"YOU'RE SICK?!"
Jay stands up from his seat with his phone glued to his ear, walking around the studio on nervous feet. Everyone is surprised by his loud yell but didn't say anything when they see a worried expression on Jay's face.
"I'm sorry, Jay... I think I couldn't go to work today..."
"Don't even dare to come to work! Stay at home and rest!"
"I will." a couple of coughing could be heard on the other line, causing Jay to let out a sigh.
"I'm coming to your house."
"C-coming? Why? N-no! Don't!"
"Shut up, and sleep. I'll bring some food." Jay ends the call, sliding into his jeans pocket before running to grab his jacket and car key in hurry.
"I'm leaving for a while, I'll come back later," Jay says to the workers in the studio.
"But, your dad says he's gonna come visit today--"
"Just do some excuse for me, thanks." He says one last time before running outside leaving the studio.
"Mr. Park!"
---
Jay stops in front of the door, catching his breath with porridge inside plastic in his right hand. He glances at his watch, realizing it's still early and probably she still didn't eat breakfast.
He knocks on the door 3 three times, waiting for someone to open the door.
"Haneul, I'm here."
1...
2...
3...
4...
5...
6...
7...
Ting!
His phone vibrates, indicating there's a new message he just received.
Haneul dumbass
-Jay ah you can just leave the food in front, I'll take it later. You can go back to work-
He scrunches his nose, ignoring the messages before continuing to knock on the door violently.
"I'm not leaving idiot, open the door!"
Ting!
Haneul dumbass
-Don't knock on the door so hard! My aunt is here, please leaveeeeeeee-
Jay let out a scoff, fingers finally busy typing a reply.
-Who the fuck cares. Open the fuck up.-
Jay slides his phone inside his jacket pocket, knocking on the door multiple times again.
"Just open the door, Haneul. Or I'm gonna bust the door open in 5 seconds."
"5."
"4."
"3."
"2."
"1."
"Zero."
"I've done counting, Haneul... I'm not hesitating to--"
As he was talking, the door suddenly open wide, with Haneul's aunt standing in front of the door looking at him.
"Haneul's boss?"
Jay clears his throat, standing straight before bowing slightly to the middle-aged woman in front of him. Her greyish hair was tied in a bun, and the bright lipstick on her lips caught him off guard.
Seems like she loves to doll herself up. Even at home.
"Good morning."
"Morning. What are you doing here?" her aunt speaks with a straight tone and a blank expression.
"I'm trying to give her food, and I'm trying to check up on her since she said that she's sick--"
"You don't have to see her, she's fine. Just overreacting." Her aunt let out a scoff.
Jay's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, slightly tilting his head to the right as he feels weirded by her words.
"Overreacting?"
"Haneul just likes attention, she craves for it. A young man like you is supposed to go to work now, don't worry about that girl."
"Oh yeah, she just works with you right? That girl doesn't need this kind of treatment. She supposedly dies when she's a teenager but surprisingly she survives until 20--"
"Why do you say that, ma'am?" Jay walks closer to the woman in front of him, glaring into her eyes.
At first, he cares about formality with older people, but now after she talks shit about Haneul, he couldn't care less.
Why would someone talk shit about someone who is a part of your family anyway?
Her aunt stops talking, gulping as she feels nervous.
"If she said that she's sick, then she is." He sneered.
"Did she had breakfast, ma'am?" Jay adds, approaching her even closer.
The look on her aunt's eyes is burning, drilling into his brain.
"She's a grown-ass woman, she has her own money to buy food or cook by herself--"
"She's fucking sick! And you expect her to cook for herself? you didn't even buy her food? What kind of aunt are you?!" Jay finally raises his voice, shooting her with a sharp glare.
She frowns in anger once he raises his voice, "Who are you to talk to me like that?! You know nothing about her!"
"She's a burden to my family! She fakes her illness, always seeks attention, and would do anything to get money in her hand!"
Jay couldn't believe what he just heard, especially from someone like her aunt. Words stuck in his throat, completely speechless by her mean words.
Suddenly a sad silhouette appeared behind the aunt, it was Haneul. She hears everything.
Everything.
She looks pale, her hair is messy and her eyes are droopy as if she's gonna faint any second.
"Jay..." her voice breaks.
"Haneul!" Jay pushes the aunt away from the door, causing her to fall next to it. He immediately held her small frame in his hands, examining her in a concerned expression.
He nervously removes some of her hair strands, looking at her pale complexion. Her body temperature is hot, with cold sweats on her forehead.
"Oh my God, you're burning! Come, we're going to the hospital." Jay says one last time before carrying her in a bridal style.
Haneul didn't even have the energy to refuse, all she could do is just let him do whatever he can.
"Where do you think you're going!" Haneul's aunt suddenly shouts, causing Jay to look at her in surprise.
"You said she's a burden to your family, so I'm bringing her away from a witch like you." He gritted his teeth, muffling his voice scared to let Haneul listen to what he said.
"Great! Dont ever come back here!" She shouts crazily, pointing her fingers at them leaving.
Jay didn't speak a word, glaring at her aunt with burning gaze. He stands there for a while, ignoring her question before walking downstairs in a hurry with Haneul in his arms.
"Yah! I'm talking to you!"
"Shut up, old hag." Jay mutters to himself, just audible enough for Haneul to hear causing her to let out a small chuckle.
She tightens her hold around his neck, slowly closing her eyes as she feels her eyelids drooping about to close.
"H-haneul..."
"You okay?"
"Hello?"
"Stop ignoring me, dumbass."
Why is everything sound muffle?
"She has a 38 degree Celsius of fever, she can stay here for a while." the doctor says, while glancing at Jay next to her.
Wait...
What happened?
Haneul looks to her side, realizing she's laying on a bed.
When did we reach here?
Didn't he just carry me to his car?
"Thank you, doctor." Jay bows a little to him, showing him a slight smile before walking to the chair next to her bed.
Haneul sits up from the bed, confused.
"H-hey, what's wrong?" Jay approaches, placing his palm on her shoulder to prevent her to move even further.
Haneul spins her head towards him, pausing for a while.
"J-jay..."
"When did we get here?"
He furrowed his eyebrows, weirded by her question.
"A few minutes ago, why?"
Haneul shakes her head, feeling everything so surreal to her. The white ceiling of the hospital, the bed she's laying on, and Jay next to her looking worried.
"Did I faint? How can I not remember everything?" she questions, hoping he would agree.
"Faint? No. You just didn't say a word inside my car when I tried to talk to you." He retorts, not breaking the eye contact.
I didn't pass out?
But how...
How can I not remember how do we get here?
"Jay... I'm scared."
"Why is this happening to me?" Haneul starts to feel nervous, eyes shaking in nervousness.
He holds her palms, trying to comfort her.
"Hey, what's wrong? Why are you scared?"
Haneul looks around the room, realizing the porridge he bought for her is nicely placed on the table next to it. She points her finger to the food, before asking him.
"There, the food. You bought it... Today?"
He looks at the porridge, before nodding his head as a response.
"Yeah, do you want to eat it now?"
Honestly, she's scared of how these past few days she's been forgetting things.
But she couldn't say it out loud.
Am I just overreacting?
"Here, I'll feed for you." Jay grabs the bowl of porridge, opening the lid before mixing a little with the available spoon.
"Can we leave?" Haneul stops him from feeding her, looking at him with expectation.
He paused, staring at Haneul without saying anything.
"Can we?"
"Haneul..."
"What's wrong?"
"Do you feel uncomfortable here?"
Haneul shakes her head, hesitant to tell him about how she feels.
"N-no..."
"If no, then eat first." Jay continues, scooping some of the rice porridge before trying to feed her.
She shakes her head again, slightly pushing his hand away from her face.
"I'm not hungry..."
"It's because you just don't have an appetite, just force it, because if you don't eat you will get even sick."
"But--"
"Come on, I don't have all day here." Jay cuts her off, still holding the spoon up in the air waiting for her to open her mouth.
She let out a sigh, accepting the food he gives. She chews slowly, feeling the warm broth going down her throat.
Jay just shows her a small smile, probably proud that he manages to convince her to eat.
"I told you, rain ruins everything." He let out a scoff, eyes fixed on the porridge on his hands.
"You get sick from it." he adds, lifting his head to look at Haneul.
She looks at him, all she could see is how tender his gaze was, how warm his smile was.
All she could see is just his genuine expression, which she rarely even see. Usually, he always put his usual blank expression, not caring about how he treats people, he hurts people with his mean words...
But now, he's different.
He's comforting, he cares, everything he does...
Is genuine.
The corner of her mouth slowly lifted, flashing him a warm smile.
"But I love rain." Her eyes lit up.
"Rain is comforting to me, the sounds, the thunder, and the dark sky always calm me down." She adds, fidgeting the blanket with her fingers.
"But it makes people sick."
"It's not like every time the rain touches their skin they'd straight go sick, sometimes it's just luck." She let out a chuckle.
"People can stay in the rain for days and never get sick, how can you explain that?"
Jay stays silent, eyes not leaving hers.
"Don't see things from the bad, just see it from the positive side, Jay."
"You always do that... I'm honestly worried."
"You always see the bad first, trust me, it's not gonna do you any good. Be positive, and everything will turn out right." Haneul smiles, staring at him who is incredibly quiet.
He looks away, clearing his throat before letting out a small chuckle.
"Are you giving me a life lesson?"
She shrugs, "well, you could say that."
The conversation continues, Haneul tries to smile often although she doesn't have the energy to laugh too much. Her heart flutters every time she talks with him, it makes her forget about her sickness.
---
"I said it's fine, Jay."
He's been convincing her to go to his house instead of going straight back home because he doesn't want her aunt to see her with this condition.
"Shut up." Jay answers shortly, intertwining her hands before pulling her inside his house.
"Why didn't you tell me your aunt abused you?" he glares at her, taking off his jacket before placing it on the sofa. He pulls her body, gently pushing to let her rest on the sofa.
Haneul's eyes widened, shaking her head hurriedly.
"N-no she didn't abuse me--"
"Yes, she did. She didn't give you food, she talks shit about you, she's a maniac! It's still considered as abuse." He sighs, sitting next to her.
Haneul bites her upper lips in response, dumbfounded to even speak.
"You can stay here."
Her eyebrows rose in confusion, looking at him.
"Stay here?"
Jay nodded, staring at her. "Yes."
"Stay here until I report your aunt to the police--"
"What?!"
Haneul's body immediately jolted, standing up in front of him in surprise.
"Yah! Sit, you still have the fever--"
"Y-you're going to report them to the police?" she cuts him off again, resulting in him to rolls his eyes.
"Yes. Your aunt behavior is unacceptable, they deserve to be in jail--"
"Jay... Think before you speak." She let out a nervous chuckle, gulping down her throat.
She used to pray to God wishing her aunt and his son would rot in jail, but she didn't expect this moment would come too soon.
He didn't seem to buy her words, crossing his arms while glaring at Haneul as if she's the one who is in the wrong.
"That's why you're so skinny."
"She didn't feed you?"
"That's why you're scared to go home at 3 am that day."
"Because of that old wrinkly woman?"
"I will rip her hair off from her dry ass scalp--"
"Enough, Jay..." Haneul tries to calm him down, holding his palm in hers.
"Honestly, I hate her. But... They're my only family left. And I actually used to wish for them to go to jail, but right now is not the right moment yet." She smiles.
Jay shows her an unreadable look, she's confused whether he's mad or sad.
He tightens his hold, squishing her hands a little.
"Haneul, just tell me everything and I will not hesitate to help you." He returns a smile, gently caressing the back of her palm.
Fluttery feelings spark inside her stomach, with the corner of her mouth eventually curving into a big smile. It's the feeling you can never explain, it's the way he makes her feel, everything...
He left meaning to her life.
From a dull life, to interesting days.
All just because of one thing.
The day she met him...
Is the day her life changed.
In a good way.
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