Work Text:
Ten didn’t mean to get sick. No one means to get sick. They just do. Except Baekhyun would tell him otherwise.
The winter air has been crisp and the wind is gusting up leaves into little whirlwinds all over the sidewalk. Ten walks to work because it’s only a short distance from his apartment, but he wasn’t expecting the rain. Baekhyun warns him to bring an umbrella because he claims that the sky looks like it was going to open up any second. Ten, of course, doesn’t believe him and then proceeds to get rained out on his way to work. Ten shows up soaking wet and his boss, what an angel, sends him home early that shift because they’re overstaffed anyway and he desperately wants Ten to put on something that’s not drenched in water.
So Ten sulks home without his umbrella. And it rains. Again. He could laugh at the irony.
And to top it all off, the weather is frigid outside. It’s almost as if it’s freezing rain that falls down on him, so he’s shaking and shivering, soaking wet with no umbrella, all the way there and back. Just his luck.
Baekhyun tells him that’s all it takes to catch a cold. Ten thinks it’s ridiculous, but he doesn’t argue. Because now he’s laid up on the couch, a handful of assorted blankets thrown on him, and a cup of hot tea in front of him on the coffee table. He can’t win this argument no matter what he says.
He’s been on the couch for hours before Baekhyun even gets home and Ten knows Baekhyun is going to say “I told you so.” He just feels it in his bones; his very sickly bones.
But Baekhyun is naturally the caring type. He makes Ten all the sick person food imaginable and doesn’t expect him to eat it if he’s not hungry. He makes him tea and doesn’t get upset if it sits until it gets cold (but he would most definitely rather have him drink it because it will help with his throat!)
Ten is lucky, honestly. He’s lucky to have such a lovely roommate as Baekhyun.
“You don’t have to stay.” Ten says to Baekhyun, who is currently sitting on the opposite end of the couch.
“I don’t mind.” Baekhyun says. “I love this movie anyway.”
It’s a lie. Ten put on the Hallmark channel as something to doze off to. He knows Baekhyun can’t stand Hallmark movies. Ten eyes him carefully but then goes back to haphazardly watching the TV. Eventually he finds himself falling asleep while the star of the movie is trying to save Christmas. He knows when he wakes up the movie will be over but as a last passing thought in his very sick and hazy brain, he hopes the main character can indeed save Christmas.
When he wakes up, it’s already after 1am and Baekhyun is still on the couch. He’s awake, scrolling through his phone and not watching the TV. Ten knew it.
“I thought you liked this movie.” Ten says, acknowledging that the same movie that was playing hours before has been recycled and is now playing again.
“I watched it earlier.” Baekhyun says, looking up from his phone briefly. “I could tell you how it ends, since you fell asleep.”
He has the audacity to wink. Ten laughs lightly which sends him into a coughing fit.
“She saves Christmas.” Ten says between coughs. “Who would’ve thought, huh?”
“You mean to tell me you’ve seen this one before?” Baekhyun asks in mock disbelief, putting a hand on his chest dramatically.
“We can only hope that in one of these movies, the main character doesn’t save Christmas. Just once.” Ten says.
Baekhyun laughs at that.
“Do you need anything?” Baekhyun asks. “I’m going to get some water.”
He’s standing up from the couch, stretching his arms and legs in the process.
“You can go to bed, you know.” Ten says in response.
Baekhyun pretends he doesn’t hear Ten and walks into the kitchen to get some water. He takes his time in there, Ten thinks, but Baekhyun returns with a new mug of hot tea. He sets it on the coffee table in front of Ten and tells him to drink some before he goes back to sleep. Ten wants to just go back to sleep but he obliges anyway and drinks almost all of it before dozing off around the same part of the movie as he did the first time.
-
By the time Ten wakes up again, it’s morning - or afternoon, he doesn’t know - and Baekhyun is gone from the couch. Ten assumes he’s at work or running errands. He takes a deep breath and then another before he ends up coughing again. He reaches for his very cold leftover tea from the table and drinks the rest of it in a rush while he struggles to catch his breath. Coughing really is the worst. And to make it even worse than just coughing, his throat hurts even worse than it did the day before. All signs of getting better, Ten thinks while shaking his head.
He crawls out from his cocoon of blankets, grabs his glasses and stands up from the couch. His head starts to spin with the rush of standing up, so he plops back down for a few minutes to catch his bearings. He eventually stands up again, this time less dizzy, and makes his way to the bathroom.
Ten looks at himself in the mirror and he looks like shit, honestly. His hair is a matted mess all over everywhere and the bags under his eyes are ridiculous. He can’t believe Baekhyun can even look at him while he looks like this. He brushes his teeth quickly to try and make himself feel better but it doesn’t help. Now his mouth is just going to taste like toothpaste when he drinks his tea. Disgusting.
He moseys his way out of the bathroom and into the kitchen. He’s reaching to grab a mug down when he hears the door open and close behind him.
“Welcome home.” Ten says, not bothering to turn around because Baekhyun is the only other person that lives there.
“Thanks.” Baekhyun responds. “How are you feeling?”
“Terrible.” Ten says, filling the kettle with water from the sink and setting it on the stove to heat.
While the water heats, Ten trudges back to the living room to gather the dirty mugs that have accumulated on the coffee table and brings them to the sink. He tosses the soggy tea bags and rinses the grime from the mugs before setting them in the dishwasher. Doing something productive makes him feel better mentally, but he still physically feels like he just got hit by a truck.
“Here, why don’t you lay back down. I can bring you the tea.” Baekhyun says, setting his stuff down on the counter and walking into the kitchen.
Ten refuses at first, but then Baekhyun is putting his hands on Ten’s shoulders and guiding him to the couch with little force. It really doesn’t take much to convince Ten to lay back down because he’s starting to get dizzy again anyway. So Ten follows Baekhyun’s guidance all the way to the couch and he plops down, crawls back under his blankets, and lets out a huff.
“Have you eaten anything today?” Baekhyun asks.
Ten shakes his head in response. He’s barely existed today, let alone thought about food. He’s surprised he had the energy to even get up and brush his teeth. And thinking about it reminds him that his mouth is still going to taste like toothpaste with his tea and he slumps into the couch, sad.
“You should at least eat some toast. Get something on your stomach.” Baekhyun says, already popping two pieces of bread into the toaster.
Ten’s melting into the couch at this point. He doesn’t remember Baekhyun turning off the TV last night, but it’s off now and he can’t reach the remote. He would love to flip through the dozen cable channels they have, but can’t be bothered to move enough to grab the remote from the table. He knows Baekhyun would get it for him if he asked, but he doesn’t want to bother Baekhyun anymore than he is already. So he succumbs to the couch cushions instead and waits for his toast.
“I can make you some soup later if you want.” Baekhyun says, prying the toast from the toaster. “Butter? No butter?”
“No butter.” Ten says. He’s not even hungry for the toast but knows he should eat it anyway.
Baekhyun brings the two slices of toast over on a small plate. He grabs the remote from the table and sets it in Ten’s lap, flipping the TV on for him in one go.
“You could’ve put them on a paper towel.” Ten says, noting the plate.
“It’s fine, I’ll wash the dishes.” Baekhyun says.
He wishes Baekhyun wasn’t so nice to him. He just wants to sleep and not be sick anymore. And live in a world where Hallmark movies aren’t full of happy endings every time. He’s feeling crabby all of a sudden so he knows it must be time to go back to sleep. Crabbiness from being sick is not fun. He scarfs down his toast as quickly as his sore throat will allow it and before he’s even done, Baekhyun is bringing over a fresh cup of hot tea for him.
Ten does everything in his power to drink just a little bit of it before passing out on the couch again.
-
It’s dark when Ten finds himself waking up for the umpteenth time. He can’t keep track of when he’s awake and when he’s asleep anymore. All he is aware of is the movie silently blaring at him from the too-bright TV and Baekhyun sitting at the other end of the couch again. Ten wonders how long Baekhyun can keep this up. It can’t be comfortable sitting out in the living room all night with bad Christmas movies on while your roommate is sick. Ten doesn’t get it.
“Please sleep in your bed tonight.” Ten all but begs him.
“I’m fine, I promise.” Baekhyun says in the most reassuring tone he can muster. “I’m here if you need me.”
“Well maybe I don’t need you.” Ten says and immediately wants to take it back. He didn’t mean to sound so harsh.
Baekhyun doesn’t seem hurt though. He’s scrolling through his phone again, typing out a text every now and then in between social media site visits. The same three movies have been recycling all day and Ten is even tired of them at this point.
“I’m here if you need me.” Is all Baekhyun says.
Ten sighs and stares at the ceiling for a while. The TV’s been muted but he can almost recite the words for the scene that’s playing out of the corner of his eye. He’s been wearing the same pajamas for two days. His glasses are on the floor because he missed the table last time he took them off. He really just doesn’t want to be like this anymore. He wants to feel like a functioning human being again.
“Some soup would sound really nice right now.” Ten says. “If you want.”
“I thought you would never ask.” Baekhyun says with a smile and gets up from the couch.
Ten closes his eyes and doesn’t even bother to watch what Baekhyun is doing in the kitchen. He falls asleep briefly to the sound of clattering pots and pans and chopping sounds. He gets maybe a half hour at most of good conked-out sleep before Baekhyun is lightly shaking him awake and pointing to the bowl of soup on the table in front of him.
“It’s hot.” Baekhyun says.
“You’re hot.” Ten says in a mimicking voice, causing Baekhyun to laugh.
“You are really sick.” Baekhyun says and returns to the kitchen to grab his own bowl before assuming his position on the couch with soup in hand.
They eat silently and Ten can’t stop thinking about what he said just a minute before. He’s sick and not thinking clearly, but part of him meant it. He’s a fool and Baekhyun is just being really nice to him so he can get better. And Ten is kind of falling for him because of it. He would be lying if he said he hasn’t secretly been falling for him to begin with.
It’s nothing, though. Just a passing thought he has while he eats his soup and flips through the channels to find something new to watch. He puts on bad Syfy movies instead of bad Christmas movies and Baekhyun immediately seems a little more interested in whatever is playing. It’s something about MegaShark versus MegaCrocodile. Who would win? Ten probably won’t find out because he’ll be asleep before the end of the movie again. He hopes Baekhyun will tell him.
And Ten finishes his soup in record time; inhaling noodles and chicken like he hasn’t eaten in days. He basically hasn’t. The hot broth feels nice on sore throat and tastes good enough even though he can’t really taste or smell anything. He’s really thankful to have a good meal even when he’s sick.
Baekhyun collects their bowls when they’re both finished and loads them in the dishwasher, starting it, and returning to the couch when he’s done. He spends the whole night actively watching MegaShark versus MegaCrocodile on the edge of his seat. Or at least Ten assumes he does because he’s asleep shortly after Baekhyun returns to the couch.
“Who won?” Ten asks drearily as he wakes up briefly in the middle of the night.
Ten prys an eye open to see Baekhyun standing and not sitting on the couch with him anymore.
“Are you going to bed?” Ten asks.
“Bathroom.” Baekhyun says.
Typical.
“Please go to bed.” Ten says. “It would make me feel instantly better if you slept in your own bed and now curled up awkwardly at the end of the couch for another night in a row.”
Baekhyun hesitates for a moment before sighing. He wants to be difficult, Ten can tell, but Ten is trying his best at puppy dog eyes when he can barely keep his eyes open.
“Promise me you’ll wake me if you need anything?” Baekhyun finally says.
“Promise you anything in the whole wide world.” Ten says. “Just please. Sleep in your bed.”
“Okay.” Baekhyun says and grabs his phone from the coffee table.
“Good. You were taking up all my leg room.” Ten says.
Baekhyun laughs because Ten is blatantly lying. He’s been fully stretched out the whole time and his feet barely come near where Baekhyun has been sitting at the opposite end of the couch. Ten smiles at him and shoos him away with a hand and closes his eyes again.
“It was MegaCrocodile.” Baekhyun says as one last thought before heading to bed.
“What?” Ten asks, completely forgetting his initial question.
“MegaCrocodile won.” Baekhyun says. “He had the land advantage.”
“Whatever.” Ten says and is out like a light.
Baekhyun watches him for a few moments before heading off to sleep in his own bed for the first time in a couple nights. Ten sleeps through the night just fine with no complaints, maybe one too many bathroom breaks that interrupt his wonderful warm slumber, but no complaints.
-
Ten wakes up the next day feeling different. His throat doesn’t hurt anymore and he can breathe without coughing. He can smell just a little bit and he imagines he’s actually tasting his tea now instead of hot water.
He grabs his glasses from the floor and puts them on lazily before standing up. Still head spinning. Still very much head spinning. Ten sits back down for a minute to gather himself and he sees Baekhyun emerge from his bedroom, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
“Do you want breakfast?” Baekhyun asks and Ten would want nothing more than some eggs. So he says yes.
Ten stands from the couch again and follows Baekhyun to the kitchen and leans up against the counter next to him while he cooks.
“Why don’t you lay down?” Baekhyun asks.
“I’ve been laying down for days. I want to stretch my legs.” Ten says.
Baekhyun smiles at him. Ten watches and makes fun of him while Baekhyun tries and fails to flip the omelette he’s making. Baekhyun turns it into scrambled eggs instead, which is fine. Eggs are eggs. Food is food to Ten at this point.
They eat together on the couch again before Baekhyun leaves for work.
“Call me if you need anything.” Baekhyun says.
“I’m going to watch another bad Syfy movie without you.” Ten says.
“Keep me updated.” Baekhyun says and heads out.
Ten turns the TV on but goes back to sleep before he can even figure out who the challengers are in this bad Syfy movie. He will have to apologize to Baekhyun later for not keeping him updated. He hopes Baekhyun will understand.
-
When Baekhyun gets home he tries his best - and fails - to not wake Ten from his cat nap.
“I’m not sleeping as hard as I used to. I think I might be getting better.” Ten says. “All because you actually slept in your own bed last night.”
“I doubt that’s the reason.” Baekhyun says.
Ten doubts that’s the reason either. There’s something in him that knows the reason he’s getting better is Baekhyun’s tender love and care, but he won’t admit it to himself. Without Baekhyun, Ten probably would have been dying on the couch for a week with no food or even the motivation to make tea for himself. He’s thankful.
Baekhyun makes them both some tea and offers Ten a cup of prepackaged Jell-O that he picked up on the way home from work. He accepts with a smile and eats it in two spoonfuls.
Ten puts on the TV and tosses Baekhyun the remote, telling him to choose something to watch. Baekhyun puts on the Syfy channel and gives Ten a hard time for sleeping through the movie he was supposed to watch earlier. Baekhyun turns the volume on the TV for the first time in days, per Ten’s request of course. They watch the bad acting and listen to horribly delivered dialogue in peace for a few hours before Ten dozes off again. Baekhyun mutes the TV while Ten sleeps. Ten would’ve told Baekhyun he didn’t have to.
Ten mostly dreams about MegaCrocodile kicking MegaShark’s ass. He dreams about the bad main actress telling the main actor things that are irrelevant to the epic fight scene going on during the movie. He dreams about Baekhyun sitting on the edge of his seat, not being able to wait to find out who wins. He wakes up to the same scene; Baekhyun on the edge of his seat, waiting. He finds it endearing.
-
Ten dreams a lot during his down time. He’s been sleeping almost all day for the past couple days, so it’s hard not to dream of something. You always dream, so, rather, it’s hard not to remember what he dreams about when he wakes up.
He dreams of corny Christmas movies where the main character is trying to find true love on Christmas Eve and save the town from the evil mayor. That kind of thing. He dreams of awful Syfy movies starring giant gorillas and giant scorpions and giant anything they can make out of horrible CGI. He dreams of hot tea finally tasting like tea again, and being able to smell things normally.
But mostly, he dreams of Baekhyun. Which is unsurprising, given the amount of time they’ve spent together. While Ten spends his whole day asleep, lost in his fever dreams, Baekhyun spends his day curled up at the edge of the couch doing whatever he does on his phone or even napping himself. Ten has caught him maybe twice, dozed off with his head hanging tossed back. It looks painful honestly, but he knows Baekhyun will insist it’s fine so he’d never say a word.
Ten dreams of Baekhyun. He dreams of him sitting in his spot on the couch. He dreams of him making their meals and their cups of tea. He dreams of Baekhyun tucking him in and making sure his glasses are off the floor before he gets up to go to bed. Ten dreams of Baekhyun inviting him to sleep in his bed with him, and holding him close. Petting his hair. Ten dreams of a kiss, but he wouldn’t dare say who with. He doesn’t have feelings, he promises he doesn’t. It’s just the tail end of his cold getting to him.
But he dreams of a kiss and he wakes up wondering if it was real or not. It’s one of those fever dreams that feel so vivid you can’t tell if you imagined it or if it happened in real life.
Ten wakes up and looks around nervously, Baekhyun nowhere in sight. It’s the middle of the night and Ten’s bleary eyed. The TV is still on so he knows Baekhyun hasn’t gone to bed yet. He always turns the TV off before he leaves.
Ten lays on the couch, buried in his blankets, thinking about his dream while staring at the ceiling.
“Did I wake you?” Baekhyun asks, crawling over the back of the couch to sit back down.
“No.” Ten says. “What time is it?”
“3am.” Baekhyun says. “I was thinking of going to bed soon. Will you be okay?”
“I’ll be fine.” Ten says.
Ten lays there, thinking about his dream, and wishing Baekhyun would invite him to sleep in his bed. He knows Baekhyun wouldn’t, but he wishes. He wishes it real hard until Baekhyun dismisses himself to go to sleep and Ten is left with himself and his wish. He goes back to sleep and wishes he’d dream about it again.
-
After a day or two more of bad Syfy Christmas movies and cups of hot leaf water, Ten can finally smell and taste like new again. His throat hasn’t hurt him in days and he can actually stand up without getting light headed.
Ten still keeps his blanket fort up on the couch for a little while longer though. It’s warm and it’s comfortable. It’s been Ten’s home for the last week and he almost doesn’t want to go back to his bed. Almost. Except he’s not as sick anymore so the couch doesn’t seem nearly as appealing as his bed. And his bed seems infinitely more comfortable than the couch. But he keeps his blanket fort up for a couple more hours, taking in the last of the warmth and coziness before he feels like he’ll get bedsores.
“You look a million times better than you did a couple days ago.” Baekhyun says, coming home from work.
“Must be all the hard work you put in.” Ten says with a smile.
“I just kept you company.” Baekhyun admits, bashful.
“You held my hand through it.” Ten says.
“You could say that.” Baekhyun says with a slight blush forming on his cheeks. “I’m going to make dinner.”
Baekhyun makes an extravagant meal of some type of stir fry he found the recipe for and it’s to die for. Ten is thankful he can taste and smell again because he wouldn’t want to miss this meal for the world.
“I might move back to my bed tonight.” Ten says. “Couch is getting uncomfortable and I’m feeling better. I miss my bed.”
“So no more Sharknado marathon at 4am?” Baekhyun asks through a mouthful of noodles, looking sad.
They eat the rest of their meal in silence. Ten thinks he can read Baekhyun, but it’s probably just his brain playing tricks on him. Baekhyun looks sad, and he wonders if it’s because moving to his bed means spending less time together. It can’t be though. They can still stay up and watch movies all night.
“I’m down for the worst Syfy movie possible.” Ten says after dinner.
He’s in the kitchen helping Baekhyun clean up the mess they made. Ten rinses the dishes and loads them in the dishwasher faster than Baekhyun can bring them over to the sink to be cleaned.
“Don’t you dare say that Sharknado is the worst Syfy movie possible.” Baekhyun says, not missing a beat.
“It is though!” Ten says.
“Then why did it get so many sequels?” Baekhyun asks.
Ten slaps his shoulder in between dishes and puts a pod in the dishwasher, starts it, and turns back to Baekhyun in disbelief.
“It’s bad and you know it.” Ten says.
“Let’s watch it.” Baekhyun says.
Ten has already moved all his blankets back to his bed, and the spares into the closet in the hallway, so the couch is naked when they sit down for their movie marathon. It’s a little sad, Ten will admit. He misses the comfort of all of the blankets, but he’s comforted knowing that Baekhyun will still sit with him anyway.
They’re on the third Sharknado movie of the night when Ten starts to get tired. They’re both noticeably tired, honestly, and Ten knows this because they’ve been yawning back and forth for the last half hour of the movie.
“Tell me why it’s called Sharknado if the shark tornado doesn’t even happen until the end of the movie.” Baekhyun says through a yawn.
“I told you it was bad.” Ten says.
Baekhyun glares at him playfully and yawns again.
“I think I might head off to bed after this one.” Ten says.
“But we’re not even halfway through the marathon! There’s still five Sharknados left.” Baekhyun says.
“That’s at least seven Sharknados too many.” Ten says. “But I’m really tired.”
They continue to watch the movie for a while after that. Baekhyun admits that he’s tired too, so he’ll probably admit defeat and go to bed too.
Ten finds himself watching Baekhyun absentmindedly. He hopes Baekhyun doesn’t notice. He watches Baekhyun for a few minutes before his dreams cross his mind again. He doesn’t want them to. He wants to sleep in his bed in peace, but he can’t stop thinking about crawling off to bed with Baekhyun too.
It’s a sad thought that will take him nowhere. And when he least expects it, Baekhyun catches him staring.
“Am I that ugly?” Baekhyun says.
Ten laughs.
“Sorry.” Ten says. “Must’ve been staring off into space.”
Baekhyun nods. The movie is over and the credits are rolling. The credits are rolling fast and Ten is thinking long and hard about his bed and Baekhyun’s bed at the same time.
“I’ll miss sitting with you while you sleep.” Baekhyun says. “Hold on, that sounds creepy.”
“No.” Ten says. “I know what you mean.”
It’s silent for a minute while the credits continue to roll. They both stare at the TV until the credits end and the Syfy announcer says something about the next Sharknado movie coming on.
“It’ll be lonely without you.” Ten says. He can feel his face get hot as soon as he says it.
“Yeah.” Baekhyun says.
Ten pauses.
“Come to bed with me?” He says bravely.
Baekhyun is still silent. He can’t tell if Baekhyun didn’t hear him or he’s just really focused on this upcoming Sharknado announcement. Commercials are coming on and Ten is getting impatient for an answer.
“Okay.” Baekhyun says, finally looking over at Ten.
In the dull TV light, Ten can tell Baekhyun is a bit flustered.
“I don’t…” Ten says. “I...not for anything. I just. It would be nice to have the company while I sleep. In my bed.”
Ten is probably more flustered than Baekhyun and that puts a smile on Baekhyun’s face. Ten immediately wishes he never said anything at all. He didn’t want to invite himself into Baekhyun’s bed, so he thought the perfect answer for all his problems was to invite Baekhyun to his. But now Baekhyun probably thinks-
“I said ‘okay’.” Baekhyun says, pulling Ten from his thoughts. “We can sleep. But only if you give me an extra blanket. I don’t like to share.”
Ten lights up at that and nods.
“I’ve got plenty.” Ten says.
And so they move to Ten’s bedroom. Ten offers Baekhyun whichever blanket he wants and Ten takes what Baekhyun doesn’t. Ten has a queen so they both fit but it’s a bit snug. Which is fine. Maybe Ten wanted the comfort anyway. They both curl up under their respective blankets and Baekhyun rests his head on a pillow he grabbed from his own bed. They face away from each other at first before Ten says ‘fuck it’ and rolls over.
“Can I put my arm around you?” Ten asks nervously.
“Do whatever your heart desires.” Baekhyun says. Ten wishes he could see his face, but he can tell by the tone of Baekhyun’s voice that he’s nervous too.
So Ten puts his arm around Baekhyun and makes Baekhyun the little spoon. And that’s all it is. Neither of them move for quite some time.
“I think this is much better than Sharknado 4.” Baekhyun says quietly.
Ten smiles to himself and pretends to be asleep. Eventually he does fall asleep, and he dreams. He dreams about Sharknado and he dreams about holding Baekhyun close to him while they sleep in his bed together. He dreams really hard about the second one and wakes up in the middle of the night to the reality that it’s not just a dream. He takes it all in and falls back asleep to the soft sound of Baekhyun’s breathing.
And he tells himself that maybe getting sick wasn’t so bad after all. But he’ll definitely bring an umbrella next time Baekhyun warns him that it’s going to rain.