KILL THIS LOVE | JENLISA

Chapter 44

Jennie

I woke up rather peacefully. As soon as my eyes were opened, I came to face with the very familiar surroundings of my room. Had I fallen asleep? As I sat up in my bed, I couldn't help but immediately plant my head in my palms, a faint ache bubbling in the very back.

"You're up."

I let out a gasp, almost flying out of my skin at the voice, as my eyes adjusted to the sight in front of me.

"Hanbin." I breathed. And just like that, it all came back to me. The feeling of dread, the breathlessness. "What..what happened?" I spoke drowsily, my fingers having moved to the temples, massaging the area rhythmically. My vision was a little hazy, but I could make out his figure sitting on the little chair at the foot of my roommate's empty bed.

"You passed out." He looked around the room, "Someone said you were having a stroke. A few people and I got you to your room and called the nurse. She should be here any minute now."

By then, I could fully recall every vestige of the sick feeling that had taken over my body. I knew what it was. And it wasn't a damn stroke. But why? It had been out of nowhere. It had been my first one in 11 months.

"Uhm, can you.." I began, but then stopped, hesitating. I didn't know him well, I couldn't determine if this was okay.

"Can I what?"

"Never mind, I just wanted some water, I'll just do it..."

"Jennie, I helped carry you to this room and waited for you to wake up. I'm sure I can manage to get you some water."

Carried me? Waited for me to wake up?

My body tensed on its own accord. I had no clue what to say, so instead, I just peered at him with stark wide eyes. He in turn, smiled and got up, making his way to the bathroom. As soon as he was gone, I let my jaw hang open, my brain conjuring up various embarrassing scenarios that could have taken place while I was passing out, or being carried. When I heard the tap being run, I cleared my throat. "Can you also, uh, get me some medicine from the cabinet?"

"Sure." I heard the distinctive creak of the glass cabinet being opened. "Is it the green ones...Prozac?"

"No." my reply came quickly, and I almost regretted the decision to get him to see the inside of my cabinet. "Just beside that. It...it's the one labelled benzodiazepine."

Soon, he came out with a glass of water in one hand, and a little bottle in the other.

"Here you go."

I thanked him as I swallowed the blue hued pill with the water at once.

"So what's this for? Headaches?" He questioned, his gaze set on my bookshelf beside my little closet.

"Um, no." I gulped, "It's for, well, panic attacks."

His eyes met mine at once. There was a little second of absolute silence. "Well shit."

I could only offer him a small smile. As I took the last sip of water from the glass, I couldn't help but notice a dark stain on his shirt. As Hanbin saw my gaze settle on his shirt, he looked down towards it too, chuckling. "You knocked over my coffee cup on my shirt. And my shoes."

"I did?! Oh my god, I'm so sorry." My tone was tinged with mortification, but as something else occurred to me, it changed to concern, "Wait, were you burnt?"

"Nah. Good thing I like my coffee iced." He smiled, making me more nervous, "Besides it gave me an interesting reason to skip lecture." He pointed at his ruined clothes, trying to lighten up the situation. But the only thing that it did succeed in doing, was to make me wish for the floor to swallow me up whole then and there.

Not knowing what to say or do, I chose to only smile nervously.

"Well, now that you're alright, I think I'm going to go and inform my friends about my third degree burns." Hanbin joked as he walked away, still facing me. "See you around."

I almost didn't hear Hanbin's next sentence, as his voice dimmed down as he walked out of my room. But it sounded an awful lot like, "Oh and, you owe me a coffee date Jennie Kim."