Light from the sun shines through the blinds, brightening up the dark hospital room immediately. The rays rest across Taeng’s gentle face making his eyes scrunch from the brightness. He slowly opens his eyes, still feeling exhausted he tries to close them to return to his slumber. Before he had the chance to, he hears the door creak open and the doctor walks in with a stale look on his face. Taeng opens his eyes again and watches as the doctor walk over to his right side with the same clipboard in his hand.

 “Good morning Mr. Kim, did you have a good rest?” He asked placidly, his eyes fixated on the papers in his hand.

 “Yeah… still a little tired,” Taeng croaked.

The doctor nods and walks over to the monitor, tapping his pen against the board as he stares at the zig-zag lines on the screen.

“Vitals are good… heartbeat is normal…” He mumbled.

He writes down Taeng’s vitals on the sheet before returning his attention to the blonde-haired boy who was staring at him with tired eyes.

 “I’m sorry to interrupt your sleep Mr. Kim, I just wanted to check in on you. Everything looks good so far.”

Taeng slowly nods his head and sends the doctor a gentle smile. “Thank you, doctor… Uhm do you mind if I ask you something?”

 “Please.”

“Uhm… Is there any way for me to take a shower or clean up?”

 The doctor nods, “I’ll have a nurse assist you with that.”

He points to a door that was tucked in the corner of Taeng’s room.

“That door leads to your bathroom. There is a toilet, shower, and all the necessities you need to clean up. If you run out of things, you can call one of the nurses and they can resupply anything.”

Taeng gratefully nods and gives thanks to the doctor. He felt all this treatment was too much for him but he was thankful the hospital was doing their best to take care of him. If it weren’t for his current condition, it would have felt like a vacation having all these amenities given to him at his luxury.

 “It’s already past 1 PM, so I’ll call the nurse right now so you can clean up and have your first meal,” The doctor then walks over to a cupboard to take out a small bottle of pills. He reads the label on the bottle and gently places it on the table next to Taeng.

 “After you eat, please take two of these pills. They’re just painkillers for your body and head since you took a hard fall. It will also help against any nausea should you feel any.”

Taeng nods again, his eyes slowly gazing towards the bottle. “Okay, I understand. Thank you again.”

 The doctor nods, he informs a nurse through the intercept to aid Taeng with his daily routines before leaving Taeng alone in his room. Taeng sighs and loosens his body to relax as he waits for the nurse. Hospitals always made him nervous, even though the doctor was so kind to him it made him tense up at how he was being treated. Not long after, a nurse walks into the room carrying a towel. She smiles at Taeng and bows before gently approaching him.

“Hello Mr. Kim, I’m Nurse Park. Doctor Lee informed me you would like to clean up and shower so are you ready to go?”

Taeng softly smiles at the young nurse and nods. “Yes, I’m ready to go.”

 “Let me help you up,” She happily said. 

She gently places her arm under Taeng’s back to give him full support, she then encourages Taeng to move as she guides him slowly out of the bed. Once he was standing up, his legs felt like jelly as the nurse aided him to the bathroom and sat him down on the chair that was inside.

 “Are you okay?” She asked caringly.

 “I’m fine… Just tired and a little in pain,” Taeng replied breathlessly.

 “That’s normal, you’re still recovering from your accident last night but once you take your pills you should feel better,” Nurse Park reassured with a gentle smile on her face.

She hangs the towel on the rack and looks at Taeng with informative eyes.

 “Everything you need is here, the toothbrush is in the cupboard along with toothpaste and mouthwash… Shower stuff is already in the shower and anything else you need should be in the drawer under the sink,” She explained, pointing to each listed thing.

Taeng nods again, growing exhausted at how much information he had to already process upon waking up.

 The nurse walks over to Taeng and chuckles, “You must be tired. Let’s get you in the shower so you can take a rest.”

She kneels in front of him and grabs the bottom of Taeng’s shirt, indicating him to take it off. Taeng’s eyes immediately widen and he quickly stands up from his chair.

“T-that’s okay! I can do it myself.”

Nurse Park an eyebrow at him, confused about his actions and stands up.

 “Are you sure? You might still be in pain, I can assist you with your shower, Mr. Kim. It’s my job.”

 Taeng vigorously shakes his head, “N-no it’s fine. I’ll be okay if you would like you can wait outside and if I need your help then I can easily call you.”

 Nurse Park stares at Taeng with confusion as she sighs and shrugs her shoulders. “Okay Mr. Kim, I will be outside if you need me.”

Taeng nods again and watches as Nurse Park struts out the door and softly shuts the door. He sighs of relief and sits back down on the chair. He places his hand over his fast-beating heart and takes a deep breath to calm himself down.

“Geez… Tiffany would kill me if Nurse Park did that…” He said softly to himself.

“Mr. Kim, are you alright? I’m not hearing anything!” Nurse Park yelled through the door.

 Taeng immediately stands and walks towards the sink.

“Y-yes! I’m okay Nurse Park. I’ll be out soon!” He yelled, quickly opening the cupboard and taking out the toothbrush.

“Idiot Taeng…” He mumbled to himself as he placed toothpaste on the toothbrush.

 “Did you say something, Mr. Kim?”

 “N-no!”

 

After finishing his shower, the nurse escorted him back to his bed and placed a tray of food on the small table in front of him. His eyes widen seeing how much food was on such a small plate, he hadn’t eaten this much in months.

“The doctor wants to make sure you regain all the lost nutrients so he’s increased your portion size for your meals,” Nurse Park explained as she placed a fork and knife next to the plate.

“That’s quite the portion size…” Taeng joked while chuckling.

 Nurse Park chuckles, “It certainly is. Now please eat, I will be leaving now but if you need help or anything please press the ‘nurse’ button on your remote and I will be right over. Also, don’t forget to take your pill after you finish your meal.”

He nods and picks up the utensils, “Okay I will. Thank you for helping me, Nurse Park.”

 She smiles and bows, leaving the room as Taeng began eating his meal. Hospital food was not his favorite but after not eating properly for some time, it was heaven to him. He devours his food instantly, leaving no trace of food behind on the plate. It was completely satisfying to him having a large meal, he was grateful the doctor increased the size.

After finishing his meal, he takes the pills the doctor informed him to take and leans back against his bed. Silence fills the room and boredom strikes quickly as Taeng gazed around the same white room he was in since last night.

 “Man… It’s going to be a long 3 days.”

He groans and closes his eyes, hoping sleep would make time pass by faster since Yul hadn’t stopped by yet and Tiffany was still in class. Before slumber overtook his body he heard the door creak open again. He opens his eyes and sees Yul staring at him with a smile on his face. A smile forms on the blonde-haired boy’s face. He was relieved and happy his friend stopped by to see him as promised.

 “Hey sorry, did I wake you up?” Yul quietly asked, making his way towards Taeng.

“No, I was just resting my eyes. I wasn’t sleeping,” Taeng reassured.

Yul takes a chair from the desk and drags it closer to Taeng’s bed. He slings his bag off his shoulder and places it on the ground next to the chair before sitting. Taeng tilts his head seeing the latter’s schoolbag.

“You went to class today?”

Yul chuckles and shakes his head, “No I didn’t. Don’t be jealous Mr. Genius.”

He takes the bag from the floor and places it on his lap. He s the bag and takes out a packet full of papers and sets it on Taeng’s lap.

“I went on campus today to inform the professors about what happened last night. They all wished you a speedy recovery and they understand if you want to delay turning in some assignments. Those are all the notes and homework from your classes today,” Yul explained, referencing to the papers.

Taeng gazes down at the papers on his lap and chuckles. He was grateful Yul did this for him, it seemed like a troublesome thing to do for someone but he knows Yul didn’t mind.

“I appreciate you doing this for me Yul. Thank you,” He expressed with much gratitude.

 Yul laughs, “No need to thank me, man. If anything I’m helping you. Staying here all day sounds boring so at least you can kill time by studying since I know you loooove school so much.”

 Taeng laughs and shakes his head, “You’re lucky my strength is gone.”

 Yul laughs along with him, placing his bag back on the ground and returning his gaze to Taeng.

 “So how are you feeling?” The dark-haired boy asked with his arms crossed.

“Alright. My body was hurting when I woke up but the doctor gave me pills to take so that helped a lot.”

“That’s good to hear. Did you eat?”

“Yeah, they increased the portion size for me since I hadn’t been eating well. Hospital food was never appealing to me but since I had practically starved myself for months, my meal was heavenly.”

Yul laughs again, “Well, at least you’re eating well- Hey do you know the nurse that’s taking care of you?”

Taeng’s eyes widen hearing the sudden question from the latter.

 “What do you mean?”

The dark-haired boy shrugs, “It’s just that… When I was talking to the receptionist about visiting you I overheard this nurse talking about you with goggling eyes. She looks super young to be a nurse but she kept saying your name over and over to the other nurses.”

“Like what?”

Yul purses out his lips, “Now that I think about it…” He gazes at Taeng with sly eyes and smirks. “It sounded like she was into you.”

Taeng’s eyes widen even more as he gasps.

“What are you talking about Yul?!”

 The latter playfully cups his hands together and twinkles his eyes.

“Kim Taeng is so handsome! He’s so caring and kind! I wonder if he’s single! It’s too bad I couldn’t help him shower!” He swooned in a high pitched voice.

Taeng cringes hearing Yul’s character, he quickly covers his ears and huffs out a big breath.

“Yah! That must be about a different person!”

Yul robotically shakes his head, “No way! She described your ‘gorgeous onyx eyes’ and your ‘chiseled jawline’ and your- hey wait… What did she mean when she said she couldn’t help you shower?!”

Yul’s demeanor immediately changed upon realizing what he said. He gazes at Taeng with dagger eyes and crosses his arms.

“Kim Taeng, did you shower with the nurse?!”

Taeng quickly places his arms out in front of him to defend himself.

 “Are you kidding me?! No, I didn’t!”

Yul narrows his eyes, “Reeaaaaalllyyy?”

Taeng scoffs and shakes his head violently. “Why don’t you believe me?! Look, she tried to help me shower by taking off my clothes but I quickly declined her! I would never do that to Tiffany!”

Yul slowly nods his head, trying his best to suppress his laughter watching Taeng freak out over his nurse scandal. Taeng heaves a breath and drops his arms on his lap.

Yul uncrosses his arms and dramatically sighs, “Alright…. I believe you. But just saying, if you did cheat on her you would be right back in the hospital.”

Taeng sighs, “You sound just like Jessica…”

“That’s why she’s my girlfriend!” Yul beamed with a bright smile on his face.

The blonde-haired boy shakes his head, “Geez…”

 Yul laughs and leans back against the chair to be in a more comfortable position. A comfortable silence fills the air as the two boys allowed the silence to let them rest their minds and body. They had slept and woken up so late that they were still mentally and physically exhausted from the incident. Taeng felt at ease having his best friend in the room with him, it almost felt as if they were just having small talk in their kitchen back home minus the tubes all over his body.

After some time, Yul picks up his bag again and searches through the contents before pulling out a white charger.

“I brought you your charger since I figured you would be calling Tiffany, wouldn’t want you to lose battery during your stay here,” Yul said, laughing as he set the charger on the counter next to the bed.

“Thanks, man,” Taeng thankfully exclaimed, gazing over at the charger.

 “Or it might die from all the selca’s you take with your nurse…” Yul teased while snickering.

 Taeng snaps his gaze back to Yul and chokes.

“I’m seriously going to kill you,” He muttered, watching as the latter in front him broke into laughter.

Before he had the chance to retaliate against his friend, he heard his phone go off against the counter. He glares at Yul before taking his phone in his grasp and answering the video call. A smile broke on his face as Tiffany’s face loaded on his screen with her all-famous eye smile.

“TaeTae!” She chirped as she childishly waved to the camera. Taeng chuckles and weakly waves back,

“Fany-ah!” Tiffany had just arrived home after finishing classes and without even stepping into her apartment she immediately called Taeng.

She wanted to make sure she could talk with him as long as she could since he wouldn’t be attending class or those study groups for some time.

 “How are you feeling?” She caringly asked, seeing the tubes still on her boyfriend.

“Better. I took some pills to get rid of the body aches and nausea,” Taeng said while smiling, “How was class?”

 “I’m glad you’re feeling better! Class was boring as usual…” She groaned while answering, “But winter break is around the corner so I’m excited to have a break!”

Taeng chuckles and nods, “I’m glad about break coming too. Do you have any plans?”

 Tiffany tilts her head, “I don’t think so. Jessica and I were just thinking of hanging around here and taking a rest.”

The blonde-haired boy’s smile grows wider, “That’s good to hear. So you’re free.”

The latter raises her eyebrow in confusion, “What do you mean?”

He chuckles again and shakes his head, “Nothing. I’m just saying.”

Tiffany lies back against her head and looks at her boyfriend in more confusion.

“I don’t understand,” She stated, causing the latter to laugh.

“I love you, Tiffany,” He sweetly said.

 Tiffany blushes and felt her heart skip a beat at the sudden comment. She chuckles and closes her eyes, still confused at the latter’s previous comment but she decided to let it pass seeing Taeng had already switched subjects.

 “I love you too Taeng,” She cooed back with a smile.

“Ugh, can you guys not be so lovey-dovey when I’m here?”

She hears in the background on her screen. Her head tilts and she looks at Taeng who was laughing with his eye contact drawn elsewhere. Without saying anything, he shifts his phone to a sulking dark-haired boy on a chair with his arms crossed. Tiffany’s eyes widen seeing Yul with her boyfriend and she immediately grows embarrassed realizing he heard their entire conversation.

“Oh h-hey Yul,” She said sheepishly, giving him a small wave.

“Hey, Tiffany!” He waved back and grinned, “Don’t worry, I only heard… everything.”

 Tiffany grows redder, she awkwardly chuckles and shrugs. “Sorry… I thought he was alone in the room.”

Taeng laughs and points at Yul, “I completely forgot you were in the room anyways.”

Yul’s eyes widen, he snaps his contact to Taeng and points back. “Hey!”

 Tiffany laughs as she watches the two boys playfully fight on her screen. It was like watching a reality TV show except it was actually funny. She continues to watch the two interact in amusement, laughing here and there.

“You’re so mean…” Yul said softly, pretending to act so hurt.

Taeng laughs, “Whatever! You’re the mean one with all your teasing.”

 At that moment, a lightbulb strikes in Yul’s mind. He coyly looks at Taeng with teasing eyes. Before Taeng had the chance to ask why the latter was staring at him that way, his phone was snatched from his hand and in an instant, it was in Yul’s possession.

“Hey, give me my phone back!” Taeng exclaimed, trying to reach his arm out to grab the phone.

 Yul swings around so that his back was facing the yelling blonde-haired boy as he places the phone up to his view. Tiffany’s eyes widen seeing Yul’s face on her screen instead of Taeng, she waves at him and tilts her head in confusion.

“Tiffany… Since Taeng is being mean to me I’m going to tell you a secret,” He dramatically explained in a loud whisper.

 Taeng tries to shift his body so he could see what Yul was exactly doing but the tubes on his body were restricting his movements. He tries to get Yul’s attention but to no avail. He groans in frustration as he watches in paranoia to what Yul is going to say.

“A secret? About what?” Tiffany asked curiously.

“It’s about Taeng.” Hearing his name, his eyes widen and he tries his best to move closer to Yul.

“Hey what are you talking about?!” He exasperated but Yul continued.

“Tell me this oh so-called ‘secret,’” Tiffany chirped, hearing her boyfriend’s name immediately caught her attention.

“The nurse that’s taking care of your boyfriend has a huuuuuge crush on him. She kept drooling about him to the other nurses saying how he’s so handsome and has a y jawline! She even wanted to help him take a shower!” Yul explained in a childish tone.

 Taeng’s jaw immediately dropped in disbelief hearing his best friend rat him out. Instantly, an awkward silence fills the air. Tiffany remained quiet on the line hearing the news and even her room filled with an awkward silence. Yul turns back around to face Taeng with a wide grin. He stands up and places the phone back in Taeng’s hands.

“Good luck! See you tomorrow!”

In one swift motion, he sweeps his bag off the floor and runs out the door, leaving a shocked Taeng and a silent Tiffany. Taeng gulps and felt his heart beating out of his chest as he slowly gazes at the girl on the phone. Sweat drips down his face seeing the girl look unfazed. He grew more scared seeing the blank expression on his girlfriend’s face as he takes a deep breath and gulps.

“T-Tiffany…?”

 “So did she see you ?” Tiffany asked in a cold tone.

Chills crawled down his spine, he had never seen Tiffany act this way and it even made goosebumps on his arms. He looks straight into his girlfriend’s eyes and it made him sweat even more seeing the serious expression on the latter’s face. He quickly shakes his head and gulps again.

“N-no! She tried to help me take off my shirt but I immediately stopped her!”

 “What’s her name?” She snapped, unfazed by the response of the blonde-haired boy.

His body shakes, startled from her increasing tone.

“N-Nurse Park. Tiffany, I swear nothing happened. She just waited outside the door while I took my shower and that was it!”

“Did she touch you?”

“She only helped me get off and on my bed but that was it!”

 “Is she pretty?”

“What?”

 “Is she pretty Kim Taeng?”

Hearing his girlfriend address him by his full name had made him scared to the brim now. He wasn’t sure if he was ready to take on Tiffany’s wrath.

 “I wasn’t even paying attention to her face babe! I swear! She’s just my nurse!”

Tiffany blows out steam, her eyes pierced directly into Taeng’s. She her eyebrow and scoffs.

“Where is she? Call her right now and tell her to come here so I can tell her that you’re mine and she’s not going to take you away from me,” Tiffany darkly expressed.

 Taeng’s mouth twitched hearing the words of his girlfriend. It twitches again and a small smile forms on his mouth as his mind was finally clicking some sense analyzing the situation. Tiffany’s cold demeanor slightly drops seeing the smile on her boyfriend’s face. She grows confused and shakes her head.

 “Why are you smiling?”

 This time, the small smile turns into a coy one as Taeng flirtatiously narrows his eyes.

 “Ms. Hwang are you perhaps jealous?”

Tiffany’s eyes widen hearing the word ‘jealous’ but she quickly covers it up with her ice-cold expression and scoffs.

“No, I’m not jealous!” She defended, her dark expression thinning.

Taeng sticks his tongue out, “My girlfriend is jealous a nurse likes me right? Come on, admit it!”

 “No, I’m not jealous!”

 “Yes, you are my lovely Tiffany.”

 “No!”

 “Yes!”

Tiffany groans and sighs while Taeng laughs.

“Ugh, I want to punch you…” She expressed tiredly.

“But you love me,” Taeng retaliated with a goofy smile.

 “Whatever…” She replied, looking away from the latter.

 Taeng chuckles and lovingly looks at her with a softer smile.

“Don’t worry,” He cooed, his girlfriend still not looking at him, “You’re the only girl for me.”

 Tiffany felt heat rush to her cheeks as her heart skipped multiple beats. She lets her guard down a little as she slowly returns her gaze to the boy on the screen.

“Idiot…” She mumbled, suppressing her smile.

Taeng laughs and adoringly looks at her, “Yup but I’m your idiot.”

 Her lips couldn’t hold it anymore as a small smile creeps on her face hearing the sweet words of her boyfriend. She mentally curses at herself for breaking down so easily but she knew she couldn’t blame herself since she was just so madly in love with him. She tries her best to keep her cold stature as she stares at him with loving yet dark eyes.

“And don’t worry…” Taeng flirtatiously said with a devilish smirk.

Tiffany’s face grows hot seeing the latter’s look, his serious yet playful face made her nervous and her heart skips too many beats that it felt as if it was going to burst.

“I’ll only take my shirt off for you,” He growled.

Tiffany let out a small gasp hearing the flirtatious exchange Taeng was doing to her. It was driving her crazy seeing Taeng act so dominant and it was swooning her off her feet.

“T-Taeng…” She stammered, her guard crumbling instantly.

“And also,” He continued with his husky tone that made Tiffany’s heart pump out of control.

 “You’re the only one who can take my clothes off me anyway.”

“BYUNTAE!”

“Only for you.”