- An Infectious Smile - Baek Dohwa

Chapter 9

{Y/N's POV}

After school finished, I headed straight home since Eun-Young couldn't hang out today. I love hanging out with Eun-Young but this was my time for extra studying without my brother bothering me like he usually did.

As I stepped inside, the aroma of soup took up all the space in the house. I could smell that this soup was my favorite whenever I got sick. I knew that I wasn't sick, but maybe Dae-Hyun went home sick.

I walked in on my mom pouring the soup into a thermos and Dae-Hyun sitting at the table. It looked like no one was sick in the house. Maybe it was my grandma or even my dad.

"Who's sick?" I asked. Dae-Hyun's eyes lit up like a miracle just happened.

"Thank God! You can take it now!" He said, getting up and grabbing his bag.

"What?"

"Dohwa is very sick, and I thought that you could bring him this soup, medication, and his homework from today!" Dae-Hyun pulled out a small stack of papers and placed them in my hands.

"Why don't you do it? Aren't you best friends with him?"

"Ya, but I got other friends to hang out with. Plus you're his friend too. So go do it and do not complain to me later. I'll text you his address, Bye!" Dae-Hyun said and quickly left. A few seconds later, I got a message from him with Dohwa's address.

"Here you go, honey! I hope he gets better!" My mom handed me the thermos and the bag of medication for him.

I rolled my eyes as I turned on my heel and left the house. There goes my extra studying time.

I walked down the street for a couple of minutes before coming up to an apartment building. I looked at the street sign, making sure it was the exact address. I headed inside, walking up to the floor Dohwa supposedly lived on. I looked at the numbers on each door as I came up to the door I needed.

I reached up and knocked on the door, waiting for an answer; there was none. I knocked a couple more times. Before I heard some movement. It sounded like something crashed on the floor. I started to become worried.

"Dohwa? Are you there?" I called out.

"I-I'm he-here!" a weak voice called out.

I placed my hand on the doorknob and pushed it open. It was a small apartment with only one main room. There was only one set of shoes at the door, which must've been Dohwa's.

In the far corner across the door, I could see Dohwa trying to get up and greet me. Just from him trying to stand, I could see that he was weak and unstable. I took my shoes off quickly and ran to him. He was on both his feet before he started wobbling from side to side.

I quickly grabbed both of his hands to stop him from falling backwards. There was a second that I thought he wasn't falling, but then he started to, pulling me with him. I tried my best to pull him back, but it was useless.

I fell on top of him, which cushioned my fall. Once there was no movement, I lifted my head; I was pretty sure my head was resting on his chest. He was starting to sit up as well when I brushed his arm. I paused before I placed my hand on his arm, feeling the warmth emanating from his body.

I looked at him towards his face, seeing how red his cheeks were. I moved my hand from his arm and placed the back side of my palm on his forehead. He was burning up, even though he was shivering.

"Dohwa, you're burning up!" I said quickly getting up and moving him to get him to lie down.

"I'm just a little cold though."

"Please just lay down though, I have some medicine for you to take and some soup."

Dohwa respected my pleas and laid down. I grabbed some of the medicine from the bag and gave it to him. I got up and walked over to the small kitchen to get a washcloth and a bowl full of water. I brought the cloth and bowl over and wet the cloth in the bowl. Pushing his hair back, I placed the wet cloth on his forehead.

"Thank you Y/N," he said. I smiled and turned to grab the thermos.

"Have you eaten anything today?" I asked him.

"I've been sleeping all day," he laughed slightly.

I popped the lid off, grabbing a spoon for him. I held the spoon out as I looked for a different medication in the bag. I held it for a few seconds, but he didn't grab it. I turned and saw him looking away from me, like he was embarrassed about something.

"Umm..." he paused, "Could you, um, feed it to me?" I was sure his cheeks had turned a couple more shades darker as he asked. I could feel my cheeks heat as well.

"Um, sure...just hold on a second." He turned back to face me as I found a different medicine for him.

After I gave it to him, I helped him sit up so that the soup wouldn't make a mess. I scooped the spoon into the thermos and slowly gave him the food.

"This reminds me of a mom feeding her kids," he spoke. A small chuckle followed after, which then led to him to start coughing.

"Just focus on eating instead of talking. You need to save your energy."Dohwa nodded in response. I spooned out more soup until there was none left.