Long ass chapter (pls don't kill me 😅)
———
The next day, Jeongin arrived at Byeol's apartment about 20 minutes before school. He parked his car outside, then the two teens walked together to school. Once they arrived, Jeongin walked Byeol to her locker, where Minki was waiting for her, and kissed his girlfriend goodbye. The two girls then walked and talked on their way to their classes before sadly having to say goodbye, but they'd catch up at lunch.
This same routine has been going on for about two weeks, and nothing has been out of the ordinary. Byeol saw Yeonjun and his friends in school but they never talked to her after what happened that day, only gave her looks that sent shivers down her spine. Nevertheless, just their presence made Byeol feel uncomfortable, she couldn't help but think that they were still planning something.
Byeol and her friends went to the races every Saturday night, but they didn't race every time. It became a routine that Jeongin would take Byeol home and spend the night after the races. The next day, they would wake up and do their schoolwork together before just spending time with each other.
For the last two weeks, Byeol had been getting comfortable with this routine way of doing things. It was like she was in a daze and everything was perfect.
———
It was a Sunday night and Byeol and Jeongin had just finished eating dinner and were now watching a movie while being cuddled up on the couch. All of a sudden, Byeol felt extremely hot, and as much as she didn't want to, she wiggled out of Jeongin's arms and turned to look at him.
"Sorry I just got-" Byeol gasped when she saw Jeongin. Beads of sweat were all over his face and his hair was soaked from the sweat. "Oh my gosh are you okay?!" She placed her hand to his head but immediately retracted it due to the heat emanating from his forehead.
"I... it's very hot," Jeongin's breathing was labored and his eyes were barely open as he spoke.
Byeol felt like crying seeing Jeongin like this, but she sucked it up and did what she had to.
"Okay, I'm going to get the thermometer and some medicine to help. Um, stay," as she got up, a weak chuckle left Jeongin's mouth.
Byeol soon returned to the couch with a thermometer and some Tylenol for Jeongin. She placed the thermometer under his arm and patiently waited until it beeped.
"101.2... that's not good. Here, take two Tylenol while I get a cool towel. Do you think you could make it to the room and lay in bed? I think you'd be more comfortable there." Byeol stood up while Jeongin nodded his head.
He stood up and wobbled a bit, so Byeol put his arm around her shoulders and helped him into her room and onto her bed. Once he was situated, she left and returned with a bowl of cold water and a towel. She dipped the towel in the water, wrung it out, then gently placed it on his forehead.
Jeongin's eyes were closed and his breathing was steady. He looked peaceful, aside from all of the sweat that was beading on his face. Byeol wanted nothing more than to pull him into her and comfort him, but she didn't know what he had and didn't want to get sick herself. Someone had to take care of him after all.
After putting the towel back in the water, wringing it out, and placing it on Jeongin's forehead a few times, Byeol saw that he was asleep. A small smile appeared on her face before she placed a gentle kiss on his cheek and left the room, quietly shutting the door.
She made her way back to the couch and pulled out her phone and called Minki as she sat down.
M: Byeol? Hey! I thought Jeongin was over?
B: He's sick, Minki. I don't know what happened. We were watching a movie and he was hugging me, then it got really warm and when I turned to look at him, he was sweating so bad. And he has a temperature of 101.2! He's in my bed sleeping right now, and I gave him some Tylenol, but I don't know what to do!
M: Oh babe, I'm so sorry! I wish I could- Wait! Jisung is over, I'll ask him to take us there and we can help, okay? Just hang tight, we'll be on our way!
Without giving Byeol a chance to respond, Minki hung up, leaving the younger girl happy that she has a best friend as caring as Minki. Byeol laid down on the couch and scrolled through her Instagram feed while she waited on Minki and Jisung. Every ten minutes, however, she would get up and check on Jeongin and change the towel out.
About an hour later, a knock was heard on Byeol's door. She went to the door and opened it after hearing Minki and Jisung on the other side. They came in and Minki pulled Byeol into a hug immediately.
"How is he?" Jisung spoke as the two girls pulled away.
"He's still asleep and he's not sweating anymore. I just don't know what happened. He seemed fine earlier, but now that I think about it, he was pretty quiet at dinner. Then during the movie, he just started sweating like crazy and had a fever." Byeol wrapped her arms around herself and looked down as she spoke. "I should've noticed he was off earlier."
"Hey, no. Don't do that. This isn't your fault, okay?" Minki rubbed Byeol's arm and gave a reassuring smile. "I think maybe we should wait until he's awake before we do anything."
"That's a good idea. And you know, my mom's a nurse and she taught me a bunch of basic things, so I can take care of him if you want." Jisung said as he looked at Byeol.
She nodded her head and headed back to the couch with Minki and Jisung. It wasn't too late, maybe 7 or 8 at night so they decided to just watch a movie.
Sticking to her schedule, Byeol checked on Jeongin every ten minutes. And finally, after about 2 more hours, there was an improvement.
"His fever broke!" Byeol smiled as she shared the news to her friends.
"That's really good! We just need to wait and see if he wakes up tonight. He might just sleep till the morning. And," Jisung looked at his phone, "it's getting pretty late so I think I'll just tell you what to do. We need sleep too."
The girls chuckled with Jisung and Byeol nodded her head.
"I haven't talked to him today, but I know things haven't been so great at home recently. And since he only had a fever, I'd say it could be stress induced. Just, when he wakes up, just talk with him. You have no idea how much you mean to him, Byeol. Now, if it isn't just stress, we got some medicine that should help with anything. Stomach aches, muscle aches, another fever, or anything else that could come up. Call us in the morning. With an update okay?"
Byeol nodded at Jisung and hugged the two goodbye. After shutting and locking her front door, she went to check on Jeongin again. She was surprised to see him awake and sitting up in bed. With a huge smile, she jumped onto the bed and hugged his torso, burying her head in his chest.
"Well hey to you too," Jeongin chuckled and hugged Byeol's shoulders.
"How are you feeling?" Byeol lifted her head and sat up next to him, her arms still around his waist.
"A lot better. I don't know what happened. Everything was fine, but during dinner, I got this huge headache and then during the movie, I just got really hot." Jeongin looked at his lap as he spoke.
Byeol thought about what Jisung had said and decided to ask about it. "Um... Jeongin? I called Minki and Jisung because I was scared and didn't know what to do, and they came over. Jisung said that things haven't been too great at home for you, and that this might've been caused by stress. What's going on?"
Jeongin hesitated before he spoke. "It's nothing really. Just my dad being an asshole." He gave out a chuckle to mask the fact he wasn't telling the whole truth, but Byeol saw straight through it.
"Jeongin, you can tell me. I'm your girlfriend and I care about you, so much. What kind of girlfriend would I be if I wasn't able to help you through things like this? I've been through some shit myself, so I can handle whatever it is. Just please, talk to me." Byeol looked at Jeongin with glassy eyes as her tears were threatening to fall.
The fact that Jeongin was having a hard time at home was enough, but now he wasn't wanting to tell her what was going on? If this relationship was going to work, the communication had to be both ways.
"I mean, you saw me having a panic attack from all of the shit I went through that day, but I didn't hesitate to tell you about what was going on. I trust you, so please. I just want to help, so let me." She couldn't help the sob that escaped her mouth as she finished speaking.
Jeongin hadn't looked up at all while Byeol spoke, and he continued to just look at his lap. After a few moments of silence, Byeol scoffed and stood up.
"You know what? Fine. Stay here tonight, but only because it's really late. And you know what else? Until you're ready to trust me and open up about whatever is going on, don't expect me to want to talk." The tears were streaming down Byeol's face as she stormed out of her room and headed into her guest room.
She shut and locked the bedroom door then climbed into the bed and buried herself under the covers. As she cried herself to sleep, her quiet sobs were heard on the other side of the door where Jeongin was. His hand was raised and ready to knock, he just couldn't push himself to do it.
He wanted to tell Byeol everything, he just didn't know how. He was surprised when he told her about his mom that time in detention. He was distracted with braiding her hair and it just came out. But now that she was asking about it, he didn't know how to do it. He lowered his hand then slowly walked back to her room and tried to sleep. But he couldn't get the sound of her cries out of his head, knowing that he was the cause of them.
He climbed into her bed and pulled the pillow she always used close. Her scent filled his nose and a single tear fell down his face as he finally fell into a restless sleep.