When Night And Day Become One

|| Five ||

The sun was already setting down when I decided to go home. The wind was unusually chilly for a summer afternoon, the cold air pricking my bare skin.

I went inside the house, turning on the light switches as I passed. I'm not particularly afraid of the dark, I just like the house well lit. Chris had left a note saying:

I'm off to camp. Call me if you get scared of being alone.

-your one and only amazing brother

Rolling my eyes, I rummaged the fridge for dinner. Too lazy to bother, I settled for ice cream since I ate too much food at Hannah's anyway.

I brought my "dinner" to the living room and watched more TV. And an hour later maybe, after spending the day with Hannah, I realized something. I'm lonely. It was even the first time that I had not heard of Lu Han for such a long time.

Curious, I returned to my room and coughed loudly as I turned off my lights and eyed his window. But as dark as my room, there was no sign of Lu Han from across. For the first time, there was no goodnight from him.

"Psshh. So what. I love the silence," I said to no one and collapsed on to the bed. The next thing I knew, it was morning.

I woke up with an aching head and it seemed that I had caught Hannah's cold. Forgetting for a moment that I was alone in the house, I immediately called for mom. My voice echoed back to me and I had the sudden urge to call and bother Chris.

Before I could embarrass and doom myself to his eternal teasing for being a wimp, I turned to the comfort of my bed and slept in, not even bothering with breakfast nor with turning all the lights off; I have to turn them back on anyway.

Three, five, maybe seven; I didn't really know how many hours I had slept. All I knew when I woke up again was that the light outside my window was turning orange and my body felt like it was on fire.

My hands immediately flew to my forehead, and the heat that pierced my palm right after confirmed my suspicion. Great, Hannah's cold had just transformed itself into an unwanted fever, I thought bitterly.

I tried to sit up but my head threatened to split into two. I groaned and fell right back on my pillow. I just woke up yet I could feel my strength leaving me, my body getting hotter. "I shouldn't have taken that stupid ice cream," I muttered, closing my eyes tightly in hopes of stopping the head-splitting ache.

A few moments later and my tummy rumbled in agony. "Great, what else could happen, huh?" I spoke out loud, challenging whoever was doing this to me.

And just like that, the lights magically went out.

"Wow," I mumbled in disbelief. Whoever was running the systems of fate, that person is plain mean. Like Lu Han. Now that I think about it, where's that guy?

Then I remembered.

I'll miss your cute expressions, Yeon.

Does that mean he was gone as well? Too bad, I would welcome even his annoying presence for company, I thought, and then blamed my feverish state for the thought.

"Now I'm crazy," I whispered, exasperated.

I was closing my eyes when something crashed on the floor beside my bed. Eyes flying open, I found a sheepish Lu Han look-alike getting up.

"Oops?" he said, shrugging it with a grin.

I sighed in relief, mostly because it wasn't a rat and I was just being my paranoid self. Great, am I so lonely that I'm even dreaming up Lu Han in my room? I thought as I stared at the fake Lu Han.