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The bathroom light was entirely too bright for such an early hour in the morning. So, therefore, the bathroom light was not on. Instead, it was a small string of twinkle lights that trailed onto the floor that was Taehyun’s main source of light right now. Because Taehyun felt horrible.
Everything just hurt. It hurt so bad and all Taehyun wanted to do was curl up and cry, and have Soobin coax him awake to drink tea and have Kai fuss about which plushie to let Taehyun sleep with. But no. Taehyun was an adult now. He could stay all the way through an award show, he could drive, and he had his high school diploma on the wall of the dorm (because of course Soobin-hyung was sentimental enough to frame Taehyun and Kai’s high school diplomas above the sink. It made sense for Kai though, Soobin-hyung had pulled out all his math notes from high school to help Kai with homework during photo shoots. Soobin practically retook the course!). Anyways. Taehyun was most definitely adult and mature enough to pull his own weight and not worry his hyungs about a little bout of allergies.
It was fine. It was all fine. It didn’t matter that Taehyun’s body felt like it was made out of cast iron, that every breath felt like blowing an angry bird through a straw. It didn’t matter that Taehyun couldn’t seem to go more than five minutes at night before waking up to some body part aching like he’d given his joints pneumonia. Because it was fine. It was all fine.
Three hours later, it was so very much not fine.
“Taehyunnie?” Taehyun heard from the edge of his consciousness, but Taehyun felt too awful to get up from the mat he was laying on on the floor. It wasn’t his turn to get his make up done anyways, and as long as his hyungs didn’t need him right now, it should be fine if he acted pitiful and cute for the camera.
“Aww, Taehyunnie’s so tired,” the voice (that Taehyun now recognized as Soobin-hyung) cooed softly, hand gently scratching Taehyun’s scalp in a way that could make a feral polar bear turn into a sleepy panda. Taehyun could feel the moment that Soobin felt Taehyun’s fever, a jolt of muted panic flashing through Taehyun’s system. He tried to push himself up, swaying slightly as his vision went in and out.
Yeonjun prided himself in his professionalism. Being professional with three extroverts and a cute bunny leader, along with a high energy battery himself, was a feat that normally made Yeonjun sleep better at night, knowing that MOA knew how much effort and professionalism and teamwork went into every appearance.
However, seeing Soobin catch a near fainting Taehyun on a mat in the corner with Taehyun looking remarkably pale for the amount of foundation the makeup noonas had put on his face, was definitely enough to make Yeonjun choke on his water. He was over next to Soobin within a few seconds, forcing his voice to be calm despite the confusion and worry threatening to choke him.
“Hey, Taehyunnie. Hey buddy, aigoo, you don’t feel good, do you?” Yeonjun cooed, carefully letting Taehyun lean against him, giving Soobin permission to go back to the set and try and buy Yeonjun a couple of minutes.
Taehyun slumped against his eldest hyung in a manner that would have their manager scold him for posture, Taehyun barely stopping himself from letting out a very uncharacteristic whine. “‘M fine, hyung,” he murmured, despite looking like a snowman who’d had road salt thrown on him. Yeonjun couldn’t help but raise a disbelieving eyebrow at his stubborn dongsaeng.
“Taehyun, you look like you’re melting and you’re burning up,” Yeonjun said as lovingly as possible, stretching his arm out for a water bottle. He cracked it open in front of Taehyun, his “Drink.” filled with all the authority of TXT’s mathyung who’d dealt with sick dongsaengs for entirely too long to be fooled by the inevitable “I’m fine”.
“Hyung, no, I’m fine, promise,” Taehyun slurred, trying to turn his head away but Yeonjun wasn’t having it. Taehyun remained stubborn for about thirty seconds before deflating, accepting the water bottle with trembling hands.
“There, was that so bad?” Yeonjun asked. Taehyun huffed, too tired to protest or tease like normal when Yeonjun slid the back of his hand underneath Taehyun’s previously perfectly styled bangs. Based on his hyung’s hum, Taehyun guessed that the fever meds he’d smuggled from Beomgyu’s bag a few hours ago hadn’t worked much.
“How long have you felt sick, Taehyun-ah?” Yeonjun asked, shuffling around Soobin’s oversized bag of medical supplies. Taehyun hunched his shoulders, wishing he had a hood to hide his face from his hyung.
“Taehyun?” There came the question again, a little sharper now, and Taehyun buried his face in his hands, trying not to cry. Now you’ve done it, now he’s mad, and he’s worried. And there’s staff here and Soobin-hyung and Beomgyu-hyung are watching and you know Kai is watching too and pull it together! You’re an adult, this is nothing!
“Hey, hey, hey,” Yeonjun’s voice sounded like it was coming to Taehyun through a jar of soy sauce, and if Taehyun wasn’t already crying he would have giggled at how much he sounded like Kai. “Taehyun, look at me. Look at hyungie, please?”
Taehyun didn’t want to, he really didn’t want to, but Yeonjun-hyung sounded so worried, and their schedules had been so hard lately, and Taehyun really did feel awful…
“Hyungie?” Taehyun murmured, unable to help the sniffle of tears that were suddenly threatening to fall. “Hyungie, I don’t feel good…”
“Aigoo, I know, I know Taehyun-ah,” Yeonjun cooed, accepting Beomgyu’s help in shrugging on his backpack while keeping Taehyun’s adorable and worrisomely overheated form close to his side.
Taehyun was floating in a haze for the next while, hearing voices like through a container of soy sauce.
Hyung, is Taehyun okay?
Hyungie, you’ll be okay. Just go with Junnie-hyung, okay? Don’t worry about us.
Hyung, which plushie should he take?
Any of them, Kai, it’s okay.
I’ll…. Manager-nim. Got him, hyung?
“Yeah, Kai, help get him up.” Then there were warm hands on his shoulders (Kai) and they helped Taehyun up and cooed at Taehyun’s sniffle and helped get Taehyun’s uncooperating self onto Yeonjun’s back. Normally Taehyun would protest, or fuss, or act cute, or at least kick someone playfully, but he just felt so awful and tired and icky and ugh that he just thunked his head onto Yeonjun-hyung’s shoulder.
“Aigoo, I got you, Taehyunnie,” Yeonjun murmured, keeping up a steady stream of reassurances and whispered words as he piggybacked Taehyun to the van. “Just hold onto hyung, okay?”
The inside of the van was dimly lit, thankfully, Yeonjun making a mental note to thank the driver, who pulled out into traffic as smoothly as possible. Taehyun sat like a limp noodle in the middle row, blinking sadly at Yeonjun like TXT’s eldest could magically fix everything, and making Yeonjun’s heart feel like melted cottage cheese.
“Taehyunnie, how long have you felt sick for?” Yeonjun murmured quietly. Taehyun heard a familiar snap and a rustle, Taehyun groping blindly for TXT’s beloved penguin ice pack with a whine that just about shattered Yeonjun’s heart. Taehyun grabbed it and held it possessively against his chest like a stuffed animal. After a few more sniffles, Taehyun manages to turn to Yeonjun and look slightly coherent.
“Hyung, where… where are we going?”
“We’re going to the clinic to see what you’re sick with,” Yeonjun said gently, knowing by the instant pout on Taehyun’s face that he hadn’t managed to make it sound as enjoyable as Soobin always made it sound.
“Hyungie, I don’t wanna go,” Taehyun mumbled, curling up in a ball around the seatbelt and the beloved ice pack as though he could fib his way into being healthy. Yeonjun fought the urge to coo and squish Taehyun’s cheeks.
“I know, Taehyun-ah,” Yeonjun said gently, moving to help unbuckle Taehyun when the van pulled up in front of the clinic’s staff entrance, a nurse already waiting with a wheelchair. “I know, but you need to. You’re sick Taehyunnie, and they’ll help you feel better. Okay? Hyungie will be here the whole time.”
“You promise?” Taehyun slurred, his voice hitching as Yeonjun helped him stumble towards the wheelchair. Taehyun sounded so young and scared that Yeonjun wanted to punch a wall. “I promise, Taehyun-ah,” Yeonjun whispered, brushing sweating bangs from Taehyun’s forehead.
Soobin had managed to do what Soobin does best, and the intake process took just about no time at all. Yeonjun soon found himself sitting next to a still-sniffling Taehyun on a cold bed inside the clinic, Yeonjun trying to convince Taehyun to swallow the pain meds that were provided by a very nice nurse along with a cup of apple juice.
“Hyungie?” Taehyun asked, his fingers clenching into the stiff hospital blanket.
“Hmm?” Yeonjun replied, looking up from where he was texting an update into TXT’s group chat.
“I’m sorry I’m sick.”
Yeonjun put his phone down and faced Taehyun head on, ducking his head down to look eye to eye with the shorter boy. “Taehyunnie, it’s not your fault. I’m sorry you don’t feel good.”
“S-sorry that I didn’t tell you,” Taehyun murmured again, his fingers fiddling with the IV taped to the back of his hand. Yeonjun quietly covered his dongsaeng’s hand and let Taehyun fiddle with Yeonjun’s rings instead. “Sorry that I-I’m a burden, hyung.”
“Hey, no.” Yeonjun’s voice was like a lightning bolt, startling a flinch out of Taehyun. Taehyun’s eyes were glassy and wet and Yeonjun would have felt like the worst hyung in the world except for what he was about to say next. “You are not a burden. You are not, you hear me?”
Taehyun let out a sob and nodded, wiping his eyes with Yeonjun’s hoodie sleeve and for once in his life, Yeonjun didn’t say anything about it.
“Yeah? Do you believe me?”
Taehyun nodded, but the silent no rang loud and clear and just about broke Yeonjun’s heart. Before Yeonjun could address that, however, there was a pretty little knock at the door before an exhausted looking doctor came in with a small smile. He sat down on the stool close to the bed, and Taehyun instinctively pushed closer into his hyung’s warmth.
“Good morning, my name is Dr. Chen,” the doctor said, taking the hint and not coming any closer to the protective hyung and the pale, nauseous koala who was currently hiding under the blanket. “I understand that you haven’t been feeling well for a while, yes?”
Taehyun gave a weary tiny nod in response and all parties involved ignored the wet sniffle that came from under the edge of the blanket.
“Well, I have some good news for you,” Dr. Chen said, his voice warm despite his obvious exhaustion as he clicked around on the computer’s keyboard. “It looks like you’re very dehydrated, exhausted, and you have a mild case of the flu that is made worse because you haven’t been taking care of yourself.”
Taehyun and Yeonjun both hummed in response, each of them focused on different parts of what the doctor had just said. Taehyun felt like melting into a puddle of indignation on the bed, because after all this, it was apparently only a “mild” case of the flu. And he took care of himself very well, thank you very much! He slept (tried to), ate his vegetables (there was no skimping on that with his hyungs around), took all his vitamins (well… maybe not in the past few days… or maybe a few days before that, too…). But still! On the whole, he was doing a pretty good job!
Yeonjun tightened his hold on his indignant dongsaeng, knowing that without intervention Taehyun would turn into an adorable, squirming bundle of cuteness who would feel much better if he actually took care of himself and admitted that he was sick. But no. Because why would we take care of ourselves when we can be running around dehydrated, exhausted, probably without nearly enough electrolytes in our blood (or wherever those go, Yeonjun wasn’t 100% sure because he didn’t have some fancy medical degree, but he knew that electrolytes were important)?
“Should he stay here?” Yeonjun asked, deftly distracting Taehyun’s wandering fingers away from the IV taped to the back of Taehyun’s hand. The doctor nodded, sympathetically, running a hand through his short hair. “I would recommend it,” Dr. Chen said softly. “If nothing else, we can give him some fever reducers and antinausea medication to help him sleep. The IV would also need to stay in; he’s dehydrated and it won’t help him at all fighting this flu off.”
Yeonjun nodded permission to Dr. Chen, who typed on the computer for a while longer before quietly exiting the room. Taehyun let out a soft hum of confusion as Yeonjun shifted the younger boy gently, pushing Taehyun to lay down on the hospital bed. When Taehyun shivered, Yeonjun immediately brushed Taehyun’s hair back (when did Taehyun get such a high fever?) before going to grab another blanket from the end of the bed.
“Hyungie,” Taehyun whined, pushing himself up and instantly trying not to gag on the rising nausea from the movement. But his hyung wasn’t there and he promised he’d be there, he promised-
“Hey, hey, hey,” a soft voice cooed, a wonderfully heated blanket being settled around Taehyun’s shoulders and Taehyun could have just melted into Yeonjun’s hold. “Easy, Taehyunnie. Hyung’s here. You gotta lay down, okay? It’s time to sleep.”
“But it’s morning?” Taehyun asked, wiggling his toes within the confines of the blanket and feeling like that meme of the puppy dog rolling up in a blanket. Everything was getting kinda… blurry? And fuzzy. But his body didn’t hurt anymore, it just felt heavy and sleepy.
Yeonjun chuckled, successfully distracting Taehyun from the nurse silently inserting medications into Taehyun’s IV port. “It is morning, Taehyun-ah, but you’re not going to work today. You need to go to sleep.”
“I don’t wanna go to sleep,” Taehyun murmured, curling into the blankets until he looked like a caterpillar laying face down on the hospital bed. His words had been so slurred that Yeonjun had been hard pressed to understand the exact words that Taehyun had said, but Yeonjun had enough experience with sick dongsaengs that he could guess the gist of it. “I’m not sleepy.”
“Taehyunnie,” Yeonjun cooed, gently scratching Taehyun’s hair and watching as his dongsaeng turned into a blanket wrapped pile of goo. “You’re okay.”
Taehyun slept for about five hours, and he woke up feeling like he’d dissolved into a container of mentos. Taehyun blinked up at the ceiling, all the dots swirling like the waves of water that’d been in their last music video. Once the world started making more sense, Taehyun turned his head to the side, finding a familiar head of black hair resting on the bed in a position that would absolutely destroy any semblance of spinal alignment.
“Hyung?” Taehyun whispered, wincing at how raw and raspy his voice sounded. Yeonjun’s head snapped up, his eyes looking over Taehyun worriedly before his eyes softened as Taehyun giggled at Yeonjun’s bedhead. “Your hair’s all silly,” Taehyun murmured, and Yeonjun ran a rueful hand through his own hair as though trying to chastise his hair into behaving.
“How are you feeling, Taehyunnie?” Yeonjun asked, tucking his phone back into the pocket of his sweatpants. The younger boy hummed as he thought, apparently too distracted by the IV and the meds to really be scared anymore. “Wanna go home,” Taehyun murmured. “We go home, hyung?”
“Not yet, Taehyunnie,” Yeonjun replied sympathetically, barely holding back a coo at Taehyun’s adorable pout. “We have to wait for the doctor to say you can go home.”
But I miss Soobin-hyung and Gyu-hyung and Kai,” Taehyun protested. “And I feel better!”
“I know you miss the others, Taehyun, but you’re sick, remember? And you didn’t tell hyungs and you got really sick because of that.”
Taehyun fell silent at the steady cadence of Yeonjun’s chastisement. Sometimes he almost wished that his hyungs would yell instead of this steady voice of “I get it but I’m older than you and you really need to take care of yourself”. Taehyun would almost rather his hyungs get actually mad, but then Taehyun knew that he’d prefer this steadiness instead. It was all so confusing.
The door opened, and Taehyun sort of zoned out for the duration of the prodding and questions and such, trusting Yeonjun to answer all the questions that were needed. Somehow, Taehyun found himself slipping into a pair of sweatpants and an outrageously fuzzy sweatshirt, pulling the hood up and following Yeonjun down to the hospital’s pharmacy on the first floor.
Yeonjun was more than a little worried about Taehyun, but he had to admit that the meds seemed to at least be working a little bit because Taehyun was walking in a straight line now and didn’t look to be one breath away from puking or passing out. Yeonjun couldn’t help but smile when he felt Taehyun’s fingers grip the back of Yeonjun’s sweatshirt as the older boy paid for some fever reducers from the pharmacy counter.
“Come on, Taehyunnie,” Yeonjun cooed, Taehyun following right behind him like a fleece-wrapped duckling. “It’s time to go home and sleep some more, okay?”
“‘K, hyung,” Taehyun murmured, playing with the edge of the warm and melted penguin ice pack. He vaguely remembered having a meltdown on Yeonjun between fever dreams because the penguin was all melted, and Taehyun actually still felt sad about it. “Hyung? The penguin’s all melty…”
Yeonjun hummed, helping Taehyun get into the backseat of the manager’s car that had come to pick them up from the hospital. Their manager’s eyes were sympathetic and caring towards the two boys, one of them nearly in tears over a melted penguin ice pack and the other one busy trying to convince the first not to cry or to tear off the bandage over where the IV had been on his hand. Finally, once both Taehyun and Yeonjun were settled in the middle row of the car, the manager carefully pulled out of the hospital lot, putting on some soft music to hopefully help TXT’s most recent sickie go to sleep again.
“He’s okay?” the manager asked, looking back at Yeonjun’s exhausted face using the rearview mirror. TXT’s eldest looked almost as tired as the second youngest, despite it being nearly ten o’clock in the morning.
“He will be,” Yeonjun murmured, gently smoothing some of Taehyun’s wild hair back under the fuzzy hood. Taehyun squirmed and muttered something under his breath, already asleep in the chair despite the fever, the seatbelt, and the overall discomfort of sleeping in a moving vehicle driving through downtown Seoul. “He just needs to rest and learn that it’s more than okay to actually take care of himself.”
The manager hummed his agreement from the driver’s seat, smoothly pulling into the dorm’s parking lot and unlocking the doors to the car. Yeonjun couldn’t help but smile upon seeing the light on in their dorm room; of course Soobinnie and the others wouldn’t go to work or sleep until they knew that Taehyunnie was back and safe.
“You boys take a day or two off,” the manager said, watching as Yeonjun guided a mostly-asleep Taehyun to his feet, Taehyun letting out a petulant whine at how bright the sun was to his over-sensative eyeballs. “Make sure he’s taken care of.”
“Thank you,” Yeonjun murmured, Taehyun letting out a huff as Yeonjun guided him to the front door. “We’ll make sure that he is.”
Yeonjun leaned against the wall of the elevator, Taehyun an overheated bundle of fuzzy dongsaeng under his arm, and he took a few deep breaths before hitting the button for their floor. Somehow, they would all be okay. It was simply a case of the flu. So by the time Taehyun had recovered from it, at least two of the other four members of TXT would be sick.
Ode to joy. This’ll be fun…