I woke up the next morning, feeling a bit more refreshed than I did last night. I was still jet-lagged, but the only way to overcome that quickly is to not surrender to sleep during the day.

    Looking at the time on my phone, jolted up in shock. It was nearly lunchtime! Man, I must have been more exhausted than I thought I was.

    I quickly got up and started to get things in order, making up the bed and unpacking my stuff into the walk-in closet. Yes, my room has a walk-in closet.

    It didn't take me long to unpack. Since the shelves and racks in the closet were so accessible, it was a lot easier. Grabbing a set of clothes, I walked into the bathroom and got ready.

    Looking at my reflection in the mirror, I took in a deep breath. The top priority today was to go to the hospital to see how Dae was doing. Honestly, I don't think I've ever visited anyone in hospital who was in such a critical condition as Dae is in.

    Finishing up, I grabbed my phone and made my way down, aiming for the kitchen to grab something to eat.

      I got lost.

   It seemed like ages before I finally managed to find the kitchen. I made myself a cup of coffee and sat down at the kitchen island. Mr Lee soon found me there.

    "Ah, good morning, Miss Kitty," Mr Lee bowed in my direction, "did you have a good night's sleep?"

      "Yeah, I did," I nodded, "sorry I woke up late."

   "I believe travelling on a plane for over eleven hours is a good excuse to sleep in," Mr Lee laughed, "And anyway, technically you're not late as Mr Minho and Mr Q have yet to emerge from their rooms." He added.

      "They're still asleep then?" I made the assumption.

   Mr Lee nodded. "Are you hungry? I'm just about to cook breakfast. Although really, it's lunchtime. Hopefully, by the time it's all cooked, the boys will be up," He said.

     "Breakfast, or lunch rather, sounds like a good idea," I agreed.

 Mr Lee began to bring out ingredients from the fridge and the cupboards.

    "So what are you planning for lunch then?" I asked, keeping the conversation going to fill the silence.

     "Korean-style fried rice, beef bulgogi stir fry and kimchi on the side," Mr Lee replied.

 "Wow, that's, uh, a lot of food you're making for just the four of us," I observed.

      "All the leftovers will be packed up for you to take to the hospital to give to Mr Kim and his daughter. Mr Minho has requested that I make a lot for that purpose as he guesses that Mr Kim will be too worried to think about getting a proper meal to eat," Mr Lee explained.

     I felt myself smiling at that. Seems like Minho was really caring and kind underneath his cocky exterior.

      "What happens to Bora while her dad sits in the hospital?" I inquired, taking a sip of my coffee.

    "As far as I know, and this information is from Mr Q, Bora is still going to school during the day. I believe some relatives are coming to Seoul to help look after her. An aunt or something like that," Mr Lee responded.

    The door to the kitchen opened and in walked Minho, looking like an absolute zombie. His eyes were bloodshot, and he had bags under his eyes. When his eyes fell on me, he paused.

    "Hi, Minho," I gave him a small smile, getting up from my stool and walking towards him.

   He continued to stare at me, probably still half asleep to the point where he had forgotten I had arrived in Seoul last night.

     When he remembered, he pulled me into a quick hug. "Morning, Kitty," He greeted me, yawning, "how was your flight? Did you sleep well last night? How was your room?"

   "My flight was good, I guess. I was too worried really to relax, but at least I got a bit of sleep," I said, "I slept the moment my head hit the pillow last night."

     "That's good," Minho nodded. 

  "Is Mr Q awake?" Mr Lee asked, "Lunch is nearly ready." He added as he dished out the food. 

       "I heard movement from his room, so he's probably awake," Minho shrugged, sitting down at the kitchen island. 

      "Want some coffee?" I offered, "I'm going to make myself another one anyway."

   "Uh, yeah, thanks, Kitty," Minho ran a hand through his hair. 

       "Milk? Sugar?" I asked, grabbing four mugs from the cabinet while the kettle boiled. If Q was up then he'll want coffee too, might as well make him a cup while I'm at it. 

    "No milk for this one, I need as much caffeine as possible to keep me awake," Minho sighed, "Oh, Yuri just texted. There was a delay with their flight last night so they didn't arrive home till a couple of hours ago."

      "Morning," Q greeted them, stretching as he entered the kitchen, "Oh Kitty! You're here, good to see you." He gave me a quick side hug before sitting in the seat next to Minho. 

      "Coffee?" I offered him a mug.

   "I certainly need it, that's for sure, thanks," Q said, gratefully taking the mug from me. 

        "Which hospital was Dae admitted into?" I asked, setting out the plates and the chopsticks, ready for eating.

    "Asan Medical Centre," Minho replied, "it's one of the best hospitals in Seoul. Dae's in safe hands." He said it as if he was reassuring me, but it also sounded like he was trying to reassure himself.

     "After we finish eating, I'll be driving you to the hospital before I go pick up Miss Yuri Han and her family. Since Mr Kim will be at the hospital with his son, the Hans don't have a driver, so I offered to drive them around for the time being," Mr Lee explained.

    "Can we stop by the florists on the way to get some flowers?" Q asked, tucking into the food laid out in front of him.

      "Of course," Mr Lee nodded.

    I was nervous. What if Dae was in such a bad condition that I burst out crying? I've read a lot about people visiting patients in ICU and how it was sometimes overwhelming.

      ICU sounds like the scariest place to be.

✖️⭕✖️⭕

      Arriving at the hospital with two bouquets of flowers, as well as the food for Mr Kim, we went up to the reception where Minho spoke to the nurse behind the desk.

     "We're here for Dae Heon Kim. He's in an ICU room," He spoke in Korean.

   "Just wait one second then, dear," The nurse smiled kindly at us. She typed something into the computer in front of her. "Dae Heon Kim, 17 years old, Level 2 trauma patient, brought in from a car accident. Is that correct?"

      Minho confirmed the details. I knew enough Korean to get a gist of what she was saying.

   "Okay, here are your visitor passes. His room is number 127 on the 7th floor," The nurse handed us lanyards with plastic cards hanging from them.

       "Thank you," Minho bowed to her before he lead the way.

    We were silent during the elevator ride up. We didn't what to say, as if the seriousness of this was crashing down on our minds, preventing us from opening our mouths.

       A ping told us we had arrived.

 Walking down the corridors, I tried to mentally prepare myself for what I was about to witness.

      Room 127.

   After we finished sanitising our hands and putting on masks, Minho gently knocked on the door before entering.

      Mr Kim was sitting in a chair by the hospital bed, on a table nearby was a blue teddy bear. I recognised it. It's Bora's teddy.

     "Hello, sir," Minho bowed politely, "we brought some food for you." He said, unpacking the food we had brought with us.

      "Oh, Minho, thank you," Mr Kim took in a deep breath. This is a very stressful and worrying time for him. "Ah, Kitty, nice to see you again, I wish it was under better circumstances, but I really appreciate the fact that you went out of your way to come here."

     "I had to come, Dae's my best friend," I smiled slightly, but it didn't reach my eyes.

"Oh, Yuri's just texted that they're here," Q said, "I'll bring them up."

     I busied myself with arranging the flowers nicely on the table next to the teddy. But the truth was, I was stalling. However, I can't fuss with the flowers forever, so slowly I turned around.

     Dae lay on the hospital bed, pale and unmoving to the point where one might think he was dead if it wasn't for the fact that the heart monitor next to him was giving off a steady pulse. An oxygen mask was placed over his mouth and nose, and his head bandaged up.

    It was so hard to see him like this. He was hooked up to so many different machines and was connected to both an IV bag and a blood bag.

     "So what did the doctor say exactly?" I asked tearing my eyes away from the unconscious boy.

   "He has multiple rib fractures, a broken leg, a cut on his forehead, a sprained wrist, a sharp bit of metal was impaled in his stomach, and a head injury, though not a serious one thankfully," Mr Kim explained, "They've got him down as a Level 2 trauma patient."

       "What does that mean?" I asked slowly.

   "It means that his injuries are potentially life-threatening," Minho said, "Level 1 means life-threatening, level 2 is potentially life-threatening and level 3 is no obvious life-threatening injuries."

      Oh. Oh gosh! That means Dae could die!

   Minho must have seen the panic on my face because he laid a hand on my shoulder. "He'll be fine, Kitty. The reason why he's in ICU is so that they can closely monitor him. He's going to be fine," He reassured me.

      He pulled up a chair for me to sit by the bed.

   "He's in a medically induced coma, meaning that they put him into a coma to help with the healing process, once they think he's ready, they'll wake him up. But it could be a while before that happens," Minho said, "Dae was apparently barely even breathing when they brought him in, plus he crashed once on the table. He needs a lot of time."

    Staring at Dae, I began to fiddle with my friendship bracelet once again, when I realised that Dae's one was still around his wrist.

     That wasn't all she noticed. Having gone unnoticed, the bracelet hadn't been cleaned.

 There were still drops of dried blood on the chain from the accident. 

✖️⭕Kitty✖️⭕

Chapter 4!!! Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!!! 

And you guys!!! Are kidding me?! 6.7k views in 5 days???!!! You're blowing my mind right now!!! (Yes, I intended to quote from the show lol!) 

Thank you guys!

Also, I forogot to put a disclaimer in the 'Welcome' chapter of this book, so here it is.

DISCLAIMER: XO, Kitty does not belong to me. All rights go to Jenny Han and to Netflix. The only thing I own is the plot line of this book and my own characters that I have created.

I'll see you guys in the next chapter!!!

Clara x