Once the car was parked, Hyukjae sprinted into the studio’s now-empty recording room. He was greeted to the sight of an out-of-it Donghae laying on the couch while J-Dub was lightly sponging Donghae’s face with a wet face towel.

“How is he, hyung?”, Hyukjae asked with a frown obvious between his eyebrows, while crouching down beside J-Dub. He placed his palm on Donghae’s forehead and felt the high heat radiating off him. Donghae was shivering badly, with an occasional whimper escaping his chapped lips, the thin jacket J-Dub had draped over his body doing little to provide the warmth Donghae so badly craved right now.

“He passed out in the recording booth but woke up for a bit when we laid him on the couch. After my call with you though, he’s been out since then. Please take him home and take care of him, Hyuk. He must have been feeling terrible the whole day but held it in the whole time,” J-Dub replied, his voice laced with worry for the muscular man lying on the couch, looking a lot smaller than he usually already does.

Hyukjae thanked J-Dub and heaved Donghae, who was conscious but kinda delirious by then, up on his feet. His manager who had just entered the room, immediately by his side to help support Donghae as the both of them half-carried, half dragged him to the car.

_____

Arriving at Donghae’s apartment building, Hyukjae and his manager got Donghae into his apartment and settled him on his couch. Donghae immediately curled up into a ball while Hyukjae draped a throw on him.

“Thanks, Hyung. I’ll take care of him, I know we both have a day off tomorrow, so we’ll be fine,” Hyukjae said to his manager while his eyes never left Donghae’s form on the couch. Hyukjae’s manager said a quick “good luck” to him before leaving the apartment.

Hyukjae turned to Donghae and noted how sweaty he was. He crouched down next to Donghae and gently swept his sweaty bangs away from his forehead. “Hey baby… you have to get up, we have to get you out of these clothes and clean you up before you sleep again,” Hyukjae whispered, as if talking loudly would inflict more misery on Donghae.

Donghae’s eyes fluttered open and met Hyukjae’s with the saddest expression. He groaned and made sounds resembling a puppy that had been kicked. For the part, he also looked like a puppy that had been kicked. Hyukjae’s heart clenched, he knew how uncomfortable and painful Donghae always felt whenever he had a fever. His boyfriend may exercise every day and have a smokin’ hot body, but his immunity really wasn’t the best.

“What’s wrong, Hae?”

“Everything hurts, Hyukkie. My head feels like it’s going to explode and the world is spinning and my bones hurt and my body hurts and I feel like I’m going to die anytime,” Donghae whined, and added a pout for what seemed like theatrical effects.

Hyukjae had to hold back a chuckle. Donghae had the tendency to be even more whiney and dramatic when he’s unwell. Although Hyukjae couldn’t bear to see his boyfriend being so sick, he couldn’t help but think of how adorable Donghae is being at the moment.

Hyukjae patted Donghae’s head and said gently, “let’s get you cleaned up, Hae. I promise that you’ll feel better after that.” Donghae was still staring at Hyukjae with his sad eyes but gave a small nod and allowed Hyukjae to raise him to his feet. They shuffled slowly to the bathroom where Hyukjae closed the lid of the toilet and had Donghae sit on it. He ran back to the bedroom, ignoring the whine that escaped Donghae who had realized his boyfriend left him, to grab one of Donghae’s many matching hoodie and sweats set. He returned to the bathroom where Donghae clung onto his arm and buried his face in Hyukjae’s chest. They stayed like that for a bit before Hyukjae moved away and proceeded to strip Donghae of his shirt and jeans. Donghae was starting to fall asleep again and provided no resistance to what his boyfriend was doing to him.

Hyukjae wet a small towel, wrung it dry and gave a quick wipe across Donghae’s face and muscular body. Then, he helped put the hoodie and sweats on Donghae before supporting Donghae to stand up and they made their way back to the bedroom where Donghae promptly got in bed and curled up under the covers.

“I’m going to make you something light to eat so you can take your medication and rest okay?”, Hyukjae whispered to Donghae and got a light hum in response.

Knowing fully well the limitations of his culinary expertise, Hyukjae opted for heati