The next day, I woke up with a scorching throat.

It had been painful for the past few days, but I just thought of it as a result of weather change, which might be resolved with some hot chrysanthemum tea.

But as soon as I spoke to Hyejin, who was doing her hair at the dressing table, I realized that the pain was really no joke because all I could hear was the hoarse sound that came along with lots of painful coughing.

     "Hyejin ah. . . My throat. . .hurts."

     "What's wrong with you?"

Hyejin looked startled at the unusual voice I was making.

But as she saw me struggle with speaking in between of coughing, she cried out to alert Byulyi and Yongsun who were at the other areas of the house we were renting.

     "Unnies! Wheeinie got sick!"

The door of my room flung open and Yongsun appeared, worry shown clearly on her face.

Being the oldest of the four girls - or the Mamamoo girls like we usually refered to - Yongsun was the most stable one, income-wise and occupation-wise.

Living together for more than 7 years also added up to her assumption of taking good care of the others, especially the youngest - me and Hyejin.

Unlike Hyejin who was always confident and in fighting-mode, I, with my past anxiety disorder, did bother Yongsun a lot.

Only until I started voluntary job at Pyeonghwa and befriended with Hyojin did she become a bit at ease.

     "Are you ok Wheein ah?"

Yongsun asked and I could smell fresh butter on her apron, she must be preparing pancakes for breakfast.

Next to me, Hyejin automatically assumed the role of my spokeperson.

     "I think we should take her to the hospital. Her voice sounds gross."

Was that what I wanted to tell Yongsun?

Well, I was not so sure.

But since I temporarily couldn't speak well, let's just be ok with that.

     "Unnie" - Byul Yi was also present in my room, looking sleepy as she had been working on some new songs with her team until late night. - "Should we ask Eric oppa for a ride? I mean, just to be assured. . ."

Not waiting for Byul Yi to finish, in a blink of the eyes, Yongsun pulled out her phone to make an early morning call.

I knew who she was calling - someone who could give us a free ride this early.

Eric was Yongsun's boyfriend. The other three Mamamoo girls all loved him - I mean, as the big brother who was going to marry your big sister very soon.

But they hadn't thought of marriage despite having dated for four years.

Yongsun usually joked that she couldn't leave us alone just yet but according to Byul Yi, Yongsun was still concerning the cultural difference between them.

Yongsun's family was quite traditional. Eric was, on the other hand, a Korean American and lived a Western lifestyle.

Yet I couldn't deny that he was super kind and always available to help us, even if it meant he must be out on the street early to take me to the hospital.

It only took Eric half an hour to pull his car over in front of our small rented house and ring the doorbell.

I loved Eric for his politeness and good manner, from the littlest things.

Like he never honked the car horn to signal that he had come; instead, he always escorted Yongsun from inside or just waited for her to finish dressing up.

He brought us gifts all the way from the US whenever he went there for family visits.

He was willing to take the four of us on day trip if we wanted to without any nagging or request for personal time with Yongsun.

If there was a polling for national son-in-law, I would vote for Eric.

Maybe not just me, so did Byul Yi and Hyejin as they supported my little joke to address Eric as brother-in-law - as if we and Yongsun were blood-related!

Sadly, I wouldn't be able to initiate the joke today, due to this painful hoarseness I was enduring.

     "What's up ladies?" - Eric walkes in and naturally planted a kiss on Yongsun's cheek. American style, we were all used to it! - "Having breakfast?"

     "Of course, we are." - Hyejin replied with a big smile, her husky voice sounded even clearer than mine now - "Brother-in-law!"

      "Stop joking Hyejin ah" - Yongsun warned her, but she had learnt that the joke would continue until the day Eric officially became the legal brother-in-law. Turning to me, she urged - "Are you done, Wheeinie? Let's make it to the hospital early."

I quickly finished my breakfast and then grabbed my personal belongings to follow Eric and Yongsun.

On the way to the hospital, I submited a request for leave via the company application.

The thought of my new partner and his story which promised to be such a blow did cross my mind for a split second, but I shook it off, reassuring myself that there wouldn't be anything too serious.

○●○

     "Remember, don't talk much and ask for postponing this week's radio show, ok? Hyejin will be here this afternoon for you."

Yongsun continuously reminded me before she left for her work.

I begged her to hurry up as Eric was waiting but Yongsun still looked so much worried.

It was understandable, no one expected that my condition was that bad.

My sore throat turned out to be due to a vocal cord polyp, which required me to go on a surgery.

Lucky me the polyp was not serious and after the surgery, I only needed to refrain from talking much for 2 weeks as well as avoiding intake of both hot food and beef!

Not only would I miss the monthly payday barbecue party with the Mamamoo girls - there was also a part for Eric, of course - was I really worried for FM The 9th Hour now.

No broadcasting for two weeks with dropping number of requests, would it be alright for me?

     "Hey Jung Wheein, are you ok?"

Seulgi texted me. Gosh, I hadn't got a proper talk with her since yesterday.

     "I'm fine. Just a minor surgery but I must talk less in two weeks, unnie ah."

     "Oh shit. What to do with the radio now?"

She still remembered the show. Thinking of that put a small smile on my face as I texted Seulgi and swiped to ignore a notification of incoming email.

     "I will think of a solution. Hope people won't forget me."

The screen showed Seulgi is typing a message when my phone vibrated twice, signaling two new messages coming at a time.

     "Whee-pup, where you at? P/S: I'm trying to hold back not to nag you right now!"

I laughed - well, even my laugh sounded abnormal then.

Hyojin must be trying hard not to get angry at me for not informing him that I was hospitalized.

I didn't even mean to notify him - it was Yongsun that asked him for half-day off at the center to take me to the hospital.

That only made him more agitated.

      "Not a big deal oppa. I'll be discharged tomorrow."

     "Don't belittle health problem. I'll ask Yongsun noona and pass by during lunch time."

I looked at his determining message and stuck out my lower lip at the phone.

Let's see if Kim Hyojin the operation manager had free time today, not to mention my hospital was quite far from the center.

I decided to ignore him and turned to the other unread message which was from a strange number.

     "Hi, didn't see you at office today. Turn out you're off. I sent you the draft script, take a look and let me know your feedback!"

     "Ah by the way, Kim Taehyung here."

     "Ahhhh. . . Btw. . . Save my number!"

I switched to my mailbox.

So, the email whose notification was dismissed was from Taehyung.

I couldn't help wowing at his prompt response, feeling a bit guilty for having assumed that he would not take responsibility and complete the task with proactiveness.

  opened the attachment for a scan. And couldn't help wowing once more.

     "Hi Taehyung. That's a superb job of yours. I can easily imagine how the story goes only with your writing!"

That was a genuine compliment.

If I were Taehyung, being totally new at a field which even didn't yield an additional penny to my payslip, I doubted that I would be that professional to put enormous amount of effort in writing such a story and submit in a short time.

Much less he must have spent time learning radio scriptwriting as it didn't sound like a piece of script from newbie.

     "Oh no prob" - He quickly replied as if he had been waiting for my message. - "Let's say it's the power of conspiracy theories. Haha. But when are we going to do the recording? Or we do it live? We'd better have it on air this Friday as Week of Appreciation is next Monday."

His message rang an alarm to me.

Week of Appreciation was the annual occasion where Purple Line employees were encouraged to express their appreciation to colleagues, for working together on projects or simply helping with daily tasks.

Yet, for the young and single, Week of Appreciation was a special occasion, although not official, to confess to their crush in the company.

Therefore, what's better than kicking off Week of Appreciation with a sweet confession?

And if the story Taehyung wrote was true, that might motivate Juyeon to make the real confession next week.

But even though it is going to be a pre-recording show, I still can't do it.

How would I tell Taehyung, who was super excited about his story to be broadcasted?

He had passed the first challenge very smoothly.

Would he think that I wanted to kick him out of the team by telling him that I wouldn't be able to record this week and hence, ruin his plan?

Fortunately, my savior chose the right time to appear then.

Well, if you called the one who I came for advice most of the time a savior.

But the savior did not just come with help. He also came with nagging.

     "You really know how to make people worried!"

Hyojin nagged again. If not with verbal language, then with written language and even with sign language as a bonus.

As he spoke, I hurriedly flipped though the texts and found that I missed no less than 20 texts from him while I was focusing on finding a good way to respond Taehyung.

I grinned with Hyojin as he dropped a huge box of strawberry on my bed-side cabinet.

It must be scorching out there as the back of his shirt was watery wet.

He did not bother to roll up his long sleeves, though. When I first got to know Hyojin, I deemed his always wearing wristbands or long-sleeved shirt as a method to hide his tattoo.

However, the alleged tattoo turned out to be a big scar while the real tattoo's whereabout was still unknown to me.

Hyojin sat down on my bed and handed me a strawberry he had picked from the box.

     "Have one! I have it washed already."

He urged.

Despite being covered in sweat, Hyojin still looked cool with that red hair which I always believe to suit him the most.

Hyojin was not the type of tall guy with hidden muscles like Taehyung, he was more a petite type: shorter, paler, and therefore, gave off a softer, more reliable vibe.

     "It's not lunch time yet." - I took a bite of the strawberry, it tasted so sweet - "Why are you here already?"

     "Just take advantage of my free schedule." - He shrugged and leaned closer to study at my neck - "Endoscopic surgery huh?"

I nodded in confirmation and reached out for another strawberry which was already waiting on Hyojin's hand.

     "I told you it wasn't a big deal at all. I could leave after the surgery but Yongsun unnie insisted on spending a night here for health monitoring."

     "That's great of her to do so. Can't underestimate when it comes to your health."

Ok, I was pretty sure he was referring to a few times I passed out and was rushes to the hospital as I skipped meals to lose weights.

I pouted and tried to divert our talk to another topic, the one that had captured my concentration so much that I ignored his messages earlier.

      "Hyojin oppa, I have this little problem. Wanna hear?"

Hyojin raised his eyebrow as a yes signal.

He never stopped me from sharing my problems even though they might be a little too much sometimes.

But this time, Kim Hyojin suddenly switched to the joking mode that was quite uncommon of him when we talked about my problems.

     "I wonder. . . If you find it hard to speak to this guy. Is there any chance. . ." - Hyojin pondered while slowly rolling up his sleeves after taking in all the details about what was with Taehyung that agonized me. Then he suddenly looked up to me - ". . .that you like him?"

It came to me as a shock.

Had I not remembered what the doctor told me, I would have screamed out of my lungs and "gifted" Hyojin with a few punches.

      "Shit" - I furiously kicked his arms with both legs and shrieked - "Kim Hyojin, I AM serious!"

      "If not so. . ." - Hyojin explained, looking totally gleeful to see me react that way - "What do you think are the reason?"

     "Ahhhhh I don't know." - I snapped at him - "I am asking you for advice, not another coaching session."

I was whining, which was also uncommon of the usual me but common whenever I only had Hyojin around.

Hyojin always stuck to the first and foremost rule of coaching "Ask Don't Tell" as he was afraid that once he shared his opinion, it would influence me and resulted in my making an unconsciously biased decision.

But right then, I was seeking a solution from him, and the demand got even bigger when my phone vibratesld, signaling an incoming call from Taehyung.

Gosh, why was he so enthusiastic?

Hyojin asked as I still hesitated.

     "Are you sure you don't want to pick up the phone?"

I stayed silent. My brain was still working out a solution but in vain so far.

     "If you were him . . ." - Hyojin persisted with his Ask Don't Tell approach - "Excited with the new job but suddenly got no response at all. How would you feel?"

     "I . . ."

I looked at Hyojin then the phone screen which now showed notification of missed call and a few new unread messages from Taehyung himself.

     "Don't say that you don't know." - Hyojin assured me - "Jung Wheein only needs a little bit decisiveness."

Right, decisiveness.

I bet it was the reason why since taking up coaching classes, Hyojin had tried to apply Ask Don't Tell with me.

For the last 5 years, I had been depending on his opinion too much that sometimes he got fed up with it and insisted that I have my own perspective instead of relying on anyone else, even himself.

I took a big inhale.

What I was about to do seems ordinary to most people but as a person who never wanted to hurt anyone, it took courage.

I dialed Taehyung's number and he quickly picked up with a merry greeting.

     "Hey, are you ok MC Jung? Calling me mean you can still speak right?"

If I thought I was doing something beyond my capability, then Taehyung's reaction was beyond my anticipation. Totally.

     "Er. . . I. . ."

I stuttered, suddenly lost all my verbal ability.

     "Geez" - Taehyung still sounded upbeat - "I found you the whole morning but Seulgi noona told me you're having problems with your vocal cord. Are you feeling any better now?"

Well, I didn't expect being cared either.

Perhaps it was just courtesy of him to ask so. Hence, I replied with courtesy.

      "Well, better now. So sorry I didn't tell you earlier but Taehyung-ssi, I. . ."

     "Hey." - Taehyung interrupted me with his husky voice. - "You're speaking formally to me again. Don't worry, Seulgi noona did tell me that you couldn't do the recording this week. That's why I'm calling to propose an idea!"

Honestly, as soon as Taehyung mentioned the word "idea", my anxiety level started to increase.

Would it be another surprise, just like the idea about what happened between Juyeon and Hong Sol?

I quickly swallowed my saliva and replied him as well as slightly nodded to Hyojin, who was still looking at me to ensure that I still had everything under control.

     "Yeah~ Just go ahead."

     "Let me record this week's show."

     "Taehyung-ssi. . ."

Those words escaped my mouth even before I could grab them and push back into my mouth.

They also startled Taehyung - he might not expect such a quick reaction from me like that.

     "What's wrong?" - He immediately explains like a robot - "I don't have experience, but I will practice. You can instruct me, too. We are working together, so I don't want to just play Seulgi noona's role. I really want to help you, Jung Wheein-ssi."

I turned bewildered. Since yesterday, nothing had taken place the way I expected, just like a live show with multiple broadcasting malfunctions.

And one way or another, those malfunctions were all related to Taehyung.

Or is he himself the 'malfunction'?

Be it or not, Taehyung was still waiting for a proper reply from me.

I couldn't even defer once more, because I was unable to think of any reason for postponing right now.

I looked up to Hyojin, begging for help and realized that he was having a call - perhaps his center was contacting him.

But it seemed like I woke up on the right side of the bed today as Hyojin, still with his earbuds on, spoke to me with sign language.

     "I gotta go. PyeongHwa is calling." - I read his signs - "For the recording, you can ask Yongsun noona if you are uncomfortable with the guy."

And he added.

     "I'm not coaching this time, though. Fighting!"

Hyojin shot me a sweet smile as he grabbed his bag and left he room, so quickly that I could only give him a thank you sign - putting my fingers near my lips and then hand towards him.

     "Taehyung-ssi. . ." - I continued the call, trying to sound as natural as possible - "You really surprised me."

     "Did I?"

     "Yes. Nobody has ever offered me such help. So . . . " - I smiled. Confusing I might be, I still appreciated his enthusiasm as my partner. - "Thank you."

     "You're speaking as if . . ." - Taehyung laughed in between the cackling sound of glasses. He must be sitting at the café - "You're going to reject me."

Here came the difficult part. I cleared my throat, which, thankfully, was much better now compared to a few hours ago.

     "Taehyung-ssi. . ." - I slowly told him but stuttering kept showing up and my hand waved uncontrollably in the air. This was somehow the most difficult conversation I had ever handled. - "I really appreciate your idea but. . .well, you're. . .er. . .right. . .I mean. . . Just not this time. Because I have asked someone else to help. You know. . . the DJ last week. . . But. . .er. . .sure that I'll let you do a recording. . .or. . . we'll do it together if you haven't got used to it."

○●○

Later that night.

     "Do you think I was so unempathized? He had good will anyway."

I stopped typing halfway and turned to ask Hyejin, who had finally made it the the hospital and was welcomed with a shortened version of the story.

Hyejin - all eyes on the jajangmyun bowl which was also her dinner - dismissed my concern right away.

     "That is enough empathy and integrity. What else do you want?"

And as if it did not sound sassy enough, she added.

     "But are you sure that you believe in him to handle it himself? Stop compromising, that's tiring."

I played dumb. What could I say more when my roommate made sense that much?