My smart girl 3. Rewriting our stars

After Jay left, the hands on the clock seemed to freeze in place. Feeling completely down, I carefully moved Jaedi from the armchair where he had slept all night onto my bed. I pressed my cheek against his soft dark fur, closed my eyes, and hoped that his quiet purring would help me drift off a little so the wait wouldn’t feel so painfully endless. I also wondered when the maxi version of my sweet kitten had become as necessary to me as air. Probably from the very moment he caught me in our kitchen, charging at him with a frying pan raised high, and didn’t let me crash onto the hard floor and hit my head. Instead, he heroically took the entire blow himself and in return demanded the tiniest thing — that I become his girlfriend. Even back then, the cocky brunet had become my savior, and he still was. I couldn’t help but smile, thinking that this could only be called fate. Under Jaedi’s quiet purring, I must have dozed off. When I woke up the next time, bright sunlight was streaming through the window of the ward — quite a rare sight for mid-November. I smiled sleepily, thinking that this was definitely a good sign. My mood lifted even more when, half an hour later, Ten peeked into my room. Seeing that I was awake, he walked over confidently, sat on the edge of my bed, pulled me into his arms, and kissed my forehead. He whispered softly: “Hey, little one. How are you feeling?” I sighed quietly and hugged him back as tightly as I used to when I was a child — when my beloved older brother was my hero and always saved me from the monsters under the bed. Unfortunately, in adult life, even he was powerless against real monsters in the form of serious illnesses. Yet he had still decided to dedicate his life to fighting them. I buried my nose in the collar of his snow-white coat and took a deep breath of his familiar scent. “Everything’s fine, TaeTae, really…” I said, then decided to try my luck with this brunet instead of the stubborn one who refused to let me leave. I asked timidly, “When can I go home? Do I really… have to stay here all the time now?” Tae sighed and shook his head. He pulled back slightly, stroked my hair, and looked me straight in the eyes as he spoke quietly but with absolute seriousness: “Rosé… I’m really glad you’re feeling better right now, but this improvement is deceptive. Your condition could change at any moment. It’s extremely unstable, so we can’t take any risks. You need to stay under constant supervision.” Hearing this, I let out a defeated sigh and pressed my forehead to his shoulder, once again facing harsh reality. I whispered quietly: “Is it really… that bad, Tae?” My brother pressed his cheek to the top of my head and answered just as softly: “You lost consciousness right in the middle of the corridor yesterday. It really is serious, kiddo. The fact that you’re feeling better today is thanks almost entirely to the medications we gave you through the IV yesterday.” I shook my head and smiled faintly. “Not only the medications, Tae.” “Not only? What else then?” He raised his eyebrows in surprise and pulled back to look into my eyes. “My personal doctor, of course,” I told him, barely holding back a laugh at how comically his face stretched. My brother hummed and rolled his eyes. “Ah, of course. That would be the same doctor who sleeps with you naked, completely ignoring all hospital rules?” I laughed softly, clearly catching the indignant tone in his voice. Then I became serious again and quietly pleaded: “Don’t be too hard on him, Tae. Jay does so much for me… And he really is a good person, even though I didn’t think so before…” My brother’s eyes softened. He stroked my hand and asked quietly: “You… love him?” Without even a second of hesitation, I breathed out: “Yes… I love him very much.” Tae sighed and pulled me closer again, pressing my head to his shoulder. With that affectionate, protective smile only older brothers can have, he whispered: “I’m really happy about that, little one. Honestly, at first I thought you were just another fleeting interest for him, but… now I can see that he truly loves you too.” I let his quiet words settle deep in my heart, warming it with the familiar warmth of my beloved, as if he were right here with me. I closed my eyes and sighed softly again. We sat in peaceful silence for a while until I finally broke it first: “Why didn’t you come see me yesterday?” He sighed and pulled back a little, ruffling my hair with a teasing half-smile. In an exaggeratedly offended tone, he said: “Well, actually, I came to see you three times. The first time you were still unconscious, the second time you were asleep on the IV drip, and the third time you were sleeping under your boyfriend. So I figured you didn’t really need my company right then.” I laughed in embarrassment and lightly smacked his shoulder, grumbling: “Don’t talk nonsense! Just because Jay is my boyfriend now doesn’t mean I love you any less!” Tae chuckled softly and kissed the top of my head, muttering: “Alright, alright, kiddo. I’ll pretend to believe you.” I huffed indignantly and turned away from him, but my brother pulled me into his arms again, nearly suffocating me in his strong, truly bear-like embrace. In response to my weak protesting squeak, he laughed quietly and assured me: “Okay, okay, I really do believe you… I believe you, little fawn. Don’t throw a tantrum.” “I love you so much, Tae…” I whispered into his warm neck. Being in his strong, reliable arms made me feel almost as safe as when I was with Jay. Unexpectedly, even to myself, I let out a small sob and bit my lip to keep from completely falling apart. Hearing this, Tae frowned. He pulled back, stroked my cheek, and asked worriedly: “Hey… What’s wrong, little one? Why are you crying?” Looking into my brother’s familiar warm eyes, I couldn’t hold it in any longer. “I’m just… really scared, Tae,” I finally admitted, sobbing shakily. “Very, very scared… What if… What if I…” He didn’t let me finish. He pulled me close again in a sudden, fierce hug, warming me with his body heat. “Shhh… Don’t you dare even think like that, do you hear me? We’re going to save you. Don’t doubt it for a second.” “Really?” Two treacherous tears rolled down my cheeks. Tae gently wiped them away with his fingers and smiled as he assured me: “Really, little one. Have I ever lied to you?” I shook my head. He stroked my hair and whispered: “See… I never lie and I always keep my word. You know that. So don’t cry, baby. Everything is going to be okay. I promise you.” I took a deep breath to calm myself, finally pulled myself together, and nodded, desperately hoping it would be true. “I believe you, Tae… But you did lie to me about one thing,” I decided to tease him a little to lighten the mood. His dark eyebrows immediately shot up in surprise. “What do you mean, sweetheart?” “You were in on it with Jae. You both kept telling me that I was fine and had just overworked myself,” I grumbled, giving him a reproachful look. My brother smiled sheepishly. “I’m sorry, kiddo. I know I should have told you everything from the beginning, but… Jay asked me not to.” I sighed and pressed my temple to his shoulder, whispering quietly: “You two… What a pair of half-baked conspirators. You wouldn’t have been able to hide it from me forever anyway.” Tae hummed, acknowledging that I was right, and exhaled softly: “You’re right. I’m sorry. We just… didn’t want to cause you unnecessary pain.” “I know, Tae… And I understand. But… can I ask you for one more thing?” “Of course, sweetheart. What do you want?” Tae pulled back slightly and looked at me attentively. He gently squeezed my hands, stroking my knuckles the way he always did when I was nervous. And right now, I really was nervous, because I knew my request would sound extremely strange to him — if not outright impossible. But he waited patiently, so I took a deep breath and blurted out: “Please don’t tell Mom and Dad. At least not yet.” As expected, Tae was taken aback and wasn’t going to agree so easily without a proper explanation. “Why, Rosé? This isn’t a joke… They have the right to know…” came the perfectly logical question. I squeezed his hands, looking into his familiar worried eyes, and whispered softly: “I just… don’t want them to worry before it’s necessary. Besides… I’m already in Seoul. Are there any better clinics anywhere else?” But that wasn’t the main reason, and Tae — who had always seen right through me — understood it immediately. He tilted his head and whispered with a sad smile: “Try again, little one. This time, tell me the truth, okay?” Realizing I’d been caught, I squeezed my eyes shut and bit my trembling lips. There was no escaping it if I wanted his support. I took a shaky breath and confessed, staring at our intertwined hands: “I’m just… really scared that they’ll want to take me away from here… Take me to another country for the surgery… And I don’t want that. I don’t want to leave… because he… is here. And we have so little time…” I still couldn’t bring myself to look up at him, but even without looking, I could feel his warm, sympathetic gaze on me. Tae understood everything. He stayed silent for a while, not letting go of my hands from his warm, steady grip, clearly trying to make the right decision. Just when I thought he would refuse to be an accomplice in my lie, my brother pulled me into a tight hug, rocking me in his arms like a child. He breathed softly into my hair and left a gentle kiss on top of my head: “Alright, kiddo. I won’t tell them. We'll figure everything out somehow, i promise."