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21 || cold

Jeongyeon wriggled out of her friend's tight grip as quietly as she could, being careful not to disturb her. She had absolutely no idea what time or day it was. Light was streaming in through the blinds, which indicated it was daytime, but there was no way to tell whether it was morning or afternoon.

After escaping Nayeon's clutches, Jeongyeon made her way over to the window to open the heavy curtains. Bright sunshine filled the room, causing her to flinch, hissing as she turned away. Running away from the light, she headed for the mirror leaning up against the wall on the opposite side of the room. Her hair was mussed up and tangled, the grey strands weaving and interlocking with each other to create tight knots that hurt to touch. Dark circles replaced the creamy skin under her eyes, and for some odd reason, her forehead tingled. She ran her tongue over her teeth, wincing as she realised that she hadn't brushed her teeth since the morning she left the dorm. Pulling one last ugly face at her reflection, she straightened her crumpled blouse and made her way into the living room to make herself some tea.

Leaning against the counter as she waited for the kettle to boil, she looked at the time flashing on the oven.

7:53

Somehow the two girls had managed to sleep through the late afternoon and into the night without any disturbances. Jeongyeon winced as she thought about the other members. They were probably worried sick. But funnily enough, there were no new notifications on her phone. She wondered if she'd run out of credit or data on the device.

Pouring the hot water into a mug, Jeongyeon took her tea and shuffled towards the sliding glass door that lead out onto the balcony. As soon as she slid it open, she was blasted with a gust of frigid winter wind that temporarily knocked the breath out of her. Ignoring the cold weather, she stepped outside and settled herself on the ledge of the railing. Her hot breath created little puffs of fog each time she exhaled, and goose bumps were beginning to form along her bare arms. She sniffed and hugged herself in an attempt to warm her body.

Slowly but surely, Jeongyeon adjusted to the icy environment, and relaxed into her own thoughts. The girl was just about to take another sip of her tea when the door was roughly shoved open behind her. She jumped, causing the hot brew to slosh up around the sides of the mug. Letting out a yelp, she turned to face the newcomer, cursing in pain from the scalding liquid coming into contact with her skin.

"Get inside, Yoo. Otherwise you're going to freeze to death."

She snorted. "I'd rather freeze to death than come inside and hang around you."

Jimin rolled his eyes. "Well, at least have some sympathy for Nayeon and Taehyung. If you catch a cold, they'll get sick too, and who's fault will that be?"

The younger girl turned away from him to face the city. "Being chilly doesn't automatically make you ill. It's scientifically proven that colds are actually viral infections passed on from other-"

Jeongyeon let out another squeal as she was yanked inside. More tea spilled onto her fingers. "Park! Now look what you've done! I'm all burnt now." She bolted over to the sink and ran her hands under the water, scowling at him.

"I was just making sure you didn't make the rest of us sick!" Jimin slammed the glass door shut. "You're the one who thought it was a good idea to go outside in the middle of winter with only a short-sleeved blouse on." He wrinkled his nose. "It needs ironing, mind you."

She quirked an eyebrow. "You don't say. It's not like I slept in it or anything." After a weighted pause, Jeongyeon clutched her fingers to her chest and whimpered. "It hurts."

"What hurts?"

"My poor, innocent fingers that you oh so ruthlessly burned."

The man sighed and threw his arms up into the air. "What do you want me to do about it?"

Jeongyeon simply pouted.

"Fine." He drew out the vowel, grumbling. "I'll look at them." Jimin strode across the living room to where Jeongyeon was standing and grabbed her wrist to inspect her hand, bringing it towards his face. "Oh please, there's barely a mark." He tilted it back and forth. "Stop being a baby. You're completely fine."

The girl hopped up onto the kitchen counter and continued to whine. "But it hurts! It hurts it hurts it hurts!"

Jimin let out a soft growl. "You just can't quit, can you, Yoo? I'll go see if I can find something. But only to shut you up. No promises that what I find will be useful, by the way."

She smirked triumphantly as he stalked off to his ensuite.

He returned a few minutes later, holding a travel-size tube of multi-purpose cuts and abrasions cream. "This will have to do. Hold out your hands."

Jeongyeon obliged. She watched as he deftly applied the salve to each of her fingers, making sure that he didn't miss any burnt areas. His face was focused solely on her hands, tongue peeking out of the corner of his plump lips as he worked. She held back a laugh when she looked at her little finger in comparison to his. Her pinky was much longer, however the rest of her fingers were much smaller.

Deformed skank.

She reeled her mirth in, instead projecting a somewhat calm and dignified façade. Jimin finished his work, standing back to look at his effort. "There. Is that good enough, Yoo?"

"Plenty." Jeongyeon looked up at him from her seat on the counter. "What's with the sudden change in behaviour, Park?" She swung her legs back and forth.

Jimin looked down. "Jin talked to me about... stuff."

"He scolded you, didn't he?"

"No..."

"Are you sure?"

"Shut up."

The girl hopped down from the counter and danced jubilantly into the living room, chanting tauntingly and in a sing-song voice. "I'm right, you're wrong, I'm right, you're-"

"Oi." Jimin glared at her. "You owe me a thank you, by the way."

She abruptly stopped shuffling. "Oh, right. Thanks for putting the cream on my very, very painful burns."

Jimin grunted. "Oh yeah, that too. But I was talking about last night. I told Jihyo about you and Nayeon."

"Huh?"

"That you fell asleep, dumbass. Who do you think told Jihyo you were safe?" He looked up at the ceiling in exasperation. "Didn't you wonder why you weren't being spammed by your other members?"

"Uh..."

The man grinned playfully and walked towards his bedroom. "By the way, you're much more tolerable to be around when you're not conscious." He waltzed out of the common area, slamming the door behind him.

Jeongyeon raised a hand to her mouth in disgust, pretending to gag. "Ew. I can't believe he watched me sleep." She bellowed one last 'thank you' before heading to her own room to wake up Nayeon.