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It hurt him to see the love of his life like that.
Statistically, Hongjoong was the one in their relationship that got sick the most, giving that he took poor care of himself more times than not, either by working over time, using not enough warm clothes on his daily or even forgetting to eat or drink regularly, weakening his immune system and making him catch colds a lot in the colder season.
Rare was the occasion when Seonghwa fell ill to the point of being bedridden so, the moment Hongjoong saw him leaning weakly on his studio’s doorframe, with the premise of asking him if he wanted to order something for dinner, he knew something was really not right.
He had looked almost dead, judging by how pale his skin was, by how dark the circles under his eyes were, by how stuffed his breathing sounded or even by how he pronounced some words. Few things made Hongjoong leave his desk when ‘in the zone’, and his lover looking like he was one step away from fainting had been one of them.
Hongjoong had to forcefully pick him up, princess style, for Seonghwa to listen to him and go rest already, to let him take care of him. His husband tried for the younger to let him go, but of course Hongjoong wouldn’t budge and Seonghwa was too weak to win against a healthy human being. It was right then when he admitted defeatedly that he was sick.
The producer started walking then, bringing him to their bed as his husband let his head fall onto his shoulder and closing his eyes, not having enough strength in his limbs to wrap his arms around the younger’s neck. Even through the fabric of his shirt Hongjoong could feel that he was burning up.
All the way to their room, Hongjoong had whispered soft words of reassurance into his forehead, detailing step by step what would they do from then on, tracing a plan of action that Seonghwa would not be able to reject, for it was the same thing Seonghwa did when Hongjoong was the one not feeling good.
First step: getting Seonghwa to change his outside clothes to his softest pyjamas.
Hongjoong carefully settled him down on the bed in a sitting position, but the older could barely keep his torso straight due to the forceful shivering that had taken over his body the moment Hongjoong’s warmth was away. He tried to retrieve the garments as fast as he could, for he hated to see Seonghwa like that. Finally he located the exact ones he had been looking for and moved back to the bed, settling between Seonghwa’s legs ready to to change him out of his clothes and into the soft fluffy pyjamas.
Suddenly, Seonghwa leaned his torso forward, letting his head rest on Hongjoong’s tummy and murmuring something against the fabric of his shirt.
“Would you repeat that, dear?” Hongjoong placed the pyjamas on the mattress before running the tips of his fingers along Seonghwa’s back. “I didn’t quite catch that. What is it?”
Seonghwa said nothing else, he only pressed his head harder against him as his arms circled around his knees. Hongjoong kept dragging his nails over every patch of husband’s body within his reach, getting him to relax his muscles a bit and making the shivers cease in strength. He did not force him to speak, instead, he moved his hands to hug his head, feeling like Seonghwa needed a moment to process what he needed to get done in order to be able to finally get some rest.
He looked up and Hongjoong stared down into his eyes, which were redder and glassier than usual. Knowing him, Seonghwa surely wanted to cry for feeling so useless, for needing to be taken care of because he was not used to feeling like this, so helpless with sickness. He always found himself in the position of caregiver, not the other way around and he had trouble accepting that every time he needed someone else’s help. But Hongjoong would make sure to show him just how much he cared for him, once again, in the same way Seonghwa cared for Hongjoong and everyone in their circle.
“Uhm… ’m sorry,” he mumbled then, slurring his words as he barely had separated his face from Hongjoong’s tummy.
“Please, don’t. We’ve talked about this. Let’s get this done so you can finally lay down, mhn? How does that sound?”
“-ood.”
“Perfect, but first you gotta let go of my legs, or else I can’t remove your shirt,” he snickered, seeing how Seonghwa’s brows furrowed in the middle and pouted up at him, keeping his chin against his abs. “Hwa, come on, hands up.”
With a grunt and a bit of shuffling in place, Seonghwa did as he was told. Hongjoong chuckled and got to action. He slid the shirt off of his husband and, with swift movements, he put the top part of his pyjamas on him, closing the buttons fast and precise as he could manage to not waste more time.
Next, he moved onto his legs, kneeling down on the floor before him to undo the fly of his jeans. Under any other circumstances, it would have turned him on to have him like that, to have his head between his husband’s legs, making a home for himself there and undressing him to have him all for his selfish self, but at the moment he had one sole mission and it was to get him to finally rest.
Hongjoong commanded him to raise his butt so he could yank the fabric of his pants under him. He slid the legs of the pants down with care but determined, letting the jeans pool around his ankles until he carefully picked up his feet, one by one, to fully remove the pants, finally freeing him from the constricting garment. In the same caring manner, Hongjoong made Seonghwa’s feet go through the legs of the pyjamas, repeating the same process until he was fully changed.
Step two: get him under the covers.
The younger got to his feet then and threaded his arms under Seonghwa’s, instructing him to hold tight around his neck to make it easier for him to rise his weakened body from the bed, allowing him to remove the eiderdown bedspread and the sheets from under Seonghwa. Once those were out of the way, Hongjoong helped his husband to lay down and finally managed to tuck him in.
“I’ll bring some painkillers and warm tea for you.”
He only got an affirmative grunt from Seonghwa and that had been enough for him to know that he was going to be okay for the whole five minutes he would be away from him but, before he went, he caressed his hair out of his forehead and pressed his lips to his dampened skin.
Seonghwa was definitely running a high fever.
Step three: get his fever down.
Hongjoong made a bee-line for the kitchen and set the kettle to start boiling some water for Seonghwa’s tea and only then he went to fetch the painkillers.
Walking fast towards the bathroom and dropping once again to his knees, opening the cabinet under the sink and retrieving a whole blister of the little pills—one that he pocketed immediately to not forget them anywhere else—that would both relieve his husband from the headache and lower his body temperature.
Swiftly, he was back on his feet and before he went to the kitchen, he grabbed one of the clean, smaller towels they kept close to the sink to dry up their faces after washing up, folding it into the perfect rectangle and brought it with him.
He walked back towards the kitchen and left it near the sink, picking up Seonghwa’s favourite tumbler and filling the tall thermic container to the brim with the newly boiled water, letting his favourite teabag soak in with a spoon of sugar and closed the lid, he would make sure to take the bag out later for Seonghwa before the beverage turned out bitter.
At last, he let the tap water run for a few seconds until it ran cold enough to the touch and picked the towel back, putting it under the steady stream to drench it completely. Hongjoong twisted the fabric until all excess was out.
Once he had everything he needed, he went back to their room, ready to help Seonghwa take the painkillers but as he approached, the more asleep his husband looked and the moment he stood beside him, he could verify that Seonghwa had totally surrendered to Morpheus. Hongjoong left the dampened towel on his forehead, making sure to not disturb him much and took in a nervous breath when his husband’s brows furrowed lightly before returning back to normal, letting it go relieved when he did not stir awake. He had his eyes closed and his chest rose and deflated calmly as he breathed through his mouth. Despite all, he still looked beautiful and in peace.
With a smile, he went back to the kitchen, letting him sleep to his heart’s content. He wouldn’t dare interrupt his rest now that he finally managed to get some, knowing very well how Seonghwa had definitely dismissed his own symptoms and went to work anyways, enduring the whole day just because that was how he was.
Step four: making dinner to warm the heart and protect the tummy from the medicine.
Hongjoong busied himself in the kitchen, making some revitalising soup the way his mom had done all his life for him. Going through several drawers of the kitchen cabinets, he finally found the aged old paper where his mom had written down the recipe all those years ago. One day he would write it in a better, more accessible place, but for the time being, that would do. As long as he remembered where he stored it each time that the recipe was put to use, of course. He might be a disaster when it came to cooking, but at least this one recipe he knew how to not fuck up.
Water boiling, check. Some vegetables chopped, check. A few beef stripes marinated and waiting to absorb all flavour, check. He only had to break the rice and let it cook for at least half an hour and he would have the perfect congee ready for Seonghwa to get into his weakened system.
He was putting it in a bowl, topping the congee with some freshly chopped scallions when Seonghwa’s figure appeared behind him, snaking his hands around his waist and placing his chin over his shoulder, looking down at what Hongjoong was doing.
“Bet it smells delicious,” he murmured against his shoulder, “but I wouldn’t know, my nose is stupidly stuffed.”
“You should have stayed in bed, Hwa… I would have brought it to you,” Hongjoong said, tilting his head back just enough to leave a kiss on his cheek.
“I missed you,” he snuggled even closer and pressing his front to Hongjoong’s back, he tightened his hold around his waist. “And I already took the painkillers, I just wanted to be with you.”
“Silly,” Hongjoong chuckled as he tried to turn around, keyword tried, for Seonghwa wouldn’t budge. “Come on, eat this before it cools down completely.”
“Are you getting some too?”
The thing was, he had not planned to serve himself any but, as Seonghwa hummed happily waiting for his answer, he couldn’t find it in himself to deny the older anything.
“Of course.”
Both of them got on their assigned seats and started eating in comfortable silence. Hongjoong placed some of the veggies in Seonghwa’s plate from time to time, slipping in some meat pieces along those and just watching contently how the painkillers were gradually doing their thing. Seonghwa had started recovering some colour, and his eye bags weren’t looking as dark, although they still were deeply sunk into his face. His appetite was back and Hongjoong just stared at him as he ate, feeling better now that his husband was feeling better.
When they both finished their dinner, Hongjoong moved fast to load the dishwasher as Seonghwa waited for him to be done, being forbidden of doing anything that involved any physical effort, as per Hongjoong’s command.
The moment he was done tidying the place, with a smirk and a determined look behind his irises, Hongjoong approached the older and, without saying a single word, he picked Seonghwa up just like he had done earlier that evening. His husband yelped in surprise, this time being able to circle his neck with his arms.
“I can walk, you know,” he complained with a playful pout.
“My king should not do something as mundane as walking, not under my watch.”
“What are you, my knight in shining armour, or what?” He laughed lightly, and to Hongjoong, everything had been worth it if he got to listen to that ethereal sound coming from his chapped lips.
“More like your personal buffoon, but I’ll take that promotion anytime.”
“You’re an idiot, did you know that?”
“A little bird told me something similar to that, yeah.”
Seonghwa laughed again and leaned his head on Hongjoong’s shoulder, just like he had done earlier but this time he had his eyes open and a smile tugging at his lips.
Step five: get his husband back to sleep.
Hongjoong got them to their bed and returned Seonghwa to his rightful place under the covers. He got into his own pyjamas in record time and finally slipped inside the bed, covering the both of them with the quilted eiderdown.
“Hongjoong, you’ll get sick if u keep being this close to me…” Seonghwa warned him when he circled one arm around his middle, bringing him closer to him so they could cuddle better.
“Don’t you remember I already got sick like… three weeks ago? I still got the antibodies ruling my system. There’s nothing to worry about, babe.”
Seonghwa relaxed against his body as he let out a tired sigh.
“I hope you’re right, or we’ll never leave this loop of sickness.”
Hongjoong felt his eyelids heavy all of a sudden and decided to close his eyes, burying his nose into Seonghwa’s nape.
“Well… In sickness and in health…”
His voice got dragged with sleep, taking over his tired being, only noticing how really t
ired he was when he let himself rest.
“Till death do us part.”