TAEHYUNG

Soft hands.

I can feel the cool touch graze my face, leaving behind a pleasant chill. Heat is everywhere else, and I find myself struggling to focus on the fingertips against my cheek.

There's a silhouette over me, a slender shadow.

A name echoes in the corner of my sluggish mind.

Aila.

More.

I shift my hand heavily towards the hand on my cheek. My own fingers feel like fire, but it feels better against hers. In the distance, there's a quiet sigh.

Is it mine?

Does it matter?

Her hand stays still in my grip. And I'm thankful as I lean deeper into her touch, eyes closing into darkness again. And when her other hand gently shifts across my forehead, brushing back the dark locks above my brow, there's a pleasant happiness in my chest.

Séjour.

Séjour, l'amour.

Rester pour toujours.

But then in my cloudiness, I feel her hand slightly shift. Then it slowly draws away, taking all of the softness— the pleasant chill.

I grip her tighter, wanting to pull her back.

My mouth won't move. But does she not feel me?

Her hand slips out of mine. And the fever rushes back into my body the moment the last of her touch leaves me, filling me up with the heat. I feel like I might suffocate.

Come back.

My hand searches for hers. But I don't find anything in the darkness, nothing but emptiness. And then it's just the fever, the sweat matting my clothes to my skin and my hair to my neck.

Where have you gone?

Then there's a sudden feeling of my heart crashing down to the bottom of my chest.

Had she left?

Left?

My hand freezes. And then my heart is beating so fast that I can't breathe, throat filling with rushed breaths and choked gasps. The fever replaces with ice.

Then my eyes jerk open.

I sit up, sweating furiously, in my own bed. Rough gasps echo the entire room, dark with night. I'm in different clothes than the ones I remember.

Mon Dieu.

Had I slept through the day?

I tug on the neckline of the shirt.

Then the door swings open, making my head jerk upwards.

Aila.

She sweeps into the room, eyes widening when she sees me upright. There's a glass of water in her hands, and my eyes instantly draw to it, full of thirst.

"Tae."

Her steps hurry.

"When did you wake up?" She asks quietly, pressing the cold glass into my hand. It chills the burning in my throat, and I look up at her and her face, cupped with rich dark locks.

And all I can think about is how beautiful she is.

"...what?"

She places a hand on my cheek, her sable eyes turning worried with my disoriented voice.

"How do you feel? You slept through the day—
I was getting really worried. I thought I might've done the wrong thing."

"You were asleep when I left to get water." She adds, sitting on the edge of the bed. My gaze flicker down to her fingertips against my skin, before flickering back up.

She's stood up, turning around.

"You're still too hot." Aila breathes, the worry deeper now. She starts to walk back towards the door. "I—"

"It's fine."

My hand wraps around her wrist, tugging her into my arms and onto the bed. Her skin is so cool against mine, and I sigh as I shift her hair over her shoulder.

"Just stay." I whisper.

Don't leave. Don't show your back to me.

Her voice is muffled against my chest.

"But your medicine."

"You don't even know where it is."

"...true. But I was about to go get a towel or something."

"I don't need it."

"I think you might."

"I really don't." I repeat, words slurring slightly together as I pull her hair back from her face. Why would I need something like that when I had her?

Then there's another hushed whisper.

"...I'm sorry."

My lips slightly purse in a frown. Right now I can barely think straight— with fever clouding my eyes and sweat running down my back. I had never slept for this long, and it had only made my mind thicker with dizziness.

"For—For what?"

"For this." She says, a bittersweet smile on her lips. "You said that you were going to be taking care of me with a fever. But it's you who's like this."

"So I'm sorry."

I bite out a weak laugh, feeling her hand in mine. "Aila, you come up with too many things to be sorry about."

But compared to what I expect, the light in her eyes grow darker. She looks down on her lap, the dark hair I'd shifted falling in a silky curtain over her cheeks.

"...maybe."

Another wave of pain dulls my head. And I breathe sharply between my clenched teeth, letting her words fade into silence. My eyes shut close.

When I open them again, Aila is staring worriedly from above me.

She puts a finger on her lips. And I can practically hear what she's thinking with the expression on her face.

Sorry. I'll be quiet.

I smile faintly, at the adorable quirk of her mouth.

My hand is still tight against hers even after sleep overtakes me, for the second time.

_______________________________

AILA

The next morning, I finally see the pictures.

They're all over the internet. There are thousands and thousands of comments on the bottom of each picture, some congratulating me, thinking it's a collaboration. And the others— they're asking questions.

Even the public knew Taehyung wasn't one to share his models.

And my heart sinks deeper with each picture of the photoshoot. It's all me, eyes fixed towards the camera with the design of someone else.

My eyes flicker anxiously towards Taehyung's door.

He hadn't woken up yet. I'd taken his temperature the moment I'd got up this morning, and the fever had thankfully broken. Which meant that it wouldn't be too long before he woke up too.

And if he hadn't already, he'd see all of these.

Why did it have to be him?

Why him, Aila?

The screen of my phone clicks off. My eyes are fixed on the ground, hands turning clammy as I fidget. He'd said all of that yesterday. It was how I knew he really hadn't been fine with me.

Just the thought of his clear features clouding with either sadness or disappointment was enough to make me wince.

No time.

Quickly, I push off from the couch. Then I grip one of his long, warm coats off the hanger, shrugging it over my own shoulders.

My eyes continue to dart to the closed doorway of his room, even as I'm scribbling a short note on the island table.

There wasn't much food in the fridge so I'm going to get some groceries! Will be back soon!

Love you lots, Aila

I skim over the short note before sticking it to the edge of the table, where he'd see. It was a terrible excuse, but it'd work.

I just didn't have the courage to be here when he found those pictures all over the internet. It really was pathetic.

Biting the inside of my mouth, I look back at his door one more time before slipping out of the house. The ends of his long coat nearly brush below my knees.

Sorry, Taehyung.

My fingers squeeze into fists.

I'll be back soon. I promise.

I just...

I'm not strong enough to be there with you when you find out.

I hope you understand.