Ji-ohn woke up because of her brother’s whimpering in the middle of the night. She crawled over to him.

“Oppa… kwenchana?” she asked.

Ji-young gave a little groan as a reply. He curled his body up into foetal position.

“Oppa….” Ji-ohn whined, shaking his arm lightly, wanting him to answer her.

“Apa…” he whispered, with a hoarse voice.

“Eodi?” she asked.

Not knowing how to answer her, he remained silent.

“Oppa…” she whined again. Her whining continued for a while, until Daeyang heard it and woke up too. The dog went over to Ji-ohn and nuzzled against her body.

“Yangyang, oppa is in pain,” she said, almost in tears. She was upset that she couldn’t do anything to help, and it didn’t occur to her to tell Jihyo. Thankfully, Daeyang seemed to have noticed something amiss and ran over to the master’s bedroom to inform the adults.

In their sleep, Gary faintly heard Daeyang’s bark.

“Yeobo… do you hear Daeyang’s barking?” he asked, still half asleep, shaking Jihyo’s arm lightly.

Jihyo sat up, blinking her eyes. “Eo…” she mumbled. “Maybe it’s the kids, I’ll go over.”

“Hmm…” Gary replied, dozing off again.

Jihyo went over to the children’s room and switched on the lights. The first thing she saw was Ji-ohn crying.

“Did you have a nightmare, honey,” she asked, carrying her up and her hair to calm her down.

“Aniya, aniya,” she cried. “Oppa…”

“Oppa wae?” Jihyo asked, confused. She took a closer look at Jiyoung and realised that he was also in tears.

Hurriedly, she put Ji-ohn down and carried Jiyoung up. It was only then she realised he was running a fever.

“Ji-ohn, can you please get appa here for me,” she ordered urgently. She sat down crossed-leg on their bed and carried Jiyoung with his head resting on her neck. He sobbed into her neck while she patted his back, comforting him.

Meanwhile, Ji-ohn was trying to wake Gary up. It didn’t take long for her to do so, because he was already awoken by Daeyang previously. Like Jihyo, he immediately noticed her red eyes. He carried her up and asked, “Ji-ohn ah, wae?”

“Eomma called you,” she said.

Then he knew something was wrong. It was unlike Jihyo to wake him up over minor things. He quickened his pace into the children’s room. As he entered, he saw Jihyo comforting Jiyoung. She looked at him with a worried glance and he guessed that Jiyoung was sick.

“Oppa, can you get me the thermometer?” she asked.

With Ji-ohn still in his arm, he went over to the first aid kit to get the thermometer, and also the fever relief patch. He passed Jihyo the thermometer, who took the boy’s temperature and it was over 38 degrees Celsius.

“It’s a high fever,” Jihyo sighed.

 “Let’s sponge him first, and see if his fever subside,” he suggested.

Jihyo nodded, laying the boy down on his bed. “I’ll sponge him, can you get Ji-ohn to sleep in our room tonight?”

“Arrasso, I’ll come over once she’s asleep,” he said as he carried Ji-ohn to their room.

“Ji-ohn ah, tonight you’ll sleep with appa, okay?” he said, settling her down on their bed.

“Aniya, aniya… I wanted to stay with oppa,” she whined, trying to get down the bed. Gary caught her in time and pulled her back up.

“Andwae, oppa is sick. You might get sick if you stay with him,” he explained.

“Eomma neun?”

“Eomma? Eomma is strong, don’t worry about her, just sleep,” he coaxed, laying her down again, petting her to make her sleep.

Ji-ohn struggled away. “No, no. I’m strong too, I want to stay with oppa…” she said, getting up again.

Gary ignored her pleas and carried her up to rock her to sleep. She was still whining when Gary heard Jiyoung vomit next door.

“,” he muttered to himself. “Stay here, Ji-ohn,” he told her and ordered Daeyang to look after the girl.

Jiyoung was crying when he entered, and Jihyo’s shirt was splattered with his vomit. “Go clean yourself up, I’ll take care of him,” he told her.

“Did Ji-ohn sleep?”

“No, she kept whining for him.”

Jihyo shook her head and sighed. Gary just shrugged. She went to wash up in the children’s room toilet, while Gary helped Jiyoung changed his clothes. He continued sponging him, while Jihyo cleaned up the mess. After she’s done, she went to check up on Ji-ohn, who fell asleep on the floor, beside Daeyang. She guessed that she was trying to get out, but Daeyang stopped her and she eventually got tired of trying and fell asleep. She smiled at her daughter and carried her up their bed.

“She’s asleep,” she informed Gary.

“She probably got tired of trying,” he laughed. Jihyo nodded.

“His temperature is still not dropping,” he said, on a more serious note.

“Bring him to the clinic then,” she said, as she placed her hand on his forehead.

“I’ll bring him,” Gary said. “You stay with Ji-ohn. There’s too many germs in the clinic, we can’t bring her with us.”

“Mm… okay. It’s lucky you’re home tonight, oppa,” she said.

“Don’t be silly, he’s my child too,” he smiled. “Go and sleep, you need to look after them tomorrow.”

“Drive safely,” she said and leaned in for a kiss. He kissed her forehead. After Jihyo left for bed, Gary put on a mask for Jiyoung carried him with his left arm. The boy’s skin felt hot against his and he felt his heart ache. With his free hand, he grabbed some plastic bags in case Jiyoung wanted to vomit again. He stuffed the plastic bags in his pockets and draped a jacket around the boy. He then grabbed his set of keys and left for the clinic.

In the clinic, there were not many people because it was already past midnight. Jiyoung vomited again while waiting for his turn and it was lucky Gary got the plastic bag ready in time. The doctor diagnosed it as a case of severe flu and prescribed some medication. He also warned that it is contagious and may spread easily to other children at home.

By the time they got home, it was already past 3 in the morning. Gary made some milk for Jiyoung but he only drank a few mouthfuls. The medicine got him crying again and it woke Jihyo up. Thankfully, Ji-ohn was still fast asleep

“What did the doc say?” Jihyo asked, as she helped Gary to hold Jiyoung while he fed him the medicine.

“Bad flu. It should get better after the meds. He said that it might spread to Ji-ohn, though.”

“Ah….”

“Should we let her stay over at your mom’s?” Gary asked, while he kept the medicine. Jihyo carried the boy and lulled him to sleep.

“Are you crazy?! She wouldn’t stop crying if we did!”

Gary shrugged. “Then what? We can’t have her getting sick too.”

“I’ll just try and keep them apart. Are you working tomorrow?”

“I postponed the recording to late afternoon… hopefully he gets better tomorrow. I’ll sleep with him tonight.”

“Arasso, remember to sponge him!”

Gary nodded as he carried Jiyoung from Jihyo arms. They went into separate rooms. Gary woke up every hour to sponge him until the next morning. By then, his temperature dropped to 37 degrees. Gary heaved a sigh of relief and he finally allowed himself to have a good rest.