4AM °HOSHI

13

yooksoon leaned over to her son's bed and observed the sick girl intently. 'oh my, are you alright?'

yooji nodded weakly under the covers. 'i'm so sorry.'

she smiled and shook her head. 'don't worry, girl. you are always welcome here.'

'what happened to you? soon-ah told me you were drenched in rain,' master kwon asked.

yooji turned her head to the man sitting on the chair beside her. she kept quiet because as she recalled everything that happened with her father, she suddenly just wanted to cry. she fought back the tears and muttered silently. 'i forgot my home keys, and mom wouldn't be back until midnight,' she lied.

'soon-ah, maybe you have to sleep on the floor tonight,' the lady suggested. 'and let yooji sleep on your bed.'

soon-ah happily agreed, but soonyoung cut in. 'i'll just let her stay here. no need to move.'

his parents looked at him with suspicious glances. soon-ah, who is 18 and apparently knows what she need to know, started giggling to herself. her parents, whom she knows since birth, were definitely the best ones on earth.

master kwon held up a warning finger. 'no bed-hopping, no twerking and no anime watching, do you get it?'

before soonyoung could react to his father's bad jokes, yooksoon slapped his arm. 'yooji is sick, can't you see? it will get transmitted.'

soon-ah could no longer hold her laughter. she got out of the room while laughing hard. yooji, although was ill, could hardly force back the fit of giggles urging to come out.

soonyoung shushed his nonsensical parents and pushed them out of his room. yooji could still decipher their voices coming from the hallway. 'just let her sleep. seriously dad, twerking?'

'you should protect yourself, soonyoung. youngsters are dangerous nowadays,' master kwon said rapidly in a not-so-hushed voice.

then in came yooksoon's reasoning. 'yooji should be the one that needs to be protected, do you know your son enough?'

soonyoung ran his fingers through his hair in disbelief. he was close to explosion, but for the sake of everyone's eardrums, he shut up and just silently walked into his room.

he closed the door and sat back at the chair his father and sister had previously occupied. 'are you feeling better?' he asked once more.

yooji nodded again. 'thanks, and sorry for the trouble.'

soonyoung shook his head with a smile. 'i told you that you can always come home, didn't i? don't worry and just take a rest.'

yooji grinned in gratitude. she just didn't want to go home - her own lonely home - after realizing maybe her mother didn't really care about her.

she was more hurt than furious, learning that she was a mistake to her parents. she wasn't supposed to be born, because neither of them wanted her.

she was just the result of their sperm and egg, and not affection.

what a pity.

with one last scoff of self-pity and self-diss, yooji closed her eyes and let sleep overtake everything.

soonyoung watched her silently, and changed the towel on her forehead during intervals. eventually, her fever got down a lot, the red on her cheeks faded.

it was almost midnight when yooji's phone vibrated on his writing desk. at first he wasn't aware of the signals, but as it started to vibrate continuously, he grew curious.

looking across the screen, it told him that someone called 'diva kim' was calling.

as he hesitated whether to answer or not, it stopped. soonyoung looked at yooji and sighed. knowing her personality, she wouldn't mind people answering her calls, but he was still skeptical about it.

another vibration led his eyes back to the screen. it was a message from the same person.

diva kim: yooji, why aren't you home?

he immediately answered another incoming call without thinking, knowing that her mother was worried about her whereabouts.

'hello? yooji!'

'ah, auntie, i'm soonyoung,' he said. 'yooji has a fever and she is now at our home.'

'aw soonyoung, thank you so much. is she alright?' she asked in concern.

'her fever has lowered and she is sleeping now. i should have informed you, but sorry i didn't have your number,' he explain apologetically.

yooji's mother told him that it was kind of his family to take care of her daughter and gave him her number, so that he could contact her anytime.

soonyoung put down the phone and rolled his chair back to the bedside. yooji was still sleeping soundly without moving, looking as pretty as always.

except, the usually vulgar, tough and independent girl looked so vulnerable that night. he didn't know what had happened to her family and why she appeared on his doorstep wet and sobbing.

he just knew that probably his younger sister was already pretty disgusted with him and wouldn't need his protection anymore. and he has just found another person he wanted to offer protection.

that is yooji, the girl he had fallen for.

the only thing he remembers, is how soft her lips are.