"She's starting to wake up."
I slowly opened my eyes and I was in an unfamiliar place. I couldn't make out what was happening but all I remember was Jeno talking about how he wanted me to be brought to his place. This must be his bedroom?
"Hyerin, can you hear me? Are you in pain?", the doctor asked.
"Not really, I feel better than earlier during the photoshoot", I weakly replied. I had more energy, but still tired.
"Well, not exactly earlier", the doctor corrected. "You mean two days ago."
"That means I didn't go to school", I sat up all of a sudden. "I need to—"
"I explained to the school that you'll be absent for the week. They said you'll be excused", Jeno butted in. "Besides, you won't be doing much because you're done with all your academic requirements. It's just practice for your graduation. You should always put your health first, Hyerin."
"He's right", the doctor agreed. "You're over exhausted. You need to rest. Don't overwork yourself. Take a lot of rest and eat a lot. I'll just give some vitamins to take. Don't forget to take them."
"I won't", I replied.
"That's all. I'll be taking my leave", the doctor announced. "If she gets another fever, it's best if she gets admitted to a hospital."
"I'll take that in mind", Jeno said. "Thank you so much, Dr. Qian."
"Any time", he smiled and left the room.
Once he left, Jeno immediately went towards me and sat on the edge of the bed. He gently pushed back my hair behind my hair.
"Why didn't you tell me you were sick?", he softly asked, then looking into my eyes. "Do you know how worried I was when I saw you collapse before my eyes? I was so worried."
"I'm sorry. I didn't want you to worry", I apologized. "I was going to rest after the photoshoot, but then I collapsed. I'll take better care of myself, I promise."
"You promise?", he questioned. I nodded my head. He then leaned close to me and pecked my lips. "Promise made."
"Is this going to be a thing now?", I chuckled.
"Yes", Jeno smiled. "Now, I'll do some work. I'll be working from home so that I can take care of you. Just get plenty of rest, okay? I'll check on you after my work, bub."
"Goodluck, Jeno", I wished him. "I love you, bub."
"Love you too, bub", he smiled and left the room.
"This must be his room", I muttered to myself. I got up and took around. I didn't open or look through things because I wanted to respect his privacy. Instead, I looked at the decorations and pictures that were hung in his room. My eyes stayed on one picture. "This is the four of them together."
It was a picture of Jeno, Haechan, Jaemin, and Renjun.
"His eye smile was even cuter when he was little", I smiled. I looked at the others. "Renjun was short ever since birth."
"I wonder what happened between Haechan and Jeno", I thought out loud.
I sighed and headed back to the bed and tucked myself in.
"I'll just sleep again because that's all I'm good at apparently."
☼
I slept for around five hours, which made it evening now. I was waiting for Jeno, until I got impatient. I got out of bed and decided to explore his place, aka look for the kitchen. It wasn't extremely big. It was big enough for three people, but it only had one bedroom and two bathrooms.
"The kitchen should be... There it is!", I spotted the kitchen. "I should really ask him if I can eat anything in his kitchen. But what if he's in an online business meeting?"
I'll just get a snack. It wouldn't hurt to eat a snack before dinner. I spotted a box of cookies in one of the cupboards, but apparently I am too short or Jeno is too tall which is why I couldn't reach it.
"Why did Jungwoo have to get all the height", I muttered, trying my best to reach the cupboard. "Oh right, Jungwoo. I need to call him later. Let me just get these cookies."
I tried jumping to reach the cookies, but it was of no use.
"If only Jeno was here...", I sighed.
"Jeno is here though", Jeno corrected in third person, which surprised me. "You can't reach it? What are you trying to get?"
"I was getting kinda hungry and I didn't want to disturb you so I wanted to eat something light", I explained. I pointed up at the cupboard with the cookies. "Can you get it for me?"
"I thought you said I was uselessly tall though", Jeno brought up.
That's when I remembered what he was implying.
"I want to just jump into the Bermuda triangle right now and get lost", I said, covering my face that was getting red. I sooner or later came back to my senses. "Delete them, you didn't even get my permission"
"But these are for business purposes", he chuckled. He then signaled the trainer to leave the room and she did, leaving the two of us alone.
"As if", I rolled my eyes and walled closer to him, trying to get the phone. "Why do men have to be uselessly tall"
"I didn't specify whether it's you or not", I told him.
"I am a man and it was directed towards me that time", he explained.
Ding dong.
"Also, no cookies. I ordered us dinner", Jeno said and headed towards the door to answer it. He came back with a plastic bag that had food inside. "I can't cook so this is the best option. It kind of runs in the family. Except for Haechan."
"I see", I said and sat down at the dining table.
Jeno placed the food down on the table and took out each container. He placed one in front of me and placed the other at his place. He headed to the kitchen quickly to get water and came back with the glasses filled with water.
"Let's eat", he said and sat down. "Don't forget to take your vitamins after this."
"I won't", I assured him and dug into the food. It was pretty good. We continued to eat in silence, but a thought popped into my head.
How much did he spend for the private doctor? I should pay him back.
"Hey bub", I called and his head immediately shot up. "How much do I need to pay you back for the doctor? I should pay you back."
"Don't mind it, I want to pay for it", Jeno replied. "Plus, your health is more important."
"C'mon, I should at least pay for that because I'm staying here at your place", I told him.
"Fine, let me get a pen and paper", Jeno said and got up from his chair, getting the mentioned items and coming back to the table. He wrote down each expense, saying it out loud. "A private doctor costs almost 300,000won. The vitamins cost 30,000won. The other expenses cost 100,000won. In total..."
He didn't say the total but handed the paper to me.
Private doctor — 300,000won
Vitamins — 30,000won
Other expenses — 100,000won
Total Cost: 1 kiss from you ;)
"Jeno", I called him and saw that he was just smiling. "I'm being serious."
"I am being serious too", he smirked. "Money isn't everything, but you are."
"I'm never going to convince you, aren't I?", I asked and he nodded. "Fine."
He smiled widely and continued to eat like a kid who was happy that they got a Happy Meal from McDonalds.
"I have a question", I said, putting my utensils down and facing Jeno.
"What is it?", Jeno casually asked.
"What happened between you and Haechan? If you don't mind", I asked, being cautious.
"Haechan was supposed to be the CEO of Lee Cosmetics, not me. One day, his mother was sick and he wanted her to get better so he went outside late at night to buy her fever packs. On his way home, he got into an accident", Jeno explained briefly. "I saw him get hit by the vehicle and panicked, so I told his mother and Mark and broke our promise. Ever since he got into an accident, our father and his mother abandoned him and focused on me. That one mistake affected him a lot."
"While growing up after the accident, he had a caretaker. Haechan became closer to his caretaker and her husband, who worked at a loan company. He felt more love from them", Jeno explained. "When he was 16, they left. It was all of a sudden. It was unlike them. That's when he started to become rebellious."
"Neither of you two could do anything back then", I sighed. "It must've been hard for the two of you."
"Jaemin, Renjun, Haechan and I were very close before that incident. Actually, Haechan was the one who introduced me to Jaemin and Renjun", Jeno told me. "That's why he blames me for stealing his friends. I don't blame him entirely, because we both went through hardships. If you want to know his side, you should ask him. I told you my side already."
"Thanks for sharing it. It must've been difficult for the two of you", I said, feeling bad. "One day, you'll make up with him."
"I doubt that though", Jeno sighed. "Anyways, let's focus on eating. I have a meeting in a bit."
"Okay, bub", I replied and we finished up our food. I got the vitamin and drank it afterward. "I took it already."
"Good. I'll be in a meeting for an hour. If you want to wash up, there's clothes that I asked one of my family maids to buy. If you ever need me, just text me, okay?", he questioned. I nodded in response. "Good night, bub. I love you."
"I love you too bub", I said and we parted. I headed to his room and looked for the clothes he mentioned. I found it and decided to take a quick shower before sleeping. "Oh right, I should call Jungwoo."
I quickly grabbed my phone and dialed Jungwoo's number.
This number is in another call.
"He doesn't usually call anyone though", I muttered. "Must be a friend of his then."
I shook it off my mind and took a shower.
☼
I finished taking a shower and used the towel to dry my hair. I placed the towel back inside the bathroom after I used it. I laid down on the bed, my phone in my hands. I was looking through places where I could rent an apartment to stay in. I didn't want it to be too big but not too small as well.
"Hey bub."
I looked up to see Jeno standing by the door. He was wearing an oversized shirt and sweatpants. He was done with his meeting by the looks of it.
"What are you doing?", he asked, making his way over to me.
"I'm looking for a new place to stay", I replied. "My landlady gave me a couple weeks to find a place. I'm thinking of getting a place near the hospital so that I can visit Jungwoo more often."
"Why don't you just move in with me here?"
[a/n: whenever i make second leading men, i usually think about it irl. like how we usually ship our friend with their crush but then their crush doesn't like them back. like how y'all shipped jisung and sera. it's the cruel reality of having a crush and your friend knows, cause they know everything but can't interfere.]