Chapter 25- Did You Know

“No seriously. What the hell is wrong with him…” a very familiar voice said, not so quietly.

“Sssshh. Hyung! You’re too loud! You’re gonna wake him up. Ah! Hyunggggg!” A much deeper voice whined, as he was given a whack across the head.

“Urgh…just shut the hell up already…” Wonwoo groaned. His throat was dry, and he didn’t want to open his eyes. His head was giving him too much pain, he didn’t need more noise.

“Wonnie-ah! Are you okay?” The deep voice asked, as he moved closer to Wonwoo. Wonwoo made little to no effort to open his eyes. He didn’t need to open them to know who was in the room. Jihoon and Mingyu. He could sense another presence in the room but he couldn’t figure out who it was as the person didn’t speak.

“My head’s killing me…” Wonwoo whined as he tried to sit up. He opened his eyes and boy was he right. Jihoon was standing at the edge of his bed with arms crossed. He looked pretty furious, staring at Wonwoo under his bangs. Next to Wonwoo was Mingyu. He was sitting on the ground previously, laying his head on the bed staring at Wonwoo’s sleeping figure. Mingyu was now sitting on Wonwoo’s bed, placing his hand over the older’s forehead. Wonwoo’s eyes scanned across the room and he saw another figure sitting at his study table, but he couldn’t make out their face. He rubbed his eyes, trying to clear his vision. It was Jun.

“Why didn’t you tell us that you were sick?! I only managed to find out that you fainted in school after this kid named Jin Jin came running to our table during lunch…” Mingyu exclaimed, looking at Wonwoo. The older looked down at his blankets, guilty. Tears started to flow out of his eyes.

“I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to…I just…t-thought that I could…pull through the d-day…I-I didn’t want to b-bother anyone…” Wonwoo stuttered. He hid under the sheets, not wanting to see anyone’s reactions.

“Don’t worry! No one’s blaming you. Don’t cry my poor Wonnieeeee~!” Mingyu said, hugging Wonwoo who was still under those sheets.

“Speak for yourself Kim Mingyu. Idiots who can’t take care of themselves. Leaving the house by themselves despite being sick. Real smart. Whatever. I’m not exactly in the mood to care about idiots like these. I’m leaving.” Jihoon said before slamming the door shut and left for his own room. Wonwoo jumped at the sudden slam and he cried even louder than before.

“I’ll try to talk to him. Won-ah. For the time being…take care of yourself and get well soon okay! I’ll drop by tomorrow to visit you. We’ll talk about what happened last night after you’re better. Thanks Mingyu!” Jun said before leaving Wonwoo’s room. The room was now silent, except for Wonwoo’s loud bawling. He gradually calmed down and carefully peaked his head out of the heaps of blankets. He saw Mingyu with his eyes closed, dozing off.

“Are you tired?” Wonwoo asked, poking Mingyu’s shoulder. Mingyu smiled at how cute Wonwoo looked, nodding his head.

“Me too. Let’s just go back to sleep.” Wonwoo said, moving over to make more space for Mingyu. The two laid on Wonwoo’s bed, with Mingyu staring at Wonwoo.

“Don’t snatch my blanket…its cold here.” Wonwoo said as he pulled more blanket over to his side.

“Ah. Yah! I’m going to be cold if you take all the blanket! Share it!” Mingyu pouted, looking at Wonwoo with his puppy eyes.

“B-but…I’m sick…” Wonwoo pouted too, looking at Mingyu with the best puppy eyes he could.

“A-ah…right. Well. Then I guess I can share my warmth with you. By hugging you to sleep. Hehehe. You’re so soft and fluffy like a teddy bear!” Mingyu said, pulling Wonwoo closer to his chest. Wonwoo blushed, his face heating up. They used to sleep just like that when they were younger. But it feels different now. They’re teenagers. And they’re both guys…should they be doing this? It’s doesn’t feel right…but it feels right to Wonwoo. So he doesn’t say anything, hugging Mingyu’s heat radiating body.

“T-thanks for always being by my side…” Wonwoo mumbled before falling back to sleep. Mingyu smiled, looking at Wonwoo’s sleeping figure. He didn’t feel tired anymore. He scanned Wonwoo’s features, his heart beating faster as he looked at his lips. What’s this feeling…why is my heart beating so quickly…ahhhh…this isn’t right… Mingyu gulped, his heart beating faster and louder. He was afraid that Wonwoo might hear how fast his heart beat. He let out a small giggle when Wonwoo let out a snore. He used his finger to go over Wonwoo’s eyes, nose and lastly lips.

“You’re such a fool…making yourself suffer…” Mingyu whispered, tracing the dark eye circles underneath Wonwoo’s eyes. As he was lying on his side, with Wonwoo’s arms wrapped around him, he could only see one side of the room. He noticed a few polaroid pictures on the wall that Wonwoo must have taken back when he left. Then, his eyes moved to the pictures beside the polaroids. It was pictures of him and Jun. But he wasn’t smiling. In another picture, he was smiling, but somehow Mingyu felt like the smile was forced. Wonwoo-ah. You suffered through those years too. I wish you knew and stopped blaming yourself for causing pain to me. I promise to never hurt you again. I’ll only bring smiles to you.

“Hey there! Sorry to disturb you two from your sleep. You can call me Aunt Soomin like the boys. But do you mind getting Wonwoo to wake up and eat this bowl of porridge? And also get him to eat his medicine. He may put up a fight, because he really hates swallowing medicine. I didn’t want to ask you to do this initially, but I have some urgent matters to attend to…” Aunt Soomin explained as she gently shook Mingyu awake.

“Oh yeah! Sure no problem! I’ll get Wonwoo to finish them!” Mingyu grinned, nodding his head to the instructions given to him.

“Thank you so much son! Anyways…do the two of you…like…each other? You boys look really cute together. Aigooo…these boys really do grow up quickly…” Aunt Soomin said, pointing to Wonwoo and Mingyu. Mingyu didn’t say anything, but blushed really badly.

“N-no…please don’t misunderstand. We’re just really good friends. Erm. And I don’t think Wonwoo likes guys. Hehehe.” Mingyu tried explaining himself.

“Ohhh…well…I thought he didn’t like girls…because he didn’t talk about having any crushes back in middle school…oh well. I guess he just haven’t found the right one yet…” Aunt Soomin said before walking out of the room. Mingyu turned to look at Wonwoo who was still sleeping soundly. So he really wasn’t lying back then huh… Mingyu gently shook Wonwoo by his shoulder, waking the older up.

“Wonnie-ah! It’s time for your food and medicine! Wake up!” Mingyu called out.

“Urghhhh…I don’t want any…go away…” Wonwoo whined, pushing Mingyu’s hands away.

“Yahhhhh. If you don’t eat your medicine, you won’t recover…” Mingyu insisted, his hands now moving to the sides of Wonwoo.

“I said no…AHHH HAHAHAHA. GO AWAY!” Wonwoo broke out in laughters as Mingyu tickled his sides. Mingyu continued tickling Wonwoo for a moment until the older finally sat up.

“Ahhhh…finally. What a chore it is to wake you up Jeon Wonwoo…” Mingyu said, wiping the imaginary sweat off his forehead. Wonwoo pouted, not liking the way he was woken up by Mingyu.

“Here. Say ah! The aeroplane is cominggggggg~!” Mingyu said, waving the spoon filled with porridge. Wonwoo obediently opened his mouth to let Mingyu feed him. After several minutes, the bowl was half empty.

“Mingyu-ah…I’m full. I don’t want to eat anymore…” Wonwoo said, pushing the bowl and Mingyu’s hand away gently. He didn’t want any porridge spilling on his bed.

“Come on…just one more? You need to eat to have energy…” Mingyu persuaded, holding the spoon near Wonwoo’s mouth. But it was close tight. Wonwoo shook his head, moving backwards to avoid it.

“Okay fine. Since you’re sick. But I expect you to be eating more when you’re better. I want a fluffy teddy bear, not a bony one. Time for medicine!” Mingyu said, popping out the pills onto his hand. He held them out to Wonwoo, which the boy pushed away furiously.

“No no! I don’t want pills! They’re disgusting.” Wonwoo said, hiding under the blankets now.

“Oh man…you’re really as bad as Aunt Soomin said. Oh come on. You’re supposed to be older than me. But you’re afraid of pills?” Mingyu said, prying the blankets off Wonwoo.

“Nooooooo! Please don’t force me to do this! I promise I’ll do anything but eat this!” Wonwoo whined, trying to fight strong Mingyu. Even when Wonwoo was 100% well, he was weaker than Mingyu. What’s more now when he’s sick.

“Aigoooo. Come on! Just place it at the back of your tongue and everything will go down when you drink the water!” Mingyu insisted, grabbing hold of Wonwoo’s wrists.

“No! HELP! SOMEONE SAVE ME! I’M GETTING KILLED!” Wonwoo shouted, squiggling his way out of Mingyu’s grasp.

“Stop being so dramatic will you? You’re worse than Chan!” Mingyu said, huffing.

“Did you just call m