Fever

Ji-hun looked at Ho-jin, totally nonplussed after what he had just said. 'Why was he referring to her as 'Noona', was she someone whom they already knew?'

Ho-jin slowly walked up to him and put his hand on his shoulder. "Hyung, you know that you are my safe place, right? Whenever I am in trouble or I don't feel relaxed, or when I get hate comments or need to hide away for a bit from the outer world, I always end up running to you- you know this, right?"

Ji-hun removed his hand from his shoulder and placed it in between both of his hands, indicating for him to sit down. Smiling softly, he waited and observed for a while as Ho-jin sat down in front of him; and then he smiled and pressed Ho-jin's hand firmly, as if trying to assure him that he was always going to be there for him.

He finally spoke "I know, Ho-jin, I haven't always been there with you while you were growing up; and this is why you and Kaoru hyung are closer to each other. And trust me, I really appreciate this. But you know that I sometimes grapple with the fear that there is nobody who might actually want me. Both of you had always been there with mom and dad, but I was living alone with our grandparents in the countryside. Sometimes I still feel that I am inferior, as I can't even speak two languages fluently, while you and hyung can fluently talk in at least five languages each. You both are brilliant and have scored good grades in your school and college as well; the two of you are extremely good looking, and there is a long list- which if I start narrating, then we will have to sit here for the next two days or more. I may have acted as a prick initially and taken some time to accept you all, as I was angry at everyone for leaving me alone. But trust me, Ho-jin, I have always loved you and have never blamed you for anything; nor do I blame anyone else at this point in time, because I have finally understood that it's nobody's fault that I am so unwanted-"

Ho-jin interrupted him in the middle of his sentence "What the hell are you talking about, hyung? You are the most adorable person someone can ever meet; and your marks, the languages you speak, the achievements in school; anything else you might feel you're lacking in- doesn't matter to make a person wanted or unwanted. And I can assure you: if somebody were to ask me to trade you for the absolute perfect human to ever exist on earth, I would simply tell them to leave as nobody can replace my lovely hyung! And I would like to warn you against ever mentioning any of this within earshot of Hyeon hyung, as he might end up killing you for hating yourself." Saying this, Ho-jin hugged his brother tightly, as he remembered everything his brother had gone through and why his parents had to send him to his grandparents. 'He wished he could tell him everything in detail, but he knew he couldn't do that- all it would do is increase the pain, nothing else would come of it.'

As they pulled out of the hug, Ho-jin was ready to launch into the topic he had originally wanted to broach. "Hyung, that was not what I wanted to talk about; but you eventually made me all emotional. But anyway, my emotions have to wait for now. So tell me, are you having the dreams of encountering a girl who can speak plenty of languages and can rap faster than Kaoru and Hyeon hyung?"

Ji-hun looked at him with confusion, he couldn't understand what he was trying to say. He finally asked "What exactly do you want to ask me? I can't understand anything; I don't know any girl who can speak plenty of languages, and trust me, nobody can rap faster than Kaoru and Hyeon hyung, they are the world's best rappers!"

"Oh, if that is the case…" Ho-jin murmured to himself and then asked again

"...then tell me, did you have some dream about a girl saving you from a glass window? Is that it?"

Ji-hun was shocked how his namdongsaeng ('younger brother') knew about all this. 'Did the boy really know everything, or had he been talking out loud in his sleep and he had managed to hear it all? Everyone knew that Ji-hun had a habit of talking in his sleep and Ho-jin had come to sleep in his room, was that for this purpose as well?'

Ho-jin looked at his hyung who was in deep thought, his brows knitted together. He knew he must be confused about how he knew about the dreams. He thought of clearing everything by himself, hoping that it might make his hyung open up and get to the topic a little more easily.

"Hyung, I am also having the same dreams; and judging by your expressions at not knowing about her speaking multiple languages, I am guessing that you might be lagging somewhere in the dreams."

'This came as a shocker to Ji-hun; what fresh hell was this?! His habit of living happily in denial might have made him reject it point blank that there might be even one percent possibility of that girl existing in this timeline. But why was Ho-jin also having the same dream?'

He felt a strange tug at his heart; 'What if his little brother also liked the same girl?' This was when he realised that he had fallen for the girl, just after two dreams. 'Kim Ji-hun, who had taken a pledge that he would never fall for anyone, had fallen hook, line and sinker for someone without even having met her! What a nice joke this all was! But what if his brother also- he didn't even want to think about this anymore.' He definitely didn't want to bring this up, but he ended up asking him the very next second, only God knows why!

"Do you like her as well?"

************************

"Nikku, wake up! It's already 7:30 in the morning," Mehul shouted from the kitchen once. He didn't hear back from his sister, nor did he see her out and about, so he rushed upstairs and knocked on her door.

"Nikku! Opened the door, bacche ('kid')! Look, dada is waiting for you outside! Nitya, are you alright?" Mehul waited there for five more minutes, assuming she must be in the bathroom. But when five minutes passed and he still didn't get any reply, he entered the room, announcing loudly "Nikku, I am coming in."

As he entered the room, he found his sister still sleeping. He thought of letting her sleep for a few more minutes, he would drive a little faster to compensate for the lapse; and was about to leave, when he heard her murmuring to herself. He approached her to find that she was covered with little droplets of sweat all over her face while mumbling "I am innocent, why can't you trust me? I am really sick...please don't leave me here, and take me to the hospital..."

Mehul panicked after hearing this, and his hands instinctively reached out to his sister's forehead, which was burning hot. He panicked hard, grabbing his sister's face in his hands to wake her up. "Nikku, wake up kiddo, nothing is going to happen! Your dada is here, he won't let anything happen to you...just wake up, please."

************************