Key and Jonghyun woke up around nine o’clock the next morning, still entwined in each other’s arms.

“Kibum-ah, did you sleep well?” Jonghyun asked, holding Key’s sleepy face in his hands.

“Mm,” Key nodded. “Did you?”

“Of course I did,” Jonghyun grinned. “In fact, I—”

“Jonghyun-ah, I’m back!” Chansung called as he reentered the room. “Oh, excuse me!” Chansung began to back up, but Jonghyun stopped him.

“It’s okay, I have choir rehearsal at 9:30, we needed to get up anyway, Chansung-ah,” Jonghyun remarked. He and Key climbed out of bed, both their faces burning. Chansung turned toward his desk and stayed out of their way as they both put on their shirts.

“Just bring back the pants when we next see each other,” Jonghyun said to Key, who was still extremely embarrassed. As soon as they were dressed, they walked outside the room holding hands. “Kibum-ah, see you soon.” Key smiled happily, kissing Jonghyun quickly.

“I love you. See you soon,” he replied. Jonghyun squeezed his hand and went back into his room, and Key practically skipped down the stairs to his own residence. He opened the door lazily.

“Taemin-ah, I had the best time last night, you’ll never believe—” Key stopped, his jaw falling open. Taemin was sprawled out on the ground, face down, his legs positioned at strange angles. The lamp that had been on his nightstand had fallen and shattered, and there were cuts all over Taemin’s right arm and some on his face.

“TAEMIN-AH, TAEMIN-AH, WAKE UP!” Key screamed. “Oh my god, please don’t let him be dead.” He ran over to him and put two fingers by his neck, feeling for a pulse. There was one, but it was faint. “Okay, calm down, Kibum, you can do this, you’re trained.” He picked Taemin up gingerly and set him on his bed lying on his back. He opened Taemin’s mouth and looked to see if perhaps he’d choked on something, but it appeared that his airway was clear, and Key noticed that Taemin’s chest was moving, if only a little bit. He covered Taemin with one of his blankets to keep him warm, and then called the hospital. He sat down next to Taemin as he waited for the paramedics to arrive, and before he knew what was going on, he started to cry. The paramedics came quickly, and Key opened the door for them, his eyes still red and teary.

“You did a great job,” one of the men told him. “You took good care of him, don’t worry.”

“This is all my fault,” Key sobbed. “I shouldn’t have left him alone last night, I could have prevented this!”

“Don’t worry, he’ll be fine,” the man reassured him, “but you can come with us to the hospital if you’re uncertain.” Key nodded miserably and followed them out as they took Taemin away on a stretcher. In the ambulance, Taemin was still unconscious, which made Key feel even worse. What made him faint? How long had he been like that, face down on the ground? The hospital was close to the university, and since Key wasn’t allowed in the emergency room, he sat in the waiting room, wringing his hands sullenly.

“Excuse me, are you here for Lee Taemin-ssi?” a nurse asked him after he’d been there for almost half an hour.

“Yes,” he said quickly, standing up. “Is he alright?”

“He’s a little weak, but he’s fine,” she smiled. “Would you like to see him?”

“Yes,” he replied frantically. The nurse led him to a smaller side room, where Key saw Taemin awake and hooked up to an IV. “Oh, Taeminnie!” he cried, rushing over to Taemin’s bedside. “I’m so sorry, I should have been there for you, I shouldn’t have left you alone, this is all—”

“Umma,” Taemin calmly interrupted. “It’s okay, I’m fine, I was just really dehydrated so I fainted. But look,” he lifted his arm to show Key the IV, “I’ll be better in no time.”

“Taeminnie, it’s your fourth medical problem in less than two weeks,” Key said concernedly. “You’re not healthy.”

“But we already knew that, umma. Anyway, I was more worried about you! You didn’t have your cell phone on and I didn’t know where you were. I stayed up all night waiting for you!” Taemin said. Key started tearing up again.

“I’m sorry, Taeminnie, this is all my fault, I should have called to tell you I was staying with Jonghyun, or I should have come downstairs to tell you, omo, this is all my fault.”

“No, no, umma, it’s not your fault! You were probably having a good time and just forgot, it’s not a big deal! Just tell me how it went! What did you do with hyung?”

“Taeminnie…” Key said hesitantly, but Taemin’s bright eyes encouraged him.

“Tell me, umma!”

“Oh, Taeminnie, it was wonderful. We went out for French food and I had bœuf bourguignon and Jonghyun had bouillabaisse and it was so nice. And then we went back to his room and met his roommate who was really nice, but he left for basketball practice. And then Jonghyun invited me to sleep over in his room, but don’t worry, Taeminnie, we didn’t do anything bad, just slept. It was wonderful, Taeminnie.”

“It sounds wonderful. But I’m sorry I ruined your morning, umma.”

“I’m just happy you’re awake,” Key smiled. The nurse approached the two boys.

“We’ll take the IV out now, and if he’s feeling well enough, he can go back home. Make sure he drinks lots of water, and electrolyte drinks are a good idea as well. Don’t overexert yourself for a few days, okay?” she told Taemin. “Oh, and remember to clean the wounds on your arm and face well. They’re not deep, but we don’t want them scarring even so.”

“Okay!” Taemin said brightly.

Twenty minutes later, they had stepped off the bus and were back in their dorm room. It was as messy as they had left it, with Taemin’s bed completely undone and the lamp’s shattered pieces still on the floor.

“Taeminnie, you just rest on my bed, okay? I’ll clean this up,” Key explained. Taemin obediently did as he was told, pulling out his cell phone to keep himself occupied as Key carefully swept up the pieces of glass. Once everything had been cleaned off the floor, and Key had made sure that there were no glass shards left on the ground, he moved on to remake Taemin’s bed. He took careful steps to ensure that Taemin would be comfortable when the time came to sleep in his own bed. Taemin ended up sleeping in Key’s most of that day, with Key watching over him vigilantly and feeding him water and electrolyte drinks whenever he woke up.

Key spent that evening helping Taemin with his botany homework. Taemin was smart, and Key knew that, but for some reason the younger boy was having immense trouble in the class. He and Taemin went over one of Taemin’s quizzes that he’d failed horribly.

“But Taemin-ah, this is easy stuff! You know this! Look, you got this simple Punnett Square wrong. This is stuff you learn in elementary school, Taeminnie. Are you falling asleep in the class or something?” Key asked, surprised that Taemin could be so careless on an assessment.

“No, umma, I don’t sleep in class,” Taemin said, pouting. “It’s just a difficult class.”

“It can’t be so difficult that you make careless errors. This is a lack of common sense! You know that in simple Punnett Squares like this you just put the letters together in the box, right? Why are there three letters in this box but only one in this one? Taeminnie, it just doesn’t make sense.”

“I must have been tired, just go on to the next question I got wrong.”

“Alright…” Key said, perusing the other questions. “Taeminnie! You didn’t even answer this question! Are you sure you’re okay? Are you getting sick? I want you to have good grades, you know, but I don’t want you going to class if you’re not feeling well. You need to be healthy, that’s why you’re here with me and not alone on the other end of campus!”

“I know, umma. I don’t know what’s wrong with me…I guess I’m just having a hard time concentrating in that class. I always get distracted.”

“Distracted by what? It’s botany!”

“I don’t know! It’s just a distracting class!” Taemin said, more frustrated than Key had ever seen him.

“You’re not fainting in class, are you?” Key asked suspiciously.

“Of course not, umma. Other people would notice if I suddenly went unconscious.”

“Aish, jinjja, Taeminnie, you need to pay attention! You have to get good grades, okay? I want you to do well, and this is not good enough for umma, got it? You’re smart, Taeminnie! I know you are. So you can definitely do better than this.”

“Okay, umma, I’ll try harder,” Taemin yawned.

“Good. Are you getting tired? Do you want to sleep?”

“Mm, I think I will,” Taemin said, stepping into the bathroom to change and brush his teeth. When he came out, he climbed into his nicely made bed and pulled the blankets up to his chin. He smiled adorably at Key.

“Umma, thank you for taking such good care of me.”

“You’re welcome, Taeminnie,” Key sighed. Aigoo, my son is so cute, he thought.

A/N: D: Taemin! Frail health is frail. Lalalala not much else to say except that YOU SHOULD READ INTOXICATED, my new Jongkey oneshot. Thank you, my lovely readers!

@vampireme12: Thank youuuuuuu <3 Makes me happy~

@AZUMIX: Thank you too! Here’s an update for you :]

♥ Exie