The Coffee Shop Only We Know [Updating]

19. Is Love In The Air?

I woke up and I realised that I was at an unfamiliar place.

This is not my bedroom. Where am I?

I felt something warm on my forehead so I reached up only to find that it was just a damp cloth. I removed it from my forehead and tried to sit up from my current position but I also felt something heavy on my left side making the mattress tilt a little. I turned to my left side and to my surprise Nicholas was resting his head on his arm beside me. I tried to shift without waking him but he then groaned and woke up.

"Hey, you're awake" Nicholas said sleepily while rubbing his eyes as he adjusted his position.

I must have looked confused as I looked around the room.

"It's my room. I brought you here because I saw you crouching down and you looked kinda pale. So I ran over to you to shade you from the rain and when you tried to stand up, you were so weak that you fell back but luckily I caught you just in time. At that time I realised that your forehead was heating up and your house looked kinda empty so I brought you here, to my place" he continued.

"Wait, I think I need time for my brain to process all of this" I said as I felt my head pounding.

"Sure, take your time" he said as he stood up and walked away.

I should call gege to tell him that I'm safe. Probably he will be blabbing all about how dangerous staying in a boy's room is and stuff. 

"Oh yeah and not to worry. I already informed you brother about this if that's what you're wondering" he answered as if reading my mind.

"Did he yell at you or anything?" I asked curiously.

"Yell at me?" he asked as he raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, as in the overprotective brother way?"

"Nope. He was actually fine with it. He even thanked me for taking care of you. Well, he told me to bring you home when your condition is stabilised' 

"What time is it?" I mumbled as I got out of his bed to find my watch.

"It's around 5"

"I slept for 4 hours?!"

"Yeah, well you were heating up when I found you but you cool down a lot since then" he replied as he placed his hand on my forehead.

"Wait a moment" he said as he walked out of the room and I heard footsteps heading downstairs.

A few minutes later, he returned to the room.

"Great news! You can return home now" he said with excitement in his tone.

"Great! Thanks for taking care of me while I'm sick" I thanked him with gratitude.

"Oh no, you shouldn't thank me. You should thank my mother. She's the one who taught me to take care of someone when they are sick" he said happily as he gave a little grin.

We walked down the stairs together in silence.

"Feeling better?" I heard a woman said from the kitchen, which I assume is his mother.

"Yes and thank you very much" I said politely to his assumed mother.

"Oh sorry. How very rude of me. I'm Nicholas' mother" she said as she replied and ending her sentence with a gentle smile.

"Nice to meet you Mrs. Liu. I'm Nicholas' classmate, Crystal Wu Shuijing" I introduced.

"Going home already?" she asked.

"Yeah" both me and Nicholas replied in unison.

"Nick, can you walk Crystal home? It's not safe for teenagers to walk alone nowadays. Moreover girls" she said.

"Will do" Nicholas said as he grabbed his jacket and we headed towards the door.

I walked out of the door first and I was greeted by the lovely cold breeze of autumn. I must have shivered a bit as I saw Nicholas offering me his jacket. I declined it at first as I thought he brought the jacket because he was cold himself but it turns out that he brought it for me. 

"You should wear it. You're not fully recovered yet" Nicholas insisted.

Before I had time to protest, he already covered me with his jacket. The jacket might have fitted him perfectly but it's really baggy for me. 

This jacket smells like him.

"Thanks" I said as I kept my head down to hide a blush that was starting to form on my face.

"Don't mention it" he said as he kept his hands in his pockets and from the corner of my eye, I saw him smiling a little.

We continued walking without talking for a couple of minutes. I felt quite awkward but I'm used to the awkward feeling already. But I guess he was not use to it.

"Why were you outside of your house?" he asked, breaking the silence.

"I forgot my keys" I lied. 

I'm not a liar and I know I lost the keys but I just don't feel like wanting to explain the whole situation. 

Just thinking about it makes my head hurt.

"You should be more careful. It's really dangerous for girls like you to stay outside and I'm not a stalker so I don't follow you home hahaha" he laughed.

I didn't reply him because it was too busy warming myself up.

"You know you could call me if you need anything" he said.

By the time he said that my whole body was already stiff so all I could do was just nod my head. I guess he noticed because he put his arm around my shoulder and held me closer to him. We continued the whole journey like that and before we knew it we were already outside my house. Gege was standing at the doorstep waiting for my return.

"Well, looks like we are here" he said, trying to sound cheerful but I know deep inside he's not.

"Thank you" I said as I faced him, folded the jacked he borrowed me neatly and handed it back to him. I also bowed a little as a part of the Korean culture.

He waved back and walked back to his house. I went inside the house with gege behind me. 

"Hey!!! We were so sorry we weren't there for you when you need us" I heard Chanyeol gege yelling from the kitchen. 

"We were so worried about you!!" I heard Beakhyun gege said. 

I just nodded and went straight to my room. I might seem rude but I'm really not in a mood to be talking now. I lied on my bed and all I could think about is everything that has happened today.