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“I’m going to bed.” Hyunjin says, standing up from the couch and stretching his arms above his head. Felix frowns at him, it’s still early in the evening and they just got home from schedules. They usually like to stay up later than this, and they can do so today when schedules don’t start until noon tomorrow.
“Are you okay?” Felix asks, pausing the show they’re watching and sitting up a little to see Hyunjin better. He looks tired, and like he can’t hide it despite trying. His eyes are a little red and his skin looks clammy, and he is rubbing at his temple. It makes Felix want to wrap him up in blankets and make him feel better.
“Yeah, my head just hurts.” Hyunjin says, explaining why he’s been rubbing at his neck all day. He gets tension headaches sometimes, it’s nothing out of the ordinary, but he didn’t say anything when Felix asked about it. It’s probably gotten worse since he’s admitting it now.
“Alright, let’s go to bed then.” Felix says, getting up to join Hyunjin. Sleeping to escape pain is nothing new to them, and it is often the only thing that will help Hyunjin’s headaches. He’ll be fine in the morning after a good night’s rest, this is something that sleep can easily fix.
“No, it’s fine, you finish the episode.” Hyunjin says, gently pushing Felix back to sit on the couch and staying bent over to give Felix a kiss before slowly backing up towards the door. He somehow manages to look so adorable even though he’s squinting in pain.
“What? No, I’ll join you, it’s fine.” Felix says, but he stays seated to wait for Hyunjin to agree. Hyunjin tilts his head at him, contemplating for a moment before shaking his head with a fond smile.
“Lixie, I’m fine, you can finish your show. It’s really not that bad at all.” Hyunjin says and Felix nods, still a little hesitant, but if Hyunjin doesn’t want him to come with him, he won’t. Still, he can’t shake the feeling that Hyunjin feels worse than he lets on, and it’s natural for Felix to worry about his boyfriend.
“Do I at least get a goodnight kiss?” Felix asks with a pout. He doesn’t like the idea of Hyunjin going to bed without him, especially if he’s in pain, but he also really loves this show and wants to know how the episode ends.
“You already got one.” Hyunjin says with a soft smile, but he comes over to kiss Felix again. Hyunjin’s skin feels warm when their lips meet, but they’ve been piled under blankets, of course he’s warm. “Goodnight.” Hyunjin says against Felix’s lips, a smile in his voice. At least he’s in a good mood, that eases Felix’s worry a little.
“Goodnight, sleep well, sweet dreams, love you.” Felix says, like a familiar riddle they say every night. Hyunjin waves at him as he backs up again, looking so adorable that Felix has to hold himself back not to run after him.
“Yeah, all of that, I can’t really think.” Hyunjin says and rolls his eyes. Felix laughs at him, settling back into the couch when Hyunjin rounds the corner and disappears out of view. He picks up the remote and presses play, immediately being sucked back into the show. They’re at Hyunjin’s dorm, alone since 3racha are still at the studio, so Felix is left alone with his show.
Somehow, the rest of the episode becomes another and then another episode and soon enough it’s two hours since Hyunjin went to bed. Felix just doesn’t want to go to bed, and the episodes keep ending on cliff-hangers, making it impossible to resist watching more. He is so immersed in the storyline that it’s tempting to stay up all night to watch.
His stomach rumbles halfway through the next episode, reminding him that it’s been a while since he last ate. Reluctantly pausing the show, he gets up to move into the kitchen in search of a snack before going to bed. Distantly, he hears the front door, and then the dorm is filled with sound. The front door isn’t close to the bedrooms, but Felix rushes toward them so they won’t wake Hyunjin up.
“Shhh!” Felix loudly shushes them and puts a finger to his lips to underline his point, being met by three sets of raised brows. “Hyunjin is sleeping off a headache.” He explains and they nod in understanding, lowering their volume when the conversation picks back up. They all move toward the kitchen; Felix is clearly not the only hungry one.
“How about some ramen?” Changbin offers and Felix dramatically rolls his eyes because that sounds amazing. He didn’t realize how hungry he was until now, so focused on the show that he’s suddenly starving.
“Yes…” Felix moans, earning amused laughs from the others. Late-night ramen is his favorite. Changbin starts pulling out what he needs to make them, filling a pot with water, putting it on the stove and starting to tear up the packets.
“How many do we need? Do you think Hyunjin-ah wants some?” Changbin asks, holding up the four packets he has already opened. Hyunjin would normally love it, but it seems that he’s taking more than a nap. He’s already been asleep for a couple of hours, he’ll probably sleep until morning.
“I think he’s asleep for the night. You know how he gets, probably just needs to sleep and he’ll be better in the morning.” Felix says, and Changbin agrees, getting ready four packets. They can just make more if they want later. Felix sits at the table with Chan and Jisung, closing his eyes as he feels how tired he’s getting. It’s been a long day, not that they’ve done much, but it started very early.
“Did you get a lot done today?” Felix asks to make conversation. He doesn’t have to, he knows they can all sit in comfortable silence, but he hasn’t seen them in too many hours. He misses talking to them on these kinds of days, used to seeing them all the time.
“Nope.” Chan says in English, popping the ‘p’. He puts on an exaggerated fake smile, and Felix almost apologizes for asking. It seems that Hyunjin isn’t the only one who’s having a bad day today.
“He has writers block.” Jisung says in explanation and Felix nods in understanding. Chan is so used to having minimal issues producing beats and lyrics, it throws him off when he has days where it’s more difficult. He isn’t like the others who can allow themselves not to be productive sometimes, so he keeps trying, growing more and more frustrated when he’s unhappy with everything he does.
“It’s fine.” Chan says, shrugging his shoulders and looking at Changbin like he’s very interested in the water that is now boiling. They all watch Changbin add the blocks to the water, the room tired and calm.
A door opens somewhere in the dorm, and it can’t be anyone but Hyunjin. “I think your boy’s awake.” Jisung says, smiling knowingly at Felix who just snorts a laugh at him. He looks at the doorway, waiting for Hyunjin to shuffle in, but he doesn’t. Then they hear a door close rather harshly and the others laugh at how harsh Hyunjin can be when he’s sleepy. Felix frowns though, he feels like something is wrong.
“I’ll go check on him, maybe he wants some ramen now that he’s awake.” Felix says and Changbin wordlessly adds another pack to the water, knowing that Hyunjin shares their love of late-night ramen. Felix yawns as he walks down the hall, deciding that he should probably get as ready for bed as he can before eating so he can more or less go straight to bed after.
He goes straight over to Hyunjin’s room, quietly opening the door so it won’t scare the older. He’s easily scared by sudden movements, especially when he’s tired. But the room is empty. All the lights are off, and the blankets are half hanging off the bed like they were thrown off in a rush. Felix frowns in confusion, thinking for a moment about where Hyunjin might have gone.
Closing the door again, Felix walks down the hallway, stopping in his tracks when he nears the bathroom. The sounds coming out of the bathroom don’t sound good at all. It takes a moment for Felix’s brain to register that the wet, strangled noises is Hyunjin throwing up, and it simultaneously catches him off guard and sets him into action.
With the realization, he hurries to the door, knocking softly so he hopefully won’t scare Hyunjin. The only response he gets is another heave followed by a splashing. Felix cringes at the sound, reaching for the doorknob and carefully entering the room.
“Hey, I’m here, you’re okay.” Felix says, dropping to his knees behind Hyunjin and rubbing his back as it twists under his hand. He should’ve known that Hyunjin was sick, he hasn’t felt well all day, but he didn’t have the fever he’s burning with right now. His shirt feels damp against Felix’s palm, drenched in sweat and too warm to the touch.
“Just let it out, it’ll be over soon.” Felix keeps saying, as if Hyunjin has any other choice but continue to empty his stomach. He’s either a master at hiding how he feels, or this came on very quickly while he was asleep. Judging by how okay he looked earlier, it wouldn’t surprise Felix if Hyunjin really thought it was just a tension headache.
Hyunjin’s heaves turn dry as he stops bringing anything up, and then it completely stops, but he makes no move to lean back yet. Felix quietly offers his comfort, stroking his back and tucking his dark hair behind his ears. After a few more minutes of catching his breath, Hyunjin leans back against Felix and Felix just holds him, giving him time to calm down before trying to make him talk.
“I’m tired.” Hyunjin eventually says, going to sit up only to sink back against Felix again with a groan. He seems to be in pain, but with the heat that is radiating off of his skin, a high fever easily explains that. He must feel so achy and gross, and his headache is probably worse than it was before.
“How are you feeling?” Felix asks gently, helping Hyunjin lean against the wall so Felix can get up. He would love to stay on the floor with Hyunjin, but Hyunjin probably wants to get cleaned up and back to bed sooner rather than later.
“Exhausted, everything hurts, my head is killing me, and I’m so nauseous that it hurts.” Hyunjin lists off, leaning his whole weight on the wall behind him and shielding his eyes from the light with one hand. Felix pulls out a bottle of mouth wash, filling the right amount into the little cap and setting it on the sink.
“Are you gonna puke again?” Felix asks while pulling out a hair tie, bending down beside Hyunjin to gather his hair in a ponytail so he won’t get vomit in it if he throws up again. Hyunjin leans his head forward to make it easier for him, and it still ends up crooked and messy, but it’ll get the job done.
“Probably, but not yet.” Hyunjin says, and Felix stands up for a moment to get the cap of mouthwash, handing it over to Hyunjin who tips it into his mouth. He swishes it around for a moment before spitting it out in the cup Felix is holding out for him. “Thank you.” He says with a soft smile, and Felix leans in to place a kiss on his burning forehead.
“Let me check your fever.” Felix says, going back to the cabinets once again to pull out a thermometer. Hyunjin only flinches a little when Felix guides it into his ear and presses the button, a small beep following a moment later. The screen reads 39.2o, too high for comfort. No wonder Hyunjin is in so much pain.
“Want to go back to bed? I’ll get you some medicine and a bucket, maybe some clean clothes.” Felix suggests and Hyunjin nods with a small ‘please’. Felix helps him up, half carrying him back to his room seeing as how he’s too weak to hold himself up. They can hear the other guys talking loudly in the kitchen, forgetting all about their volume now that they know that Hyunjin is awake, and assume that he’s okay.
Felix helps Hyunjin change his clothes before leading him over to the bed, sitting him down on the edge so he can get the bed ready. The sheets are soaked in sweat, so Felix lays down a blanket over the mattress and turns the comforter over to the dry side. Hyunjin lies down with a sigh, clearly relieved at being horizontal. Felix gently tucks Hyunjin in before bending down to place another soft kiss on his temple.
“I’ll be right back, okay?” Felix says, and Hyunjin nods, looking like he’s almost asleep already. He’ll probably just sleep while Felix gets what they need from the kitchen. He tiptoes across the floor and silently exists the room, softly closing the door behind himself and moving back to the kitchen where the guys are now eating their ramen.
“What happened?” Jisung asks before Felix has even crossed the threshold, looking at him with curiosity. It doesn’t look like they know anything about what happened, they probably didn’t hear any more than Felix did when he first went to search for Hyunjin. He only realized that something as wrong when he got closer to the bathroom, Hyunjin was so quiet.
“He’s sick.” Felix says while walking over to one of the cupboards and taking out the basket they keep their medications in. He gets fever reducers and painkillers, hoping that Hyunjin will be able to keep them down so they can ease some of his symptoms. He can’t do much for the nausea, that will just have to run its course, but if they can get his fever down and ease his headache, he’ll at least feel a little better.
“What happened?” Chan repeats Jisung’s question, and Felix looks up with the realization that he didn’t explain at all. He’s just so focused on helping Hyunjin that he forgot for a moment that the guys weren’t in the bathroom with them.
“I think he has a stomach bug; he was throwing up in the bathroom.” Felix says as he moves over to the sink to pull out the bucket sitting in the cabinet underneath it. He fills it with enough water to cover the bottom, apparently that makes it easier to clean out. His mom always used to do this, so he just does it without questioning it.
“Oh, shit.” Jisung says, voicing all of their surprise. Felix gets a glass from the shelves above the sink, filling it with lukewarm water to make it easier on Hyunjin’s stomach. Jisung is right about that. They have a packed day tomorrow, but there’s no way that Hyunjin will be able to do that if he’s been up all night throwing up.
“Yeah, oh shit. You guys figure out what this means for out schedule tomorrow, I’m going to go give him this before he pukes on the floor.” Felix says, holding up the bucket as he exits the kitchen. He has the glass of water in his other hand, and the medicine tucked under his arm, so he manages to bring everything at the same time.
Hyunjin looks so small when Felix returns to his room, sitting on the edge of the bed with his arms around his abdomen. He has his eyes closed, only opening them for a moment to look at Felix when he hears the door. Felix expected him to be asleep, but it isn’t surprising that he isn’t.
“Are you okay?” Felix asks, seeing how pale and clammy Hyunjin’s skin is in the glow from the lamp on his bedside table. He looks so sick; Felix just wants to wrap him up in blankets and cuddle with him until he feels better.
“I’m gonna throw up.” Hyunjin says, and Felix rushes over, setting the bucket down on the floor in front of him before sitting beside Hyunjin. He runs his hand up and down Hyunjin’s back again, feeling so bad for him and wishing that he could do more to help him feel better.
“You’re okay, just let it out, you’ll feel better.” Felix says, trying to be soothing, and Hyunjin starts gagging, taking Felix by surprise even though he was expecting this. He doesn’t bring anything up at first, but then he gags again, the sound changing as he starts bringing up the little that’s left in his stomach.
“You’re okay, I’ll be over soon.” Felix tries to comfort him, running his hand up and down his back and using his other arm to hold Hyunjin’s chest up. Hyunjin is so warm to the touch, Felix is worried that his fever is getting too high. But he can’t do anything about that while Hyunjin is heaving over a bucket, so he just tries to do what he can to comfort him.
By the time it stops this time, he looks so exhausted that Felix is holding him up to stop him from falling off the bed. Felix carefully helps him lie back against the mattress, pushing away the bucket and lifting Hyunjin’s legs into the bed as well so he can lie more comfortably. Hyunjin curls up on his side, out of breath and occasionally winching in pain, probably from his headache reaching new heights.
Felix wishes that he could be two places at once. The bucket needs to be cleaned out, but he really doesn’t want to leave Hyunjin, and Hyunjin seems no more interested in letting Felix go. As if on cue, someone knocks on the door before Changbin pokes his head in. “Do you need anything?” He asks, and Felix has never been so grateful for him before.
“Can you clean out the bucket?” Felix asks with an apologetic smile, feeling bad for giving him the shittiest task, but Changbin doesn’t hesitate. He enters the room with a nod, getting the bucket with a comment about being right back, and then he’s gone. Felix turns his attention back to Hyunjin, brushing his hair out of his face. It’s staring to fall out of the ponytail, but there’s no way Felix can get him to sit up long enough to fix it.
“Do you think you can keep down some meds?” Felix asks, really wanting to bring Hyunjin’s fever down. If Hyunjin can’t keep the pills down, they’ll have to get creative, his fever is too high to do nothing about it.
“No.” Hyunjin mumbles, curling in tighter on his side with his arms wrapped around his stomach. He groans in pain and looks at Felix with tears in his eyes. How could he get this sick so fast? He must have been hiding how bad he felt this afternoon. Felix really should’ve questioned him more about it when he went to bed so early.
“Do you want to try anyway?” Felix asks, and Hyunjin nods, probably feeling shitty enough to give it a try. Felix gets the boxes from the end of the bed, popping out one of each while Hyunjin slowly sits up with a grimace. It looks like moving hurts him, and it probably does with the high fever he has. Hyunjin takes the pills from him, swallowing them with the tiniest sip of water before lying back down with a deep sigh.
“Are you too warm to cuddle?” Felix asks, not sure if Hyunjin is in the mood for it when he feels like this. Hyunjin seems to think it over for a moment, not moving a single muscle as Felix waits for an answer.
“Never.” Hyunjin finally says, scooting back a little to make space for Felix to lie down beside him. Felix pulls Hyunjin into his arms, wanting him closer than close, and Hyunjin seems to agree. He pushes himself as close to Felix as he can, making himself so small in his arms that Felix forgets that the roles are usually reversed.
“Do you think you can sleep?” Felix says, hoping that Hyunjin can at least get some sleep in tonight. Hyunjin nods against his chest, moving around a little before settling down again. Over the next few minutes, Felix feels Hyunjin grow soft against his side as his breath evens out, falling asleep much easier than Felix feared he would.
A moment later, Changbin quietly enters the room, seeing that Hyunjin is asleep and not saying a word as he sets the bucket by the bed. Felix smiles gratefully at him, thankful for the help, and Changbin nods before leaving, wordlessly saying that he doesn’t mind helping. Felix doesn’t fall asleep too, he’s still so hungry, and it’s keeping him awake, but he’s scared of waking Hyunjin up if he moves.
Once again, their members are on it before Felix can even ask for help, Jisung silently opening the door this time. He has a bowl in his hands, holding it out to show Felix that it’s his ramen. Felix nods and beckons him closer, kind of surprised at how quiet they are all able to be.
“How is he doing?” Jisung whispers, taking the chance of speaking and potentially waking the sick boy up. Felix watches Hyunjin for a moment, but he was always a heavy sleeper and doesn’t so much as twitch at the sound of Jisung’s voice.
“He had a really high fever, so I got him to take some meds half an hour ago, they’ve stayed down for now at least.” Felix whispers back, making sure to be very quiet as Hyunjin is more likely to wake up at his voice than anyone else’s. Jisung puts the bowl of ramen on the nightstand, but there is no way Felix will be able to feed himself while lying down with his arms wrapped around Hyunjin.
“Do you want me to get the thermometer?” Jisung whispers back, and Felix nods. It’s probably a good idea to check how his fever is doing. They should know if it’s changed or stayed at the same level.
He’s only gone for a minute before coming back in, taking the thermometer out of the case, and moving ever so slowly to stick it in Hyunjin’s ear. They both hold their breath when he pushes the button, but Hyunjin doesn’t stir at the beep either. Jisung shows him the little screen and it reads 38.6o, still high but lower than it was before.
“It’s getting better, the meds must be working.” Felix whispers, and Jisung puts the thermometer back in its case before putting it on the nightstand, so they have it for later. Then he picks up the bowl of ramen, grabbing the chopsticks and getting a bite ready.
“I’ll feed you.” Jisung whispers in a teasing tone, and Felix playfully rolls his eyes, but he accepts the food when Jisung holds it out for him. They make sure to stay quiet, moving slowly and carefully to not stir Hyunjin awake, but he sleeps like the dead until the bowl is empty.
“Do you want me to get you some water?” Jisung whispers when he’s done feeding Felix, and Felix nods. He has no choice but to let the guys do everything for him right now, he simply can’t move with Hyunjin asleep in his arms. Jisung once again leaves for a minute before coming back with a glass of water that has a straw in it. He holds it for Felix, guiding the straw into his mouth, and Felix drinks the whole glass in one go, clearly thirstier than he thought.
“Anything else?” Jisung continues whispering even though it’s pretty clear that Hyunjin isn’t waking up. Felix should probably brush his teeth and wash his face before going to sleep, but there’s no way to do that while laying here, so he shakes his head.
“No, thanks, I’ll just go to sleep.” Felix whispers, and Jisung nods, leaving the room without another word. Felix carefully moves to get a little more comfortable before closing his eyes and starting to drift off.