The Rules | JAEMIN

Chapter 17

When Zhilan woke up the next day, Jaemin was no longer beside her.

The thought of the night before embarassed her, unable to believe that she had really clung onto Jaemin like a baby would to its mother the entire night.

Zhilan grabbed her phone from the beside table, staring at the time.

Hm, it's still early. Jaemin should still be around.

Zhilan saw the large amount of messages from Renjun, asking how she was dealing with her withdrawal and then why she was ignoring him.

Not well, Zhilan thought, dropping her hands to the side.

"Ugh, I can't believe I did that." Zhilan groaned before thrashing about in frustration.

The door opened, making her attention shift. Zhilan gulped as Jaemin entered her room with the regular food, towel, and first aid kit, a small smile on his face.

"You're awake." Jaemin commented as Zhilan sat up. She reached her hands out, her stomach growling.

"And hungry." Zhilan said as Jaemin passed her the food with a chuckle.

"Good." Jaemin said as he put the towel and first aid kit down before sitting on the edge of her bed. "You skipped dinner last night."

I didn't even realize that.

Zhilan kept her eyes on her food while she ate but the fact that Jaemin was staring at her the entire time made her quite uncomfortable.

"Can you... look somewhere else?" Zhilan asked glancing at him. His smile grew before turning his head to look around the room.

"Do you want me to stay home today? I can skip class if you want." Jaemin said, taking Zhilan by surprise.

"Wow, the medical genius skipping school?" Zhilan asked. "What did you eat this morning for you to even consider about that?"

"I'm just concerned about your.... health. You're technically my patient, you know."

Even though Jaemin was purposely looking at her leg, Zhilan knew that he wasn't worried about her injury. He was worried about her addiction.

"I'll be fine." Zhilan reassured him. "I'm probably going to sleep all day anyways."

Jaemin nodded his head, taking the now empty dish from her hands.

"I don't have many classes today so I'll be home early." Jaemin said before adding, "not that I'm concerned or anything. I just wanted to let you know so you don't have to worry about starving."

It was a clear lie. Zhilan knew that he had brought that point up to let her know that he would be home if she needed him. On the inside though, Zhilan appreciated the effort.

"Okay. Thanks." Zhilan said nodding her head as Jaemin put the dish down, preparing to change her bandage.

...

Jaemin was constantly checking his phone throughout the day, and it didn't go unnoticed by his friends.

"Is Zhilan okay?" Mark asked him, making Jeno and Soojung halt whatever they were talking about. Jaemin placed his phone down on the cafeteria table.

"Why wouldn't she be?" Jaemin replied glancing at the people around him.

"Her wound was pretty bad." Jeno pointed out. "And you're her medic, you're normally pretty concerned about your patients."

"Oh, I think it's a bit more than that." Soojung mumbled, earning a look from Jaemin.

"She's fine, there's no need to worry about her." Jaemin said, grabbing his phone again.