episode_0029

“Cough…!!”

I caught a cold.

It was also a pretty severe sore throat.

The reason is that I didn’t bring an umbrella yesterday and came home in the rain.

Unfortunately, our weather forecast was unreliable.

‘They said he wasn’t coming.’

I never thought they would attack me like that.

It wasn’t short and thin, and it was so painful that it really hurt.

Did the rain really hurt?

‘I don’t have any strength in my body.’

The result is this.

I couldn’t get out of this bed except when taking medicine.

It’s good that I’m legally skipping school because it’s a weekday, but I can’t move.

Even if you skip school, you have to enjoy something to have fun.

What good is there in just begging like this?

I was lying in bed and still, but my body wasn’t my own. As long as I did something, my limbs moved freely.

I couldn’t go to the hospital because my parents weren’t there.

‘No wonder he had to go to work today.’

My mom, who hasn’t had any work recently, went out today, and that’s why she caught a cold today.

So, I skipped school, took only the medicine I had at home, and lay in bed fretting.

How long has it been since it hurt like this?

I’ve never really been sick except when I was in elementary school.

It really feels like the illness that was in between has come to me all at once.

“Hu…hu…”

I didn’t sleep well earlier, but I couldn’t even move my body.

The temperature was close to 39 degrees. I really felt like I was going to die like this.

I feel like I need to eat something to gain energy, but I can’t eat anything.

The body has no energy, so it cannot eat anything, and so it repeats.

‘I’ll just have to hold on until mom comes.’

It was the most I could do right now.

It’s boring, my body has no energy, and it hurts. It was the worst, but there was nothing I could do.

With that thought in mind, just stare at the ceiling. Suddenly, my cell phone vibrated.

I tried to ignore the phone screen as it was not particularly important, but a name that I could absolutely ignore caught my eye.

“…Liya?”

When I turn my head, the name I see is none other than Lee.

I barely reached out and picked up the phone with trembling fingers.

[revelation. Are you sick and couldn’t come today?]

“Huh?…Uh. Cough..!! Because I caught a cold.”

I didn’t specifically tell Riya that I couldn’t go out because I was sick. I didn’t want to worry you either.

But Riya seems quite dissatisfied with that.

[Why didn’t you tell me?]

“Just… I’m worried, I’m afraid I’ll do it.”

[So you should have said it. I should be worried.]

Her voice as she said that was heard over the phone, but it conveyed the feeling that she was worried about me.

It felt good, but it also made my heart tingle, so a faint smile appeared on my face, which had been rotten just a moment ago.

“From next time… Cough! I’ll tell you.”

Honestly, I don’t even know what I’m saying right now.

I thought I couldn’t say anything earlier. Even though my voice was muffled, everything I wanted to say came out.

[okay. I’ll go up soon.]

“…come up?”

Riya didn’t respond to what I said and just hung up the phone.

It will go soon. It meant many things, but I had one thing in mind. Could it be that she comes here?

‘School…?’

It’s not time for school to end now, so what?

Did you miss school?

When I was thinking that and panicking. Suddenly the doorbell rang.

Ding dong-

The moment when my imagination became reality.

There was no need for me to open the door. Just as I knew Riya’s house number, Riya knew my house number.

Tiriring-!

After a while, the door lock opened and someone came into the house.

Although it was not visible, it was clearly Riya.

“Sihyeon. I’m here.”

“…You really came.”

Riya opened my door and went straight inside. It looks like he came right after school ended because he was wearing a school uniform.

As she entered the room, she held a fairly large black bag in her hand.

“School…?”

“I left school early. Legally.”

At first glance, it didn’t look like it was in pain, but thinking that it was given for me, I couldn’t really think of anything to say.

No, I would have said it originally.

Focus a little more on school than on me.

but.

‘It’s hard now.’

The moment I realized I liked her, it was hard for me to say that anymore.

How can I say no when the person I like is there for me?

It was still like that now.

I was in a bad mood before she came, but now I feel so good. Purely.

“You want to eat porridge, right?”

“Porridge?”

“I bought it.”

Riya took out a plastic container from the black bag she was holding.

Looking at the contents, it was none other than beef porridge.

It looked like porridge I bought from a store near my house.

“Yes. I’ll eat it.”

I was really hungry and had no reason not to eat, so I nodded and tried to stand up.

Still, if you try hard, you have enough strength to lift one hand.

But Riya grabbed my shoulders again, made me raise my upper body a little, and then laid me down again.

“….?”

“I’ll feed you.”

The porridge with the lid open looked very delicious. It wasn’t just an empty remark, it was sincere. At this moment, it seemed more delicious than anything else.

Tough-looking beef in glossy porridge.

That alone was enough to make my salivary glands water.

Honestly, now I have the confidence to enjoy eating anything other than porridge.

“Huh…”

Riya scooped up the porridge with the included disposable spoon and then blew on it to make the porridge.

The beef porridge was brought to my mouth.

“Ah. Do it.”

“Ah…”

I felt a little weird seeing him as if I was being treated like a child, but I didn’t care.

I felt good about giving a rebuttal here.

Above all, the porridge was so delicious.

‘Porridge… was it this delicious?’

They say that anything you eat after an empty stomach is delicious. Those words were true.

Even though this porridge was not particularly seasoned, it tasted very sweet.

“Is it delicious?”

“Yes…”

Riya scooped up the porridge without saying a word and put it in my mouth. I took it all and ate it.

The beef porridge diminished quickly, and soon I had received all the porridge in the container.

“Umm…”

Riya suddenly sucked the remaining porridge on the spoon into her mouth.

Then, Lee naturally got up from her seat and took the container with her.

“I’ll clean it up and come back.”

Just… what was that?

Wasn’t it an indirect kiss?

‘Why is Riya so natural?’

Why did she so naturally suck on the spoon I put to her mouth?

It seemed so natural that for a moment I thought I might have thought wrong or looked at it wrong.

As soon as I became convinced that she had kissed me indirectly, my face turned red again.

One good thing is that my face is already red.

‘I never thought having a cold would help this much.’

No, if Riya hadn’t caught a cold in the first place, there would have been no reason for her to come to our house.

Rather, I was in a situation where I should be thankful for the cold.

“Sihyeon, take the medicine.”

After returning from taking out the trash, Riya took out some cold medicine from the black bag and gave it to me.

I put the medicine she gave me in my mouth and drank the water, and only then did I feel a little more at ease.

After all, people need to eat.

“Is there anything else I can do for you?”

“Will you do it?”

There wasn’t anything in particular.

There is nothing like that because I didn’t really have anything to do today.

“Nothing in particular. Just stay by my side.”

I couldn’t sleep well, but being alone and not being able to do anything was extremely lonely.

There was no need to say anything in particular.

Just being next to him was enough.

She nodded at my words, brought a chair nearby and sat down next to my bed.

The silence that came like that.

I lay down on the bed and asked her for a moment before I could maintain eye contact with Riya.

“Studying? There’s not much time left until the exam.”

There are at most two weeks left until the exam.

It wasn’t that much time, just enough to be considered a clear testing period.

I was also studying just fine.

Of course, today was bad.

But unlike me, Riya, it would be a waste of time if she continued like this.

“It’s okay. I played today at school.”

“..Is that okay?”

“Vision is more important than studying.”

Riya looked into my eyes for a moment as she answered, then suddenly laid her upper body forward.

Riya’s face fills my vision.

“Ri, Riya…?”

I started speaking as if I was embarrassed, but she hugged me as if she couldn’t hear me.

He buried his head on my shoulder and wrapped his arms around my neck.

I couldn’t see her face, but I could clearly feel the tickling sensation of her hair.

“Go, catch a cold… catch it. Don’t be too attached.”

Of course it’s good.

I liked the feeling of Riya’s face on my shoulder, but I was worried that Riya would move more than that.

Riya, who had buried her head in my shoulder for a moment at my words, immediately raised her head again.

“Don’t be sick.”

While saying that.

A face full of worry.

I kept my mouth shut at the sound of a voice that sounded a little like crying.

“…I’ll be careful.”

While saying that, I closed my eyes. I think the medicine I took earlier had a sleeping pill in it.

I closed my eyes from a tired mind and almost fell into sleep.

Riya is very small.

I spoke so quietly that I couldn’t be heard.

“I like it…”

I couldn’t remember much after saying those words.

But one thing is for sure: she didn’t leave right after I fell asleep.

[Liya: Sihyeon, your sleep talking is cute]

Because she sent me this message via text.

…What on earth did you say?

I was lost in that worry for a while.