My body feels weak. It’s been awhile since I’ve gotten sick. It’s a little embarrassing to be taken care of but having Tony with me makes it feel somehow special. I must have dozed off because when I came to, Tony was right beside me trying to shake me gently.

“Hey buddy, I made some soup for you. Can’t have you take medicine on an empty stomach. Come on, let me help you up.” I smile weakly and with his help, drink up the soup. It’s quite delicious but I have no appetite at the moment. Afterwards, I take the medicine and make a move to stand. I need to make a few calls in the office as well as check whats happening. Suddenly, I’m pinned down on the bed. I look up to find Tony’s face a few inches from mine. For once I’m glad I can just blame my fever for giving me a red face.

“see? I knew this would happen. Good thing doc warned me about how stubborn you can get. So, because of that, I passed by my place earlier on my way back from the pharmacy and brought a few clothes and items. I figured if I’ll be staying here nursing you back to health might as well have some clean undies to go to work with” He winks at me sending my heart beating even more. So many things to process at the moment but so little energy to actually do it. Okay, so Tony is definitely staying with me, he brought his things with him but has to go to work? I cough and look at him. “How are you going to look after me if you’ll be leaving for work 8 hours a day?if you would like, I can allow you to work from home for a while?” I hope I don’t sound too clingy or needy here.

“Perfect! That’s settled, I’ll call my supervisor and request to work from home due to personal reasons that way I’ll be able to keep my eyes on you.” He taps my nose and lean away from me finally allowing me to release my breadth that I didn’t realize I was holding.

The next couple of days feels like a honeymoon phase to me. Tony and I share the same bed. He cooks and does house shopping too and prevents me from doing any work at home. If I’m being honest, I kinda like being sick if it means living like this. I feel like I’ve gotten closer to him even. For one,I get to see his sleepy drool face in the morning, and I absolutely love the fact that the first thing I see when I open my eyes is his calm handsome sleeping face next to mine.

We both get startled by the phone ringing. A grumpy sleepy Tony stretches his hand and accepts the call with one eye closed. I chuckle softly watching him. It’s on a Saturday morning and I know for sure he is not a morning person. “Helloooo?” He stretches his greetings. The phone slides down his face so he just puts it on speaker and places it on the bed. I close my eyes and pretend to be asleep as it would be awkward listening in to his call. “ tell me you’re going to show up to the gym today, you already missed the last two Saturdays.” I can hear David’s loud annoying voice on the other hand. I’ve been feeling much better these past couple of days. Though I don’t work that much as before, I’ve been working for a few hours a day in my home office with Tony besides me. I stare at Tony who is still half asleep. He turns his head and grumble loudly.

“I can’t come today too buddy. My friend is still sick and I have to take care of him” He yawns. Deep down I know I shouldn’t be this happy but I just can’t help it. “But...it’s not fair! Can’t you get one of his friends to come and look after him instead? It’s not like you are his boyfriend or anything! He is your boss but he is taking advantage of you! Plus you know I prefer you to the gym instructors here because of my social awkwardness! Pretty please, for a few hours?”

Tony gets up and do some stretches. He only has boxers on and a buggy t-shirt. He goes over to see if I’m awake and then heads to the kitchen. I hold my breadth and wait a few seconds before getting up too. I knew this would happen eventually. There is no reason for him to stay any longer here and even though it has come to an end, it was totally worth having him care for me for the past 2 weeks. “I keep telling you Dave, you gotta know how to talk to other people at the gym. I can’t always be there for you each time. Do me a favor and use this time to at least make one friend or two at the gym okay? If you do that, I promise to go with you to your dance event...Deal? But you have to really make an effort and actually make an actual friend not pretense or anything” I overhear Tony as I walk to the kitchen.

Dance event? Tony hasn’t mentioned anything of the sort. It’s so obvious how much David is trying to flirt with him and how dense Tony is as usual. “Really? You mean that? Deal! Just the two of us like a date. You can’t take it back!” I don’t need to be on the other side to know David is probably doing some happy dances at the mention of that. He sounds so excited that even Tony can finally tell. He laughs loudly waking up Peachy who just glares at him before going back to sleep.

“ I know, but only if you make at least 2 friends at the gym, that’s the deal”He then hangs up and stares at me and shakes his head.

“Going on a date with David?” I casually ask him nervously. He laughs and goes to start making breakfast. “David is like a cute brother I never had. Just trying to help him make friends on his own , you know” I chuckle but deep inside feel sorry for the guy. If he only knew he has been brother zoned before he even had a chance to shoot his shot. Wait, I wonder what Tony feels for me, does he also see me as a friend? Boss? Close friend? Brother? Suddenly I don’t feel too smug anymore as I realize I might be in the same boat with David here.

After the breakfast, we go to the garden to relax. It’s winter time now but today the weather seems too good not to take advantage of it. So Tony, my two cats and I are basically sprawled outside trying to enjoy the two minutes of sunshine.

I sip my cup of cappuccino and watch Tony playing with Peachy and Piper. I clear my throat and get his attention. “You okay there? Feeling left out? You can join in trying to catch the laser beam you know” He wiggles his eyebrow which we both burst out laughing.

“ so… these past few days I’ve realized I really don’t know you that much and I really want to…” I say suddenly feeling very conscious of myself. Tony laughs besides me and then comes to sit next to me. He pets my head then lay down on the hammock. “you do? Well this is the first time someone has asked me this, I thought I was an open book to everyone around me...that’s soo sweet of you Seo-Jun” He averts his gaze from me. Wait is he blushing? He turns to the cats instead and doesn’t say anything more. Can this dude be any more fucking adorable!! I scream internally.

Suddenly I feel bold to ask so I just spit it out. “ Of course I do! I wanna know what your favorite color is. I wanna know your shoe size, your favorite food, what you’re good at…. I wanna know what you dreamed about last night, what interesting things you encountered on your way to work, and what kind of troubles you come across with…. I want to know everything” For awhile neither of us say anything. Fuck! He’s going to find me weird, I start to laugh it off when he stops me in my trucks with a single word. “ Purple” I turn to him confused. “ I’m sorry… wha.. ?” I turn to him and find him looking at me with an expression I’ve never seen before.

“My favorite color… its Purple”.