When Sunjung walked into the kitchen later than usual the next morning, Lu Han could only look at her with concern and maybe a little bit of horror.

“You look awful,” he said, placing the milk carton on the counter. He made a move to stand up and walk over to her, but sat back down when she walked over and seated herself on the stool next to him.

“Thank you,” Sunjung said, slumping on the island counter, lazily tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
Her eyes were bloodshot, her nose was pink and she looked a bit pale.

Before he could stop himself, Lu Han reached over and put his hand on her forehead.
“You have a fever,” he frowned, “Tell me you’re not going to work.”

Slowly, Sunjung turned to look at him, her eyes watery.
“I’m not. I informed Gaeun already.”

Lu Han looked like he was about to say something but he didn’t. He just withdrew his hand from her forehead and really had to resist the urge to cup her cheek.
He was aware that he had the impulse to touch her too often these days.
He cleared his throat, “How come you’re the one who fell ill? I spent more time in the rain than you did.”

“I don’t know,” she almost whined, her eyes turning into crescents as her lips formed an almost-pout. Sunjung was silent for quite a while before she spoke again.
“Thank you for yesterday, by the way.”

Sunjung felt her heartbeat quicken. She felt her already warm cheeks heat up as her mind drifted to the previous night. She wanted to dismiss it as a moment of weakness and was well on her way in doing so but there was a tiny part of her which said that she would have welcomed his embrace in any other situation... and she didn’t want it to be that way. She didn’t want to be vulnerable. It was never a good thing.

“It’s okay,” Lu Han’s eyes wandered her face, noticing how she had suddenly stiffened. “Do you want me to stay with you?”

Sunjung looked at him with hooded eyes. “I can take care of myself.”

Lu Han was taken aback by how defensive she sounded. He almost frowned, noticing she sounded a lot like she had when they had first met. He wondered what he had done wrong.   Had hugging her been wrong? He doubted it—it had felt so right.
Had giving her a pure kiss on the temple been wrong? He hadn’t been able to help himself.
But he didn’t know how she had felt.

Taking his eyes off her for once and turning to the bowl of cereal he had fixed for himself, he began eating silently. He didn’t steal glances at her, he was afraid her eyes had become cold again. He did hear her take a deep breath though.

“I meant...you shouldn’t bail on work for me. This is nothing a day in bed, warm soup and a little medication can’t handle.”

Lu Han turned and looked at her. She was looking at him with an expression which he couldn’t quite read.
Why did she do that to him? Make him so agitated...make him itch with a desire to do something, anything.

Sunjung stood up slowly, found herself a bowl, poured herself some cereal and milk and started nibbling on the food slowly. She didn’t really feel like eating because there was an uncomfortable feeling at the back of . But she forced herself to eat anyways; her mother never let her take medicines on an empty stomach.
She didn’t notice when Lu Han got up to put his bowl in the dishwasher. She didn’t notice when he stood there and just looked at her for almost two minutes.

It was only when he walked over and placed his hand gently on her head that she looked up, looking startled. There was a small smile on his face, a smile that was almost pleading. “I’ll be back soon. Take care of yourself.”

Sunjung nodded awkwardly, his touch was making her all tingly and she realised she wanted him to run his hand through her hair. She cleared . “Okay. Have a good day.”

He smiled brighter and in that moment, she wanted him to stay. But she wouldn’t go back on her words. She could take care of herself and she would.

The apartment felt eerily empty after Lu Han had left. Sunjung found herself confined to her bed for the entire morning after breakfast. She couldn’t quite go to sleep, so when it was almost noon, she got up from bed. She stood at the foot of her bed for quite a while, looking at the unmade bed in distaste. There was a dull ache in her entire body but she ignored it. Sniffling, she made her bed. She then took a thin blanket and wrapped it around herself.

Slowly, she walked over to the small bookshelf that held a few books she had managed to bring from Incheon. Her eyes brightened as she read the title of a particular book, with a small smile playing at her lips, she took it in her hands and shuffled into the living room to read. Settling comfortably into the