#coughsyrup

Dami groaned as her head gave a painful throb and rolled onto her stomach. Her hands weakly grabbed at her phone on the nightstand and pulled it close to her face. The blinding light from her phone stung her eyes as she checked the time. 

11:38 am.

According to her phone, she had missed multiple calls and texts from her manager and members. Most asked her if she was alright and let her know when they would be home from their schedules. 

Dami opened her messages with her manager and squinted hard to try and read the blurring message. The message asked if she was well enough to come into the company to discuss her possible return to activities but Dami highly doubted she would be able to make it in. 

It was unlikely Dami would even make it to the bathroom considering every movement she took made her spin violently.

Dropping her phone beside her, Dami reached for the small little orange bottle on her nightstand. However, the empty feeling in the bottle only made Dami realize how screwed she really was.

“Shit,” she swore. Dami weakly tossed the empty bottle across the room in frustration. She picked up her phone again and dialed Jiyoung’s number.

“Hello?” Jiyoung’s voice replied after a few rings, “I’m guessing you just woke up,” her teasing voice was endearing but Dami couldn’t be bothered to tease Jiyong back like she usually did.

“I feel like I’m dying,” Dami groaned. “I’m out of medicine,”

“Oh no,” Jiyoung winced, “I just ran out the other day as well. I haven’t had a chance to go pick up a new prescription.”

“Shit,” Dami’s voice came out breathy and in pain. She closed her eyes tightly as her head gave a violent spin, threatening to make Dami pass out.

“I’ll pick up some more on my way home today, but I don’t finish my schedule until 6. I’m so sorry,” Jiyoung sounded genuinely apologetic, and Dami knew she was as well. Jiyoung hated it whenever Dami had her symptoms.

Despite being an idol, Jiyoung rarely had to take soulmate pills. Jiyoung’s soulmate was an idol but even still she and her soulmate saw each other at least once a week unless it was during promotional periods for either one of them. Even then, the company made sure that the two saw each other at least by the end of the two-week period so they didn’t feel the symptoms of soulmate separation.

Heeyoung was the same way. Even though Dami knew that Heeyoung and her soulmate had their own set of problems, they still made time for each other so that they didn’t suffer through soulmate separation.

Dami didn’t know how she bonded with her soulmate. That itself presented more problems than one. On top of that, in the week leading up to Dami’s onset of soulmate separation symptoms, the group had just finished up their promotion for their most recent comeback and Dami had met so many fans during fan signs that it would be nearly impossible to find her soulmate.

Dami had been on hiatus for about two weeks now, she was supposed to return to her schedules and work next week. Despite being told by the hospital and doctors that as long as she took her soulmate pills every day she would be alright, Dami still found that she would feel random pains across her body or feel exhausted to the point where she felt like collapsing.

“It’s alright,” Dami replied to Jiyoung over the phone, “I’m going to call Heeyoung,”

“Feel better, Dami!” Jiyoung tried to encourage, though both Jiyoung and Dami knew that the only cure to soulmate separation was either taking the soulmate medication or finding your soulmate.

Dami hung up on Jiyoung and quickly dialed Heeyoung’s number. After explaining her situation, Heeyoung was quiet. “Dami, I took my medication with me this morning,” Heeyoung said, an apologetic tone in her voice already, “I’m at work right now, but I promise I’ll bring it to you during my break,”

Dami mumbled that it was alright and quickly hung up. She rolled on her back and groaned. Her whole body felt stiff and sore as she tried to shift herself out of bed. 

There was no way Dami could wait until either of them got back home. She felt like she was going to die if she waited for that long. Barely managing to pull herself to her feet, Dami stared at herself in her mirror for a moment taking in her appearance.

She looked as though someone had run her over with a car, and then put the car in reverse, and backed into her again. Dami’s eyes looked sunken and her hair was standing up in a nest of knots.

Dami gently splashed water on her face before throwing her hair up into a bun. It didn’t help much considering the fact that she looked sickly and pale, but it was enough for Dami to wake her up enough to get dressed and head out.

She grabbed a mask before she stepped outside of her apartment. A chill went through her body the moment she stepped outside and Dami debated going back to bed and just waiting for Jiyoung or Heeyoung to come home with medicine. She stood in her doorway for a moment before she sighed.

Her symptoms were already really bad. Dami suspected that she was also running a fever as well. It wasn’t a good idea to leave her apartment to get medicine, but it was just as bad of an idea to stay home without anything to treat it. Moving slowly down the hall, Dami gently pulled up her mask before clicking on the button for the elevator.

When it finally got there the person inside looked up from their phone and Dami nodded hello to him before stepping into the elevator. Dami leaned back on the elevator and let out a long sigh, her body felt weak as she tried to focus on what floor they were passing. 

The way to the pharmacy was worse than Dami expected. 

The walk itself was bad due to the cold fall weather, but the bus ride was worse. The weird-colored lights inside the bus and the bumpy road only made Dami feel sicker than she actually was. 

Dami had a mask on, as well as a cap, and her winter jacket tightly around her with the hood pulled over her head, but she still felt a chill go through her body wherever the bus sped up from a stop. The bus was relatively empty but of the people on the bus, they didn’t seem to recognize the girl at all, which Dami was thankful for.

When Dami stepped into the pharmacy, the pharmacist looked up to see who was approaching her. A bright smile appeared on her face when she recognized Dami.

“What brings you here?” Haeun smiled brightly at Dami, “You don’t usually show up without Minhee,”

Haeun was a friend of Dami’s manager, Kim Minhee. They had gone to college together, and because of that most of the idols in XXX Group came to see her whenever they needed medicine.

“I ran out of my soulmate pills,” Dami sighed, “I haven’t told my manager yet,”

Haeun’s smile slowly disappeared from her face, “You haven’t found your soulmate yet?”

Dami shook her head, “It’s been literally impossible,” She leaned on the front desk area, holding her head in her hands, “Every time I forget to take my soulmate pills the symptoms get worse and worse. Sometimes it seemed like even when I take them I still feel sick,”

Haeun frowned and gently patted Dami on the head, “Go sit, you look like you could collapse any moment. I’ll go get you your medication,”

Dami groaned as she pulled herself to stand up straight again. Her head felt like it was going to explode and her body felt heavy. Whenever her skin touched something, a sensitive uncomfortable feeling would take over that spot on her body. And despite the obvious burning of her skin, her body was shaking from the cold.

Dami rubbed her eyes gently and turned to head toward the small seating area. As she did, her eyes fell onto a figure headed her way. Her eyes widened a fraction and she quickly moved to sit in the waiting area. She pulled her hood over her head and tried to hide behind her mask as the person went up to the front desk. Despite the mask that he wore, Dami could recognize his slender eyes anywhere.

“Good morning,” Haeun addressed the person. “What can I do for you today?”

“I’m here to pick up a prescription,” the person replied, his voice low and slightly strained.

“Sure thing. Let me just finish up with the last customer and I’ll be right with you,” Haeun turned to head to the back and the person made his way toward the waiting area.

Dami cursed silently under her breath as he took a seat just a few seats away from her. She tried to keep her face buried in her phone as much as possible in hopes that the person wouldn’t be able to recognize her.

It seemed as though his presence only seemed to make Dami feel even worse. Her headache seemed like it was ten times more powerful and her stomach twisted uncomfortably.

Glancing at the person, Dami could see that he wore a white mask and had his face tilted toward his phone. A bag full of cough syrup hung around his wrist as he scrolled through his phone. Like her, he was bundled up in a winter jacket. His white bleached hair peeked out from under his cap and upon feeling her gaze on him, he turned to look at her.

Dami quickly averted her gaze and looked down at her phone. The bright light from her phone caused her vision to unfocus and blur but she didn’t know what else to look at. Of all the people in the entire world Dami could have run into it was him. She tried her hardest to not make eye contact with him, praying that he would do the same.

“I’m sorry, have we met before?”

His voice caught Dami off guard but she didn’t let it show. She looked up at him and he stared back at her, his eyes trying to scan what little of her face was exposed. Dami slowly turned her gaze back down to her phone, trying to seem disinterested in the person.

“I’m sorry, I think you have the wrong person,” Dami tried to play off.

“Oh,” the person replied. “My bad,”

He still seemed persistent in trying to speak with Dami and it set her on edge a bit. His eyes jumped back and forth between his phone and her. Dami had to suppress the urge to pull her hood down further.

“Ahn Dami?” His voice made Dami flinch.

“What?” Dami asked him and it was obvious by her tone that she was confused. She was sure that he wouldn’t have been able to recognize her but hearing her name come out of his mouth threw her for a loop.

Her confused response had obviously caught the person off guard. He hesitated and the look in his eyes was less confident than before. He quickly averted his gaze and Dami gently let out the breath she had been holding.

“Ah, I’m sorry,” the person said yet again, this time obviously embarrassed that he had asked twice if they knew each other, ”I don’t know why but you remind me of someone I knew in middle school,”

“Dami!” Haeun called from behind the counter, “I have your medicine!”

Dami’s eyes widened a fraction and she found her eyes drifting to the person sitting next to her. It was obvious by the way he stared at her that he was smirking and Dami wanted nothing more than to smack it straight off his face.

Ignoring him as best as she could, Dami quickly grabbed her medicine from Haeun and rushed to leave the pharmacy. As she left she heard the person and Haeun speaking but she had no intention of slowing down for him to catch up to her.

Dami rushed to the snack aisle and grabbed herself a bag of chips and then a bottle of water from the coolers along the wall. She had every intention of sprinting out of the pharmacy and never seeing him again.

The cashier seemed to be moving at an obscenely slow pace. Dami noticed the small ‘in training’ sign under the person’s name tag and she took a deep breath. The breath sent a jolt of pain through Dami and she quickly held back her groan.

“Here’s your receipt,” the cashier passed Dami the slip of paper but Dami completely ignored it as she scooped up her things and rushed for the door.

Once outside, Dami finally felt like she could breathe a little. She had debated going back to her apartment first before taking her medicine but as she started to make her way to the bus stop, her head spun threateningly.

Dami glanced down at her medicine and sighed. Ultimately, she made her way to a small bench along the side of the building. The winter air was cold enough to make Dami want to head back inside the store but she didn’t want to risk running into the person from before. 

As much as she wanted to rush away from the situation, Dami could feel the adrenaline leaving her and she felt nauseous.

Ripping open her medication, Dami popped one of the pills in her mouth and chugged it down with water. She sighed and leaned her head back against the wall. Dami closed her eyes for a moment and let the sun turn the undersides of her eyes into a brilliant bright orange. Just as she did, a shadow crossed over her and blocked the run from her face.

Dami slowly opened her eyes and openly groaned.

“So it is you,” the person said.

“Can you just leave me alone, Jaemin?” Dami sighed, having no energy to argue with him.

“Still as rude as ever I see,” Jaemin pulled his mask down. His expression was blank and guarded as he looked down at her.

Dami made a face, “You haven’t changed one bit either,” Dami got to her feet as she moved past Jaemin to leave.

“Don’t you think you’re being rude?” Jaemin asked as he turned so that he was still facing Dami.

“To you?” Dami asked over her shoulder. Stopping to face Jaemin, Dami’s eyes looked him up and down. “No, not one bit,”

It had been a while since Dami last had a conversation with Jaemin. As idols, they occasionally saw each other in passing at music shows and award shows, but otherwise, Dami tried to steer clear. 

Jaemin was similar. He disliked Dami just as much as she did toward him, if not more. 

It was for this reason that Jaemin wasn’t sure why he had stopped to talk to Dami. On a normal day, Jaemin would have probably just let her leave. But the longer he looked at her, the more he felt like he should stay by her side. 

As if shocked by himself, Jaemin’s eyes flickered away and he scoffed. “You know what never mind,” Jaemin shoved his hands in his pockets, “Let’s pretend we didn’t run into each other today,”

Dami raised her eyebrows in disbelief as Jaemin turned to leave, as though he hadn’t been the one to stop her in the first place. “Weirdo,” Dami mumbled under her breath as she was unable to think of any other way to describe Jaemin’s behavior.

As Dami headed back to her apartment building, she took a deep breath relishing the fact that her soulmate symptoms had subsided. But despite that, her mind kept drifting back to Jaemin. The feeling of distaste bubbled up inside her as she hoped that she would never have to run into him again.