Sick

                                    

                                          
I stirred, my body heavy and aching, as I slowly came to. My head throbbed, and I felt like I'd been hit by a truck. The soft sheets beneath me were unfamiliar, and the muted sunlight filtering through the curtains wasn't coming from my penthouse window.
I blinked, my vision slowly coming into focus. Where was I?
I sat up carefully, my body protesting with every movement, and immediately noticed I was in someone else's bed. The room was minimalist but elegant, with dark wood furniture and clean lines. A few framed pictures sat on the dresser, and the faint smell of cologne lingered in the air.
My heart raced as I tried to piece together what had happened. The last thing I remembered was being in Ji-hoon's car, completely drained after the disastrous dinner. I had been soaking wet and feeling weak, but... Did I fall asleep?
Before I could process any more, the door creaked open, and Ji-hoon stepped inside, a tray in his hands. The smell of tea wafted through the air, warm and comforting.
"You're awake," he said, his tone soft but still carrying that underlying sharpness I was starting to associate with him.
I stared at him, still piecing things together. "Where am I?"
"My place," he replied casually, setting the tray down on the nightstand. "You fell asleep in the car. I brought you here because you were burning up with a fever. You've been out all night."
I blinked in disbelief. "I... I fell asleep?"
Ji-hoon nodded, his eyes studying me for a moment before he continued. "Yeah, and you didn't look like you were in any condition to be alone. So I took care of you."
I stared at him, feeling a mixture of embarrassment and confusion. Why had he done all this? Ji-hoon had made it clear more than once that he didn't particularly like me-or at least the version of me that was desperate and clingy. So why go out of his way?
I shifted under the covers, suddenly very aware that I was in his bed. "I'm sorry," I mumbled, my voice raspier than I expected. "I didn't mean to be a burden."
"You weren't," he said simply, handing me a cup of tea. "You needed help. I helped."
I accepted the cup, my fingers trembling slightly. The warmth from the tea seeped into my hands, easing some of the tension in my body. As much as I wanted to get out of here, to put some distance between myself and this strange vulnerability I felt, I knew I wasn't in any condition to leave just yet.
"Thank you," I muttered, glancing down at the tea.
Ji-hoon didn't respond right away. Instead, he sat on the edge of the bed, watching me carefully. There was something different in his gaze today, something softer, more thoughtful than the usual sharpness I'd come to expect from him. It made me feel even more exposed.
---
Ji-hoon's POV
I watched Luna as she sipped the tea, her usual sharpness dulled by exhaustion. She looked fragile, vulnerable-something I never thought I'd associate with her. The Kim Luna I knew was always composed, always in control, even if I hated that desperation she often showed around Alex. But this... this was different.
Last night had been a wake-up call. Seeing her standing in the rain, drenched and completely lost, was a far cry from the woman everyone thought they knew. And when she passed out in my car, her fever spiking, I couldn't just leave her like that.
I had brought her back to my place, set her up in my bed, and kept an eye on her through the night. She'd been restless, mumbling incoherently in her sleep, probably from the fever. But every now and then, I saw her face relax, like she was fighting something even in her dreams.
I wasn't sure what to think of her anymore.
"I don't know how you manage to live like this," I found myself saying before I could stop. Luna glanced up at me, confusion in her eyes. "The pretending. The facade."
She blinked at me, clearly still groggy, but there was a hint of surprise in her gaze. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, you act like everything is fine, like you've got it all together," I continued, my voice steady but not harsh. "But last night, you were barely holding on. Why?"
Luna stared down at the tea, her lips pressed tightly together. For a long moment, she didn't answer, and I wondered if I'd overstepped. But then she spoke, her voice barely a whisper.
"Because I don't have a choice."
That simple admission caught me off guard. I had always assumed Luna was driven by pride or some desperate need to prove herself, but hearing her say it like that... It made me realize there was more to her than I thought.
"Everyone thinks I'm this cold, calculating person," she continued, her voice shaking slightly. "And maybe I've played into that because it's easier. It's easier to be what people expect than to show them how scared you really are."
Her vulnerability hit me harder than I expected. This was not the woman I had always looked at with frustration and disdain. This was someone trying to survive in a world that didn't seem to care about her.
I didn't know what to say, so I kept quiet, letting her words hang in the air.
---
Luna's POV
I couldn't believe I had just admitted that to him, of all people. Ji-hoon was the last person I wanted to show weakness to, but there was something about him in that moment that made it impossible to keep the walls up. Maybe it was the fact that he had taken care of me without judgment, or maybe I was just too exhausted to pretend anymore.
Either way, the truth had slipped out, and now I was left feeling exposed.
Ji-hoon stood up, breaking the silence. "You should rest. I'll be in the living room if you need anything."
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. As he left the room, I sank back into the pillows, my body still weak from the fever. I didn't know what to make of Ji-hoon's unexpected kindness, but one thing was clear: I couldn't keep living like this. Pretending to be Kim Luna was taking more out of me than I had realized.
As I drifted back to sleep, my mind was filled with questions. What did Ji-hoon think of me now? And more importantly, what did I think of myself?
---
To Be Continued...