off limits ✧ zb1 applyfic

✧ sixty one

Today, Lilah had started off the morning filled with anxiety. It wasn't that unusual an occurence, as the girl was always more stressed than she was not, but worrying for herself and worrying for others was never quite the same feeling. At first, she'd simply sent a text thanking Gyuvin for last night, knowing he was a fast replier. But an hour later, he still hadn’t manifested himself, and her text remained unread. She'd sent another one, thinking he was busy and had missed it, but yet again, no reply.

After the third message, Lilah's brain immediately went right to catastrophe, as it often did. What if he'd gotten kidnapped as he walked back home? Worse, murdered by a serial killer? That would be her fault, wouldn’t it? She should have been more careful, asked him to text her once he'd reached his house. No, if she hadn’t lied to her brother about who she was out with, maybe he could have come pick them up and everything would be alright. Ah, and she didn't even have Haewon's phone number to check in with her...

She had no choice. Lilah needed to go to his house herself, and make sure he was safe with her own two eyes. Without saying anything to her family, she took her bike and rode all the way to his address, a giant lump in her stomach. The sight of his front door reassured her: there was no police tape, so no murder! It took her a few minutes and many internal debates to finally gather up the courage to knock, but eventally, a very surprised Haewon opened the door.

"Lilah? Hello?"

"Um, hi." She'd kind of hoped Gyuvin would be the one to open, if only to save her the embarrassment. "I haven't heard from Gyuvin so I just... I wanted to make sure he's alright."

Haewon rolled her eyes, leaning against the doorframe. "Ah, that's because he caught a cold. Apparently he went out wearing only a t-shirt yesterday night, like an idiot. Who knows what he was doing!"

Ah. Lilah's polite smile crumbled. So he hadn’t been murdered. But she'd been right all that time: it was her fault! He'd protected her from the cold by lending her his sweater, and now he was sick. Her throat thick, she joined her hands together, her lips pinched into a scowl. He was too nice, far too nice, she'd said it before. Once again, she felt she needed to do something to repay him.

"Can I see him?" she asked hesitantly.

"What?" Haewon blinked slowly. "Uh, sure. Follow me."

This was the first time Lilah had entered Gyuvin's house, but she could hardly worry about it in that instant. All she could think about was poor Gyuvin, who had sacrified his own health for her, and was now probably lying in his bed all miserable. If there was anything she could do to make things better for him, she simply had to.

Haewon slowly creaked the door to his room open, and Lilah got a glimpse into the darkness. The blinds were completely shut, only a sliver of light illuminating his form. He lied in bed soundlessly, his chest rising and descending slowly, his face plunged in the shade. It felt a little too warm, almost stuffy in there, and Lilah could only imagine just how uncomfortable it must be for him.

"Oh, he's sleeping," she whispered. "That's fine, I'll come ba—"

"Lilah?" she heard a pained squeak from deeper into the room, and her heart leapt to her throat.

At that, Haewon took a step back. "I'll leave you alone, then."

As Haewon quickly left the corridor and went back to her occupations, Lilah took a deep breath. Entering Gyuvin's room felt like trespassing into a forbidden zone, but she could hardly go back now. On the tip of her toes, she approached Gyuvin's bed, and her eyes grew used to the darkness.

She had never seen him look so small. As he struggled to sit back up in his bed, he removed a wet towel from his forehead. Even in the dark, Lilah could see just how red his face was, his eyes puffy, his hair going in all directions. Her heart ached at the sight of a so uncharacteristically weakened Gyuvin, and her limbs felt so heavy she could barely take another step closer. This was all her fault. Gyuvin never would've suffered like this if it wasn't for her.