karaoke machine | p.js

2.09

Naerin felt like she was drowning. It was hot in her room, despite that, Naerin was freezing. She was curled up in her bed with the blanket pulled to her chin. Her entire body was covered in a cold sweat as she tried to fight off the coldness around her.

Occasionally she would get a hot flash and throw her blankets off, only to be cold seconds later and curl up in them all over again. The room was dark, curtains drawn despite it being light outside.

It was so stuffy in her room that Naerin was sure that she was basically sitting in a steam room. Every breath she took shook her entire body and sent aches across her body. But even though her room was hot, Naerin couldn't surpress the shudders of cold that ran through her body.

She probably would have slept more but she felt the side of her bed dip and a soft hand gently push her hair out of her face. Naerin's consciousness began to fade in as the person's hand continued to stroke her head.

Naerin slowly became aware of the aching pain across her body and the freezing cold around her. Weakly, she started to pull her blankets tighter around her when someone pulled them down.

Clearly delirious from her fever, Naerin let out a whine. The uncomfortable cold was unbearable at that moment and Naerin felt like crying.

"No," Naerin cried, pulling at her blankets weakly but whoever was taking them away was clearly stronger than her. "I'm cold," Naerin couldn't stop as tears slipped down her face.

"I know, noona, I'm sorry," a soothing voice replied.

Hearing the familiar smooth voice, Naerin wiped at her tears weakly. She tried to make out a blurry figure sitting on the end of her bed next to her sleeping frame, when she felt a large hand start to wipe away her stray tears

"Hey," Jisung's voice spoke softly. A gentle smile played at his lips seeing how she tried to blink away her daze.

Naerin knew in the very back of her consciousness that she looked like a total mess. Her bangs were plastered to her forehead with a cold sweat and her skin was unnaturally pale.

She tried to look at Jisung properly, rubbing her eyes weakly to clear her vision. He was dressed in casual clothes, rid of makeup with his usual beige bucket hat sitting on his head.

"I heard you're not feeling well," Jisung said, his voice laced with worry.

Naerin hummed gently, closing her eyes and leaning into Jisung's hand. His touch relieved some of the ache that she had felt from earlier.

"I'm so cold." Naerin mumbled.

"Really?" Jisung sounded surprised but Naerin could only hum in response. "I thought I stepped into a sauna just now,"

Naerin didn't reply as she slowly started to feel herself fall asleep again. Probably sensing it, Jisung gently lifted his hand to wake her up again.

"Have you taken any medicine?" Jisung asked, "You're burning up,"

"It's cold," Naerin whined.

Jisung frowned, "I'm gonna get you some water, can you try and drink some?"

Naerin didn't even notice when Jisung left and came back. But she felt as he tried to help her sit up, her eyes barely opening enough to register that he had placed a glass of water to her lips.

Taking a small sip, Naerin's throat could barely swallow the liquid. She struggled to even take two sips and eventually she pushed the cup away from her.

Naerin's head hurt as pain struck her temples and she leaned forward into Jisung's touch. Letting her head rest gently on his chest, Naerin felt Jisung wrap his arms around her, drawing circles into her back. Naerin felt disoriented and dizzy and her body felt run down.

"Naerin, can you hear me?" Jisung asked.

Naerin hummed gently.

"I'm going to use your phone to make a call," Jisung said, picking up Naerin's phone from where it sat on her nightstand. "Can you tell me the password?"

"Huh?" Naerin mumbled, her cheek squished against Jisung's chest.

"Your phone, what's the password?" Jisung frowned at his soulmate's state. From what he knew she never had soulmate separation sickness this badly before. And he felt like it might have been partially his fault. He was sure that his constant schedules and practice had ended up affecting Naerin and her health like it had affected his.

"Password?" Naerin asked.

"Yeah, to your phone," Jisung nodded.

"0, 2," Naerin started to say before she shuddered and held onto Jisung tighter, "C-cold," she whined, pushing her face into Jisung more.

"I know, I'm sorry," Jisung frowned and gently rubbed Naerin's back to try and warm her up, "Can you tell me what the next number is?"

"0, 5," Naerin continued, "0, 2,"

Jisung plugged in the numbers and opened up the phone app in Naerin's phone. He tried to ignore the gentle heat he felt in his cheeks when he realized what the numbers to Naerin's phone password signified.

Calling Kangdae, Jisung waited patiently for him to pick up.

"Hello? Are you awake, Rin?" Kangdae asked when he picked up.

"It's Jisung," Jisung replied, "Does Naerin have any kind of medicine at her house?"

"Some advil, but she hasn't been able to eat anything," Kangdae replied, "She can barely drink water,"

"She doesn't have any soulmate medication at all?"

"Nah, I guess you guys have been pretty good about meeting up," Kangdae replied, "I'm almost there, so just try and keep her comfortable until then. It'll probably help with you by her side,"

Jisung hung up the call and looked down at Naerin, who had fallen asleep on him. Her arms clung to him making it impossible for him to really move anywhere. With a struggle, Jisung managed to get Naerin back into her bed and off of him.

He grabbed his crutches from where he had laid them on the ground and started to make his way out of her room. Jisung looked around her house for a moment before grabbing a small towel and a bowl.

With some difficulty, Jisung was finally able to get the towel and a bowl of water to Naerin's room. He placed them on her nightstand before dunking the towel into the water and ringing it out like how his mom used to do when he was younger.

"Naerin, can you sit up?" Jisung asked.

When Naerin failed to sit up on her own, Jisung opted to just wipe down her face and arms instead.

Naerin hissed at the cold towel, and tried to pull her arms away.

"It's cold," she cried.

"I know, I'm sorry," Jisung apologized as he started to wipe her neck gently.

"Stop," she whined but by then Jisung had already finished and tucked her back into bed. It didn't take long after that for Naerin to fall back asleep.

Jisung gazed softly at his soulmate and let out a gentle laugh. It wasn't the first time he had watched Naerin sleep peacefully, but every time he felt butterflies swirl in his stomach as he realized how lucky he was to have her as his soulmate.