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Waking up to a sudden alarm, Ye Xiu knew that today was not going to be great. His throat felt scratchy, his limbs aching, and he felt exceptionally cold despite the room’s temperature not being set to something low.
Thankfully though, today was the Chinese Glory Team’s break which means he didn’t need to do anything. He can just lie down in bed and pretend to be dead for the rest of the day without worries. Or so he thought until his stomach grumbled out loud. He would have resorted to ignoring his hunger but Mucheng’s face suddenly appeared in his mind, memories from months ago when he was sick-- “ Gege, you need to eat when you’re sick. If not I’m going to scold you. ”
Ye Xiu didn’t fear anyone but Su Mucheng was an exception to that rule. He knew that if his little sister caught him like this, he’d hear an earful while she’s taking care of him. So without much thought, he stood up and walked, more like staggered, towards their team’s shared kitchen. He sincerely hoped that no one from the team was there at the moment because he knew how he acts when sick and he didn’t want anyone seeing him like that.
Unfortunately for him though, it seemed like the whole team was eating their breakfast, except for Mucheng and Yunxiu who were nowhere to be seen. “Where’s Mucheng?” he asked, alerting the team of his presence. Automatically, everyone looked at him.
“Good morning to you too. What’s this? What’s this? Old Ye you look like extreme shit. Are you finally dying? Is that it?,” Huang Shaotian said without resting for a moment. Yu Wenzhou simply smiled at his vice-captain who immediately stopped talking and focused on eating before he could say anything. The Chinese team captain then scanned Ye Xiu from head to toe, brows furrowed in confusion, “Su Mucheng and Chu Yunxiu went out earlier. They said they were going for a girl’s only outing and would not be back until tonight. Also, are you okay, Senior?”
Instead of answering, Ye Xiu just nodded and looked straight at Sun Xiang who was quietly eating at the sofa with Zhou Zhekai. The seat beside him was empty so Ye Xiu decided to walk towards it as he felt like his legs felt weak and he literally just wanted to pass out. With a soft thump, he sat down then leaned towards Sun Xiang who visibly froze, dropping his spoon in the process. Suddenly, the room was quiet and everyone’s attention focused on him. He was not one to stick to anyone or initiate any physical contact so everyone was shocked at his actions.
“What the hell? Are you really dying? What the heck is this?” Sun Xiang breathed out with gritted teeth. He never expected Ye Xiu to act like this in front of him and his brain couldn’t keep up with what is happening.
“Little Sun, feed me,” Ye Xiu said instead and pointed at Sun Xiang’s bowl of cereal. “W-what?” The younger couldn’t believe his ears as he looked at Ye Xiu accusingly. “Please?” Ye Xiu asked with puppy eyes as he clinged to Sun Xiang’s arms whose face turned red at his senior’s actions.
“I-I dropped my spoon earlier. Wait one moment.” Sun Xiang stood up to get another spoon just like he said and on his way, he saw his teammates’ faces and they were as dumbfounded as he was-- Wang Jiexi was spilling the tea he was pouring, Huang Shaotian literally choked, and Yu Wenzhou was helping him out with a very surprised face. None of them were able to utter a word and just silently watched as Sun Xiang returned and started feeding Ye Xiu who seemed delighted.
“Can someone slap me? I feel like I’m seeing things. Maybe I’m not awake yet,” Zhang Jiale stated, earning him a hit from Tang Hao. “Yup. You’re not dreaming,” the boy had said after receiving an intense glare from his senior.
“Senior… okay?” Zhou Zhekai had asked whilst staring at Ye Xiu’s figure beside him. He raised his hand up to his forehead and immediately frowned when he felt how hot it was. “Senior… sick.”
At the sound of that, Yu Wenzhou went forward and touched Ye Xiu’s forehead again. “Yup. You definitely are sick, Senior. Why didn’t you tell us?”
Instead of answering Ye Xiu just looked back at him. Wenzhou flinched at the eye contact as he almost couldn’t recognize who was in front of him now. The usual shameless coach seemed so vulnerable, it was as if he was a little lost puppy.
“It’s better for him to rest. We should bring him back to his room and just bring food there,” Wang Jiexi had said while approaching the four men near the couch. “C’mon you need to go back to your room,” he told Ye Xiu who just shook his head and just snuggled closer to Sun Xiang who was literally about to faint from the extreme closeness.
“You’re seriously going to kill Sun Xiang if you don’t separate from him soon.” Fang Rui shook his head at the scene of Sun Xiang just becoming frozen yet still trying his best to continue feeding their shameless coach. He thinks Sun Xiang’s brain overheated to the point that he can’t even quip a comeback and just quietly fed the man beside him. Poor boy really.
“I can’t walk. I’ll fall down,” Ye Xiu had answered, ignoring Fang Rui’s statement. “At least try, Senior. We’ll support you towards your room.”
Looking at a concerned Xiao Shiqin in front of him, Ye Xiu was helpless so he just followed orders and stood up. As he expected, he wobbled and was about to fall over only to be caught by several hands all at once. “Told you I’ll fall down.”
11 pairs of eyes exchanged glances and they collectively had extremely worried looks in their faces. “Xinjie carry me back please?” Ye Xiu suddenly asked and the person in question became just like Sun Xiang earlier, frozen and speechless, although compared to the latter, he recovered quickly. Zhang Xinjie thought for a moment before approaching Ye Xiu and sweeping him up cleanly on a bridal carry. “You’re too thin. Anyone can carry you even if it’s not someone who regularly works out you know.”
“You were the closest to me. What can I do?” Ye Xiu then clung to his neck without any more complaints. He didn’t even care how Xinjie carried him and just allowed his junior to carry him to his room like that. Yu Wenzhou, Xiao Shiqin, Fang Rui, Li Xuan, Zhou Zekai, and Wang Jiexi were some of the people who followed them in case he needed help. Huang Shaotian wanted to follow too but everyone protested, saying that he’ll just cause a ruckus and will make Ye Xiu even more sick.
As they arrived, Zhang Xinjie put him down carefully and was about to go to his peers who were a bit far away from the bed but Ye Xiu suddenly held on to his hands with pleading eyes. “Don’t leave.”
“Are you the clingy type of sick? Do you need someone beside you?” Wang Jiexi had seriously asked as he looked at the sight of Ye Xiu clinging onto Zhang Xinjie’s hands as if it was his life. No one could really believe the sight in front of them. Ye Xiu was being extremely clingy and they’re not used to it. Fang Rui managed to pull Xinjie away and take his place, allowing Ye Xiu to hold his hands as he sat down beside him. As part of Happy, he’ll at least take the bullet and allow Ye Xiu to be clingy to him. At least his other teammates will be comfortable that way. Yup. He really had no other intentions in mind for acting as such.
“Here’s your medicine, more food, and water if you needed more. Please rest and go back to normal.” Li Xuan then placed the said items on his bedside table before immediately leaving the room. He really couldn’t take Ye Xiu acting like that and he felt like it’ll scar him for life and that he’d receive intense glares from others if he stayed any longer. He’ll just allow their captain to deal with their troublesome coach.
And just like that, the pro team took turns in taking care of a sick and clingy Ye Xiu. They’d feed him, make him drink medicines, and for the love of Glory, cuddle him to sleep because he wouldn’t rest until he had someone beside him to hold or hug. There were many willing “victims” whose sole purpose in visiting was for him to cling onto them, Fang Rui and Huang Shaotian being the primary examples. Although there were unwilling victims also who, unfortunately, were Ye Xiu’s favorite to cuddle with, Sun Xiang and Tang Hao being a duo of grumpy complaints although they gave in as the whole team pressured them into staying.
Slowly, Ye Xiu started to get so much better than how he was in the morning. He quietly smiled to himself that night as he remembered the day. He knows he’ll receive a hell of a teasing from people when he wakes up tomorrow and goes back to his routine but he doesn't care much. He experienced first hand how caring his team was and he was truly touched. It felt like his kids grew up. With those warm thoughts, he slowly drifted off to sleep while holding Zhou Zekai and Wang Jiexi’s hands who were laying down on his left and right respectively due to his insistent wishes.
When Su Mucheng and Chu Yunxiu got home that night, they couldn’t help but wonder why their dorm was extremely quiet. It was still quite early and usually some people would be making a ruckus only for Ye Xiu to scold them afterwards. Yu Wenzhou did text Mucheng earlier that day that Ye Xiu was sick so they both went straight towards his room first. They’ll find the other members later, for now their priority was to check on Ye Xiu’s condition.
When they opened the door to his room, it took all they had not to scream and coo at the sight, Chu Yunxiu especially. In front of them were the men they were looking for, all asleep in different positions. Ye Xiu, Zhou Zekai, and Wang Jiexi were on the bed with what seemed like Huang Shaotian at their foot. The three master tacticians had laid out make-shift beds near it and were sleeping peacefully. Sun Xiang and Tang Hao struggled to fit on the room’s couch but it somehow worked. Zhang Jiale and Fang Rui were sitting but their heads were on the bed and as uncomfortable their positions were, they were still asleep. Li Xuan was like them but had his head on the edge of the couch.
Chu Yunxiu immediately quiped out her phone and took several shots of the scene. “Oh my goodness! This is just too adorable! I should share this online,” she whispered to Mucheng excitedly. Su Mucheng had giggled and agreed to this before silently making way towards Ye Xiu’s sleeping figure, all the while avoiding her sleeping teammates. When she felt that his forehead wasn’t as hot, she knew he was fine and she finally breathed a sigh of relief. She knew he wouldn’t need her to take care of him considering the number of people in the room who seemed to tire themselves out because of Ye Xiu so she decided to leave but was stopped by Yunxiu who had brought pillows and blankets over.
“Let’s sleep here too. It’s cute and it’s kinda like team bonding. And if Senior wakes up, we can also take care of him.” Su Mucheng had given up on contradicting whatever she might suggest so she gave in.
Before sleeping, Su Mucheng giggled out loud and a curious hum came from Chu Yunxiu’s sleepy figure. “Xiu-ge is really clingy when sick. I wonder how everyone will act in tomorrow’s training.”
And just as Su Mucheng and Ye Xiu imagined the night before, the training the next day was extremely awkward with some people bombarding Ye Xiu with teasing whilst some avoided eye contact out of embarrassment. Although to their frustration, Ye Xiu went back to his shameless behavior and just teased them twice as much. They all groaned in frustration and silently hoped that maybe, a clingy Ye Xiu would really have been better because he was cuter than their current coach. But yup, no one will ever admit that out loud. It was fine just like this, at least Ye Xiu wasn’t sick. More than cute, they prefer their Glory God in his healthy shameless glory.