“Sehun?” He looks up from his desk at the sound of his name. Mrs. Choi waves at him with the corded phone in her hand. “Someone would like to talk to you.”

A chorus of “ooh’s” “aww’s” and “he's in trouble” sound from his fellow classmates as he walls up to his teacher. Mrs. Choi silences everyone and demand that they remain on task then she turns to Sehun with a polite smile. “You're not in trouble. I think it's a family member. Here you go.” She hands him the phone and walks back to her desk.

Sehun considers the phone in his hand and notices his classmates’ stares. His arm jerks slightly when he brings the recover to his ear. “Hello?”

“Hello, Sehun-ssi?” A familiar voice comes through the speaker and Sehun’s face scrunches in worry.

“Minseok-ssi, is everything okay? Did something happen?” Sehun notices his classmates perk up at his urgent tone and steps outside of the classroom with a foot in the door.

“Luhan hasn't been feeling well since your mother brought him in. He's developed a fever in the time he’s been here. Due to health concerns, we can't keep him at the preschool. You or your mother have to pick him up soon. I'm sorry Sehun-ssi.”

“So many apologies this week,” Sehun mutters under his breath before clearing his thoughts and focusing back on Luhan. “I can pick him up. I'll get there in half an hour, forty five minutes max. Is that alright and how high is his fever right now?”

“That's fine. I really am sorry about this. His fever is at,” a short pause and shuffling is heard in the background. “100.9 when we checked. We gave him some children's Tylenol about ten minutes ago. He'll get sleepy later on, but otherwise he has fever, some coughing, and a runny nose.”

Sehun pinches the bridge of nose and nods even though Minseok can't see him. “Alright. Thank you Minseok-ssi.”

“No problem. Call the preschool if you can't get him. We tried to call your mother, but she hadn’t responded. We can try again if you’d like?”

“No, I'll call her when we get home. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

Sehun removes the receiver from his ear as he rubs his temples. Great. Luhan caught a cold. Actually, it's probably the flu since he has a fever. Perfect timing since it is fall time.

He walks back into the classroom and sticks the phone back onto the wall. This time around, his classmates don't spare him a second glance as he heads back to his desk. As he sits, he takes a look at the clock above the whiteboard. 11:28. A little less than half an hour until lunch. He’ll just have to make it to the preschool in under fifteen minutes once he ditches school.

No biggie.

 

xXx

It’s a biggie. Getting out of school was the easy part, absolutely no one cares if you leave during lunch. Benefits of an off campus lunch policy, but the bus. The bus schedules and bus drivers love to bite people in their .

Sehun knows they see him running for the bus in the side mirrors, but they still drive off. It’s a blatant middle finger and they probably enjoy watching him struggle to catch his breath as they drive off. Sadists.

Of course now Sehun is subjecting himself to more running, sprinting if you’d like to be more specific. But it ends up being a weird combination of running, sprinting, and walking halfway through. When the preschool finally comes into view, only then does Sehun slow down to a walk. At this point his legs feel like jello, making walking feel like the hardest thing in the world.

The lady at the office looks at him oddly. He can’t blame her. A teenage boy walking in looking like he ran a marathon is probably something she doesn’t see on a daily basis. Plus he probably smells like sweat. Sehun’s not very great at first impressions.

“I’m here to pick up Luhan,” Sehun says when he steps up to her desk.

She raises an eyebrow at him, but nods. “Name?” She picks up the phone and presses in a few numbers.

“Sehun. I’m his older brother,” Sehun responds. He nervously glances around him as he waits for the lady to finish talking on the phone.

“He’s in room 110, go down the hall and it’ll be the last door on your right,” she tells him after she finishes talking on the phone. “He'll be in there with his teacher. But first sign this form and you'll be free to take him home.”

Sehun hurriedly scribbles a reason for an early pick up and his signature that is probably unrecognizable. But he could care less as he hurries down the hallway, trying not to make too much noise with his footsteps. When Sehun gets to the room, he stops and smooths down his shirt.

The door creaks open as he peeks inside. Sehun sees Minseok sitting in a chair next to a bed scrolling on his phone. On the bed lays Luhan who is seemingly in a deep sleep. With a sigh of relief, Sehun steps inside and quietly closes the door behind him.

Minseok notices him and walks over to where Sehun is. Sehun bows his head in a silent greeting and Minseok returns the favor as he pockets his phone.

“He fell asleep about ten minutes ago,” Minseok whispers, crossing his arms and looking at the sleeping child. Sehun nods and shifts his weight as he glances at Luhan. “His fever hasn't done down in the past hour. I'd recommend giving him a bath and some porridge at home. Letting him rest is the most important thing.”

“Thank you. And I'm sorry about the trouble that he put you through,” Sehun bows deeply and tiptoes over to Luhan’s bedside. Luhan’s deep exhales are heard as Sehun kneels. He brushes away his bangs and cringes at the sweat that has accumulated on his forehead.

“This isn't much, but you'll need a lot of this later on,” Minseok places a plastic bag full tissue boxes on the chair he occupied earlier. “Do you need some medicine to take home as well?”

Sehun eyes the plastic bag before looking up at Minseok. Minseok sighs and places his hands on his hips. “Stop thinking like that. Luhan needs to get better. You and I both know that. Just take it. The medicine too if you need it.”

“I don't need the medicine. I bought some a few days ago,” Sehun mumbles as he wearily eyes the bag. A deep sigh leaves him as he pats the tissue boxes, the plastic bag rustles under his fingertips. “I'll take these though. Thank you.”

“Of course, if you need more don't be afraid to come by. The preschool always has an excess of this stuff.” Minseok pats the boxes, his hand barely grazing Sehun’s hand.

Sehun pulls the blankets off Luhan. The youngest immediately curls in on himself with a sniffle. Minseok hands Sehun Luhan’s jacket, which Sehun is grateful for. Somehow he manages to get the jacket on without waking his brother. Sehun zips up the jacket and carefully lifts Luhan into his arms.

Sehun hangs Luhan’s backpack and the bag of tissues on his arm. Minseok sees them off with a wave and with a promise that Sehun will take good care of Luhan. Sehun doesn't have the capacity to feel offended when he sees how worried Minseok is. All he does is promise he'll try to get him back by next week.

xXx

Sehun’s limbs feel heavy as sleep begins to wear away to awareness. Luhan snuggles into his side with his stuffed rabbit in his clutches. The elder can barely open his eyes as one hand scrambles around the mattress. His hand hits a cool plastic surface and he brings it up to his face. 11:13.

He places it back on the ground next to the mattress and rubs his temples. A drumming ache is beginning to take form at the back of his eyelids. Sehun groans and slaps his forehead. Slightly warm.

He wants to curse.

“Gege?” Luhan sits up and rubs his eye with a tight fist. His rabbit lays haphazardly across his lap. “Is it breakfast time?”

“No. It's lunch actually,” Sehun clarifies. He combs back Luhan’s bed head with a hint of a smile. “What do you want to eat?”

Sehun stops his ministrations when Luhan whines and holds his hands to his head. Luhan personally starts to comb his hair, but manages to make it even messier. Luhan holds his rabbit to his chest and sniffs. “I want fried rice.”

Sehun nods and groans as he pushes himself up. “Okay. Go wash up and get dressed before going to the kitchen.”

Luhan nods and obediently walks off to the bathroom across the hall. Sehun flips the quilt off of him and his bones crack as he stands. He stays in his grey sweats and black long sleeve, but slips on an old navy hoodie.

Sehun cooks up fried rice with what was left from last night's dinner. It’s not much, but he’s able to make a bowl for Luhan and that's all that matters. While Luhan eats, Sehun takes this time to truly comb his hair and check his temperature. Luhan’s fever broke yesterday and now he's back to normal. If his typical four year old babble is anything to go by.

“Where we going?” Luhan asks when Sehun pulls a beanie on his head after finishing up lunch and washing the dishes, well dish. “Are we going to school?”

“No, you'll go back on Monday. We're going to the store to buy some stuff,” Sehun says and opens the door. Luhan scampers out looking like a snowman with his puffy jacket and beanie. He waits patiently by Sehun as he locks their door.

Luhan tugs on Sehun’s sweats and points at the door across from theirs when he gets his brother's attention. “Why is noisy? What are they doing?”

Sehun doesn't say anything. He merely picks him up and quickly walks to leave the building.

xXx

Luhan keeps a hold on Sehun’s sweatpants as he glances around the store. Sehun has one hand on Luhan’s beanied head and one hand holding a box of medicine. He squints at the price and holds back another curse as he sets the box back. The drumming in his head has turned into a full fledged headache along with chills going down his back.

Sehun scans the shelves again to make sure that he's not hallucinating the numbers on the stickers. It’s starting to feel like his headache is becoming something of mixture between stress and sickness. Sehun slides his fingers through his hair as he slowly slips down into a crouch.

Luhan gently pats a hand on Sehun’s in his hair. “Does it hurt?”

Tears start to prick at Sehun’s eyes and it takes everything for him not burst at that moment. He takes a shaky breath and turns to Luhan with a smile. Sehun grasps Luhan’s hand and ponders over the difference in size.  

This time, he can't help the tear that slips down his cheek. Unfortunately Luhan takes this as that Sehun is in a large amount of pain and begins to fret over him. “Gege! Don't cry! I'll kiss the pain away. It's okay it's okay!”

Sehun gathers him up in a hug and stands. Luhan frantically presses kisses to Sehun’s head, most landing on his brother’s cheeks. Laughter bubbles up in Sehun's chest as Luhan wipes the tears away with his jacket sleeve, the waterproof material does nothing more than smearing the wetness all over his face. Sehun appreciates the sentiment, but goes over his cheeks with his own sleeve.

“Let's go home,” Sehun sniffles and wipes once more at his cheek. At this point he kind of regrets letting himself cry. Even if was a few stray tears, he hates himself making Luhan worry about him when it’s supposed to be the opposite. Plus his head hurts even more now.

Sehun gives one last glance at the medicine and walks away. A wave of dizziness washes over him causing him to set Luhan down. Instead he holds Luhan’s hand, leaning to the side slightly to compensate for the difference in height.

Luhan tugs Sehun to the entrance of the store after realizing that his brother won't be able to get himself through very well. The brothers manage to get to the entrance when Sehun abruptly stops before the exit, losing Luhan’s hand in the process.

Sehun bends over with his hands on his knees. The younger takes a step towards him when the sliding doors behind him open with a whoosh. A group of people don't see him and one of them knocks him to the floor. Tiny hands fly out and scrape against against the concrete floor.

Silence blankets the area as the group of teenagers stop and watch Luhan slowly rise to his feet. Luhan wipes his hands against his jacket as hiccups begin to wrack his body. Tiny sobs escape him as he continues to wipe his hands against his jacket. “Gege…”

Sehun’s head snaps up at the sound of Luhan crying. An action he immediately regrets when his vision sways.

One of the boys kneels down and turn Luhan to him. “Hey, you okay?’ Luhan looks at his hair and more tears begin to run down his red stained cheeks.

“Gege, why is his hair red? It's weird! Gege I wanna go home!* he sobs and vigorously wipes his hands against his cheeks.

One of the boys leans over to the boy next him and whispers, “Where's Yixing when you need him?”

The red headed boy panics at the sobbing four year old in front of him. His hands fly around in hopes of creating a distraction, but instead gets more crying and tears. The light haired brunette is about to push the red head out of the way when someone comes over and picks up the sobbing child.

“It's okay, it's okay Luhan. Shh,” Sehun whispers comforting words to his brother and gives an apologetic look to the group of boys and bows before getting out of there.

xXx

Jongin slaps Chanyeol on the head when the brothers left. “Nice. You pushed a little kid over and made him cry. What is wrong with you?”

Chanyeol rubs the back of his head with a frown and throws his foot out to kick  Jongin on leg, missing miserably when Jongin deftly moves out of the way. “Be nice to your hyung you brat.”

Jongin holds up one hand up, puts his other hand over his chest, and shakes his head. “The only hyung I listen to is Kyungsoo hyung.” He snickers when Chanyeol makes a move for his neck which he avoids.

Baekhyun ignores his bickering friends to look stand outside of the store and at the bus stop the brothers were sitting at before a bus came by.

“Hey dumb and dumber.” Baekhyun suppresses a smile when the two actually look over at him. “Do either of you know the older one?”

Jongin lets go of Chanyeol’s necktie and scrunches his eyebrows in thought. “I think I have dance with him.” He nods firmly and puts his hands into his pants pockets. “His name’s Sehun. Wait...We're in the same dance group actually.” Then he goes on to chide himself for not recognizing him earlier.

“What's his name?” Baekhyun impatiently interrupts his monologue.

“Sehun. Did you not hear me?” Jongin questions and moves out of the way of a worker.

Baekhyun shakes his head and Chanyeol raises an eyebrow at his urgency.

“His full name. Last name too.”

“His last name? It's-”

A/N: Yo! This chapter is a bit longer than the first two. According to how many pages I’ve written at least. Meh, well I hope you all enjoyed it! I have most of the story mapped out so it’s just a matter of me writing the actual story. So look forward to it! Thanks for reading and see you the next chapter!!