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Leaves crunched under Tae’s shoes as he walked down the street to his apartment.  Summer and winter were in a fight for dominance these days, leaving the weather forecast completely up in the air as the temperature bounced from hot to cold.

Tae had just gotten off work at the small frozen yogurt shop down the road.  Why people wanted froyo in this weather, he had no idea.  But it kept his paycheck coming, so he supposed he had no right to complain.

He was considering going to grab some hot chocolate and pastries at the bakery on his way home when his phone suddenly rang.  He pulled it out of his pocket and answered it without looking at the caller id.

“Tae…?  You’re on your way home, right?”

“Yeah, I just got off work, why?”

There was a long pause before he heard her whisper her response. “I don’t feel good…”

Tae’s expression softened in concern. “Have you felt sick all day?” he asked, toeing at a leaf on the ground as he walked.

“Yeah,” she responded quietly.  She sounded winded from just talking.

“Aw, you should’ve called me sooner.”

“But I didn’t want to worry you…”

“Yuki, baby, I could’ve taken the day off.  I’d imagine laying in bed alone all day while you’re sick was no fun.”

“I was fine,” she coughed. “Besides…we needed the money.”

Tae sighed, rolling his eyes up to look at the clouded sky. “Don’t be ridiculous.  We’re doing just fine.  I could’ve skipped one shift.  Now, I want you to lay in bed until I get home, ok?  I don’t want to find you half asleep trying to get yourself some water.”

“Okay…” she mumbled, sounding like she was half asleep already.

“All right.  I’ll see you in a bit.  Love you.”

He could hear her voice fading as she mumbled a ‘love you too’ in response before hanging up.  He pocketed his phone and continued home.  He wasn’t too far now.  But Chicago was loud, noisy, and crowded at this time of day, so even just walking took longer than it would’ve in a normal town.

When he finally let himself into their apartment, he noticed it was quiet and dark.  He knew she must already be asleep.  He snuck back to their bedroom to find her wrapped in a pile of blankets.  Her head was peeking out of the top, and he could see that her cheeks were flushed, and her nose was pink.  The hoodie of the sweatshirt she was wearing could’ve swallowed her head it was so big.  He could tell it was his because she didn’t own any gray sweatshirts.  He smiled.  She looked so tiny buried under all the fabric.

He bent down to kiss her forehead before heading out to the kitchen to make some ramen.  Whenever he was sick, she insisted on making him the spiciest ramen they had, despite his protests, because the broth was apparently a magical healing potion.  He was convinced she bought spicy ramen simply for that reason; neither of them ever ate it otherwise.

Tae was pretty sure there was nothing magical about it.  All it did was burn his tongue and make his nose run.  But he wasn’t the one sick today.  So, he would gladly make the ramen.  Especially if it actually had the magical healing properties that Yuki claimed it did.

When Tae entered their room ten minutes later with a steaming bowl of ramen, Yuki was, unsurprisingly, still asleep.  This time, however, she’d snaked her hand out from under the covers and was now resting a sweater paw on top of her mountain of blankets.

He set the bowl of ramen down on the nightstand and sat on the edge of the bed.

“Yuki,” he whispered, running his fingers through her chocolate hair. “It’s time to wake up.  You need to eat the ramen I made.”

Yuki blinked open one eye to stare blankly up at him. “Hmm…” she sniffled. “Wha’d you say?”

“I made you some ramen.  Can you sit up so I can feed it to you?”

“But my throat hurts…” she rasped, sounding even sicker than she had on the phone.

“I know…but it will help you feel better if you eat it.”

She sighed and shakily forced herself to sit up.  Then she shivered and leaned back against the headboard.

“Here,” Tae pulled a blanket from the cocoon loose and wrapped it around her shoulders. “Is that better?”

She nodded. “Thank you…”

He brushed her hair out of her face. “Please call me next time you feel this sick.  I can’t believe you sat at home alone all day.”

“Well…I slept most of the day,” she sniffled.

“Yeah…but I don’t like that you were home alone when you were feeling this sick…”

Yuki looked up at him, feeling remorseful as she saw the worried expression on his face. “I’m sorry I didn’t call you sooner…I promise I’ll call you next time.”

Tae smiled softly, his face completely relaxing. “Ok.  Good.” He bent forward to kiss her forehead. “You want to eat now?”