It was a lovely Saturday morning in the NCT dorm. The sky was clear, the birds were chirping, and the smell of breakfast wafts its way through the air. The slow tendrils seeped under the boys’ doors, and made its way to their noses. The boys woke up to the amazing smell and worked their way out of their beds to follow the scent into their kitchen.

                They were greeted to the sight of waffles, eggs, sausages, bacon, orange juice and a note from their manager pleasantly decorating the table. The boys nearly ran to the table, excited to devour the feast before them. Mark sat down first, then followed by Jisung, Chen Le, Donghyuck and Renjun. Jeno stood awkwardly by the door, still rubbing off the sleep from his eyes. Mark took the note and read it to s

                “Boys, unfortunately, I have work to do this morning and your hyungs have rehearsals early today so we can’t join you for breakfast. I left some for you so eat up! Remember that you have rehearsals today too, so get ready after eating. I’ve arranged for a driver to take you there and back. I will meet you guys for dinner.” Mark read aloud.

                “Aww, our manager is so thoughtful” Renjun said as he took a fat sausage from the plate. The boys followed suit and fell into a calm chatter with one another. Only Jisung noticed the stiff figure by the kitchen door.

                “Jeno-hyung,” Jisung said, “Aren’t you going to join us?”

                “Ah, I will Jisung-ah, but…” Jeno looked around the table, noticing two empty seats in between Mark and Donghyuck, “Have you seen Jaemin?”

                “Not yet hyung,” Jisung replied, stuffing eggs in his mouth.

                “Ah, I’ll go get him then, don’t wait up for me!” Jeno said cheerfully as he made his way to Jaemin’s room. He knocked once on the door, waiting for a reply. He was met with silence and knocked again. Still silence.

                ‘He might still be asleep’ Jeno thought as he let himself into the room. He noticed a huge lump covered under the baby blue blankets. Quietly, he walked up to the lump and slowly peeled off the blanket, revealing a still sleeping Jaemin. Jeno smiled to himself, Jaemin really looked cute when he’s sleeping. He watched as Jaemin breathed in and out, his small chest rising and falling in a rhythm. Looking at the clock over the wall, Jeno noticed the time and thought that the others would probably be halfway done with their food by now. He brought a cautious hand on Jaemin’s shoulder and shook him gently.

                “Jaemin-ah, wake up. It’s time for breakfast” Jeno said in a soothing voice but Jaemin didn’t stir. Jeno brushed aside Jaemin’s fringe with his fingers then shook him a little harder, but he still didn’t wake up. Suddenly, he noticed that Jaemin’s face was a little flushed and had a thin sheen of sweat on his forehead. Jeno removed the covers but Jaemin shivered from the loss of heat.

                ‘It’s not even that cold’ Jeno thought to himself. He lowered his head so that his and Jaemin’s foreheads were touching. Jeno jerked his head back as if he got burned. Well, he might as well have when Jaemin was burning up! For extra measures, Jeno took an electric thermometer and placed it in Jaemin’s underarm. After waiting a minute, Jeno took the thermometer and checked Jaemin’s temperature, gasping in shock at the flashing 39 degrees on the thermometer’s screen. He ran back to the kitchen to find a basin and some clean towels for Jaemin.

                The other boys were greeted by the sight of a frantic Jeno, running about the kitchen like a madman.

                “What’s wrong Jeno?” Mark asked with concern.

                “Its Jaemin, hyung,” Jeno replied while skimming over the cupboards looking for clean towels. “He’s caught a fever, he’s not feeling to well”

                “Oh no! Poor Jaemin-hyung” Chen Le said worriedly.

                “But we need to leave in 20 minutes,” Renjun reminded everyone, “And we can’t just leave Jaemin alone. We need someone to stay and look after him”

                The boys nodded in agreement. Meanwhile, Jeno is already filling up a basin he found under the sink with cool water and is bringing it to Jaemin room. The members followed Jeno like lost puppies, wanting to see Jaemin too. When they reached the room, they watch as Jeno carefully wiped the sweat on Jaemin’s forehead and placed a cool soaked towel over it.

                “Aigoo,” Donghyuck cooed, “Jeno’s so cute” The rest voiced their agreements before a loud honk sounded throughout their dorm.

                “Oh no, the driver’s here” Chen Le said.

                “But who’s gonna stay with Jaemin-hyung?” Jisung added.

                Paying close attention to Jeno, who is currently adding extra layers of blankets to keep Jaemin warm, Mark decided to leave Jeno to take care of the sick boy.

                “Alright, Jeno-yah, would it be okay if we leave you to take care of Jaemin?” Mark asked. Jeno nodded furiously, his hair bouncing along. “Okay good. Guys,” Mark beckoned to the rest of the group lingering by Jaemin’s door, “Get ready, we need to go”

                After getting changed, the members made their way to the van, ready to head off to practice. Jeno stood outside the dorm to see them off. Before they left, Mark pulled down the windows and yelled at Jeno. “Yah, Jeno-yah, don’t forget to eat okay? Take good care of Jaemin-ah and yourself, arrasso?”

                “Ne, arrasso Mark-hyung” Jeno said with a smile before waving at his bandmates. Once they left, Jeno walked back inside the dorm and checked up on Jaemin. To his surprise, Jaemin is already awake and attempting to get out of the bed, but failed miserably. Before he was even a foot away from the bed, he started feeling dizzy again and fell forward. Jeno ran to him and caught him between his arms just in time.

                “YAH! Jaemin-ah, what are you doing?” Jeno asked worriedly. Jaemin looked at him and forced a smile.

                “I was hungry hyung, and I went to see what’s for breakfast. Did everyone else eat yet?” Jaemin asked, still slightly dizzy.

                “Then you should’ve called me then. You’re too sick, you should stay in bed,” Jeno said with a worried frown. He brought his hand to wipe away the damp locks from Jaemin’s forehead and brought his forehead back against Jaemin’s to check if he is still warm. The contact shocked Jaemin but it wasn’t exactly uncomfortable. He then noticed the close proximity between his face and Jeno’s, their noses almost touching and breaths mingling. Luckily, if he blushed right then, Jeno will mistake it as the fever. Jeno pulled back and lead Jaemin back to his bed. After he lied down, Jeno restacked the blankets on top of him and tucked Jaemin in snugly. He crouched in front of Jaemin’s bed and laid his head along the mattress, eyes at the same level as Jaemin’s. “The others already had breakfast. They’re at rehearsals right now. I stayed back to take care of you” Jeno said with his trademark eye smile.

                Jaemin felt his chest and stomach flutter uncontrollably. He wasn’t really sure why he’s feeling that way. ‘Must be my fever acting up’ He thought to himself. Jeno stood up and headed towards the door. He hasn’t even touched the doorknob before a loud, gurgled sound resonated through the room. Looking back, He saw Jaemin lightly clutching his stomach. Jaemin returned an embarrassed smile.

                “Are you hungry Jaemin?” Jeno asked. Jaemin nodded weakly and attempted to get off the bed again. “No!” Jeno nearly yelled, startling Jaemin slightly. “Sorry Jaemin-ah, just… don’t get out of the bed. You’re too sick. Wait here okay? I’ll go get something for you to eat.” Jeno ruffled Jaemin’s hair affectionately before making his way back to the kitchen.

                Unsurprisingly, the rest of the members left their dirty dishes at the table. With a sigh, Jeno picked up all the dirty plates and placed them near the sink, intending to put them inside the dishwasher later. Right now, he needed to find something for Jaemin to eat. He can’t exactly feed him the breakfast that’s left on the table, it’ll be too hard for him to chew. Jeno looked in the pantry and the fridge but nothing looked good enough for Jaemin to eat. Jeno resorted to making something instead.

                ‘Soup should be easy for Jaemin to eat’ Jeno thought. Looking through the fridge, he spotted some carrots, celery, sweet corn, and some chicken . ‘These ingredients should do’. Jeno took the ingredients out along with a chopping board and a knife, then proceeded to chop them up. After chopping them up along with some onions and garlic, he sautéed the chicken, then added the vegetables. After they softened a bit, he poured some water on it and let it boil. Jeno felt as though it wasn’t enough to fill Jaemin’s tummy. Looking back at the pantry, he spotted an unused pack of elbow macaroni. He decided to put some into the soup, just to make it a little heavier on the stomach.

                After the macaroni was done, he seasoned the soup with some salt and pepper, ladled it into a bowl then placed it onto a tray. He placed some slices of bread on the toaster, then buttered them up to serve along with the soup. Finally, he got a glass of cool water and walked back to Jaemin’s room.

                Jaemin perked up at the warm, homey scent. Looking up, he saw Jeno placing the tray on his bedside table and took a chair. He sat up and reached for the tray, but Jeno saw him and lightly swatted his hands away.

                “Nope,” Jeno said defiantly, “You sit back and relax, and I’ll feed you okay?” Jaemin didn’t really have a choice so he nodded along anyway. Jeno sat beside the bed and began spoon feeding Jaemin. Jaemin hummed contently at the taste of the food.

                “This is really good Jeno-ah, you’re a really great cook!” Jaemin said honestly. Jeno seemed taken aback, but smiled along anyway, a light pink dusting his cheeks.

                “Ahh, its nothing,” He said, rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s just simple chicken soup. Nothing special…”

                “But you made it hyung. The fact that you made it is what makes it special to me” Jaemin said as he smiled, the corner of his eyes crinkling. Jeno felt something tug in his chest and felt flustered. He looked at the bowl of soup as if it’s the most interesting thing in the room to hide his probably red face and bit his lip to avoid smiling like a school-girl in love.

Wait…

Love?

                While still avoiding eye contact, he continued to spoon feed Jaemin until every last drop is gone, and every bite of toast is devoured. Jaemin happily rubbed his tummy, content with the food he ate.

                “Thank you Jeno-ah, it was great” Jeno nodded without a word and started for the door. However, he was pulled back by the wrist abruptly and felt something warm and soft on his cheeks. He looked back to Jaemin. “Thank you for taking care of me” Jaemin said with a smile gracing his face, then gently let go of Jeno’s arm.

                Jeno looked back at Jaemin with wide eyes. “Did he just kiss me?!”. He stared at Jaemin’s face in confusion. Unconsciously, while still in a state of shock, he began studying his features. He looked at Jaemin’s nose, small and cute, just like a button. He looked at his hair, dark and thick, still slightly damp from sweat but still retains that perfect shine. He looked at Jaemin’s cheeks, which is clear and blemish free, and still slightly pink from the fever and looked as soft as a marshmallow. Then he looked at Jaemin’s almond-shaped eyes, where Jeno almost got lost looking into. Jae