The next morning came way too slowly for Ryeowook's liking. As he had suspected, a pounding headache that threatened to black out his vision welcomed him as soon as he opened his eyes.

"Ah..." he groaned in pain, gripping his bed sheets tightly. 

He tried to get up using the support of the headrest, only managing to lift his upper body up for a few seconds before falling back down. He weakly reached for his phone on the nightstand and dialled Jongwoon's number.

"Please pick up," he whispered in a hoarse and desperate voice.

"Hello?" Jongwoon said on the other line. Ryeowook could hear a couple of people talking in the background, all hope fading as he realised Jongwoon was most probably at work.

"Hyung, it's me, Ryeowook. Are you at work right now?" he enquired, trying to make himself sound as normal as possible.

"Yeah, Ryeonggu, what's wrong?" Jongwoon was a little panicky, anxious as to what his younger best friend called him for. He wouldn't usually call at this time and he sounded like he was in pain.

"Nothing, I just called to see where you were," Ryeowook lied, not wanting to worry Jongwoon. He knew how overprotective he could get. He would leave everything and rush his way to Ryeowook if he found out he had as much as a cold.

"Are you sure?" Jongwoon's tone was sceptical. He clearly suspected something.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Have a good day at work, hyung. Make sure to eat on time and come back early so you can get some sleep," Ryeowook said quickly and hung up.

He then tried calling Hyukjae, one of his closest friends at work, but hung up soon after since Hyukjae was down with a flu. 

Next on his list was Donghae, a childhood friend who treated him like his own brother. However, Donghae was busy taking care of Hyukjae, who just happened to be his best friend.

When Ryeowook called Kyuhyun, he was greeted by a sleepy and slightly irritated voice. It seemed Kyuhyun had been playing games until dawn...again.

Sungmin, another one of his friends, was already too busy, and Ryeowook didn't want to be a burden.

In utter desperation, Ryeowook almost dialled Heechul, his elder possessive cousin's number, but decided against it since he was sure that Heechul would make a big fuss and take him to the hospital, a place he certainly didn't want to be in.

Having no other choice, Ryeowook sighed deeply and waited for Hyungsik to answer his call. He didn't think Hyungsik would pick up anyway after what happened the previous night. To his surprise, Hyungsik actually answered, albeit after several rings.

"Hello?" he said in a drowsy and rough voice, indicating that he had just woken up. Ryeowook couldn't help but think he sounded kind of cute and y at the same time. He also noticed that Hyungsik was whispering, but why, he could not fathom.

"Hyungsik, it's m