake. Now that he's not obnoxiously blurting things out, and that I'm able to have a closer inspection, I've come to realise that Himchan is...fairly good-looking.
Ignoring the slight regrowth from his blonde head (that's making me inwardly laugh), he can actually be quite handsome. There are a few holes in his personality that I don't quite like, and he may be a little harsh with his comments here and there...but I've learnt that it's because he's very straightforward.
When Himchan is feeling something, you can immediately tell what it is, and I find that because of this, his bluntness makes him very honest.
I'm certain that behind every little snappy remark, there's an intention of good, and thinking about this, it makes me smile a little.
"You know, maybe if you weren't always such a jerk, then maybe I wouldn't always have this urge to hit you," I jest, in a barely audible voice. "But I guess it’s okay, since I know you mean well..."
A yawn soon quietly slips out of me, and now feeling the wave of sleep, I decide to catch it, by leaning back into the sofa, for the sensation to finally place my consciousness into dreamland.
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