w  a  r  r  i  o  r | {03} 

They bickered, a lot.

Chanyeol watched the two; they glared at each other from across the room, made faces and rolled their eyes. He heard their little remarks as they picked out dumbbells. They fought to the death when they wrestled and screamed profanities at each other.

It was only two weeks into training, and Chanyeol was confused as to whether Miyeon and Zitao would get along.

They were a confusing pair, sometimes they fought and sometimes they got along well. He was convinced they had a love-hate relationship. Chanyeol eyed Zitao every now and then; there was something about him he couldn’t figure out. He envied the guy; he had a perfect body, years of experience and the looks. A voice in the back of Chanyeol’s head told him that Zitao would be the one who would crack Miyeon’s cold exterior; the exterior he’s been trying to crack for years.

Who is Kim Miyeon? What is her life story? What made her what she is today?

Chanyeol sighed as he stretched, even after knowing the girl for such a long time, he couldn’t figure her out. He was slightly jealous of Zitao, because he had a soul feeling that Zitao would be the one to crack the code.  

“Where’s Miyeon?”

Chanyeol looked up when Minseok came in. Minseok looked around the room. “Isn’t she here? She forgot to sign in…” He mumbled. Then he realized that she didn’t come in at all.

Yixing looked up. “What?”

“That’s weird…” Sehun said softly. “She’s never been out.”

Luhan stood up with his phone and called her. “Maybe she’s late…”

“Zitao isn’t here yet either.” Minseok said. “Is that…coincidental or…”

“Miyeon?” Luhan said into the phone.

Everyone eyed him in anticipation. What happened to her today?

Then Luhan’s face scrunched up in confusion. “Zitao? …Why are you answering Miyeon’s phone?”

Chanyeol stood up worried, as Luhan’s facial expressions told everyone around him that Miyeon wasn’t well and that something obviously happened.

Luhan hung up and looked at everyone. “She’s sick, Zitao bumped into her on the way and she collapsed. He’s at her house right now.” He said. “…I…”

Minseok shook his head. “You can’t afford to lose one day of training.” He said. “Your competition is in weeks, if you lose concentration now…”

“I’ll go.” Sehun said. “Miyeon said I need to gain a little weight anyway, before I can continue training.” The youngest said. “I’ll be fine if I miss out on today, I didn’t have much to do anyway.”

Minseok nodded. “Alright.”

Sehun grabbed his t-shirt and slipped it over his bare torso before leaving the gym in a rush. Chanyeol sighed and half heartedly continued with his weight training.

Even Yixing was in a bad mood. “We should go see her after training, she’s never been sick…”

Luhan nodded. “Alright guys, let’s get some things done before we go and see her.”

Sehun ran down the street and stood by the bus stop, he impatiently waited before calling Zitao.

“How is she?” He asked. Miyeon was like an older sister to him, and although he rarely showed it, he valued her a lot.

“It’s the flu; can you drop by the store and get a few things if you’re going to come?” Zitao asked.

Sehun nodded. “Hang up and text me.” He said quickly.

Zitao turned to the fast asleep Miyeon, who was buried under her sheets. He leaned over and dabbed her forehead with a warm towel. “Why are you burning up suddenly?” He whispered.

“You almost went to work like this, you idiot.” He continued. “How stubborn could you be?”

He left the room thirty minutes later when her fever went down a little. Zitao noticed a man in a wheelchair in the living room. He assumed that the man was her father so he bowed and introduced himself.

Zitao looked up in confusion when the man moved his hands around. “Huh?” He said.

Then he noticed the hearing aid he wore; her father couldn’t hear…He was deaf.

Zitao awkwardly waved his hands for he couldn’t communicate with the man at all.  Then he watched as her father wheeled himself over to the kitchen. He pointed to a book that sat on the shelves.

Zitao walked over and took the book before handing it to him. Her father flipped the book open and pointed to it. He handed the open book to Zitao and went back to the living room.

Zitao read the words on top; it was a recipe for kimchi stew. He instantly understood that her father wanted him to cook for her.

Just then, Zitao’s phone rang and this time it was Sehun. After having a brief conversation with the youngest, all Zitao had to do was play the waiting game as Sehun was probably running around Seoul gathering the ingredients he requested.

***

“How’d you know she was sick?” Sehun asked. He was with Zitao in the kitchen cooking up a storm.

“She was by the bus stop.” Zitao said. “She looked terrible, so I went up to her to say hi and she collapsed on me.”

“How’d you know where she lived?” Sehun asked.

Zitao turned to him. “She was holding her keys, and there’s a little tag on her keys and has her address.”

Sehun nodded. “I was curious.” He admitted.

“I’d be curious too.” Zitao said understandingly. “Her father’s deaf.” He said softly.

Sehun looked up. “What?” He turned around and eyed the man in the wheelchair.

“He can’t hear us.” Zitao said. “I learned the hard way…I wonder how that happened.” He mumbled.

Sehun sighed. “No wonder she never talked about him.”

“Where’s her mother?” Zitao asked.

Sehun glanced at him before going back to the stew. “I think it’s best if Miyeon tells you herself.”

Zitao nodded along. “I guess.”

Zitao went into Miyeon’s room later on to wake her up. He sat on the edge of her bed and shook her gently. “Miyeon…” He said. “Kim Miyeon…”

She stirred in her sleep before turning over. She furrowed her brows as she sat up. “What?”

“Are you feeling better?” Zitao asked.

“You’re not barking at me, it’s weird.” Miyeon said.

“You’re not trying to rip my liver out in broad daylight…that’s even weirder.”

She scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”

“Your fever’s down.” Zitao said as he touched her forehead. “Tie your hair up…I made you kimchi stew.”

“Huh?”

Zitao reached over for her wrist and pulled the rubber band off. Then he leaned over and grabbed her hair into a pony tail. He pulled back to see her face, contorted with confusion. “Where’d you learn how to do that?” Miyeon asked.

“I have a little sister.” Zitao simply said. “Big fan of you.”

Miyeon nodded. “That’s nice.”

Zitao pressed his lips into a firm line as he held back from asking her if she wanted to meet ZiYin. “Come out.” He said. “You have to eat something.”

She stood up and grabbed her phone.

“No wonder you’re sick, look how thin your jacket is.” Zitao said. “It’s getting cold, wear something thicker.” He said as he took his hoodie off. Then he pulled it over her head. “There…come on.”

And so she let him lead her out, hand in hand. 

[a/n] comments are much appreciated! ^^ 

*mistakes = im sorry