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Junpei usually took good care of himself everyday. He can't even remember the last time he was sick, but he does know that when he is sick, it’s always the worst thing ever.
So that's why he hates that he is sick right now.
He woke up this morning feeling hot, sweaty, groggy and irritated. Shit, he couldn’t feel any worse to be completely honest. He could hardly breathe and it felt like the walls were slowly closing in on him. Must be my lucky day , he thought. His mom was out of town so he was stuck in the house by himself. He checked his temperature -- 106. He had a high fever, so he dragged himself back to bed, removing the covers and putting them back on since he got hotter and colder by the second.
He could barely take care of himself when he was stuck in this state; he whipped out his phone and went to his contacts. As he scrolled through the names on his phone, the first person he saw was Mahito.
"Definitely not calling him," he said aloud. "He'd probably cause me a migraine on top of a fever." Junpei rolled his eyes and continued to scroll. He got to the end of the list and he then saw the name Yuji Itadori. A small smile formed at the sight of his name.
"Ughhhhh, I really don't want to bother him," he sighed. He debated whether or not he should call Yuji and he finally decided he'll just call to talk to someone, though he didn't have to come over or anything.
He clicked his name and watched as the phone rang three times before he heard the make on the other end speak.
"Hello? Junpei?"
"H-Hi Yuji," his voice croaked.
"Hey Junpei, what's up!" He sounded as boisterous as ever.
"Nothing much… I just wanted to hear your voice." He said.
Shit, that sounded weird. Oh god, I hope he didn't misinterpret anythi-
"Ooooo, in that case, should I come over?" Yuji asked. “I want to see you.”
"No!" Junpei shouted and was taken aback at his own reaction. "I mean, no, I wouldn't want to cause you any troub-" he was cut off by his own coughing.
"Woah! Are you okay?" Junpei could hear the concern in his voice over the phone.
"Yes,” Junpei lied “I'm fine, don't worry." Yet, he still couldn't stop coughing once he said that.
"That doesn't sound like fine to me, be there in 20 minutes." He hung up the phone.
A long sigh escaped Junpei’s mouth as he heard the phone line end. Junpei had his own problems going on, and he didn’t want to bother Yuji. It was Saturday, and Yuji had told him earlier he was hanging out with his friends this weekend. Why would Junpei take that away from him?
Stupid Yuji , Junpei thought to himself. If there's one thing Junpei knows, it's that once Itadori sets it mind on something, there is no going back. He is stubborn, stubborn as hell. Even Nobara and Megumi warned him when they first met of how Yuji always put his friends first, though he never knew to what extent that kindliness really was, but he did know that no matter what Junpei said, he knew there was no way to stop Yuji from coming over.
Yuji… actually got there in fifteen minutes. Which was not surprising, he is quick on his feet, and if he felt as if an emergency was happening (In this case, Junpei coughing) then he would head over even faster. Junpei didn’t have to worry about going down stairs to open the door since Yuji had a key ‘cause he visited all the time. “You practically live here,” his mother would say, and she was right in a sense. Most days of the week ended up with Yuji staying overnight and they would watch movies together until they passed out.
But, tonight was not one of those nights. Shit, he felt like he was going to die because of his sore throat and he did not want to risk getting Yuji sick, but it was too late when he heard the knock on his bedroom door, and the knob slowly turned to open.
“Junpei, are you ok?” The brunette male frantically asked. Junpei swung his head at the door to see Yuji panting and a grocery bag in his hand. “I brought you some stuff.”
Contrary to popular belief, Yuji Itadori has always been an observant person. He could notice the slightest thing off with someone, or if anyone needed help.
He had agreed to hang out with Nobara and Megumi over the weekend since class was so difficult this past week. They all needed a break from Gojo to be completely honest, though Yuji did find it weird that he hadn’t heard from Junpei at all today.
They usually talked to one another via phone at least twice a day before Yuji decided to go to his house, but today they didn’t talk at all. Not one call, not one text, nothing. Did I do something wrong? Is he upset with me? He wondered. He figured as of now he should give Junpei his space, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right.
And that’s when Junpei called him.
As soon as Yuji saw the name on his phone, his eyes lit up and he even flinched. Nobara and Megumi must have noticed because they shot him a confused glance, but continued to talk about whatever they were saying, not like Yuji could focus anymore.
When he picked up the phone, he said hello first and waited for a reply. Junpei responded to him with a greeting but his voice was shaking a little bit. Yuji decided to keep it casual, ease into the conversation to find what was up with Junpei.
"Hey Junpei, what's up!" He hoped he didn’t sound too eager, he didn’t want to make Junpei feel uncomfortable
"Nothing much… I just wanted to hear your voice." Junpei said.
O h . Yuji covered his face, trying to hide the blush that crept up. Wait no, pull yourself together. That’s just what friends do, Junpei is being nice, that’s it. Don’t look too deep into it.
"Ooooo, in that case, should I come over?" Yuji asked. “I want to see you.” Cra p ! Yuji slapped his forehead. He was being way too obvious.
“No!” No? So he didn’t want me to see him. Yuji slumped.
Junpei said that it was fine, He didn’t have to visit him, but after Yuji heard him borderline dying with a cough on the other end of the phone; he figured he should go over there and check up on him.
He started to turn around to dash to Junpei’s house until he heard a voice from behind him.
“Hey, where ya headin’?” Nobara asked. Ah, right, he totally forgot he was hanging out with Nobara and Megumi at the moment. He stopped in his tracks as his two friends looked at him with a confused look on their faces.
“Oh uh, Junpei didn’t sound so good so I’m gonna go visit him.” Yuji replied. He expected a slap to the back of his head from Nobara for ditching them today, it was definitely not the first time he’s canceled his plans to visit the other boy, yet when he opened his eyes from preparing to get hit he just saw Nobara snickering and even Megumi smirking at him.
“What?” he asked. “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing,” Megumi started. “It’s just-“
“-this is the third time this month you’ve been at Yoshino’s beck and call.” Nobara interjected.
Yuji’s face went red, “T-That’s not true!” he yelled. “Plus I'm not at his ‘beck and call,’ he just seemed like he was off when I talked to him on the phone, good grief.”
His friends’ deadpanned facial expressions showed that they were not having it, they didn’t believe Yuji at all.
He hates that they can see right through him.
“It’s alright you know, everyone likes someone from time to time,” Megumi stated.
“Fushiguro’s right!” Nobara walked up to him and started slapping him on the back… hard.
“Why are you hitting m-“
“Nobody’s judging you for having a little crush,” She cut him off once more. “In fact, it was completely obvious the whole time.”
Yuji gasped, “You’re lying!”
“She’s not,” Megumi added. “Plus, I’m pretty sure Yoshino likes you back, it’s just both of you are too pussy to make the first move.”
Yuji dragged his hands down his face in frustration and turned to his friends, folding his arms across his chest.
“Listen,” He said with his hands clasped together. “There is no first move because neither of us like each other like that,” he huffed.
“If that’s the case then are you still ditching us for your boyfriend?” Nobara asked, still teasing him.
“He’s not my boyfriend!” Yuji blushed. “And yes, of course,” and with that Yuji turned around quickly so he wouldn't see the grin on his friends faces and made his way over to Junpei’s house.
Wait, crap, I should go to the store first , he thought. Yuji didn’t know exactly what type of cold Junpei had, he was rushing on the phone with him earlier since he was panicking that he was possibly sick. But, he did cough and his voice sounded hoarse; cough drops, yes, he should probably get cough drops and other things as well.
He headed to the first convenience store he could find and spent a good ten minutes searching for what he could possibly need. And once he got what he needed, he headed out and finally sprinted to his friend’s house.
Which leads them to where they are now, Yuji in the middle of Junpei’s bedroom looking at the poor sick child. “Junpei are you okay? I brought you some stuff.”
“O-Oh! Yuji, hey!” He jolted up from his bed trying to look like he wasn’t in the middle of dying from a coughing fit two seconds ago. “I said I’d be fine, you didn’t have to come.”
“I know, I heard what you said, but I'm glad I came ‘cause you look like a wet dog.” Yuji blurted out.
“Wow, thanks.” Junpei deadpanned.
“N-Not in a bad way! Like, you know a dog, that happens to be sick but a cute little puppy,” he panicked, flailing his arms around.
“So you think I’m cute?” Junpei grinned as he saw Yuji go into a bigger panic.
“No that’s not what I meant! I mean-- I'm not saying that you’re ugly either because obviously you're attractive I can’t deny that, but, like if you were to ask me if you were cute or ugly then I’d say cute because I can’t lie, but like not in a way where I’m in love with you or anything because that would be crazy right? And I’m not crazy plus I wouldn’t want to weird you out by-“
“Yuji, I was just joking.” Junpei interjected. “ Chill .” he giggled.
Oh right, how embarrassing.
“Sorry for rambling… it’s because I was worried about you. You sounded like you were about to die for christ’s sake.”
“Well…”
“Hey,” Yuji said sternly.
“...I’m kidding.”
“You better be,” he sighed.
Junpei was about to say something else before he started coughing again, he turned away from the other boy and pressed his face up against his pillow to muffle the sound.
“Man, if I knew you were this sick I would have come sooner.”
“Sorry for not telling you, I knew you were with your friends so…”
“Junpei you’re my friend!”
“Yeah. I know…” I’d like to be something more , he thought, but then shook his head in denial, he shouldn’t get his hopes up.
“If you stay here any longer,” Junpei continued. “You’ll get sick as well, so go home,” he said, wiping the sweat off his face from his fever.
Yuji sat there for a couple of seconds and blinked. “Fine, I’ll see you later then,” He said as he began to leave Junpei’s room, now out the door.
Wait what, he’s leaving just like that? That easily??? Junpei thought, he squinted his eyes at the other boy. He was just playing, right?
“Yuji?” Junpei called out to him but all he heard were his feet stomping down the stairs.
He didn’t hear his front door open so maybe he didn’t leave yet. Is he seriously pretending to be angry? How adorable. Junpei wiggled to the end of the bed and sat up, about to go see what Yuji could possibly be doing but before he could do that his door swung open again and Yuji had a tray of chicken noodle soup on it.
“H-Huh? What's this?” Junpei asked with his hands covering his face to hide his embarrassment. Of course Yuji of all people would go the extra mile for him, he’s a good friend, that’s what friends do.
“What does it look like, It’s chicken noodle soup!” He beamed. “And medicine to take with it, it should soothe your throat.”
Junpei gulped down the blush creeping on his face and tried to keep his cool. “I see… thank you.”
“No problem! Now eat and then come downstairs, I'll be waiting.” He left the room again.
What could he possibly be planning? Well, he’ll find out later. He looked down at his food and smiled before digging in. It didn’t take long for him to gulp down the food, and he had to admit that it did make his sore throat feel a little better. His coughs were light and his temperature went down. Once he finished the food he gathered up the tray to head downstairs. There he saw Yuji sitting on his couch with a huge bowl of popcorn.
“Junpei! Let’s watch a movie, I know it’ll make you feel better.” Yuji smiled.
“You being here is enough to make me do that,” He mumbled and awkwardly scratched the back of his neck.
“What was that?” He asked grabbing the remote to turn the TV on, “I couldn’t hear you.”
That’s when Junpei’s face went as red as a tomato. “N-Nothing! I was just saying let’s do it.” Junpei scurried to his couch and plopped right next to Yuji. He was afraid he was too close and didn’t want to be too obvious but the other boy scooted closer and covered them both with a blanket.
Junpei began to warn him that he’d get sick but Yuji cut him off before he had the chance.
“And don’t even say something about me catching a cold because I do not care, as long as I can hang out with you I’m fine.” The tip of Yuji’s ears turned light pink. “Anyways what movie do you wanna watch?”
“Eh, you’re probably not that into it.” Junpei sighed.
“Just tell meee.”
Junpei cocked his eyebrow and shrugged. “Alright then, Earthworm Man 3.”
Yuji stared at him blankly, “Huh? But it's so boring, I could barely stay awake when watching it.”
That’s why I said you wouldn’t be into it.
“Yeah, I guess it's not your typical movie-”
"-but the second one's not bad!" they said in unison and looked shocked at each other's response before they started laughing. A huge smile formed across Junpei’s face as he was laughing which made Yuji’s heart skip a beat.
Maybe he does like him more than Yuji thought. He could hear the ‘ I told you’ from Nobara and Megumi now, god he hated when they were right.
The movie wasn’t too long, it was only an hour and a half, and thank god for that because neither of them could focus on the movie. Junpei was too busy freaking out with every time their shoulders brushed against each other while Yuji’s palms were sweating so much because of his nerves that he didn’t even want to touch the popcorn he made for the both of them - maybe he should have gotten two bowls.
They would both steal glances of one another during the movie when they thought they other wasn’t looking, but they got caught when they did it at the same time.
“Oh, uh sorry, I didn’t mean to stare. That's rude of me, I-- um wanted to see if you were enjoying the movie, yeah!” Yuji sputtered.
Junpei huffed, not annoyed, but more as in a tired way. “I can barely focus on the movie.” He looked up at the other boy fondly. He realized what he said and blushed immediately, whipping his head back to the direction of the TV screen.
Yuji shifted to where Junpei was now facing him. “Why is that? Did your fever go up?” He placed his hand on Junpei’s forehead to check the temperature. Junpei flushed even more at his action.
“No it didn’t,” he signed. “The reason I can’t focus is…” He hesitated,” ...because of you.” God Junpei couldn’t stop shaking; he isn’t about to confess in the middle of this half-assed written horror movie while he’s sick is he? That seems pathetic and Yuji doesn't deserve that. He should have planned something if he knew he might do this, maybe in a park or somewhere in better circumstances where he could be catering to Yuji and not the other way around.
“Oh, am I making you uncomfortable? If you feel better now, I can leave if that’s what you want,” Yuji said.
Huh. He stared blankly at the other boy.
Did he seriously not catch onto that? That I like him? You know what- no that was a sign, I can save the confession for another day. Thank you universe for this wonderful opportunity, I didn’t think there was a Jesus before, but now I’m certain, God bless.
“No you can stay, sorry for not clarifying it’s just--” Great now his palms were the ones getting sweating. He shouldn’t be this nervous, this is Yuji we’re talking about. He wouldn’t be angry at Junpei for confessing even if he didn’t return his feelings, that’s the kind of guy Yuji is, he’s nice to everyone. Right… he’s the type of guy that is nice to everyone , so what if Junpei was looking into this too hard, what if he is just pretending to be his friend because he pities him?
“--I couldn’t focus on the movie because I was wondering if you were enjoying it,” Junpei cringed at his own response, there’s no way Yuji is going to buy that excuse-
“Oh I am! I just wanted to make sure you were fine...” He said.
What, he actually bought that? I guess today is my lucky day-
“...is what you thought I was going to say.” Yuji finished. “Come on Junpei, I’m not an idiot, tell me what’s going on with you.”
Junpei internally slapped his own forehead, he should have known better than to underestimate him. Fuck, he can’t run away this time, it looks like he’s gonna have to confess. So much for God , he thought.
Ok, here goes nothing, deep breathes. Inhale… Exhale... Inhale… Exhale.
“If it’s stressing you out that much, you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, but I won’t judge you if you do.” He took Junpei’s hands into his and gave him a warm smile.
“Do you promise?” Junpei looked at him almost like he was pleading, or hoping for Yuji to take what he was going to say well.
“Yeah,” he smiled. “I promise.”
Okay, this is it. There’s no backing out now; all he had to do was tell the guy he’s had a crush on for the longest time that he likes him, no big deal right? No, it is a big deal-- a huge deal. Yuji Itadori, his closest best friend, the guy that gave him a chance to make even more friends. This one confession could mess everything up, their friendship could be lost and then he'd leave him, he’d go right back to being the social outcast he was before, I can’t--I can’t do it.
“Junpei?” A voice interrupted his thoughts. All Junpei saw was that same comforting, beautiful face that let him know that everything was going to be fine.
Alright… here goes nothing.
“I like you,” he said, looking down at the floor. “I’ve liked you for a long time now, and I understand if you don’t like me back, like you don’t have to return my feelings if you don’t want to, but I don’t want things to be awkward between us, and if they are now then I’m so...rry?”
His voice trailed off as he felt Yuji’s hands on the back of his next and closed the gap in between them.
Yuji is kissing him.
Oh my god - Yuji is kissing him .
He didn’t have any experience given that he’s never dated anyone before, so yeah, this was his first kiss. He wasn’t sure whether or not Yuji had experience, but that’s not at all what he was worried about right now.
What he was worried about was Yuji’s warm touch that he was now leaning into as Yuji brought one hand from the back of Junpei’s neck to cup his cheek. It felt as if they were the only two people in the world (given that they were the only people in the house it’s not that surprising). Yet, he still couldn’t believe it; his heart was soaring and a smile formed against the other boy’s lips. Junpei let his mind get lost into the kiss because nothing could ruin this moment.
Yuji leaned back carefully to look at the other boy making sure he was okay.
“Yujiii” Junpei whined, “Now you’re gonna be sick.”
“I’d say it’s worth it,” he smirked. His eyes wandered from Junpei’s lips and then back up to his eyes. “May I?” he asked.
Junpei snickered, “Go ahead.”
They both leaned into the kiss together, this time longer and less awkward. Junpei fell on his back into the couch with Yuji hovering over him and they both giggled and held one another in their arms, they stayed in this position until Yuji shifted to where he was now cuddling him while laying down.
“Your hair is really soft,” Yuji said as he rested his head on top of Junpei’s.
“Shouldn’t you be focusing on the TV?” Junpei laughed, but he had no problem talking to Yuji rather than watching a movie.
“But it’s almost overrrr,” he whined. “Talking to you is more interesting anyway.”
Junpei blushed at that, not like you could tell because he was already red from the fever.
Yuji began to laugh from behind him. Junpei sat up and faced him looking confused. “Why’re you laughing?” A smile appeared on his face as well by seeing Yuji so happy.
Yuji sat up next to him and spoke. “Kugisaki and Fushiguro actually accused me of having a crush on you before I came over here.”
Junpei chuckled. “They don’t give you a break huh?”
“Nope” He said, popping the ‘p.’ “But they were right anyway.” He said with a lopsided grin.
“You are oddly more sly than usual, this isn’t Sukuna I’m talking to is it?” The older boy teased.
“What?!” He screeched, losing any coolness he had before. “No- I was just saying- It’s not like I’d let him- No it’s definitely me.” He ultimately sighed.
“I’m just teasing, now come here,” Junpei opened up his arms for Yuji, and the other male happily obliged. There, they laid down watching movies for the rest of the night with conversations and giggles filling the living room.
2 Days Later at Yuji Itadori’s House
"Junpeiiiii I feel awful," Yuji whined while he tossed and turned in his bed.
"I tried to tell you that you'd get sick if you cuddled me," Junpei said.
"Hmph," Yuji pouted and Junpei could only laugh in response.
That night, before Yuji came over to Junpei’s house, Junpei felt awful, but having Yuji there made it easier to feel better. Luckily for Junpei, he felt better the next morning but unfortunately for someone else , he caught that same fever a couple days later.
"I think," Yuji started. "I think a kiss would make me feel better," he smiled while Junpei scowled at the suggestion.
"No, no way," he said, backing away from him. "We'd just be exchanging fevers again, and I cannot, no, will not get sick again."
“Even if it’s for me?” He asked with pleading eyes.
“Nope, sorry,” Junpei responded instantly.
"You're heartless." Yuji cried.
"You'll live through it." He retorted.
Yuji huffed in response though a smile followed right after. He heard a text notification from his and Junpei’s phone, he figured it was Nobara and Megumi wanting to hang out all together but he did not have the strength to get out of bed right now.
Yuji looked up at Junpei who was sitting at the end of his bed. “Are you going to stay?” Please, please stay.
Junpei walked over to him and placed a light peck on his forehead.
“Yes,” he smiled. “Of course.”