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Min Yoongi wants to curse.
He wants to curse his life, he wants to curse his weak body, he wants to curse himself for not being able to stay away – but most importantly he wants to curse his stupid bandmates for giving him the flu.
From the moment he opened his eyes to find they were all crusty and teary, Yoongi knew he had gotten the flu that Taehyung (and, consequently, his ‘soulmate’ Jimin, too, because they are apparently attached at the hip) had fallen sick with.
Now Yoongi really wants to curse Taehyung (and Jimin that damn brat, who was unable to let his bandmate, who was evidently coming down with some sickness, sleep alone two days ago).
How were his bandmates even able to spread their germs to him? It’s not like he cuddled with them or anything.
Yoongi scowls into his pillow – thinking hurts. For a moment he contemplates closing his eyes again and ignoring the way this flu is creeping up on him, making his limbs feel heavy and just not right. He could just spend the day sleeping – it probably wouldn’t even be frowned upon, considering he is Min Yoongi and has also been spending day and night working on a new track for the last four days.
However, Yoongi’s great plans of setting a new record for the longest period of time someone can spend in bed without eating or using the bathroom are destroyed by his other fellow bandmate Kim Seokjin, who comes barging into their room like he owns it.
(He technically does, well, at least half of the stuff in here.)
“Yoongi,” he greets and with a frown, Yoongi realizes Jin doesn’t sound as cheerful as usual.
He seems to be in quite a hurry, too, zealously running around the room and collecting random items on his way when usually he likes to take his time (save for when he is cooking because then you will get walked over by him if you don’t watch out).
With the ghost of his newly acquired flu stirring deep inside his bones, though, Yoongi is too tired to investigate and simply buries his head in his pillow, wincing as he feels something hard scratch his cheek.
He will definitely kill the person who put sand in his bed as soon as he finds out who committed the crime.
“Yoongi,” Seokjin repeats as he puts some used clothes that were lying around before back into the closet. “Jungkook and I have a meeting in half an hour, I don’t know if Tae is good to go but Jimin is definitely staying here. Can I leave you in charge of everything?”
Offended because Jin didn’t acknowledge Yoongi feels kind of bad, the rapper grumbles into his pillow. His bandmate doesn’t seem fazed by the lack of answer, though, and goes on with his monologue.
“Well, you gotta make sure everyone eats lunch, especially Jiminie, don’t let him skip a meal. You can order takeout if you want to, I’ll just cook in the evening when I’m back. Hoseok said he won’t be heading to practice today, so you can hang out with him if you’re bored.
“Namjoon is at the studio right now, but he said he’ll be coming back soon. Make sure he doesn’t touch anything in the kitchen, alright?”
The simple thought of using his precious energy to keep their leader away from the kitchen makes Yoongi want to die – he doesn’t want to be in charge today.
He never wants to be, actually, because he is lazy, but today his mood is even worse. Yoongi ignores Jin as he rambles on and on about his newly acquired duties. If the oldest band member chooses to ignore the fact that Yoongi is not feeling well, he can do the same.
With Jin talking in the background, Yoongi almost falls back asleep, but he finds his nose is kind of itchy yet he can’t sneeze and once Jin slams the door of their room shut behind him as he leaves to check on Taehyung, Yoongi jolts awake.
Even though he is far too tired to move, the sudden noise has him sit up right away, only for him to notice the fogginess that has taken over his brain. Yoongi remembers how yesterday he wasn’t able to concentrate very well and wonders if it was a sign he was going to get sick soon.
Either way, he knows one thing – he wants to kill Taehyung in the cruelest way possible.
Yoongi heaves his legs over the edge of the bed, groaning when cold air hits his bare skin. He feels chilly, not cold enough to be running a fever, but he knows what is probably coming later today.
“Fuck Taehyung,” Yoongi spits as he shakily gets up.
He slowly trudges to the bathroom adjoined to his room and splashes a few droplets of cold water into his face. One glance at the mirror over the sink confirms his suspicions – Min Yoongi has been hit with the flu.
It is no wonder, really, that all of their immune systems are so weak, considering they work non-stop usually – still, Yoongi mostly blames Taehyung for getting him sick.
If the boy actually thinks Yoongi is going to cuddle him or anyone else today, he is very wrong.
On the way back to his bed, Yoongi discovers that the impending flu is starting to have an impact on his mentality, too. Even though he is alone in the room, he feels like everything is just a little too bright and when he moves the room blurs slightly as if his mind is grasping the situation too slowly.
There is a little bit of anxiety creeping up on him, too, and Yoongi just wants to die. But then he remembers how Jin just put him in charge of everything for today – if his roommate ever finds out he didn’t do his job well, Min Yoongi is a dead man.
The rapper decides he doesn’t want to risk anything and says farewell to the idea of going to sleep again, instead stumbling out of his room and into their kitchen, which is surprisingly empty.
Normally, you will find at least one band member in here (save for Namjoon since he was banned from the kitchen on grounds of a small accident that happened a while ago). The kitchen is their place to hang out, there’s always food in there and everyone loves watching Jin cook.
However, now the kitchen is empty. Not even Hoseok is around, even though Jin mentioned he is staying home today and Yoongi frowns.
The rapper isn’t hungry, but he fixes himself a light breakfast nonetheless, knowing that skipping meals isn’t exactly the best option. He always tells Jimin to eat, but he can only do that if he does the same.
Yoongi is halfway finished with breakfast, almost falling asleep over the tea he brewed himself, when suddenly Jungkook enters the kitchen. He smiles at Yoongi, but the hint of mischief that his eyes usually hold is gone and he looks kind of lost without Taehyung and Jimin.
“Yoongi hyung,” he greets the older, “Jin hyung and I are heading out now. He said you could call him if you needed anything.”
“Will do,” Yoongi grumbles but then remembers he is not mad at the maknae (only at his two best friends, duh) and adds in a slightly more friendly tone, “have fun, wherever you go.”
“We’re having a meeting for the vocal line without Jimin and Tae. There will surely be lots of fun,” Jungkook sarcastically replies and Yoongi scoffs.
“Don’t go all sarcastic on me, little brat,” he wants to counter, but halfway through his answer, he is interrupted by a coughing fit.
Jungkook just looks at him until he stops coughing and then says, “well, bye hyung. You have fun, too.”
“Why do I get the feeling the little shit is making fun of me?” Yoongi grumbles into his tea after Jungkook has left.
He looks around the kitchen, discovering that Jin apparently forgot to put the dishes in the dishwasher. Yoongi groans – another duty he doesn’t want.
_____________________________
While he does the dishes, Yoongi thinks up ways to kill Taehyung and Jimin. He has to be sneaky so Jin doesn’t suspect anything and kills him, too.
Curse the two 95-liners, though. Yoongi keeps feeling shittier and shittier, the more time passes and he blames it entirely on his bandmates’ germs. At least they haven’t come to bother him yet, he thinks as he drags his aching body through the hallway and into the living room where he flops down onto the couch.
Only, he doesn’t land on a soft blanket like he was planning to – instead, his skin meets something hard and bony that immediately kicks back when Yoongi jabs it with his elbows. Groaning in pain, the rapper falls onto the floor, holding his aching back.
When he looks up he finds someone is lying on the couch, face turned towards him. It is Hoseok.
Now that is definitely unusual. If the dance leader isn’t practicing, he normally finds other activities he can do in order to spend his energy – lying around is definitely not one of his hobbies.
However, Yoongi doesn’t think twice about the reason why Hoseok is lying here. His head hurts from the fall and he is even grumpier now – he just wants to rest, goddammit, why won’t karma let him.
“Oh, Yoongi hyung,” Hoseok mumbles dazedly as he looks at Yoongi like a confused squirrel.
Now, at that point, Yoongi should definitely have become suspicious, but he is too occupied with wallowing in self-pity to realize Hoseok isn’t being his usual self.
The dancer sits up, flashing a smile at his bandmate that looks very much half-hearted. Again – unusual. Jung Hoseok isn’t one to do things half-heartedly.
“Do you want to sit on the couch?” Hoseok asks. “I’ll leave, I just wanted to rest there for a bit because Jin kept coming into our room. But he’s gone now, so I guess I may as well join Tae and Jimin. Did you check on them?”
“Why would I check on them?” Yoongi grumpily replies as he crawls towards the couch, glad that Hoseok is giving up his spot and he may actually be able to rest peacefully for a bit.
“They’re both quite feverish and Taehyung seemed kind of depressed when I last saw him. You know how he gets when he can’t move around that much.”
By now, even Yoongi’s dazed mind has picked up on the fact that Hoseok is acting weirdly. He seems so tranquil, much calmer than usual and his eyes are void of their usual sparkle.
“I’ll go check up on them when it’s time for lunch,” Yoongi gives in as he watches Hoseok get up and slowly walk out of the room. “Wait, Hobi,” he calls, but the dancer is already out of earshot.
“These goddamn children,” Yoongi groans as he finally, finally gets to spread out on the couch like he was supposed to do minutes ago.
He doesn’t get it – everything he does is only making the day go worse. He can’t rest, his bandmates are little devils who spread their germs to him and just now he simply wanted to ask Hoseok if he was alright, only for the dancer to be unable to hear him.
Great – he probably thinks Yoongi hates him now (which he doesn’t, he is just grumpy). Curse his life.
It’s hard to go to sleep with a guilty conscience, Yoongi finds out soon enough. He feels bad for not talking to Hoseok longer although something seemed to be up with him (because even if he hates the duties he has now that Jin is gone, Min Yoongi isn’t one to do his job badly).
Maybe he should get up to look after Hoseok?
Yoongi debates with himself for quite a while, but in the end he is consumed by sleep anyway, finally getting the chance to rest his tired and tortured body.
Now, one would think sleeping could make someone feel much better – in Yoongi’s case, though, the contrary occurs.
When Namjoon leaps into the room exactly 45 minutes later, a loud cursing mess as he holds onto his pinky toe which he just knocked against the doorframe, and Yoongi shoots up from the couch, he finds that his condition is only growing worse.
He feels like death by now, eyes swollen so that he can barely open them and he is sweating, his hair grossly sticking to his forehead.
Namjoon, however, seems oblivious to Yoongi’s concerns and flops down onto the couch beside him with another small curse, grinning sheepishly at his bandmate as he massages his toe.
“Doorframes hurt like a bitch.”
Great, Namjoon, Yoongi sarcastically thinks to himself. What a valuable comment. 10/10 would recommend.
The fog his head is now filled with and the fact that Bangtan’s leader doesn’t even acknowledge his hyung’s pain in the slightest have made Yoongi become petty. He now is in a very dangerous mood – the mood to throw snarky comments at everyone crossing his path and spitting fire even without rapping.
“Quit whining like a child,” he hisses at Namjoon as he gets up.
It’s probably time for lunch soon and Seokjin will kill him if he finds out Yoongi didn’t make anything for Taehyung and Jimin.
“Why did I agree to this?” Yoongi sighs as he pulls out a pan from one of the kitchen cupboards, trying to refrain from coughing. “Why on earth am I in charge?”
He wonders what he is supposed to make for lunch – given that the two brats in the room next to him are sick, he figures soup is appropriate.
How does one even make soup, though?
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Preparing lots of different vegetables for the dish (“because it’s healthy” ~ Seokjin every time they complain about the green things in their food) makes Yoongi angry for two reasons.
Firstly, the onions are making his eyes tear up until he can’t see anything anymore and almost cuts his finger with the knife he is using.
Well – and secondly, he thinks that Taehyung and Jimin don’t even deserve this.
They are idiots, not bothering to be careful when sick even though they know how weak everyone’s immune systems are. They don’t deserve to get soup prepared by Min Yoongi, much less when everyone blandly refuses to acknowledge the horrible state he himself is in.
He can’t just not make anything, though. Yoongi isn’t exactly keen on getting killed by Seokjin and even if he is very grumpy, he is still a good hyung, which means he will have to take care of everyone anyway.
Therefore, Yoongi figures he can just punish Jimin and Taehyung with the silent treatment – they will get the message, eventually.
Making the soup takes Yoongi longer than expected, but when he is finally done, eyes clean and tear-free (at least as tear-free as they can get when this horrible flu is still bothering him, threatening to fully break out any moment), the rapper is almost proud of himself. After all, he actually managed to cook soup without any recipe or instructions from Jin. Hoseok and Namjoon definitely wouldn’t have managed that.
Despite his small confidence boost, Yoongi still can’t forget he is mad at Taehyung and Jimin. He lets them know when he knocks at the door of their room, calling Hoseok to come to the kitchen for lunch while purposefully leaving out the younger two’s names.
After that, Yoongi proceeds to get Namjoon, who was apparently chilling out on the couch the whole time. Envious of how relaxed the leader looks, Yoongi hits him in the head with a pillow, instant regret filling his mind one second later when his own head throbs painfully at the sudden movement.
The ache makes him dizzy and he has to close his eyes for a moment to regain balance. Afterwards, he is even grumpier and pettier than before.
“What did you make, hyung?” Namjoon asks, chewing on something.
Yoongi’s eyes widen at that sight – the damn kid has the audacity to munch on an apple although he just generously prepared lunch for them all, using up almost all of the energy he had left.
He snorts at Namjoon’s question, deciding to act offended.
“It smells nice,” Namjoon smiles sheepishly, having realized his mistake, and quickly hurries towards the kitchen.
Dinner and lunch are the only occasions when he is allowed in there and he definitely makes the most of it every time. Joining Namjoon at the table, Yoongi plops down onto one of their seats, tiredly resting his head on the plate he laid out beforehand.
Cooking is exhausting – how does Jin even do that every day?
“Where’s Hobi and the others?” Namjoon asks after a short while of silence. “Didn’t you call them for lunch?”
“Yes I did,” Yoongi defeats himself in a half-hearted manner while trying to keep the throbbing in his head at bay. “They’re just too stupid to listen to me.”
“Maybe they need some help. I’ll go check on them.”
Before Yoongi can say anything, Namjoon is gone, but his bandmate doesn’t mind that much – he’s just glad he didn’t have to get up.
One, almost two minutes pass until Yoongi hears shuffling footsteps in the hallway, followed by the door being pushed open to reveal a very miserable and very sick-looking Taehyung.
The second-youngest band member is still wearing his pajamas and something Yoongi identifies as Seokjin’s sweater, given how big it looks even on Taehyung’s medium-sized frame. At the sight of Yoongi, the singer lets out a pathetic whine, sniffling sadly as he goes to sit next to his hyung.
“Yoon-“ he starts to rasp but gets cut off when Yoongi demonstratively moves his chair as far away from him as possible, scowling at the younger’s attempt to cuddle up to his arm.
Taehyung pouts at that gesture.
“I feel really bad, hyung,” he croaks, apparently trying to get Yoongi to comfort him (and the older has to admit, his bandmate does look pitiful, but he himself feels pitiful because of Taehyung and the brat will certainly have to pay back).
Taehyung whines again at Yoongi’s lack of response, but he doesn’t bother him anymore as the door swings open again and Hoseok stumbles into the room, hair sticking wildly into all directions. If Yoongi wasn’t so out of it, he would have noticed by now how their dance leader behaves very weirdly, but he can’t bring himself to care about anything.
“Namjoon is getting Jimin,” Hoseok explains as he sits down on Yoongi’s other side. “What are we having?”
“Don’t you have eyes?” Yoongi snorts, but then he observes the table closely and realizes he forgot to bring the soup, which is still standing where he left it.
Mentally dying at the thought of getting up, Yoongi pushes his tired body upwards until he shakily stands, walking over to get the soup. It smells quite good, he realizes when he inhales the steam the pan is emitting and suddenly, Yoongi wonders if eating it will maybe help his condition.
He has just sat back down when, for the third time in a row, someone enters the kitchen. This time there are two people, the first being Namjoon whose fingers are intertwined with much smaller and thicker ones, pulling along a person that looks scarily zombie-like to Yoongi.
If Taehyung looks bad, Yoongi thinks, there is no other way to put it than saying Jimin looks downright pathetic. His usually fluffed up hair is sticking to his forehead which is just as white as the rest of his face, save for his cheeks, which are glowing brightly red.
Jimin’s eyes are red and swollen, just like Yoongi’s feel, and the rapper can’t help but wonder if the singer can actually see anything.
Namjoon leads the pathetic boy, who is wrapped up in a thick blanket, to the table and gently sits him down next to Taehyung where Jimin collapses, head resting on the table before anyone can protest.
“Don’t do that, Jiminie,” Namjoon coaxes as he sits beside his bandmate. “You can’t eat like that, can you?”
The sight of Jimin almost tempts Yoongi to break his silent treatment, but it also reminds him of what is probably waiting for him, of a very unpleasant way the flu stuck in his bones could unfold.
When Jimin lift his reddish eyes to peek at Yoongi, the rapper shoots him a death glare, making the younger wince and curl into himself on the chair. Yoongi almost feels bad for him, but he still knows Jimin deserves it. No one gives germs to Min Yoongi without being punished.
“Thanks for cooking, hyung,” Namjoon tells Yoongi as he lifts the lid of the pan, filling Jimin’s, Taehyung’s and his own bowl with soup.
Next up in line is Hoseok and Yoongi is glad, since he doesn’t feel very hungry despite the delicious smell coming from the pan.
Lunch is very weird. Normally, Jimin and Yoongi are the slowest eaters in their band, still not having finished their first round of food when Taehyung, Jungkook and Jin have already had seconds. Today, though, everyone seems to be slow as snakes and Yoongi has to fight the urge to fall asleep in-between spooning himself more soup.
The only one who is as fast as ever is Namjoon, who soon sits in front of an empty bowl, watching Jimin choke down another spoonful of soup. It’s no secret that the third member of the maknae-lines has problems eating and the fact that he is sick only makes the situation worse.
At one point, Yoongi thinks Jimin looks like he is about to cry eyeing his soup. It must be hard for him to know that he has to finish at least half of it until they will let him go.
Neither Taehyung nor Hoseok seem as hungry as usual, but with them, it is much more subtle and Yoongi hardly notices the way Taehyung keeps playing with his spoon and how Hoseok is eyeing the door suspiciously. He is all caught up in his own fight, trying not to push away the half-full bowl of soup he has left in front of him.
It is not that he feels sick, he just can’t eat anymore. His throat has started hurting by now, too, and Yoongi begins to wonder why everyone knows Jimin and Taehyung are sick but no one notices that he feels just as horrible.
The dullness Yoongi feels seems to have spread to the other members, too. It’s completely silent, a stark contrast to their usual meals when Hoseok, Taehyung and Jin chatter away, the rest of them occasionally throwing in a comment or two.
Today it is much too quiet and, having taken over Seokjin’s duties as the oldest band member, Yoongi should have noticed something is off, he should have investigated.
But – he is sick as hell and the next striking event hits him with no warning, even though he should have known Jimin’s outburst was to come sooner or later. When the singer drops his spoon into his bowl, soup splashing high and staining the table, Yoongi is startled by the noise of metal meeting porcelain.
He jumps and can’t help but wince at the pain in his head that only intensifies at the slight movement – again, he curses Taehyung and frickin’ Jimin for not keeping their germs to themselves, dammit.
Today does not seem to be Yoongi’s lucky day at all. To top it all, no one seems to have noticed the pain he is in right now. Instead, everyone has turned to Jimin, whose head has dropped along with his spoon, now resting on the surface of the table. The tiny singer brings up a shaky hand and weakly rubs at his temple but stops his attempts of easing the pain he is obviously feeling as soon as Namjoon scoots over, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and pulling him into his chest.
Yoongi hears him whisper muffled words to Jimin, he hears him ask if he is okay and suggest moving to the living room so Jimin can lie down. The only thing the latter does is mumble about how he is fine even if it is blatantly obvious to everyone else that he is not, and no one is surprised when he willingly lets Namjoon lift him up and carry him out of the kitchen, his destination probably being the living room.
After they have left everyone grows still again. Yoongi finds it even harder to eat now and he keeps staring at the soup stains on the table, keeps thinking about how he will have to clean them up later when he does the dishes even though his head hurts and everything sucks.
His gaze lands on Taehyung beside him, who has given up on eating and is staring at the chair where Jimin was sitting a minute ago – the second-youngest turns when he feels Yoongi looking at him and the rapper scowls at him when meeting his gaze, still grumpy because Taehyung is the reason why they are in this mess in the first place.
They finish eating shortly afterwards and both Hoseok and Taehyung leave without a second glance at the dirty bowls on the table, the latter permanently avoiding Yoongi’s cold glare. The boy from Daegu snorts as he gathers the dishes and carries them over to the sink, barely avoiding dropping them on the floor.
No matter how responsible Yoongi feels for fulfilling his duties as Jin’s substitute right now, he cannot bring himself to start washing the dishes. He would probably end up dropping half of them anyway, given that his hands are really shaky, so he retreats without finishing his work, making a small trip to the bathroom, where he hopes to find some kind of flu medicine.
He doesn’t, but at least he finds out why neither Namjoon nor anyone else in this goddamn house noticed he is feeling bad. If it wasn’t for the fact that his head is pounding and his neck feels twice as big as usual, Yoongi wouldn’t have known he was sick.
His reflection looks fairly alright, a bit tired, maybe, but nothing out of the ordinary. That has Yoongi curse – it’s not that he likes being fussed over, in fact he hates getting lots of attention because it makes him feel anxious, but if his bandmates knew he was sick, they would at least leave him alone.
He could just lie in bed and sleep all day. But this way, everyone keeps pestering (intentionally or unintentionally) and Jin is probably going to get mad at him for not doing the dishes later.
The thing is, Yoongi could tell Namjoon. He could tell him that he feels sick, that stupid Taehyung and stupid Jimin gave him their germs, and the leader would make sure to cover his tasks. But, Yoongi is too proud to do that.
When falling sick, he usually refuses to admit defeat until he is either hunched over the toilet or Jin has successfully proven he is running a fever. Yoongi isn’t one to run around complaining – he usually just scares people away with his glares, like he did with Jimin and Taehyung earlier.
(They deserved it, though.)
In short – Yoongi feels sick but his ego does not allow him to cave in, to admit weakness to anyone but himself. Though, judging by the way he keeps feeling worse, he thinks he may crumble soon, anyway, without a way to prevent it.
For now, he can still pretend, though, which means he has to go on with his tasks.
“Can I help you with anything, hyung?” Namjoon asks when Yoongi comes shuffling into the living room, on his way to collect items left lying around by various members.
Yoongi glances at the leader who is spread out on the couch, Jimin sleeping soundly on his chest. There are dried tear stains on the younger’s cheeks and Yoongi knows that’s bad because Jimin never cries, he is always full of sunshine and rarely lets his guard down in front of anyone that isn’t Taehyung.
For a second, Yoongi even forgets about the grudge he is still holding – at least until he steps onto a sharp object and the pain shooting through his body is unlike everything he has ever known. The object lying around is a small doll the fans gave to Jimin and Yoongi remembers just why he was mad.
“It’s fine, Joon,” he grumbles as he turns to leave the room again. “Just make sure the brats don’t try to fuck with me, I’m not in the mood.”
At the end he has to clear his throat because of its sudden tightness, but Namjoon doesn’t seem to notice. He frowns at Yoongi’s choice of words, though.
“I doubt they’ll bother you, hyung,” he says, “Tae and Jimin are sick and Jungkook is with Jin.”
“Whatever.”
Yoongi tsks and leaves Namjoon be, ignoring the leader’s questions about the reason why Hoseok seemed so different at lunch.
_______________________
As the day goes on, Yoongi becomes even more sure that he will be the next one to drop – it’s getting hard to hide the coughs shaking his frame every few seconds and he started feeling dizzy half an hour ago, which is why he hasn’t gotten up ever since.
He is wrong, though.
The next one to cave is Hoseok. He tiptoes into the room at some point and even Yoongi, through his swollen eyes, can tell he looks like death – pale, shaky and completely unlike himself.
He must feel exceptionally bad, too, because much like Jimin, Hoseok hardly shows weakness, always being the bright sunshine he is. He always makes an effort to brighten up everyone else’s day, no matter if he’s exhausted or just feels shitty.
Now, though, even his walls seem to have crumbled and Yoongi wants to curse again because, as much as he wants to, he just can’t deal with anything right now, he can’t take care of Hoseok although he has fallen victim to Taehyung’s and Jimin’s germs just like Yoongi himself.
“Hyung…”
There it is – another indicator that Hoseok must be feeling like death. Normally, he rarely uses honorifics at all, much less with Yoongi because he very well knows that the elder can’t stay mad at him for long and he is carefree like that. But, while usually, the alarm bells in Yoongi’s head would have broken down from too much ringing by now, he just wants to be left alone at that very moment.
“I don’t feel w-“
“What the hell do you want, Hoseok?”
The words have left Yoongi’s mouth before he can swallow them back down and he feels a jab of guilt in his chest at the way Hoseok flinches, at how the younger’s eyes drop to the ground and he turns to leave.
“I’m sorry.”
His voice is barely above a whisper (Yoongi figures his throat must be hurting as well). Before his bandmate can do anything, let alone apologize for being so harsh, Hoseok has trailed out of the room, leaving behind a dejected Yoongi.
The rapper groans as he hides his face in his palm. He is done. He feels like he has just committed a crime and, honestly, scaring off Hoseok is pretty much akin to it. Yoongi knows he will be lectured by Jin later because no one, no one in the world is allowed to snap at Hoseok. (Or Jimin, because he will take it the wrong way. Or Jungkook, because he is the youngest.)
He is aware that he fucked up, that he probably failed to complete all of the tasks Jin gave him (apart from not letting Namjoon go near the kitchen, at least Yoongi managed that). Right then, Yoongi feels like such a failure and there is no one to make it better, no one to notice how shitty he feels, no one to apologize for giving him germs or to make sure the band members don’t come to bother him when he’s sleeping.
Just when Yoongi has completely sunken into that bath of self-pity he has created, the door is opened again. This time, Yoongi doesn’t even bother to look up at the intruder.
He knows it isn’t Hoseok, because the dancer gets sad when he’s sick and is probably wondering why Yoongi hates him right now. (Great job, Min Yoongi, the rapper thinks to himself. Way to go, you worthless fuck-up.)
It can’t be Jimin either, since the last time he was seen around, he didn’t look like he could walk and also he is probably still scared because of the glares Yoongi sent his way earlier.
Given that Jin and Jungkook are at the studio, it must be Taehyung or Namjoon. Yoongi hopes for the latter because he is starting to think that he may have gone a little overboard with his snappiness and the silent treatment he gave Jimin and Taehyung.
However, matching Yoongi’s misfortune, it isn’t Bangtan’s leader who comes in.
“Yoongi hyung?”
Taehyung’s voice has a deadly rasp to it, its usual smoothness gone with the wind. Yoongi doesn’t react to the singer’s greeting in the slightest, at least not physically, as he is afraid that he might snap again.
It is kind of childish to blame Taehyung and Jimin for getting him sick, Yoongi realizes as he listens to shuffling footsteps drawing closer. Of course, they could have been more careful, but didn’t Taehyung wear a mask yesterday? Didn’t Jimin make sure to wash his hands over and over again and refuse to touch any of the food Seokjin made with his own hands?
After all, the seven of them live together in one apartment, sharing a bathroom at the least and a dormitory at the most. It probably isn’t even Taehyung’s fault that Yoongi got sick – maybe his body just decided to shut down after he had spent nights working on new tracks instead of sleeping.
“I just came to ask what is wrong.”
Taehyung’s voice trembles slightly and when Yoongi finally raises his gaze, he notices that the singer’s entire body is doing the same. He looks like he is very cold and half-asleep, yet he is still standing right here in front of Yoongi.
“I-If it’s your anxiety or something you can’t talk about, just tell us to leave you alone and I’ll go ask Namjoon hyungie to handle everything. You know, maybe I shouldn’t have come here since you seemed mad at me, but Hoseok hyung is very sad and Jimin and I don’t want you to be mad at us.”
Yoongi lets out a deep sigh.
“I’m sorry, Taehyung-ah. I’m really sorry. I shouldn’t have overreacted like that.”
His voice is as scratchy as Taehyung’s and the younger’s eyes widen as he begins to understand.
“You’re sick too, aren’t you, hyung? I’m sorry. We should have been more careful.”
“It’s not your fault.”
Yoongi can’t believe these words are coming out of his mouth, not when he’s been cursing Taehyung and Jimin all day, not when he hated them for getting him sick. But, he can’t help it. He knows it wasn’t right to be mad at his dongsaengs and he is tired.
And, last but not least, he can’t help but admire how kind Taehyung is, standing here to check up on Yoongi despite feeling shitty and having been treated badly.
Before the younger one can let out a huff, Yoongi has gotten up and walked over to Taehyung to wrap him up in a tight hug. The rapper’s head fits into the crook of his bandmate’s neck and he squeezes as hard as he can, trying to show Taehyung how sorry he is. At that moment, all of his pride is gone. He is Min Yoongi, slightly stupid, stubborn, grumpy, and he will deny having hugged Taehyung like that later, but right now all that counts is right here, that very moment they are sharing.
When Yoongi pulls away after a few seconds, Taehyung seems very perplex, causing the rapper to feel a blush rising up his neck.
“You just looked like you needed a hug, kid,” he mumbles sheepishly.
Taehyung nods and coughs into his hand afterwards.
“You should come and lie down with us. We won’t bother you, you can sleep as much as you like. But…it feels better when you’re there with us and now that you’re sick, too, we can’t…”
“It’s fine, Tae, I’ll come,” Yoongi shushes him, making his way towards the door. “Is everyone still in the living room?”
“Nope, we’re in my room,” Tae explains. “Namjoon hyung took Jimin there earlier and Hobi hyung lay down with us a few minutes ago. We pushed our beds together so we have a big one.”
“I should apologize to Hobi.”
One minute later, Taehyung and Yoongi wind up in the sunshine-line’s room, the latter immediately walking over to the side of the bed that Hoseok is taking up, having curled up next to Jimin but facing away from him.
Yoongi walks over to him and crouches down, tired eyes wandering across his bandmate’s relaxed features.
“Hoseok,” he whispers and watches as Hoseok forces his eyes open with a groan, protectively curling in on himself when he recognizes Yoongi.
The action makes the rapper’s heart ache guiltily, but he leans forward bravely nonetheless, pressing his chapped lips to Hoseok’s hot forehead.
“I’m sorry for snapping at you,” he mumbles against the dancer’s skin, “I shouldn’t have done that.”
“’s fine.”
There it is, that kindness which every member of Bangtan apart from Yoongi seems to possess. Hoseok smiles an exhausted smile.
“You gonna join us?”
“I will, don’t worry.”
With that, Yoongi proceeds to clamber over his bandmate’s body and settles next to Jimin seconds later. Taehyung has chosen the third-youngest’ other side meanwhile and is now on the verge of falling asleep, nose pressed against Jimin’s nape.
Yoongi faces the latter as he gets comfortable, watches as the other’s eyes move wildly underneath his eyelids (he is not sleeping very well, apparently, but Yoongi can’t blame him, not when Jimin is practically a human furnace next to him).
Even though he knows he should apologize or at least explain the situation, Yoongi doesn’t have the heart to wake Jimin. Instead he wrapps an arm around his waist until he meets Taehyung’s clothed stomach and pulls Jimin closer. Hopefully, that will serve as an explanation when the younger wakes up.
That way Yoongi also falls asleep – arm thrown over Jimin with his hand fisting Taehyung’s shirt, back to back with Hoseok.
Jin finds them like that when he and Jungkook return at 08:30 pm and Yoongi wakes up to his bandmate yelling at Namjoon, who just stands there and grins sheepishly, taking all the blame.
At least, Yoongi doesn’t get scolded for not making dinner, since Seokjin is much too busy trying to find out what evil spell Namjoon cursed his bandmates with (and also taking care of four ill band members, a number that could still be rising).
(“But, in all seriousness, what did you do, Namjoon?” Jin sighs as he chops vegetables for the late dinner they are having. “You can’t tell me they just ended up like this.”
“I don’t know,” poor Namjoon tries to defeat himself, lingering around the kitchen door. “I only know Hobi went to lie down at some point and then…I just kind of found them there. No idea how Taehyung and Yoongi ended up with them, I just carried Jimin there earlier.”
Jin turns around and his eyes widen when he sees Namjoon has entered the kitchen.
“Goddammit, Joon, how many times do I have to tell you you’re not allowed inside the kitchen? Leave before I make you, go, go, I’ve got a frypan over here and I’m not afraid to make use of it!”)