**Twelve**
**Rhea's POV**
I have been knocking on the door of the ICU for two hours, and no one has opened it.
Tssk... Where is Jc? Just a little longer, and I will be really annoyed.
"Crushmate." A familiar voice called from somewhere.
Only one person can call me that, so I opened my eyes and didn't make the mistake of missing her as she walked toward me.
"How long have you been here?" she continued as she approached me.
"Two hours," I answered sarcastically.
She laughed for a while and gently patted my shoulder. "Jc's sleep is sound. He's been awake all night."
"Is that so?" I replied. "And what are you doing here?"
"I'm visiting my cousin," she answered.
"Your cousin?" I was surprised.
"Yes, Cesha. Jc, Cesha, and I are first cousins. Haleeerr," she replied.
Oh, that's right. I forgot about that.
I just nodded, pretending to be a little surprised.
"Just come in," she continued, opening the door to the ICU, and we entered together.
I saw that Cesha was on dextrose, and there was a tube in both of her nostrils connected to the oxygen tank next to her bed. Is her condition really that bad???
I looked around the room and saw Jc sleeping on a sofa chair, which was just in front of his sister's bed. One of his legs was bent on the sofa while the other was straight, and his arm covered his face.
"How is his sister's condition?" I asked, looking worried at Cesha.
"The doctor said she has dengue, and her platelet count is below the regular count, so she is pale," Almira answered while walking toward Jc.
"Jc... Wake up... Rhea is here," Almira said softly while shaking his chest.
Jc lifelessly removed his hand from his face, lazily got up, and sat down. He leaned back in the chair as he rubbed his eye with his finger.
"Rhea is here," Almira whispered to him.
I just watched Jc as he removed his finger from his eye, then looked at me without a word or even a smile. His eyes were still wet from the tears that hadn't dried, and he was obviously stressed. I smiled at him, but he looked in another direction. He is affected by his sister's condition.
Almira sighed and rushed to Cesha's bed to check on her condition again. "Tita is really unusual. She didn't even realize that Cesha was feeling sick until it got to this point," she complained.
Jc carefully moved his eyes to glance at his sister.
"Jc... Go home first and rest. I'll take care of her," Almira volunteered, almost having second thoughts. It's obvious that he's in a bad mood. Even a ghost would be afraid of his grumpy face.
I approached him and sat next to him. "Jc, I know you haven't eaten yet. Join me now. My dish is tilapia," I spoke in a low tone. I really meant to say "my dish" because his favorite dish is tilapia. Maybe he will talk to me.
He turned to me and answered without emotion, "I'm sorry. You can eat ahead of me with Almira."
I was a bit nervous at the tone of his answer. Even though I know him well, I am still horrified by his deadly aggressiveness when he is not in the mood. Let's add the scratchiness of his extremely pointed gaze.
I swallowed to show him that I was not moved by his rudeness and gently pulled his hand. "Come on, let's go somewhere."
He strongly pulled his hand back to him. "I'm not in the mood to go for a walk." Then he turned his back and looked in another direction.
I put my mouth close to his ear and whispered in my softest tone, "We're not going for a walk. We're just going somewhere."
He turned to me, and his lips almost hit mine. Fortunately, my nose was sharp, and my nose collided with his, causing me to fall back.
Without emotion, he looked me in the eye without a single word, not even a small smile. While I was smiling at him, even though he looked so aggressive in his aura... I would have been thrilled by the closeness of our faces if only he were in the mood, but with his face being so grumpy, I would have been afraid even of the bad elements in the world.
"Please," I said softly while petting him.
He didn't smile or speak, but he stood up and lazily walked to the door and went out. I immediately followed him because maybe he would change his mind, and Almira's gaze followed us in surprise until we were completely out of her sight.
We walked in silence in the hallway. It was deafening. It was obvious that he was not in the mood. He remained silent until we arrived at the elevator. I pressed the down button (🔻) to open the elevator, and we went inside together. I also pressed the close button (▶|◀) to close the elevator. While we were waiting for the elevator to go down to the ground floor, I thought of a way to get him to speak.
He turned to me when he heard me sing, and unexpectedly, he smiled at me. His smile was natural and made you fall in love. That's why my lips were magnetized, and I spontaneously smiled at him as I continued to sing.
While I was singing, he kept staring at me while smiling. I was about to be distracted by his beautiful smile. Oh, Jc! Don't look at me like that. My heart is already jumping; when I can't take it anymore, I'm going to be really excited.
"You really are a weird girl," he suddenly spoke with an obvious smile, so I stopped singing.
"Why again?" I answered immediately, holding back a smile.
"No matter how bad my day is, when I hear you sing, I don't really understand why I smile," he reasoned while smiling, staring at me as if the rain would stop because of his beautiful smile.
My eyes widened, and I was suddenly shocked by what he said. I couldn't even open my mouth. As in, I was really speechless at the unexpected thing he said. I was stunned while watching his sweet smile. My brain wasn't working, so I couldn't think of anything to say to break this horrible-I mean exciting-event.
"Suddenly, I remembered Crista..." he continued without me being able to speak.
And because of the last thing he said, I couldn't take my eyes off him, and I couldn't stop myself from smiling and feeling excited. No more... My brain doesn't really work anymore. My mouth didn't even want to say a word. I'll just make the most of this moment and what I feel; maybe it won't happen again.
After a while, his smile gradually changed from an excited smile to a sad smile. He briefly looked at the floor while leaning his shoulder against the wall and then looked in another direction.
"Maybe I just miss her too much," he said weakly and sadly. "She often sings to me, especially when I'm sad."
Really?? You miss me? How can I tell you???? Hello, John Carlo Laporre aka Four, I'm Crista Segovia aka CrystaLheart. Your clanmate who is so into you. But I'm sorry, I can't say... I'll be in trouble.
"You should be happy," I said, and he looked at me again. "Crista will be really sad when she sees you sad."
He just smiled a little. It was just an obvious fake smile. At the same time, the elevator opened. We went out together and walked down the quiet hallway.
"Rhea, do you have a boyfriend?" he asked as he focused on the hallway.
I was surprised by his unexpected question and frowned as I answered, "No."
Why would you date me???
"Princebeybe isn't your boyfriend yet?" he inquired.
"No," I immediately answered.
"Not yet?" he grumbled.
"No!" I was annoyed to answer.
He laughed for a moment. "It's obvious he likes you. He has been hitting on you in the group messages."
"Believe me, he is only making fun of me," I replied.
"But he's courting you?" he asked with a smile.
I just frowned and shook my head at his answer, but his face was still grinning.
"Do you like him too?" he asked again.
I'm about to get pissed off, Jc, just a little bit. You're pushing me to what I don't want.
"No," I immediately answered. "I will never like that guy."
He just laughed out loud. "You look like a tomato, yet your answer is still no."
I looked around for a moment; he might have disturbed someone with the loudness of his laughter. Good thing we were the only ones walking in the hallway.
Is my face red?
I immediately grabbed both my cheeks while this guy in front of me kept smiling. This man is just fooling me.
"Answer him now," he added with a smile.
Hey! You are the one I want. Don't do anything. I'm really close to dying.
"I don't really like him!" I answered, annoyed while frowning.
"Admit it. I won't tell anyone else," he grumbled.
I stopped walking and yelled at him because I was really annoyed, "You're the one I want! Don't push me to Princebeybe!"
He stopped walking, then turned to me and stared seriously into my eyes. As for me, when I realized what I had done was crazy, my eyes widened, and I automatically covered my mouth with my hands.
Rhea!! You are really crazy! Just say you are Crista! As for you, you're using up my patience.
His face was grinning when he approached me while I kept moving my eyes to avoid his gaze. I don't know how to react or how to take back what I said. It's like my brain cells are frozen, so my brain doesn't want to work.
When he got close, he suddenly pinched my cheek and said, "Besides, you're beautiful; you still know how to flatter." Then he turned around with a smile and walked away.
I could feel all my blood rush to my face, which caused my face to become a tomato. I slapped my own cheek, then shook my head a few times.
Just calm down, Rhea! He just pinched your cheek! It's like you're already electrified??
But at least he didn't believe... It's good...
When I calmed down, I followed Jc. I almost forgot where I was going to take him.
"I hear something like that almost every day, so it's not new to my ears," he further explained.
Suddenly, there was a strong wind. Guess who is handsome.
I'd better keep my mouth shut so I don't say anything stupid that could cause me to perish.
After a while, he suddenly stopped walking, and I stood next to him. We are here: the small hospital chapel.
I just looked at him as he stared at the altar of the chapel. I was waiting for him to come inside.
"I just got here," he spoke after a few minutes.
"It's okay. There's no limit to asking for the Lord's help," I answered and pulled him into the chapel. From the tone of his speech, it seemed as if he didn't want to enter.
"Let's pray for your sister's recovery," I said, and then we went to the seat near the door.
I knelt down while bowing, and he knelt next to me, also bowing with his eyes closed.
Just in case, I suddenly raised my head when I felt something strange and unexpected happen.