Work Text:
“Kookie-hyung!”
A weight settled around his shoulders and he automatically reached his arms to wrap around the legs that slid against his waist. A cheek pressed against his own, nuzzling the slightly flushed skin. He couldn’t help the wide smile that made his lips curl up.
He was used to Seokjin clinging to him and it was a welcome comfort after being in the studio well into nighttime.
“Jinnie, it’s late- Why aren’t you in bed?”
The youngest of their group pouted cutely, looking over toward the studio doorway.
“I begged Yoongi-hyung to walk with me since it’s after curfew! I brought you some food-“
Jungkook’s eyebrows rose high against his forehead, seeing the shadowed scowling figure of their oldest leaning against the entrance, pink food containers nestled in his grasp.
No one could resist their cute maknae but it still surprised him sometimes that Seokjin had all of them wrapped around his finger, Yoongi included.
“We need to eat before it gets cold.” Seokjin said simply, sliding off his back and beckoning the mint-haired man over. He settled down right in his spot, taking his shoulder bag off and setting it beside him, palm of his hand patting the wooden floor as an invitation to join him.
Jungkook reached out to pet his hair before settling down himself, Yoongi joining a few moments later. They normally didn’t let Seokjin break curfew very often, but when the maknae was determined to do something, it was hard to tell him no. The group had been practicing late the past few weeks, and they knew the youngest felt bad because he wasn’t forced to stay after like the rest of them.
“Where’s VV-hyung?”
“He went to the bathroom.”
Seokjin nodded and started opening containers. “I tried to think of something that wouldn’t be too heavy because it’s late so I just made rice and chicken. I’ve got a good breakfast planned tomorrow though! It’s a surprise!” He said excitedly, passing a pink tuber-ware bowl into the brown haired man’s hands, a pair of chopsticks already stuck inside the rice.
He grinned wider when Taehyung burst into the room.
“Jinnie! I thought I heard you-“ The orange haired male rushed over and took a seat on the floor with them, slightly behind the youngest so he could hug him and pull him against his chest. “You brought food, you angel maknae~”
Seokjin let out a high pitched giggle, “If you keep hugging me you won’t be able to eat.”
“Yes I can, you can feed me.” He hung his mouth open, making an ‘ahh’ sound.
“Who’s actually the youngest here?” Yoongi muttered, probably just cranky from being pulled away from his studio by Seokjin. Taehyung just ignored him as Seokjin turned in his lap, holding up a piece of chicken to his mouth. He chomped down excitedly, praising the youngest once more.
They couldn’t stay long, if management found Seokjin here, they would be in a lot of trouble.
The youngest and oldest bid their goodbyes right after they were done eating, Taehyung reluctant to let go of Seokjin.
“Hyung, thanks for letting me bring food.” The maknae said, hugging Yoongi’s side as they walked down the hall, the mint haired main trying to ignore the flush that crept up his face, thankful they were not in broad daylight.
“A-anytime, kid.”
---
The next morning, as promised, Seokjin stood in front of the stove, one hand holding the skillet steady as the other stirred the contents a bit, raising the wooden spoon to have a little taste. He thought about it for a moment, before reaching over to grab a spice container for just a tiny bit of flavored chili paste.
Sometimes it was hard cooking for so many different people but he made it work. It was one of his favorite things to do and he was sometimes grateful that everyone else was hopeless at it. They even gave him a pastel pink apron that had ‘Kiss the Cook’ sprawled out across the chest for his birthday; it had been his favorite and he wore it every time he was in the kitchen, even if he was making sandwiches.
He hummed a bit to stifle a yawn, stirring the mixture once more.
Namjoon and Jungkook were already seated at the table, watching a random video on Jungkook’s phone.
He turned around to make conversation but he suddenly swayed on his feet, side of his body coming to rest against the edge of the counter. He blinked his eyes rapidly, trying to clear his clouding vision.
“Jinnie-“ He heard beside him, Jimin rubbed a hand over the maknae’s upper back, helping to steady him. He had just entered the kitchen when he saw Seokjin lean heavy against the counter.
“I-I’m okay, I think I’m just tired.” He grinned weakly at his worried hyung, but the returned look he received was doubtful. Jimin reached out to turn off the cook top, steering Seokjin away and helping him sit down at the dining table.
The youngest whined weakly. “I was almost done with breakfast.”
“Hobi can finish it, you need to rest. When did you go to bed?”
Seokjin let out a huff and pouted. “I couldn’t sleep after coming home last night, so I stayed up playing Super Mario.” He shrugged slightly, he had functioned on less. It wasn’t something to get worked up about.
Jungkook reached across the table, back of his hand laying against Seokjin’s forehead. “Jin, you’re burning up. Why don’t you go lay down?” He suggested gently, but Seokjin shook his head, which probably wasn’t the best idea in the world as he was struck with a sudden feeling of vertigo, Jimin reaching just in time to catch him before he fell out of his seat.
“Oh my God Jin is dead!” He heard Taehyung yell from across the room, barely making out his words through the severe, sudden ringing in his ears.
And then, darkness.
---
They had moved Seokjin to the couch in the living room. His head was resting on top of Hoseok’s thigh, the older man rubbing soothing circles against Seokjin’s shoulder and arm, occasionally reaching up to run his fingers through the maknae’s short brown locks.
The younger was breathing heavily and his face had become flushed in a short amount of time; he was however, still passed out.
Which meant his worried bandmates didn’t know what to do, and couldn’t figure out why Seokjin was feeling ill.
Yoongi sat on the arm rest, hand resting heavily on Seokjin’s ankle. He shouldn’t have given in to his puppy dog eyes last night, maybe he wouldn’t be sick- He figured maybe Seokjin had picked up something a few days ago and since he didn’t get proper rest, it had spiraled into something greater than what his body could fight off on its own.
To top it off, Seokjin had never run a fever in the entire time the group had known him. He always took his daily vitamins, he always took medicine right away when the effects of a headache started to show, he knew what healthy teas helped with what and always made them accordingly; this time, they were at a loss.
“Well, Jin isn’t going to feel better from all of us just staring at him, unfortunately.” Namjoon said.
“What do we do? Jinnie never gets sick.” Taehyung replied, grief evident on his features, helpless feeling settled in his stomach. “He always takes care of us because apparently we attract diseases and germs, but never Jinnie. We don’t even know how to make his special soup or what medicine to give him-“
“We’ll just have to do our best. We can’t exactly just leave him; I don’t want to take him to the hospital because we couldn’t take care of him.”
They all nodded.
Namjoon fidgeted in his seat and continued, racking his brain for things that could possibly help. “Hoseok, you and Jungkook run down the corner store. I’m sure they have canned soup, get a couple cans with a lot of vegetables. If they have any Aspirin, pick that up. Maybe some orange juice. Oh, get some crackers too, he likes them when he eats soup and they should be easy on his stomach-“
Jungkook was typing the list into his phone, listening carefully. A lot of it was common sense and they shouldn’t be worrying this much, but this was Seokjin, the angel maknae of Bangtan Sonyeondan, who was sick.
Namjoon finished naming a few more things before he turned to Yoongi. “Can you go get his pillow and comforter from your room? The couch isn’t the best place but I want us to keep an eye on him. And grab his pink alpaca too.”
Hoseok got up, careful not to wake the sleeping boy, and Taehyung took his place, the orange haired man barely stopped himself from bringing the flushed seventeen year old to his chest.
“Poor Jinnie-“ He mumbled.
Yoongi had left for a few moments but reentered the room, light pink comforter, matching pillow, and alpaca plush jumbled up in his arms. Jimin carefully took the blanket and lightly draped it over the maknae’s slightly shaking form. Yoongi slid the pillow under his head, laying it against Taehyung’s thigh. He then grabbed one of Seokjin’s arms and placed the stuffed animal against his chest, resisting the urge to grab his phone and take a picture as Seokjin’s arms tightened around it, holding it close.
Namjoon exited the room to call their manager and inform him that they wouldn’t be in the studio today, due to Seokjin’s condition. Under normal circumstances, only one of them would stay behind, but the older man on the other end of the phone just sighed and knew he wouldn’t be able to budge the boys from the seventeen year old’s side, so he just told the leader to keep him updated.
Hoseok and Jungkook left the dorm, hurrying down the stairs to the convenience store down the street.
Jimin went to the kitchen and proceeded to clean up the half-finished breakfast. The group had lost their appetite so he didn’t think they would eat anytime soon, and he was sure Seokjin would want to finish what he was making- he hated wasting food. He put what he could in the tuber-ware that he could find but unfortunately had to throw away a little bit because he didn’t want it to sit out and spoil, and he didn’t have anything to put it in. He stored the food in the fridge and cleaned up the counters a bit, putting dirty prep dishes in the sink and arranging spice bottles in their place above the stove.
Fifteen minutes later, the duo had returned, out of breath from hurrying their trip as best as they could. Namjoon prepared the soup and stuck it in the microwave. Jimin had wet a small washcloth with cold water and it was currently resting against Seokjin’s forehead, his bangs pushed back and slick with sweat.
Seokjin whimpered and kicked off the blankets. “’m hot-“
Hoseok raced to the hall thermostat and adjusted it, the air kicking on a few moments later.
From the kitchen, a rapid succession of crackling noises and popping sounds caught their attention. Yoongi stood from his seat and rushed toward the sound. Curses were heard as they heard the microwave clicked open.
“Damn it Namjoon-“
“What?” He called back, confused.
“You didn’t add water to the soup and you put it on too long, I’m surprised these noodles didn’t catch on fire-“ He muttered but the group still heard most of it. “Haven’t you ever heated up soup before?”
Yoongi paid no mind to the grumbled response, dumping the burnt food in the garbage and dropping the soiled ceramic container into the sink. He grabbed an empty bowl and prepared another can of soup, adding the water this time and setting it for just under three minutes.
He joined the rest in the living room. “I didn’t even know you could set a microwave for thirty minutes-“
Namjoon just ignored him and turned on the television, lowering the volume as to not wake up Seokjin.
---
Seokjin’s eyes blinked open, still heavy from exhaustion. He felt a little hot but not as bad as he had before he fell asleep. He didn’t know how long he was out for but the curtains were open and he could see the sky shadowing as the sun sank below the horizon. He rolled over to face the open living room, gaze roaming slowly, taking in the scene before him.
The group was asleep, the television now on mute but still casting a glow across their faces. Namjoon and Hoseok were sharing the large recliner in the corner, heads lulled to the side; Jungkook, Jimin, and Yoongi were sprawled across the love seat. He looked up; Taehyung’s sleeping face filling his vision. He smiled weakly.
A smell caught his attention and he looked over at the coffee table in front of them. A bowl of soup was sitting next to unopened bottles of Advil and Aspirin, a package of crackers and a glass of water with almost melted ice cubes set slightly to the side next to another glass that held what looked like orange juice.
He sat up slightly, chest swelling with pride. His hyungs had tried hard, for his sake. He reached over and fumbled with the Aspirin container, popping out one and swallowing quickly, drinking a few gulps of water as well.
He didn’t really feel hungry even after not eating for so long, so he skipped the food, promising himself to eat a little later, but right now he just wanted to rest more.
Seokjin lay back, angling his body so he could wrap his arms around Taehyung’s waist, nuzzling his cheek against his thigh, taking comfort in the hand that came to rest on his lower back as the older man shifted in his sleep. The seventeen year old allowed his body to relax bit by bit.
“Thanks for taking care of me hyungs.”