unfair play // jjk

22 // worry

I sat on the edge of the bed and examined my hands, watching as my two thumbs circled around each other. Constantly, I turned around to check Hyemi's temperature and then, checked the time.
It was going on an hour since I found her and I could feel my leg shaking. I was beginning to think it was worse than I thought.
I pulled Hyemi's hair off her face and felt her forehead. It had cooled down only slightly, but I couldn't trust it, because the cloth had changed the temperature.
I felt her cheeks, which were warm and rosy, but overall seemed to be cooling down. I sighed out of slight relief but placed the cloth back on her head and furrowed my brows.
I sat back slightly and pulled her hand up to my face, holding it closely between my palms and resting it on my cheek for a moment.

"Wake up, Hyemi..." I whispered into her hand.
I placed her hand back down on my thigh and traced the lines on her skin and down her hands. I smiled slightly and placed my hands back on top.
I sat for what felt like forever. My mind raced constantly about if she would ever wake up, or if I'd done something wrong, but I distracted myself by examining all the spines of the books sitting on her shelves.
I traced her hands slowly and gently, hoping she could feel me beside her.

She could.

I felt her hand jerk slightly and my head whipped down to see her hand still resting on my thigh.

"Hyemi?" I said quietly, squeezing her hand tight and pushing hair back from her face.

"Mihyun....." she mumbled quietly.

Mihyun?
It hit me that she was mumbling the name of her old best friend. I felt tears come to my eyes, and I wondered if she'd say my own name, too.

"Hyemi, are you awake?" I asked as her mouth twitched slightly.

She didn't respond and a tear escaped over the small ledge of my lower eyelid, and I saw it fall onto the bedsheet and soak a round spot.

"Please..." I begged quietly.

Her hand suddenly gripped mine firmly and her eyes started to twitch and flutter from half opened, back to closed.
I squeezed her hand in return. "I'm here, Hyemi."

Her eyes opened softly and her gaze was on the ceiling before her eyes slowly followed the ceiling and the wall down to my eyes.
"Hyemi."

Her eyes blinked slowly and she appeared exhausted. I flipped the cold cloth on her head and smiled.

"Do you know who I am?" I asked, leaning forward to see her barely open eyes.

She smiled for a moment. "Jung-"
Her smile immediately faded.
"Jungkook?"

I tried to keep my smile but it hurt to. She sounded disappointed that I was next to her.

"Yeah," I said, fighting tears. "Remember who you are?"

"Kim Hyemi." Her eyes shut for a long moment.

"Good." I said, releasing her hand and I helped her sit up slowly and leaned her against the wall. She played with the cold cloth in her hands and her eyes fought to stay open.

"How are you feeling?"

She sighed slowly and pushed her head against the wall. "Tired. Weak. Dizzy."

I sighed and pulled the blankets over her legs. "Your temperature has gone down."

"How long have you been here?" she looked up at me.

"2 hours." I half-smiled. "I couldn't leave you like that."

"Sorry." she said, pulling at a white thread hanging off the square cloth.

"You should be glad I found you. I only came to drop some soup for you, but your door was unlocked and I got worried."

She smiled slightly and I tilted my head at her as she spoke. "Thanks, Kook-ah."
-
[Hyemi's POV]

My head pounded as he spoke.
The thought of Mihyun, which I newly recalled flashed through my mind. The boy standing in the back of the visual was oddly familiar.

"Mihyun-ah!" I called across the yard. "Where are you?"

"Over here, Hyemi!" She called from the playground.

I ran across the playground and found Mihyun hiding under the slide with a young boy.

"Hyemi-ah, this is Jungkook. Let him play with us." She seemed worried about him.

"Okay," I sat down beside him. "Jungkook, huh? I'm Hyemi."

He bowed slightly out of nerves. "I like your name."

I smiled wide and ruffled his hair. "Don't be so shy, your voice is too sweet to not hear."

I snapped out of it and almost gasped for air.

"Hyemi? Are you okay?" Jungkook looked me in the eyes and had his hand resting on my shin.

I caught my breath quickly, but didn't respond.

This is Jungkook?

I shook my head. "Sorry. It's nothing."

"Are you sure? You seemed to go blank for a few minutes there and now you can't breathe." Jungkook looked concerned.
I smiled slightly, although the memory of Jungkook replayed over and over in my head. I squeezed my eyes shut and threw my head back, hitting the wall.

"Hey, watch your head there." Jungkook spoke softly.

I didn't care about my head anymore. My head was the one who managed to forget Jungkook, the boy who was lonely, the boy who was scared. And mostly, the boy who loved me for so long when we were young.
The boy who I loved for longer.