Zero Encounters

Egos

        While Kangho continued to be lost in thought, Zero had been staring at him, wondering what was weighing on his mind. She cleared her throat which startled him and she asked him what was wrong. He smiled gently and tousled her hair.

"Oh, nothing. Just thinking." He said, helping her sit up. "Dad went home so you can relax."

"You didn't have to call him. You know how he gets." She muttered and he passed her the tray of food. He began to laugh when he realized she still guarded her food out of habit, but couldn't because of her arm. The look of defeat on her face with her signature pout, he still found adorable. She looked at him confusedly and made another face. He left her to it and went to his study to do some more work without interruption. By the time he was ready for bed, he went to check on her one last time. The TV was left on and she was no where in sight. He checked the door on the balcony and felt the resistance before checking the bathroom.

"Hey." He called out to her and pushed the door open. She stood there with his shirt awkwardly over her head and he went to help her. His eyes laid on the healing cuts she had on the side of her stomach and back, along with the different colored bruises all over her body. He hid his face from his mirror so that she wouldn't be uncomfortable with his reaction.

"Just wanted to wash up and change."

"You shouldn't be moving so much." He nagged to much of her protest. He carried her back to bed and made her stay still as he placed the IV back in her arm.

"I'll leave after this." She said, rotating her injured arm. "I'll be fine with the meds."

"Stay here with me." He said, softly. His voice sounded almost as if he was begging her to. He sat at the foot of the bed and faced her. "Don't go anywhere tonight." She made note of his dark circles and his anxious tics where he massaged the space between his thumb and pointer finger. She never brought it up, but noticed it since they were kids. "You should sleep some more while you can and you know you can with me around. Because you don't take care of yourself, it worried me when all you did was sleep since we brought you home."

She scoffed, "You and I both know I don't sleep well."

"You slept well with me." He teased and shot him a look. "When we were younger, you'd ask me to sleep next to you when you had nightmares. You'd say, 'can you just stay here and not say anything.' and I did just that until we fell asleep. You were such a cute little baby. I don't understand why you still refuse to live with me."

"Sure, I did... 'stay here with me'" She scoffed, "Are you sure I didn't say, 'stay away from me'?" She said sarcastically, "Besides, your old man wants you to fall in love and have a kid or two. I don't want to intrude on your personal life - ", and without a word he jumped into bed beside her. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Staying here and not going to say a word, starting now." He smiled and pulled the covers up to his chin. He dimmed the lights and rolled over.

"I didn't say you could do that." She pushed on his shoulder. "Kangho." She shook him a little harder, but he stayed unmoving. He covered his face with his blanket to hide his growing smile. "You snore a lot and you're disgustingly warm." She continued to spew insults thinking he would get annoyed eventually, but she ran out of ammunition. "Kangho."

He pretended to snore to tease her some more and she leaned back yet again, in defeat. She decided to watch a movie to wait for her IV to be finished before she could go, but eventually, she found herself staring at Kangho. Her eyes traced his features and admired how long his lashes were. She watched his chest gently rise and fall which relaxed her. Without realizing it, she fell asleep to the sound of his breathing and he had woken minutes later. He drowsily checked on her wound and took the IV out of her arm before laying back down. She had turned to face him with her arm supporting her head while the other stayed by her side. He slowly adjusted the pillow behind her head and tucked his arm underneath it. He pulled her in close and felt her snuggle up to his chest.