He felt sick.

Kris rolled his head lazily to the side and stared blankly at the door. His mind was focused on one thing at the moment; the bed.

Exo had been traveling around for quite some time now, putting on performances on different stages and doing fan meets in various towns. With their traveling, they stayed at different hotels, which in through past hadn’t bothered the EXOM leader at all.

But this one did.

The texture of the stiff sheets felt rough like sand paper and added additional heat to make him sweat. The pillow was lumpy and no matter how hard his exhausted hands beat it, it remained unchanged. The mattress made his skin crawl. He felt dirty when his body touched the filthy thing, like he was lying in a pit of dried skin cells and used tissues. He had just taken a shower too, but that didn't do anything for him.

His stomach turned as a million thoughts ran through his head: Who used it last? Did the staff clean the sheets properly? Did they even clean them at all?

Despite these questions preoccupying his mind, he could still hear the steady breathing of two of his band mates that he shared a room with. He could even eavesdrop on his managers chatting about tomorrows schedules outside their rooms. At that moment, Kris could hear everything.

He hated it.

Kris’s head spun. He wasn't feeling okay; the sounds were too loud; his body was too hot with blankets and too cold without. His legs were sore and he was tired from dancing. He just wanted to sleep. That’s all.

But god was against him, and Kris felt his stomach turn with disgust, Oh god.

He threw the covers off and got out of bed, swaying back and forth as he wobbled to the door. He leaned against it as he opened it, unintentionally slamming it into the wall and gaining both of the manager’s attention.

“Kris?”Hyun Kyun asked, walking towards the shaking leader, “What are you doing up so late?”

Kris didn’t reply. He shoved the shorter male out of the way and ran as fast as his longs legs could take him down that hall way. He slammed against the bathroom door, pushing it open harshly and falling to his knees on the hard tile floor. He locked it behind him and forced himself to the toilet.

The burning sensation in his throat grew hotter and he felt his mouth begin to water. He felt something rise inside him and groaned in pain. He gagged as he emptied the contents of his stomach in the toilet, the sickening sound bounced off the small bathroom walls and was soon replaced with the managers banging.

“Wu Fan! Open this door now!” Byunghyun* demanded, doing most of the pounding on the wood.

“Kris! Are you alright?! Please open up!” Hyun Kyun begged. Their commotion had managed to wake up the two other occupants of the room Kris was in and they stepped into the hallway.

“Hyung?” Tao yawned, “What’s going on?”

“Nothing, it seems Kris is sick,” the four fell silent when they heard another sickening gag resonate from the other room.

“He sounds awful!” Luhan gasped, “What are you guys standing here for?!”

“He locked the door!” the man turned to Hyun Kyun, “Is there a key for this?”

“I’m sure maintenance has one, but it’s far too late to wake them up.”

“I guess we’ll have no choice but to break the door down.”

“You can’t be serious!”

“We’ll get him out!” Tao spoke up suddenly, catching them off guard.

Byunghyun glared, “What makes you think you can?”

“We’re his brothers,” Luhan glared back, “We all stick together and take care of one another. He trusts us, and is probably annoyed with your constant yelling! You sound mad even when you’re trying to help!”

“Because I am mad! He’s not opening the door!”

“And why do you think that is?!”

“Go back to your rooms.”

“No,” Tao stated firmly.

“Tao, Luhan, please,” Hyun Kyun tried, but the two shook their heads.

"Quit being so stubborn!" Byunghyun hissed, careful not to wake the others up, "This isn't a suggestion. Go back to your rooms. Now."

"Let us at least try and go in!" the maknae pleaded, "If he lets us in, then we can take care of him. If not, we'll go."

The two looked at each other and sighed, "Fine. You have ten minutes. In the mean time we're going to look for medicine," They turned, rather reluctantly, and walked away, leaving Luhan and Tao alone. Luhan glared at their backs with narrowed eyes.

"Knowing those ajusshis they're gonna get the wrong kind," he tsked and turned to the maknae, "I'm going to follow them and make sure whatever they get is effective. Try and get Kris out. Remember, ten minutes."

Tao nodded and watched his hyung run after the managers. He turned back towards the door and knocked lightly on it.

"Ge? Are you alright?" he asked quietly, "It's me... Come on ge, open the door please."

There was a very faint, but still very clear reply, "No."

Tao's chest tightened. His voice sounded raspy and pained; he was worried. Tao had only seen Kris sick one time and that was during their pre-debut days. He had worked himself to the point past exhaustion and was forced to rest for a week, the scariest week of Tao's life.

"Wu Fan," he spoke again in a stricter tone, "Open this door right now."

Again, a quiet voice replied, "Don't... Want you... Sick...."

"I'm not going to get sick! Come on ge, open the door!" Tao pounded on the weak wood, "I could easily break this down and… probably cut my hand In the process."

"Don't!"

"I won't... Because I promised you I wouldn't hurt myself when practicing my martial arts. Just like you promised me you'd take better care of yourself!" Tao bit his bottom lip and rested his head against the door, "Stop making me worry and let me take care of you..."

It was silent. Tao was worried that the elder had passed out and began to grow panicky. He had taken a few steps from the door and was about to kick it down when the soft click of a lock stopped him.

Kris had the door barely cracked open before Tao grabbed the edge and open. He spotted the leader on the ground, propped up against the wall next to the door with his arm laying on his lap.

"I don't feel like standing up, sorry," he mumbled.

Tao didn't say anything and closed the door. He slid down to the floor, examining Kris as he did so. The duizhang had pushed his hair out if his face, revealing dark bags that hung under his eyes, even more prominent then Tao's at the moment. He was pale, paler then usual and looked incredibly tired.

"Are you okay?" Tao asked, unsure of what to do next.

"No," Kris breathed, "I feel like shi-," his eyes flew open and he lunged at the toilet across from him, emptying whatever was left inside his stomach into through porcelain bowl.

Tao was at his side in an instant, his back soothingly in through hope to make him feel better. Kris spat out the lingering taste of bile from his mouth and rested his head in his arms, "I wanna curl up in a hole and die..."

"Ge, don't say that," Tao frowned, tugging the elder away from the toilet and resting his head on his shoulder, "You're just sick, this will pass soon."

"I hate it though...I feel so weak."

There it was again, that pain in his chest, "And I hate seeing you this miserable."

There was a light knock at the door and Luhan peeked inside, eyeing the two on the floor. He stepped in completely and the leader's cheek lightly.

"He's got one of those 24 hour bugs. The only thing we can do is wait it out."

"What? Is that really it? Can't we give him medication or something?"

"Unfortunately not. Let’s just get him to his room so he can sleep it off."

Tao nodded and, with much effort from the two, successfully got Kris to his feet. They felt bad for leaving the managers to clean the mess in the bathroom, but the duizhang is top priority.

The boys stumbled into their room, almost dropping him if it wasn't for Tao's fast reflects. Luhan prepared the bed while Tao changed him out of his sweat drenched shirt and into a new clean one. They then managed to coax him to lay back on the bed, ignoring his mumbled complaints about the bed being lumpy.

"I left the washcloth in the bathroom. I'll be right back," Luhan whispered, patting the maknae's back as he left the room.

Tao stood up to close the drawer he had left open, but stopped when he felt something tug on his shirt. He glanced back and saw Kris staring at him with hooded eyes, "Where are you going?"

"Just across the room," he pointed.

The leader raised his head slightly to see where, the groaned and dropped back on the pillow, tugging harder at his shirt, "Ignore it, stay here."

Tao nodded and squatted down on the floor, resting his hand on the bed and his arm soothingly. Luhan came back in a few minute later with a pissed expression.

"Hyun Kyun doesn't want me staying in here. Apparently my schedule is more important and he can't have me sick."

"That stinks."

"Think you can take care of him?"

Tao looked over his shoulder and examined the half asleep elder, "Yeah... I got it."

Luhan smiled and walked next to Kris, brushing the bangs from his forehead and gently placing the washcloth on, "Stay strong."

"I'm sick, not dead," Kris replied blankly, making the latter laugh.

Luhan nudged Tao's shoulder and walked out the door, closing it softly behind him. Tao leaned back against the bed, staring out the hotel window. This situation made him think back to the night he had nightmares and couldn't sleep. He remembered how he went to the duizhang's room for a safe haven and got one of the best night’s sleep of his life.

"What are you looking at?" Kris mumbled, turning over in the sheets to look at him.

"Ge, you should be sleeping."

"I'm not tired."

"Liar," Tao smiled and hooked his foot into the arm strap of his backpack. He pulled it closer and unhooked the small panda figurine from the zipper. He placed it next to Kris and put the latter's hand on top of it, "There, sleep with Woo."

"I'd rather sleep with Tao," the leader pouted slightly.

... Did Ge just pout?"I'm right here."

"I know," Kris sat up slowly and snapped his fingers towards a garbage can on the edge of his bed. Tao got the message and grabbed it, handing it over to Kris quickly. The leader paused for a split second before throwing up again. Tao rubbed his back again and stared at the ceiling, not wanting to look at the mess in the bin. Kris hovered over the trash after he was done, spit in it, then placed the can down on the other side of the bed.

"Tell Lay," he started, breathing in deeply before continuing, "That I'm going to kick his ."

"Ge!"

"I could go into detail, but it's not pretty," Kris laid back down and stared up at the maknae, "You may wanna keep your space. I don't wanna get you sick."

"It's not contagious."

"... I smell bad."

Tao rolled his eyes and crawled into bed with the leader. Kris rolled to face his back towards him and Tao scooted closer. He hooked his arms around the leader’s chest and nuzzled his head in his back. The two stayed silent, listening to each other’s breathing like a lullaby. Tao frowned just as he was dozing off. The mattress really was a piece of and he felt bad that Kris didn’t even have the chance to get a different bed.

He felt the leader shift in his sleep and got the sudden urge to look at his face. He carefully peeked over the duizhang’s shoulder and saw Kris cuddled up with Woo. Tao had a mini freak out in his head. Woo with his ‘appa’ made him want to grab his phone and take pictures. He looked over to the table and saw his Iphone not too far away.

Tao smiled and pulled one of his hands back, slowly reaching for the device.

“Take one picture, ZiTao, and I’ll throw your phone out the window, “Kris mumbled just as his fingers grazed the cool surface.

Tao froze and looked at his back, “But you look so cute Ge.”

He stiffened, “No.”

“Just one?”