“Sungjong? Hi,” she awkwardly shifted in the leather interior, stealing a glance at the young man across from her, who looked as equally uncomfortable. “I called because I,” she bit her lip, hugging one of her knees close to her chest. “I wanted to know if you were busy tomorrow.”

“That’s a stupid question,” Sungjong said from the other line, “you gotta specify.”

“Right,” she rolled her eyes. “Tomorrow night, then. I need a study buddy.”

“You know how much I hate studying with other people.” Sungjong replied tonelessly, “so what’s the problem?”

“I just, uh,” she sighed, leaning her forehead against the heavily tinted glass. “I just really miss  you. You’re doing so awesome on that modeling project and it’s been a long time since we’ve had a sleepover, so.”

“Awh.” that was Sungjong’s way of being touched. “Are you really giving me affection? How amazing is this job that put you in such a good mood?”

“Oh, you know.” she gave a side glance towards her seatmate, who raised an eyebrow. “A job like this has all sorts of perks.”

“Don’t tell me, you’re rubbing elbows with the CEO?” Sungjong gasped, “Or better yet, the CEO’s son? I know he’s a tall drink of water and all, but I still want you to watch yourself.”

At this point, Kim Myungsoo couldn’t hold his eavesdropping in, and started chuckling, his shoulders wracking with amusement. Suji nearly growled at him, kicking his shin to shut up. Of course, Sungjong’s hyper-rabbit hearing did not let that go unmissed. “Who are you with?”

“A friend.” She cringed at the obvious lie.

“Right, friend.” Sungjong deadpanned, but for some reason let it slide, at least for now. “As much as I’d love to revel in the fact that you’re having a social life, I have this really important deadline. We can hang out after.”

“Completely fine.” she said a little too quickly. “Take your time.”

The line went dead, and she let go a breath she didn’t know she was holding in.

“Does this happen often?” she didn’t even realize that the car had stopped, Myungsoo opening the door for her and holding out his hand.

Taking it, she breathed out, “The stealing? The summer usually.”

He eyed her and her heavy-looking backpack wearily. "The fact that you're prepared for this, scares me."

She shrugged shamelessly, "Happens."

"Then why do you still live there?"

"Cheap rent."

He nodded, leading them in his house so fast she didn’t have time to admire the supposed beauty of a CEO’s mansion. She was mildly surprised that no one came to claim her bag or open the door for them. “Where are the workers?”

“Vacation.” he replied simply.

“They can all do that?”

“It would be pretty useless considering I’m in the only one in the house they’d need to take care of.” he started pulling random things out of the fridge, making faces at all of them. “Would you like me to take you to your room? Don’t look so stiff, make yourself at home.”

Make yourself at home. It sounded so foreign coming from his mouth, as if they were friends discussing sleepover arrangements. Yet he sounded so natural saying it, as he started to find vegetables and pans, cooking their dinner.

“Wait, you’re letting me stay over?”

“Of course, why wouldn’t I want to keep you safe?” he said humbly, it as if it were the most simple thing in the world, because it was something any good samaritan would do. But it was to keep her safe, he said, and it made her stomach do silly things and her cheeks burn. “Your room’s on the second floor, the one across from the study room with the lilac bedding.” he finally looked at her, seemingly amused that she hasn’t said anything intelligibly sarcastic since she entered his home. “You okay?”

Shaking her head slightly, she her lips. “Uh, yeah.”

As if he knew that was dry, he asked teasingly, “Do you want a tall glass of water, perhaps?”

Realizing he was making a swing at Sungjong’s previous comment in the car, she glared at him, turning her back to his contagious laughter.

Sitting at her ivory desk, she spread her fingers over the cool surface, ignoring the stack of books she spread around her. Her hair was still damp, wetting her t-shirt, but nothing that would bother her. The room was comfortable, and surprisingly homey. The walls were a muted lilac, and the bedding was light but warm. There was one big window by her desk, showing the sky blazing a cool heliotrope.

“Soup’s ready.” Myungsoo knocked, pushing the door open with his elbow. He held a wooden tray with two steaming bowls, with vegetables on the side. Making room on the desk, she pushed all her stuff to one corner, pulling up another stool. “Are you busy?”

“Just math homework.” she muttered bitterly, throwing a pencil in the cup. “What’s the use of me learning math again if I’m going to be nowhere near math when I get a career?”

He set a clear bowl in front of her.“Well, what if you’re writing articles about the stock market or interviewing captains of industry?”

“I’d be writing about the stock market and CEOs, not actually doing math equations.”

“I think you should know a little bit of everything before you’re good at one thing.” he said, swirling his spoon in his bowl, sounding incredibly practical. “Wouldn’t it be idiotic to be having an interview with a CEO when you know nothing about industry and their financial ranks?”

“I guess,” she conceded, taking a sip of their dinner. It was by no chance comparable to a five-star restaurant, or to a mother’s homemade cooking, but it was decent. It felt like it was prepared thoughtfully, even if it was a little sour.

“You need to approach the hurdles before getting to the finish line.” he recited, as if it were ingrained in his mind for years. “I mean, I love photography. But I gotta learn the practice of it before I get my hands dirty, I guess.”

“But you’re taking over the company, your practice is business. It’s not the same as actually taking the pictures.” Suji replied bluntly, forgetting how sour the soup was and started sipping it straight through the bowl. Looking for a napkin to wipe herself, she asked, “Wait, you like photography?”

“Yeah.” he answered casually, taking a bite of carrot. “Kinda doesn’t make sense, because I’m on the other side of it. I’d rather take the pictures than be the one funding it.”

“Tragic.” Suji crooned, her hand pressing against her cheek. “Instead of living your dreams as an artsy photographer, you’re developing the camera and earning millions.”

Slightly irritated, Myungsoo shot back, “At least I’m not failing basic algebra.”

“It’s algebra two, for your information.”

“Doesn’t matter if I have the weight of the world on my shoulders,” he said dramatically, “ But God forbid if you fail to memorize the quadratic equation.” he reached over and plucked her notebook, opening to her her worksheets. “Let’s get this done, then.”

“Thanks.” Suji finally said, “For everything.”

He looked up from his worksheets, giving her a washy grin. “Don’t mention it. It’s exactly how I wanted to spend my Friday night, as your house is being robbed, doing your math.”

That was how the rest of the evening was spent, doing math homework in relative peace. Myungsoo was bizarrely good at math, a perk she found infinitely envious and attractive. What wasn’t he good at? With all her homework for the next session done, she was able to feel at ease in that class for at least a couple days. They tiredly bid each other goodnight, both wordlessly parting to each other’s beds.

Suji stayed up a little longer, watching the bright moon take over the window of her room, reflecting against the hardwood floor. The sheets were comforting and cool under her legs, as if she were nestled under a patch of white cloud. Her fingers occupied the pillow clutched to her chest, feeling the air deflate and inflate as she squeezed it.

A part of her still didn’t understand how she ended up in Myungsoo’s house. She didn’t get why he so readily picked her up from her lowest point, serve her dinner, help her with her homework, and give her a warm place to sleep in. She was jealous, and overwhelmed by the kindness he was giving her.

Pulling the sheets off her form, she wandered around the home, looking for the bathroom. There were little lights in the halls around most of the outlets, so she had some form of accuracy when remembering where it was.

The hairs on her body stood up in unison, when she heard a rustling in the room in front of her. Heavy breathing soon followed, as if the room was filled with water and someone was drowning. The fact that she could hear all of that through the door brought her into a panic, and she quickly opened the door.

It was Myungsoo, trapped in sleep.

His body  was relatively exposed, and shouldn’t have been sweating a mile a minute, as if grease was trying to make its way onto every crevice of his body. His burgundy blanket was skimmed off to his feet to the floor of the bed, and his limbs were spread out, moving back and forth like a spider on its back. and mumbling phrases of weakness as if he were in pain, sweat dripped from his dark bangs, the tips damp.

Suji’s hand clutched the doorknob so hard, she had to practically rip her fingers off to stop staring at him. An uncomfortable feeling, as if she were swallowing coal, bubbled up in . In juxtaposition to him overheating, she felt her body grow cold and numb. Strangely enough, she felt her eyes water.

She shook her head, and clenched her eyes shut. She didn’t want to do this, whatever this was.

She wondered if he had a mother at night, who used to put a cool washcloth on his forehead when he had nightmares like this. She wondered how long this has gone for, whether it be just a freak occasion or a usual occurrence. She wondered if he was lonely as she felt sometimes at night, embedded to the sheets, feeling helpless.

As she shut the door, she heard his slow, painful rasp emerge from his night terror.

“Not anymore, I can’t anymore.”

It has been a LONG, LONG time. Almost a year! Where has the time flown? I had to reread a lot of the fics because it's just evaporated from my mind. Wow I am so sorry guys. If you have any questions, concerns, comments, opinions, feel free to ask! I promise to be more conscious of this is and my other fics, school is starting in two weeks, And I will do my absolute best, thank you for your continuous support. 

-sendohime