The alarm beeps loudly on top of the nightstand telling the owner of said clock that it was currently seven in the morning. The incessant sound is not enough to wake whoever was burrowed under the mound of blankets, though, and said person curls up beside the other lump that was in bed with him. Mark rolls over and wraps his arm around his boyfriend when he feels the younger pressed up against him, and after a second he reaches over the man to turn off the alarm.

“Jinyoung, time to get up,” Mark whispers softly as he stretches and sprawls out over most the bed.

The lump beside him, Jinyoung, groans at the words, but doesn’t make any effort to get up. The man’s throat burns at the small noise and he presses his face into Mark’s side and wraps his arm around the other’s waist. With a shake of his head, Jinyoung his chapped lips and wipes his runny nose on his shoulder.

“Come on, let’s not be whiny,” the Taiwanese teases when he hears his boyfriend sniffle. He pulls the blanket down so he could see Jinyoung’s face, but the younger was having none of it. “Hey now, if you don’t get up now, you’re going to blame me!”

Mark sits up and he wears an easy smile as he hangs over Jinyoung. His hand reaches up and the elder runs his fingers through the Korean’s hair as he examines the other’s features. He stops, though, and his brow furrows after a second. Placing the back of his hand on Jinyoung’s forehead, Mark’s eyes widen in shock as he sits up completely.

“Jinyoung, you’re burning up!” he exclaims.

Rolling over onto his back, Jinyoung opens his eyes and he stares up at Mark. He nods once in affirmation before turning and facing the other direction as he tries to go back to sleep. Mark groans and he quickly slides out of bed, dawning his slippers as he pulls the covers up to Jinyoung’s chin.

Mark looks around the room looking for some sort of clue as to what to do to help his boyfriend, and he scratches his head. Turning to the door, he leaves the room and heads down the hallway of their apartment to their roommate’s door that was covered in pictures of famous fencers. Banging on the door, Mark chews his lip nervously as he waits.

In all honesty, the Taiwanese had never taken care of someone that was sick, especially not his boyfriend. In their two-year relationship, Jinyoung had gotten sick once, but it was when Mark was in America visiting his family. Growing up, he always had his mother or his siblings to take care of him, usually not the other way around.

Jackson opens the door and it is obvious that Mark had woken him up. He wears his black tank-top and a pair of shorts that went down past his knees. Blonde hair sticking up everywhere on top of his head, Jackson’s eyes are barely open as he tries to glare at Mark.

“What is it, man?” Jackson croaks out as he rubs his eyes, oblivious to the elder’s worry.

“Jinyoung is sick and I don’t know what to do!” Mark says as he runs a hand through his hair and worriedly watches his best friend slowly comprehend the words.

Jackson nods and doesn’t know why Mark was freaking out really as he rubs his face. He is about to ask why it was a big deal, but the Taiwanese is already explaining that he didn’t know what to do and that he needed to do something for his boyfriend.

Letting out a sigh, Jackson moves out of the doorway and he heads over to the shared bathroom to find the thermometer for Mark. He shuffles through the contents of the drawers and pulls out a white, electronic thermometer before handing it to the Taiwanese who had followed him into the already cramped space.

“Go take his temperature,” Jackson says as he turns Mark around and pushes him from the bathroom. Before the elder man could say anything, the Chinese shuts the door and turns on the sink faucet to wash his face and wake himself up.

Outside the door, Mark looks down at the thermometer briefly before he is heading back to his and Jinyoung’s bedroom. The man climbs into bed and he gently shakes Jinyoung’s shoulder to wake the younger up so he could check his temperature.

“Open your mouth for me,” Mark says as he mimics the action until Jinyoung blindly does it.

The Taiwanese places the tip of the thermometer under his boyfriend’s tongue and with the device in place, he sits back and waits. A minute goes by and he is expectant. When it’s been close to two and a half minutes, Mark is worried. Leaning forward with a tilt of his head, the elder man slowly takes the thermometer from Jinyoung’s mouth.

“It’s broken,” Mark states with a furrowed brow as he turns the device over to check the batteries.

Letting out a soft sigh, Jinyoung opens his eyes and he reaches for the thermometer. He had almost fallen back asleep, but with Mark looming beside him, he was worried for the elder’s well-being over his own. Jinyoung looks at the device in his hand and closes his eyes for a second before he shakes his head at his boyfriend’s stupidity.

“Mark, it isn’t even on,” Jinyoung says with a laugh.

The sound turns into a cough and the Korean covers his mouth while he holds the button on the thermometer. It beeps once and Jinyoung watches as the screen lights up. With a snort, he shows Mark what it was supposed to look like before putting the device under his tongue again.

This time, the temperature reads out in about fifteen seconds.

Mark blushes at the whole incident and nods as if he was taking note of the on button for next time. The Taiwanese removes the thermometer from Jinyoung’s mouth for the second time and he looks at the number in confusion.

“What is this in American?” Mark asks in shock as he looks at the numbers on the tiny screen.

The Taiwanese hadn’t grown up with Celsius and the lines between his brows increase as he reads the number to himself over and over. He looks at Jinyoung for help, but the younger is already out of it again. Mark reaches for his phone on the side table and he types in his passcode before looking up the conversion between the different forms of degrees.

“38.4 degrees Celsius in Fahrenheit,” Mark says as he types the words into the search engine. He waits a moment before gasping in shock and looking at his boyfriend as if the other would explode any second. “101! Jinyoung, get up!”

Mark’s eyes are wide and he throws the blankets off the younger man. He helps Jinyoung stand and starts pulling the Korean towards the bathroom. He had seen it somewhere in a movie or some television show that to bring down a person’s temperature it was useful to put them in a cold shower.

Jackson is just opening the door when Mark rushes past him with the sick man. He watches as the Taiwanese turns on the faucet for the shower and is about to ask him what he was doing, but thinks better of it when Jinyoung lets out a yell of shock as he is suddenly drenched in cold water.

“Mark!” Jinyoung loudly shouts in the elder’s ear as he pulls himself away and slams his hand on the faucet to turn off the water. “What the hell?”

Looking like a deer in the headlights, Mark stutters as he stares at his boyfriend. “I-I was. . . Your temperature was high and I thought that. . .”

Jinyoung coughs loudly and cuts Mark off from his explanation as he holds his chest. The youngest man wears a glare and he looks between his boyfriend and the innocent Jackson in the doorway. Wiping his wet hair back out of his face, Jinyoung doesn’t even want to know what was going through Mark’s mind to make him think throwing him in a cold shower was the solution. Holding his hand out, he points at the towels behind Mark.

Jackson is there first and tosses the fabric to Jinyoung, scared that he was somehow being blamed for Mark’s stupidity. Swallowing hard, he shoves the Taiwanese a little and sends his own glare to his friend.

Mark looks shocked by all the sudden anger he was receiving and he points to Jinyoung as if to explain himself further. “Your temperature was really high! I thought you were going to die or something and they always bring the sick people to the cold showers or baths to bring their body temperatures down!”

Jinyoung sighs and he drapes the towel over his head before ruffling the fabric. He tries to dry his hair and shakes his head at the eldest man’s logic. “Mark, that’s not. . . I’m not dying, I just need rest and medication.”

Mouth falling open, Mark nods in understanding and he reaches forward to help Jinyoung out of the shower as apologies fly out of his mouth. The man doesn’t know why he was so stupid and Mark grabs a second towel to wrap around his boyfriend’s shoulders to help him dry faster.

Jinyoung still wears a glare, the shock of the cold water making him feel wide awake. For now, he didn’t want to fight, so instead he lets Mark lead him to their bedroom. The Korean changes out of his wet pajamas and doesn’t say a word to his boyfriend as Mark tries to keep explaining why he thought the cold water was a good idea.

“I’m going to lay back down,” Jinyoung hums as he slides into one of Mark’s oversized sweaters.

Mark purses his lips and follows the sickly man to the bed so he can tuck him in. Pulling the covers up to Jinyoung’s chin, the Taiwanese leans down and kisses his forehead.

“I’m really sorry, Jin,” Mark says with a whimper, hating when his boyfriend was mad at him. He watches as Jinyoung closes his eyes and pretends to ignore him and Mark kisses the other over and over. “I’ll go make you some breakfast, okay? I’ll get you medicine, too, and call your work!”

Weakly opening his eyes, Jinyoung sighs and nods. He chances a smile and relaxes back against the mattress. “Thank you, Mark,” the Korean mumbles as he rolls onto his side.

*              *              *

Jackson fixes his hat as he stands beside Mark in front of the stove a little while later. The two idiots had ventured to the pharmacy to get Jinyoung some medication and were now starting on breakfast. On the counter, they had several mixing bowls, and the stove was covered with different pans.

“Are you sure this is for sick people?” Mark asks as he looks at the recipe for pancakes. He plays with the package for the bacon and his eyes move over the carton of eggs and the hash browns. “This looks like an American birthday breakfast.”

“No, no!” Jackson says defensively as he reads the ingredients list for the pancakes and just begins throwing things into a bowl. “This will give him lots of nutrients.”

Mark doesn’t look too sure, but he does as he is told when Jackson instructs him to start working on the eggs. He cracks several and starts mixing them in the bowl with a fork before adding some milk and cheese for taste. Setting the whisked eggs aside, Mark opens the shredded, frozen potatoes and dumps a large chunk of the food into a pan that had been heating up for a minute or so. The man doesn’t think to read the instructions on how to cook them, and figures he could wing it.

Looking around for something else to start, he eyes the bacon with a content smile. He felt very efficient and doesn’t think of how long everything took to cook and that he should probably wait on some things until the meal was progressing more as he opens the package of bacon. He separates the pieces of pork and lays them out in a second pan before his attention goes to Jackson.

The Chinese was having problems with the pancake mix already and was swearing up a storm. While attempting to make the first few, the batter all mixes together and makes one big pancake.

“Maybe you put too much of something?” Mark offers as he looks at the recipe and then to the batter that was in the mixing bowl. “Too many eggs? Milk?”

Jackson doesn’t respond as he glares at the counter. He is pouty all the sudden, acting like a child when his breakfast wasn’t working out how he wanted. “Just make your eggs,” he grumbles to Mark.

Shrugging with a laugh, Mark does as told and he moves the bacon to the back burner. The Taiwanese pours his beaten eggs into yet another pan and smiles to himself when all his things were seemingly working out for him. Mark glances over his shoulder when he hears someone shuffling down the hallway, his eyes widening when Jinyoung is there wrapped up in a blanket.

“Don’t come in!” Mark exclaims as he moves away from the stove to stop his boyfriend from entering the kitchen. “You can’t come in here, yet.”

Despite Mark’s words, Jinyoung peeks around the elder’s frame and he can see the batter in the bowl. His brow furrows in concern, having thought that breakfast would be a piece of toast or something. He feels the blanket around his body pulled tighter as Mark starts tugging him towards the living room.

Sighing, Jinyoung just wants a relaxing day to get better, but couldn’t even seem to let his guard down with his roommates. “What are you making?” the younger man asks as he gives his boyfriend a pathetic look. “I don’t need something extravagant.”

“Jackson said it would be good for you,” Mark says as he kisses the tip of Jinyoung’s nose.

Jinyoung wants to argue, but is honestly just too tired at this point. He closes his eyes and takes a step forward before dropping his head on Mark’s shoulder. The elder’s arms wrap around him and he feels safe and grounded knowing he had the other to rely on, even if he was stupid most of the time in serious situations.

“I love you,” Mark whispers in Jinyoung’s ear as he sways with the younger. He doesn’t need a reply, the other man’s arms wrapping around his waist enough for Mark.

Opening his mouth to speak, the Korean’s thought process stops as he hears Jackson let out a squeal. His first instinct is to laugh at the sound, but he moves to the kitchen when he hears the word fire being yelled. Jinyoung immediately regrets letting the two make him breakfast and try to care for him at all despite their good intentions.

Getting to the kitchen, Jinyoung watches for a second as the pan Mark had put the bacon in is now filled with fire. As soon as Jackson is filling a glass of water to put the grease fire out, the man moves forward, blanket dropping to the floor as he reaches into a cupboard and pulls out a small box of baking soda. He swats Jackson’s hand away and starts dumping the white powder into the pan to put the fire out instead.

When the flames die down, Jinyoung takes the towel from beside the sink and swings it at the smoke in the room to disperse it. He didn’t want to deal with the fire alarm going off as well, and instructs Jackson to turn on the fan ventilation to up the fumes as well.

From behind the duo, Mark is nervously picking up the blanket Jinyoung had dropped. He dusts the fabric off and keeps his head down as he waits for a scolding from his boyfriend, but it never comes.

“Finish these eggs, please, Mark,” Jinyoung says as he holds the pans of mushy hash browns and burnt bacon.

The sick man falls silent after that and can hear Mark hurrying to do as told. He waits until the bacon was no longer smoking before he tosses it into the garbage along with the mush. Jinyoung sighs as Jackson shyly moves over with his pancake mix and the giant muck he had created. Holding out the can out expectantly, he orders the Chinese to go and start some toast.

Jinyoung can feel a headache coming on by the stress the two elder men gave him and he slides over to Mark before grabbing the blanket. He heads to the living room to lay down, patting his forehead to dry the sweat. The man collapses against the couch cushions and drapes the blanket over himself without much of a care as he tries to listen to the happenings of the kitchen just in case anything else went wrong.

Closing his eyes for a minute, Jinyoung easily falls asleep.

It isn’t but ten minutes later that Mark gently shakes his boyfriend’s shoulder to wake him up. The Taiwanese holds a plate filled with his eggs and the toast Jackson had made, a glass of orange juice on the coffee table waiting for Jinyoung. Said man stirs under the blanket and sits up slowly.

“The eggs turned out,” Mark mumbles shyly as he scratches the back of his head and sits beside Jinyoung. He reaches for the small capsules the pharmacist had told him to give his sick boyfriend and he plasters on a nervous smile.

Jinyoung lets himself relax and he leans into Mark before nodding proudly at the Taiwanese for his accomplishment. “They look really good,” he compliments as he takes the plate and begins eating.

“Oh, take these, too,” Mark says as he reaches for the juice and holds out the pills. He turns his body to Jinyoung and smiles a bit more when the younger drapes part of the blanket over him as well. “Take these so they work really fast!”

With a small laugh, Jinyoung nods and he takes the pills from the Taiwanese. He ignores how the medication melts on his tongue and the disgusting taste it makes mixing with the orange juice, smiling at Mark in appreciation since he knew the other was only trying to help. That was all he could ask for. It didn’t matter that the toast was a bit cold now, or that he was sure had been sitting in their refrigerator for several months. The Korean was just thankful that Mark wasn’t goofing off with Jackson or his other friend’s when he really needed him.

Jinyoung’s thoughts are cut short when he hears his phone going off in his pocket. Moving the plate onto Mark’s lap, he leans in a way that he could pull his phone out and answer it. The name on the screen makes Jinyoung sigh in agitation.

“Mark,” the man says as he looks over at his boyfriend with a forced smile. “Did you call my work and tell them I was sick?”

Mark’s reaction makes Jinyoung aware that the other had done no such thing and he answers the call while his boyfriend whispers apologies into his ear. After taking care of his upset manager, the man shakes his head and leans into Mark’s side without a word.

“Pick something to watch,” Jinyoung offers as he points to the remote before taking his breakfast back. He isn’t paying attention as Mark chooses a title, but as soon as the opening scene plays of Jinyoung’s favorite movie, he smiles. Tilting his head up at the Taiwanese, Jinyoung looks more than pleased with the decision and notes how Mark’s expression turns into one of relief. Pulling the elder down into a chaste kiss, he snuggles up next to his boyfriend and gets comfortable.

“I love you,” Mark whispers in Jinyoung’s ear before wrapping his arm around the younger’s frame.

Smiling to himself, the Korean man nods at the words, swallowing his mouthful before laying his head down on top of Mark’s shoulder. “I love you, too.”