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Jeongin felt weird. He was distressed; he was sweaty, tired, and starting to feel nauseous. He really wasn’t supposed to feel like this, or, well, he felt like he couldn’t feel like this. They were literally so close to finishing their last award show for the season. Yet here he was, feeling sick as a dog. He really wished he didn’t feel like this. He tried hanging on as long as he could during the award show, but all hell broke loose in Jeongin when he started to feel nauseous. He did not do well with anything when he was nauseous.
They had just accepted their last award of the night and were walking off stage when Jeongin locked eyes with their manager. He sighed carefully, bile settling uncomfortably in his throat. He quickly walked to the man’s side, whispering in his ear carefully.
“Hyung, I feel really sick. Is it possible to just go home right now?”
“Of course, Jeongin-ah. Come with me, we’ll get you back home as soon as possible.” Their manager wrapped his arm around Jeongin as he helped the younger boy back to the car.
Jeongin nodded before following their manager back to the car silently, sweat adorning his pale skin. He sat in anticipation, quietly praying he could hold on until they got back to their dorm. Luckily, the venue for the award show wasn’t too far away from their dorm so it didn’t take very long for them to arrive. Once they did, the manager dropped Jeongin off and rolled the window down as the boy walked closer to the entrance.
“Let me know if you need any medicine, okay? The award show is almost over, so I’ll pick the others up and come back over immediately.”
Jeongin nodded, a small smile gracing his face before he entered the apartment building silently. He silently walked to their apartment, inputting the passcode to their apartment before silently walking in. He slipped his shoes off before shakily walking to their bathroom. He lightly splashed water on his face before looking in the mirror. God, did he look like a mess. His vision blurred as he slightly stumbled back. He fell down along the wall of their bathroom lightly and slid down to his knees, headache pounding against his forehead as he crawled over to their toilet silently.
Bile started to rise in Jeongin’s throat and the boy hunched over their toilet carefully, ready for what was about to come. Surprisingly, the bile never left his throat, quickly settling in his stomach uncomfortably once more. Tears welled up in his eyes as he hunched over the toilet intermittently, bile rising and lowering in his throat. He was so preoccupied over the toilet, he didn’t hear the others come into their dorm.
Finally, relief came to Jeongin, the bile in his throat finally left his body and he loudly retched over the toilet as he emptied his stomach contents. He heaved over the toilet for a couple of minutes, tears falling down his cheeks. Suddenly, he felt a hand touch his back and he flinched heavily before shakily turning around, to see who it was. His Minho-hyung was looking at him with the most heartbroken and worried expression, making Jeongin’s heart twist in pain. He moaned loudly, falling back onto his Minho-hyung carefully. He breathed heavily as he intermittently closed his eyes, exhaustion clouding him quickly.
“Come on, Jeongin-ah. Let’s lie down in your room.” Minho tried helping Jeongin to his feet, wrapping his arm around the younger boy as they both stood up. Jeongin shakily stood up on his feet and walked out of the bathroom with Minho’s help. He locked eyes with some of the other’s worried expressions and held his head silently as he continued walking to his room. Minho helped him lay down in his bed, before tucking the boy under his covers and kissing him on the forehead.
“Tell me if you need anything, okay Jeongin-ah? I’ll be right outside the whole night.”
Jeongin silently nodded before intermittently closing his eyes, exhaustion flowing through him. He soon fell asleep peacefully, paying no mind to his overheating body. Minho silently sighed before feeling the boy’s forehead, slightly flinching as he felt the temperature. His heart twisted in pain and he left the room as silently as he could. He quickly grabbed a basin and washcloth before putting cold water in the basin and walking back to Jeongin’s room. He dipped the washcloth into the basin before wringing it out and dabbing it on the younger’s forehead, wiping the sweat from Jeongin carefully, not trying to wake him. He sighed silently once more and set the washcloth in the basin once more before exiting the room again.
💙
He walked to their living room and sat on the couch, sighing as he sunk in and looked at his members. He saw how they were all tired, but he could see the nervous atmosphere radiating in the room.
“He’s okay, guys. He just fell asleep. I’ll keep an eye on him tonight and see if he needs anything. Oh…Seungmin, you should probably sleep in Chan and my room, just to be safe.” Minho looked at the team afterward, each of them nodding silently.
“Seungmin! We’ll sleep together!” Chan said in English, trying to lighten everyone’s moods.
“Ugh…I’ll sleep on the floor,” Seungmin said in his thick English accent, classic sarcastic attitude coming through.
“No, Seungmin will sleep in my bed and I’ll sleep on the couch. I’ll be too worried about Jeongin to get much sleep anyway.” Minho stood up and crossed his arms, he wouldn’t take no for an answer.
“Okay, Minho, but make sure you don’t get sick too. You’re probably the only one who can take care of him properly too, so there’s that.” Chan lightly joked, laughing so they wouldn’t have to think hard about the situation they were in.
“I’ll be careful, Chan-hyung. I’m gonna pick some stuff up from the pharmacy and convenience store. Do you guys need anything?” He said as he grabbed his wallet and walked closer to the door.
“Eggs!”
“Barley tea!”
“Yuzu tea please!”
He heard a chorus of demands come from the others and made a mental note of all of them as he slipped his shoes on. He soon left their apartment and made his way to their local pharmacy where he picked up medicine for Jeongin and then headed to the convenience store to pick up the items the members requested.
Once he finished shopping for everything, he paid and headed back home, quickly returning so he could make Jeongin feel better. Once home, most of the others were in their rooms, with only some still hanging out in the living room watching a movie. He set the food from the convenience store on the counter, still in the bag before turning to the others. He held Jeongin’s medicine from the pharmacy and walked to the youngest boy’s room, carefully opening and closing the door. The younger boy was still sleeping in his bed, making Minho wish he didn’t have to wake him up.
He sighed and knelt beside the boy’s bedside, shaking him awake gently. Jeongin’s eyes fluttered open and he coughed painfully, throat raw and dehydrated. He fully opened his eyes and saw Minho’s worried expression as his eyes unintentionally welled up with tears.
“Hyung…my head hurts…and my body…is so heavy.” He whispered, still fatigued and throat extremely sore.
“It’s okay, Jeongin-ah. You’ll feel better soon, here, take this medicine.” He held up the liquid medicine the pharmacy gave him and poured it into the measuring cup as Jeongin stood up in his bed. Minho held it out to him and Jeongin silently grimaced at his hyung. Minho smirked, Jeongin’s childish side was hard to hide when he was sick like this.
“It’s gonna taste bad, Minho-hyung.” Jeongin grimaced at the older, slightly pouting. Minho smirked and stuck the cup closer to Jeongin. The younger took it and grimaced more as he brought it to his lips. He blinked over to Minho once more, the older starting to get slightly annoyed. He chuckled before grabbing the cup while simultaneously opening Jeongin’s mouth. He made the boy down the liquid, the boy flinching hard but complying with his hyung. Once he was done, he lightly gagged, almost making the medicine spit out of his mouth, but he fully swallowed it. He laid back down, becoming dizzy as he closed his eyes.
Minho pressed his lips softly onto Jeongin’s forehead and stood up.
“Get better soon, Jeongin-ah. For all of us.” He whispered, the boy already starting to fall asleep.
The youngest boy slightly nodded before fully drifting off into unconsciousness.
💙
Minho fell asleep on the couch that night peacefully, exhaustion overtaking his senses. When he awoke the next morning, it was because someone was running out of their room and into the nearby bathroom. He checked the time on his phone and quickly realized it was still fairly early, about 7 am. Minho sighed and walked to their bathroom, expecting Jeongin to be hunched over their toilet. When he was met with Hyunjin holding back his longer hair with one hand and the other gripping the seat of the toilet. His eyebrows furrowed together in pain and he patted Hyunjin’s back carefully. Hyunjin groaned before turning around to Minho with a pitiful expression. Minho continued to rub Hyunjin’s back carefully, wanting to comfort the younger boy doing whatever it takes.
Once Hyunjin was finished heaving his stomach out over the toilet, Minho helped him, albeit shakily, to Seungmin and Jeongin’s room where he laid Hyunjin down in Seungmin’s bed.
“I’ll get you a washcloth, just hold on, Hyunjin-ah,” Minho said as Hyunjin breathed heavily as he sunk further into the bed.
Minho quickly went to their bathroom and grabbed another washcloth before running back to Jeongin’s and Seungmin’s room. He grabbed the basin beside Jeongin’s bedside and brought it over to Hyunjin’s (Seungmin’s?) bedside before dipping the washcloth in the cold water and wringing it out before dabbing it on Hyunjin’s forehead, wiping away the sweat adorning it before setting it on his forehead fully. He slightly sighed before turning around and grabbing the basin again, moving to Jeongin’s side of the room. He dipped Jeongin’s washcloth into the cold water of the basin and wrung it out before setting it on the younger boy’s forehead again. He silently sighed as he gazed at the sleeping boy. He stood up from his position on the floor and looked at both of the boys in the beds silently.
A memory flashed through his mind of Jeongin and Hyunjin sitting together last night at the awards show. He exited the room and sighed heavily, stress on the forefront. He opened his eyes when he heard a door click open, tired and feeling unfair that two of his younger brothers had to go through this. He locked eyes with Chan and sighed as he closed his eyes.
“Hyunjin is sick too. Can you do me a favor and call our manager to let him know the situation? I’m gonna go back to the pharmacy and pick up more medicine for Hyunjin.”
“Got it. How about you pick up a couple actually? We’re running low on medicine anyway and we can always save it for another situation like this.” Chan said as he pulled a couple of bills out of his wallet and handed them to Minho who silently nodded.
Great, now I need to go to the bank and the pharmacy.
Minho rolled his eyes playfully, he knew Chan was just saying it out of the goodness of his heart. He grabbed his wallet and slipped his shoes on in the front entrance of their apartment. He waved to Chan tiredly, making the older boy smile silently as he waved to the younger boy.
🩵
Minho was so incredibly glad he got enough medicine for all of them at the pharmacy. It spread so incredibly fast in their dorm, there was no way any of them could’ve predicted how it would affect them.
After Chan called their manager to let him know the situation, their manager talked to the CEO and was able to get a week off for all of the boys to recover. They were all relieved greatly at that, thinking it would only take one to two days for Jeongin and Hyunjin to recover and they would get to spend five whole days doing whatever they wanted. Oh, how they wished that was the case.
Flash forward to the next day, and Minho and Felix start to feel sick. They didn’t throw up like Hyunjin and Jeongin, but they did feel nauseous on the first day of being sick. It was bad. Han had to exit his shared room with Felix so Minho and Felix could quarantine. And since Minho was virtually out of commission; the illness had spread through him the most rapidly, he could barely move because of his dizziness; there wasn’t anyone that could make food for the sick patients either. But, it’s not like they were awake enough even to eat much of anything.
Next, it was Han and Changbin that felt sick. It definitely wasn’t as bad as the others, but they still had a rough time. It was only around that time that Jeongin and Hyunjin started to feel better, and by that I mean they were able to stay awake for a regular amount of time and eat three square meals. I should also mention that this was the fifth day of their break, meaning they had two more days of their break left. Chan needed to remember to call their manager again so they could know the situation and get more time off. They definitely couldn’t work in this state. Chan and Seungmin had their hands full dealing with six sick patients, the thought of working was the last thing in their minds.
Finally, it happened. Chan and Seungmin fully succumbed to the sickness ravaging their dorm. The boys woke up with their heads pounding, throats dry, and limbs aching heavily. They both knew what this entailed for both of them. Luckily, by the time Chan and Seungmin succumbed to the sickness, Jeongin and Hyunjin were almost fully recovered and Minho and Felix were starting to get better as well. They definitely had their hands full, so Jeongin devised a plan to make it easier for him and Hyunjin.
Jeongin and Hyunjin divided and conquered; Jeongin checked up on the older members of the group while Hyunjin checked on the younger members. They checked on them every hour or so, moving each member back to their appropriate room in the morning. Jeongin felt incredibly guilty when he took care of each member though, it was his fault this whole situation even happened in the first place. He obviously didn’t tell anyone, he didn’t want anyone to worry about him, especially after he just recovered from his illness. So, he put on a mask and smiled in front of everyone as he took care of them, not even beginning to suspect that it was beginning to crack. The older members could tell something was wrong with Jeongin as well, even though they were sick, Jeongin would usually talk to them about any and everything to catch them up with current events happening in the idol world or in general. They mostly figured it was because Jeongin was still recovering from his cold, so they didn’t pay it much mind.
It all came to a head when Chan’s fever rose, he was having more difficulty than usual getting better. Jeongin came in to feed the older boy, taking his temperature first. When he walked into Chan and Minho’s room, he assumed the older boy was sleeping because he was breathing heavily and his eyes were closed. He set the bowl of soup on the boy’s desk and took his temperature at his bedside. He silently grimaced at the unsightly temperature of 38º Celcius and set the thermometer down. He grabbed the basin full of cold water from the other side of the room and dipped Chan’s washcloth in it before wringing it out. He set it on the older’s forehead and smiled ever so slightly when Chan’s grimace slightly lessened. He sighed and held the older’s hand, silent affection for the boy starting to come out.
“I’m sorry Chan-hyung…for getting you sick…and everyone else. I’m so horrible…” He rubbed the older boy’s thumb as he felt tears well up in his eyes.
Chan’s eyes slightly opened after hearing everything Jeongin said. The younger boy had a downtrodden expression as Chan closed his eyes again.
“It’s okay, Jeongin-ah…it’s not your fault.” He said groggily, throat sore and dry.
Jeongin slightly flinched and turned to the older boy, Chan’s eyes opening again. Jeongin stared at the older silently for a minute, tears silently welling up in his eyes.
“But–– it’s my fault…everyone got sick. And…now we have to miss our schedules and I just––”
“It’s not your fault, Jeongin-ah. We all get sick sometimes. This isn’t your fault, don’t worry about it.”
Jeongin looked at Chan silently, the older man slightly smiling at Jeongin. Jeongin slightly smiled at the older boy after a couple of moments, body relaxing greatly.
Chan opened his arms as he sat up in his bed, an open invitation for the boy to fall into them. Jeongin relaxed greatly and hugged his hyung tightly, smiling warmly in his arms.
Chan patted Jeongin’s hair and smiled warmly.
“Thank you, hyung,” Jeongin whispered as he left Chan’s strong arms, smiling warmly back at the older man.
Fin