Chapter Four

Same Day (February 13th) -- 5:15 PM

Beyond the wide window in the living room of the apartment, the yard was piled with snow.  You were seated in a chair by the window. The curtain was pulled to the side and the glass of the window was a little foggy.

The apartment was located on the bottom floor, so it was easy for Namjoon to spot you. He was waiting outside in his blue van, which was idling in the parking lot. Rap Monster smiled from behind his sunglasses and nodded a hello your way.

You waved at him before readjusting your blanket around your shoulders. As you shifted in your comfy seat, you caught a glimpse of your plastic hospital bracelet -- a reminder of the day's events. You'd gone to the hospital earlier, and after getting examined, you had returned with Kidoh to his apartment.

Kidoh strode into the living room. "I feel like a jerk for leaving. I should forget the hip hop fest and stay here to take care of you."

To show it wasn't a big deal, you laughed -- even though it was painful to laugh because your throat was dry and scratchy. "No, no, no -- I'm fine. Remember, the doctor said I only have a bad cold. All I need is to take it easy. Also, lots of people have already paid to see you and the other rappers tonight. Plus, you get to call Yano 'Snoopy Swaggy' all evening. And Woo Jiho will be there. You can't not go."

"I wanted to drag you along with me. I'd planned to do that, kind of a surprise trip." He beamed at you, bobbing his head. "Will you be okay without me?"

"I'm good, Hyosang. I promise. I just took a dose of medicine, so I'll probably fall asleep any minute now."

He nodded, placing his black baseball cap on his head backwards. Then he slung his traveling bag over his shoulder, and after your very vocal worries about him getting sick from your germs, he kissed you only on the cheek.

As soon as he left the apartment, you released a string of coughs that you'd been holding in your chest.

Someone tapped on the living room window from the other side. You sniffed, looked up. It was Kidoh. He carefully blew little puffs of warm breath onto the glass. Then he used one of his long index fingers to draw a heart on the cold window.

"Such a dork," you mumbled happily to yourself, blowing him a kiss. You rested your head back in your chair, watching as Kidoh walked through the fallen snow toward Namjoon's van.

The last of the sunlight was drifting off, the sun seeming to glide further away, just like Kidoh as he rode miles and miles away from you...

The Next Day -- Valentine's Day -- 8:10 AM

It was the forceful sound of the wind gusting around outside that made you finally wake up.

Tap, tap, tap. Somebody was knocking on the living room window.

Kidoh. You smiled instantly, lifting your head and looking outside. But no -- it wasn't Kidoh. Jin waved at you through the glass. A wool cap with a little fuzzy ball on top of it like a bunny rabbit's tail sat on his head, covering his light brown hair. He held a paper grocery bag against his chest. The chilly air outside made the tip of his nose pink and his already full lips looked bigger because of the cold.

Snow was falling down all around him. In fact, his feet were sunk down into a mound of white.

"Kidoh," you called out to the hallway, toward the bedroom. He must have gotten home last night and didn't want to wake me up, you assumed. "Kidoh? Are you awake?"

No answer.

Keeping your blanket around you like a cape, you slumped toward the front door.

"Is your phone working? Kidoh said he's been trying to get hold of you." Jin rushed inside, and you quickly shut the door behind him. He kept going toward the kitchen. "The interstate is closed because of ice and snow. Only emergency vehicles and tow trucks can get through. So he's stuck three hours away."

"He's stuck? Wow, is it really Valentine's Day morning?" You had just noticed the little digital clock on the stove. Did I actually sleep that long? I guess that's not too odd since I'm sick, but still.

Jin set his paper bag on the kitchen counter, and removed one of his gloves from his hand. He pressed the back of his hand against your forehead, then he gently laid his palm against your cheek. "You feel warm," he said, looking anxious.

"Or maybe your hand is just cold. I'm all right," you insisted, nudging his hand away. Speedily, you lifted an edge of your blanket from around your body and brought it up toward your face. You let out four sneezes in a row.

On the counter by the sink were both the bottle of orange medicine and your cellphone. You picked up the phone; Jin grabbed for the medicine.

"Crap. I forgot to take my phone off of silent after Kidoh and I left the hospital yesterday. There are a lot of missed calls and voicemail." You fiddled with your phone.

"Have you been taking this stuff?" Jin held up the medicine bottle. "It's expired. You probably shouldn't be using this."

Pretending like the bottle was a basketball, Jin did a free throw and tossed it into the garbage can.

"I'll return," Jin said, moving toward the front door again.

"No, but you really don't have to --" you tried to say, but your coughing interrupted you. Oh, well. You sat down at the kitchen table, dialing Kidoh's number.

*                               *                               *

Twenty Minutes Later

"Jin, you can't be serious."

Your dreaded BBFF -- boyfriend's best friend forever -- stood in front of you, holding a spoon full of liquid cold medicine. Jin was puffing up his cheeks like a chipmunk, moving the spoon in an erratic circular motion.

"Here comes the spaceship," Jin said, making whirling noises with his mouth. He held the spoon aimed toward your lips. "When Taehyung's sick, he likes when I give him medicine like this. It's stupid, but it makes him laugh."

You frowned, jabbing a tissue to your runny nose. "I'm a big girl, Seokjin. Just let me have the little plastic cup."

As Jin measured some medicine out into the dispensing cup, he asked, "So you called our Kidoh. What did he say?"

Our Kidoh, you repeated in your mind. Princess Jin being Princess Jin again.

"He said that he's sorry for not being here, and that he might not get back until the late afternoon. The snow's pretty bad where he is, unfortunately."

You were still sitting at the kitchen table. Wiping your nose with a clean tissue from the fresh box Jin had bought, you looked up at him. He looked kind of silly to you: a guy his age, with such wide masculine shoulders -- wearing that beanie hat with the cutesy fluffy ball on the top of it. Some people might say he had a nose like a teddy bear's, and it might have been the sickness messing with your brain, but you could kind of see why everyone thought he was adorable. You hated admitting that to yourself. If he wasn't so busy stealing your boyfriend's time and being the subject of so many of Kidoh's Twitter posts, you might have openly said that he was handsome. In a platonic way, of course.

"Okay, then," Jin said brightly, scooting off toward the stove. "I'll make you a bowl of my egg noodle and chicken soup. I guess since Kidoh isn't here, it's my job to look out for you, right, huh?"

"I'm fine. I can take very good care of myself. You can go --" you paused, your coughs rocking your shoulders.

Jin reached for a pot from the dish rack, switching into chef mode.

Great, you thought to yourself -- agitated. You laid your head down on the table. I'm sick, and now, I have to spend Valentine's Day with Kidoh's bestie. This is definitely not how I imagined my first Valentine's Day with Hyosang would be like.

One chapter left. I've been challenging myself to write a chapter each day until this story is complete. I hope I can keep it up tomorrow (as long as nothing gets in the way, yeah). Thank you so much for reading, and I hope to finish tomorrow *fingers crossed* UPDATE: This had to be extended to six chapters.