It was early in the morning and the sun was shining brightly through the window as I woke up the next day. I smiled sleepily, embracing the warmth of the light as I started opening my eyes. The first thing I noticed was the proximity of my boyfriend's body next to mine, and that, like always, I was the one who woke up first.

 

The second thing I noticed was how perfectly angelic he looked with the sun shining in the windows onto his flawless features. Without the make-up, everything about him was just so pure and I loved that I could see this side of him every day.

 

The third thing that I noticed, after snapping myself out of my trance-like phase was that the sunlight coming in was a lot brighter and higher than I originally thought it was.

 

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. Something definitely wasn't right about this morning.

 

I looked over the side and grabbed my phone to check the time, only to remember that I had set my alarm the night before because I had full intentions of going to class. Shooting up from my position in bed, I checked the time which read “9:45”, almost three hours past my alarm.

 

“Oh no.” I mumbled, panicking, and struggling to get out of bed. I had already missed my first class, and was halfway through second. If I was lucky, I could still make it to my Chinese class that I had before lunch. That one I needed to go to for sure. Why I even bothered to pick that as my elective for the second year in a row was beyond me as I was clearly struggling the first year. I needed to go to that class, or else my hopes of maintaining even a decent average was over.

 

Just as I braced myself to get up, I found myself falling straight back down.

 

“Don't go~”

 

'Oh no, not now. Please don't wake up.' I thought as I fought with his surprisingly strong grip on me.

 

“Don't go, yeobo~” I kept struggling until I found myself pressed into Jongin's chest with his arm wrapped securely around me. “Don't go. Let's just sleep a bit more.”

 

I sighed, realizing he was probably fully awake by now. “Jongin, let me go. I need to go to class.”

 

“No.”

 

“Jongin.”

 

“No.”

 

“Jongin, I really need to go to class. I'm so behind-”

 

“No. I don't feel well. Take care of me.”

 

I shook my head, bracing myself to get up. “You look fine.” I said.

 

I couldn't fall for his tricks now. If I did, not only would I be further behind in my studies, but it would just send my resolve crashing down.

 

He opened his eyes, sending me a look I knew all too well. I gulped, putting in a final effort to getting out of there. He jutted out his lower lip ever so slightly and his eyes water just a bit. I felt my heart melt a bit at the sight.

 

“Please, love? I want to spend more time with you.” He moved closer, the look on his face intensifying. “We're so busy all the time. Don't you want to spend time with me anymore? I miss you.”

 

With that, I gave up. Most of my classes were finished anyways, and really, I could just ask the Chinese members for help with my Chinese class if I really needed it. Besides, with rehearsal, a music show, and a radio show tonight, I knew I would need as much sleep could get now before going through the long day.

 

I rolled my eyes when I saw Jongin's pitiful pout turn into a victorious smirk before pulling the blanket over both of us. I snuggled closer to him and closed my eyes, and then it hit me.

 

“Wait. Did you hear my alarm go off at seven?” I asked. He blinked several times before answering.

 

“Nope. I have no idea what you're talking about.”

 

I glared at him, seeing straight through his suspicious acts. “You turned my alarm off!”

 

He shrugged, “maybe.”

 

“You didn't wake me up.”

 

“Nope...”

 

“Jongin! You know I wanted to go to class today!” I exclaimed, feeling frustrated all over again.

 

He frowned again. “I know. But I couldn't bring myself to wake you up.”

 

He pulled me into a hug so that I could no longer see his expression, but I relaxed into his body instead. “You looked so tired yesterday and you would have only had about four hours of sleep and a full day today. I just couldn't....I couldn't do that to you.”

 

I sighed, “Jongin, I'm supposed to be the one taking care of you.”

 

“Says who? You're my girlfriend. I want to take care of you too.”

 

“But-”

 

“No more buts.” He said, cutting in. “You take care of me enough when we're working. Just let me return the favour when we're at home.”

 

With that being said, I began drifting off to sleep again, class and work long forgotten as all I wanted at that moment was to be with him.

 

The next time I woke up, was to the sound of Jongin's voice a small distance away.

 

“Yeah, she's here but she's sleeping right now... no she didn't go to class today.”

 

Slowly I opened my eyes, realizing that he was talking about me. When I looked up, I found Jongin sitting on the edge of the bed beside me, talking on my cell phone. As if on cue, Jongin turned around, grinning when he found me awake. I smiled back at him before signalling to my phone. He only sent me a reassuring look before reaching forward and brushing my hair affectionately.

 

“Yeah it was a long day yesterday. Don't worry she's fine....Okay, yeah I'll tell her... That would be nice. What time do you plan on dropping by? We have rehearsal at 3pm... Oh, okay. That's fine then. See you Ji Eun-ah....Yup see you later.”

 

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion as he hung up. “Ji Eun? Why didn't you wake me up?”

 

He leaned down and pecked me on the forehead. I sat up and let him pull me into an embrace. “It's nothing, love. She just wanted to drop off some notes for you because she noticed you weren't at school today. I don't know why she freaked out in the beginning though. There's nothing wrong with missing class for a day.”

 

I frowned. “Jongin...it's been two weeks since I attended my last class.”

 

He widened his eyes. “Really?!”

 

I nodded. “I haven't been able to go regularly since you guys had your comeback. And even before then, with all the photoshoots...there just wasn't time.”

 

I expected him to brush it off, or at most, complain a bit about how I shouldn't let his schedule affect the other parts of my life. But there was none. He simply stared in front of him, a look of panic on his face.

 

“Jongin? What's wrong?” I asked. I tried shaking him a bit. “It's fine. Really. Aren't you overreacting? Don't worry. I'll catch up with everything.”

 

“But when Ji Eun called..she said...” He drifted off before lowering his head and closing his eyes. “She said you have a midterm tomorrow for music history.”

 

I let out a breath I didn't even know I had been holding the entire time. “Jongin don't worry about it, it's just a midterm, it's not even worth that-”

 

“It's worth 30% of your final mark,” he looked up, “Yoonae, Ji Eun said so herself, the prof is basing it off most of the content covered in the last two weeks because that was the core information in the course.”

 

Silence filled the room as I sat back and tried to remember the last thing I had learned in music history class. I felt myself becoming more nauseous as I simply drew blanks, not even remembering the last time I went that that class, never mind having a midterm tomorrow.

 

“Oh no,” I said, standing up. “I...I need to study.”

 

Jongin caught my hand with his just as I took my first step. “You need to eat first Yoonae-ah. You haven't eaten anything since late afternoon yesterday and it's already lunch time.”

 

“But-”

 

“You know Kyungsoo-hyung won't let you off anyways. Also, Ji Eun said she would be bringing notes for you in a bit. Why don't you just wait until she gets here?”

 

“But Jongin...”

 

He wrapped his arms around me, easing me ever so slightly from the panic I was having. “It'll be fine, love. I swear. Just take care of your health first alright?”

 

I sighed and gave in. An extra twenty minutes of unproductive studying wouldn't do me any good anyways. Slowly, we went to wash up and get ready for the day ahead of us. As I ate lunch, I tried to preoccupy myself by talking with the guys instead of thinking about the midterm. Just as I finished up, there was a knock on the door.

 

“I'll get it!” Chanyeol announced, jumping straight from his spot across the table, and dashing to the apartment door.

 

Upon swinging the door open, he instantly glomped the visitor when he saw their face.

 

“Ji Eun~”

 

For the millionth time since I met the happy friendly giant, I cringed at the sound of his deep voice portraying aegyo.

 

“Ew get off me you derp.” I heard my best friend say. Obediently, Chanyeol jumped aside, allowing his girlfriend in and maintaining his never ending smile despite the insult that was thrown at him.

 

“Hey Ji Eun!” The guys chorused as they continued focusing on the food in front of them.

 

“Hey guys! It's been a while.”

 

Chen pouted, “you bet it's been a while. It's hardly fair. You see Chanyeol-hyung every other week or so but you never come to visit us anymore.”

 

Baekhyun rolled his eyes. “Jongdae, they're dating. Of course they see each other more often.”

 

Ji Eun smiled apologetically. “I promise I'll visit more. It's just with classes and all that and the fact that you guys are promoting every single day now, I barely have time to visit.”

 

“Besides,” she continued as she walked over to me, a stack of papers already in hand, “if I wasn't attending class on a regular basis, how else do I save my best friend from drowning in the painful depths of tomorrow's midterm?”

 

“Thanks a bunch Ji Eun-ah.” I said as I stood up and pulled her into a hug.

 

“No problem. Just study all of this and you should be good to go.” She frowned, “I know it's a lot to take in now but try your best. I don't want you to fail it and waste all the money and effort you put into this program.”

 

We separated from the hug and she frowned as she looked me over from head to toe. “You lost weight.”

 

I shrugged. “It's inevitable. Don't worry though. I still eat, it's just that we've been busy and travelling around a lot so I guess it's just stress and being tired and working long hours.”

 

She sighed and shook her head, and then she turned to face Jongin. “Yah. Kim Jongin.”

 

He flinched. “Yeah?”

 

“I left my best friend in your care and you know that wasn't easy for me to do. You better take better care of her.”

 

I rolled my eyes. This ongoing one sided feud Ji Eun had for Jongin was just ridiculous. Luckily it was no longer due to flat out, unjustified hatred as it almost was in the past. Over the months, they had gotten closer together. After a few months of a practically obstacle-free relationship, Ji Eun finally learned to trust Jongin which was a good thing for both of us.

 

After lunch, Ji Eun left because she needed to study and because we would be heading to the boys' schedule soon.

 

At their dance rehearsal before their performance that night, I sat in the corner of the room, reading the pages of notes Ji Eun had handed me. Over and over I recited the dates, and while the boys were working hard practising their k-pop routine, I had my ears plugged with classical music from centuries ago.

 

I barely got through the first quarter of my notes when we were forced to relocate to the backstage prep room where I was set to work on the boys' makeup. Luckily for me, my styling team (including hair and outfit stylists) and my co-worker were on task for the day. We quickly got through each of the members without a problem, and had much time to relax between the performance and leaving for the radio show (which only I was obligated to go to).

 

I sat back onto the couch next to Jongin and reached into my bag to pull out the same set of notes I had been slaving through since the afternoon. Immediately after starting to read, I realized I made a terrible choice sitting next to my boyfriend.

 

He knew I had a lot of work ahead of me, and in no means was he trying to purposely distract me, however, I couldn't stop myself from thinking about him. Occasionally I would take peaks from the corner of my eye to see who he was talking to, or which game he was playing on his phone, or simply to admire his gorgeous physique. More than once I found myself leaning towards him and yawning, finding my place easily by his side and cuddling more than I was reading.

 

Everything about him was distracting; when the guys finally left to do their performance, I let out a breathe of relief and began reading again.

 

Of course, the show itself didn't last long, and immediately we were rushed off to grab dinner and prepare for the radio show. I tried my best to ignore it all, reading the entire way. I sat in the car and read while the guys joked around, sat in the restaurant and read while we were waiting for food, and last but not least, sat in the waiting and read as the guys were doing a radio show with their Ryeowook-oppa.

 

He greeted me with a smile when he saw me, but I was so preoccupied, I couldn't even reply with my usual fangirling gesture before I indulged myself in studying again.

 

By then, it was my second run through of the notes but everything seemed completely fresh to me; as if my studying the entire afternoon didn't even budge me from my lack of knowledge since the beginning. During the car ride by, I dropped the papers and sighed, feeling a rush of nausea hit me from both physical car sickness, and the inevitable dread that I would more likely than not, fail the exam the next day.

 

“You okay?” It was the first time in hours that I had a proper conversation with Jongin. He looked over at me, a look of pure concern in his eyes.

 

“Yeah.” I said, yawning. “Just...kind of sick from reading so much in the car.”

 

“You should go to sleep now Yoonae.”

 

I shook my head, “I need to study.”

 

“Honestly Yoonae, I feel like the studying right now is doing more damage to you than it is helping.” He said. “You've been studying since early afternoon, just give your brain some time to rest. Take a nap. If you still have energy, you can study later.”

 

I shook my head and decided to try to read again. The words were becoming an absolute blur in front of me and nothing made sense. Numbers of dates were jumbled up. Place names and significant figures all sounded the same.

 

All at once, the papers disappeared from my hands. I turned to glare at the culprit beside me.

 

“No more.” Jongin said.

 

“Give them back Jongin.”

 

Sighing in defeat, he turned to Baekhyun-oppa on the other side of me. “Hyung, tell her to take a break.”

 

Baekhyun nodded. “Yoonae seriously. Jongin's right. You need to take a break. Just take a nap for a while alright?”

 

“But--”

 

“I'll wake you up when we get back.” Jongin insisted. He brushed my hair back before giving me a gentle kiss on the forehead. “Rest baby.”

 

I gave in, feeling the my eyes start to droop close and my head begging for a rest. “You promise you'll wake me up?”

 

He nodded. “Yeah. I promise.”

 

With that, I slumped into the seat and leaned my head on his shoulder, feeling his arm wrap around me.

 

For the first time in the whole day, I could feel myself relax again as my body gave into the warmth surrounding me.

 

 

A/N: Hi guys! Sorry for the wait. I just thought I'd give you an update today because it's been a while and....of course....

 

IT'S JONGIN'S BIRTHDAY!

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JONGINNIE <3

 

I also missed Kyungsoo's birthday so HAPPY BIRTHDAY KYUNGSOO-OPPA~

 

I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. It seems a little bit like a filler now but things will come into place eventually. Thank you for all the support! Thanks for reading and subscribing and upvoting. Comments would be greatly appreciated as it does give me motivation. I promise I will try to find time to write more (university life x.x" thought being a music major would be easy but I have just as many hours of classes as engineers + practice time, and now I'm in a vocal class and I have to arrange accompanist times. omg.)

 

Anyways, I hope you guys have been having an awesome year. And happy Kyungsoo and Jongin days :) Let's all celebrate together! (Even though its not Jongin's birthday in my time zone yet and I'm crazy busy tomorrow).

 

Until next time :)

 

-JONGINNIE, KYUNGSOO, Ryeowok, Sungmin, Luhan, Taemin, Chen, Sehun and Sungjong's wifey :)