Bring It On! - Chapter 38

Chapter 38.

“Sun Woori!”

It was Jay. His face was pale, like someone who’d just woken from a nightmare, and cold sweat clung to his handsome features.

“What, did you think I died and disappeared…?”

Before I could even finish, Jay pulled me into his arms. His whole body was burning hot, and I could feel his heart pounding roughly against my chest.

“Are you okay? You are okay, right? This isn’t some… last flutter before you die, is it?”

His low voice trembled miserably. I pushed against him and held his face in both my hands.

“I think you’re in worse shape than I am.”

Jay was always warm, probably because of all his muscle mass, but this was different. Now, he was hot like a metal block fresh out of the forge. 

Had he been like this the whole time he’d been taking care of me and working on the shelter? With a startled look, I led him inside.

“You’re burning up.”

“Guess it’s because I was scared you were dead.”

He rested his face in my palm and closed his eyes. A faint smile touched his lips, carrying a hint of relief. But while his expression loosened, my worry only deepened. The heat radiating from him wasn’t something you could laugh off.

When I didn’t respond, Jay opened his eyes. It was as if a thin, clear film of water coated those vividly colored irises. The sunset beyond the horizon seemed captured in the depths of his dark pupils. 

I was caught for a moment, distracted by eyes that could stir the collector’s instinct in anyone, when he suddenly bit lightly at the tip of my thumb.

“Ah!”

The pressure was barely enough to graze me. It was not painful at all, but the sudden action startled me into a sound. Jay, as if to apologize, pressed his lips to my fingertip in a fleeting kiss.

“If you don’t want me biting you, don’t disappear without a word.”

“I was just trying to let you sleep peacefully, so I slipped out quietly.”

“You know, right? Consideration only counts if the other person actually wants it. From now on, just wake me up.”

“You’re making a fuss over nothing. Want me to go back to treating you like before? Step over you to wake you up?”

Jay, fiddling with my hand, let out a low laugh and pulled me into his arms again, brushing his sharp nose against the side of my neck.

“I’d rather you did.”

They say people change after a near-death experience. But I was the one who almost died, so why was he the one acting different? Before, even a little teasing would make him flare up like a cornered animal. Now, he seemed clingier, almost childishly so.

“What’s gotten into you?”

It wasn’t really a question for him and more a mutter to myself. His body radiated such intense heat that I half-wondered if it was melting my brain. 

But Jay, oblivious to my thoughts, only tightened his arms around me, sometimes squeezing so hard it knocked the breath out of me. Each time I flinched, he’d loosen his grip, only to pull me close again.

It was like watching a child handle a small animal, unable to judge their own strength. He wouldn’t let me go. Hm. The prolonged embrace was starting to feel a bit awkward. To an outsider, it might look like we were lovers reunited after a decade apart because of the war. 

I almost said out loud that this wasn’t that kind of relationship, but I swallowed the words. Because the way he clung to me was so desperate, almost pitiful.

“I was scared you’d disappear.”

His voice broke the stillness, husky and low, vibrating faintly against my skin.

“You owe your life to me, remember?”

“…I really thought you might be gone.”

“Look at me. I’m perfectly fine—ah!”

Jay bit down hard this time, enough to make me cry out. A hot sting spread at the side of my neck. As I squirmed from the pain, he only murmured “Sorry,” but his long exhale suggested he was oddly satisfied by my reaction.

“If you’re sorry, then, ugh, stop gnawing at me.”

“It assures me that you’re real.”

“You’re acting seriously weird today.”

“It helps me believe you’re here, next to me and not just in my head.”

What kind of fantasy was that? If you’re going to imagine a companion on a deserted island, wouldn’t you make them taller, stronger, with thirty years of survival experience? Who would create me in their imagination? 

But Jay clearly hadn’t thought about it that far. I had no idea what kind of mental tunnel he’d dug while I was sick that made him think I was some figment of his mind.

Still, pity wasn’t reason enough to indulge all his strange behavior. I needed to check his condition properly. Even when I tugged at his clothes to pull them off, he didn’t step back. 

In fact, he nuzzled closer against my neck. In the end, I let go completely, relaxing into his hold. Then I leaned to whisper in his ear.

“Idiot… do I feel real to you?”

He froze. Completely still.

“……”

“It’s just some delusion you made up.”

The grip on my arms, which I thought would never loosen, slowly weakened, and our bodies finally separated. Jay lifted his head and stared at me. His eyes crumpled as if he were about to cry.

“…What kind of insane crap is that?”

“If you’re not going to believe me, what are you talking about?”

I lightly slapped away the hand gripping my forearm and continued,

“Get a grip.”

Snap. I clicked my fingers right in front of his face. Jay still looked completely stunned. Normally, Jay would never say something as ridiculous as calling it a delusion, and he’d instantly know if I was teasing him. Then, he would get all riled up about it. 

Seeing him looking so lost, as if he couldn’t tell if this was the world of the living or the dead, I could guess his condition was pretty bad.

“Let’s just go inside and rest a bit more.”

I stepped past him and opened the shelter door again. I could feel his steady gaze sticking to the side of my face as I moved.

“Hey, Sun Woori.”

Instead of answering, I grabbed his hand and pulled him along. Maybe he was still in shock, because he gave up all control over his own body. He sat when I made him sit, laid down when I made him lie down. I placed one hand over his eyes, feeling his long lashes flutter lightly under my palm.

“Whether I’m real or fake, just think about it after you’ve had a nap. You’ll get your answer then.”

After a while, his chest, which had been rising and falling roughly, began to calm, and his breathing turned even. Maybe he really had been tired. He fell asleep earlier than I’d expected. But the moment I carefully lifted my hand away….

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me!”

The curse slipped out before I could stop it. Jay’s eyes were wide open. He’d been pretending to be asleep, faking his breathing the whole time. 

Bloodshot red from burst vessels, his eyes glared at me, and for a moment I felt like I was pinned down by some invisible weight. My heart pounding, I leaned toward him, only for him to grab my hand.

I slowly straightened up, shot him a quick glance, then forcibly pulled his eyelids down.

“Sleep. Now.”

“Stay next to me.”

“It’s not like I’m going anywhere.”

His sudden clinginess threw me off, but I couldn’t say I didn’t understand. I could still clearly remember how much it had comforted me, how much strength it gave me, just having Jay by my side when I’d been burning up with fever and out of my mind.

“Don’t go.”

He kept repeating those words like a compulsion, without letting go of my hand, until he finally drifted off to sleep. Just in case he was acting again, I poked his cheek a few times, but this time there was no movement.

At that moment, Suho stirred awake, rubbing his eyes.

“Huh? Who—”

When our eyes met, Suho’s widened so much it looked like they’d pop out. I quickly brought a finger to my lips for silence. Tilting my chin toward Jay, I watched as Suho closed his mouth tight. 

It was unexpected. I’d thought he’d shout regardless of whether Jay was sleeping. It also meant even Suho could tell Jay’s condition wasn’t good.

After hesitating a bit, Suho quietly crawled over to sit beside me. I brushed a hand over his hair and asked.

“Are you not hungry?”

He shook his head.

“Are you okay, noona?”

“Feels like he took my illness away.”

“…I guess that makes sense.”

Suho muttered as if to himself, enjoying my touch, before lying back down. Trapped between Jay and Suho with no way out, I stared at the ceiling for a while, then finally squeezed into the narrow space to lie down too.

I thought there was no way I’d fall asleep after being knocked out for so long, but listening to the steady rhythm of their breathing, I felt my head grow drowsy.