Author's Note: I just finished crocheting a bear and now my fingers hurt. But they don't hurt enough not to write. So as I chill out with a Dr. Pepper and write, I'm going to watch my favorite KPop group rock out in Japan. So if Super Junior suddenly pops into this story, that's why.
Also, do you know how hard it is to keep my southern twang out of my stories? I'm from the Southeastern US and I talk in southern slang on a daily basis. I'm pretty sure South Koreans don't use Southern American slang. If you find it, just laugh and go on because I slipped up.
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Eri wasn't sure what was going on, but she knew she was hot. Cool air flowed over her so she was certain she had pushed the covers off her at some point. But that didn't account for why she was sweating.
She tried to sit up but something locked her into place. Woo Bin had to be at work. He had left this morning after calling Ji Hoo. She was going to kill him for that, but first she had to find out what the hell was going on.
The only thing she knew to do to figure out what was going on was to slam her fist beside her. Whatever it was that was holding her down flinched suddenly and let go. She rolled and sat on the floor to look up, scowling when she realized who it was.
Min Ho held his thigh as what were probably curse words slipped out of his mouth. He glared down at her, saying something that she couldn't quite make out. Suddenly he shifted his attention. That's when she realized he wasn't the only one in the house.
Junho got up from the chair and held out his hand. Eri stared up at him for a long moment before taking it and allowing him to pull her up. She knew she was running fever because his skin was so much cooler than hers. He walked her over to the kitchen and helped her onto a stool.
Immediately her head hit the counter, sighing as the coolness touched her cheek. She was miserable. The last time she had run this high a fever she had had complications from a surgery. Somehow she had managed to stay out of the hospital, much to Ji Hoo's objections. She loved her friend, but he wanted her to go to the hospital for every little thing. Sniffles, runny nose, a cough. He was always nagging. She vowed the next time he said anything she was going to kill him. Maybe that was why he hadn't done anything.
She felt the solid thunk of a bowl. That succeeded in making her head throb. She looked up in what she hoped was her fiercest scowl but was certain all that was there was a grimace of pain. Junho smiled apologetically and reached to tear off a hunk of bread. It steamed as he handed it to her so she knew he had just made that.
"I may have to keep you around," she muttered as she took it then dipped it straight into the soup broth.
Flavor exploded across her taste buds as she savored the first food she had been able to taste in days. This guy Hoon had hired was an expert. She was certain whatever he touched tasted like honey. In fact she knew the bread in her hand was honey bread. It complimented the flavor of the soup wonderfully and she found herself inhaling both in a matter of moments.
Without being asked Junho refilled the bowl. She smiled up at him, something that he was clearly shocked about. He looked up at Junsu and Min Ho and said the same thing to them. He turned his head which was her sign that they were coming over. Min Ho went straight for the fridge and pulled out a bottle. Eri nearly choked when she realized he had written Fizzy Lifting Drink on the bottle. The man clearly watched too much Willy Wonka.
The men talked around her as she ate. Min Ho pulled a glass off the drying rack and poured some of his Fizzy Lifting Drink into it. He slid it across the counter, saying something she didn't catch. Not that she cared. He was sharing his stuff.
"Wait," she said. All three of them looked at her. "Why is your stuff here? Why you two here?"
"Woo Bin called me this morning. Ji Hoo told them this morning. I'm supposed to be here. They just never left," Min Ho explained.
"We couldn't leave. We didn't know what you'd do," Junsu said wagging his eyebrows for emphasis.
Eri blinked at Min Ho. There was nothing he could say to that, but if he didn't explain, she was going to think he was hitting on her again. At this point he was more terrified of her than Woo Bin, but if Woo Bin thought he was trying to put the moves on her when she was sick, he wouldn't think twice about beating the hell out of him. Then there was Yi Jeong who would yank his job and funding for school. It was a losing situation for him if he didn't clear it up.
"You had a nightmare," Junho explained as Min Ho and Junsu bickered. "Min Ho was uncomfortable staying with you in your bedroom for obvious reasons so he brought you in here. But there was a circumstance we didn't account for."
She frowned as he dropped off. That made no sense. What circumstance would they not account for? Was it that bad that he couldn't say? She was about to ask when Jae Kyung flounced around the island. That made a lot more sense.
Min Ho knew the second Eri's mood tanked again. She pointed to the bread behind Junho and he turned to rip off another hunk. She angrily dropped it in the broth and set to eating again, her motions sharp and angry.
He knew this was going to happen. He turned to Jae Kyung. "Why didn't you go home when I told you to? She hates you right now," he offered.
She pouted. "Hate is such a strong word."
"Then she really, really, really doesn't like you," the twins said with him. He would have marveled at the freaky twin thing but he was just so aggravated. "There's probably a very good reason no one here wants you around. You don't listen. You think everything is about you. Can't you see she's sick?" Min Ho continued.
"Then make amends, Min."
He bristled at that name. "She is the only one allowed to call me that. You think of something else."
"All right…Ho."
Junsu burst out laughing so hard he had to clutch the counter to keep from falling in the floor. Junho and Min Ho didn't find it in the least bit funny. Eri obviously didn't either because she grabbed Jae Kyung by the collar of her shirt and started for the door. For someone who was sick, she sure had enough strength to haul someone away.
She wrenched open the door and shoved her out. The door slammed in the woman's face as the house's owner turned around and went to the chair. She grabbed the bag resting there and went back, pulling the door open far enough to toss the bag outside. She went to her room and slammed the door.
"Well," Junsu said with a smack of his lips. "Hate must not be a strong enough word."
"That woman tries all of our patience. I don't know why she's hanging around," Min Ho quipped.
"Maybe she just wants to be friends," Junho guessed.
"There's a completely different way to go about it. Antagonizing everyone isn't it." He looked at the older twin as he picked up the bowl and spoon. "What? Do you want to date her?"
"Junho likes hard women," Junsu styled with a fake flip of his red hair. "He's unusually sappy."
"And you're not?" Junho asked his brother.
The younger shrugged. "It depends on the occasion. One hundred day anniversary I'm more inclined to forget because I don't count days. Valentine's Day falls in that category as well. Maybe birthdays, but anniversaries and Christmas are different stories. I'm known to blow a few thousand Won on Christmas and anniversaries."
"It's amazing you ever have a girlfriend."
"What about you? You're always working or going to class or experimenting. How do you find the time for a girlfriend?"
"When did this turn into twin verses twin?" Min Ho wondered as he sat down to watch the show.
Something about Junho wanting to date Jae Kyung didn't sit right with him. Junho really didn't seem to be the type to date rich women. He was quiet, the complete opposite of Junsu. He didn't enter conversations unless he had something pertinent to say. He was just like Eri in that aspect.
As he thought about it, Woo Bin wouldn't have been his first choice as a mate for Eri. He had a reputation as a bad boy and playboy. Min Ho had grown up hearing all about the Mafia child of F4. He could have any woman he wanted, and yet he was snagged by a hearing impaired surgeon. Eri was the one who stopped his womanizing ways.
Jae Kyung wasn't Junho's type either. She was boisterous and fun loving. She talked ninety miles a minute and didn't think about her actions. She thought because she was friends (or sort of friends) with F4 that she could do what she wanted. She probably hadn't pestered Ji Hoo, but he was certain Yi Jeong, Woo Bin and Jun Pyo had been a victim of her incessant babble.
"Eri doesn't babble," he muttered out loud.
"Are you trying to process Jae Kyung again?" Junsu asked. "Sounds like you like her to me."
"I can barely tolerate her."
"Love and hate are two sides on the same coin."
"Have you been talking to my grandmother? She used to say the same thing whenever I broke up with a girlfriend."
"Maybe you should go on a double date with her?" Junho suggested.
Min Ho gaped at him. "How in the hell would I do that?"
"Go with Eri and Woo Bin. Woo Bin would keep his wife calm and you could control Jae Kyung. From the way I see it, those two women are cut from the same cloth. Eri is the reserved and quiet one while Jae Kyung is the wild and fun loving one. Eri can't stand being near Jae Kyung even though the latter tries her hardest to befriend the former."
"Eri doesn't make friends easily.'
"So we've noticed." Min Ho glanced at Junsu, not liking the tone he had just used. The red head backtracked quickly. "What I mean is she doesn't put her emotions out there for people to get to know them."
"That's because she doesn't understand them all the time." They all jumped when Woo Bin's voice sounded right over their shoulders. They never heard the door open or close. "She understands irritation and annoyance, which is what she feels when she's around Jae Kyung. But when it comes to acceptance and love and friendship, she's very wary because she doesn't understand them. It's only been in the last few years that she's come out of that box she lived in."
"Do you ever make any noise when you move?" Junsu asked.
Woo Bin smiled. "I'll plan everything for when Eri gets better. We'll even set a budget since you don't have as much money as the three of us do. I know it will be a handicap but there are plenty of things we can do on a budget. I'm home for the night so you can head out."
Min Ho nodded. "All right. Junho made soup this morning. He also brought some breads and made some cupcakes for the kids. They're all stored in the cabinet. Eri likes the honey bread with soup, and she can have the rest of my Fizzy Lifting Drink."
Woo Bin nodded as he tried to keep from laughing. The guys collected their stuff and said their goodbyes on the way out the door. The twins had spent the entire day with him to make sure he didn't get lonely. But how to it culminate in a double date with Eri and Woo Bin? That was something he would never understand.
