(Guide Us to) A Million Stars

24🔥

A few minutes after Chan left, Tae entered my apartment and found me sitting on the couch, my lower left leg wrapped with an elastic bandage, propped up on a small pillow, with an ice pack in between.

"Wae?" Tae asked, taking quick strides to reach me. His eyes scanned my leg, his mouth open in disbelief.

I covered my face and cringed. "I'm so embarrassed. I was trying to do that jump/kick move in 'Dynamite.' I landed on my foot a weird way and I felt something pop in my calf muscle."

"Aigoo." He squatted in front of me and held my hand. His warm touch soothed me, providing a contrast to the cold sensation on my leg. "You okay?"

I pouted. "It still hurts."

He rose and took a seat next to me. I scootched over to give him room as he put his arm around my shoulder and kissed the side of my head. "Let us go see a doctor."

"No. I don't want to mess with hospitals right now. They're all COVID crazy." 

"How can I help you? I want to take care of you." He held my hand and ran his thumb across my knuckles as I rested my head on his shoulder. "Did you eat?"

"Yeah. Chan made me a bowl of ramyeon before he left."

Tae broke our embrace, forcing me to look at him. His eyes narrowed. "Chan helped you?"

"Yeah. He was the only person who answered my text."

He gave me a stern look. Then his disposition changed when he reached down to place the flat of his palm on my lower leg, caressing it up and down. This was the comforting care I needed from the beginning. I wished it had been Tae taking care of me, not Chan.

Tae took out his phone and started texting someone. "You need hot pack too. I text Jimin to bring one and...oh! I think we have extra legs."

"Extra legs? Okay? Thanks."

We settled back into a cuddling position while we watched TV and waited for Jimin's response.

"I feel bad for you, babe. When you are hurt...I am sad." Tae squeezed me tighter against him. It was nice to be held by him, his lean body snug and cozy next to me, and I almost forgot about my leg.

"You know who would be really sad?" I looked at him, his long eyelashes blinking at me. "Hobi. He would hate me for messing up that step," I deadpanned. I imitated Hobi's eagle-eye dance teacher mode stare which made Tae laugh.

When Tae's phone alerted a text, he stared at it with a surprised look. "Suni, I have to go...somewhere."

I noticed my ankle was swelling and turning red. "Oh, okay," I whined.

As Tae stood up, he gave me a kiss and said, "Do not worry. Jimin will bring healing things."

After he left, the pain in my leg went from a 😢 on the faces pain scale to a 😭 in a matter of minutes. Not only was my calf muscle throbbing but my ankle had doubled in size. I knew I had to do something. COVID sucked but I had to brave it out and go see a doctor. I reached for my phone and called the doorman of the apartment complex. It turned out there was a medical clinic nearby and a service of driving me there was available.

I knew Tae couldn't bring me there without being seen in public, so I didn't even text him. Keeping my leg stationary as much as I could, I swung it over so I was in a sitting position. Then I tried to stand up, putting all my weight on my right leg. I tried to take a small step with my left foot but the pain was excruciating. Tears welled up in my eyes as I hobbled on one foot toward the door.

In the hallway, as I waited for the elevator, I leaned against the wall for support. When the doors opened with a ding!, there stood Tae and an older Korean man who was an elderly version of him. Eek! This must be Tae's father!