Luhan crept in through the front door of the dorm; the short beep of the alarm sent a spike of fear through Luhan’s chest, which already ached from the stifled coughs building inside. It was around 9:00 at night. Soccer practice had ended almost forty-five minutes ago. It usually only took Luhan 20 minutes to get home, but fighting this nasty cold and fever, it had taken him significantly longer as he stumbled through the sidewalks of Seoul, coughing and sneezing. The practice had absolutely drained him, and it was just drills! Walking home had exhausted him even further. Sweat rained down his face despite it being mid-November. His breathing was labored and strained. His skin was pale and his normally sharp features drawn.

 

He kept the door handle twisted as he closed it, trying to make the least noise possible. Once the door was shut, Luhan turned around to face the living room where he was met with the fierce gazes of both Baekhyun and Kyungsoo. Sehun was sitting on a chair, looking guilty. ‘Brat must have told them,’ Luhan thought to himself. His eyes bore into Sehun making the younger boy squirm and lower his head. Baekhyun saw this and immediately snapped at the Chinese boy.

 

“Luhan !” The boy’s eyes darted to Baekhyun’s and his glare faded into a look of guilt and shame, similar to Sehun’s.

 

“Where the hell have you been?” Baekhyun demanded. Kyungsoo’s eyes shifted up to Baekhyun’s face, seeing the vein pop out of his neck. He directed his attention back to Luhan who was now cowering.

 

“Are you okay, Luhan? You don’t look well. You should be in bed, resting,” he said gently.

 

“Hyung, I’m sorry, but I had to go to practice becau-”

 

“Enough!” Baekhyun interjected. “I told you that you were not to attend practice. You have a high fever and-”

 

“But hyung, you don’t underst-”

 

“Do NOT interrupt me, little boy! I am your hyung, show some respect! Not only did you disobey me, but you have the nerve to argue with me?”

 

Before Luhan could react, he heard footsteps approaching them from upstairs. Xiumin and Suho appeared at the top of the stairs, having heard the commotion from downstairs. Xiumin frowned upon seeing Luhan’s weakened state. Suho rushed down the stairs, Xiumin behind him, to feel the boy’s forehead.

 

“Luhan! You’re burning up,” Suho exclaims, his left hand clasped cheek. Luhan tried to shy away from Suho’s touch, but Junmyeon was having none of it. “You have exactly 10 seconds to get your little back up into the bed, or I’ll make you regret it,” he said sternly.

 

“Oh, I’m not done with him,” Baekhyun said, inserting himself, before starting to stalk towards the boy around the couch. Luhan backed away inch by inch as tears began falling down his face, and his mouth gaped open.

 

“Baekhyun, stop,” Xiumin said standing between Luhan and the furious Byun Baekhyun. “You need to calm down before any punishment happens. We’ll deal with this in the morning.” Baekhyun rolled his eyes but backed off.

 

“Luhan. To bed. Immediately,” Xiumin shooed the boy off. Luhan didn’t need to be told twice. He bolted up the stairs to the room he shared with Sehun, tears falling to each step. He slammed the door a bit harder than he had intended to and jumped into his bed. He silently screamed into his pillow. He was so frustrated. He already didn’t perform well at practice because he was sick and now he was in trouble with Baekhyun.

 

He scrunched himself into the fetal position in the bed as he cried. Just then, the door creaked open. ‘It must be Baekhyun! It’s because I slammed the door!’ Luhan’s thoughts raced, still keeping his head buried in his pillow.

 

“Hyung?” A small voice pierced through the silence. Luhan looked up. Sehun. His fear and sadness instantaneously turned to rage, his eyes narrowing.

 

“I just wanted to tell you that I’m sorry. I had to tell them because-”

 

“Oh my god! Shut up, Sehun! Why do you have to be such a brat?” Sehun’s mouth fell open, but Luhan just continued. “This is why I don’t like you, Tao doesn’t like you, and Kai doesn’t like you. Because you snitch on everyone! God, I hate you!”

Sehun stood in disbelief, his hand still on the doorknob. Tears brimmed his eyes, threatening to fall. He slammed the door shut and ran to what Luhan could only imagine was Baekhyun. He buried his head in his pillow once more. He had expected Baekhyun or Xiumin to burst in at any moment, implement in hand.

 

But he waited hours and no one came. Not even Sehun had returned. He lay alone in the darkness of the small room. Tears streamed from the corner of his eyes down the sides of his face. His head continued to throb but that was the least of his concerns. Part of him felt bad for going off on Sehun, but every time he felt a sliver of sympathy, rage overtook him as he remembered that he’s the one who got him into this mess. Eventually, he fell asleep, though it was a restless sleep. He woke up frequently, tossed and turned, and coughing fits forced him up to catch his breath.

 

~~~

 

Luhan’s fluttered open as his vision focused on Yixing’s face. His smile and gentle eyes were a major contrast to the terror he had encountered last night. Lay Luhan’s hair softly and put the back of his hand on the boy’s cheek. “Still warm,” he said, his expression faltering a bit.

 

“I talked to hyungs last night and we agreed we should take you to the hospital to get you checked out.” Luhan groaned but didn’t argue. Lay helped him out of his bed and started to undress him.

“Gegeee,” Luhan whined. “I can dress myself.”

 

“Just work with me, Lulu. I don’t want you falling over.” Luhan scrunched his face but allowed Lay to draw his shirt over his head and take his pants down.

 

Once changed into fresh sweat and a new T-shirt, Lay ushered him downstairs, where Baekhyun, Kyungsoo, and Xiumin were sitting in the living room. None of them said a word as they stood and headed for the front door. In the car, Xiumin and Baekhyun sat in the front while Luhan sat in between Lay and Kyungsoo in the back. The ride to the hospital was absolutely silent. Not a word was said. The only sound heard was Luhan’s occasional cough and wheezy breathing.

 

As they pulled into the massive parking lot of Asan Medical Center. Baekhyun directed Xiumin through the lot, trying not to get them lost in the mess of cars and pedestrians. As soon as they parked, Baekhyun jumped out of the car, slamming the door shut. Xiumin sighed before exiting as well. Luhan nervously followed Kyungsoo out. Baekhyun glared at him, stare like daggers. He felt so small under Baekhyun. Xiumin grabbed his wrist and led him toward the entrance of the hospital.

 

~~~

 

They waited for what seemed like hours to be seen by a doctor. Once, checked into a room, Luhan sat on the examination table, swinging his legs over the edge and looking around at all of the equipment that lined the walls. He was completely unaware of Baekhyun’s eyes which were set on him, absolutely unwavering.

 

“Seems fine now, hyung,” Baekhyun said to Xiumin in a matter-of-fact tone, not removing his eyes from Luhan. Attention caught, Luhan turned his head towards Baekhyun and instantly shrank under his sharp glower. Hot tears began to fill his eyes as he cast his head down.

 

“You can do as you please with him as soon as we get back to the dorm, Baekhyun,” the older boy replied. Luhan looked to Yixing, half expecting him to save him from his impending trip over Baekhyun’s lap. Lay only provided him with a soft smile of sympathy.

 

“Hello, my name is Doctor Jo Iseul, sorry to keep you folks waiting,” a man in a white coat said, bursting through the door. “Now let’s see. Your name is Luhan, correct? Birthday April 20, 1990?” Luhan nodded. “Okay, perfect. Now what seems to be going on today?” Luhan opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by Baekhyun.

 

“Well, he’s been feeling sick for about a week. Fever, coughing, sneezing, sore throat, headaches, all of it. Yesterday, he decided to go to soccer practice even though he still wasn’t feeling good. He came back drenched in sweat, pale, and obviously exhausted,”

 

“Hm,” the doctor hummed before turning back to Luhan. “Now why would you do that?” he asked, smiling, but the seriousness of the situation still weighed heavily in Luhan’s chest.

 

“I had to go,” Luhan squeaked out.

 

“You did NOT have to go and I told you NOT to go, Luhan,” Baekhyun boomed. The doctor raised his eyebrows.

 

“Oh, hyung’s not happy. But never mind that, let’s get you checked out,” he said. A single tear rolled down Luhan’s left cheek as the blood pressure cuff was placed around his bicep and a pulse oximeter on his index finger. A digital thermometer was shoved in his ear, beeping immediately.

 

“Okay, so, SPO2 is normal, that’s your oxygen saturation. Blood pressure and heart rate are a bit high, but that’s likely because of your temperature. You’re at 38.5,” he said, taking the blood pressure cuff off. “Has he been taking anything for the fever,” he asked, turning to Baekhyun and Xiumin.

 

“Yes, I’ve been giving him fever reducers all week,” Xiumin stated.

 

“Beautiful,” the doctor replied, removing his stethoscope from around his neck. “Okay, Luhan, I’m going to listen to your lungs now.” Luhan nodded. The stethoscope drum felt cold and hard against his skin; like a rock. He breathed in and out as the doctor instructed, trying not to cough.

 

“Okay, lungs sound clear. I’m going to order a few blood tests just to check your vitamin leve-”

 

“No!” Luhan interjected. He was terrified of needles, ever since he was a kid.

 

“Luhan!” Baekhyun snapped. “Yes, that will be fine, doctor.”

 

The doctor smiled before turning to head out the door. Luhan didn’t want to be left alone with his hyungs. The doctor was so nice… up until the blood test thing. But his hyungs didn’t say a word. Shortly after, a nurse walked in with a needle and a few vials.

 

“Alright, Luhan, would you like to sit or lie down?” the nurse asked. Luhan opted to lie down, hoping it would help with the rolling nausea that had built in his stomach. He winced as the needle slid through his skin. He could feel the blood leaving his body, spurting out into the vials.

 

Once done, Luhan sat up on the bed. The nurse left with the vials of warm blood in hand. The room was silent until the doctor returned. With him he had what Luhn saw were more needles. A dread built up i