-one-

 

“And this is why you don't play in the rain in four-degree weather,” Junmyeon scolded his younger boyfriend as he brought in a tray of soup to their shared bedroom. The blond had just returned from a tiring shift at the local bakery, Heavenly Bakes, to find that his boyfriend of three years had been suffering from the symptoms of a cold these last few hours. Great way to kick off the weekend.

 

“It seemed like a good idea at the time,” the younger, Sehun, protested as he sat up from his position on their bed. For the past few hours, he was forced to the confines of their bedroom as he cannot breathe through his nose nor could he move/feel his body. To someone as active as Sehun, these past few hours felt like hell. All because he decided to jog five kilometers in the rain… without a jacket.

 

“Well, look where that got you,” the blond gestured to the recovering body of the brunet as he neared the edge of the bed. “I told you that there was a sixty-percent chance of rain that day.”

 

In his defense, it was only drizzling when he started his monthly run and the more serious part of the rain started on his way back home, three kilometers away.  

 

“Stop patronizing me,” Sehun whined as he watched Junmyeon set the tray of steaming soup on his bedside table, being careful to not accidentally set it on the brunet’s charging phone (because no one wanted a repeat of what happened last year). “I’m already miserable enough as it.”

 

“Oh shush, you’ll be fine,” the older shot back as he carefully lifted the bowl of warm, steaming soup from the tray, bringing it closer to Sehun. “You’ll be fine as long as I take care of you, love.”

 

For a moment, the stuffy-nosed brunet warily stared at the soup bowl, as if expecting a goblin to jump out and scare him. His eyes shifted between the contents of the bowl and his beloved boyfriend before he gave up, gingerly taking the warm dish from said boyfriend’s hold. You can’t blame him, however, with the look Junmyeon gave him. It was too adorable to deny.

 

As he began taking spoonfuls of the rich, warm liquid, Sehun muttered, “Only because I love you.”

 

Unknown to him, Junmyeon smiled in return.  

 

-two-

 

“Achoo!” The sneeze of a certain twenty-three-year-old rang throughout the two-bedroom apartment of the Kim-Oh couple. At that moment, the said couple was snuggling in bed as the younger sneezed and “mouth-breathed” in misery. Another weekend wasted because of this bug that had been going around. Screw Jongin, Sehun’s brother, for coughing on him the other day.

 

Wordlessly, Junmyeon reached over his boyfriend’s form to hand him one of the many boxes of tissues that were resting on their bedside table for emergencies such as this.

 

“Thank you,” Sehun muttered as he graciously took the box from the older’s hands to cradle it in his arms. As he did, the couple returned to snuggling as the older spooned the younger from behind. While Sehun loved cuddling the blond, he hated being ill, and this was the second time this season (again, screw you, Jongin.) It doesn’t help that despite the number of hours Junmyeon had spent with a sick Oh Sehun, his boyfriend never seemed to catch whatever Sehun was offering. The universe truly despised him.

 

While it’s not the blond’s fault for Sehun’s immune system, he cannot help but be petty and whine at the unfairness of his situation. “ your healthy self. Screw your immune system!”

 

Not wanting to aggravate the younger much more than he was at that moment, Junmyeon continued to spoon his beloved as the latter kept complaining about his slight predicament.

 

Until a sudden comment on Sehun’s part caused the older to inquire, “Well, if I’m sick, who’s going to take care of you and your whiny self? Hmm?” While Junmyeon wouldn’t mind skipping work (Kyungsoo was capable of handling the bakery for a day or two), he wasn’t really on board with the whole “I’m suffering, you should too” mentality that his beloved seemed to possess.

 

(Sick buddies, amirite?)

 

“We can ask Chanyeol hyung,” Sehun’s hoarse voice responded as he snuggled closer to Junmyeon. “He is a nurse and he’s only next door.”

 

“I don’t think Yixing would appreciate us taking advantage of his husband’s services,” the older chuckled.

 

“Eh. It was worth a shot.”

 

All of a sudden, Sehun turned his head to land a quick, yet meaningful kiss on his unsuspecting boyfriend’s precious lips, before he returned to his previous position. As a small smile graced his face, Sehun whispered, “Good night, Jun.”

 

Silence. Before-

 

“BLEH! SEHUN! YOU’RE SICK!”

 

-three-

 

“Sehun, if I see you on the computer one more time, I will tape you to the bed,” Junmyeon warned as he attempted to guide his boyfriend from the study back to their bedroom, for the third time today. The blond kept persuading the brunet to take a rest as he was ill, yet the younger wouldn’t give up. However, this would be the last time. Once Junmyeon realized that his previous efforts to pull him out of the study proved to be unbeneficial, he resorted to wrapping his arms snuggly around the younger’s middle before he dragged said male down the thin halls of their apartment.

 

“But, Jun,” Sehun protested hoarsely in his lover’s hold. For a shorter man, he sure was strong, stronger than him. Not that he’s going to admit that his love’s strength us one of his favorite attributes about him. No siree. “Dr. Byun needs my report as soon as possible.”

 

“I’m not hearing any of it,” the older declared as they finally entered the room. Immediately, Junmyeon gently pushed Sehun onto their unmade bed. He then proceeded to stack blankets upon blankets, which somehow ended up on the floor, on top of his beloved. “You have a cold. Take a rest will you?”

 

It wasn’t long before a sea of blankets rested on top of the brunet. Underneath the layers of fabric, Sehun attempted to protest once again. “But-”

 

“Sehun,” Junmyeon sighed exasperatedly. He paused for a second as he walked over to the bedside table in order to grab their only thermometer. With a smooth voice, he said, “Love, I’m sure Dr. Byun would understand if you don’t turn in your amazing research concerning rocks by Friday.” Once he finished his thoughts, the older pressed the cold surface of the thermometer against Sehun’s temple and waited.

 

Just as the brunet opened his mouth to say that he’s fine, no need to check his temperature again, the thermometer dinged.

 

“39 degrees,” Junmyeon tsked before setting the instrument down on the bedside table. “You’re staying in bed, mister.”

 

Finally admitting defeat, Sehun sunk into their mattress and let his beloved fuss over him. However, in the deepest depths of his mind, he knew that he would be lying if he thought that he didn’t enjoy this treatment. Not that he’ll state it out loud.

 

-four-

 

“Why didn’t you call me?” Junmyeon asked the minute he walked through the front door. His forehead glistened with sweat as he stripped the multiple layers from his body. One by one, coats and sweaters were piled on the floor nearest to the door. From his frantic behavior, it’s evident that he rushed over here from his previous destination after hearing the news from his neighbor.

 

“I didn’t think it was serious,” Sehun responded with a scratchy voice as he watched his boyfriend from his position curled up on the couch. The former was bundled up with two rather large blankets and wore Junmyeon’s oversized hoodie as he watched subtitled episodes of Haikyuu!! on the television. To be honest, Sehun looked absolutely adorable; if not for the fact that he had a small, grey bucket settled right next to his hip with a bright blue box of tissues cradled in his arms. Not to mention his sickly pale skin and his red nose. Overall, anything but, “not serious.”

 

The blond sighed in irritation as he crossed the room to feel his beloved’s forehead. This. Boy.

 

Sure, said male is twenty-three years young, yet his level of judgment seriously needed some work.

 

“Having a high-grade fever and vomiting after each meal is not ‘not serious,’ love.”

 

“I didn’t want to worry you,” Sehun responded defensively while he watched Junmyeon leave his side to head into the kitchen, most likely to fill a bag with ice to reduce his temperature. “You told me that your client ordered a complicated list of desserts for their event this Friday.” He coughed. “I didn’t want to stress you out.”

 

From their small kitchenette, Junmyeon’s face was graced with a slight smile. While Sehun was the one that was ill and suffering, the younger felt worried about his workload. In any other situation, this would be endearing; yet it made Junmyeon feel uncomfortable. He could not let go of the fact that his beloved ignored his own health for the older’s sake.

 

Snapping back to the land of the conscious, Junmyeon quickly filled the ice bag before returning to the main room where his boyfriend sat in misery.

 

“Love, your health means much more to me than my clients and their orders. Especially more than Mr. Wu’s glow-in-the-dark cake,” the older soothed as he took a seat next to his ill boyfriend. Junmyeon then placed the ice bag on the younger’s head, holding it in place to ensure that the bag did not fall. “Besides, I left Kyungsoo in charge. I’m sure he can handle Minseok and Zitao for the rest of the day.”

 

Before Sehun could smile back at the words of reassurance, a sudden sensation caused him to quickly turn to his side and heave into the bucket situated there. As Sehun’s body emptied the little amounts of food in his stomach, Junmyeon wordlessly set the ice bag aside as he rubbed the brunet’s back soothingly.

 

After he emptied any sort of food from his stomach, Sehun leaned away from the grey bucket, sank into the cushions of the couch behind him, and closed his eyes. He did not want to see the disgusting mixture of soup and bile that sloshed within the container next to him.

 

Seeing that his love was finished with his business, Junmyeon quietly stood up, as to not disturb the ill male, and took the container away to the bathroom with the intention of washing said bucket.

 

As the blond left the main room, he heard Sehun whisper, “Thank you.”

 

“You’re welcome, love.”

 

-five-

 

The day eventually turned to night. The bright apartment darkened as the hours passed. In the bedroom, a certain twenty-three-year-old and his twenty-six-year-old companion had long since retired to bed. It had been a long day. The former apparently caught a bug from one of his colleagues. However, it was nothing he could not handle. He would be fine before the week ended.

 

In the meantime, Sehun would enjoy his time with his boyfriend.

 

With him being a researcher in geology and Junmyeon owning a bakery, Sehun spent only so much time with his lover. While he was sick and miserable, he would cherish the moments in which the older took care of him.

 

That night was one of those moments. At that moment, the older of the two had his arms wrapped around the middle of his boyfriend as he snuggled into his back. Their legs were so intertwined that it was difficult to see who’s leg belonged to who. Nothing but comfortable silence was shared between them.

 

That was until Sehun groaned and shifted his position. While he could handle most the symptoms that came with this bug (i.e. a runny nose, slight fever, etc.), the one major symptom he could not handle was the mind-splitting headaches. Not that he would admit that out loud though.

 

“Sehun?” Junmyeon rasped as he unwrapped his arms from his beloved’s torso to cast a look of concern. “Are you alright?”

 

While the younger was saddened by the loss of contact, he pushed that aside and responded, “I’m fine, Jun. Just another headache.”

 

“Are you sure?” Junmyeon persisted. The last thing he wanted was for his boyfriend to cry again from the intense pain he experienced from the previous headache because of his carelessness.

 

A few moments of silence passed as Sehun tried to ignore the pounding within his skull.

 

“Yeah, I’m sure.” At that, Sehun laid back down on their queen-sized mattress as Junmyeon joined him not long after. They then slipped into one of the routines they had developed over the last three years: Junmyeon’s arms encased the younger from behind with Sehun relaxing into his hold.

 

However, the peace did not last long. A few moments passed before Sehun groaned in pain yet again.

 

Yet before Junmyeon had the opportunity to remove his arms from Sehun’s middle, the latter let out something akin to a whine.

 

“No,” he protested, “Just hold me like this.”

 

“But Sehun,” Junmyeon hesitated. “You’re sick.”

 

“No, I don’t care,” Sehun slurred in return. All he wanted was his boyfriend’s comfort when his head decided to kill him. “This makes me feel better.”

 

A few moments passed as Junmyeon weighed his options and the pros/cons of each option. Finally, he said, “Alright. Besides, I have a strong immune system.”

 

-bonus-

                                        

As the end of autumn drew near, Sehun’s health seemed to improve ever so slightly. His bouts of nausea and discomfort lessened, and for once this season, he felt as if the universe was doing him good.

 

However, that lasted until one, fine December morning.

 

It took a lot for Oh Sehun to genuinely freak out; making sure that his boyfriend was properly cared for as said male suffered from a cold was one of those situations.

 

“‘I have a strong immune system,’ he says,” the brunet muttered under his breath as he searched the medicine cabinet. In all the years he had known Junmyeon, the latter had fallen ill thrice, not including this time. Why the hell do we have six bottles of Midol in here? Sehun thought as he pushed aside bottle after bottle.

 

“Technically,” Junmyeon weakly called out from his position on the bed. He was under a pile of warm blankets with used tissues strewn around him. Apparently, the bin was “too far” to reach (read: it was next to the bedside table.) “This is your fault for kissing me the other week.” He coughed for a moment before continuing, “Therefore, you brought this upon yourself.”

 

Popping out of the bathroom with a bottle of cold medicine, Sehun retorted, “We do not bring up my past mistakes.”

 

When Junmyeon saw his boyfriend approach the bed, he propped himself up and leaned against the headboard. When Sehun reached the bed and sat on the end, most likely to avoid the mounds of tissues, Junmyeon took the medication with grace. Well, as much grace one could possess while feeling like .

 

Once he was finished, Sehun took the bottle back and set it on the bedside table. It was then that he remembered their previous conversation and picked up with, “Besides, you complied with my actions.”

 

“You know I can’t say no to you,” Junmyeon defended.

 

“True, but now I have to take care of you,” Sehun sighed, “I won’t be as good as you though.”

 

“I have confidence in you, love,” the blond comforted before another cough racked his body. Despite that, the older male managed to direct a weak smile toward the younger. Naturally, Sehun grinned back.

 

The two then entered a comfortable silence before Junmyeon’s suddenly eyes lit up. With the strongest voice he could muster, he joked, “You know what, think of it as payback for all the times I took care of you these last few months.”

 

“Oh shush your mouth.”

 

While Oh Sehun was not the greatest caretaker (the burnt soup and other situations proved the said point), as long as he had Junmyeon silently guiding him along the way, everything would be fine.

 

-end-

 

A/N:  And that fic is done. Thank you for taking the time to read this piece of tooth-rotting fluff! And as always, constructive criticism is appreciated and I hope I'll see you in the next fic. 

Tootles!