Give Sickness, Offer the Cure
In the farthest stall of the girls' bathroom.
Haeun crouched on the toilet lid, hands clamped over her ears, not even daring to breathe.
But the voices from the sinks pierced mercilessly through the thin door.
Haeun's body trembled violently inside the stall.
She bit her bloodless lips hard, but it wasn't enough to stifle the sobs bursting out.
Tears streamed down her cheeks, soaking her uniform skirt dark.
Who the hell... who...
The fact that she had no dad was a secret she'd never even told her best friend, Jia.
Who the fuck knew, and how the hell were they spreading it like this?
Suspicion, shame, and horrific betrayal crashed over her like a tidal wave.
How much time passed?
The noisy girls' footsteps faded, and the bathroom fell dead silent again.
Creeeak—
Only then did Haeun's shaking hands turn the doorknob and step out.
Her reflection in the mirror was wretched.
Eyes red and swollen, lips turned blue.
Back in class, she'd have to endure those cold stares again.
All day long—every break, every lunch—the suffocating ordeal repeated, and Haeun withered uncontrollably.
By afternoon, cold sweat beaded on her forehead.
With her rock-bottom immunity piled on by stress, her body boiled up as expected.
After school.
The empty first-floor central hallway.
In the chilly, deserted school building, Haeun groaned alone, taping election posters to the back of the wall.
Her cheeks flushed with fever, eyes unfocused and glassy.
Her hands shook so badly she couldn't stick a single poster straight—like fragile glass art on the verge of shattering.
I watched her pathetic, beautiful downfall leisurely from behind the wall.
Time to take the stage.
An empty space with no one around, her mentality crumbling under fever.
No stage more perfect for my entrance.
I crept up silently behind her, muffling my indoor shoes.
"Doing it alone?"
"Kyaaak…!"
My low, soft voice shattered the silence; Haeun flinched, shoulders hunching.
The tape in her hand dropped and rolled across the floor.
"Here, give it. I stayed back to help too."
I picked up the tape and smoothly took the bundle of posters from her arms.
Kuh... Timing's fucking perfect. Am I a goddamn genius?
My face showed nothing but the harmless, kind childhood friend.
Haeun looked up at me with startled eyes.
The ice-cold girl who'd snapped at me just two days ago—"Don't need your help, just stay dead to me"—was gone.
"Uh…? Ah… N-no, I'll do it…."
Haeun stammered, reaching for the posters.
But her voice held not a shred of confidence left.
In just one day.
One day, and her ironclad mentality had crumbled to dust.
I gently took her trembling wrist.
"Your hand's burning up. You have a fever. Don't push it—just stand by and check the spots."
At my kind words, Haeun's big eyes quivered helplessly.
In this school where everyone bit and mocked her, I was the only hand extended.
"Ah… N-no… At the end there, one more by the stairs…."
In the empty first-floor hallway.
Haeun's voice cracked like dry, brittle leaves.
I watched her back—rubbing tape on the wall with shaking hands—arms crossed, relaxed.
Her usually pristine blouse clung damp with cold sweat down her spine; her pale nape flushed red from the heat.
Riiip—
Her fingers fumbled in midair, trying to tear the tape.
And in that instant.
"Ah…."
With a small sigh, her body tilted toward the floor like a doll with cut strings.
"Huh."
Thud— I caught her shoulders reflexively, pulling her into my arms as she collapsed.
Haeun's body in my hold burned like a fireball.
Her head lolled against my chest; she was out cold, breathing ragged gasps.
I propped her limp form with one arm and scanned the empty hallway.
...Did I go too hard? Harder than I thought?
I scratched my head with my free hand and clicked my tongue briefly.
Just one day.
I hadn't expected her to shatter this physically and mentally in a single day.
That bitch Choi Jia opening her mouth must've hit harder than I figured.
"Haa… Princess. I'll carry you home, so behave."
I slung both bags over my shoulder haphazardly and hoisted the fainted Haeun lightly onto my back.
Unlike the queen at the top of the school pyramid, she weighed next to nothing—like a feather.
Trudging to the familiar apartment hallway.
I stood at Haeun's door and rang the bell.
Ding-dong—
"Auntie, you home? Haeun collapsed—she's sick."
I knocked a few times, listening, but no sound from beyond the steel door.
Right—her mom does shift work at the hospital.
Of course she'd be out at this perfect moment.
"Guess no choice."
I pouted and turned, punching the code into our door lock next door.
Beep—
As I stepped inside, a familiar figure burst from the living room where the TV blared.
"Oppa, you're back?! Uh… Holy shit!"
Suah came running, then freaked out mid-stride.
She'd spotted Baek Haeun slumped over my shoulder.
"Oppa… what happened?! What's wrong with unnie?!"
"Quiet down, you're deafening me. Uh, yeah… Haeun suddenly felt bad at school and collapsed. She's next door, but auntie's not home—I knocked."
I sounded as serious and urgent as possible, kicking off my shoes and heading in.
"So I brought her here to rest first."
"Whoa, no way. Unnie's a total furnace! Quick, lay her down!"
Suah fidgeted anxiously, then blocked my path as I headed to my room.
"No no! Not there—take unnie to my room!"
"What? Why? My room's right here."
"Your room's a pigsty—she might catch some weird disease!"
"…I'm gonna kill you."
I glared sharply at Suah for her fact-violence even now, then headed to her room obediently.
Fine, her bed's probably cleaner than mine anyway.
I laid Haeun gently on the bed; Suah rushed back with a cold damp cloth from the bathroom, fussing.
"Unnie… she must be really sick. Look at that cold sweat!"
Suah placed the cloth carefully on Haeun's forehead.
I stood arms crossed, gazing down at Haeun on the bed, breathing those ragged gasps.
Her face deathly pale.
Cheeks burning with fever.
Her tough shell stripped bare, lying defenseless—my childhood friend.
Could there be sweeter, more perfect spoils of war?
The real fun starts when she wakes up…
Time to become the world's kindest Lee Woojin, saving her nightmare of a day.
How much time had passed?
Haeun struggled to lift her heavy eyelids; her blurred vision took in an unfamiliar yet somehow cozy pastel ceiling.
A faint fabric softener scent lingered softly at her nose.
A pleasantly cool damp cloth—someone had wrung it out carefully—rested on her forehead.
……
As Haeun blankly rolled her eyes, trying to piece together the haze, noise seeped through the closed bedroom door.
The childish sibling bickering, petty and trivial.
Listening to that peaceful, harmless white noise melted the hard lump in Haeun's chest with a soft pop.
The mockery poured at her.
The betrayal from her most trusted best friend.
Contrasting that suffocation perfectly—this tiny, warm world squabbling over one pudding brought overwhelming relief.
Haeun carefully removed the cloth from her forehead and sat up.
Her legs still wobbled like cotton candy, but she gripped the doorknob as if entranced and pulled it down slowly.
Creeeak—
The door opened to the living room; the siblings tussling on the sofa froze for a beat.
"Oh! Oppa, Haeun unnie's up!"
Suah released my neck with glee and shouted.
I swept back my messy bangs casually, feigning surprise as I approached Haeun.
"Ah… You're awake? Feeling better?"
I checked her complexion, crafting endlessly tender, worried eyes.
Haeun's big eyes looking up at me wavered anxiously.
"You collapsed suddenly while putting up posters in the first-floor hall. Got scared and brought you here."
"……."
Haeun dropped her gaze to the floor, colorless lips twitching.
Her shoulders trembled faintly, as if suppressing emotions swelling to her throat.
A whole day where everyone pushed her to the cliff's edge.
The only one who'd carried her dazed self to this safe haven.
"…Thanks."
After silence, a small, watery sincerity slipped from Haeun's lips.
"I'll head out now… Sorry for the trouble."
Still avoiding my eyes, Haeun turned toward the entrance with heavy steps, fleeing.
As I smirked slyly at her fragile back—
"Hey, unnie! Where you going!"
Suah scampered over and looped her thin arm affectionately.
"Unnie's got no energy right now. What're you gonna eat alone at home? Stay for dinner!"
"No, Suah. I'm really fine…."
"I'm not fine! Mom said make sure unnie eats something warm before she goes. Oppa, tell her to eat too—quick!"
Haeun's steps halted at Suah's clingy insistence.
Flustered, she glanced cautiously at me for rescue.
I met her poignant gaze softly, curving my lips into a warm smile.
A vile, tender smile whispering, you're not alone anymore.
"Suah's right. Food's ready—eat a bit before you go. You'll collapse again alone."
At my gentle urging, Haeun's tightly shut lips parted slowly, as if she had no strength left to refuse.
"…Okay."
Her tiny nod looked, to me, like sweetly slipping a collar around her own neck.