LUMINESCENCE | K.NJ ✓

VI - DESPERATE TIMES CALL FOR DESPERATE MEASURES

CHAPTER SIX - DESPERATE TIMES CALL FOR DESPERATE MEASURES

FLUORESCENT LIGHTS and the smell of hand sanitizer had always reminded Nouri of high school. The flashbacks to the horrid hours spent in her math classes were almost enough to make her pass out again.

Feeling a hand resting lightly on her shoulder, she shook her head slightly and shifted her attention to the person sitting beside of her. Namjoon was calmly looking at her, his other hand lifted to her face. She felt something cold rest against the back of her head and she shriveled away slightly.

"You let your ice pack slip," He explained. "The doctor said you need to keep it on for a while."

It was then that Nouri remembered that she was not sitting through another lecture in her old Algebra 2 class, but was instead sitting down beside of Namjoon in a police station.

She didn't remember much at all, other than the fact that a crime had apparently been committed on the bus and she had proceeded to black out soon afterwards. Waking up at the hospital had been an experience all on its own. She had never felt more lost in her life than she did the moment her eyes opened and she found herself lying on a hospital bed, with a nervous looking Namjoon sitting in the chair beside of her and a doctor peering down at her. After the doctor listed all of the medications she had been given while knocked out and had informed her of her concussion - and that she needed to take things slow for a bit - she was discharged, then dragged to the police station alongside Namjoon.

She had received a phone call from her parents on the way to the station. They were both working night shifts, but had said they would leave if they needed to come and get her, after they heard what had happened. Nouri assured them that she was only mildly injured and that a friend was taking care of her, and her parents reluctantly agreed to finish their shifts before rushing home to see her.

"Nouri?" She blinked, staring back at Namjoon as he said her name. He smiled nervously. "Are you going to hold the ice pack?"

Nouri then realized that she had unintentionally been forcing Namjoon to hold her falling ice pack to the back of her head. She quickly took it from his hand. "I'm so sorry!"

"No, no, don't be." He shook his head. "You've been through a lot, it's okay. Really. Besides, I wouldn't mind holding it for you at all."

As soon as the words left his lips, Namjoon felt immediate regret. The statement had sounded fine in his head, but had come out completely wrong and was very creepy. Instead of making it worse by trying to cover up the awkward words of his, he kept quiet and lowered his head, pulling his hood further down to cover a bit of his red face. He refused to look at Nouri.

Why was he such a mess around this girl?

Nouri stared quietly after Namjoon as he turned away from her. She didn't have to mental capacity at that moment to process his odd behavior and settled for simply smothering herself in the feeling of guilt. Had she said something wrong to make him upset?

"Kim Namjoon, Lin Nouri." She shifted her eyes upwards when a man - detective Choi, his badge read - called their names. Namjoon snapped back to attention, sitting straight up in his seat and facing forward as Choi seated himself behind the desk in front of them.

"How are you both holding up?" He asked politely. He turned his eyes to Nouri. "I heard about your concussion. Feeling any better?"

Nouri took a moment to understand what he was saying. Although she was considered fluent in Korean, she still had a difficult time translating everything in her head sometimes, especially when she was tired. She finally nodded. "Yes, thank you for the concern."