Archive of Our Own

It’s about halfway through his shift when Felix starts to feel unwell. Start might be too generous of a term, as the feeling of malaise hits him like a ton of bricks in the middle of moving boxes of produce around the stockroom. His manager had been in some kind of mood this morning, making her completely unsufferable and leaving Felix, Seungmin, and their fellow coworkers at the hands of her miserable attitude. Felix hadn’t even had the luck to be placed with Seungmin, although he suspects that’s more due in part to his close-minded manager’s opinion of their relationship.

Either way, Felix’s body feels so warm in the air-con regulated room that he needs to shed his bulky pastel blue cardigan that he’d been so excited to wear because it was finally cool enough when he and Seungmin had left this morning. His coworker Sungho had looked at him weird, given that it was probably just as cool in the stockroom as it was outside, but Felix was already starting to sweat and figured their manager would be more than pissed if she came back and saw Felix sweating onto the produce that was supposed to be sold in a few hours. He knew he just had to get through another hour or so before their shift was over, and he could go home and nap away to his heart’s content before his afternoon classes.

Felix’s seven boyfriends had plans to go out that weekend, since they all set aside the time to see each other the first weekend of every month. Felix had worked extra hard over the last two weeks to make sure any looming assignments were in a good enough spot to leave untouched over the weekend, since despite living with two of his boyfriends and even working with one, he felt like he never got to see any of them enough. Chan and Minho had told the rest of them to not worry about it, that they’d plan out the whole weekend this month since 3RACHA had been allowed a little bit of a break after the last set of demos they’d been able to sell to various groups. They had plans to meet downtown tomorrow morning and follow the itinerary that the hyungs had set and were apparently very excited for. So Felix would be damned if he let some inconvenient feeling of awfulness dampen the weekend he’d looked forward to since the last one. He knew if any of his boyfriends caught on to him not feeling 100%, that they’d probably cancel the whole weekend and insist on coddling him and Felix really doesn’t want to miss out on whatever Chan and Minho have planned. He just has to make sure Seungmin and Jeongin don’t pick up on anything, since they’re the most likely to do so as they all live together. Luckily, Jeongin had been assigned a placement as a sub for an elementary school class this morning, so he wouldn’t be around for most of the day and Felix could probably get away with telling Seungmin he just needed a quick lie-down so he wouldn’t be all that suspicious. Seungmin won’t be home for very long before he needs to go to class, and then he’s pretty sure Seungmin will swing by Minho’s studio for a class, so he won’t be home until after Felix is.

“You look awful,” is what Seungmin says when they meet at the time clock at the end of their shift. So much for keeping Seungmin from becoming suspicious. Felix frowns at him.

“What a kind thing to say, Minnie. It really boosts my self-esteem,” Felix shoots back flatly, punching in his associate number so he can finally be off the clock and free of their manager’s demands. He’d been fortunate enough to sneak back here undetected, as she probably would have made him do four other things before clocking out and he would have been stuck here an extra fifteen minutes. Seungmin giggles a little bit, moving to take Felix’s place after his punch has been recorded.

“You know I always think you look drop dead gorgeous,” Seungmin amends, turning to Felix to look at him properly once he’s done punching out. His eyebrows start to scrunch together the longer he looks Felix. “But I think you’re taking the ‘drop dead’ part a little too far this morning.” He looks at Felix expectantly, waiting for an explanation that Felix doesn’t really want to give Seungmin. His throat is starting to feel a little sore, and trying to find a way to explain to Seungmin that he’s fine when he apparently looks as awful as he feels seems like a lot of work.

“Not all of us can roll out of the bed looking as nice as you,” he grumbles in response, shrugging his cardigan back on and heading to the door so he doesn’t have to continue to be subjected to Seungmin’s analytical gaze. He’s not entirely lying, Seungmin does always look presentable no matter the time of day. He looks especially cute today, dressed in a cream sweater vest that Felix thinks he remembers him buying last fall.

Their apartment isn’t all that far away from the grocery store, and they fall into step next to each other, Seungmin reaching for Felix’s hand a few paces away from the front door of the store. Just like it does whenever Felix’s boyfriends show him any kind of affection, he feels his face heat up despite the warmth that’s been feeling like it’s festering under his skin. This is a nicer kind of warmth, the kind that reminds Felix that he has seven boys who love him just as much as he loves them.

“You feel warm,” Seungmin comments nonchalantly, except that it doesn’t sound all that nonchalant since Felix knows exactly how Seungmin is. Seungmin is a pro at sounding casual and breezy in order to get people to open up more because it’s just a casual conversation, right? And then Seungmin uses that information to sic the rest of their polycule on whoever it is that is overly stressed or sick or upset or whatever the situation is, and Seungmin comes out completely unharmed on the other end because he’s just so cute and unassuming and nothing can ever be his fault. Felix kind of envies him for that. But Felix knows precisely what will happen if he makes any indication that he does not feel well so he just shrugs.

“Maybe from all the manual labor manager-nim made me and Sungho do,” he offers. “You got off easy, stocking shelves. She was in rare form today.” It’s a stab in the dark, and a clear deflection, but Seungmin takes it anyways. Maybe he’s not on his game right now. Felix is grateful.

“Easy for about seventeen minutes, until she came back and told us we were doing it all wrong because it’s meant to be a holiday display.” Felix winces. Their manager likes things to be done her way all the time, even if it’s not necessarily what the store manager wants, but if he’s not around, then they have to listen to her. On a good day, she’s a handful. On a day like today, she’s a headache. “How much do you want to bet it’s done completely different by the time we go in Monday?” Felix laughs and shakes his head.

“No bet, I’m not that easy to fool, baby.”

“Baby? Now you’re making me feel warm.”

“Minnie!”

Despite Felix’s consistent maintaining that he’s fine, no really Minnie, I just want to lay down, I’m just tired, Seungmin still insists on sticking a thermometer in his mouth when they get back and Felix changes back into his pajamas. His afternoon class isn’t for three hours, which is plenty of time for a nap. Seungmin has to leave for his classes very shortly, and Felix definitely doesn’t want him to be late, so he figures it’s just easier to stick it in his mouth and hope he doesn’t have a fever. Fortunately, Seungmin steps out of the room just before the thermometer beeps at Felix and he quickly removes it so he can clear the temperature before Seungmin comes back in. 37.7. Definitely a fever, albeit a low-grade one, so nothing horrible and Felix can probably just take a fever reducer and it’ll be okay. Certainly nothing to share with Seungmin. The other boy comes back into the room just as Felix sets the cleared thermometer on the nightstand and smiles innocently up at Seungmin. Seungmin sighs, looking at the thermometer that is clearly no longer on.

“Again.”

“What? Minnie, c’mon, it was a normal temperature. Why would I lie about that?” Felix asks in his most convincing and innocent voice. Seungmin’s eyes narrow a fraction before he looks at the clock on Felix’s wall. Felix watches the decision making in real time: stay here and berate Felix about a fever he may or may not have before being late to class, or trust that Felix wouldn’t lie about something as serious as his health and show up on time? Felix can see the resignation in Seungmin’s eyes as he sighs again.

“Fine, but Bbokkie, if you don’t feel better later, I’m for sure telling the hyungs.”

“Deal,” Felix nods seriously, giving Seungmin his most saccharine smile. “But I don’t even feel unwell, Seungminnie, and you’re about to be really late to class.” Seungmin groans, clearly not buying what Felix is selling, but knowing he needs to get a move on. He bends down to press a kiss to Felix’s forehead, giving Felix an all-too-knowing look when he feels the warmth against his lips, but says nothing else before departing Felix’s room. Felix waits for the lock on their apartment door to turn before getting out of bed and rummaging through the medicine cabinet for a fever reducer. He manages to find one and washes it down with a glass of water before tucking himself back into bed and falling asleep.

-

“Hyung? Hyuuuung. Felix-hyung. Hyung!”

Felix startles awake, blinking rapidly at the brightness of his room. Jeongin stands in front of him, still dressed in his work clothes, looking wholly unimpressed in the light of the LEDs that he’s clearly turned on to be able to see Felix. Oh, shit. What time is it? The clock on his wall says it’s 6PM, way past the time he was meant to leave for class. His class is probably finishing up right now, actually.

“You were sleeping so deeply, I thought you were dead! Aren’t you supposed to be in class right now?” Jeongin’s head tilts curiously to the side. Felix stares back at him, uncomprehending through the cotton currently stuffed in his head. At least his throat doesn’t hurt as much, and he definitely doesn’t feel all that warm anymore. Right. Jeongin asked him a question and is starting to look more concerned the longer he doesn’t respond.

“Oops,” Felix says, laughing a little until it feels like it might turn into a cough, so he stops immediately. “I guess I overslept. I only meant to have quick nap.” Jeongin’s questioning look starts to resemble something a lot closer to Seungmin’s analytical look. Maybe they’re spending too much time together. Or maybe Felix is a lot worse at lying than he thinks he is.

“Are you feeling okay?” Jeongin asks, concerned. “You never miss class.” This is true. Felix has a whole thing about not missing class, because he’s dedicated to his education or whatever. He knows the companies he’s interested in applying to after graduation want prospective film directors to have impressive transcripts, so he’s been trying to shoot for as close to a perfect grade as possible. “Maybe I should call hyungs, something must be horrifically wrong with you to miss class.” He’s still peering at Felix, except this time when Felix looks over at him, he has his phone clutched in his hand and ready to call someone. Felix absolutely cannot let this happen.

“No, no, Innie, I’m fine,” he insists, sitting up in his bed to show Jeongin just how fine he is. “Really, it was an accident, but look! I’m getting up now so I can start getting to the schoolwork I just missed, because I’m fine.” Getting up and doing work is the last thing his body wants to do right now, especially since he can’t get the feeling of stuffiness out of his head despite the number of times he’s been able to get his ears to pop just by swallowing since he woke up. “We don’t have to tell hyungs anything, because I’m fine, it was a one-time accident and I’m fine!” Felix has definitely said the word ‘fine’ too much because Jeongin does not look placated. “I’ll even make brownies for you, because that’s how fi- okay I am, and we don’t have to tell anyone anything.”

Jeongin stares at Felix for what feels like an entire minute, probably gauging whether or not Felix is lying. Finally, he responds. “This seems like blackmail.” It for sure is, but that’s not the point. Felix gives him the same sweet smile he gave Seungmin, and Jeongin sighs. He’s definitely been spending way too much time with Seungmin, even their disapproving sighs are starting to sound the same. “Okay, hyung, if you say you’re fine, then you’re fine. I’m going to go shower and change.” He heads for the door, and Felix slumps back against his pillows in relief. Jeongin stops at the door, turning back to look at Felix, who turns his head to see Jeongin give him a very sweet smile of his own. “I’m looking forward to those brownies, hyung.”

Damn.

Felix feels mostly fine the next morning when he wakes up. He has the most minor cough in the world, no more fever, and aside from the now ever-present feeling of cotton in every corner of his head, he feels great!

Maybe not great, but good enough. Nothing would be able to stop him from going out with his boyfriends today. Definitely not some weird sickness that isn’t even that bad, and true to both of their words, Seungmin and Jeongin haven’t given any indication that they told the hyungs or even spoke to each other about Felix last night. Which is even better, because even without the hyungs, Seungmin and Jeongin could probably bully Felix under the pretense of love into admitting how he’s feeling and he would be absolutely helpless against the two of them. But he has no need to worry about that, so he dresses in a white t-shirt, tucked into a pair of distressed jeans and black boots. He’s so glad it’s sweater weather and really doesn’t know which one he wants to wear, but time is ticking, so he settles on a pink and cream cardigan and runs a brush through his hair before meeting Seungmin and Jeongin in the kitchen.

“Hi boyfriends,” Felix greets them, leaning down to kiss both of them before swiping Seungmin’s coffee and downing the rest in a quick gulp. Seungmin glares at him.

“You look nice,” Jeongin says appreciatively, joining Felix in ignoring Seungmin. Jeongin also looks nice, in his black leather jacket and black top over a pair of simple blue jeans. Seungmin’s put on his round glasses and a baseball cap, with a simple denim jacket over a t-shirt and jeans. Felix’s boyfriends should quit their jobs and become models.

“You both look nice,” Felix says back, giving them each another kiss because he really can’t help himself, and even though Seungmin pretends to be annoyed about the coffee, he gives up about 0.5 seconds later and lets Felix kiss him gently. They’re interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell, to which Seungmin tries to get up, but Felix kisses him a little more forcefully and his boyfriend sits himself back down.

“Annoying,” Jeongin scoffs, amusement clear in his voice as the sound of his chair scraping against the kitchen tile gives away his resignation to getting the door. Felix finishes kissing Seungmin just as the door swings open to show Chan and Minho standing at the door. They both kiss Jeongin in greeting, which gives Felix a nice opportunity to admire his two eldest boyfriends. Both of them, as usual, look fantastic: Chan has opted for an all-black ensemble with a bomber jacket that Felix definitely wants to borrow, and Minho is wearing the silkiest black shirt with accents of light blue and orange tucked into a pair of orange corduroys. Felix is going to talk to Chan later about getting whatever entertainment company he works for to sign all four of them up to be models. They could wear trash bags and still be the most beautiful people on Earth to Felix.

“Hi, sunshine,” Chan smiles at Felix before pulling him in for a searing kiss while Minho does the same to Seungmin. After a couple moments, they both switch and suddenly Felix is looking into Minho’s eyes as his hyung grins at him before pressing a soft kiss to Felix’s lips. As usual, Felix feels warm, as he does in the presence of his boyfriends. “You all ready to go? The others are meeting us downtown. I hope you’re hungry.” Chan’s dimples pop out, as the maknaes make sure they have everything before turning to follow them out of the apartment.

The autumn air is just as brisk as yesterday, but a bit warmer when there is no breeze. Felix is very content to be squished between his hyungs as they all walk down the street, everyone chatting about their weeks and Felix chiming in when Seungmin talks about the rampage their manager was on yesterday. Chan reaches down at some point to take his hand, and Felix grins so widely the other people passing them by must think he’s crazy. But it doesn’t really matter when Minho presses a kiss to his temple and praises him and Seungmin for being so patient and hardworking at their jobs on top of their classwork. Felix side-eyes Jeongin for a moment, curious if he’ll give him away, but the youngest says nothing and instead launches into a story about the kids he was subbing for yesterday.

The subway trip downtown takes almost no time, despite the subways being packed more than a weekday, and Felix and his boyfriends are arriving at a cute little restaurant moments not that long later. It looks like they’ve been beaten here by Changbin, Hyunjin and Jisung, who are all seated at a table and laughing over something on Hyunjin’s phone. Felix’s three remaining boyfriends are just as gorgeous as the others, Jisung making an oversized sweatshirt, jeans and bucket hat look like a runway design, Changbin wearing a denim jacket and jeans nicer than Felix could ever dream of, and Hyunjin always looking the nicest in what looks like a full Versace set that he probably got after his last modeling job. Scratch talking to Chan, Felix has a whole model as a boyfriend and he definitely needs to find out what kind of strings he needs to pull so the rest of Felix’s boyfriends’ beauty can be recognized alongside Hyunjin’s own.

“We’ve arrived, hyungs!” Jeongin announces, bounding up to them and pressing a quick kiss to all of their mouths. While none of them are shy about showing their love for each other, they’ve all been on the receiving end of some very hateful comments about being gay, let alone the first few times they went out as a polycule and swore none of them cared about how anyone else felt. That part was true, but it didn’t mean it didn’t put a damper on a lot of their dates, so when they went out all together, they tended to keep PDA very subtle and minimal. Everyone exchanges greetings, hugs, quick kisses, before sitting down at the table. A waitress comes around to take their drink orders, and they all settle into conversation. Jisung reaches down and finds Felix’s hand under the table, squeezing it.

“I missed you,” he says quietly to Felix.

“Missed you too, Sungie,” Felix replies back, leaning over and smacking a kiss to his cheek. “Congrats on your last demos, I can’t wait to hear them when they’re all released!”

“Ah, you know it was a group effort,” Jisung waves him off, the way he does anytime Felix compliments him. Jisung has always been modest about the work 3RACHA does, maintaining that it’s mostly Changbin and Chan and that he just ‘helps out here and there’, which all of them know is not true. But just like Jisung always brushes them off, Felix always reminds him that his contributions mean more than he takes credit for.

“Yes, a group effort,” Felix huffs, reaching up to snatch Jisung’s bucket hat off so he can ruffle his hair. Jeongin immediately grabs the bucket hat and places it on his own head, and Jisung can’t even complain because Jeongin has them all whipped. “A group that contains you, and equal contributions. Don’t sell yourself short, Sungie, your work is invaluable to hyungs.” Jisung’s face starts to flush, the way it does whenever Felix has this conversation with him, but he’s saved by the waitress coming back around with their drinks. Lucky Jisung.

Felix’s drink is something with a jalapeño gin base, so it really should be no surprise to him that it has a bit of a kick to it. He swallows hard around the first sip, and can’t help himself from the cough that escapes his mouth. The effect is instantaneous. Everyone stops talking and looks at Felix. Shit. “It’s got a kick to it,” he manages between coughs, lowering his mouth into his arm and keeping his eyes down so he doesn’t accidentally look at Seungmin or Jeongin who would immediately sell him out. He nudges his drink toward Chan, his best bet for corroborating his statement as the hyung of hyungs. When he peeks up, Chan is sipping the drink, putting it down just as Felix’s cough stops.

“It is a bit spicy,” he acknowledges. Phew. Felix is off the hook. Except for the part where the tickle in his throat doesn’t completely disappear, but that’s a problem for later Felix. The conversation picks up again, everyone deciding that Felix is fine (because he is), and they put in food orders shortly after.

It turns out, after their meal, the restaurant has an underground mini-golf course that Chan and Minho had also booked. It also turns out that while Felix is usually spectacularly horrible when playing against his friends, he manages to not be the worst in their polycule. Hyunjin and Jisung pout at their horrible playing between every single hole and are only saved from further embarrassment by the “Mercy rule” the mini-golf course has in place that means the maximum putts they are allowed on each hole is six. Changbin is the surprise winner, which he demands victory kisses from everyone, shielded by the mostly dark room illuminated by neon signs and fairy lights. Felix happily complies, although it does cross his mind that he maybe shouldn’t kiss them all so much if he is getting sick. Which he’s not, because he’s fine, but on the very minor possibility, he definitely doesn’t want to take out the whole polycule.

The next destination is a Christmas market with hot mulled apple wine and a bunch of cute stalls. There’s a carousel that Jeongin demands at least some of them go on, so Felix, Seungmin and Hyunjin climb on with him. Jeongin demands he sit on a giraffe, which turns out to not move up and down due to its’ height and corresponding weight, and he pouts for the entire ride while Felix and Hyunjin laugh so hard Felix almost falls off his horse. Minho buys them all another round, and Felix sneaks off with Hyunjin to buy a couple of things from the stalls that they thought would make good Christmas gifts for their boyfriends. On the way back, they stop by a glass figurine making stall, watching the glassmaker carefully fold the heated glass.

“Your outfit is very pretty, Jinnie,” Felix tells him as they stand there. Hyunjin smiles prettily and presses a kiss to Felix’s head in thanks, launching into the story of how Donatella Versace herself personally gifted him the suit after the campaign he’d shot the week before. Felix is struck by the shock he always is when he thinks about the fact that he’s dating an actual model. Knowing that his boyfriends are beautiful enough to be models is one thing, remembering that one of them is one is another. Felix has definitely peaked in life.

“Oi!” Chan’s voice calls from across the path, and Felix, startled out of his admiration for Hyunjin, almost eats shit right into the very delicate and very fragile display of glass ornaments. He’s saved by someone yanking him backwards, Minho’s face coming into view as Felix stumbles into him.

“Aish, Haengbokkie, so clumsy,” Minho sighs, rightening Felix as Hyunjin tries to stifle his giggles.

In the most mortifying moment of his entire life, Felix happens to lock eyes with the glassmaker who must have watched the whole thing. The glassmaker’s lips turn up in a smile, looking knowingly between Felix, Hyunjin and Minho, the former of the two still laughing his ass off and the latter fussing over Felix. Felix mouths ‘sorry’ to the man, embarrassed that he almost witnessed Felix destroy all of his hard work. The man winks back at him and returns to his craft. Felix kind of wants to die.

This feeling quickly passes when Minho hands Felix the rest of his pilsner, claiming he doesn’t like it, and then tugs Felix along to meet up with the others as they set off to their next destination. It ends up being an arcade, when Felix once again blows himself and his boyfriends away with how good he ends up being. It must be a lucky day, or maybe his boyfriends are just that much worse than his friends usually are, because Felix doesn’t lose a single round of anything. He even manages to beat Minho at Dance Dance Revolution, which is a moment he makes Chan take a picture of so he can forever remember this moment. He already has dreams of printing this photo on a blanket and gifting it to Minho for Christmas.

The last stop of the evening comprises of a stop at their favorite ramen restaurant, a place that’s always got a bit of a wait because they don’t take reservations. Chan, the hyung of hyungs, herds them all to wait on a nearby stoop for their table to be ready. Chan plops down next to Felix, draping his arm over Felix’s shoulders and pulling him closer to his side. Felix hums contently, leaning over to shove his face in Chan’s neck since it’s cold and Chan is now his own personal heater. He feels Chan laugh, a rumbling in his chest and Felix combats it by pressing a very loud, very sloppy kiss to Chan’s neck, making his hyung laugh even more and fake-push Felix away. Felix fake-pouts, making Chan apologize profusely and try to pull Felix back, to which Felix vehemently resists, because now he’s supposed to be mad at Chan for rejecting his love. It doesn’t last very long after Chan sighs an, “Oi, mate,” and Felix has to stop being mad at him and start clowning him instead for calling his precious boyfriend mate.

They’re inside soon enough, giving Felix a chance to thaw. The waitstaff take their orders quickly, since everyone knows what they want and the restaurant’s objective is to turn tables as quickly as possible, especially when their group is eight and they take up a third of the seating on their own. Felix gets his regular, spicy ramen, and doesn’t think twice about it until Jeongin says something particularly funny and he laughs so hard he inhales spices and starts coughing aggressively. And not just the small kind of cough that comes with choking on air or inhaled spices. The kind of cough that accompanies getting sick. The kind of cough that makes the waitstaff look at him funny and makes every single one of his boyfriends stop what they’re doing to make sure he’s not dying.

Okay, fine, maybe Felix is not fine.

But he’s sure as hell not going to admit that.

“Sorry, sorry,” he says, sipping at his water in hopes that makes him stop coughing quicker. “Innie is just becoming quite the comedian.”

No one laughs.

“I’m fine,” Felix does not whine, but says in a very mature way that definitely implies that he’s fine. He’s stopped coughing, at least, and tries to wave off all of their concerned looks. Seungmin looks more suspicious, and even looks like he’s about to open his mouth, and oh no– “I’m good now,” he insists, smiling at all of them to prove his point. “Sorry, Innie, you were saying?” Jeongin also looks a bit suspicious, but returns to telling his story, and Felix eats the rest of what he can manage before he’s comfortably full and happy to lay his head on Jeongin’s shoulder as everyone else finishes up.

“Is everyone still coming back to ours tonight?” Chan asks everyone as they step outside. Felix internally facepalms. There’s no way he can spend the night with all of them tomorrow, not when his throat still feels like it’s going to give him away at any moment and his head is starting to feel all stuffy again. He needs an excuse out of it, but since they all spend the entire weekend together, there’s definitely no good way for him to get out of it without worrying everyone else, especially when the majority of them are still nodding.

“Actually,” Hyunjin speaks up, shuffling his feet. “I have shoot booked tomorrow, and my call time is really early. I probably should head home for the night.” He looks absolutely crestfallen, and Jeongin immediately throws himself into Hyunjin’s arms to make that look disappear. “I’m sorry, guys, I really hate missing out on any part of our weekends together.”

“It’s okay,” Chan says comfortingly, pulling Hyunjin (and by extension, Jeongin) in for a hug. “We understand things come up. Are you going to be okay getting home?”

“I’m actually going with him,” Changbin speaks up, also sounding extremely apologetic. “I kind of… forgot this weekend was my ahjussi’s birthday until eomma called me yesterday and I have to catch an early bus to my parents’.”

“Binnie-hyung,” Jeongin whines from where he’s now pulling Hyunjin over so he can hug them both. It’s cute. Felix has very cute boyfriends.

“You’ll both text us when you leave and arrive, right?” Chan asks them both. It’s a rhetorical question. Everyone knows Chan is a massive worrywart when they all travel further than a subway ride. Changbin and Hyunjin nod without argument. “Okay, anyone else going home?”

“Oh,” Felix jumps in, “yeah. I have a project I forgot about and really need to get done before the end of next week and I haven’t started it.” An innocuous excuse. Something that clears him to be busy for a few days if he ends up being sick, because Felix is having a very hard time lying to himself and saying that’s not the case. And they’ve all discussed how weird and somewhat busy they’re all going to be next week, so he really can’t afford for them to know he’s sick because he knows they’ll drop everything to take care of him and that’s really not necessary when he’s a full-grown adult.

Apparently, it’s not a good enough excuse, because everyone looks at him with mixed degrees of shock and suspicion. “You never start projects later than the day they’re assigned,” Jisung points out. Good point. Felix should be a worse student for his excuses to be more believable in the future.

“You never complete a project less than a week before their due date,” Minho adds. Another good point. Felix is a boring, good, straight A student and really didn’t think they would read this much into it.

“I was just really excited to see you all this weekend and it slipped my mind,” Felix lies easily, throwing in a little aegyo because that never hurts. No one says anything for a moment.

“Aigoo, Lix-ah, are we distracting you from your studies?” Changbin finally asks dramatically, always the most gullible. (Felix only feels a little guilty for thinking that.) “Hyung was very excited to see you too, you know. I don’t ever get enough Felix-time.”

“Yah, he didn’t just say you,” Jisung grumbles, punching Changbin’s shoulder. “There’s six others of us, too.”

“Are you sure, Felix?” Chan asks over the two starting to bicker. “It really can’t wait?” Felix feels more than a little guilty now for lying to Chan, and also for having to back out on his boyfriends when there is really only that one weekend a month when he is guaranteed to see all of them. Of course, they have smaller dates throughout the month with each other, depending on who’s free or who has time to meet up, but it’s not the same. But Felix also doesn’t want to clue them in to anything being wrong, so he nods and bows his head in apology. “Okay, are you going to be okay going back?”

“Yes, hyung,” Felix nods patiently. The tickle in his throat is starting to get worse. He needs to leave soon. “I’ll text the group chat when I get back, I promise. I’ll just be working the rest of the night.” The group huddles together for one last group hug, and a few minutes later, Felix is free to let his lungs cough their little miniature hearts away. When it takes a few minutes for it to stop, Felix realizes that he is well and properly fucked.

just got home! thank you
for a great day, love
you all sm <3
21:52

channie-hyung
No need to thank us,
sunshine. We miss
you already <3
21:52

jeonginnie
<3
21:52

jeonginnie
U BETTER NOT EAT
ALL THE BROWNIES,
HYUNG
21:52

binnie-hyung
We miss you guys too
don’t forget about us :(
21:52

binnie-hyung
[1 image attached]
21:52

minho-hyung
How could anyone forget
about you when you
constantly remind us
of your presence?
21:53

binnie-hyung
Wow hyung that kind of
hurts
21:53

jeonginnie
don’t listen 2 mean-ho-hyung,
hyung. he’s jus grumpy
we’re missin 3 of u <3
21:54

minnie
Neither of you told me there
were brownies. This is the
ultimate form of betrayal.
21:54

don’t worry, m/innie. i’ll
save you some!<3
21:55

The group chat continues to buzz, but Felix finds he now has to focus on the different types of medication available to buy to combat whatever weird illness he has. Felix really misses his mom being around to just magically produce the right kind of medication. But no, Felix is supposedly a real adult now, which means that he definitely needs to figure this out for himself.

Felix wakes up coughing, which is not at all ideal. Felix coughs for what feels like a minute straight before he has the good sense to roll over and choke down some cough syrup. Felix is pretty sure he’s going to die. He stops coughing long enough to crawl into the bathroom and brush his teeth, and then he crawls right back into his bed and lays the fuck back down. He’s definitely not fine. The apartment is still quiet, even for 10 in the morning on a Sunday, so that means Seungmin and Jeongin stayed over at hyungs’ apartment and Felix is free to choke on air by himself for a bit.

Then he remembers the part where they’re going to have to come back soon, so Felix musters up the energy to pull on a pair of pants and an oversized sweatshirt and grab his bag. He throws in the various cold medications he has after taking whatever he feels is necessary, and then drags himself out of the apartment so he can take the ten minute trek to campus. This walk is made a million times worse by the amount of coughing he does under his face mask, since any instance of taking a breath is immediately followed by a coughing fit. He makes it to the campus library in eighteen minutes, the place pretty much deserted due to it being a Sunday shortly before 11. He takes the elevator to the top floor, and finds a lone study room before shutting himself in and settling in for a long afternoon.

this project seems like it’ll be
a lot of work, you might not
see me all that much for the
next few days :( <3
11:12

jeonginnie
work hard, hyung!
fighting! <3
11:17

minnie
<3
11:19

minnie
Lix, I assume you’re not coming
to work?
05:45

minnie
You said you had a lot to do,
so I understand if you’re
calling out for this week.
So if you’re not out here in 5,
I’m leaving without you.
05:45

minnie
Rest up, Lixie. Don’t
work too hard. <3
06:00

channie-hyung
Seungminnie said you
didn’t go to work this
morning, and Innie said
you were gone before he
woke up. Make sure you
don’t burn yourself out,
little one <3
08:09

Felix wakes up at 10:05, long past the time he was supposed to be at work. He at least has no classes today, and apparently was quiet enough that Jeongin thought he’d left for the day. Although, that might be more due in part to the fact Felix had closed his bedroom door behind himself after he’d used the bathroom sometime around 6:30. He usually doesn’t close his door unless he’s not in the apartment, but he’d wanted to prevent the chance of Jeongin peeking in and seeing him either not at work or looking as horribly as he currently feels. He takes another dose of cough syrup and cold medicine, stumbling over to his desk so he can email his professors ahead of classes tomorrow and let them know he’s sick and won’t be able to come in. Even this walk across his room causes his lungs to malfunction, and Felix collapses in his chair coughing aggressively until it passes.

While his computer loads, Felix peeks at his text messages, smiling at Seungmin and Chan’s concern for his well-being. He’s half-tempted to beg Chan to come over because he desperately wants some cuddles from his eldest hyung, and maybe some company after being shut up in the library all day the day before. He’d done almost no work, instead had zoned out watching some idol variety show for the entire day before napping in the study room for a good part of the afternoon. Felix had written about 500 words on an end-of-term essay, but had given up quickly since the stuffiness in his head mixed with the drowsiness from the medication had rendered his brain pretty much useless. But messaging Chan to come over is sure to derail not just Chan’s week, but everyone else’s, so Felix casts that idea out of his head quickly. He’ll text them back soon, he promises himself, and returns to his task at hand.

The email is quick to write, and by the time he’s done, Felix’s throat hurts from coughing so much. He ventures into the kitchen to grab some water. He settles for grabbing a few bottles so he doesn’t have to come back out for a bit. It’s Monday, which means Seungmin will come home to change but if Felix keeps his door closed, Seungmin will also think he’s out for the day and will leave without checking. He’ll be gone until 5 at the earliest, but he thinks this is the week for Seungmin had mentioned having group work for a couple of days in the evenings, because Jeongin had pouted about all of them having to have a break from watching their show together for a little while. Jeongin has classes all day today, following a Monday, Tuesday, Thursday schedule in order to have Wednesdays and Fridays free for sub placements. Jeongin’s last class ends at seven on Mondays, but since Seungmin and Felix are both ‘busy’, then he’s more likely to reach out to one of the others to meet up for dinner.

Felix should be fine for hours, he thinks as he crawls back into his bed after making sure the door is firmly closed. His phone is his new best friend, flicking between Instagram and TikTok since short videos are all his brain can handle for the time being. It doesn’t take long before Felix succumbs to the medication’s side effect of drowsiness again, and he nods off, phone in hand.

minnie
Are you in your room?
12:17

minnie
It sounds like you’re
editing something, so
I don’t want to bother
you. I’m heading out
for classes, and then
group work. Are you
coming to work tomorrow?
12:20

minnie
Just let me know when
you see this, Lix. I
already miss your
cute face. <3
12:21

minho-hyung
Haengbokkie, I’m near your
neighborhood, and
Seungmo said you were home
working earlier. Any chance
I can steal you away from
your work for dinner?
17:48

minho-hyung
I guess you’re really tied
up with your work. Text
me when you see this so
I know you’re at least still
alive. Love you
17:52

jinnie
Angel, look at this video
I found. It reminds me of
Changbinnie-hyung lol
17:57

jinnie
[1 link attached]
17:57

jinnie
Yah, Felix. I know you’re
not too busy to make fun
of hyung with me!!!!!
18:10

sungie
Hey, Lixie, thinking
about you. You free for
lunch in between classes
tomorrow? I can meet you
outside of your noon class<3
18:36

jeonginnie
hyungieeeeee
me n binnie-hyung r
out 2 dinner. do u want
me 2 bring u anything?
19:39

binnie-hyung
Sorry Bbokkie Innie said
something about maybe
getting you food so I was
just trying to reach you. Dont
work too hard please
20:52

minnie
Just got out of group
and realized you never
responded? Are you coming
to work tomorrow??
21:03

minnie
Lee Felix, if you’re pranking
me, you owe me my own
personal batch of baked goods.
21:05

minnie
Fine. I’ll give you the
benefit of the doubt this
ONE time and assume you
forgot to respond before
you fell asleep. But so
help me God if this is
some elaborate
prank…
21:07

channie-hyung
Hey, little one. Missing you
a lot. You free to talk?
21:31

channie-hyung
Guess not. Hopefully this
means you’re listening to
us and went to bed at a
reasonable hour. Love
you lots, sunshine, don’t
you forget it. Sweet
dreams <3
21:50

Felix wakes up long enough to take another dose of medicine, have a very exhausting coughing fit, and promptly falls back asleep.

jeonginnie
hav a good day 2day
hyungs!! miss u <3
08:14

minnie
Miss you both too. I’ll
be at Minho-hyung’s studio
all day today before group
work, but I should be free
tomorrow night as long
as we finish up everything
today. <3
08:19

jeonginnie
sounds good 2 me!!
lix-hyung???
08:20

minnie
He might be sleeping
in before class, remember
he had that big project due?
08:27

jeonginnie
oooo yes! lixie-hyung
u better be finished by
tomorrow nite!!!
08:29

There’s sunlight peeking through Felix’s blinds when he manages to crack open his eyes at the early time of 10:30. It’s much too early, and at the same time, much too late considering that he’s once again missed his shift at work. Hopefully, Seungmin covered for him. Seungmin is good like that. His head feels stuffed too full of cotton for Felix’s liking, so he rolls himself out of bed and into the bathroom so he can brush his teeth and at least trick his body into feeling more like a person instead of like the sick lump of nothing he’s been for the past couple of days. Even if he’s not going to class, Felix should check his email to see if his professors have sent along the class notes and start working on everything he’s missing today.

His body is sluggish and lethargic, so Felix’s next stop is to the cabinets to find some tea or something for his brain to kick start into action. This much movement is enough for his lungs to constrict and force a wheezing coughing fit, Felix’s abdominal muscles aching by the time it’s done. His stomach rumbles, reminding him he hasn’t had a proper meal in a day or so, but making something seems like way too much work so Felix fills the kettle with more water so he can pour make instant ramyeon. While he waits, he decides he should probably consider taking some more medication, so he ventures back into his bedroom and measures out the proper dosage. Felix is usually okay with taking pills dry, but he doesn’t want to trip another coughing fit. He glances at his phone, which seems to be dead, so he throws it on the charger before taking his medication back down the hall to the kitchen.

It doesn’t take long for the water to boil, so in no time, Felix returns to his room armed with his tea and his ramyeon and five more bottles of water. He doesn’t bother closing the door because he’s pretty sure Seungmin and Jeongin are out for the day but he’s sure he’ll have texts from them telling him where they are. Which he should probably respond to, given he slept the entire day away the day before and everyone will start worrying if he doesn’t respond. His phone is vibrating endlessly on his bed, and when it doesn’t stop after a few minutes, Felix realizes the sheer volume of missed messages he has will take a clearer mind to sift through so he might as well look at them once the meds have kicked in. So he plops down in his desk chair, opens up his class email on one monitor, and YouTube on another before slipping on his headphones and getting immersed in his work.

sungie
Lixie~~~~
I’m waiting outside your
class!!!! <3
13:46

sungie
This stuff you’re
learning sounds really
confusing btw
13:47

sungie
Did you stay behind??
14:00

sungie
Felix?????
14:02

sungie
Maybe we just
missed each other? You’re
buying next time then,
I came all the way out
here just to miss you
:( Love you though <3
Call me when you look
at your phone!
14:08

Felix’s eyes are starting to droop around 6 in the evening, and Jeongin could reasonably stop by home soon if his class ended early enough, so Felix drags himself up from the desk chair with a lot of coughing and makes sure his door is closed before flopping back on his bed. His head still feels heavy and stuffy, and he really regrets moving out of his house all those years ago if it means his eomma and appa can’t just be here to nurse him back to health. Or write him a sick note to get out of it. Felix supposes if he doesn’t feel better by Friday, he’ll get someone to take him to the doctor. Which one of his boyfriends would give him the shortest lecture about keeping it from all of them? Probably Seungmin, Felix muses as he pulls all of his blankets over his head and burrows down into them. Although, Seungmin is also the most likely to skip the lecture and straight up murder him for keeping his sickness from them. But Felix is mostly fine, still, he’s taking medication and being responsible and not getting anyone sick, so it’s not like anyone really needs to know yet.

sungie
Has anyone heard
from Felix lately??
07:42

jinnie
No, but tbh I did block
his number when he
didn’t immediately
respond to me monday
07:42

jeonginnie
???!!!
07:42

jeonginnie
hyung what if smth
happened 2 him n he only
had 1 call n tried to call u???
07:43

sungie
Maknae, did you
and Seungmin do
something to Felix???
07:43

minnie
We’d have to see
Felix first in order to
do anything to him.
07:43

minho-hyung
That’s not really
reassuring, Seungmo.
07:43

jeonginnie
he’s not lying hyungs
we haven’t seen or heard
from lix-hyung since
sunday :(
07:44

binnie-hyung
Sunday??? But its
Wednesday???? I havent
heard from him since
he texted the group on
Saturday btw
07:44

minho-hyung
So no one’s heard from
Yongbok since the weekend?
07:45

jinnie
How is that even possible?
Don’t half of us live with him?
07:45

jeonginnie
he warned us he was
going to be busy with his
project!!!! we were trying
to let him work in peace!!!!
07:45

minnie
I’ve heard him working
and snoring, so I figured
he wasn’t dead.
07:46

jinnie
You’re a true romantic
Seungminnie<3
07:46

minnie
Only for you, Jinnie.
07:46

sungie
ANYWAYS. I asked
because I tried to meet Lix
for lunch yesterday but he
didn’t meet me outside his class.
So I asked him to call me
and he never did?
07:47

jeonginnie
hyung missed class
again????
07:47

binnie-hyung
Again??? Yongbokkie
never misses class??
07:48

channie-hyung
Minho just woke me up to
tell me none of us have heard
from Felix in days?
07:48

binnie-hyung
Oh shit Channie-hyung
has been alerted hyung it
wasnt my turn to watch him!!!!
07:49

jinnie
Very funny Binnie-hyung.
(It also wasn’t my turn, look
at the maknaes)
07:49

sungie
I’m literally the one who
realized Lix dropped off the
face of the Earth???
(Wasn’t me, Chan-hyung!!)
07:50

jeonginnie
sry hyungie,
minnie-hyung is at work
and i’m omw 2 my sub
placement so neither
of us can check if
lixie-hyung is home
07:51

channie-hyung
Bin, Sung and I have a
meeting we absolutely
can’t miss this morning.
Jinnie, can you swing by
their apartment and
check on Felix?
07:52

jinnie
Shit, I would but
I’m also on my way to
a meeting right now.
07:53

minho-hyung
I’m free for a while, I’ll
come get the key from you,
Seungmo.
07:54

“…no, hyung. …Yes, hyung. …No, I’ll call you back in a bit. …Yes, I love you, you dork.” Felix’s dreams have gotten really good at mimicking Minho’s voice.

“I love you too, hyung,” he mumbles back. Dream Minho chuckles. Something pokes at Felix’s mouth, and he reaches up to swat it away. He loves Seungmin and Jeongin, he really does, but whichever one of them is depriving him of Dream Minho is going to get a batch of brownies with razor blades sprinkled in the batter. Whatever it is pokes at Felix’s mouth again, and this time he whines right at whichever boyfriend it is ruining his life before he starts coughing and turns over because he’s polite enough not to cough directly on them, thank you very much.

Except.

Felix is coughing, and there is someone else in his room with him, and now they’re going to know he’s sick.

Felix wonders if there’s a good way to play it off as if he’s doing something else, but with the way Felix’s coughs aren’t letting up in the slightest, he highly doubts it. Whoever it is in his room doesn’t say anything. The bed sinks with their weight as they supposedly sit down next to him, their hand coming to rub at his back soothingly as Felix’s lungs continue to prove just how useless they’ve been to him recently. After what feels like an eternity, he’s granted a reprieve, and Felix turns over so he’s laid on his back, panting with the effort that coughing has taken. It turns out Dream Minho is actually real Minho, who looks a thousand times better than Felix currently feels.

“Hi, Haengbokkie,” Minho says in a soft, pleasant voice. Felix is suspicious. No way Minho is just here to say hi in the middle of the morning on a random Wednesday, and no way is Felix getting out of a lecture.

“Hi, hyung,” he greets him back, trying to look pitiful. Maybe Minho won’t lecture him if he feels bad for Felix.

“Sorry to wake you up, I just need to get your temperature,” Minho continues, waving the thermometer that Seungmin had stuck down Felix’s throat the other day that Felix conveniently forgot he’d left on the nightstand. Felix scrunches up his nose. He’d taken his temperature a couple of times between his interaction with Seungmin and now, but since he hadn’t felt feverish, the thermometer just confirmed that he hadn’t had a fever since Friday. There’s really no reason for him to stick that in his mouth again. He must say it aloud, because Minho scoffs and brings the thermometer even closer to Felix. “Listen closely, Lee Yongbok.” The room suddenly feels a lot colder than before. Felix pulls his soft blanket even closer around himself. “No one has heard from you since Sunday, most of us haven’t heard from you since Saturday. None of us have seen you since Saturday. It’s currently Wednesday. The only acceptable excuse you have is that you’re sick—” Felix opens his mouth to protest, because despite the coughing fit Minho just witnessed, there must be a way to convince his hyung still that he’s fine “—because if you’re not sick, we’re going to have a long discussion about the important of communication because again, it’s been four days since you reached out to most of us and we’ve had to sit by and wonder if you were dead. So what’s it going to be?”

The thermometer is in Felix’s mouth before Minho has even realized he’d taken it.

As Felix expected, the thermometer reads a normal temperature. He holds it out to Minho as if to say See, hyung? I’m fine even though he would never in his right or cotton-stuffed mind say those words out loud to Minho. Minho stares at him as if he might will the fever he clearly suspects Felix is hiding back out and to reflect on the thermometer which has long stopped beeping. They sit there so long that Felix’s lungs have the opportunity to remember they’re only doing the bare minimum and send him into another coughing fit complete with wheezing. Minho offers him the bottle of water that Felix had on his nightstand, which happens to be right next to the small pharmacy Felix had started and definitely gives away any final chance Felix had of convincing Minho he’s probably fine, because no probably fine person coughs for a minute straight and takes that much medication.

“You good, baby?” Minho asks, once Felix has taken a few cautious sips. Felix nods, and then coughs. “Alright, let’s get you up and for a shower. Do you think you can manage that?” Felix definitely should shower, since he hasn’t since Thursday night and probably smells a little ripe. He nods, sitting up. The task of getting to the shower proves to be entirely more difficult since they have to stop every few steps for Felix’s lungs to suck at being lungs. Minho gets the shower started once they get in the bathroom, placing a steamer down and the room quickly fills with lavender and eucalyptus steam.

“Are you coming in, hyung?” Felix asks innocently, pulling his shirt over his head and trying to give Minho the most amount of aegyo he can muster to combat the part where his voice sounds like he’s swallowed a very big, very mature frog. Minho looks like he’s actually considering it, a soft smile appearing on his face before Felix starts coughing violently again. Damn it.

“Maybe next time, baby, I want to make you some food since I doubt you’ve been feeding yourself properly.” Felix knows better than to argue that point, since Minho is extremely observant and probably looked at the lone instant ramyeon container from yesterday morning sitting on his desk. He still pouts once Minho leaves him alone, cursing his own lungs for ruining the possibility of Felix’s soft boyfriend washing his soft hair.

The hot steam does wonders for Felix’s head, making him feel un-stuffy for the first time in days. He barely even coughs in the shower, which is also a miracle in and of itself, since Felix’s lungs have coughed at even the most minor movement. Minho had had the bright idea to leave some clothes on the counter for Felix, what looks like a pair of Seungmin’s sweatpants and one of Jeongin’s oversized t-shirts and a sweatshirt that belongs to none of them, but when Felix thinks about it, he’s pretty sure is the one Minho had come in wearing. Felix loves his boyfriends. He dresses quickly and wanders out to the kitchen where Minho is ladling a giant bowl of juk out.

“Hi, hyung,” Felix greets him as he approaches, and Minho turns around from the stove, showing the phone in his hand that is currently open to a video call with Chan. Oh, shit, Chan. Chan has always had a bit of a soft spot for Felix given their similar hometowns, but that definitely doesn’t mean Felix isn’t in for the lecture of his life with Minho and Chan. “Hi, Channie-hyung.” He waves, and Chan peers through the screen.

“Hi, little one, it’s nice to see you alive and well,” Chan says in English dryly. “Minho was just telling me you’re feeling unwell.” Minho pinches Felix’s side as he approaches, and Felix yelps, coughs, and sends Minho a betrayed look. Minho maintains an air of betrayal. “That’s some cough you’ve got. You have medicine for that?”

“Of course, hyung, I’m not stupid,” Felix grumbles once his coughing has subsided. Chan looks unimpressed.

“Okay, sunshine,” he replies in a very condescending way. “We definitely won’t count the part where you neglected to inform any of us you were sick, or inform us of anything, because that would have been quite stupid of you, hmm?”

“Sorry, hyung, I didn’t mean to worry anyone. I just didn’t want any of you to miss out on anything important because of me.” It definitely sounds a little stupid now that Felix says it out loud, because he’s sure they’ve worried even more considering he didn’t say anything to any of them for days. Not that he’d done it purposefully, between all of his naps and the short period of time that he’d worked to get things done yesterday, he’d completely forgotten to respond to anyone.

“And that’s very kind of you, but that only works when you communicate to us enough so that we don’t have to worry,” Chan reminds him patiently, as if he needed any kind of reminder. Felix isn’t going to cry, because it’s not like Chan is yelling at him or anything and Felix is definitely in the wrong for this, but he hates disappointing his hyungs more than anything in the world, and—

“Okay, that’s probably enough for now,” Minho cuts in, turning the phone back so that he’s facing Chan. The bowl of juk is left on the table for Felix along side a very large mug of tea. Minho nudges him in the direction of the table, and Felix slinks away, trying to blink away the slight burning in his eyes. Minho and Chan continue conversing quietly before Felix catches something about Chan having to go back to his meeting, and Felix feels bad all over again. The call ends, and Minho drops down into the seat next to Felix with his own mug of what smells suspiciously like coffee. “Cheer up, Haengbokkie. Chan-hyung and I thought of something that will ease all of our minds. Eat first.”

Felix has never denied his hyungs anything, and who is he to start now?

As it turns out, the plan that was crafted between his two eldest boyfriends consists of a “Felix-watch-rota”, which Felix tries to protest until Minho tells him it comprises of all of them taking shifts when they’re free so they, in fact, don’t miss anything important, and if Felix really hates the idea of a Felix-watch-rota so much, then they’ll all cancel all of their responsibilities until Felix is feeling well and move everyone into the Chan/Minho apartment since they have the most amount of space.

Felix accepts the terms of the original contract.

Minho makes sure Felix is fed, watered, and put back to bed with enough medication to make his cough nearly non-existent. Apparently, taking the equivalent of an entire drugstore doesn’t do all that much if some of the purposes of the medications cancel each other out. Minho sorts through everything patiently, before coming up with a much more sensible cocktail that Felix doesn’t question. This cocktail does serve to make Felix just as tired as the first time he’d taken medication, and Minho gently suggests that Felix just close his eyes for a little bit. Felix does, after making sure Minho is snuggled up against his back and falls asleep.

Minho wakes him up again a few hours later under the guise of not disrupting his sleep schedule too much (sleep schedule, what’s that), ushering him into the living room and pressing another mug of tea into Felix’s hands before the younger boy can protest.

“I’m sorry, hyung,” Felix says when they’re curled up on the couch, the idol variety show Felix had been in to queued up on the screen. “I really didn’t mean to worry anyone.”

“I know you didn’t, baby,” Minho hums, “but this just means next time you’ll tell us when you’re feeling poorly, yes?”

“I didn’t mean to not answer,” Felix tries, but Minho’s eyes are burning into his so fast that Felix figures he should probably quit while he’s ahead. “I mean, yes.”

“Yes?”

“Yes, Minho-hyung.”

“Good.” Minho starts the show with a quick kiss to the corner of Felix’s mouth.

-

Seungmin is the one who relieves Minho of his Felix-watch, walking in at 3PM and giving Felix a very big smile which is suspicious just by Seungmin’s nature. Seungmin doesn’t normally smile this widely. It scares Felix, and he tries to hide behind Minho, but Minho just pats his head and drops another kiss to the crown of his head before getting up off the couch. Traitor. “I’m sorry to have to leave you, Haengbokkie, but I have a class to go teach tonight.” Minho leans down to make sure Felix is still all wrapped up in his blanket and stops Felix from trying to give back the hoodie. “It’s okay, I’ll just take Seungmo’s jacket. You work on feeling better, and I’ll see you soon, okay?”

“Okay, hyung,” Felix nods. Minho gives Seungmin a quick kiss and a rundown of Felix’s medication times before Felix is left alone with the demon that has apparently possessed Seungmin. The other boy pads around the apartment a bit, changing into more comfortable clothes, before he returns with new dosages of Felix’s medications, cups of liquid, and a plate of tteokbokki. He throws himself on the couch and spends a minute getting situated by undoing all of Minho’s work to tuck Felix into the blanket so they can both share it. “It’s your turn for Felix-watch?” Felix asks eventually, once Seungmin is settled.

“Me and Innie are tag-teaming, since we’re getting the longest shifts,” Seungmin replies, reaching down and picking up the plate of tteokbokki. “Are you hungry?”

“Did you poison it?” While Felix is 100% sure his boyfriends love him back, Seungmin can be kind of scary when he’s mad and Felix is pretty sure all of them would vote Seungmin most likely to commit a crime when he feels wronged. He still doesn’t trust the smile Seungmin gave him when he first walked in, and he’s tempted to call one of the others and have them on the line so they can witness Seungmin murder him.

“I didn’t poison it,” Seungmin grumbles, gathering a piece with his chopsticks and holding it out to Felix. Felix opens his mouth cautiously, accepting the treat. Felix worries it might actually be poisoned when he starts coughing as soon as it’s in his mouth, but after he gets through the cough and swallows the tteokbokki and hasn’t died, he’s forced to admit it might have just been the spice and maybe Seungmin isn’t poisoning him after all. “Serves you right, getting us in trouble with Channie-hyung and all.” Felix blinks at Seungmin. Trouble? “Channie-hyung called me on my way over here asking how we missed seeing you for days. I explained you told us about the project you had, but he still said it was no excuse and so I had to get a whole lecture on ‘The Care and Keeping of Lee Yongbok’.” Seungmin smiles genuinely at Felix, his eyes shining, so Felix knows Seungmin is just teasing him and isn’t all that mad about the lecture.

“Does it make you feel better if I tell you I was just in my room the whole time?” Felix asks, feeling brave. Seungmin’s smile doesn’t leave his face, but his eyes narrow a little bit.

“Working?”

“No.” Seungmin is still looking at Felix which such intensity that Felix is starting to lose his bravado. “I didn’t want you know I was sick, so I said I had a project but I really was just being sick.”

“Lee Yongbok, you brat,” Seungmin says, flicking Felix in the forehead. “Know if you were a pitiful bundle of sick and blanket I would tackle you straight to the ground. And after I went out of my way to get you Coke as well.” Felix peers into the cups that he’d assumed just had water, but in fact do have the bubbly brown carbonated drink that he loves. Time to grovel.

“I didn’t want you to get sick, Minnie, and you had so much to do this week,” Felix tries, blinking up at Seungmin who looks like he might tackle Felix anyways. He tries to widen his eyes to look as innocent as possible. “I was really just trying to look out for you, like a good hyung would.”

“We’re the same age,” Seungmin points out dryly, but settles back next to Felix. “Fine. I love you too, let’s put on the show that Innie was mad we stopped watching.”

-

“You guys are the worst,” Jeongin says as soon as he sees what’s on the screen. “We were supposed to watch it together, and here you are watching it without me. In my own home.”

“It’s our collective home,” Seungmin reminds him, but stands up to take Jeongin’s jacket off and give him a quick kiss. “Besides, Yongbokkie’s sick, so I was just trying to make him feel better.” Hmph. Of course Felix is the enemy when Seungmin gets lectured by the hyung of hyungs but the scapegoat when he gets lectured by the maknae. Seungmin has no backbone. Felix scoffs. Seungmin flicks him the head again.

“Yes, it really looks like you’re helping out. Move.” Jeongin unceremoniously shoves Seungmin over so he can sit next to Felix, in the middle of them both. He seems to not care at all about changing out of his day clothes, instead engaging in a fight against Seungmin for the blanket. Seungmin should really just give up, considering it’s Felix’s blanket and it really doesn’t extend to the other side of the couch but Felix lets them fight over it all the same. Jeongin ends up winning, because who is Seungmin to deny their maknae of anything. “Hyung, go be useful and make us dinner.”

“Yah, what was that?” Seungmin asks, already standing up to do it anyways. Simp.

“Hyungie,” Jeongin smiles saccharinely, scrunching up his eyes and making a very obnoxious kissing noise, “would you please be the provider of the household and take care of your maknae and other adorable boyfriend who is feeling very poorly?” Seungmin is in the kitchen by the time Jeongin finishes his question, and waves off the younger while pretending he’s not making heart eyes. Felix’s boyfriends are dorks. Probably why he loves them so much. “So, how are you feeling, Lix-hyung?” Jeongin asks softly, once the pots and pans start clattering.

“Stuffy,” Felix admits. “I got up to use the bathroom earlier and was so winded that it took me, like, half an hour to stop wheezing. It’s gross.” At the mention of wheezing, Felix’s lungs give out and he starts coughing again. Something hits his forehead, much like Seungmin’s finger flicks earlier, and he looks down in his lap to see a cough drop and Seungmin’s face smiling from the kitchen. Jerk. Jeongin takes the cough drop and unwraps it for Felix, even though Felix is more than capable of doing it thank you very much. If only he could stop coughing. Jeongin waits for it to slow before dropping the cough drop in Felix’s mouth. It has a nice cherry flavor. Maybe Seungmin isn’t that much of a jerk. “Did you have a sub placement today?”

“Yeah, the kids were really well-behaved and kind of boring. I would have much rather spent the day with you and Minho-hyung,” Jeongin sighs. “But I did see this really funny TikTok on the way home, hold on, let me pull it up.” He unlocks his phone, and swipes to TikTok, but not quick enough that Felix doesn’t see the message thread between Jeongin and Chan, where it looks like Jeongin apologized about 14 times over. Felix winces. He’d hoped maybe lecturing Seungmin would have been enough, since really the only person getting lectured should be Felix, and definitely not their maknae who reasonably would have had no idea that Felix was sick.

“Sorry if Chan-hyung lectured you,” Felix says, bumping his shoulder into Jeongin’s.

“Don’t be,” Jeongin replies instantly, flicking through his liked videos. There’s a lot of them. Jeongin’s ride home from work isn’t that long. Did he like every video he saw? “It didn’t last that long, he really just told me I need to keep a closer eye on you. You know Channie-hyung can’t lecture me for very long about anything.” That’s true. Felix is pretty sure if the tables were turned, everyone would be getting a long lecture about letting Jeongin fall off the grid, and not just the roommates. Jeongin is still scrolling. “Besides, he’s not entirely wrong, I probably should have said something when you slept through class last week. You never sleep through class. Or forget ‘projects’.” He snorts when Felix looks up at him, surprised for a moment before he realizes he really shouldn’t be. “Oh, you already know Minnie-hyung told me. Secrets don’t exist in this household. Look, here’s the video!” Jeongin shoves his phone in Felix’s face, and the two of them get lost in some TikTok void. It turns out Jeongin does like a fair amount of the videos that show up on his For You Page, but he also scrolls through them quite quickly. It’s a little much for Felix’s stuffy brain to keep up with, so he laughs along when Jeongin does and pays closer attention when Jeongin lets the video loop for Felix to comprehend.

They’re watching a sped up baking TikTok when Jeongin leans in a little closer. “Just so you know, I still haven’t ratted you out, because your blackmail brownies are really good. Feel free to blackmail me anytime with those.”

“What the hell are blackmail brownies?” Seungmin says, and Felix and Jeongin start so hard Jeongin’s phone flies across the room and they both look up to see Seungmin standing in front of them, a full meal on the coffee table and Seungmin’s hands on his hips.

“Oh shit,” Jeongin breathes, diving for cover behind Felix.

“Give me some of the blanket,” Changbin’s voice grumbles behind Felix. There’s a lot of movement on the other side of the bed. Felix doesn’t know what time it is, but it’s much too early for whatever this is. He releases his grip on the blanket, and supposedly Changbin pulls half of over himself, before leaning over and trying to smooth out the rest of the blanket over Felix and crushing him in the process. This triggers a coughing fit that makes Felix turn toward the wall so he doesn’t cough directly on his hyung, taking the majority of the blanket with him. Changbin’s hand comes up to card through Felix’s hair until Felix stops coughing and realizes he has the blanket now and is completely not willing to go through all of that again. “Uh, do you want some medication now?” Changbin asks after a minute, long enough after the whole ordeal that Felix is already half-asleep again.

“No,” Felix grumbles, “I want to go back to sleep.”

“Okay,” Changbin says in tiny font, settling behind Felix and throwing an arm over Felix’s waist so he can pull him closer.

When Felix wakes up again later, the sun is once again blinding him and reminding him that he needs to invest in some heavier curtains or something because he really doesn’t like being awakened by the sun. It’s 10:59, and Thursday, the one day a week that Felix has all-day classes and completely forgot to warn them that he wouldn’t be in, and now that he thinks about it, he definitely didn’t email ahead of yesterday to let his other professors know either. Oh, shit.

Changbin is still very much dead to the world when Felix turns over, so now he has to figure out how to get through his very big, very muscly boyfriend who looks like he is not going to be any help at all. It starts with carefully trying to move Changbin’s arm off of him, which only serves to make Changbin tighten his hold in his sleep, as if he’s just as committed to holding on to Felix in sleep as he is in consciousness. This is going to be hard for Felix. He waits for Changbin’s breath to even out again before he makes another attempt to move. This time, Changbin tries to roll over, with Felix still attached to him, and Felix finds himself unceremoniously dumped on the ground a moment later and Changbin staring wide-eyed at him, clearly having woken up by Felix’s coughing.

“Bbokkie, what are you doing down there?” Changbin asks, blinking rapidly. The sight would almost be funny if he hadn’t just thrown Felix on the floor. Felix waves him off, coughing into his arm so hard his abdominal muscles start to cramp.

“I was trying to extract myself from your tentacle arms,” Felix manages finally, chest heaving with the apparently arduous task of trying to force oxygen in his lungs once he’d stopped coughing. “I have to email my professors about my absences.”

“Minho-hyung already did that,” Changbin tells him, getting out of bed and reaching down to help Felix up from where he’s laying. “Seungmin-ah cleared you from work, too. You really don’t have to worry about anything until you feel better.”

“Except you throwing me on the floor,” Felix says, taking Changbin’s hand and allowing himself to be pulled up onto his feet again.

“I didn’t mean to!” Changbin exclaims loudly, kissing Felix’s head. “If you tell me what hurts, I’ll kiss it better. Hyung is sorry.”

“Everything hurts, I’m miserable,” Felix replies but leans into Changbin’s embrace anyways. Changbin chuckles, pressing more kisses to Felix’s forehead.

“Come on, I’ll get you some medicine, and we’ll go back to sleep. Are you still tired?” Of course Felix is tired, his body is constantly fighting off whatever this nasty sickness is. He nods and allows Changbin to pick him up and gently deposit him back on the bed. He looks a little confused about the amount of medications, so Felix points out everything Minho had set aside and watches to make sure Changbin is giving him the right dosages.

Five minutes later, Felix is wrapped up again in a Changbin/blanket burrito and drifting off to sleep with the feeling of Changbin’s lips against his shoulders.

-

“Rise and shine, angel,” Hyunjin’s voice says, a hand on his shoulder, gently shaking him. Felix coughs into the pillow and does not open his eyes. “C’mon, Lixie, your favorite boyfriend is here to spend time nursing you back to health with my love!”

“Channie-hyung?” Felix jokes, immediately blocking his body as much as he can for the resulting hit that comes. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding, Hyunjinnie, please–” His begs cut off due to the coughs that come tearing out of his throat. Changbin stirs behind them, manhandling Felix until both of them are sitting up which actually seems to help Felix’s ability to get more oxygen and stop coughing. Hyunjin is standing in front of them, holding out a bottle of water to Felix which he accepts gratefully.

“Hi, Binnie-hyung,” Hyunjin greets his other boyfriend, leaning over to give him a kiss. “Chan-hyung says ‘thank you for watching the little one’ and to ‘get your ass to the studio’.” Changbin snorts, ruffling Felix’s hair as he moves to get out of the bed. But Felix thinks if he plays his cards right, he could get Hyunjin and Changbin cuddles, and that would be well worth the lecture he gets from Chan later.

“You’re leaving already?” He asks, turning to look at Changbin with his very big and wide eyes because Changbin is for sure a sucker for those. Changbin’s own eyes widen, although he more resembles a deer in headlights than a cute boyfriend begging for attention. Changbin looks between Hyunjin, who is stifling his laughter, and Felix, who blinks once at him and coughs into his sweater sleeve just so he looks more helpless. “Binnie-hyung, don’t you want to stay with me and Jinnie? We can go out and watch something on the couch and cuddle together?” Changbin looks actually torn, looking again at Hyunjin who only shrugs. Felix can always count on Hyunjin to be on his side.

The sound of Changbin’s phone ringing splits through the room, and Changbin pats down his body before remembering he must have deposited it on Felix’s nightstand. Chan is calling. Felix scrunches up his face. Chan never lets him have any fun, and Felix is sick, so Felix should really be allowed all the fun he wants, thank you very much. Changbin answers, and even though it’s not on speaker, they can all hear Chan’s voice very, very clearly. “Hi, Bin. I know our sunshine is very cute, but unfortunately as one third of 3RACHA, Sungie and I kind of need you in the studio so we can go over everything with you so Sungie can have his Felix-time later. It wouldn’t be fair to deprive him of that, now would it?” Changbin opens his mouth to respond, but Chan, clearly one step ahead of all of them, has already switched gears. “Sunshine, I know you’re listening. We agreed on this because you very thoughtfully didn’t want any of us to miss out on any of our responsibilities. So I’m very sorry to have to take Bin back from you, but you’ll be in good hands with Hyunjinnie-yah, yes?” Felix opens his mouth to say screw everything he said before, he wants all of his boyfriends right here, right now, and he would be in even better hands with both Hyunjin and Changbin until everyone else joins them, but again, Chan, omnipotent hyung of hyungs, is already moving on. “Bin-ah, say your goodbyes. I promise you’ll be reunited with Lixie in no time. I’ll see you in twenty.”

The line goes dead.

“That’s scary,” Hyunjin says after they all stare at each other in shock while the entire phone call processes.

“How does he do that?” Felix wonders aloud, not for the first time since he’s met Chan.

“No idea, but I am not testing that. Hyunjin, I love you, I’ll see you later at home. Felix, I love you too, feel better, bye!” Changbin collects his phone and bag in one quick motion, stopping to kiss Hyunjin again and kissing Felix so briefly if he’d blinked, he’d have missed it. The sound of the apartment door closing sounds quickly and Felix and Hyunjin are left staring at each other for a minute before Felix’s cough breaks the silence.

Hyunjin pats his back through it, and when Felix stops, eyes watering from the sheer exertion, Hyunjin leans over to wipe the tears from his eyes. “Come on, I brought samgyetang. I’ll heat it up, and then I’ll give you something real to cry about when I kick your ass at Mario Kart.”

“You wouldn’t dare, not when I’m sick,” Felix whines, but bundles himself up in his softest blanket before following Hyunjin into the kitchen. Hyunjin snickers.

“It’s real funny how you completely hide the fact that you’re sick until we’re worried to death, but when you want something, it’s oh no, I feel awful,” he says as he pours the soup from its takeaway container into a pot on the stove. Felix frowns. He hadn’t meant for it to come off like he only let them know he was sick because it was convenient for him. “Oh, hey, angel, I was just kidding,” Hyunjin quickly amends once he catches sight of Felix’s face. “I understand you were just trying to look out for us. I probably would have done the same, although now I think we both know better.” He presses a swift kiss to Felix’s cheek before stepping back to the stove. “I definitely would have canceled my shoots this week, so it’s not like you were wrong for assuming we’d all drop everything. Of course, we would. Just like you would, if any of us weren’t 100%. It’s not a bad thing to care.”

“You always know the right thing to say,” Felix says, snaking his arms around Hyunjin’s waist and hugging him from behind. “I love you guys, you know.”

“Obviously, why wouldn’t you love all this?”

“Jinnie, I was trying to have a moment!”

-

“Do you have everything?” Jisung asks, looking around Felix’s room like something might jump off of his shelves or out of his drawers. He’d apparently been tasked with moving Felix from his apartment to Chan and Minho’s since everyone was planning on congregating there this upcoming weekend to make up for the previous weekend (and to keep an eye on Felix in one spot, Felix suspects. Mostly because he heard Jisung say it on the phone before he walked in the apartment). “We grabbed all of the medications. Phone, charger, clothes, toiletries?”

“Anything I could have possibly forgotten I can just borrow from hyungs,” Felix points out before casting another look to his desk. “Except for my laptop, which has all my assignments in progress on there, and I really should start looking at everything this weekend, even if we’re just watching a movie—”

“NOPE,” Jisung cuts him off very loudly. “Nope, nope, nope. Lee Yongbok, I am under very strict instructions not to let you take any work with you. I already let you work on some of your assignments earlier, which I definitely wasn’t supposed to do but what else was I meant to do when you looked at me like you were about to cry?” For the record, Felix was not about to cry, it was just very important that he at least do something productive so he didn’t feel like he’d wasted an entire week. Jisung had been a good sport about it, letting Felix curl up next to him on the couch with his laptop while they watched some anime Jisung’s friend had recommended to him. Jisung’s not being a very good sport about it now. “You’ve already admitted you don’t have anything due next week that you haven’t already submitted, and Minho-hyung said all your professors responded and said not to worry about anything that comes through before you’re well-enough to come back. So no, Bbokkie, you’re not taking your laptop with you.”

“Fine,” Felix grumbles, “then I guess I have everything, and we can go.” Jisung nods, holding out his jacket for Felix to put on over Minho’s sweatshirt. Felix had taken another pair of Seungmin’s sweatpants, the really soft ones that Seungmin doesn’t let anyone borrow but Felix figures Seungmin can’t yell at him in front of everyone. He’d put Minho’s sweatshirt back on since he could return it, or at the very least, exchange it for another one. It’s probably warm enough that Felix doesn’t need Jisung’s jacket in addition to Minho’s sweatshirt, but Minho and Chan’s apartment isn’t all that far away, and it’s another one of those instances where it’s much simpler to take it than argue with Jisung.

They leave after making sure everything is locked up, and even though Felix is winded and coughing five minutes into the walk, it’s not as bad as the day he tried to trek to the campus library. It’s also nice to be outside for the first time in days. Jisung had insisted on taking Felix’s backpack, so at least Felix doesn’t have to worry about the added weight causing additional strain on his already fragile lungs. Jisung holds his hand and waits patiently each time Felix has to stop to cough or catch his breath. He produces a bottle of water out of seemingly nowhere for Felix to sip on when he can. They stop by a stall halfway through the walk and Jisung buys them bungeoppang to share. They’re the perfect shade of golden and crispy just the way they like them, and even though his head is stuffy and he has to stop laughing so much because it keeps exacerbating his cough, Felix can appreciate the first somewhat date he’s been on all week out of the house.

Usually, he’s lucky enough to spend one-on-one time with each of his boyfriends throughout the course of a week, his habit of keeping ahead of his homework making his schedule one of the most flexible. His working hyungs will surprise him in between classes for lunch, or bring him out for dinner, and it’s easy enough to rope Jeongin and/or Seungmin out for a quick meal or date if they’re sitting around doing not much of anything.

“What are you thinking about, Lixie?” Jisung asks, breaking off the last piece of bungeoppang and offering it to Felix. Felix takes it.

“How lucky I am to have you all,” Felix tells him. Jisung hums, chewing on his own bite. “How lucky it is that this all just… works out for us. I just love you all a lot, and I’m lucky you all love me too.” He stuffs the piece of bungeoppang in his mouth so he stops saying such sappy things.

“Well,” Jisung says, swallowing his food and smiling at Felix before kissing him softly and helping him up from where they’re sat. “You make it really easy for all of us to love you. And for the record, we all feel just as lucky that you love us, too.” Felix’s face flushes, and he reaches to intertwine their hands again for the remainder of the walk.

“Hey, cutie,” Chan says when Felix opens his eyes the next morning. “How are you feeling?” Annoyed. Felix is definitely annoyed, because it’s been a week since he first started feeling unwell and he feels like he hasn’t gotten any better because his lungs still suck at performing lung functions and he can’t really move or breathe because of that. Felix also definitely doesn’t feel cute, not when he starts coughing before he can properly respond to Chan and his coughs start sounding more wheezy at the end and he’s struggling to take even one gasp of air. “You sound horrible.” Chan cards his fingers through Felix’s hair as Felix coughs and coughs and doesn’t stop coughing. It’s all very inconvenient, really.

“I feel great,” Felix replies facetiously. “Thank you, Chris, you really know how to make a boy feel special.” He coughs again, but this time it lasts significantly less.

“I’m glad you feel great, that means you’re getting better!” Felix can hear the smile in Chan’s voice after having said that with too much enthusiasm. He doesn’t respond to Felix’s other comment, instead rolls Felix over so that he’s facing the older man. The movement is enough for Felix to start coughing again, and he kind of wants to cry with how sick and tired he is of being sick and tired. “Here, drink this.”

Chan is holding out the dosing cup of the grape cough syrup that Felix has taken so religiously the bottle might almost be empty with no end in sight. Felix takes it and struggles to sit himself up, having to wait again for an entire coughing fit to pass before he can even attempt to try and swallow it down. The dosing cup is removed from Felix’s fingers, and Chan links their hands together and brings them up so he can kiss Felix’s hand gently. He releases Felix’s hand after, making sure to press Felix’s palm so he keeps it open to allow Chan to drop the pills he’s meant to take next into it. Chan repeats the hand-holding-kissing act with Felix’s other hand before placing a water bottle in it. Felix takes the medication easily and chucks the water bottle to the end of the bed before shoving his face in Chan’s neck.

“You are too cute,” Chan hums, tilting his head to precariously rest it on top of Felix’s.

“It doesn’t feel like that.” Felix’s reply is muffled due to the fact of his face being smushed against Chan’s skin, but he feels Chan’s face smile anyways and Chan brings up his hand to start running his hand through Felix’s hair again. Damn. If Felix was a cat, he’d probably start purring, although that would probably make his cough flare up again and then Chan probably would stop petting Felix’s hair out of sheer concern.

“You’re always cute,” Chan tells him, “even when you disappear for days and I don’t know where you are or what you look like, I know that you’re still cute. My little sunshine.” Felix feels his face heat up, and Chan probably feels it too, because he chuckles. “Don’t even think about it,” he adds quickly, presumably because he can feel Felix start to open his mouth again. “I know you were just trying to keep us all from worrying about you and I know you’ve learned your lesson well enough that the next time you’re sick, which hopefully isn’t for a long time, that you’re going to tell hyung immediately so we can take care of and spoil our sunshine properly.” He nudges Felix away from his neck briefly so he can look into Felix’s eyes. Felix is almost taken aback by the sheer amount of love reflecting back at him. If this were any other moment, Felix might tease Chan for having legitimate heart eyes, but there’s something soft and precious about this conversation that Felix doesn’t want to ruin. “Your health should be your priority. You’ve been working so hard at staying ahead academically, and I’ve been warning you about burn out—don’t look at me like that. I know you don’t want to hear it, but I just want you to keep that in mind. Your health is our priority, too, you know. Because we love you.” Chan grasps Felix’s hand in his and brings it to Felix’s heart before leaning in and kissing him sweetly. Felix almost sighs into the kiss, which, kind of embarrassing, but most of his boyfriends had erred on the side of caution and had either forgone kissing his lips directly or had kissed him very quickly as to not catch whatever it was that Felix had.

“Channie-hyung, what if you get sick?” Felix asks, breaking away for a moment. Chan smiles at him, dimples on full display and Felix can’t resist the temptation to poke at them, which only causes Chan to smile wider.

“If I get sick, then I know you and the rest will do a stand-up job at taking care of me, because you prioritize my health and would drop anything to make sure I’m doing okay.”

“Okay, I get the point,” Felix huffs. “Please, just kiss me again before my lungs stop working again.”

Chan happily obliges.

Felix’s lungs can only hold out for so long, and he eventually has to pull away so he can cough. Chan offers him the water bottle again, which Felix graciously accepts.

“We have the entire day until Minho comes home from the studio at 4, and then everyone should be trickling in later. Breakfast first, and then?”

“Uno?” Felix suggests innocently, not missing the way Chan tips his head back in mock-exasperation. Even so, he can’t hide the fond smile tugging at his lips, and when he tips his head forward again, he’s met with Felix’s signature big-eyed gaze and aegyo smile. Chan definitely would have agreed without the extra effort, but Felix likes to think that his extraordinary ‘looking cute’ skills are what wins over Chan in the end.

“Fine, breakfast and then Uno,” Chan agrees, shuffling to get out of the bed without disrupting Felix’s position too much. “You stay here, and I’ll bring breakfast to you in a few.” He gives Felix another lingering kiss before shuffling out of the room to the bedroom. Felix takes this moment to find his phone and scroll through new messages from his boyfriends.

channie-hyung
[1 image attached]
09:51

channie-hyung
Isn’t our Lixie cute when
he’s asleep?
09:51

innie
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
literally the cutest hyung!
09:52

binnie-hyung
I feel like I should
argue this but I really cant
even find a good leg
to stand on hes adorable
09:52

jinnie
No disagreements here,
Angel is always cute<3
09:52

sungie
It’s a sunshine twin thing,
the rest of you wouldn’t
understand
09:53

minnie
Lix is cute. Sung,
not so much.
09:53

sungie
AYO
09:53

minho-hyung
Make sure he gets
a lot of rest, must be
tiring being that cute
all the time.
09:54

jinnie
Wow, hyung, you
never say such nice
things to the rest
of us
09:54

channie-hyung
Of course, Lino. I’ll
make sure he’s taken
care of all day<3
09:54

binnie-hyung
Unfair hyung gets
to spend the entire day
with Lixie while the rest
of us work
09:54

minho-hyung
I say nice things to
you all time, Jinnie.
09:55

jinnie
Cap.
09:55

innie
it’s ok hyunjinnie-hyung,
we all know lixie-hyung
is meanho-hyung’s fave. i still
think ur cute!!!!!
09:55

minho-hyung
No comment.
09:56

sungie
AYO
09:56

minnie
What are the rest
of us, hyung, consolation
prizes?
09:56

innie
tbh lixie-hyung does
look rlly cute in that pic,
i totally get it
09:56

binnie-hyung
I second that
09:56

sungie
Me too, actually
09:57

jinnie
Fine, me as well
09:57

minnie
Fine.
09:57

channie-hyung
Glad we all came to
an agreement
09:54

minho-hyung
No one is a consolation
prize, you’re all the loves
and lights of my life.
09:58

minho-hyung
None of you can say
I never say anything nice to
you.
09:58

minho-hyung
<3
09:58

Yeah, Felix’s cotton-stuffed head clearly messed up his judgment skills. Having seven amazing boyfriends tuned into the fact that Felix is sick and who want nothing else but to make sure he is comfortable, doted on, and constantly reminded how loved he is could never possibly be a bad thing.

Especially not when it comes with perks like Felix’s eldest boyfriend, hyung of hyungs, shirtless and delivering kisses and breakfast in bed not long after. Felix might call Chan every single day for the rest of their lives and tell him he’s sick if this is the morning he gets rewarded with. Either way, Felix is definitely telling them immediately the next time he starts to feel unwell.