That Night It Rained | Yuta

23 | All it takes is a why

Yuta was the first one back. His hair was slightly wet with the upper part of his shirt almost soaked. He had clearly run at some point.

'Where is everyone else?' Haechan asked from the kitchen while he was boiling water.

But Yuta ignored his question. 'Where is she?', he asked but didn't wait for the answer and rushed down the hallway to Jina's room.

Jungwoo and Mark were beside a shivering Jina. Jungwoo was rubbing her feet and Mark was adjusting her blanket. Seeing Yuta, Mark immediately got up knowing Yuta would want to sit beside Jina.

'She has a high fever. She was completely drenched. We changed her clothes and put her inside the blankets but she hasn't stopped shivering,' Mark told Yuta.

Yuta could not bring himself to sit beside her instead he sat on the carpeted floor next to her head and ran his hand over Jina's head. His eyes were full of tears ready to overflow at any point.

'Get the hair dryer. Dry her hair first and bring some paper towels and a bowl of water. I'll bring down her fever,' Yuta was issuing commands, swallowing his tears. He didn't have time to cry right now. There was only one thing on his mind, bringing down Jina's fever.

Jungwoo went to get the hair dryer from his room after he couldn't find Jina's and Mark went to convey the instructions to Haechan and they both came back with a bowl of water and paper towels.

Jina had not woken up. She was conscious but too weak from the walk to the house and the fever. Yuta gently lifted her head up as though she is made of glass and will break if he applied too much pressure. He switched on the hair dryer and delicately ran the dryer through Jina's hair length trying not to wake her up.

Soon, the other members along with Min-hyuk entered Jina's room to find Jungwoo, Mark and Haechan standing in one corner and Yuta leaning beside Jina's bed, drying her hair.

Yuta had not noticed the others entering. 'Put some socks on her feet and rub them after rubbing your palms together,' Yuta ordered and Mark went to find some socks and put them on Jina's feet. He sat near the foot of the bed rubbing her feet.

Jungwoo and Haechan along with the other members and Min-hyuk went out the room after seeing Yuta next to Jina. Haechan filled them in with what happened while they were away.

Shortly after, Mark came out of the room leaving Yuta and Jina alone.

'Do we need to take her to the doctor?' Min-hyuk asked.

'How is the temperature?' Taeyong added.

'I think she'll be fine now', Mark said and the members understood what Mark meant. He glanced back at Jina's door and pulled it shut completely.

'Keep checking on her through the night and on Yuta too,' Taeil said.

'I'll sleep on the couch tonight, in case anything is needed,' Min-hyuk said.

'Hyung, it's fine, go back. If anything happens, we'll call you,' Jungwoo said and even though he didn't want to leave, after much insistence, the members convinced Min-hyuk to go home and get some rest.

The members checked once on Yuta and Jina before turning in for the night but none of them really slept. They kept waking up in turns to see if anything was needed but Yuta stayed by Jina's side the entire night putting the wet paper towels on her forehead trying to bring her fever down and making sure that she is sleeping soundly. Even with the lightest stir of her head, Yuta would check if everything is fine.

The rain had now stopped pouring and the only sound in the room was the slight drizzle on the window and Jina's deep breaths. Jina was finally sleeping. Her temperature was down. Yuta looked at her with heavy eyes and ran his hand across her forehead. He finally let go of the tears he had held in since he came back and soon, resting his head on the side, Yuta slipped into sleep as well.

It was almost morning but it was still dark outside when Jina opened her eyes to find Yuta's head leaning next to hers. She shifted slightly causing Yuta to wake up. He looked up at her.

'Jina,' he whispered.

'Yuta,' she whispered back.

'How are you feeling?' His morning voice was deep.

She tried to get up but Yuta gently shifted her back into position. 'It's still early, go back to sleep,' he said, caressing her head.

'Were you here the whole night?' Jina asked looking around the room at the hair dryer, the bowl of water, the paper towels and the tablets.

Yuta didn't say anything. It was because of him she was shivering last night. It was because of him that she had such a high fever. It was because of him, she was hurting.

Jina wanted to cry. She didn't know whether it was because she was angry at Yuta for leaving her in the middle of the road or because he stayed up next to her the whole night, atoning his guilt. She couldn't stop herself and let the tears fall from her eyes.

Yuta shifted from the floor to pull himself beside her on the bed. He cupped her face in his palm. 'Please don't cry Jina. It's all my fault,' and he wiped the tears falling from her eyes.

'I was so scared.' Jina let go completely and sobbed into Yuta's shoulder clutching his shirt tightly in her palms. 'I was so scared alone,' she sobbed. Yuta held her and let her cry. He had never felt so guilty before.

'I am so sorry. Please stop crying,' Yuta whispered to her.

'Why do you hate me so much, Yuta?', she asked Yuta directly.

Yuta was at a loss of words. He had no answer to Jina's honest question. He didn't know why he hated Jina or the fact that if he even hated Jina. Since the beginning he had acted cold towards her and had been rude but why. What had Jina done to make him hate her? What was her fault? Realisation dawned on him. It wasn't Jina whom he hated, no. He hated how this entire thing was forced on the members without asking them properly and he hated that situation. Jina had just become the face for those emotions. Who else could he blame every day? Jina's simple 'why' made him realise that he never hated Jina. In fact, from the very first moment Jina had walked into that meeting room, he could not take her eyes off her. Her brown eyes which were filled with tears right now because of him, had held so many dreams when she had entered the meeting room and he couldn't stop looking at them. Her eyes had held him in place. And even on the night when they kissed, when he whispered out her name, he didn't want to ever move away from her. He was mad at himself for letting these petty feelings of jealousy take over him.

'I don't hate you, Jina,' he finally managed to say.

Jina looked at him questioning still waiting for an explanation.

'I never hated you. I just hated the situation and I am sorry I brought you in the middle of it and my feelings. I never hated you, Jina. Not when you walked into that room the first time and not when we kissed that night nor the morning after and all the days that followed. I messed up and was confused but I never hated you and I am sorry for putting you through this. Please accept my apology.'

Jina cried harder listening to Yuta but this she cried because she was relieved that all this is over and that things will be fine between them. She hugged him tightly and snuggled her head deep into his shoulder and he accepted it and held her tightly before sliding her down into the blanket.

'You still need rest. I'll go tell the guys that you're fine. Everyone must be worried,' he said. He tucked her into the blanket and placed a small kiss on her forehead before leaving.