Some call it fate (Ahn Hyoseop x Kim Sejeong)

Six

Sejeong woke up feeling like her head was about to explode. Great, a migraine is literally the last thing she needed. She grabbed her phone to check the time, immediately squinting as the bright light attacked her eyes. It was 7:30 am, meaning she had exactly an hour to meet her call time. She got out of bed begrudgingly, massaging her left temple with one of her hands. She rummaged through her medicine cabinet in the kitchen and downed two painkillers.

"Come on, Sejeong-ah. You're going overseas next week, you can't get sick."

She gave herself a pat on the back to cheer herself up before hopping into a tracksuit and packing her bag. The meds dulled the thumping in her head a little, but not enough for her to not notice its presence. She took a deep breath before stepping out the door.

"Argh," she exclaimed on instinct, the sun wasn't helping.

Her manager who had been standing outside the door, waiting for her, shook her head, "Oh dear, migraine?"

Sejeong nodded, "I took some meds, hopefully, it dies down during the day."

By 12 pm Sejeong had officially started running a fever. Her migraine got worse, with her needing to duck out to the bathroom during a scene to throw up. They had barely started filming when the director said they should call off her scenes for the day, sending Sejeong home and telling her to get tested for COVID.

Sejeong was lying in bed, waiting for her manager to tell her whether the test kit confirmed the worst. From the other side of the room, she heard a sigh of relief, "You're negative, thank God."

"Yeah..." she replied weakly, zipping up her jumper, "you should go, I don't want you to catch whatever I have."

"Absolutely not," her manager scoffed, putting the kettle on, "you're exhausted, Sejeong. Your schedule's been non-stop and you've been dealing with personal things as well. I think this is your body's way of telling you to slow down."

Sejeong wasn't in the mood to fight her, "I'll just call my doctor to get more medicine delivered. I'll be fine after today."

From the kitchen, Sejeong heard the sound of stirring, "I can arrange that, I'll message him. Hopefully, we'll be able to get them today." She approached her, bringing a cup of hot tea, "lemon and honey, always good on a day like this."

Sitting up, Sejeong took slow sips of the tea, "Thank you, I really appreciate it. Get it done today so you can still have your day off tomorrow."

Her manager frowned, "Why are you worried about that? I can stay with you."

"No, no, please don't do that. I'm sure I'll be fine by tomorrow, and you've already cancelled my schedule so I'll do nothing else but lay in bed, I promise."

"Sejeong-ah,"

"Please don't argue with a sick woman, mae-nim."

That made her manager laugh, "Do you want me to call your mum?"

"And have her drive for three hours to get here? I told you, don't worry. I'm sure I'll be fine."

She sat down next to her and felt her forehead, "I don't know, Sejeong-ah. Are you sure I can't call anyone to look after you?"

"Mae-nim, enjoy your day off and don't even think about me. I will be asleep most of tomorrow."

...

Sejeong's manager waited patiently at the pharmacy for them to call out her number. Worry clouded her head, she really didn't feel comfortable leaving Sejeong alone. She also knew there was no point in arguing, it'd be like talking to a brick wall. The pharmacy was crowded, it was that time of winter when everyone was getting sick again. She could only hope Sejeong would be well enough to travel the next week.