Baekhyun wonders if it was something bad he ate, then remembers that he works in a school. Kids and their snotty noses, poor hygiene, dribbling mouths. A breeding ground for bacteria. A – bluntly – cluster of infections.

A few children in his class were off with the stomach bug going around. After so many years of being surrounded by infants of different backgrounds and cleanliness, Baekhyun thought he was immune to any and all kinds of pathogens.

Baekhyun thought wrong.

He can’t eat at lunchtime and feels cold for the rest of the day. He’s nauseous by the time he parks his car on his driveway and ends up downing water and going straight to bed as soon as he’s through the door. Sleep it off. That will work. Baekhyun does his best.

When he wakes up several hours later it’s because a door opens. Kyungsoo groans downstairs.

“Baekhyun! Why didn’t you start on dinner?”

Food. Bad. Baekhyun clutches his forehead.

Right. The first person who gets home is on dinner duty. It’s always been like that. But Baekhyun feels like he’s about to die every time he moves even a centimetre. Still, he manages to flop onto his back. Regrets it immediately. He throws up a little in the back of his throat and swallows it by accident.

Kyungsoo is clattering around downstairs. Baekhyun swears he’s being louder than usual. He’s probably pissed that there’s nothing cooking on the stove and has every right to be, but Baekhyun would r