As I have nothing to give you, I give you my heart (IU Verse Book#1)

Chapter 9

          The following morning, Jieun had woken up feeling well-rested. She hadn't felt that way in a long time ever since she started working on her new album. She wasn't able to get a good night's sleep while working on it, and during the past few days, it had gotten worse with Jihyuk being hospitalized. She had often found herself drifted in and out of restless sleep. But now, she woke up blissfully feeling energetic for the first time in a while. As she stretched herself on the bed, she glanced at the time to see that it was 7 AM. She had no early schedule today, as she was going to Kang Hanna's radio show in mid-afternoon and You Heeyeol's sketchbook later in the evening.

           She had gotten ready and was out of the room at 7: 45 AM. She made her way to the kitchen to make herself and her new guest some breakfast. Speaking of the said person, she glanced at the clock to see that it was almost 8, and he was nowhere to be seen. She figured that he was still tired and needed more rest, after all, He had just been discharged yesterday. She glanced at his bedroom door, which was the guest room, to see that it was sealed shut. However, the door across the room which was the storage, now became the security room, was slightly ajar. She figured that he must have forgotten to close it fully so she made her way towards it to close it all the way. As she approached the door, she peeked in and her eyes widened in surprise when she saw him sleeping soundly on a chair in front of the monitors. The room was cold as the door was left ajar for what seemed like the whole night. She opened the door more widely and quietly tiptoed into the room. She slowly made her way towards him, debating whether or not to wake him up.

          She had watched him sleep in a hospital bed for the past few days, but he hadn't looked as peaceful as he was now coddling in the chair. She figured to let him sleep in more since she's not scheduled to do anything till afternoon. She quietly tiptoed back to the guest room to fetch a blanket and put it on him. She crouched down, gazed up at his sleeping figure, and let out a low giggle when she heard his soft snore.

            She was then slightly startled when he moved slightly and his eyebrows began to cease, his breath slightly haggard as if he was experiencing something awful in whatever dream he was in. Jieun hesitated for a nanosecond before reaching out and brushed his hair softly out of his eyes and let her fingers linger on his forehead. Her gesture seemed to do the trick as his brows no longer ceased together and his breathing returned to normal. She slowly extracted her hand from his face.

           "You should express that you're having a hard time instead of always hiding it. Pabo." She said softly under her breath. She slowly got up from her crouched position and decided to get started on making breakfast for the both of them. She threw one last glance at him before closing the door quietly behind her.

                                                                                              ⧪

            Jihyuk woke up to the noise that Jieun had made in the kitchen when she was cooking up their breakfast. He had gone to apologize to her first thing about waking up late, to which she waved it off and told him that it was fine and that he needed the rest. They settled down on the dining table and began eating the breakfast that Jieun had prepared, which was a traditional Korean breakfast; seaweed soup in which she made it herself; a side of kimchi radish, grilled short rib, and spicy seafood salad that was left from when her mom came to visit. She had cooked up a ton of side dishes for her daughter which could last a lifetime. Jieun had been eating it since then, and there was still a lot left for her to finish by herself.

           As they ate, Jieun informed Jihyuk about her schedule to which he replied that he had already taken a look at it the night before. Jieun hummed in response and continued digging on her food when she noticed that his plate was only filled with rice and kimchi radish, and a small bowl of seaweed soup at the side.