Work Text:
Hoseok half opened his eyes, and upon realizing that the universe hadn't spared him, groaned and buried his head in his pillow, although it sounded more like a broken, weirdly pitched whine. He pulled a tissue from under his pillow and blew his nose. It made a pathetic, disgusting sound, and Hoseok felt his soul leave his body. He used all his remaining body power to sit up, and somehow he didn’t fall over. He sighed.
He had school tomorrow — it was their first day back after their two-week vacation and he had Satan's cold. How was he going to get into semi-working condition by tomorrow? Hoseok turned to the only person who he knew could help — Jooheon.
He picked up his phone from his table and dialed 3 on speed dial.
"Hello?" Hoseok furrowed his brows. His clock said it was 7:30 in the morning, already too early for Jooheon to be up in general, much less for somebody else to be answering the phone.
"Hyungwon?"
"What? Who is this?" Hoseok could hear Jooheon echoing Hyungwon's question in the background.
"Jooheon, there's a broken squeaky toy on the phone."
"No, Hyungwon, it's Hoseok!" Hyungwon ignored him.
"Do you think Minhyuk buttdialed you again?" The line went silent for a few seconds before Jooheon's voice was heard on the line.
"Hello?"
"Bro, I'm so sick, help m—"
"What? Shit, dude, you sound terrible. What happened? Did you party too hard or something?" Hoseok could hear the smirk in Jooheon’s voice, as well as Hyungwon in the background asking if it was Hoseok on the phone, and he assumed Jooheon nodded because Hyungwon snorted.
"No, man, I'm sick as fuck. Help me out, please." The line went silent for a few seconds again, and Jooheon started laughing.
"Dick what?"
"Sick! With an S! I have a cold!"
"Alright, I'm not gonna judge your life choices, bro, but I don't think dicks are gonna help you if you're cold." Hoseok huffed exasperatedly and hung up on Jooheon, deciding it would be best to text him instead.
[TO: Joohoney] I'm sick, nerdwad. Come here and make me soup or something. Also why is Hyungwon at your house so early in the morning?
[FROM: Joohoney] None of your business. And why would I want to catch that disaster? You're on your own bro. I'll give you my notes for tomorrow, if you make it till then.
Hoseok threw his phone on his bed and ran his fingers through his hair. It was fine, he probably looked like shit anyways, and if Hyungwon was coming with Jooheon he'd probably act like Hoseok was living in a wasp’s nest.
Now he had to find other ways to get better, or just get back into bed and await the sweet release of death. He was halfway through typing a search into his phone when he got a text from his new favourite person.
[FROM: Kkukkungie] can i come over
[TO: Kkukkungie] If you don't mind the possibility of catching the worst cold of the century then yes, please bring coffee if you do <3
Not even two minutes after sending the message, Hoseok heard pit-pats on his window, and he pulled aside the curtain to see Changkyun standing in the parking lot of his apartment block. Normally, he would've gone downstairs to let Changkyun in, but he wouldn’t be caught dead with this cold, especially in his apartment building where everyone talked like a bunch of parrots. So instead he dangled his keys out the window to signal that he was dropping something, and Changkyun caught them with a look of bewilderment.
"What's this for?" he shouted, and Hoseok pointed in the general direction of the building’s back door. He closed the window before Changkyun could ask any more questions.
In the few minutes that the window was open, a small breeze had managed to enter, and it was strong enough to make Hoseok’s knees weak and a strong shiver pass through his body. He wondered how Changkyun could be outside in just a shirt and jeans, although Hoseok figured his giant shirt that came down mid-thigh wasn't any better. Hoseok peeked around the corner when he heard his front door open and he never felt more thankful to have a friend like Changkyun.
"Were you already downstairs when you texted me?" Hoseok asked. Changkyun shoved his hands into his pockets, and looked at his shoes.
"Yeah..." Hoseok smiled, but Changkyun didn't notice it. "I was lonely and bored and I figured that if you said no I could always go to the park or something." He looked up to see Hoseok's wide smile, and quickly looked back down at his shoes again. "Yeah..."
"You're so cute." Hoseok didn't think when he blurted it, and he tried to drag his feet to the living room nonchalantly to avoid Changkyun seeing the blush that had probably risen to his cheeks.
Hoseok threw himself on his couch, quite literally, and groaned when he got a face full of pillow. Changkyun sat by his legs.
"So you're sick, huh?"
"Sick is an understatement." Changkyun laughed,
"Do you want some soup?" Hoseok gently lifted his head from the pillow at the mention of food, also allowing him to breathe.
"...Maybe." Changkyun patted his butt and went to the kitchen to prepare said soup. Hoseok, despite being incredibly tired, followed him, because he knew that regardless of how many times Changkyun had been to his house, he had no idea where anything was. When he noticed Changkyun opening and re-opening the same cabinets, Hoseok could probably guess what he was looking for. "I'm out of coffee, tea, honey, cup noodles, and I think milk." Changkyun opened the freezer, "Also ice cream."
"You've been eating ice cream with that cold?" Changkyun looked at him incredulously.
"Only partially. Jooheon took the rest." Changkyun nodded,
"Go figure."
After several cups of warm lemon water with cinnamon (and sadly, sugar to make up for the missing honey) and a nice homemade soup, Hoseok was practically falling asleep in Changkyun's lap. Changkyun gently ran his fingers through Hoseok's hair, which Hoseok momentarily felt bad about because his hair was greasy, and kind of messy from tying it over his head earlier this week, and Changkyun's hand probably wasn't enjoying greasy hair, but it felt so nice that Hoseok didn’t really want to complain. Changkyun didn't comment on it either.
"Why don't you sleep in your soft bed?" Hoseok had half a mind to tell Changkyun that his lap was just as soft, but he was too sleepy to protest so he nodded instead. Changkyun helped guide Hoseok to bed, and tucked him in, before continuing to run his fingers through Hoseok's hair soothingly. Hoseok sighed contently, visibly relaxing into his pillow. After Hoseok's breathing had more or less evened out, Changkyun carefully got up, and just before he walked out of the room, he heard Hoseok calling for him.
"Are you going to be here when I wake up?" his voice was heavy with sleep, and his eyes were closed so he didn't see the soft grin that bloomed on Changkyun's features.
"If you want me to." Hoseok snuggled into his pillow as a reply, and mumbled something Changkyun didn't quite catch.
In the end, Hoseok figured the universe had helped him, just in ways better than he had expected.