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Jihoon is sick. So incredibly, wants-to-destroy-the-world-for-creating-some-horrific-virus, sick. To be fair, he likely got it from one of the members during practice, but he has a stronger dislike for the world than his members.
He’s stuck in bed curled into his blanket. It’s not that far off from his usual, but the difference is that he’s curled in a ball, hugging a box of tissues. His head thumps with pain and a chill climbs his body.
If this is how it feels to have a hangover then he really never wants to drink a drip of alcohol.
His phone buzzes nearby and he ruffles his hand through his sheets until he bumps into it.
Hyung, you’re not at the studio today? Jihoon squints and sees it’s from Vernon in the team group chat though. He closes his eyes and already is irritated by the ping of messages he’ll likely get in the next ten minutes. It’s rare for him to take a day away from the studio, so being called out in the group chat is just chaos waiting to happen.
The irritation doesn’t last long when a wave of nausea hits him back in the gut.
With eyes closed, he scrolls through his contact list and hits “call”.
“Hyung, can you come over?” Jihoon tries not to sound like a whiny bitch through the phone. He hates when Soonyoung does it to him, but he’s feeling worse by the second.
“Yeah, you still know the passcode?” He hushes into the phone. “No, please don’t bring anyone else.”
“Eung, see you soon,” he breathes out softly until his eyes drift close and falls into a deep sleep. Maybe if he sleeps more, more time will pass and he’ll feel better.
He wakes up when he feels a hand brush his hair aside and a hand covers his forehead.
“Aigoo-yah, uri Jihoonie,” Jeonghan’s soft voice caresses him with kindness and comfort. The only member he will always willingly go to for comfort. Why? Because he doesn’t make it weird or get clingy.
Jihoon’s eyes close, relaxing into the feel of his cool touch, “ugh hyung, I don’t feel good.”
Jeonghan actually cares the least about Jihoon calling him hyung, but he knows it’s serious when all he calls him is “hyung”.
“I brought you some soup and medicine. You’ll have to eat both. Do you think you can sit up?” Jeonghan asks. He tries to look as calm as possible, but Jihoon sees the worry behind his eyes.
Before Jihoon answers, he hears a loud thud come from his living room. Jihoon’s eyes snap open. He looks from his bedroom door back to Jeonghan.
Jeonghan sighs and shakes his head. “Soonyoung was waiting outside your door when I arrived, but he said he didn’t know the code to your house. I couldn’t just let him sit outside the whole time, it’s cold and raining.”
If Jeonghan wasn’t so wholesomely sweet with him and Jihoon wasn’t drained of all the energy in him, he would’ve kicked and thrown a fit. Instead, he just nodded and closed his eyes again.
“I’ll be right back, hmm?” Jeonghan says softly before running off to the main living space.
He finds Soonyoung scurrying to clean the counter of whatever mess he made and looks up with wide, panicked eyes.
“Yah, Kwon Soonyoung!” Jeonghan exclaims quietly. “There’s a reason Jihoon doesn’t want to share his house passcode with you. When I let you in, you were supposed to stay quiet!”
“Ah hyung,” Soonyoung whines, “I wasn’t trying to. I was just getting a glass of water and a spider came out so it scared me!”
Jeonghan pretends to be upset, hand on his hips like he’s about to give a harsh scolding to Soonyoung. Something he would never actually do but he does love to be dramatic.
He very seriously says, “well, why didn’t you try singing Spider and see if it’d be impressed and be your friend instead?” A smile cracks through his features and relief eases out of Soonyoung.
“Hyung, please,” Soonyoung closes his eyes trying his best not to laugh. “So how is he?”
Jeonghan busies himself with the food and medicine he picked up on the way over. He shrugs in response. “He’s okay, exhausted. He has a small fever but he’ll be fine after some food, medicine, and more sleep.”
Soonyoung nods in response. Jihoon rarely gets sick, but when he does, it hits him hard. He doesn’t go outside nearly enough so his immunity gets shot every time.
When Jeonghan returns to Jihoon’s room and he finishes the food and medicine, he already feels immensely better. His insides are warm and soft, it almost lulls him to sleep.
Jeonghan starts cleaning up and is about to leave but Jihoon calls out to him again. “Hyung, can you just sit here with me until I sleep?”
“Of course,” Jeonghan replies and settles upright against the headboard near Jihoon’s head. He turns and leaves his head on Jeonghan’s lap.
As put together and mature Jihoon is, he is Jeonghan’s baby. All the members are his babies in a way, but Jihoon really slides into the role every so often when he really needs the comfort. This was that moment.
Jeonghan pats and rubs his back until he feels Jihoon’s body sag heavily over him. And when he says heavily, he means extra heavy. Jihoon is a beast of pure muscle and as small as he looks now cuddled up against him, one squeeze and Jeonghan’s thin frame will break in half.
He manages to sneak out quietly and nearly collides with Soonyoung, who was listening in against the door. When the shock subsides, Jeonghan opens the door wider for Soonyoung to see. Jihoon is cuddled to his side, a small lump under the bed.
“Go lay with him,” Jeonghan urges him quietly. “He won’t fight you. He might even like it.” Jeonghan knows that’s what Soonyoung wants to do the most right now.
Soonyoung scans Jeonghan’s eyes and then nods. He quietly slides next to Jihoon, wrapping his arms around him, but he starts to stir.
Soonyoung is ready to run for the hills if Jihoon wakes up. Jihoon would likely slap him if he saw it was Soonyoung instead of Jeonghan next to him. Instead, he turns back over to face Soonyoung and cuddles deeper into his chest.
Jihoon is fast asleep but doesn’t miss the spicy vanilla smell that travels into dreamland. He likes it. It feels warm and soft, like a cozy winter evening.
When Soonyoung glances back at the door, it’s already closed with Jeonghan nowhere in sight. He snuggles closer to Jihoon and in time also falls fast asleep.
—
“How is he doing?” Seungcheol asks as Jeonghan clips his seatbelt in.
“He’ll be fine, he has Soonyoungie,” Jeonghan leans back and closes his eyes. Suddenly he feels like he needs a nap too.
“Kwon Soonyoung is useless. He might actually burn the place down.” Seunghceol shifts the gear and heads back to his apartment.
“That’s not why I left him there, Seungcheol-ah,” Jeonghan glances over, waiting for the clues to add up.
“What do you mean?” Seungcheol meets Jeonghan’s eyes at the red light. Eyebrows furrowed, genuine confusion written all over his face.
A second passes and Jeonghan realizes that Seungcheol really has no clue. He laughs, “you’re really dense sometimes, Seungcheollie. You’re lucky you’re cute.”
Seungcheol mouth gapes open and blubbers with offense but Jeonghan kisses him before he can say anything. “Drive! I want to go home and see my daughter!”
Seungcheol merges onto the freeway and scoffs at Jeonghan’s comment. Claiming Kkuma as his daughter is a new one, but it does warm his already soft heart.
—
The next day rolls in and Jihoon feels a hundred times better. The body aches have subsided and though he still feels lingering congestion, his energy is back. He can move freely without feeling like it takes every single fiber of his body to do so.
When he opens his eyes, he finds Soonyoung dead asleep next to him. His mouth is slightly agape, a leg tangled with one of his.
Jihoon’s face scrunches with disgust and confusion. He remembers asking Jeonghan to stay but Jeonghan knows when to leave. Why did Soonyoung stay?
He’s ready to push him off the bed because yuck, but Soonyoung’s dream filled worlds escape his lips. “Jagiya….”
It’s soft and quiet, but freezes Jihoon’s initial violent response. He closes his eyes and leans close to Soonyoung. If he feigns ignorance of Soonyoung being with him, it won’t hurt his indifferent reputation.
He falls back asleep to the caress of spicy vanilla and a deeper warmth that stirs up the fluttering in his stomach.