CHAPTER - 35

Previously,

She thought it was all normal, until she noticed something!

"NO WAY!" She was baffled....

"No, no, I must be seeing it wrong. Let me check." She said and looked for the note she received from someone in the school.

"Where is it..? Where is it?? Where is it??....Here!" She said as she found the note.

She compared the both. "No...no...I must be imagining things. No way! Why does the both handwriting look the same?! Was this note given by..Eun Hyuk too..? No, no, he doesn't look like one. I'm just getting ahead of my thoughts. No, no. I'm just imagining things. No." She said as she shook her head. The next minute someone knocked on her door.

She thought : "Do they really not see the bell? Why can't they ring it?" She walked to the monitor to see who it was. It was Yeon Joon, he was still in his uniform. She thought: "He doesn't even go to his own house after leaving school. He comes straight to Ms.Kyung Ae's. But why is he in front of mine..?"

She clicked the door monitor's phone button and asked him, "What are you doing here?" She thought he was in his training.

"I just came here for a little while. My aunt needs help with something, can you come with me and help her please? I should leave now." He asked.

"Ok, I'll come now.." She said and went back inside.

She sat down on the couch and took a deep breath and thought : "I should calm down first, I saw it all wrong. I was just imagining things." Her mind was full of the letter. She again took a deep breath and went towards the door.

She opened the door and saw Yeon Joon still standing there.

"Oh my goodness! You didn't leave??" She asked.

"Yeah but..why...ghost..?" He asked.

"What? I didn't get it."

"Why...do you look...like you saw...some ghost?" He asked feebly.

"I-I do not." She was embarrassed.

"Shall we..go? He asked.

She nodded.

They went down to the stairs and reached the door of Kyung Ae and Myeong Seok's door.

"Come...in." Yeon Joon said.

"Oh..sure." She said. That's when she noticed something strange with him. She thought: "What's with him? He isn't his usual happy-happy self. Should I ask him...? Or is he fine?" She entered the house and greeted Kyung Ae who was feeding Myeong Seok.

"Hello, Ms.Kyung Ae and Mr.Myeong Seok." She bowed.

"Oh! Bo Young, you're here!" Kyung Ae said with the same excitement she was the other day.

"I heard that you needed some help, what should I help you with?" She asked a bit awkwardly.

"Oh, that, we are reorganising the room Myeong Seok was in before, but we have an appointment with the doctor, so we will have to leave. Can you just help Yeon Joon move some stuff? He also have to go back soon, it would be tough for him to do those by himself. Can you please?" Kyung Ae asked. Bo Young snapped her head to Yeon Joon who said that Kyung Ae wanted help and not him. She noticed that something was definitely wrong with him. She again turned back to Kyung Ae and smiled.

"I can help him." She said with the smile.

"Thank you so much!" Kyung Ae smiled widely while Myeong Seok did the same.

"Then, we'll start now." She said with a smile and walked towards the room. She didn't feel any human presence near her as she was walking. She turned to look if he was there, and it turned out that there was no one following her.

"Aren't you coming?" She asked Yeon Joon who was zoning out.

"Huh? Oh...Yeah, I'm coming.." He said with a low voice tone.

She proceeded walking to the room and shook her head while thinking : "There's definitely something wrong with him."

"Bo Young, you don't feel annoyed, right?" Kyung Ae asked.

"Oh my god, no Ms.Kyung Ae, its my pleasure to help you. Please don't think like that, it would upset me." Bo Young said with a heartwarming smile.

"That's a relief. Thank you both." Kyung Ae said. The both went to the room. They were soon trying to figure out where to start but all the talkings were done by her.

"So What should we do now?" She asked.

"We..should move..this box there." He said pointing to a corner of the room.

"Okay.." She said.

Then they moved it to the corner.

"The couch needs to be rearranged, right?" She asked. He nodded slowly. She sighed and shook her head. She moved it, with the help of him  but she felt like she was the only one who put her full strength. The next moment, Kyung Ae came in.

"We are leaving now. Yeon Joon, you do have the other set of keys, right?" Kyung Ae asked.

"Yeah.." Yeon Joon said.

"Good then. Don't forget to lock the doors after you both leave the house, Yeon Joon. Anyhow, thank you so much for helping Bo Young." Kyung Ae thanked.

"Its not a problem Ms.Kyung Ae." Bo Young replied.

"We'll leave now, bye!" Kyung Ae said, not before she put a smile on her face for Bo Young's reply. They heard the taxi leaving sound and confirmed that they left.

"It looks like the table and the chairs should be rearranged and...the books which are down should go back to the places. Am I right?" She asked as she was looking at the things she pointed out before she turned to face him. The sight of him standing there zoning out and drowsy eyes made her annoyed. But she didn't want to take it out so soon, so she let it off the hook this time too.

Upon looking at Bo Young and hearing her words, he did a little nod.

She then proceeded to go to the area were the table and chairs were a mess. She arranged it with him but all he did was hold the chair weakly, like he had no strength. She brushed it off this time too. She went took the books in her hand and went to the mini book rack to arrange them. Again, she looked back to see if he was coming with her to arrange because she didn't feel any presence.

She finally snapped at him, "Aren't you coming? I know how lazy you are, can you at least take one book and keep it in its place??" She asked.

He dragged his feet to pick up the only one book left down on the floor. She shook her head and started arranging the stack of book she had picked up. She placed the stack of books on top of the mini book rack. She started to place one by one. Soon, Yeon Joon joined her and placed the one and only book that he had, in the rack. He then kept standing there with his head dropped down. They were just few inches away form each other.

"Help me arrange these too." Bo Young said. He didn't give any reply. He neither nodded nor said anything. This irked her enough.

"For the sake of my mom, what the hell is wrong with you?" She asked as she turned to face him.

"Bo Young..." He said as he turned to face her as well, slowly.

"What?" She said with a tinge of annoyance. The next second, he dropped his head on her shoulder. She was surprised with her eyes widened.

"Wha-What? What are you doing?!" She asked.

"Bo Young....I....si..." He said something but nothing was understandable.

"What?? I didn't get...Wait.." She hesitated as her shoulder felt warm now. Slowly the warmth was increasing. Then, she abruptly cupped his face in her hands.

"Why is your face burning..?" She said while feeling his face's temperature. She then took her hands from his face and felt her face.

"It's totally.....different." She said as she looked at him. Again, his head dropped on her shoulder.

"Oh my!" She was startled again. "Hey? Yeon Joon? Can you stand still??" She asked. She already knew the answer from his absence of response.

"Great." She sighed. She again got hold of his head and tried make him look at her.

She thought: "He looks like a child who was woken up from a long nap after travelling...ado-Nope. I should do something...This guy has a really high fever, high in the sense, THIS HIGH....Ok! I'll just do the first aid as usual." She tried to get his attention by calling out his name.

"Hey? Yeon Joon? Can you hear me??" She asked doubting if he actually passed out.

He slowly nodded.

"Finally. Can you stand still for a moment? I'll make sure that the bed is made up for you to lay down." She said. He did nod but the second she took her hand of his face, he came leaning towards her, almost going to fall but Bo Young stopped the accident by holding his arms which were stuck with his body.

"*Sighs* You've really got no strength now. Guess I have to drag you to the room then." She said as she took one of his arm and put around her shoulder. She dragged him to the bed. She thought: "The jacket looks really frustrating for his temperature. I should remove the jacket first." She removed it and placed it in the chair and made him lay down. "*Takes a deep breath after all the strength she put in* I should check his temperature first." She said and looked around. Just as she turned to the right, she saw the first aid box. She took it and came sat on the chair, beside him. She took out the thermometer.

"Hey..? Yeon Joon..? Open your mouth." She said. He did like she said. She kept the thermometer inside his mouth.

A little bit later, she took it out and checked it.

"Phew, It's 40.5 degrees(in Celsius). I should bring a water bowl and towel." She said and prepared those to bring his temperature down. He dozed off.

She filled a bowl with mild cold water and found the nearest towel she could find and went back to him. He was sleeping peacefully but she could hear him breathing. That made her notice that he was really ill.

"What did he do or didn't do to get sick like this??" She shook her head and started to pat his face with the wet towel, very gently. 10 minutes passed and she finished the face part 5 minutes ago. She felt his face again, the temperature seemed to go down a very little bit. Anyone could barely tell the difference but there was some difference.

She then reached out to touch his neck but hesitated. She thought : "Should I?? He is the type who would misunderstand, and tease me about it. Nope, I should do it for him to feel better. Don't hesitate Bo Young." She then felt his neck. Now, both his face and neck were in the same situation.

"That better then. If I do it again, he might catch a cold." She said as she looked at him sleeping. "He sure is good looking, I can quite agree it now that he is still standing out even he is sick." She muttered.

She shook her head and looked at the time. She had about an hour left for her part time. "I still have enough time left. What should I do now?" She tried to think. That's when she heard a growling sound, it came from stomach.

"It's not me...I'm not hungry. Then, it's you, huh? I was going to cook porridge anyways." She said with a chuckle coming out her mouth as she found the situation funny. She was ready to leave but she hesitated on one thing. "Am I allowed to go around like this in their house though? I am definitely not doing something bad, it's something like an emergency. Hope they don't think of me in a bad manner." She muttered to herself and tried to leave but Yeon Joon's feeble voice stopped her.

"Please..." He murmured in his sleep.

"Are you awake??" She asked in surprise. He didn't seem to respond to that but continued to talk something.

"Mom..." He continued. Her expression changed into a worried one. She thought: "This guy really likes his mom but his mom doesn't realise that. I wish I could give her some words of wisdom."

"Love...me..mom." He continued with a frown attached in his face.

Her eyes were filled with worries and a little bit of rage because of the behaviour of his mother. She reached out her hand to feel his temperature again and touched his face. The moment she placed her hand, Yeon Joon got hold of it tightly. She was caught by surprise.

He wasn't awake by then either, he was still asleep. He then clasped it tightly with both his hands and turned to the side.

"Stay here..don't leave me mom...love...me..as much as I..love..you...mom..please." He murmured again, thinking that the hands he was holding were of his mother. He went back to deep sleep, finally easing out the holding hands.

"Finally, he left it free..I'm letting it go because you thought of it as your mother." She said even though he wouldn't hear. She thought: "Damn everything is awkward and embarrassing as hell. Hope he doesn't remember anything after he wakes up. I should go cook the porridge now." She got up to leave finally. She reached the kitchen and started to prepare things for cooking. It takes maximum 40 minutes. She started to prepare the ingredients and kept everything ready to start. She started cooking. She was familiar with the recipe and directions because that's what she did the past few years when she was ill and her mother was ill.

~40 minutes later~

"It's all ready now." She said and passed it in a bowl conveniently. She prepared everything readily. Everything placed in a tray in a neat manner, she went back. She went to bring the table which she reorganised earlier to place the tray on it. When she returned back with the table, Yeon Joon was awake.

"You're awake??" She asked. Hearing her voice his eyes widened and now he was even more awake. Startled, he sat up leaning on the wall with no strength.

"What..are you doing here??" He asked. She put a dead look on her face.

"Fine, I'll leave then." She said.

"No, no, no." He waved his hand vigorously.

"You are just sick, aren't you? Why are you acting like you were drunk now??" She asked.

"You can't treat someone who is sick like that." He said.

"You can't treat someone who was taking care of you like that either." She said back.

"Taking..care..?"

"Do you really not remember or are you pretending not to remember?? The one who dragged you here to sleep, lowered your temperature, even cooked you food is all the same person, and it's me." She said placing her  hands on her waist. He was flabbergasted but finally remembered it.

"You talk so much even when you're sick. Tsk tsk." Bo Young said. She then looked at the porridge.

She hurriedly sat down and took the bowl in her hand. She scooped a spoon of it and reached it out to him.

"You should eat this before it cools down. Now open your mouth, ah~~~" She held it near his mouth. He was wide eyed. He thought: "Is this some kind of sorcery, when did she become like this??" He was in disbelief seeing Bo Young being all kind and friendly now, who always would cut him off and be cold to him.

"Hurry up, my hand's paining." She said. He reacted to it pretty quickly and started eating.

"It tastes..really good." He said with wide eyes.

"Really...? Thanks." She said as she was stirring it.

"But, Bo Young,"

"What?"

"Are you also sick??" He asked.

"Isn't it obvious that I'm not? And why did you ask??"

"You are being so kind and friendly now..." He said hesitantly. She stopped stirring. Noticing her reaction, he said, "I'm really sorry. You are always friendly, to be honest, there are times where you-"

"You remind me of my mother." She said.

"What..?"

"My mom would get sick frequently. I always took care of her attentively. Whenever I see anyone sick, they would remind me of my mom, so I would take care of them, the same way I did to my mom." She said with a gentle smile with pain hidden in it. She scooped it again and reached out to him, without any hesitation he got it in his mouth.

"How long has it been since I slept??" He asked.

"About 40 minutes."

"I thought I slept longer."

"But what made you sick so badly though?" She asked giving him another spoon of the porridge.

"Is it so bad??" He asked munching the food.

"It was first at 40.5 degrees now its 40. There is not much difference but that is still bad." She said   

"No wonder I feel like this." He said.

"Did you not eat well??" She asked. She gave another spoon.

"I do but I think the training's been so harsh on my health now. I should take care of it." He said.

"Oh right! I should inform your aunt." She said and took out her phone to dial but not before him stopping her.

"No, don't call them. They will worry and come back. Uncle should receive the treatment regularly, I can't make them worry about me." He said as he grabbed her hand.

"*Sighs* Then what about your mother??" She asked forgetting about what Seong Seop told her. The line he said came up to her mind "His parents always considered their business as the first priority and not him."

"Forget that I said that." She said and gave him the last spoon of the porridge. He smiled.

She looked at the time which made her a little bit tensed.

"I have only 10 mins left..???!" She said.

"For what..?" He asked.

"Rich guys like you won't understand..I should call somebody now so they can come. Oh right! Hyun Wook sunbae!" She said and scrolled through her phone to dial but Yeon Joon stopped her again.

"Don't call him." He said.

"What's the reason now?" She asked.

"It's, it's because, Yeah! Soo Ki will know where he is going and she'll inform Rae Bin, and then you'll know what'll happen. It's so troublesome for a normal person and even worse for a sick person like me." He said acting like he is even more ill.

"That's right, but I love seeing you in trouble though. Should I call him?" She joked.

"No, please. I'm so sick." He whined.

"But you talk so much for a sick person." She said.

"Please..?" He asked.

"Okay okay, I was just playing." She chuckled. He smiled seeing her reaction.

"So, for what are you hurrying up though?" He asked.

"I have to go for part time, or else, *sighs* I don't even want to think of it." She said.

"Or else what?"

"The owner would slap me." She said reminiscing the first day.

"WHAT?!" He was irked.

"It happened an the first day when I was late though." She said.

"Whatever it is! How can he slap someone new?! And on top of that, a girl?!" He was even more angry.

"Whoa whoa there, even I'm not angry about that. Whatever, who should I call now? I don't have enough time." She said as she was scrolling though her contacts.

"I've made up my mind. I'll just call your aunt." She said.

"I said no, they might be in the middle of the treatment." He said.

"For like more than 50 minutes? Have some logic, dumbhead." She said and dialled.

"Hey- No-" How much he tried to stop her, she didn't budge.

"Oh, Hello? Ms.Kyung Ae? This is Bo Young." She said.

"What's it Bo Young?" Kyung Ae replied from the other side.

"May I ask if you and Mr.Myeong Seok are still in the hospital?" She asked.

"We just finished with the treatment, we are coming back now. Do you have anything to tell?"

"That's good. You see that..Yeon Joon is actually really sick right now." She said as she looked at Yeon Joon who was slumped with his face buried in his hand.

"WHAT?!" Kyung Ae asked in surprise.

"He's having a little high fever. You don't have to worry, I did the first aid that has to be done. It's reduced by a half degree now."

"Thank you so much Bo Young! You've done so much for us. We are just a few metres away, we'll be there in two minutes. Please take care of him, while I'm not there. Can you?"

"You don't have to worry Ms.Kyung Ae, I will take care. Then, I'll hang up now." She said.

"Oh sure!" They hung up the call.

"They're just 2 minutes away. I should go get ready." She said and got up. Yeon Joon grabbed her hand to stop her. She looked at him confused.

"Can't you stay here until they arrive?" He asked with the disappearance of his brightness in his face.

She thought: "He already sleep-talked about his mother being unloving to him, I can't leave someone alone like that." She sat down again. He didn't leave her hand.

"This..?" She asked, showing him how he was holding her hand.

"Oh..sorry.." He said. There was awkwardness in the air for a few minutes. Later, they heard door slamming sound of a car. Their head snapped towards the door.

"They're here." She said. Kyung Ae was coming with Myeong Seok in his wheelchair. Bo Young stood up, leaving way for Kyung Ae to sit.

"Yeon Joon! Are you okay?!" Kyung Ae asked as she sat down where Bo Young sat.

"Why didn't you tell us that you were sick?!" Myeong Seok asked.

"I'm sorry..."

"What do you mean sorry?! Look, you're burning!" Kyung Ae was hella worried.

"Honey, stop shouting at him. He's already sick." Myeong Seok said.

"What'd you mean I'm shouting? I'm just worried about him. His mother won't even care about him, she doesn't even know that's she's given birth to such a precious child. His father isn't even a little different. Selfish people." Kyung Ae said as she caressed him.

"I'm just having a bad fever, nothing else aunt. This is why I didn't inform you both." Yeon Joon whined.

Bo Young looked at the time. She had only 5 minutes left. Just then someone entered the house. They all snapped their heads towards them. It was..

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Chapter - 35 end!

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