Dongwoo got two papers from a pile and placed both of them on his table. “Let's start talking about their academic development.” Dongwoo had said and Myungsoo sighed heavily already, what was the purpose of talking to him and Sunggyu’s brother at the same time? To compare the kids? Wouldn't that make Sungyeol smugger and judging if Woohyun didn't meet some of his standards? Not that he cared about what Sungyeol thought about that, this was his problem, but again that could be something else that could be used to separate the kids and Myungsoo already could see problems coming from that.

“First Subject: Math. Sunggyu is the best in class, but this doesn't come as a surprise since everything the kids are learning right now he had already learned last year.” Dongwoo then looked at Myungsoo. “I have noticed the numbers frustrate Woohyun, he has trouble comprehending them but he never asks questions in this subject.” Sungyeol seemed to smirk with that, but that was sort of whipped from his face the next time Dongwoo talked. “He has managed to achieve above average score and maybe that has to do with Sunggyu explaining their math homework before any of you show up to pick them up. Therefore I'm not worried about Woohyun, just tell him to try to pay more attention in class.” He said and Myungsoo nodded.

“Second and third subject: Sensible Life and Enjoyable Life. Both of them have similar scores in Sensible Life, but for Enjoyable life surprisingly Sunggyu didn't score good.” Dongwoo looked at Sungyeol with a glare. “I wonder why that is.” Myungsoo frowned while Sungyeol rolled his eyes.

“Fourth Subject: Disciplined Life. Woohyun is very active so I didn't think he would be good with this but he is, he can behave well too, but Sunggyu is made of extremes. Or he tends to be too disciplined or he straight out refuses to do things and this happens whenever I try to partner him up with another kid. He doesn't even try to communicate with them and, Sungyeol, you have to work on this from home dude, Sunggyu tends to disrupt the class with this and maybe he is unconsciously preventing Woohyun to make other friends. We all know Woohyun likes Sunggyu and he doesn't mind doing everything with him, he is too kind and since he is a kid he doesn't know how bad that is for his own development.”

“Is there anyway we can... hum.. do something about that?” Myungsoo asked hesitantly and carefully looking at Sungyeol to see if the older brother would snap.

“Yes, but I'll talk about that in the end. Ahem. Fifth Subject: P.E. Sunggyu hates it and Woohyun loves it and maybe this where Woohyun draws a line, accordingly to their P.E. Teacher.” Dongwoo reported as he read their files. “Woohyun is very active and doesn't mind playing whatever is that he is told to, he can work well in teams and doesn't get tired or complain like the other kids so I'd say you're doing a very good job outside school Myungsoo-shi, thumbs up for you.” Dongwoo said with a big smile and a thumbs up.

“Yeah.” Myungsoo chuckled. “Woohyun loves sports so every Saturday we play together or he comes to watch my basketball practices, though he likes soccer better.” He said and felt Sungyeol’s eyes on him, looking him upside down but as soon as Myungsoo crossed his arms Sungyeol avoided his gaze, was this guy measuring him up? He definitely was judging hard for that and throwing him on another stereotype.

“As for Sunggyu...” Dongwoo then turned to glare at Sungyeol. “Sungyeol, what are you doing? Do you ever take the poor kid out to play?” Dongwoo hissed and Sungyeol was about to answer when Dongwoo interrupted him. “You don't need to answer because I know the answer already. Come on dude, I know you don't have much time but sports are important for him, it will help him grow healthier, to socialize, to learn how to work in teams, have more energy during the day but sleep better at night, and differently of you, not to be a lazy bum.” Dongwoo counted on his fingers as he scolded Sungyeol that seemed to shrink a bit in his chair.

“Hey! You can't insult me here.” He lamely tried to interject. “I...”

“Finally: Korean.” Dongwoo announced with a glare for Sungyeol to shut up. “Both of them listen well and have a good comprehension of Korean. Sunggyu can write better and use more elaborate vocabulary which surprises me since he spent a year out of school.”

“Do you think he spent a year at home doing nothing? As soon as he is used to school he'll do the test to skip a grade and voilá, he will be back at his original grade.” Sungyeol said but Dongwoo continued ignoring him.

“Talking. Woohyun is the best in class at this, and he talks articulately too. He can hold long conversations with adults though if it is reading he stumbles a bit in some characters so you have to practice more at home.” He advised to Myungsoo then turned to Sungyeol. “As for Sunggyu, he has the worst grade in the class in talking in Korean and reading too. I'm not saying he can't understand or translate his thoughts into words but, as you know, Sungyeol, Sunggyu is not keen on talking much, he is not interested in this and whenever I ask him to read out loud he refuses, which makes it difficult for us to grade him properly.”

“But he's been talking more lately, Sungjong told me that...” Sungyeol was about to argue but Dongwoo interrupted him with a condescending tone.

“And we both know who is actually helping him with this.” Sungyeol would have pouted at Dongwoo remark because he knew deep down Dongwoo melted like an ice cream on a hot day, but Myungsoo was here and no, he wouldn't do that in front of him, never, ever, ever.

Dongwoo then sighed. “The point in these sort of meetings is for the teachers to give the parents some tips on something they should correct at home so the kids develop more in school and not exactly in in their education, but I know we have heavy issues here.” Dongwoo made hand motions on top of his desk but both men in front of him knew he was talking about them.

Sungyeol crossed his arms, scoffed and avoided Dongwoo’s gaze.

“I don't have any heavy issues with anyone.” Myungsoo said but maybe it had come too defensive because Dongwoo looked at him with an expression that said, 'don't lie, I know!'

“Let's just be mature here and talk things out because you both know the kids are best friends and they can help each other. My suggestion, based on my professional and personal opinion, is that you two should allow the kids to interact outside the school, so Sunggyu would help Woohyun with math and be helped with opening up and, maybe start moving like a kid and not like someone fifty years older than me.”

Both Sungyeol and Myungsoo raised their brows in sync and before any of them said something Dongwoo continued. “As for their behavior, the sooner Sunggyu understands that he can spend time with Woohyun outside school, I believe he will not feel that desperate to have Woohyun by his side all the time and will be able to open up to other kids, consequentially he will let Woohyun do what he does best and talk to other kids as well.”

“This makes no sense hyung.” Sungyeol scoffed. “And I have already listed every reason why I don't want that happening.”

“And have you included 'because I'm a heartless jerk' on that list?” Myungsoo asked sarcastically making air quotes and Sungyeol turned to him to speak with the most sarcastic tone he could muster at the moment.

“If you are admitting, then I'll add that to the list.” He argued back.

“I can't believe that, despite all, the kids I deal every day with seem more mature than you two right now.” Dongwoo hissed at both.

“But he keeps pushing my buttons out of prejudice and breaking my son’s heart with this weird 'Woohyun ban', so excuse me if I don't seem mature. He has treated us badly, insulted us, and he openly hates us out of nowhere even when I help his brother, but because of my son I even up my pride and invited him for Woohyun’s birthday, but he flat out refused to go not thinking for a second if Sunggyu would like to attend.” Myungsoo listed in his fingers with hurt and Dongwoo shook his head at Sungyeol in clear disappointment. “And all this hate is because he labeled me and my son in a stereotype. I was a teen parent, I know what everyone thinks about that, but I am not ashamed and frankly that doesn't make irresponsible, Woohyun has lived and developed perfectly with me loving him enough for two, and this is proof enough of that.”

He then got up from the chair. “Thank you for all you do for my son on daily basis Mr. Jang, he likes you a lot, but I don't think your suggestions will ever be put into work. Not because I don't want to or because I don't like Sunggyu, on the contrary, I think he is actually very sweet - and desperate for love and attention if I should add.” He looked at Sungyeol glaring. “I would welcome him in my apartment for a playdate anytime, but this guy here has both his brain and heart stuck up his .” Myungsoo pointed to Sungyeol.

“What the...” Sungyeol's eyes glowered with anger.

“Now if you excuse me, I have good work to keep up in the education of my son.” With that Myungsoo stormed off the room and left Dongwoo with Sungyeol.

“That er thinks that is a great achievement being a teen parent...”

“You lost a big opportunity of shutting the up.” Dongwoo hissed. “You not only lost a good potential friend that could actually understand you, you lost a big help and guidance from a more experienced single parent. Not to mention that you could have sped up Sunggyu’s 'recovery' and made amends with your brother. Seriously, for someone that is a genius you're the dumbest person on earth and I only don't cuss you more here because this is my workplace and I'm already being too unprofessional by trying to help on things I'm not supposed to.”

“Then keep that help for Sunggyu, I don't need help from you to befriend that dude when I don't want to.” Sungyeol hissed and got up to leave as well.

Sungyeol got out of the classroom to see Sungjong and Sunggyu interacting and apparently the kid was complaining he was hungry, well better take him home and get done with his obligations so he could pull an all nighter to compensate for the lost time here.

He urged his two brothers in the car and headed for Sungjong’s college, that was a bit far, to drop him off and they took the chance to grab some fast food and discuss Dongwoo’s reviews on Sunggyu ( a thing that Sungyeol filtered a lot). As soon as Sungyeol dropped Sungjong at his dorm door (or as close he could get to it) it started to rain which at first didn't bother him, but when he was halfway home, with Sunggyu almost dozing off in the back, he got a flat tire.

Sungyeol pulled to the side of the street and put the lights alerts on, then proceed to go to the back to get the spare tire to change it. It took some time under the rain and some heavy cussing in his mind to change the tires, but he thanked God at least that Sunggyu seemed to be too tired to even notice all that happened.

When he arrived home he made the boy take a bath, brush his teeth and tucked him into bed, which, thankfully was the easiest thing in the world since a sleepy Sunggyu was easier to handle and then Sungyeol, in his rush to get some studying done, made the worst decision he could at the time and forego a warm bath only to sit at his desk and start reviewing things.

___________________________________________

Sunggyu blinked his small eyes open and then rubbed them with his small hands to make the sleep go away. He yawned and headed to the bathroom to pee, washed his hands, then went to search for Sungyeol and the possible breakfast to fill his complaining belly.

His hyung wasn't in the living room or the kitchen and since Sunggyu came from the bathroom he knew his hyung was probably in his room, to which Sunggyu usually only entered when Sungjong was home, he was scared Sungyeol could get mad at him if he entered any other day.

He opened the door slowly and saw that instead of sleeping in his bed, Sungyeol was curled over his desk and had his face resting on top of some big book Sunggyu didn't care about. His hyung phone was laying beside his head and Sunggyu hesitantly tapped on it to see the time; there was a big eleven written there and other numbers Sunggyu didn't bother to read, no wonder his belly was complaining so much.

Sunggyu pondered for some minutes about what he should do, last time he had decided to wait for his hyung to wake on his own, but back then Sungyeol had yelled at him and told him to wake him up with a nudge. Sunggyu still thought he was gonna be yelled at, but he was hungry and Sungyeol said to wake him up so...

The boy touched his brother’s nonexistent biceps so he could nudge him into an awake state, but he caught himself taking his hand out as soon as he placed his hand there out of fear. Because nothing happened, after a few seconds of hesitance Sunggyu tried again, this time with a more prolonged nudge and then he felt something very strange, his brother seemed hot which was weird.

Nothing happened again and Sunggyu started to feel a weird fear in his stomach so he shook his older brother with full force that was only enough for Sungyeol groan like a caveman.

“Hyung!” Sunggyu tried calling him and shaking him once more, now in a desperate way, this was definitely not normal, he knew this grumpy hyung would wake up with any noise. “Hyung!” He called a second time, not realizing he was talking to Sungyeol directly for the first time in a year.

Sunggyu’s eyes filled with tears but even so, he got himself thinking that he had to call someone for help. His first thought, for obvious reasons, was Sungjong, the only other person’s phone he knew by heart, so he ran to the living room and tried to call his hyung but the woman on the phone said hyung didn't have a battery or had his phone turned off and to try again later.

The next choice was to call uncle Hoya (that was what he called the man because he knew they weren't related by blood), or Mr. Jang who was friends with uncle Hoya and his hyung, but he didn't know their number. He tried getting Sungyeol’s phone to discover their numbers from there, but if his hyung had their numbers there, he surely had them under other names because Sunggyu couldn't find any Hoya or Mr. Jang there (maybe because Sungyeol saved their contacts as Hobaby hyung and Dino hyung).

What to do? What to do? What was the emergency number? Sunggyu then realized something: Woohyunnie was across his door, his dad, that was an adult, was probably there too. He knew his hyung would hate him and yell at him forever for this but he didn't know who to call anymore. He took some time to find the keys, but once he found them he opened the door and knocked on the opposite door.

Myungsoo (Woohyunnie’s dad), opened the door chewing something, probably lunch, which made Sunggyu’s belly growl like 'feed me too!'. “Woohyun! Sunggyu arrived early.” Myungsoo announced opening the door for Sunggyu to enter then looked back at the kid. “Where's Sungjong-shi? Why are you alone? Wait, why are you crying.” He said finding the situation strange, and as he looked briefly past Sunggyu, the door of his apartment was opened which was suspicious.

“Please help!” Sunggyu hugged his legs tightly which surprised Myungsoo. “Please! Please!” The boy begged.

“What happened hyung?” Woohyun ran to his side and patted him for comfort.

“I-I don't know. Everything was normal yesterday, but today...” Sunggyu briefly blabbered to his friend before he looked up to Myungsoo again. “Please, I don't know what to do. Jongie hyung doesn't take my call.”

“I have his number I can try calling him.” Myungsoo suggested. “Woohyun go grab my phone.” He ordered and the boy disappeared to do this quest. “Now tell me what happened.”

“I-I tried waking hyung because I was hungry, but he doesn't wake up no matter how much I shake him and call him when I touched him... I thought I would burn my hand.” Sunggyu managed to explain although very nervously. “Hyung, I'm scared!”

Woohyun reappeared with Myungsoo’s phone right after that and the young dad tried calling Sungjong, but, as said before the younger was out of battery or had his phone turned off, so Myungsoo tried calling his brother to deliver the message in person, he knew his brother wouldn't mind.

“Hyung, I can't take care of Woohyun today, my first exam is this Monday.” His brother complained as he picked the phone up.

“Hello Moonsoo, I need a favor but it is something else. Listen, can you go to Sungjong’s room and tell him that he needs to call me? Sunggyu knocked on my door crying and desperate, I think his brother is sick or something.” Myungsoo said as Woohyun patted his friend and whispered that everything will be ok and that his dad knew what to do.

“I could, nothing would make me happier than to have a two-minute break, but I'm not in the dorm right now, I'm doing a study marathon in my friend’s apartment.”

“F...” Myungsoo held himself on the bad word. “Just... if you manage to get in touch with him, tell him to call me ok? I'll see if I can handle this.” Myungsoo said before disconnecting the call and squatting next to Sunggyu.

“Stop crying, I'll try my best to help ok?” Myungsoo wiped Sunggyu’s tears and the boy nodded. “Now show me the way to your hyung.”

Sunggyu then ran into his apartment with Myungsoo and Woohyun in his toll and when Myungsoo saw Sungyeol with the clothes of yesterday he put two and two together, the guy had probably stayed all night studying and probably passed out at some point, though this didn't really explain why he couldn't wake up. Everything was explained as soon as he touched his neighbor’s arm, the guy was burning up with probably the highest fever Myungsoo had ever seen, even if he counted every time Moonsoo or Woohyun was sick.

He immediately turned around. “You two back away, he is sick.” He announced which made Woohyun gasp and Sunggyu start spilling tears of worry again.

“Is he going to be ok?” Woohyun voiced Sunggyu worries in a small voice.

“I'll try my best, but if the fever doesn't go down a bit by night time, we'll have to take him to the hospital.”

“No!” It wasn't that Sunggyu didn't want to get Sungyeol treated, but he was shocked, the hospital was the place his parents went to before they....

“Woohyun, go pick the white bag in the last drawer of our bathroom, Sunggyu, please get some underwear and pajamas and leave the bathroom. I'm going to give him a bath and you two will behave and wait in the living room.” Myungsoo used a bit of authoritative tone and the caring dad/friend disappeared and the assertive parent took his place. The kids didn't mind though, so they scurried off to do what they were told.

Myungsoo turned to Sungyeol with a sigh, he knew he had enough reasons to hate this guy, to leave him on his own, this guy was lucky that he liked Sunggyu and couldn't bring himself to do anything that would affect him. Woohyun would also be disappointed and he knew he had to be perfect for Woohyun, maybe that could help him someday.

“Sungyeol-shi, Sungyeol-shi.” Myungsoo called as he shook the man.

“Urgh.” Sungyeol groaned in response and coughed a bit when Myungsoo started to pull him.

“Sungyeol-shi, you're having a nasty fever.” He announced as he did his best to try to move Sungyeol up with not much response. “Sunggyu was worried about you and couldn't contact your brother or any of your friends so he called me, you recognize my voice right?”

“Hmmm?” Sungyeol groaned inquiringly, he was definitely not entirely there.

“I'm your neighbor, Myungsoo.” He said when he managed to put Sungyeol arm around his neck and prepared himself to lift him up. “I need you to try to get on your feet in 3, 2, 1.” Unexpectedly Sungyeol obeyed and though he hadn't enough strength to stand up by himself at least helped Myungsoo a lot.

The young dad decided to go for the bathroom to give the sick dude a bath because he didn't know when Sungyeol knees would buckle, the guy seemed to be in a really bad shape, and, if Myungsoo had time to think about it right in that moment, he would think he was in the most awkward situation ever, aside that very specific moment with Woohyun’s mother in the past, because here he was: stripping a guy that hated his guts so he would help him feel good in a not ual way. Also, Sungyeol couldn't keep himself steady under the shower so Myungsoo basically had to practically shower, very awkwardly, with him.

He sat Sungyeol on the toilet and briefly opened the door to shout more commands. Sunggyu-yah, grab a new towel for me, please! Woohyun-ah can you go grab some of my clothes? And underwear too!" After that, he got the towel that hadn't minions printed on it and started drying Sungyeol. “Gosh, you're burning.” He sighed as he proceeded to dry the man and a few seconds after, the boys were knocking on the door to hand the stuff he asked for.

“Thank you, now go back to the living room... Sunggyu if you can find some straw... if there isn't any here, go back to my apartment with Woohyun, there's one there, he knows where it is.” Both boys nodded and Myungsoo closed the door again.

He finished drying Sungyeol and managed to dress his underwear and pajamas, once he was done he turned around to take care of himself and started shedding his clothes because he thought Sungyeol was out of himself. But Myungsoo was stark and drying himself when Sungyeol started to blink his eyes open.

Sungyeol saw everything foggy and it took a moment for him to realize he wasn't where he was last night, he couldn't recognize where he was though, much less who the silhouette in front of him belonged to. He tried his best to focus and even to move but his body seemed like he didn't have any energy to move a muscle.

Myungsoo dressed the clothes Woohyun brought for him then looked around the bathroom looking for something specific, he had to open up some drawers to find what he wanted, a hair dryer, because he definitely couldn't let Sungyeol sleep with wet hair or his condition might worsen.

He turned the hair drier on and got close to Sungyeol to start drying his hair and all Sungyeol could hear was that strange noise not to mention the feel of warm air against his head. He started to grunt/whine.

“Stay still. I can't let you sleep on wet hair, or you'll get worse.” Myungsoo scolded and Sungyeol frowned involuntarily, he couldn't properly comprehend what was said to him but he knew that voice was familiar, who was there with him? This voice was too deep to be Sungjong’s, too adult-like to be Sunggyu, not raspy enough to be Hoya and not cheerful enough to be Dongwoo.

Once done, Myungsoo put the hair drier back into place, lifted Sungyeol and brought him back to his bed, he put the covers around his neighbor that promptly curled up to them, then went to see the kids in the living room. Sunggyu fumbled with the straw Myungsoo told him to get it while Woohyun gently pat his knee in assurance.

“Hyung, Dad knows what he is doing, everything is going to be fine.” The youngest of them said.

“But what if it won't?” Sunggyu asked back in a mix of worry, fear, nervousness, and sadness and maybe he wanted to cry too, but somehow Woohyun presence alone was avoiding that part. “Woohyunnie, I... I don't want to be alone.” Sunggyu mumbled although Myungsoo could hear and have his heart squeezed. Despite all, the boy still loved and cared for Sungyeol deeply.

“You won't ever be alone hyung.” Woohyun tried to assure him and decided that giving him a hug would be great for comfort.

Myungsoo made himself noticed in the living room and the boys left the couch where they were sitting to follow him around as he went to what it seemed to be the kitchen. “Where are the cups?” He asked because he knew the boys were right behind him and Sunggyu pointed to a cupboard he couldn't reach.

“We have to keep him hydrated so we have to make him drink lot's of water.” Myungsoo was saying as he fumbled in the kitchen to fill the cup then turned to Sunggyu. “Straw?” It was promptly passed over. “Woohyun, where's the bag I asked you to get?” His son’s eyes grew big and he ran back into the living room with his father and friend following him, he picked up the bag that was forgotten in the couch and gave it to his dad that promptly took a thermometer from inside. “Ok boys, I will check his temperature and when I come back we will see what we can do to feed you, ok Sunggyu? Wait here.”

The boy hesitantly nodded but Myungsoo quickly disappeared from the living room and back into Sungyeol’s room. It was a bit difficult to pull the covers enough to put the thermometer under Sungyeol’s arm, and even more difficult to make him drink a glass of water with Sunggyu’s straw but Myungsoo managed.

After done with Sungyeol, Myungsoo went to his apartment to reheat the food he and Woohyun left halfway eaten at their table and cook some for Sunggyu too. The boy was scared and worried so he claimed that he didn't want to eat, but his belly disagreed and Myungsoo ended up playing a bit of planes until he was embarrassed to eat on his own.

Myungsoo got his laptop and a couple of towels and the three returned to the brothers’ apartment. He instructed the kids to play quietly on Sunggyu’s room because he would split his time between studying (which was not definitely that much of reading, he mainly did projects or reviews at this point) and be taking care of Sungyeol.

Myungsoo settled his stuff on Sungyeol’s desk because that would assure him to be close to whatever the guy needed, maybe he would need a lot, his fever was high. Myungsoo sighed and headed for the bathroom where he wet those towels to put them over the neighbor’s forehead and under his arms, he hoped that would relieve Sungyeol enough until his fever went down a little.

Myungsoo could only thank god that he taught Woohyun to be silent and respect his study time and that Sunggyu seemed to follow his lead in this because the two boys didn't make any noise and that helped Myungsoo to get some work done on his computer though he stopped every now and then to wet the towels on Sungyeol again before putting them back into place, to make him drink some water and check his temperature.

At some point, Sungyeol’s phone rang and since Sungyeol’s phone was beside his computer Myungsoo couldn't help but glance curiously at it, only to see a big Sangwoo written on the screen. He didn't want to take the call, he swore he didn't want to, but this Sangwoo person was calling relentlessly to the point he couldn't concentrate and Sungyeol started to groan.

“Sungyeol, why the aren't you picking my calls? You know that when I call you you have to pick up, don't make me mad at you, you know what happens.” The guy said irritated and Myungsoo thought if Sungyeol had friends like this it was no wonder why he was that annoying too. “Why the did you stand me up? Do I have to go pick you up every time now to make sure you do appear?” The guy continued hissing and Myungsoo had had enough.

“Hello, Sungyeol-shi can't answer right now...” He was about to inform whoever this person was that his neighbor was down with a fever when he was rudely interrupted by a threatening growl.

“Who the are you?”

“I'm not that important, listen, Sungyeol-shi is in bed and I'm taking care of him right now, he's...” Myungsoo was trying to explain but of course that the guy understood everything wrong and interrupted him.

“So this is how it is huh? Very well.” The guy said dryly only to hung up on Myungsoo’s face.

“Rude.” Myungsoo said with a pout, placed Sungyeol’s phone back on the desk then quickly forgot the rude bastard so he could concentrate on his work.

When night fell Sungyeol’s fever had subsided a bit so Myungsoo gave up on the towels. Next thing he knew was he made a soup that everyone ate, even Sungyeol, with some effort, though the guy was still out of himself and didn't seem to recognize who was feeding him. Myungsoo bathed the kids, dressed them in their pajamas and logged in his Netflix account so the boys had a movie night, not before reassuring Sunggyu over and over again that Sungyeol was ok.

A couple of hours later the two boys fell asleep and Myungsoo thanked the gods Sunggyu was small and Woohyun was tiny, this way they could be put to sleep on the same bed. After the boys were out he went back to Sungyeol’s room and did some more work for a couple of hours until he heard grunts coming from the bed.

“Urhg... hum...” Sungyeol grunted and Myungsoo snapped his back to look at him.

“Are you walking properly?” Myungsoo seemed relieved so he got up and got close to Sungyeol to check on him, it's been a couple hours he checked the neighbor, the fever had subsided back then.

As soon as Myungsoo placed a hand on Sungyeol he knew he should have checked the guy a couple of times more, the fever was back at full force and now it seemed as if the guy had some nightmares too.

“Omma... I can't.... do this...” Sungyeol mumbled over and over again as Myungsoo spend the night taking care of him and after a lot of fluids on Sungyeol’s body, wet towels and, this time, even some anti-thermal med, the fever started to show signs that would subside.

It was a bit before the sun went up that Myungsoo won against the fever, making it disappear at least for now. But the fever had won over him too and he was dead tired after a day of juggling two kids, a sick person and his school work so, having nowhere else to sleep in Sungyeol’s apartment, and his neighbor’s bed being big with an unmoving body on top of it, Myungsoo decided to lay on the other side and he quickly fell asleep.

When Myungsoo opened his eyes again he could only watch his son in his Toy Story pajama looking down at him and this set some alarm off in his head because Sungyeol was here, Woohyun was here (and Sunggyu might be too) and he (them) could catch that cold.

He promptly got up to find out that only Woohyun was there, the boy had woken up earlier than his friend and didn't want to stay in bed anymore so he decided to wake up his father, not knowing that the poor dad had only slept a few hours. After sending his son away he checked upon Sungyeol and sighed in relief, it seemed that the fever still hadn't returned, which was good if he didn't count that Sungyeol was sleeping with his mouth open, probably because he had a stuffy nose.

Myungsoo then decided to wake Sunggyu and cook the kids and himself some breakfast. While he made it, the kids were full of questions about Sungyeol that he did his best to answer at the same time he rubbed his eyes out of sleep and scrambled some eggs.

Unbeknownst to the three in the kitchen, Sungyeol opened his eyes and this time he could comprehend that he was in his bed, in his room and that he was sick, he had vague memories of the bathroom or eating something the night before. Since the apartment was small and the door was open Sungyeol was able to hear Sunggyu making questions to someone and then there was another voice joining him on this too, which was strange.

Sungyeol sat in bed awkwardly and pinched the bridge of his nose before he decided he still felt a bit cold so he placed the covers around himself and went up to check the owner of this voice, and the one that was replying but he couldn't hear, out. He wobbled a bit but hopefully caught his balance soon then directed himself to the kitchen, though before he could properly enter the living room he heard the voices again.

“Hyung, are you really, really sure Sungyeol hyung is going to be fine?” Sungyeol was surprised to hear Sunggyu, not only was the boy talking, but he had also used a rather big sentence and even could feel all the worry over him in his tone. His heart for the first time in a while felt like melting, he and Sunggyu weren't the closest, in fact, they had a rocky relationship, so he didn't expect the maknae to show worry for him whatsoever.

Sungyeol took one more step to show himself at the time someone else answered the boy’s question.

“I know you're dead worried about your brother but don't be, it's just a cold and he is going to be fine.” The guy, that had his back turned to Sungyeol, said with his deep but very comforting tone, he patted Sunggyu’s hair and then started to place some food on the boy’s plate. Sungyeol wanted to know who was this guy but his stomach preferred to know what kind of food was the guy serving, he was hungry and couldn't smell anything due to his clogged nose.

“Yes, hyung, dad is...” Sungyeol heard another small voice and his eyes moved to Sunggyu’s side where he could see a tiny little head with raven hair and the pointy nose behind the table, and now that made it easier to put two and two together: the neighbors were in his apartment.

“What are you two doing here?” Sungyeol asked from where he was, more confused than angry, but with the raspiest voice he had ever had, that cold ed his throat too.

Woohyun gasped in surprise, Sunggyu gasped in fear, quickly scrambling to hide behind the only adult near him. As for said adult, when he saw Sungyeol wrapped in his blankets, his eyes doubled in apprehension and his body tensed, he was sure was about to go down.

________________________________________________________

AN: I'm not entirely satisfied with this chapter but this is the turning point.