When Jaebeom wakes up the next day, it's way past noon, Jinyoung is gone and every trail he could've possibly left behind. Carefully, Jaebeom sits upright on his bed, uncomfortable but definitely not feeling terrible like the day before. There's no headache or spinning world, his body aches but he has full control of it; the worst part is his throat that feels like sandpaper, just swallowing is painful. Because of that, he gets out of bed realising he's in his clothes from the day before, including jeans and shirt, which probably only added up to his discomfort but he's grateful Jinyoung didn't strip him, he already did too much for him.

Jaebeom heads to the kitchen for a glass of warm water for his throat, thinking of Jinyoung and wondering if he got back to the hospital safe. Now the young man realises he didn't give the younger any cash to pay for the ride back, which is the least he could've done for troubling him so much.

Now that he thinks about all what Jinyoung did for him just for a simple cold, Jaebeom is surprised. They've met four times, never in a normal situation. They aren't friends, barely acquaintances if he's being kind enough, because until yesterday Jaebeom regarded Jinyoung as a weirdo he wanted as far away as possible. Yet the younger man went through all that trouble for Jaebeom when he was too weak to get home alone, nursing him and even singing him to sleep.

Jaebeom is quite a healthy man, seldom getting sick so he's never had a friend ever taking care of him, only his mother. He got this cold not just for getting caught in the rain, he knows that. All the stress and worry due to his family situation must've attacked his defences and that rain was just the last straw.

As he fills a glass with warm water, Jaebeom wonders if Jinyoung helped him because he felt guilty for getting Jaebeom soaked wet. He doesn't blame the younger, so he really hopes that isn't the case.

The warm water helps a bit to soothe his sore throat, and to finish waking him up, but he still isn't fully recovered and he knows it. He recalls Jinyoung's words asking him to get better for himself and his mother, which is completely true and for that reason Jaebeom decides he needs to stay home resting for today to get better. He goes back inside his room to search for his mobile phone. Obviously, the battery is dead so he has to plug it and wait for it to turn on. To make good use of his time, he decides to take a warm shower and get in comfortable clothes while he waits.

By the time he's back in sweatpants and a large t-shirt, his phone is on again with a dozen of notifications; from Kakao notifications to missed calls. He starts by calling back his aunt.

"Imo, I'm sorry, I was sleeping. The cold was worse than I thought," Jaebeom immediately says when his aunt picks up the phone. "I'm home right now."

"Are you okay? Did you get treated yesterday? Are you alone at home?"

"I'm better, but I still think it's good if I stay home today to get more rest and fully recover. I'm taking medicine so I should be all better soon. And yes, I'm alone," he answers, knowing today not even the maid will come home as she only comes every other day except on Sundays. His father hired her after his mother got in the accident to keep the house, but Jaebeom doesn't even know her name. "There's food though, so don't worry about that."

"If you need anything, and I mean anything, call me, okay?" His aunt requests and Jaebeom smiles, sitting on the edge of his queen size bed.

"Will do, imo. I also called to know how's eomma doing today. Any change?"

"No," his aunt answers with a sigh. "And I really don't like the doctor. She is void of any emotion! I can't believe you've been dealing with her. I told her she's dealing with people, people in a lot of pain and fear, not just the patients she's treating." His aunt scoffs and Jaebeom chuckles, imagining his aunt scolding the doctor. "I can't believe a doctor can be that cold."

"Maybe sickness and fear mean nothing to her as that's all she sees, every day," Jaebeom suggests, grateful he never felt tempted to become a doctor himself. "Anyhow, thanks for keeping an eye on eomma. I'll be there tomorrow."

"Come when you're all better yourself, Jaebeomie. I'm here to look after your mother, so you don't have to worry now and just make sure to rest a lot."

"Thank you, imo," say Jaebeom from the bottom of his heart.

After hanging up with his aunt, he replies to his friends who were worried because he didn't give any sign to be alive since the day before. He tells them he's just at home with a cold and he's planning on going back to sleep after taking his medicine. Obviously, they show their concern and wish him a speedy recovery. Youngjae offers to be at his door immediately, but Jaebeom refuses vehemently, saying he just needs to sleep. It takes a while to persuade his cousin, though.

Knowing he can't take medicine with an empty stomach, he goes back to the kitchen to get anything, checking what's on the fridge and he's surprised to find a bowl covered in transparent plastic with a note on it. He retrieves it from the fridge and reads the piece of paper.

Make sure to eat before taking your medicine. Get better soon, hyung!

—Jinyoung

Jaebeom is incredibly surprised to find porridge in the bowl and to know Jinyoung left it for him. He wonders how long the younger stayed at his place, even cooking for him. He's just a bit put off by how comfortable Jinyoung made himself in Jaebeom's place, but at the same time he's touched for all that concern and the trouble.

For that reason, Jaebeom heats the porridge in the microwave and then sits to eat it calmly. It's not bad but it isn't the best thing he has tried either, but that can be because with a cold everything tastes bland. Still, Jaebeom is thankful and eats all of it before rinsing the plates and putting them in the dishwasher. With his stomach full, Jaebeom takes his medicine and checks his temperature, glad it's within a normal range. He brushes his teeth and brings a jar with water and a glass to put it on his nightstand before getting in bed again.

As he lies in bed, realising he's tired from just being up for an hour or so, he wonders how Jinyoung is doing and wishing he could contact the younger, just to thank him for helping him out and to know if he got in trouble at the hospital again.

Jinyoung might not feel indebted to Jaebeom, but that's not the case for him. For the first time, he wishes to run into Jinyoung again, just to thank him for what he did and do something in return. As he starts to drift into unconsciousness, Jaebeom decides that once he gets better and goes to the hospital, he's going to ask what Park Jinyoung's room is, and pay him a visit.

_______________

The next time Jaebeom wakes up is already nighttime but he is feeling a lot better, still he eats something and takes his medicine, staying in bed but awake. He checks on his mother and aunt and reports to his friends, informing them he's feeling much better.

Jaebeom stares at his contact list, wishing he had Jinyoung's Kakao ID at least, but then that would mean getting closer and Jaebeom isn't so sure that's what he wants. Given, he's grateful, but Jinyoung seems like a complication he doesn't have the energy to deal with. If they get closer, then Jaebeom will naturally worry about him and he really doesn't need anyone else at the brisk of death in his life. He already worries that he might've gotten in trouble because of him, he doesn't need more than that. That's why he decides that he won't get Jinyoung's contact information and after he thanks the younger, he'll continue hoping they don't cross paths again.

With that decision, Jaebeom decides to focus on something else because he's slept enough for the day, or that he thinks but apparently he's more tired than he even realised. As he takes some of the papers he's supposed to read for his class, he ends up falling asleep again, not waking up until the next morning. Thankfully, when he wakes up he only feels the discomfort that comes from sleeping too much, his body aching to move and do something.

Listening to that request, Jaebeom gets up, showers and gets dressed for the day. It's Saturday so he doesn't have classes and he can head to the hospital immediately. He takes the bus as it's past ten in the morning. When he gets off the bus, he stops by a coffee shop from one of the big chains to get breakfast for himself and his aunt, and then goes inside the hospital.

However, instead of immediately going to his mother's room, he stops by the reception to talk with one of the nurses.

"Good morning," he greets politely and smiling kindly. "Um, I wanted to ask about another patient's room number. His name is Park Jinyoung."

"Are you relative of the patient?" She asks and Jaebeom shakes his head.

The nurse types the name and looks at the screen of her computer intently, but her expression furrows her brow before looking up and meeting Jaebeom's eyes.

"Currently we don't have any patient admitted under that name in this ward."

"Really?" Jaebeom asks, confused. "Maybe he got discharged yesterday? He is a... friend. He sneaked out Thursday night to help me get home because I was running a high fever. Maybe that rings a bell?" The young man insists, and watches the nurse look more into it, but the expression on the woman's face doesn't change. Still she tries again.

"I'm sorry, but there's no register of such behaviour. And the last patient we had under that names was last week and he got discharged on Monday morning. There's another patient with that name, but I doubt he's your friend. He's been admitted for months already in the common room."

The nurse looks apologetic, her kind eyes sorry she can't help him more, so Jaebeom smiles and shakes his head. "It's okay, I must be mistaken then. Thank you anyway."

The nurse just nods as Jaebeom turns on his heels and walks towards his mother's room, but his head is filled with Jinyoung, wondering what happened. Could it have been that he never came back to the hospital? No, then there would be some register of his presence. Unless he is the Park Jinyoung admitted last week, which would explain why they met on Wednesday night under the rain, but not why he was in hospital pyjamas on Thursday afternoon.

No, it just doesn't make sense. Jaebeom knows Jinyoung is an odd guy, but even in his crazy behaviour there's some logic, that Jaebeom got to know, so he doesn't think the younger man is crazy enough as to just wear a hospital pyjamas for the sake of it, it's not fashionable or that comfortable. But then again, Jaebeom doesn't really know Jinyoung, maybe he is the type to wear a hospital pyjama and pretend to be a patient just for the sake of it, to experience feeling like he's about to die or something he can't possibly fathom.

Jaebeom doesn't realise he's at his mother's room door until he literally bumps into it. The collision works to break through his thoughts and realise he was getting too caught in that. He shakes his head to shrug the thoughts off and focus on what truly matters: his mother.

Thankful he didn't spill the coffee he bought for his aunt and himself. Jaebeom slides the door open, wearing a smile and pushing all Jinyoung related thoughts to the furthest corner of his mind, to dal with it later, if he has time or energy for that. For now, he'll focus on his mother and aunt, making up for the day he missed for being sick.

∞

For those who are trying to figure out what's up with Jinyoung, just pay attention to everything he does and says. Even uneventful chapters like this reveal something.

Bel, xx