"Aren't you tired?"

Jongup smiled wanly and ran a hand through his damp hair. His roommate - Zelo - was in the shower, and he knew he only had a few minutes before he was out and ready for bed. "Exhausted," he replied into his phone, "but I promised to call you after every show. Chicago was great to us, honey. They sang Happy Birthday to Himchan, and it felt so much like home!"

The voice laughed, and Jongup smiled again, feeling the fatigue begin to melt off him. "You had fun then?" The voice belonged to a nineteen-year-old invalid halfway around the world, in a hospital in Seoul. He could hear the bleating of the heart monitors and the soft wheeze of the oxygen mask she had to sleep in. He pictured the girl in his mind. Her long hair tied up in a tail that almost always curled on her pillow no matter how straight she sat. Her warm brown eyes and soft, milk-white skin. Her slim hands, almost always bearing an IV into the blue veins across the back.

"I did," he said, his mood dampened remembering where she was, "but I miss you, Cho-Yun. I wish you could have come with me." He looked at the bedside table, where he had put the dogtag she had given to him before he left for America. "You'll come next time, won't you?"

"If I'm out of the hospital," Cho-Yun replied.

"You will be," Jongup told her with certainly. "It's only pneumonia this time, right? You'll be out as soon as it clears up." He sounded hopeful, but he remembered meeting Cho-Yun for the first time. She had been in the hospital then too; she had broken two ribs, her arm, and punctured a lung in a car accident, and how a short stay had turned into a prolonged fight against infection. He bit his lip and looked at the bathroom door, where the sound of water had abruptly cut off. He didn't have long.

"This time," Cho-Yun said and sighed softly. "I miss you too, Jongup. I miss you so much, I want to cry."

"No!" He hated hearing her cry. She would whimper as she tried not to sob, then as she gave up, her breathes would hitch dryly, and she would cough as she cried until she almost couldn't breathe. "Oh god, Yun, don't cry!"

She sniffled. "Will you come visit me when you come home, Jong?" Cho-Yun asked.

"As soon as I get off the plane, I'll be there." A few minutes passed in silence before he swallowed and drew a breath. "I need to go soon, Yun.  Zelo will be out of the bathroom soon, and we really need to sleep so we can leave tomorrow."

"I know," she said quietly. "Will you tell me a story? Just a quick one?"

He smiled, imagining her curling up under her clean hospital sheet that still smelled vaguely of bleach and making herself a little nest in the pillows. "There was once a warrior named Dada," he started, leaning back on his bed. "He wasn't much of a warrior. He liked to play around and goof off while the others trained. One day, Dada skipped training to go explore the woods around the village. Soon, however, he found himself surrounded by foes. Dada, lacking a better term, got his kicked." He paused to listen to her giggle over the phone line. "As he was lying in the dirt, he heard a little voice over his head."

"'You really at this,' the voice said," joined in Cho-Yun, who sounded sleepy.

"Right. The voice belonged to a little warrior named Miki. She nursed Dada back to health, and as she helped him train, Dada fell head over heels in love with her. Even after Dada went back to his village, he would sneak off to see Miki in her home in the forest. Then came the day when Dada returned to find Miki gone. He looked all over the region, but no one had seen her. She had vanished. Dada became very sad, and for a long time, he wouldn't train with the other warriors like he had since meeting Miki. Worried, the other warriors spread out to look for the mysterious girl.

"Shishi, who was Dada's commander, soon learned from Miki's village that she had been hurt in a fight and tracked down the hospital where she had been taken. Dada rushed to see her and was shocked to find her so sick and hurt. He promised himself that he would become a much better warrior so he could protect Miki from anything that would hurt her." Jongup sighed. "I guess I didn't do such a good job, huh?"

"Is that really how you found me?" Cho-Yun asked. "Did everyone search for me like that?"

Jongup shook his head. "No," he said quietly. "Only Zelo really helped me. I looked all over Seoul for you after I found your gamer card. Then I found your sisters and they told me. I probably gave Yongguk a heart attack when I ran off so suddenly. I barely remembered to get your name so I could see you. If I hadn't, I didn't know what I would do." He ruffled his hair shyly, as if she was sitting across from him.

"You never told me that," she said softly.

"I know. I didn't want to seem like a romantic fool, because I didn't know if you felt the same for me." He looked up when Zelo exited the bathroom, scrubbing his hair dry with a white towel. "Zelo is out of the bathroom, Yun. I'll need to go to bed soon." He looked like a puppy who had just been kicked, so much so that Zelo barked a laugh at him. "I'll text you tomorrow."

She took a long moment to reply, pulling herself out of the beginnings of sleep. "I love you, Jongup," she said finally.

He smiled like a fool, pleased that she had finally said those words. "I love you too, Cho-Yun."

"Sleep well."

"You too, sweetheart. I'll text you soon. Good night."

"Good night, Jong."

When he had reluctantly hung up and set the phone aside, Jongup slid under the sheets of his bed and the light beside his bed. Zelo did the same, and the room went quiet for a few moments. Then Zelo's voice came floating out of the dark.

"You really do love her, don't you, hyung?" The side of Jongup's bed sunk a little when he sat on it.

Jongup rolled over on his side to look at his friend. "I do," he said. "I love her more than I've ever loved a girl. And I keep thinking that I could have lost her or never seen her again." He shivered. "I can't wait to go home now…"

"Hyung?"

"Hmm?"

"Can I sleep with you tonight? The bed is too hard, and I know you have nightmares…"

Jongup's reply was to open his arms, and Zelo dove into them and hugged him tightly, their legs tangled. "Good night, maknae."

"Good night, hyung."