valley of lies - y/n's pov

chapter 4

i woke up this morning with a sore throat and a horrible headache. i could barely get out of bed so my parents let me stay home. i just hope we're not doing anything too important in school today.

i grab my phone and go to text sunghoon. he must be worried considering i'm not there. a call at the top of my screen interrupts my message.

i answer and bring the screen to my ear. "niki?"

"geez, your voice is all raspy." he comments. "where are you?"

"i'm sick." i cough into the crook of my elbow.

"you're leaving me alone?"

"i can't go to school when i'm sick."

i imagine him rolling his eyes. "yeah, yeah. take medicine so you get better and come back soon. i'm bored without you."

"sit with sunghoon and his friends." i tell him. "they'll keep you company."

"y/n..."

"you promised you'd try, remember?" i remind him. another cough makes itself known. i clear my throat. "i'll go take something if you sit with them."

he lets out a deep sigh. "yeah, alright, fine. i'll text you later to see how you are."

"mhm." i hum. "talk to you later."

i hang up and continue typing my message to sunghoon. i let him know that i'm feeling a little under the weather and probably won't be coming into school for the next few days. i know he won't be able to answer right away so i go downstairs and decide to try eating something to pass the time.

a bit later, around the time school ends, i hear a knock on my door as i'm coming down the stairs. i wonder who that could be. possibly niki? or maybe my mom told our neighbor to check on me.

i hope it's not the latter. i don't look at all presentable right now. my hair is probably a mess and i'm in my pajamas. well, it's sunghoon's hoodie, but she wouldn't need to know that.

i open the door and offer a weak smile when the tall figure does the same. "hey, you."

"well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes." i open the door wider for him to enter through. sunghoon. i can't believe he came all the way here. "come on in."

he eyes me as i lock the front door behind him. "if i had known it was this bad, i would've skipped school to take care of you."

i blush at that. hopefully he doesn't notice and just assumes it's because of my condition right now. "school is-"

"important, i know. but you're more important."

i look away and begin walking into the kitchen. gosh, he'll be the death of me at this rate. his compliments are too much. i grab the medicine cup and pour the liquid into it, drinking it whole at once. it's disgusting so i take a sip of water to rid the taste.

sunghoon comes up next to me. "when do you take that again?"

i flip the bottle to the back. "three hours."

he nods, taking the bottle from my hand. his skin brushes against mine and sends electricity through my veins. why does he have to have such a strong affect on me? "okay. in exactly three hours i'll have your medicine ready."

i smile and grab his empty hand. "you don't need to stay. i'm fine on my own."

i don't want him to feel like he's obligated to take care of me just because he's my boyfriend. it's not his job to make sure i'm doing okay. i should be taking care of myself. besides, i certainly don't want him getting sick either. he's too pretty for that. imagine him all disheveled.