"O-Ouch! Yeol!" You winced as his hands rubbed harder on a spot on your arm, making you flinch. His eyes flickered up to you as he was on his knees before you but he still did not say a word. He took note of your reaction, though. He lessened the pressure but it didn’t help. Not when the pressure in the room was so intense. It was partially your fault, anyway.

— “Jagi, are you okay?” His voice coated with concern, eyes looking at you worriedly. You gave a smile, closing the door with your foot, “I’m fine…” You had a hand pressing on your arm, “Really.”

His eyebrow cocked, sitting up on the bed where suddenly, he didn’t feel sleepy anymore. “Jagi…” His voice was low, but you sensed the seriousness that contained behind his smiling face.

"W-What…?" You mumbled softly, eyes blinking at him uncertainly. Please. Don’t let him know.

You knew you were in for it when he flicked away the blanket pooling around his waist, his feet planted on the floor with his body facing you, “Is there something you’re hiding… that you’re not supposed to hide?”

You swallowed hard, pressing your back against the door with a quiet whimper. Why were you feeling so nervous? It’s not like you did anything wrong!

"I… Y-Yeol…" He saw how you stammered along with your hand anxiously squeezing your arm - he put the pieces together in an instant. He got up from the bed, making you shift backwards although there wasn’t anywhere else to move back to. He crossed his arms in front of his chest, "Jagi…"

You gulped harder this time, your hand protectively holding onto your arm with you turning your body to the side a bit where you tried hiding your arm from his view, “Yeol, I swear it’s not that bad!”

He gave you a boring look, “That’s what you said the last time.” He advanced towards you quick, his hands already pushing yours away, “Let me see.”

It took him just a few seconds to roll your sleeve up, a few seconds to let it sink in and a few more seconds before he…

"Jagi! You said it wasn’t that bad!"

And there he was, staring widely at the huge blue black mark on your arm. His eyes couldn’t blink, not when he was looking at a mark this serious. How did you get it anyway?!

"Well… it’s not that-" You cut your own voice when his eyes flickered up to meet with yours, an unreadable expression on his face. That really made you shut up. "Not that bad?" His eyebrow cocked again, "How can you tell me this is not that bad?" His hand brushed over the mark before he held onto your arm, making you gasp. He held back a frown as he then gave you another look of dissatisfaction, "Not that bad, huh?"—

"Just for a while more…" He muttered under his breath, his hands still rubbing on your arm. You gave a small nod before you looked away. You couldn’t bear to look at him and plus, the pain was testing your pain tolerance. He noticed how you held back the whimpers when he could feel your muscles tensed in his grip. That lip bite you did as your eyes squinted from the pain had him frowning at you as he continued - he knew it hurt badly.

So why didn’t you tell him?

It was in that moment when his hands stopped, moving to roll your sleeves down. When he mumbled a soft, “I’m done.”

Your eyes peeked open to look at him meekly. After locking gazes for less than five seconds, your head hung low, your fingers fiddling with one another nervously, “Go on… I’m ready for it.”

He tilted his head a bit, “For what?”

You your lips nervously, eyes peeking at him for second before you stared down on your lap, “For… telling me that I’m wrong.”

He sighed, moving to sit beside you as he held onto your hands that were shaking slightly. He noticed how you couldn’t look at him. “It’s not the matter of wrong or right, jagiya…”

You lifted your head, looking at him with confusion written all over, “T-Then…?”

His hands gave you a firm squeeze as the look in his eyes changed. You noticed how now his eyes were showing you a warm gaze and earlier, his cold treatment was out of love. “You’re worrying me. Do you know that?”

As if he was waiting for your answer, you took the liberty in shaking your head.

He gave you a small smile before saying, “You wouldn’t like it if I hid my injuries from you, would you?”

Your lips parted to retort and he mirrored you for some reason. Even with that, you knew deep in your gut you wouldn’t like that. Which lead you to seal your lips just to shake your head again after that as your eyes looked away from his.

Your voice came out in a soft whisper, “I’m sorry, Yeol…”

"Jagiya…"

Your eyes travelled over to blink at him cutely, “Huh?”

He shifted closer, letting go of your hands just to carefully put his arms around you, “I know that you’re trying not to worry me but… hiding it from me would only make things worse. Do you get me?”

Your head moved to lean on his shoulder, your voice still delicate to his ears, “Yes, I do…”

His grip tightened, but he was still gentle. “And you should never hide anything like this again from me, do you hear me? Because if you do,” His lips inched down to your ears, “I’ll have to check you and strip you every night…”

You nearly froze in his grip, your cheeks suddenly heating up. You could’ve sworn he tried to look into your shy eyes when you moved to bury your face in the crook of his neck. “Yeol…” You whined adorably, making him grin as he made you lean away just so he could look down on you. You still hand your hands on your lap. He reached over to hold onto them, keeping your hands warm. “That is beside the point but… don’t hide these injuries from me, please?”

You gazed into his eyes and saw that he really meant his words. He doesn’t want you to hide anything like this from him anymore because he was genuinely worried. He loves you so much.

"Okay…"

"Promise?" His voice was cheeky yet concerned.

"Promise." Your reply was sincere.