Chapter 16

Taeyeon

I’m dying in my bed. I’ve been up all night and morning throwing up and sweating. I hardly get sick but when I do, it’s like World War III in my body. Jessica came by earlier to bring me soup and to check on me, but even the smell of mushroom soup makes my stomach jump and does flips. I’m miserable. I feel so weak. I slowly start to fall asleep when I hear someone coming in the room. Sehun comes in and sits on the bed. I see my favorite flowers, white lilies, in his hands. 

“Sehun?”

“Hi love, how are you feeling?” He kisses me on the forehead and pushes my hair out of my eyes. 

“I hope these flowers make you feel better. I didn’t bring you food, since I know you aren’t up for eating yet.”

“Sehun, you don’t have to do this, I’m fine.” He gets up to put down his messenger bag and places the flowers on the dresser. I slowly sit up on the bed. 

“Don’t you have practice?”

“I quit the team.” Sehun leaves the room and when he comes back he is holding a vase with water.

“What? Why sehun?” I can’t believe he did that. Basketball is his life. I don’t know why he would throw it all away.

“Whoa, chill out baby.”

“Well aren’t you going to answer me?”

He takes out his laptop and some folders and gets comfortable on the floor in the work space he has made. He eyes the picture of us at the beach that I have on my nightstand and smiles, 

“That was a great day. I think I wanted to tell you I love you, but for some reason I didn’t.”

“That was a good day.” I pull the covers over my body and lay on my side, 

“So why’d you quit?” I wonder why he is not sitting on the bed with me but remember how sick I am.

“Personal reasons, plus seeing GD and knowing what he did to you doesn’t sit well with me. Baby, you need to get a restraining order or something.” 

Things have been shaky since the incident with GD in the library. I know everyone is trying to protect me, but, I hate that I’m making people worry.

“It’s a piece of paper.” I roll over on my back and sigh. “It won’t do any good, Sehun.” 

Feeling a little dizzy, I sit back up and look at Sehun. He looks amazingly beautiful. His hair is in a messy do and he is wearing a blue Nike sweater with dark jeans. I start imagining him without any clothes on and his rock hard abs and kissing him. 

“Sehun if you have work to do, don’t let me keep you.”

“Baby, stop, It’s my choice to be here so why don’t you let me take care of you and stop being so stubborn.”

Suddenly my stomach starts grumbling, “Oh no!” I push the covers off and sprint to the bathroom. I start dry heaving since there wasn’t anything in me to throw up. I feel gross. I hear footsteps coming close, 

“Go away Sehun. I don’t want you to see me like this.”

He starts to pull my hair back and rub my back, 

“Tae...Um...Are you pregnant?” 

I hear how soft his voice is and almost freak out on him. Why would he think I’m pregnant? What!!

“What?” I start gagging again. “Hahaha, you’re funny and no! I still have the big V thing going on.” 

Oh my God I can’t believe I said that out loud! I start mentally hitting myself. This was probably one of the most embarrassing moments of my life.

“Oh.”

“Why are you asking anyway?” I take a nearby towel and wipe  the sweat off my face.

“Well I mean you’re throwing up and you were with GD.” His voice sounds so hurt and nervous.

“Trust me, I am not pregnant.” Thank goodness I never slept with him. The thought of being intimate with GD makes me sick. I still can’t wrap my mind around the fact that he changed so much.

I get up from the bathroom floor and Sehun has his arm around my waist to help me up. I lean against his chest and feel his heart beating. 

“Thanks for taking care of me,” 

I whisper. He my back and his touch makes me feel better. I squirm out of his arms and go to the bathroom sink to splash water on my face. The cold water feels nice. I take in some deep breaths and make sure I don’t have to throw up again before leaving the bathroom. I head back to bed and lay down. My whole body is burning up and I start to shiver. Sehun comes to the bed and sits down next to me. He pulls the blanket over me and sits on the edge of the bed, 

“I like taking care of you baby.”

I smile, “Even though I look like ?”

“Baby, you always look beautiful.” 

He leans in to kiss my forehead. “Go to sleep love. If you need me I’ll be right over here.”

Sleep sounds amazing right now. My eyes start to close and my mind starts wandering. I think about my life before Sehun coming back and how It’s now. I really don’t want to push him away or not make him feel needed. I’m learning how to let him in and be better around him but It’s still hard. A part of me is scared that he is going to leave like before. Even though he tells me all the time he is not going anywhere. I try and find the confidence I need to make us work. I am trying and I hope he notices. I haven’t had a dream about GD for the past few weeks. It’s as though when Sehun is around, things are great. I can sleep better with him. He is the last thing I see and the first thing I see every day. Nothing will get in the way of our happiness, not even GD.

I open my eyes and notice its night. I’m feeling a little better. I slowly get up and watch Sehun work. I want to go up to him and wrap my arms around his neck. I can sit here for hours just watching him. I love watching the crinkles in his forehead when he is confused or that ‘aha’ expression when he has figured out the problem. 

“What are you working on?” 

He his head slightly, looking at me with such desire. I’m wondering why he is looking at me like that. I look down and notice my tank stop was slightly down revealing my black lace bra. I quickly pull up my tank and look away.

“Um, I’m sorry.” He stares at his computer again but I can see a small smile on his face. 

“Just some reports.”

I quietly laugh to myself. “Sounds like fun. Need help?”

“Sure actually,” He turns around and faces me with his laptop on his lap.

“Alright so we’re trying to launch a new product which will allow people to press an alert button on their watch which will send the signal right to the proper authorities. The thing is, the company I’m working for doesn’t deal with health and wellness and I’m not sure how they’ll take it.”

The crinkles in his forehead start to show and I can see the dark circles underneath his eyes. 

“Well what do you have so far?”

He clicks around looking for the file I’m assuming. “I found some stats on people over 50 who have to go to the hospital and why. Then I compared those stats to those who live on their own. The numbers are interesting but like I said, the company is solely based on one thing but I think expanding it will bring in more profit.”

I see the information start rolling in his mind. “Well use those stats in the presentation but present it in a way that will touch their lives. Make it personal. You have to prove to them that they need this product to better the lives of society.”

“Hmm...good approach,” I feel his gaze on me, and I start to feel shy. 

Sehun is usually the smart one when it comes to anything that deals with business. I don’t want to give him the wrong answer and say something dumb. I start feeling regret that I asked him about what he is working on. I look at him and see that he is still waiting for an answer. 

“What about art?” I softly say.

“I wouldn’t primarily focus on that but more of a video to show what could happen and how this product will benefit your clients and company. I would do a price analysis and show them the growth.”

“Thanks baby. I like that you’re interested with my work.” He turns back to his computer and starts working.

It feels good that he can listen to my opinion and thoughts. I get up from the bed and give him a kiss on his head. 

“I’m going to grab something to drink. Want anything?”

“Just water, thanks baby.” I give him another kiss on the head and walk to the kitchen. Everyone is gone and it’s just Sehun and me. I go back to the room but stop when I hear Sehun’s voice.

“Listen, do something to make this right. I need her safe, do you understand me?” There was a pause as he listens to what the other person is telling him. 

“I don’t care what it costs but she is to have protection 24/7, do you understand me? Fine just get it done.”

Sehun lets out a sigh and puts his hands to his face. I wonder what that is all about. Whom was he keeping safe and why is it bothering him. 

“Sehun, who were you just talking to?”

He turns around to look at me. “Don’t worry baby, It’s nothing.”

I walk over to him and cradle his face. “It sounds important. Is everything okay?”

He rests his head on mine and I feel his hands making their way down my . The tension between us is strong but I want our first time to be special. I simply smile and pull him away. 

“I want to watch a movie! Why don’t you clean up everything while I shower?”

“Sounds good, do you want me to get anything? Are you feeling up for some dinner, maybe soup?”

I shake my head. I am still not hungry and do not want to risk getting sick again. “No it’s okay. Hopefully this shower will make me feel better.” I give him a quick kiss and go to the bathroom.

When I come back to the room, Sehun has everything cleaned up and there is some toast on the nightstand. He is wearing just his sweatpants. I panic a little. He sees me standing in the doorway looking at him, “Baby, are you okay?”

“Emm, yeah I’m fine. Sehun, I said I wasn’t hungry. You didn’t have to make me toast.” I put away my towel and sit down to brush my hair and I try to calm myself down. I’ve seen him without a shirt on before. I don’t know why this is so hard.

He takes the brush from my hand and starts to softly brush my hair. “You need to try and eat something.”

Of course he would do something sweet like this. “Fine, I’ll try.” After a few minutes, we get back in bed and turn on the LCD. He puts his arm around me and I snuggle up to his chest.

“This is nice.” Sehun takes the remote and flips through the channels. It takes a few moments but we settle on watching, “The Notebook”. It’s at the part when she comes back to him and sees the house for the first time. I look up at him and see him smiling. I love feeling this close to him.