Archive of Our Own

September 1st, 2013

Seokjin

7:16am

When Seokjin opened his eyes, he immediately had to fight with himself to not roll over and go back to sleep. His alarm had gone off, and unlike some of his group members, he didn’t tend to snooze it 10 times before getting up. He was the oldest, and therefore had the responsibility to get up and get ready, even if he wasn’t the leader.

But he really didn’t want to.

Seokjin was tired. Would it really kill him to have a lie in?

His eyes had only slid closed for a few minutes before he forced himself up, knowing that if he fell back asleep that none of them would be at practice on time. Standing with a stretch and a slight wince as his back popped back into place, Seokjin began busying himself with getting the others up and ready for their manager to come and get them. Sejin was due to be there by 7:45am, so they really didn’t have long to get up and ready to go.

He got the others up one at a time, some easier to rouse than others, before going into Namjoon and Jeongguk’s room. Namjoon was as easy as always to wake up, Ie, not very easy at all, but a little persuasion got the leader out of bed and into the bathroom to shower before Seokjin made his way to the youngest. Seokjin prepared himself for a struggle, Jeongguk was notorious for being a pain in the backside to get out of his blanket pile.

“Jeonggukkieeeee,” Seokjin called gently, carding a hand through the youngest’s hair. “Come on, time to get up.”

A frown marred his face as Jeongguk began to stir though. Maybe the blanket piles that Jeongguk always slept in wasn’t the best plan, the youngest’s forehead clammy and far too warm under his hand. Was it always that way? Jeongguk probably over got overheated in his sleep, but Seokjin knew he hadn’t really known their maknae long enough to confirm that fully.

Regardless of the usual way things happened, Jeongguk seemed to wake up easier than usual. He lifted his head, making eye contact with his oldest hyung before slowly pushing himself upright. “Morning, hyung…”

Seokjin smiled a little at the sleepy look on Jeongguk’s face, swallowing down the fondness that grew in his chest. “You ready to get up and get ready? Sejin-hyung is going to be here soon to take us to practice.”

Jeongguk gave a small nod, before getting up and climbing out of his bed. Almost immediately, Seokjin knew that Jeongguk hadn’t simply overheated in his sleep. The youngest’s arms shook under his weight, his knees threatened to give out at any moment, and Seokjin didn’t hesitate to grab hold of Jeongguk’s arms, lowering him back down onto the waiting bed.

“Nevermind, stay there.” 

Jeongguk frowned up at the older, and Seokjin could see him trying to figure out exactly what was happening. Now he was closer, he could see the fever induced delirium in the raven’s eyes. Despite the fact he’d woken up easily enough, Seokjin knew the youngest wasn’t entirely all there.

“Stay in bed, okay? I’m going to go get you some medicine and let Sejin know you won’t be going to practice.”

“Hyung, I’m okay, really…”

“No, you’re not. I’m not letting you go to practice with a fever. If you feel better later, you can join us later, but for now you’re staying here.”

Ignoring Jeongguk’s defiant pout, Seokjin left the room, heading straight into the bathroom without hesitating. Namjoon immediately yelled out, their leader now being out of the shower but still not wearing very much as he covered himself with his towel, but Seokjin didn’t even look at him as he went straight to the medicine cabinet. 

“Hyung?” Namjoon questioned after a second, now completely covered with his towel secured. “What’s wrong?”

“Jeongguk’s sick, he’s got a fever. I need to find out how high that fever is and see if I can get him something to help bring it down. Could you herd up the others so they don’t bother him and tell Sejin I’ll be there in a bit? I’ll come to practice, but I need to make sure Jeongguk is settled first.”

Namjoon simply nodded in response, watching as Seokjin managed to pull a thermometer and a pack of fever reducers out of the cabinet before he smiled over at the younger. “Thanks, Joon. I’ll be there soon.”

Heading back into the leader and maknae’s room, Seokjin smiled lightly when he saw Jeongguk lying back down, seemingly already back to sleep. It made his heart ache a little, their youngest looked so small, and so incredibly young with his flushed cheeks. Sometimes Seokjin forgot that Jeongguk was only 15.

The thought made him stop.

Glancing at his phone to confirm, Seokjin almost cried.

It was September 1st. Their baby wasn’t 15 anymore, he was 16, and sick on his birthday. 

Taking a breath to settle the upset he was feeling, Seokjin slowly approached Jeongguk again, shaking at his arm with light touches in an attempt to stir him again.

“Jeongguk, come on, you need to take some medicine and I need to see how high your fever is.”

Jeongguk simply groaned a little, but his eyes didn’t crack back open.

“I know, I know. But I need to know so I can help you.”

Slowly, but surely, Jeongguk opened his eyes again, struggling to focus his gaze on the oldest ahead of him. Seokjin gave him a soft smile, kneeling down and gently sliding the thermometer into his mouth. “Hold that there a second until it beeps, okay? Don’t talk either.” Jeongguk gave a small nod, and the eldest couldn’t help but smile reassuringly at him. “How’re you feeling? What hurts?”

Jeongguk simply glared at the older, and it took Seokjin a second to realise why before he gave a short laugh. “Ah, sorry, I ask you to not talk and then ask you a question, right?” A few moments later, the thermometer beeped, and Seokjin quickly removed it from the younger’s mouth to read the numbers glaring up at him. 

“39.1. Yeesh Jeongguk, can you do anything by halves?”

Jeongguk just grinned tiredly up at him, Seokjin’s hand carding through his damp bangs again. “Can I go back to sleep now, hyung…?”

“Not quite yet, Jeonggukkie. Take these pills, then you can sleep, okay?”

Seokjin heard the front door of the dorm open and close as the other members left. He knew Sejin probably wasn’t going to be very happy about him being late, but he was lucky that Seokjin was willing to leave Jeongguk alone in the first place. He really didn’t want to, but he knew this early in their career he couldn’t go against what the company wanted him to do. Not too often anyway.

Continuing his train of thought, Seokjin shook two pills out of the bottle and grabbed the glass of tepid water form the bedside table. It probably wasn’t going to be the most appealing glass of water Jeongguk had ever had, he knew it had been sat there all night, but it was better than him having to leave again just to get fresher water. Handing the pills to the youngest, Seokjin watched him put them in his mouth before helping the glass to Jeongguk’s lips, guiding him to take a few sips.

Once they were gone, Jeongguk settled back down into the pillows with a shaking sigh.

“Hyung, I could have held the glass myself you know.”

“Not with the amount your hands are shaking.” Seokjin countered, putting the glass back down before lying next to Jeongguk, pulling the maknae to his chest. “Now go back to sleep. I’ll be here until you do, okay?”

“Okay, hyung.”

They lay like that for a while, Seokjin’s hand slowly brushing up and down Jeongguk’s back as he felt the youngest’s breaths even out. He was still far too warm, pressed against Seokjin’s chest and snoozing soundly, and it hurt the oldest to have to leave him in the dorm alone.

But soon, knowing Jeongguk was as deep asleep as he could be, Seokjin slowly peeled himself away and headed out of the dorm, making his way to the practice rooms with a weight deep in his heart.

Yoongi

9:52am

When Yoongi walked in to the dorm, he didn’t know if he was happy or worried to find the floor completely silent. It looked exactly the same as it had when they’d all left hours before. It meant their youngest was still resting, but it also meant Jeongguk probably wasn’t feeling any better. He’d decided before they’d even left that morning that he was going to check on the maknae during their first break, after all, Seokjin had promised him he could come to practice if he was feeling better, and he was too young to make his way there on his own.

It sucked, that their youngest was sick on his own birthday. Their managers had planned to have a small birthday party at their schedules for Jeongguk that day, not that the maknae had known about it, but it had to be postponed without the actual birthday boy there.

Making his way through the dorm and towards Jeongguk’s room, Yoongi was quiet and careful as he pushed the door open and peered inside. After all, he didn’t want to startle Jeongguk, or snap him awake. He needn't have worried too much about it though, as Jeongguk was still a ball of trembling exhaustion on his bed, face sweaty and flushed even from Yoongi’s position at the doorway. 

Sighing lightly, Yoongi slowly made his way in and sat on the edge of Jeongguk’s bed, gently resting his cool hand on the other’s burning cheek and doing his best to not flinch at the temperature difference between the two of them.

Seokjin certainly hadn’t been joking when he said their small raven wasn’t well.

Grabbing the thermometer from where it had been abandoned on the bedside table, Yoongi absentmindedly wiped it off before sliding it into Jeongguk’s slack mouth, gently holding the other’s jaw closed around it as he waited for it to beep.

Jeongguk didn’t stir at the intrusion in his mouth, nor did he stir at the said device beeping. Yoongi quickly checked it, and he knew the youngest was still far too warm. Seokjin had already given him medication a few hours before, and despite the flashing numbers of ‘39.0’ meeting his gaze, it was still too early for Yoongi to give him any other medication.

Taking the abandoned glass of water from next to Jeongguk’s head, Yoongi quietly left the room, emptied it and washed it out, before grabbing a fresh glass with cold water. He may not be able to give Jeongguk some more medicine, but he could at least try and make sure the youngest stayed hydrated through his fever.

Once he was back in the room, Yoongi knew he’d have to wake the younger. He didn’t want to, after all, rest was probably the most important thing for Jeongguk right now, but water was definitely up there on the list of priorities.

A light, gentle tapping against his cheeks was thankfully all it took to pull the raven from his sleep.

“Eomma…?”

Yoongi’s heart melted at the sleepy call from Jeongguk, the fever glazed eyes not quite focused on his face as Jeongguk very obviously tried to process where he was.

“No, Jeongguk, it’s me. It’s Yoongi.” He hesitated for a minute, before continuing. “Sorry.” 

Jeongguk simply frowned a little, as if nothing Yoongi had said made sense to him, before the older leaned over and carefully brushed Jeongguk’s hair from his eyes. “You feeling okay?”

“Want Eomma…”

With a small smile, Yoongi could only shake his head. “I’m sorry, she isn’t here. You must be feeling pretty rough huh? You’ve still got a pretty high fever, I just need you to take a little drink of this water then you can go back to sleep, okay?” 

Jeongguk just continued to stare at him with a furrowed brow, so Yoongi took it into his own hands to carefully lift Jeongguk so he was sitting up a little more. Drowning while trying to have some water definitely wouldn’t help the youngest’s fever.

Well, technically, it probably would. Being dead would certainly get rid of the fever, but that wasn’t the way they wanted it to go. He didn’t think the others would be very happy if he accidentally drowned Jeongguk. A ‘but it broke his fever!’ probably wouldn’t go down very well either.

Guiding the cold glass of water to Jeongguk’s lips, Yoongi coaxed the maknae into taking a few unwilling sips before letting him slip back down into a more horizontal position. “It’s okay, Jeongguk. You’ll see your parents soon, okay? We’ll try and sort it out with management so you can see your parents, and your brothers. But for now, you’re going to have to deal with just us hyungs, okay?”

But the maknae didn’t answer the older, already sound asleep and dead to the world around him. Yoongi hesitated for a minute once he’d put the glass back down, grabbing the thermometer and taking it to the kitchen to sterilise it before leaving it with a Post-It note attached on the counter. Once again listening out to make sure Jeongguk had indeed gone back to sleep, Yoongi made his way out of the dorm.

Hoseok

12:03pm

When Hoseok pulled the door to the dorm open, he fully expected the dorm to be silent. After what Seokjin and Yoongi had told him about the youngest’s condition, especially Yoongi who had seen him most recently and had told them the heartbreaking recollection of Jeongguk asking for his mother and how high his fever had been, Hoseok assumed Jeongguk wouldn’t be leaving his bed any time soon.

Regardless, Hoseok had grabbed some of the food the managers had ordered for them all and had made his way back to the dorm, both to try and make sure Jeongguk at least ate something, and to check on the youngest for himself. He may not be the closest to the youngest, that was a privilege the other two members of the maknae line had, but he still cared about their baby just as much as the rest of them did.

So Hoseok was certainly surprised to see a bundle of blankets curled up on the couch, unfocused eyes resting on the TV screen that was playing some sort of ice skating centred Disney Channel Original Movie, while dark eyes flitted from the screen to the subtitles and back again. Hoseok could tell just by the look on the younger’s face though that anything the movie was telling him certainly wasn’t actually getting into Jeongguk’s brain. He looked as if his thoughts were a thousand miles away.

“Jeonggukkie~” Hoseok called with a smile, making his way over to the bundle on the couch. “What are you doing out of bed?”

“Got bored,” Jeongguk’s words of defence came, and Hoseok visibly flinched at the harsh scratching from the other’s throat. Hoseok didn’t doubt that it had hurt Jeongguk to say just those few words.

“You really shouldn’t have been moving around without help, but don’t say anything else, okay?” Hoseok said with a small smile. “We don’t want you destroying your throat even more, do we?”

Jeongguk shook his head, thankfully following the older’s words and not actually saying anything in response, but watching as Hoseok made his way to their small kitchenette. “You feel up to eating something? I brought food.”

When Jeongguk shook his head again, Hoseok frowned. “You must be feeling pretty rough, huh? But you still need to try and eat at least something, okay? You’ll feel even worse if your body has no energy to heal itself.”

Jeongugk just pouted, but still said nothing as Hoseok moved the plain rice and grilled vegetables into one of their own bowls instead of a takeout container and brought it over to Jeongguk, placing the bowl lightly in his lap. “Will you be okay to feed yourself while I get some tea ready for you?” When Jeongguk nodded, Hoseok made his way back to the kitchenette and switched the kettle on, allowing the water to begin to boil while he grabbed Jeongguk’s favourite mug, of course being a Batman mug, throwing a lemon green tea bag into the bottom and filling it with the boiling water once the kettle was done. He went to take it to the youngest, before hesitating and squirting some honey in there, mixing it around so the honey dissolved then topping it up with a little cold water so it wouldn’t scald Jeongguk, then he finally brought it over to the youngest.

He was a bit disappointed to already see the food abandoned, chopsticks lying next to the bowl on the coffee table with only a few mouthfuls of rice and a bit of the vegetables gone, but he knew it was better than nothing as he handed Jeongguk the mug of tea and sat next to him.

“So what’s this movie?” Hoseok questioned, throwing his arm around Jeongguk and allowing the youngest to lean against him as fever trembles still assaulted his muscles.

“I don’t know.” 

Hoseok held back a laugh with a scoff, quickly realising he was correct with his first assumption that Jeongguk had barely been focusing on the actual movie through his confusion. “Do you remember what it’s called?”

“Go Figure.”

“And its about Figure Skating? Creative.” 

“Ice Hockey too, I think.”

“Got it.”

The two fell into a comfortable silence for a little while, Hoseok never once removing his arm from around Jeongguk’s shoulders as the other slowly drank his tea and tried his best to follow along with the movie. But it didn’t take too long for Jeongguk to begin to list sideways, more and more of his weight making its way against Hoseok and the mug beginning to slip from limp fingers. Moving quickly to stop the final dregs of tea from making their way onto the carpet, Hoseok grabbed the mug and moved it onto the coffee table, huffing a laugh at Jeongguk against him.

“Come on, we should get you back to bed, hmm? You’re still pretty warm, so you should have some more medicine too.”

“Mmm,” Jeongguk hummed. “Seokjin gave me some not too long ago.”

“Gukkie, that was hours ago. He gave you that at like… 7am, it’s now 12, you can have some more now.”

When Jeongguk frowned, seemingly confused with the time that had passed, Hoseok had to hold back another laugh as he helped Jeongguk to his feet, leading him back to the bedroom and getting him quickly settled back in his bed. Two more pills were handed to the youngest, who took them with the glass of water still there without complaint, before he settled back into the blankets without complaint.

“I’m not going to check your temperature, because I know the other two have and you seem more lucid than you were earlier when Yoongi checked on you, but you’ve got to stay in bed, okay? No moving around without someone to help you, we don’t want you to get hurt, got it?”

“Yoongi-hyung was here?”

Hoseok huffed yet another small laugh, nodding his head. “Yeah, Yoongi was here. He stayed with you for a little bit during our first break. You were a mess. So just…stay put, okay? At least until you’ve got someone here to help you move.”

“Alright, hyung, I promise.”

“I need to get back to practice, Lunch will be over soon, but call one of us if you need anything, okay?”

“Okay.”

With a last smile and a ruffle of the hair, Hoseok made his way out of the room and out of the dorm. He wanted to stay for longer, he knew Jeongguk wasn’t happy about being stuck in bed, but he still had work to do.

Jeongguk would be fine, he had 6 people who loved him to make sure of it.

Namjoon

2:01pm

Namjoon felt a little guilty that it had taken this long for him to come back to check on the youngest. After all, he was their leader, and one of the first to know that Jeongguk wasn’t feeling very well. But he’d just… not had chance yet. He wasn’t to claim he hadn’t been able to, with the older members all insisting to go before he had chance to go himself.

But that wouldn’t have been completely honest.

If he was being completely honest… Namjoon was terrified. He knew it was probably nothing, Jeongguk had just caught a mild flu and he’d be fine in a few days. But this was his first time having to deal with one of their members being sick. He felt like a worried parent who’s baby had just gotten their first sniffle, unsure what to do, unable to handle the worry that he’d done something wrong to cause Jeongguk to get sick.

The others had tried to reassure him that it wasn’t his fault that Jeongguk was sick. After all, their youngest often pushed himself far too much, and he was still so young. He was having to deal with school alongside their schedules, as well as pushing himself to the brink of collapse at almost every practice. Of course he was going to run himself down, make himself more likely to catch anything going around.

But still, Namjoon couldn’t help but feel like he’d failed their youngest. Maybe if he’d pushed Jeongguk a little more to take it easy, pushed him a little less to try and improve, make him go to bed earlier, make him eat better… maybe their youngest wouldn’t be as sick as he was.

Shaking his head a little to try and clear the doubts from his mind, Namjoon made his way into the dorm. Like when Seokjin and Yoongi had come to check on him, the dorm was once again silent, and unlike with Hoseok, Namjoon was happy to find Jeongguk wasn’t curled up on the couch watching movies again.

At least their maknae had listened and stayed in bed for now.

Taking a deep breath to settle the nerves clenched in his stomach, Namjoon made his way to his bedroom.

That was another thing. Jeongguk had probably gotten sick hours before Seokjin had figured it out that morning. Had Namjoon ignored the signs? He shared a bedroom with the youngest after all. Had he subconsciously ignored Jeongguk suffering? Had Jeongguk not trusted him enough to wake him up and tell him he felt bad?

Then again, Jeongguk didn’t really trust any of them yet. Not fully, anyway. He was still so young, still so shy. They hadn’t quite been able to get him to open up to them as much as they wanted yet.

Maybe Jeongguk hadn’t trusted him enough to wake him up.

Opening the bedroom door, Namjoon peeked in before stepping into the darkened room. Jeongguk was indeed still a bundle of misery under the blankets, the water left mostly untouched next to him. Letting out a small sigh of relief that their youngest hadn’t keeled over and died while he’d been alone, Namjoon walked over and knelt next to the bed, unprepared to sit on it and possibly shock Jeongguk awake.

Instead, he decided to be gentle, carefully coaxing the maknae into awareness instead with a soft hand on the warm cheek.

Jeongguk woke up easily enough, gazing up at Namjoon with fever glazed eyes as he took in his surroundings and figured out where he was. Thankfully, Namjoon could tell he wasn’t as delirious as Yoongi had explained him being earlier.

“Hey, Gguk, how’re you feeling?” Namjoon said with a low voice and a smile, gently stroking his thumb over Jeongguk’s cheek.

“Better,” Jeongguk’s voice crackled as he spoke, and immediately the leader just wanted to pump him full of water and painkillers, just to stop the youngest hurting as much as he was. “Gotta use the bathroom.”

Namjoon laughed a little as he crawled a little back before getting back up to his feet, arms outstretched to help Jeongguk up. “Come on, let’s get you to the bathroom then.”

“I’m not invalid, Namjoon-hyung,” Jeongguk said softly, with a small smile to try and reassure the older that he wasn’t actually angry. “I can take myself to the bathroom.”

“I’m not sure how much I’m comfortable with you walking around unaided right now, Ggukie. At least let me help.”

Jeongguk shook his head though, pulling himself to his feet despite the fact his legs turned to jelly under him. Namjoon watched with baited breath, ready to leap forward and grab him at a moments notice, but Jeongguk seemed to hold himself well as he took small, unsteady steps towards the door. 

At least, that was before he stumbled, and Namjoon wasn’t fast enough to grab him as Jeongguk landed hard on the carpeted floor.

Moving as fast as his own shaking legs would take him, Namjoon as at Jeongguk’s side in seconds, grabbing the maknae and rolling him onto his back and wincing a little at the carpet burn that had risen on the youngest’s forehead. 

“J-Jeongguk? Are you okay? Hey, wake up.”

Thankfully, the youngest seemed to listen to what he was told, and only moments later was groaning lightly as he swam back to consciousness.

“Hyung?”

“I’m still here, Gguk.”

“That sucked.”

Namjoon held back the laugh as much as he could. “I bet it did. Are you okay?”

“I…I think so. I might take that help to the bathroom now. I’m okay, promise, just a little dizzy.”

Namjoon shook his head a little, getting up and slowly lifting Jeongguk up in his arms, ignoring the squeak of shock coming from the raven as he walked to the bathroom and deposited Jeongguk back down on the floor. “Do what you need to do, call me when you’re done.” He told the youngest, before leaving the bathroom and closing the door behind him to give the younger at least some privacy after he’d just stolen his dignity by carrying him.

He took a deep breath, trying to quell the anxiety that bubbled in his chest after seeing Jeongguk faint. He said he was fine, he was just a little dizzy, but it still filled Namjoon with unease.

A minute or two passed before he heard the tap running and Jeongguk calling Namjoon’s name, the said leader turning and making his way back in and easily scooping Jeongguk back up into his arms. Even the few minutes not holding the youngest, Namjoon had forgotten just how warm he was as he grabbed a small cloth, not an easy feat with his arms full of Jeongguk, running it under the cold water tap before wringing it out as best as he could with only his one hand, before carrying both Jeongguk and the cloth back to the bedroom.

Once he had Jeongguk down on the bed, he got to work, gently stroking the damp, cold cloth against the youngest’s face, wiping away the clammy sweat that had formed throughout the day.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I could be better, hyung, but I’ll be okay soon. I promise. I’m sorry.”

“Why are you sorry?”

“I scared you.”

Namjoon couldn’t hold back the laugh this time. “You did, but it’s okay. Just… rest, okay? Get some more sleep, I’ll stay until you’re out again.”

“Won’t you get in trouble?”

“It’s worth it to know you’re okay.”

Jimin

4:46pm

Jimin would say he was angry over the reason he was back home so early, but that would just be lying to himself. Really, he should be angry, he should be disappointed, he should be upset, but… he really wasn’t. He was excited. 

He didn’t hesitate when opening up their dorm and walking straight through towards his best friend’s room, he didn’t hesitate when opening the door and, carefully, quietly, climbing onto the bed next to Jeongguk, lying down next to him as if nothing else mattered in the world.

He hadn’t seen the youngest yet that day. He was one of the only ones who hadn’t, but he could tell straight away that the others hadn’t been exaggerating when they said just how sick Jeongguk was. The youngest looked a mess, his hair stood up every other way than straight down, his cheeks and the tips of his ears splotched with a faint pink blush over his otherwise incredibly pale face, the way his breath was crackling in his throat as it escaped chapped lips.

All in all, Jeongguk looked terrible, and Jimin felt a little bad he hadn’t been able to see him before now.

“Hey, Jeonggukkie.” Jimin greeted gently, leaning over from where he lay next to the youngest and carefully trying to smooth the others sweat damp hair down. Jeongguk would probably want a shower, but after Namjoon told them how the youngest had fainted, Jimin wasn’t prepared to allow him to do that. Not until he could walk a few steps unaided at least. “I’m gonna stay with you now, okay?”

He was more talking to himself, he knew the youngest was asleep, but his words seemed to pull Jeongguk closer to consciousness if the low groan was anything to go by. Jimin felt a little guilty at the noise, not meaning to have woken the younger.

“Jimin-hyung?” Jeongguk questioned, frowning through the darkness to try and see the other’s face. Jimin smiled, giving a small nod as he lay back down fully, pulling Jeongguk closer to himself. 

“Yeah, it’s Jimin-hyung.”

“Why’re you here…?”

Jimin knew the words weren’t meant to hurt him, they didn’t mean Jeongguk didn’t want him here, it was pure confusion on the younger’s part.

“I got sent home.”

“Hmm?”

Jimin sighed, knowing he was having to go into it, even if Jeongguk seemed to be struggling to keep his eyes open.

“I got sent home by management. I’ve not…really been able to pay attention all day. I was too worried about you. They told me off for not being able to focus and sent me back here, but that’s okay, because it means I get to stay with you and make sure you’re okay. You don’t have to be alone for the rest of the day now, I’m going to be here.”

“Hyung,” Jeongguk whined, although if the youngest was trying to sound like he was scolding the older, it didn’t work very well. “You should’a focused on work…”

“How could I, when you were so sick here all alone?”

“I’m okay, people been checking up on me…”

Jimin nodded with a smile, lifting his head and resting it on Jeongguk’s shoulder while tightening his grip around the too-warm boy. “I know, they’ve been giving us all updates when they got back. You really scared Namjoon-hyung, you know that?”

“I’m sorry,” 

“None of us are mad, it was more funny than anything. He was acting like a worried parent. I’m pretty sure Seokjin-hyung had to talk him down from a panic attack.”

Despite his joking tone, Jimin wasn’t lying. Namjoon really had been a mess when he’d gotten back, having not wanted to leave Jeongguk alone again in the first place. That hadn’t helped with Jimin trying to focus on what they were meant to be doing, so he still wasn’t very upset about being sent home when he had.

“That doesn’t help me feel any better, hyung…” Jeongguk trailed off, yawning and reaching up to rub at his eyes, which was quickly stopped by Jimin’s own small hands resting on top of them.

“Don’t rub your eyes, you’ll hurt them more. Go back to sleep, okay Jeonggukkie? I’ll be here if you need anything.”

“Gotta keep you company…”

“No you don’t, you’re sick. Go back to sleep, it’s okay, okay? I’ve got you, you won’t be able. I’ll look after you.”

Jeongguk seemed to lose his fight pretty quickly after that, breathing deeply as Jimin rested on his chest, clinging to the maknae like he was about to disappear.

If anyone else had been with them, Jimin had no doubt he’d probably be told off for staying this close to Jeongguk, he knew the risk of him catching whatever Jeongguk had gotten.

But he didn’t care.

Their baby needed them, and he wasn’t about to deny Jeongguk of that.

Taehyung

8:57pm

Taehyung was angry.

After Jimin had been sent back to the dorm literal hours before, their management hadn’t let Taehyung go to check on Jeongguk. They argued that Jimin was with him now, he didn’t need to be checked up on.

But it wasn’t fair. Everyone else had been allowed home to go and check on the youngest, it wasn’t fair that Taehyung hadn’t been given that right too.

Of course, it wasn’t Jimin he was mad at. He fully understood the other’s lack of ability to focus when Jeongguk was so sick. It was the management he was mad at, the ones who had told him he wasn’t allowed to go home and check on one of his best friends.

So once their schedules were done for the day, once all of them were making their way back into the dorm, Taehyung had wasted no time before going straight through to Jeongguk and Namjoon’s bedroom. He could see Jeongguk was sound asleep, cuddled up to Jimin’s chest, the older of the two scrolling through his phone absentmindedly, only looking up once he heard the bedroom door open.

Taehyung gave the other a soft smile, before he grabbed the glass of water and left again, emptying it out and refilling it with fresh water, before making his way back into the room and leaving it where it had previously been, on the bedside table.

Jimin smiled at him again when he reentered, and Taehyung wasted no time before climbing into the bed too. It wasn’t a big bed, they weren’t millionaires after all. The bed was barely big enough for Jeongguk most of the time, but the three of them made it work. Taehyung on the left, Jeongguk in the middle, cuddled up to Jimin on the right.

“Are you okay?” Jimin asked, his tone hushed to try and not disturb Jeongguk as he did.

Taehyung thought for a second, before giving a small nod. “I’m okay, annoyed, but okay.”

“Annoyed?” 

“Yeah, they wouldn’t let me come back to check on him because you were here. Not that I’m annoyed at you, just… just annoyed that everyone else was able to look after him today but they wouldn’t let me. He’s my best friend too, he’s my little brother too, you know?”

Jimin smiled, carding his free hand through Jeongguk’s hair. “I get it, Tae. It isn’t fair at all. But he’s okay, alright? His fever broke about an hour ago, and he’s just sleeping it off now I think. He hasn’t been awake since I got back a few hours ago, but I’ve been keeping an eye on him.”

“Hoseok said he ate a little earlier at least.”

“Yeah, definitely not enough though. He’s going to be starving once he’s feeling better.”

Taehyung opened his mouth to reply, but it was cut off by Jeongguk giving a soft groan, rolling his head across the pillow with a confused, sleepy frown as he cracked his eyes open to look at Taehyung. The other couldn’t see the flushed cheeks that the older members had described earlier on, but Jimin had said his fever had broken, so Taehyung took it as a bonus that he didn’t look as bad as he had previously. He still looked weak and shaky, but no longer like the world was trying to crush him in on himself.

“Hey, Jeonggukkie, sorry for waking you. Go back to sleep, okay?”

Jeongguk just stared for a moment longer, before rolling over entirely and resting his head on Taehyung’s thigh.

“Missed you.”

Taehyung’s heart may as well have melted into a puddle on the floor.

“Missed you too, Gukkie. How’re you feeling?”

“Sleepy.”

Taehyung gave a soft chuckle, gently moving Jeongguk’s head a little so he could slide down a bit further, resting his head back down against his chest and wrapping his arms around the youngest as comfortingly as he could. “Go back to sleep then, Ggukkie. It’s okay. You just sleep and feel better.”

“Not gonna stick me with thermometers or force medicine in me…?” Jeongguk’s tone didn’t sound annoyed at how he’d been treated throughout the day, or offended that it was what had happened. More just… confused in his groggy state that it wasn’t happening again.

“No, no I’m not. We’ll see how you are later, okay? Go back to sleep. It’s okay.”

Taehyung tangled his fingers through Jeongguk’s hair as the youngest did as he was told, nuzzling his face into the hoodie Taehyung was wearing and closing his eyes again.

He was still annoyed, at least a little, that he hadn’t been allowed to check on Jeongguk throughout the day.

But at least he didn’t have to leave now.