His eyes fluttered, trying to open. Groggily, he looked around and felt a bit confuse because of the unfamiliar surroundings. He saw white walls around him. Several other beds were lined up beside his. He could tell that it was in the middle of the day since he could see the sun shined brightly from outside the window pane.

Jong Hyun tried to move his left hand but it was kind of stuck to the infusion bottle which hung beside his bed. Is this a hospital? Why am I here?

His head hurt and the strong smell of disinfectant did not do him any better. He turned his head to a chair on the right side of his bed and found an unknown girl sleeping. Her head was hanging loose, like it was about to fall from the neck which supported it. Her long brunette hair covered her face so he could not recognize her immediately, but she was familiar in his eyes, like he had seen her somewhere.

As he tried to move his body, he suddenly felt a jolt of pain from his back. He reached with his free hand and found a big bandage attached to his skin. Memories were starting to rush back to his head. Freight crept down his spine as he remembered, bringing a sense of cold to his entire body despite the heater in the room. He, again, turned his gaze towards that sleeping and he suddenly remembered who she was.

His groaned of pain just now woke her up, apparently. She yawned and fixed her posture as she opened her eyes, only to find the patient has also woken up.

“Jong Hyun-ssi, you’re awake?” She asked with a rusty voice; prove that she was in a deep sleep earlier.

Jong Hyun nodded, “Have you been here all night?”

“No. I just got here a few hours ago. Boom-ssi had something urgent to do this morning and he asked me to wait for you to wake up.”

“Oh.. I see..”

The silence between them was obviously awkward. They were total strangers to each other whose life accidentally crossed due to unfavorable circumstances. Yoona tried to look for something to do to ease down the nervousness, but there was none. So did Jong Hyun, but what could he do besides lying still on his bed? The more he tried to move, the more hurtful his wound was.

Unconsciously, she started to examine his figure. His skin was extremely fair, it scared her. He looked like a vampire from that movie she had been watching lately. What did it call? Ah, Twilight (not that she was a fan, but the movie was so bad according to her taste that it was funny, she could not stop laughing). She acknowledged his sharp eyes. Just now, when he looked at her, she swore that her heart skipped a beat because of his deep cold gaze. Yoona tried to sway that tingling feeling away, convincing herself that it was just gratitude because this guy had save her life by endangering his own.

Jong Hyun realized that he was being examined as he tried to steal a glance to where she sat. This girl was so skinny; he wanted to drag her to the nearest food stall and fed her food until she could not eat anymore. Look at those small arms! Compared to his, maybe her arms were only half his size. But despite the rather small figure, she was the prettiest girl he had ever seen. Her eyes were calm but bright, very different from his dark longing ones. And somehow, he found comfort in those eyes. He remembered that clearly, right from before he lost his consciousness the other day.

“I’m-“ Both of them tried to say something at the same time, adding awkwardness between them. The silence continued for a split second. Then Yoona initiated the talk.

“You first.” She said.

“No, you first.”

“Why should I go first?” She asked stubbornly.

“Because you’re a girl. And ladies always come first. That’s my principle.”

Yoona chuckled, “That’s a discrimination, you know.” She was the kind of girl who believed in gender equality. And sometimes, she took it too far.

“Why is that a discrimination? That’s chivalry, for your information.” Jong Hyun could not believe his ears when she said that. Most girls would find chivalry as a kind of gentleman act. They would definitely appreciate the gesture. But this girl was not like most girls. And who would bicker over something as trivial as one’s turn to talk?

He felt his head hurt more as he flinched. She saw that, the painful expression was drawn clearly on his face. Suddenly, she felt guilty because she picked a fight with a sick person. So childish.

“Jong Hyun-ssi, are you hurt somewhere?” Her concern eyes caught him off-guard. He immediately turned away his gaze to the window behind her and coughed.

“I’m fine.” He answered straight forwardly.

“Do you want some water? You must be thirsty. You just woke up after one day being unconscious after the surgery.”

“Yes, please.”

She took an empty glass from the drawer and poured mineral water in it. She was not used to taking care of someone who was sick so she looked awkward was doing it. When she tried to help Jong Hyun drink the water, she realized it was impossible to do so since Jong Hyun could not sit up straight yet. She ended up spill the water on Jong Hyun’s hospital robe.

“I’m sorry.” She put the glass and tried to dry the dampness on Jong Hyun’s robe with paper towel.

“It’s okay.” Jong Hyun said as he grabbed her wrist. His intention was to take the paper towel from her hand and dry his clothes himself. But somehow, the gesture felt more awkward than it supposed to be.

“I’m sorry.” This time, it was his turn to apologize. He did not even know why he was apologizing. This weird ambience between them had caused incoherent way of thinking in his head. Maybe it was the after-surgery effect. Maybe it was pain that stabbed his back whenever he moved an inch. Or maybe it was that sweet hint of vanilla which seemed stuck in his nose since she came closer.

“Yoona-ssi…”He called her name.

“Ne?” She decided to come closer to the bed so that she could hear him clearly.

“Thank you for taking me to the hospital and took care of me until now. If it wasn’t for you, I might be dead already.” Jong Hyun sighed, “Gomawoyo.”

“Aniyo.” Yoona shook her head, “It is me who should be grateful. If you were not there that night, I don’t know what would happen to me. So.. thank you.”

He saw her sincere gaze as she conveyed her gratitude. No, he did not do it to be thanked like this. He did it because he knew it was the right thing to do. Boom hyung often said that he had hero complex. Maybe he did. But it did not stop him from doing what he thought was right.

He did not realize that he had been looking at her with a strange gaze. At least not until she told him so, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Like what?” He asked in return.

“Like I’m a deer and you’re a predator, thinking of eating me alive.”

“Trust me, I’m not interested in eating human flesh.” Jong Hyun laughed, “A bowl of hot pork soup with rice will do, though. I’m starving.”

“Aish, seriously.” Yoona looked away, “Stop looking at me like that.”

“Why? You’re pretty. I can’t help it.”

Her cute little lips hanged open for a second, shocked because of that obvious flirt. It was not that she did not like it. She, unexpectedly, liked the way he flirted casually with her. She was just… surprised. And the facts that she enjoyed the flirt, that it caused her insides to turn upside down, were even more surprising.

She felt her face become hotter. Embarrassed, nervous, excited, were all mixed up in her. And his quick laugh when he saw her flustered cheek only made things worse because for the first time, she found a man who looked gentlemanly cute, especially because of that dimple.

Something was going on. And she realized it was dangerous.

Hey all!

I am really sorry for the delay in updating this story. I have no excuse. It was the usual: work.

I'm trying to update Love in the Rain as often as I could so please bear with me.

For subscribers, thank you very much! You have been such a great motivation for me to write more.

For silent readers, thank you for reading. If you really like it, please subscribe. That would mean the world to me.

For all readers, thank you for your comments, critics, and suggestions. I really appreciate them. An author will only be better because of those developing comments.

See you in the next update! Annyeong~

Noona2969