Lady Spring

Hello! I will be taking a few days off, so I’m uploading a few chapters I’ve managed to get done! Hope you enjoy~

 

Happy new year!!

 

***

 

6.3

 

Saeun didn’t sleep well. When she felt the sunlight on her face, she frowned and opened her eyes. It was Sunday, and it was going to be the longest and most awkward day of her life. Remembering her uncomfortable conversation with Wooyoung, she sighed. What if he was still angry? When he leaves in a few days, she was never going to see him again. Perhaps it was rash of her to give her answer so quickly. She should’ve waited until saying no to him.

 

Cautiously, Saeun turned her head towards him. Wooyoung still had his back towards her. Carefully not to wake him up, she turned completely and watched his back. It was broad. It has been a very long time since she stared at a man’s back this long. 

 

When Wooyoung asked her if she ever had a boyfriend, she confidently told him yes. But the truth was… she meant she had friends who were boys, not technically BOYFRIENDS. Not lovers, but just friends. Guys who didn’t see her as a woman. Perhaps one or two of them may have been interested in her, but Saeun never had the time or energy to date anyone. She was always short on money and the job market wasn’t so great for her to find something better. On top of that, her parents would call her often and…

 

Don’t think about them. They haven’t called in a while, right? It has been ok. Well, maybe not completely okay, but better than before at least. They haven’t been calling her lately, right?

 

Saeun focused on Wooyoung’s breathing. His breathing was rather loud and fast. It almost sounded like the noises babies make when they were sleeping. 

 

Wait, now that she thought about it, something felt wrong.

 

“Wooyoung?”

 

She quickly sat up and grabbed his shoulder. As soon as she felt it, Saeun jolted in shock.

 

“Wooyoung, are you awake? You’re feverish!”

 

His whole body was burning up. Why didn’t she notice this last night? What was wrong with her? Saeun laid him on his back carefully. His face was flushed and when he opened his eyes, it didn’t look like he could see her.

 

“Hyung 1, I…”

“Wooyoung, wake up. It’s Saeun. Min Wooyoung!”

 

He blinked slowly before closing his eyes again. He began to pant roughly, making Saeun panic. What was happening to him?

 

“Where does it hurt, Wooyoung? Hmm? Can you hear me? Tell me where it hurts.”

“M…my side…”

 

She raised his shirt quickly and gasped at what she saw. The injury she glimpsed briefly yesterday, the one she thought might be a stab wound, looked red and swollen. It was obviously infected, and when she touched the surrounding area gently, Wooyoung gasped and cringed. 

 

What was she going to do? It didn’t look like putting an antibiotic ointment was going to fix something like this. Why didn’t he say anything to her about it? Saeun bit her lips and got dressed quickly. It was Sunday, which means none of the smaller clinics were going to be open. The only place she could take him was an emergency room, but… What if someone took pictures of him looking like this and put them on the internet? 

 

But then, could she afford not to take him to the hospital?

 

She stood still for a while before suddenly running towards his phone. 

 

“Please, please please…”

 

She pressed the redial button and waited anxiously. When she turned to look at Wooyoung again, his eyes were still closed. He looked like he was unconscious. 

 

Idiot. 

 

If he was this sick, why did he wake her up last night to do… that? He should’ve told her he wasn’t feeling well.

 

“Idiot.”

 

When a male voice answered her, Sauen jumped and almost dropped the phone. She murmured, 

 

“Pardon?”

“Hello?”

 

The man on the other end said in a displeased voice. Saeun tried to calm her nerves before asking in a trembling voice, 

 

“U…umm… I… A…are you Min Wooyoung’s manager? Or… do you know someone who knows Min Wooyoung?”

 

There was a five seconds of silence before a sharp voice asked her,

 

“Who are you?”

“U…umm… W…who are you?”

After another brief silence, the man on the other side answered in anger,

 

“I’m Kim Jaejun, so who the hell are you? Is Wooyoung there?”

 

Kim Jaejun. Oh, the leader of Strawberry Fields. Saeun sighed in relief and explained quickly, 

 

“Yes, Wooyoung is here right now, but he’s really sick. I was going to take him to a hospital, but I wasn’t sure if I wasn’t supposed to do that… I’m so relieved that you answered the phone just now.”

“He’s sick? Where? Where are you? I’ll go get him now.”

 

Right now? Saeun looked around in panic, but when Jaejun prodded, she gave him her address. Without thanking her or letting her know how long it was going to take him to arrive, the man hung up abruptly.

 

Saeun placed the phone down and returned to Wooyoung with a wet cloth. His body was burning, but his skin looked dry. This was the worst kind of fever. With a frown, Saeun washed his face with a cold towel.

 

The scabs on his face were disappearing quickly. There was no more swelling, although the bruises looked darker now. They were going to take another several days to disappear, but it was clear his handsome face was almost back to normal. If he wore thick makeup, even the bruises were going to be hard to notice. 

 

When he leaves today, she knew she was never going to see him again. Saeun stared at his face and caressed it gently. 

 

His cheek bones, cheeks, pouty lips that looked pale because of the fever, strong chin, smooth neck, strong shoulders and chest that were covered by the shirt she bought him, and the rest of his body…

 

Saeun whispered,

 

“It’s me who wants to carry you around in my pocket, so I can see you whenever I want. When I feel tired, sad, angry, or…”

 

Lonely. 

 

Whenever she became unbearably lonely, she would think of this time together. 

 

These last three days of strange yet ecstatic heaven. 

 

She never thought her tiny place could feel like heaven, especially because of one person. Realizing she had to let him go, Saeun felt her eyes fill with tears. If he was small, she might have kidnapped him and run away, but he was too heavy. Wooyoung wasn’t someone she could keep to herself. That was why she made the call.

 

“Min Wooyoung, you idiot.”

 

She was about to wash his face again when the doorbell rang. 

***
 

Hyung is a word used by Korean males to address another older male they are close to.