You Know Nothing

A faint warmth lingered on Luna's fingertips, the sterile white ceiling of the hospital coming into focus.

For a moment, everything was quiet—the beeping monitor, the soft rustle of the blanket, the distant footsteps outside the room.

Then her gaze shifted… There he was.

Hyunsu.

Slumped in the chair beside her bed, his head resting against his arm, breathing steady—lost in sleep.

Luna's heart skipped a beat. Her fingers curled tighter around his.

It's you again...? Why?

The second time she had woken up with him by her side—watching over her like some kind of stubborn guardian she never asked for.

A small breath escaped her lips.

What's happening with this guy...?

Before she could stop herself, a smile flickered at the corner of her mouth.

The moment she realized it, her smile vanished—her heart clenching with panic.

Am I crazy? Why would I smile...?

Her fingers clenched the blanket tighter.

No... I can't.

She shook off the warmth curling inside her chest, pushing it down. She had to be strong. This wasn't the time for her heart to flutter, not when everything felt so uncertain.

There was no space for weakness, no room for someone like Hyunsu to slip through the cracks in her armor.

With quiet determination, she forced herself to sit up and release his tightened grip—pretending her body wasn't aching, masking the trembling in her hands.

The movement stirred him. Hyunsu's eyes fluttered open, dark lashes lifting as his gaze immediately locked onto her.

For a second, he looked disoriented—as if he'd been trapped in a dream himself.

Then concern flooded back into his sharp eyes.

"Luna..." his voice was husky from sleep, yet laced with worry. "You're awake."

She froze, caught off guard by how soft his voice sounded.

"You... how are you feeling?"

His hand instinctively reached out—stopping inches away from touching hers, as if he'd done it without thinking.

Luna's heart skipped again. She quickly looked away, steeling herself.

"I'm fine," she muttered, forcing a cold edge into her voice.

Hyunsu didn't believe her—not even for a second.

"You fainted out of nowhere. Your pulse was weak." His voice dropped lower, his eyes scanning her face.

"That's not 'fine,' Luna."

Luna clenched her jaw. Why does he always look at me like that... like he knows everything about me?

As if he could see straight through the walls she had spent years building.

"I'm just... tired."

Hyunsu's fingers twitched at her response— like he was holding himself back.

"Tired?" His voice was quiet, but there was an edge to it—sharp, knowing.

Luna swallowed, hating how easily he could read between the lines.

"Yes," she said firmly, forcing herself to meet his eyes. "That's all."

A tense silence stretched between them.

Then, without a word, Hyunsu exhaled and leaned back in his chair, running a hand through his tousled hair.

"Fine," he muttered, though the doubt was clear in his tone. "If you say so."

But he didn't leave. Instead, his gaze softened—just slightly.

"You need to stop pushing yourself like this," he said, quieter this time. "You think no one notices, but..." He trailed off, shaking his head.

Luna's fingers curled into the blanket. Don't say it. She didn't want to hear the rest. Didn't want to hear that he did notice.

He always did this—throwing out quiet truths like daggers without warning. Her heart twisted painfully.

"Are you angry at me right now?", she asked.

"No, I'm not," he tried to explain, but he remained silent. There was no use in saying it—he knew she wouldn't listen.

Don't… don't look at me like that, like I'm some kind of orphaned puppy.

She needed to push him away. Needed to remind herself that this man was dangerous—dangerous enough to stir her heart…

But the way he was looking at her now—like he had never stopped watching, never stopped caring—was breaking down every barrier she had spent the last decade building.

Luna swallowed hard and broke eye contact. "You don't know anything about me, Hyunsu."

A heavy silence settled between them. For a moment, she thought he might finally back off. But instead, he leaned in slightly, his voice low and steady.

"What should I know? Well, at least I know you talk to cats."

Luna's head snapped toward him, eyes wide in disbelief. "What…?"

Hyunsu's lips curved into the faintest smirk.

"If you're feeling okay, that's enough for me. Let me get your medicine, and then we can leave."

Luna's breath caught in her throat. That long-forgotten memory… what is he talking about?

She swallowed hard, trying to push down the sudden ache rising in her chest.

"I don't talk with them anymore? I am not a kid," she shouted after him.

Hyunsu's smirk softened slightly—as if he had been expecting that response.

"Liar."

"What's wrong with talking to cute beings? At least they don't nag at me like someone does," Luna pouted, making it obvious exactly who she meant.

Her breath hitched. For a moment, neither of them said a word. The space between them felt fragile—dangerous, like the moment before a storm.

Just as Luna braced herself to push him away, Hyunsu's fingers closed over hers—warm, steady, unwavering.

Her breath caught, eyes snapping to his.

"Just know that you're not alone in this, Luna," he murmured, his thumb gliding gently over her trembling knuckles, a silent promise in his touch..

Luna looked at him, her expression was confused enough.

"I meant your friend is there for you, right? Always helping you. Nina is a kind person, she is concerned about you."

Although he wanted to say he was the one who wants to protect her, he held back. He didn't want to add to the weight she was already carrying.

"Says the person who left her for a decade and never visited her once. I know her better than you do! Do you even know how much she missed you?

You call yourself her brother? " Luna's eyes burned with anger as she yanked her hand away.

"I had my reasons for that. I was busy," he responded, avoiding her eyes.

"Busy? For ten years? Thought so. Only you can be?" she shot back fiercely.

"Are you angry at me now?" he asked, looking straight into her eyes.

"We don't have that kind of relationship for me to get angry at you," she said, drawing a clear line between them.

Hyunsu had no answers to her questions, nor was it the right time to respond. He simply left to get the medicine for her.

***

After some time, he bought the medicine, guiding Luna towards the car with a protective hand hovering just behind her back, never quite touching.

He opened the door for her with a quiet gentleness — a side of him Luna didn't expect from someone with such a sharp tongue.

The air between them was thick with awkward silence as he slid into the driver's seat and started the engine.

Luna's gaze flickered to him before she could stop herself — the soft glow of the dashboard highlighting the sharp lines of his jaw and the tousled mess of his hair.

His sleeves were still rolled up to his elbows, revealing the veins that subtly traced the muscles in his forearms as his fingers gripped the steering wheel.

Damn... Even after working all day, how can someone still look this good? She caught herself staring and quickly turned her gaze away.

No. What am I even thinking? Get a grip, Luna.

But there was something about him —

The way his rough hands gripped the wheel so effortlessly, as though he was in complete control of everything around him...

The way his shirt clung to his lean frame. The faint scent of mint and hospital disinfectant mixing with his own...

A strange pull she couldn't quite shake.

But his face looks like he was upset, to break the silence— she finally spoke, her voice soft. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said all that. It wasn't my place."

No response. His face remained unreadable.

"Is he upset with me? My stupid tongue—Luna, why do you always have to be so rude? What should I do now? He helped me, but I scolded him. God, just kill me."

She didn't know that he got upset not because she scolded him but because she drew a huge line between them. She didn't know what else to say, but she tried again to break the silence.

"How did you get your hands on Ethan?" she asked, thinking this was a question he would definitely answer.

No response again. Just the same cold, unreadable face.

"I'm done. He's definitely upset with me. Forget it. I tried, and I even apologized. There's no need to go any further. This way, he can stay in his limits, not speak as he pleases, and not do whatever he wants."

Another ten minutes passed in awkward silence. The car was filled with cold air—she stared out the window, while he remained focused on driving.

"This isn't right. He helped me. It was my mistake to give him the cold shoulder. Let me try one last time."

"Can I… ask you for a favor?" she said hesitantly thinking that he can't say no to her requests. But before even finishing her request before he turned to look at her. His eyes were sharp.

"Oh? Now do we have that kind of relationship where you can ask me for favors?" His words came straight at her like a blade, hitting her hard.

"He hasn't changed a bit. Same attitude. Same rudeness. What did I even expect from a bully? People just don't change. Their appearance might deceive, but their actions never do.

Forget it. It was my mistake to think he had changed."

Offended, she fell silent. For the rest of the ride, not a single word was spoken. The air between them was heavy, suffocating.

As the silence stretched on, Hyunsu tightened his grip on the steering wheel. His own words echoed in his head, harsher now than when he had spoken them.

"Oh? Now do we have that kind of relationship where you can ask me for favors?"

Damn it. Damn it. What the hell had he just done? Why did he say that? The moment the words left his mouth, he knew he had crossed a line—one he might never be able to step back from.

He knew exactly how sharp his words could be, but for some reason, he never held back with her.

It wasn't like she didn't deserve an answer. She had apologized. She had tried. But he had pushed her away.

"What the hell is wrong with me? I was waiting for her to talk to me, wasn't I? I wanted her to say something. And when she finally did… I threw it back in her face like a goddamn fool...

I ruined it."

His jaw clenched as he glanced at her through the corner of his eye. She wasn't even looking at him. Her body was turned away, her arms folded, her gaze locked on the passing city lights outside, as if sealing herself off from him completely.

He wanted to rewind time, to take it back—to say something else, anything else—but it was too late. The damage had been done.

That cold distance between them—he could feel it growing by the second. And he had no one to blame but himself. He had seen that look before—the moment someone decided to walk away.

"This is it, isn't it? She's shutting me out. I can see it. This is the moment she decides I'm not worth it. And I can't even blame her."

Regret churned in his chest. He had spent years keeping his distance, convincing himself it was for the best. But now, when he was finally ready to bridge the gap, he was the one burning it down.

"She won't give me another chance. Why would she? Our relationship—if I can even call it that—is ending before I even get the chance to start."

Hyunsu exhaled slowly, frustration and self-loathing mixing into a bitter taste in his mouth. He wanted to say something—fix it somehow—but he didn't know how.

Apologies had never come easily to him. And even if he tried, would she even believe him now?

"He wanted to fix it. He had to fix it. But how? An apology wouldn't be enough. Words weren't enough.

May be it's already too late."