Jaehee was fiddling with her rubix cube when she heard arguing from the hospital corridor. On a normal occasion she would have ignored it but since the voice belong to Luhan she found herself burning with curiosity.

 

"Why do you need to come now?"

 

"No I'm not visiting! You know I can't do that right now. What do you mean you guys already bought tickets?"

 

"God you're so infuriating! Just you two? Fine, come if you must but you can't crash at my place-"

 

"Fine, fine! Stay at my place but you both will have to squeeze on the couch. No one's allowed on my bed! Just don't cause any trouble and stop opening your big mouth about the whole Lav thing, okay? If her mother hears something because of you..."

 

Jaehee quickly ducked deeper into the ward as he hung up. Why the hell was she eavesdropping? She'd never been the gossiping type but she couldn't help but wonder who Luhan was talking to and what was he hiding about Lavender?

 

Shaking aside the thought whilst frowning upon her actions, she silently took her seat beside Chanyeol, this time distracting herself with textbooks. Exam week was approaching at she was no where near prepared. The teachers had discussed giving her special provisions to account for her situation but she had refused vehemently. It was unfair to the other students and she wanted to do it fairly. Chanyeol believed in her. She had to get into their dream university for the both of them.

 

Sometimes Suho or Kyungsoo would tutor her whilst they were visiting but they were the only two she accepted help from considering the rest of the guys weren't exactly academically gifted- not that she was one to speak. She often complained to Chanyeol, whining about how math should be abolished from the system. It often made her laugh because she could imagine him agreeing whole heartedly. He hated math.

 

Luhan was her main tutor. He was unbelievably brilliant and he was a patient teacher. He didn't get mad when she couldn't answer a question and his methods were a lot more feasible than the teachers. She was grateful to him and seeing him teaching her so diligently actually inspired Jaehee to study.

 

"How's it going?" Luhan asked, approaching her.

 

Jaehee blushed, feeling guilty for her actions earlier but stared at her book to seem inconspicuous.

 

"Jae! You're still on the first example?" He mocked disappointment. Her shoulders rose in shame, as if she were trying to make her head disappear into her neck.

 

He laughed and scooted beside her to help her work the example. She couldn't help but feel aware of how close he was sitting. Their thighs were brushing against one another and his head was inches away from hers. Was she the only one aware?

 

Apparently not.

 

He looked up after finishing his explanation and instinctively jumped back in surprise. She swallowed her laugh, pressing her lips together to prevent the smile threatening to take over her face.

 

"I think I get it." She smiled, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear before working on the problems.

 

Luhan smiled as well, leaning back as she worked on the math.

 

 

 

"You ready?" Sehun asked as he and Kai joined Jaehee at the school gates.

 

She grinned, unable to hide her content. She did feel ready. Her expression must have been enough to tell them that because they groaned in envy.

 

"I barely studied!"

 

"As if studying could help you two." Kyungsoo snorted, coming over to wish them luck.

 

Kai kicked him playfully but shrunk back when Kyungsoo grabbed him in a choke hold. Jaehee headed into the classroom first, wishing luck to the twins before sitting down. She felt for the locket, rubbing it for good luck before pulling out the rubix cube from her bag and setting it on her table.

 

She wasn't sure when it had become a good luck charm but looking at it always had the effect of giving her determination.

 

 

"That test killed me." Sehun dramatically collapsed into a heap over Jaehee's desk. She tugged her pencil case from under him, lightly slapping his arm in the process. He peeked at her from under his arm and she laughed. He did have his cute moments.

 

"Why do you look so happy!" He yelled with an enraged pout as he straightened.

 

"Yeah you do look rather pleased." Baekhyun eyed her suspiciously, Kai nodding to confirm the notion.

 

Jaehee shrugged, "I'm going to get into university for me and Yeol so of course I aced that test."

 

The three boys gaped at her. They were surprised by her confidence but it wasn't long before they all attacked her in a tackle/hug. "My little lamb is growing up!" Sehun mockingly sobbed, pulling away to pretend to shed tears. She could feel Kai and Baekhyun nuzzling their faces to both sides of her head and rolled her eyes. It still astounded her that they could be so cool sometimes and yet so embarrassing at others.

 

 

 

When Jaehee arrived at the hospital with Baekhyun she paused at the corridor. She could see Luhan in the distance. He looked like he was in a serious discussion with a doctor but she couldn't make out their expressions to determine whether it was bad or good news. Before she could strain her eyes, Baekhyun nudged her into the room.

 

"Hey I was thinking we add some of new pictures to this so Yeol can see what we were up to when he wakes up. What do you think?" Baekhyun pointed to the photo collage we had hanging on the wall facing Chanyeol. It had been a lot of fun to make. They had gotten all our classmates to sign it and it took up the whole span of the wall. There was still a couple gaps so they could definitely add more pictures.

 

Jaehee grinned and nodded. She liked when Baekhyun spoke like this. His voice would be laced with hope and she could tell the thought of Chanyeol waking up really excited him.  Baekhyun was using the laptop to decide on which photos to print so Jaehee decided to pop out and buy them both drinks.

 

Her steps had a bounce as she travelled to the ground floor, arriving at the vending machine. She was notably happier.

 

She pushed a few buttons before carefully inserting the coins into the slot. The machine made odd noises but not the ones she was looking for. She still kept faith and opened the flap but as expected, the drinks hadn't dispensed. She frowned, lightly tapping the machine from the side but to no avail.

 

Before she could call a nurse, a foot appeared from nowhere and kicked the machine.

 

Jaehee froze in shock, following the long leg back to the owner.

 

The boy slowly pivoted his foot back around just as the machine spit out her drinks. The boy bent down, handing her the two cans as if it were a scene in a movie. She couldn't help but chuckle, "Thank you."

 

He smiled, his scary features suddenly morphing into an adorable grin. "No problem."

 

She could detect and accent and immediately knew he wasn't from around here. She was about to turn when he suddenly asked, "Do you know where the long-term care unit is?"

 

"Yeah. I'm actually headed that way if you want me to take you." She smiled, offering a friendly smile which he reciprocated.

 

"Are you here to visit a friend?"

 

The boy shook his head with a mysterious look. She gave him a sideward glance and he sighed, as if he were ready to confess. "It's a friend of a friend. My friend's ex-girlfriend fell against the pavement after some drunk clubbing."

 

Jaehee winced, imagining the scene and the boy nodded, his face solemn.

 

"What makes it worse is that her mother couldn't support the hospital fees so my friend decided to take the blame and lied to her mother and his parents that they hadn't broken up so that his father would pay for the hospital. It's rather chivalrous when you think about it. He even gave up his dream course at university and he had to keep up the act so he hasn't been able to date for years...all for the girl."

 

Jaehee gaped. That was a huge sacrifice for a girl who he'd broken up with. She could already imagine how kind that boy must have been. "Wow. That's inspiring."

 

The boy shrugged, "He was guilty because it was his fault that she was clubbing in the first place to forget about him."

 

They stepped out of the elevator and Jaehee turned to him, "What's your friend's name? Maybe I know them. I've been here a while."

 

The boy opened his mouth to answer her but another interrupted him before he could produce an answer.

 

"Tao! God there you are! I was looking everywhere for you." The second boy panted, using his knees to regain his breath.

 

Finally straightening he looked over at Jaehee, rubbing the nape of his neck sheepishly with a grin that showcased his adorable dimples. "Sorry. I forgot I came here with him and lost him on the way."

 

Jaehee snickered behind her fist. That sounded like something she would have done too. She'd always been a bit of an air head.

 

"It's no problem. He helped me our too." Jaehee chuckled, shaking the drinks in her hand.

 

"Well we have to go but it was nice to meet you…?"

 

"Jaehee." She offered.

 

"Jaehee. Well I'm Lay and this is Tao. Hopefully we'll see you around." He shone her his dimples once more before dragging the panda boy, known as Tao, behind him.

 

She shook her head with a smile as she headed back to Chanyeol. Tao's friend sounded really amazing to be able to be so altruistic. It kind of made her feel rather anti-social. She'd been visiting the long term unit for 7 months and she had never seen this guy. She made note to get to know the others at some point.

 

 

 

 

"Haven't seen you around for a while." Jaehee chuckled as she bumped into Luhan at the café across from the hospital. He looked tired- like he'd aged at double speed.

 

"My friends are visiting from China." He sighed like that offered enough of an explanation. When he noticed her baffle he continued, "I've just had to be more careful around them. They keep telling everyone left right and centre about Lav when it was kind of supposed to be a private thing."

 

Jaehee gave him a sympathetic pat before ordering her coffee. At least she didn't have to worry about that. It was common knowledge to everyone about the accident.

 

"It must be nice though...that your friends are visiting."

 

"It is." He agreed reluctantly, "They're nice guys. I'll introduce you to them next time."

 

Jaehee smiled, "I'll hold you to it." She was about to ask him about how Nam was doing when an impatient voice cut through their conversation.

"Jae! How long does it tak-Oh. You're Luhan right?"

 

She rolled her eyes at Sehun's impatience before grabbing her coffee from the waitress. Luhan didn't respond to Sehun- probably because he sounded so accusatory that it intimidated him. Jaehee mouthed 'ignore him' and dragged the blonde boy out of the shop.

 

"You guys seem close."

 

The girl didn't need to look up at him to know he was wearing a creepy smirk.

 

"Oh I don't know. When you bond over your boyfriend slash girlfriend being stuck in a coma I'd say you tend to grow 'close'" Jaehee clucked her tongue.

 

Sehun nudged her shoulder, signalling for her to stop being sarcastic before ducking into a bubble tea shop. They had planned to head to the library to study for their final exam which was English studies but it wasn't long before Sehun had decided he needed a break and it definitely wasn't long before Jaehee agreed.

 

Jaehee headed to a table, knowing it would take at least a solid 10 minutes for Sehun to decide what he wanted and paused, recognising one of the figures. She wasn't sure if it was him or not so she didn't speak up but luckily he made the decision for her by waving at her. "Jaehee?"

 

"yeah. It's Tao right?"

 

The panda boy nodded, gesturing for her to take a seat with him.

 

"What are you doing here?"

 

Tao stared at his drink making Jaehee flush. Clearly there was only one reason anyone would be here. Ignoring her question, Tao looked towards Sehun who was now glowering at the two of them.

 

Jaehee shook her head with the laugh. Sehun was one of the oddest people on the planet. He'd always whine about her moving on from Chanyeol but as soon as he saw her with another guy he'd go all protective on her. The only way to describe him was like a father.

 

"Where's Lay?"

 

Tao looked back at her before shrugging, "I don't know. We kind of just left him at home."

 

"We?"

 

"Yeah me and Xiao lu."

 

"Xiao lu?"

 

Tao tilted his head, "Yeah the friend I told you about yesterday. He's next door getting some coffee."

 

Jaehee nodded but her forehead creased with confusion. She had just been in there for coffee and she didn't recall anyone from the long-term unit section except Luhan. It was really making her worried by how unobservant she was. She defended herself with the knowledge that there were 15 wards in the unit.

 

Once Sehun had got his drink he was stubborn on leaving even when Jaehee had pouted, wanting to meet Tao's friend. Eventually giving up, she threw her hands up in exasperation, apologising to Tao before following him out.

 

She'd just have to meet this Xiao lu some other time.