◐ thirty-four ◑

"I know. Thank you."

At the time when his tears subside, it suddenly dawns on me that I'm hugging Joochan. I'm hugging someone I like.

Blood rises up to my cheeks, completely flustered. "You done having your moment?" I whisper, in hopes of him realizing how intimate we are in the moment.

He wipes the remaining tear stains resting on his cheek and leans away. "Yeah. Thanks for the hug."

No, thank you for the hug, I reply in my head.

"No biggie." I look at my surroundings frantically. I didn't want him to see me so flustered about a mere hug.

"Hey, Minhee?" Joochan calls, his lips curving into a subtle smirk. "Why are you all red?"

"I'm not."

"You are!" He chuckles. He gasps exaggeratedly, "You weren't thinking of anything inappropriate, aren't you?"

"Inappropriate?" I repeat. "The only thing inappropriate here is us having physical contact when I clearly am sick. You don't like me passing my germs to you, do you?"

"Meh. I have a strong immune system. Come at me, germs," Joochan grins, and I melt internally.

"Are you implying you'd like to go for another hug?" I suggest, looking at him in the eye.

He blinks. Then his mouth closes and open like a fish. He keeps quiet for seconds.

"Y-yeah, wait no-well, I-" he pauses, "...why not?"

I smile. "Aww, he got all jumpy over a hug."

"Look who's talking."

We both laugh at our silliness. Even if my body's feeling like shit, I feel like I could explode due to how happy I am at the moment. Joochan and I are talking casually, kinda intimate, sitting beside together on his bed.

I wish this day won't end.

"You're not going to take advantage of me, aren't you?" I joke.

"You initiated the hug! For all I know you're the one with bad intentions." He scoffs. "You like me, remember?"

I pick the nearest pillow on the bed and throw it to his face. "Oh, yeah sure, as if I'm capable of harassing someone."

"You're very good at it with words, though."

I roll my eyes. "I'm the best at it." I look at the hands of the clock situated on his wall and release a sigh. "You know what? I'm going to sleep. Good night." I lie down and cover myself with the blanket on the bed.

"Sure, sleep well, Minhee." He stands up on the bed and goes to the door but he stops in his tracks. "Wait," he pauses, "that's my bed!"

I explode in laughter. "Oh, right! Well I'll be borrowing your bed for the night. Okay?"

"I'd only allow it because you're sick-even if you're acting fine now. Go to sleep." Joochan's hand hovers over the light switch. "I'll sleep on one of the guest rooms since this is clearly not my house."

"Clearly." I repeat, smiling.

"Just scream and cry like a baby if you need anything," Joochan remarks. "Well then, I'll be at the living room and watch something on Netflix. You go and rest. Good night."

"Good night."

The lights turn off. My eyelids get heavy and in a heartbeat, I fall asleep with a subtle smile resting on my lips.

◑

"Good morning."

Two sunshines greet me as I exit Joochan's bedroom, the first one being the actual sun's light, and two, my reflection on the mirror located near his room.

Just kidding.

But I do a quick pose and appreciated my just-woke-up-but-still-look-badass look before heading straight to the dining room, where I see the second sunshine setting up the table, wearing his mustard yellow apron - that suited him a lot, by the way, the sun should be ashamed a mere human is its competitor for best glowing ball of light and everything bright.

"That looks nice," I comment. I kind of feel like I'm living in a drama, where my handsome husband just cooked an appetizing buffet for breakfast.

"The food or me?"

"No comment."

Joochan places the last dish on the middle of the dining table, removes his apron, and leans on the counter. "Had a nice sleep?"

I nod. "I did."

"That's great. And I'm assuming you feel fine now?"

I nod once again. I gesture to the multitude of dishes set on the table. "Why the many food? Is there an occasion?"

"My mom just texted me she's coming home in half an hour. Oh, Bomin and Jaehyun also messaged me they'll be visiting to check up on you."

I brighten up at his reply. "Oh, okay. You didn't cook all of this, did you?"

He laughs. "Of course not, I had it delivered a while ago."

"So why the apron?" I ask.

"Props." He grins. "It made me look a hundred times hotter."

I roll my eyes at him. It still felt a little bit weird that we're already this casual to the point that he's joking around with me and all that. But I'm not saying I don't like the change. Compared to then, I think I'd much prefer now because we're actually interacting.

Luck is probably on my side. I was relieved that today is Saturday - meaning it's not a school day - because if it was, it would've been kinda awkward coming to school together with Joochan (along with other inconveniences, of course.)

After a few minutes, a few rings on the doorbell alerts Joochan and he perks up. "I'll get the door."

I stay on the table, unbothered, while he goes to the door.

"Minhee!" exclaims Jaehyun as soon as he enters the house. "You okay?"

"We heard you were sick yesterday so I bought ice cream along the way," Bomin grins, holding up a plastic bag. "To cheer you up."

"Aw, how thoughtful of you two." I smile at the two. "You even thought of visiting me. I feel important."

"Of course you are." Jaehyun remarks. "Did Joochan treat you well?"

Bomin sighs, "I bet he just ignored you, being sick and all."

Joochan stares at the two of them. "You should be asking me if I'm okay. That girl threatened to take away my manliness."

Bomin and Jaehyun looks at each other questioningly. "Did something happen between you two?" the younger asks.

"No," Joochan and I answer in unison.

Jaehyun only squints his eyes. "Okay..."

"Anyway, let's eat. I made breakfast," I lie and gesture them to sit down.

"Wow, you cooked all of this? That's amazing," Bomin comments, his eyes growing bigger at the sight.

"Excuse me? I cooked everything." Joochan raises his eyebrows.

"Nah, he just ordered this. He can't cook." I laugh out loud.

Just then the doorbell rings for the second time this morning. It must be Mrs. Hong.

"I'm getting the door," I say with a little bit of excitement and jump from seat. I'm finally getting to meet Mrs. Hong again.

I go to the door and turn the knob. And there I see Mrs. Hong in the flesh - the person I was closest to besides Joochan when I was still a kid. Tears start to brim in my eyes as I pull her into a hug, embracing her in surprise.

"Is that you, Minhee? You're all grown up!" Mrs. Hong gushes as we break out the hug. "You've grown into a beautiful lady.

I turn around and flaunt a grandiose pose. "Indeed I have."

"Joochan said you were very ill. Do you feel fine now?"

"Yes, I do. He took care of me."

"Hey, mom," Joochan comes from behind me, and gives Mrs. Hong a brief hug. "How was the trip?"

"Exhausting. The worse thing is, I might probably go back again for another week or so to finish our upcoming project. It's set to release in one month so everybody's crammed up with a lot of work. You know being the president of a company can be quite draining," she rants as she enters the house, her driver - carrying her bags and other things - following after.

"Let alone two," I sigh. "I'm sorry you have a lot on your hands. I'd help if I could, but I know next to nothing about handling a huge business."

Mrs. Hong smiles warmly. "It's fine, dear, it's not your fault. It's the least I can do for both of your parents."

I force out a smile, tears brimming. Just the mention of my parents made me feel sick.

"I see you have other guests, too," Mrs. Hong breaks the silence.

"Good morning, Auntie," Bomin greets.

"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Hong," Jaehyun grins.

Joochan clasps both of his hands. "I know everybody's tired and hungry, so let's eat." And with that we filled our stomach with delicious fast food.