chapter 15 | Caring

He smiles but points at something, so I direct my eyes towards this interesting thing and feel my heart flutter as soon as I stumble upon the woman walking up to our sports teacher.

I look her up and down uncontrollably, loving the way her thighs move at each step of hers. I chew more slowly on my food, and she stops next to Mister Park to talk to him but look a bit worried. She only passed by us at some feet away, but the smell of her fragrance still reached us.

Why do I feel some sort of jealousy whenever she's close to another man, when she's not even my girlfriend?

"Imagine the wind blows hard, and her skirt flies up," Jaehyun fantasizes while I cannot stop staring at her and feeling my pulse hitting me hard everywhere. "Stop being a pervert," the smart one calms him down, and I eat the rest of my snack.

"Jungkook?!" the teacher suddenly calls my name, getting me to be a bit surprised. "Yes...?" I stand up and walk up to them as they must not have noticed me behind their back. My voice gets me to be heard but at the exact moment that Miss Han turns towards me, her gaze concerns me. "Jungkook, something happened, and you have to follow me to the nurse's office."

"W—What...? Why?" I lose my breath and feel anxious, fearing this could be related to my brother. "Your...your brother..." my heart stops beating at the sound of this answer. "He fainted during class, so we had to get him there, I need you to come with me."

"Is he okay?" my worry overcomes me and gets all my stress to rise at the speed of light. I follow her up to the inside of the building but feel on the verge of crying. "We're not sure, he's awake, so that's a good thing, however, he told me he's not feeling okay," her words don't reassure me at all but only worsen everything.

I don't control myself anymore but feel a wave of panic drown me, my hands already shaking from fright as I'm still trying to walk along her steps. I don't want him to be hurt, he was all fine earlier, what happened to him?

Wait a minute, now that I think about it he hasn't eaten all his food. He went back to school with almost the entirety of his sandwich but told me he would finish it while he would be with his friends. What if he lied to me?

Once we're there, she opens the door and goes in first to lead the way to the bed where he is. I hold my tears as much as I can to make sure I don't worry him even more, but she makes us arrive and opens the curtain separating each bed in here.

"Jungeun," my voice trembles and I move towards him, not believing that it is happening for real. His lips lack so much of color, I think I'm going to pass out, I can't stand this type of thing whenever it is about the ones I love. "Are you okay? What is happening?" I lean over him but brush some strands away from his sweaty forehead, hurt by the scene I'm witnessing.

"I wanna go home..." he breaks down into tears in front of me for the first time, tearing my heart apart and making it even more difficult for me to not cry. "Hey...tell me what is happening first, I'm scared, Jungeun..." I bite my lips but swallow, the tight knot in my throat growing. "I don't know..." his sobs instantly cause mine, the pain he feels affecting me as if I could feel it. "Are you hurt somewhere? Is your body in pain?" my tears don't roll down so I try to remain calm for him. "I'm tired...I feel weak..."

He's never been in such a state before, what the hell is he keeping to himself or hiding from me?

"Jungkook," Miss Han talks to me, but I turn around and see her placing a stool close to me. "Sit down on this, you'll be more comfortable," she kindly cares. I take it and sit down on it, getting back closer to my little brother and putting my hand on his. "Try to stay calm and relax here, okay? We're going to go home, but I want you to stay here a little bit. Have you eaten the rest of your sandwich at lunch?"

He shakes his head but wipes his tears away. "Why? Were you already not feeling good?"

"I just didn't want to eat more..." he answers me in a faint but sorrowful voice. "And what about the drinks in your bag? Have you hydrated yourself?"

"No..." he doesn't lie to me, but no matter how bad this is for his health, I don't scold him, I can't. "Do you have your bag here?" I look for it on the floor but hear him answer with a 'no'.

"All right," I stand up but take the Chocopie I put in my pocket before getting to know about this. I open it. "Can you straighten up a little bit to eat?"

"My head hurts more when I do it..." he rubs his teary eye with feebleness. "Try to turn to your side then, this will be better," I suggest him to do, and he doesn't complain but gets on his right side to face me. I spread the snack in two and bring on part to his mouth. "Here, try to eat this," I manage to make him feed himself, so I put the other part on the bedside table.

"I'm going to get something sweet for you to drink, I'm coming back in short seconds, okay?" I tell him to make sure he doesn't feel worried without me, but he nods. "I'm staying here for him," Miss Han who stays with us melts my heart even more, being here for my little brother when she should be giving her lesson to her students. "Thank you so much, Miss Han," I bow to her but hurry to leave this room.

I run back to the changing room since my bag is there and do this as fast as possible. I've never seen him like this, he never cried in front of me, he never showed me when he was feeling weak or sick. I'm so hurt by the images that don't want to leave my mind that it takes my heart out of my chest just by the thought of this.

As I'm now in possession of my bag, I rush back to the room where my little brother is waiting for me. In short seconds, I enter the room again, so I open my bag while heading back to Jungeun.

I take the strawberry milk carton and poke the top with the straw, I put my bag down on the floor and once Miss Han steps back to let me get closer to Jungeun, I sit down on the stool and bring the straw to his mouth. "It's not cold anymore but at least you can drink something sweet."

He sips on it and holds this carton, his paleness fading away the more the minutes are passing. It's a relief. I brush his hair back and lay the back of my hand over his forehead to check his temperature.

"The nurse gave him some paracetamol," Miss Han tells me in a soft voice, I remove my hand from his skin after feeling no excessive heat but look at her. "Thank you for staying here, Ma'am...but you should go back to your students. Don't get into trouble, please.

"It's fine, I just wanted to make sure he's okay," she holds her hands together in the front of her body, standing close to us. I smile but turn back towards my brother. "Are you feeling better?"

He nods but hands me the drink he emptied, "Can I sleep?"

I take the pink carton and put it on the bedside table. "Yes, you can. I stay here with you," I give him my word, and he closes his eyes. I hope he'll feel better once he wakes up.

1 hour later...

The sound of the bell ringing the ten minutes break reverberates through the school, but I cover my little brother's ear as much as I can to make sure this doesn't wake him up.

The second last long, but the shrieking sound of this doesn't disturb his sleep, to my greatest relief. Miss Han has left us only five minutes after Jungeun asked for a rest, but I cannot stop thinking about how lovely she can be with her students. I could see how worried she was when she went up to the teacher, it never happened with another teacher before. I love her so much for that.

No matter how much I like to think about her, to have her close to me, to see her, it hurts me. My feelings only deepen every day, and I know this infatuation will keep on growing the more I'll see her on a daily basis, and I can't do anything about it. I never dealt with one-sided love before, but now that I do, it hurts me a lot.

It's not only painful but also tiring mentally, you cannot get it out of your head, and you think about it twenty-four hours a day. That's like a workout for your brain, you have to fight against your own feelings to not let yourself get hurt, but you know damn well this is impossible because your feelings are the one controlling you.

A sigh escapes me, but I look at my little brother who sleeps peacefully. I reach out for his face and check his temperature again, still feeling worried after the moment I went through earlier. This little brat really means the world to me, I have to protect him and whenever I feel like I failed to my job, I hate myself and cannot help but pamper him even more.

I'm pretty sure we're going to fight tomorrow or even today as if nothing happened, but that's what makes us two brothers. We love and care for each other.

My fingers run through his hair but wakes him up in a soft manner. I bring my hand back towards my body to not get caught doing this, but I keep my eyes fixed on him as his big ones are opening. I let him come back on earth at his own pace before speaking.

"Are you feeling better?" I lay my forearms on the mattress, but he rubs his eyes and nods to me. A yawn runs out of him, and he covers his mouth but rolls on his back. "Do you want to go home?"

"Yeah..." he nods bug sits up, grimacing a if he was in pain. "I'm cold though..." he lets out, putting his legs out of the bed. I grab hold of my sports bag that is inside my school one, and I open it to take my leather jacket out. "Here, put this on."

He takes it without acting like it's disgusting and he closes the zipper to the full, looking like a mini me and making me smile. The fact that he's cold is a bit worrying though. I stand up from my chair and slide my hand under his bangs to check once again. "You're maybe a bit sick, your forehead is too hot for you to be cold."

"Does that mean I won't see Miss Han for a few days...?" he still dares to joke in this type of situation, making me shake my head out of disbelief. "Yep. I'll be the only one lucky enough to see her," I close the zipper of my bag to get ready to leave. "You're gonna have to go out with me when I just had sport one hour ago though."

"Well...you can go and take a shower," he chuckles but looks up at me. I smile but put one strap of my bag on my shoulder. "Let's go," I lean over to grab the trash we left here and I let him lead the way to get out of here.

Once we pass by the door, I throw everything out and close the door behind me. As soon as we're in the hallways, he shoves his hands in the pockets of the jacket I lent him and we walk to the schoolyard. "Wait," I grip his cloth and speak to him in his ear. "Do I smell?"

"No, but imagine we pass by Miss Han and you don't wear your fragrance with your lip balm to moisturize your lips? How will you feel?" he uses the right words to make me run to the showers. "Naked and horrible," I answer but head to the other side of the building to do as he suggested.

5 minutes later...

'YOUR P.O.V'

"Jungeun?" I step towards him in a hurried manner, holding my car keys and hand bag. He raises his eyes up but doesn't move away from his spot on the chair. "Oh, Miss Han?" he smiles at me.

I return the same soft expression. "How are you feeling?" I tuck some hair behind my ear, noticing he's still not the usual Jungeun I see everyday. "Better than earlier but...I'm going back home with Jungkook. I'm sorry for disturbing your class..."

"No, don't say that," I shake my head and take the chair next to him to sit place it right before him and be face to face. "It wasn't your fault," I reassure him about this. "Anyway, I came here because I wanted to talk to you and ask you something. I don't want to bother you with this when you're not feeling all right, so if you don't want to talk about it you can tell me. I was wondering, who are those boys?" I lower my voice since I know his brother is not far away from us.

"Changnam, Daewon, and Eunsang..." he doesn't keep it to himself, to my greatest relief. I know those boys and for some reason, I'm not surprised. "All right, we'll do something about this together, I'm glad you told me," I smile at him but toy with my keys. "Would you like me to drive you back home? I can see that you're not feeling well yet, I know the bus might not help because of the ride and time it takes, so if you want, I can drive you home."

"Don't you have a lesson after the break?" he gazes into my eyes in a tender manner, but I shake my head. "No, my day is over now."

"Oh..." he moves his hands in the pocket of a jacket I know very well. "Are you sure it doesn't bother you?" he grins. "Of course not, and I leave across your house. I would feel bad if I leave you at the bus stop, honestly."

"Oh...then...I gladly accept," he nods, making me happy. A door suddenly opens close to us, grasping our attention. Jungeun and I fall upon Jungkook, who, from the way he's looking at us, didn't expect to see me here.

"I'm driving you home, is that okay with you?" I stand up and make sure I'm not forcing them. "Really?" he smiles at me, his big eyes sparkling as if some starts were traveling through them. He combs his wet hair back, and I acquiesce. "Yes."

"Thank you so much, Miss Han," he bows to me when there's no need to do this. I smile at them both but notice he has nothing on him other than his white t-shirt, probably because he gave his jacket to his little brother. "It's raining outside, don't you have something to put on?"

"No, I don't, but I'm fine," he doesn't care about himself, but since I'm a woman always prepared for any kind of weather, I open my handbag and take my small umbrella out. "Let's get out," I turn around and walk up to the doors, hearing the little whispering voice behind me. I open one door and go first to open the umbrella.

"Here, keep this for you," I give it to Jungkook since Jungeun is keeping his hands in his pockets, but this shy one checks up on his little brother. "Get underneath with her," he lays his hand on his back to drive him towards me, but I refuse. "No, Jungkook. I'm serious. You shouldn't catch a cold."

"But you don't have anything to protect—"

"Listen to her, Jungkook," his little brother, who is next to me to stay away from the rain, orders him. Jungkook sighs heavily but still does as told. "I don't want you to get sick either, Miss Han..." he grabs it while complaining, but I smile. "I have a jacket, I'm okay."

"But Miss Han—"  his sentence ends right away by a groan of pain, and the sound of his little brother's voice follows his. "Shut up."

I grin without turning around again but hurry to walk up to the other building, which is across this side of the road. I keep my eyes on the ground to not step with my high heels on something that might be slippery. I run a little bit for the two boys with me to not stay outside for too long, but still remain careful.

Once I arrive at the gate, I stop myself and check on my right for the cars that might come at a fast speed, but once I notice what I feared to see, I step back at the sight of the giant puddle before me that I know for sure will not be avoided by the car.

My body bumps into a tall and tough one by accident, but the boy's arm encircle my waist, and he pulls me back. The umbrella goes right in front of me, and once the car passes by, the water doesn't even splash one inch of my body.

This is so sweet of him.

I turn around to have a peek of him. "Thank you," I smile but see him react the same way. He places the umbrella back above them both, and they follow me to the parking lot where my car is.

As soon as I reach my vehicle, I unlock the doors and don't wait before entering it. The two boys join me, but Jungkook keeps the umbrella outside the car and closes it. "You can put it next to your feet," I tell him but tie my wet hair up, feeling the water drops rolling down my skin. After my sentence, he brings the umbrella to his feet and closes the door.

Since they're putting their seat belt on, I start the car but take a look at Jungeun in the back. "Are you okay?"

He nods to me with a smile, so I peek at Jungkook, his wet cloth revealing his skin when he was supposed to be protected by the umbrella I gave him. Without willing to, our eyes meet right after I raised them up from his torso I did not want to look at. I landed my eyes on it out of worry, I hope he won't take it the wrong way.

We both catch our breath after running, but his eyes leave mine to go lower. "I...uhm..." he points his finger at my chest but glances away as if something was wrong. I look down at it but realize the knot that was keeping my cloth properly put, is now undone.

I bite my lips but make fast to close this. Since I know and see from the shivers covering Jungkook's arm, that he is cold, I turn the heater on and get on the road.

15 minutes later...

"Ma'am..." Jungkook asks for my attention right when I stop the car. He hugs his bag he kept over his lap the whole ride and looks at me. "Would you like to...to come to our house...? I'll make a hot chocolate for you...since...you had to be in the rain because of me..."