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Part 14: Of colds and fever

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He pulled the covers tighter to himself as he shifted on his bed. It was really cold even with the heater running and he was wrapped into a cocoon with his duvet and had a thick jacket on and the fact that he was coming down with a fever was not even helping. Who was there to blame but himself? He got out of the house without his jacket and stayed there for a while. When he got back, he got himself a cold shower hoping that the hotness on his cheeks would somehow disappear. But his immune system couldn’t make it somehow. He went out the bathroom with a slight head ache, shivering and sniffing.

It’s not my fault! It’s Kim Jonghyun's fault!He fought back with his inner-self.

Well, true enough. If not for what the singer did, maybe Kibum wouldn’t be standing out in the cold without a jacket and wouldn’t be feeling that knots in his stomach and Kibum could really go onand on and on and on. But his phone vibrated on his night stand, cutting his list of “It was Kim Jonghyun's fault and not mine!”

A muffled “Yoboseyo?” came out of his mouth because of his cold and the quilt covering his entire head and body.

“Hey, you okay?” the caller asked.

“Yeah.” But a sudden sneeze betrayed Kibum right away.

“You’re sick.” It was not a question, and the dancer’s caller was sure of his statement. “I’ll just talk to you tomorrow, neh? Take a rest now.”

“...”

“Sleep tight. Dream of me, Babe.” And he chuckled after that. “Good night.”

“I can’t sleep.” Kibum whispered, but still loud enough for the other to hear him. Oh, how he felt like a little boy asking his mom to tell him a bed time story before going to bed.

“Aaaaw~ my poor Baby.” Kibum wanted to snort or say something smart but with the pounding in his head he just managed a whine. And that made the other chuckle. “What do you want to do then?” the other asked as he shifted on his own bed.

“Sing me a lullaby.”

There was no reply from him and just the sound of covers as he shifted on a sitting position. Then he sang their song. The pureness of his voice without the piano accompaniment was so soothing. Not long after, Kibum's eyelids became heavy but he fought sleep.

Must be those stupid meds. Kibum thought. Oh, how he hated those capsules.

Ironic, wasn’t it not? He was actually complaining that he couldn’t sleep earlier and now he was doing his best to stay awake. But he lost that battle. His hold on his phone loosened and his eyelids finally gave in.

He knew that Kibum was already asleep but he continued the song ‘til the end. He smiled from the other end just imagining how the younger slept.

“Good night princess.”

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His head was still pounding when he woke up late the next day. His vision swirled when he sat up and he heard a crash when he tried to reach for his clock. He let his head fall back on his pillows and waited ‘til his ceiling was not fuzzy-wuzzy anymore.

According to his clock, it was passed ten am already. It was way, way beyond his “Chunhee wakeup call” which was usually at eight in the morning. He assumed that his mom told her not to disturb him since he was not feeling well. He carefully sat up, to avoid another round of vertigo and checked what fell a while ago.

“Oh no! No! No! NOOO!” he whined—more of groaned actually—with his voice stuck in his dry throat.

Kibum saw the familiar back of the picture frame that was sitting on his bedside table. Together with it were shards of broken glass. The precious picture of him with his lovely Prince! He moved to the edge of his bed and wore his slippers, picked up the frame and moved the shattered glass away from the photo. He decided to call ahjuma and ask her to clean the mess. The sick dancer kept the photo in his drawer and made his way out his room and to the stairs.

Kibum was lucky that ahjuma was just about to make her way to the second floor so he didn’t really have to look for her. When he reached the living room, he heard Chunhee talking to someone and her voice seemed to come from the kitchen.

“Appa! I wanna cook too~ please, please~?” she said.

Appa?Her dad is here? That’s new! Kibum thought as he continued walking. He saw her sitting on the counter while trying to look over the direction of the stove. Then someone picked her up and carried her. Whoever it was, Kibum was not able to see because of the indoor plant in that area. I knew it! Putting that plant there is a stupid idea!

“What are you doing here?” Kibum asked when he finally reached the dining area and was able to identify who the guest was.

Chunhee and her Appa both turned their heads on his direction. The little girl beamed at him.

“Ki umma~ you’re awake now! Halmoni said you are sick that’s why I didn’t wake you up…” she called Kibum's mom halmoni even if she was, in reality, her aunt because Kibum was her umma. The guy let her down and she went to Kibum who was sitting on one of the chairs. “Hyun appa came over and he said that he will take care of you!”

Kibum picked her up and sat her on his lap. It took him a while to let the idea sink in.

“He is what?!” he blurted out, which made Chunhee jump a little.

“Babe, just sit there and chill okay? This soup is almost done.” Jonghyun said from the other side as he stirred the soup.

“That’s right Ki umma~ Hyun appa cooked something for you. And it is soooo yummy!!!”

There was a clutter of utensils and porcelain and the wafting smell of mushroom soup which Kibum really loved overwhelmed his nostrils. Jonghyun placed the bowl on the table and sat beside Kibum.

“Eat.” He said simply as he looked at Kibum with that endearing smile.

“Is that even safe to eat?” Kibum said as he looked at the food with dislike on his face.

Chunhee, who was still on Kibum's lap, leaned towards the table and inhaled the appetizing aroma as she closed her eyes comically.

“Mmmmmm~ smells sooooo good!!! Hyun appa, daebak!!!” she raised two thumbs up to Jonghyun and smiled. But before she could praise Jonghyun some more, ahjuma called her because it was already time for her SpongeBob show. “Bye Ki umma, eat well okay? Bye Hyun appa, take care of umma for me, ne?” she said as she hopped of off Kibum's lap and ran to her room.

“C’mon Bummie, eat this now. It won’t taste good if it is already cold.” Jonghyun said as he stirred the soup.

“What if you put something in here and something weird happens to me, huh?”

“Like what? Poison? You know I would never do that.” And he scooped a spoonful, brought it toward his mouth and blew on it gently. “Open your mouth, aaaah~”

But Kibum still refused. Jonghyun put the spoon back into the bowl and leaned back on his chair.

“Aish Bummie, you’re really a baby sometimes.” Jonghyun mumbled under his breath which Kibum didn’t hear. “I’ll eat some first so you can make sure that it’s safe. Then you eat the rest, deal?”

“Deal.”

Jonghyun swallowed the spoonful that he got for himself and nothing happened. He scooped another and held it towards Kibum's lips. Kibum reached for the spoon and fed himself.

“What can you say? It’s delicious right?” Jonghyun said as he leaned closer to Kibum, his eyes twinkling.

“It’s just typical. Nothing special.” He replied and tried to stop himself from pinching Jonghyun's cheeks when the other pouted.

“You’re always mean.” Jonghyun whined, but he recovered right away. “Anyways, you finish that okay? I’ll ask ahjuma to prepare a warm bath for you.” He stood up and walked to the same direction that Chunhee took. “Don’t go anywhere until there is not even a single drop of soup in that bowl.”

Silence rung through the kitchen, Kibum sighed and reached for the spoon. He started eating in silence, there were thoughts running in his head but he couldn’t sort them out. He continued eating and before he knew it, the soup was almost gone.

“Aw, my Baby is eating well.” Jonghyun said as he came back and stood behind Kibum. “Should you get a price for that? Hmmm?” he thought out loud.

“Oh, yey~ I get a price.” Kibum said with fake enthusiasm. Then he turned his head to the right and came face to face with a smiling Jonghyun.

“Sure, you do Babe.”

Kibum didn’t flinch when Jonghyun leaned closer. He didn’t know where the guts came from, maybe he just felt like teasing the older. Or maybe he was just curious on what that price would be. Yes. Let’s choose the second option, since Kibum could be a kid sometimes and ‘a price’ would mean his favourite ice cream with cherry and sprinkles on top.

And by the way, have you ever heard of the phrase ‘Curiosity killed the cat’? Well, no, not really. But you see, when Jonghyun's lips touched his and his heart kind of skipped a few times while he also forgot how to breathe and felt like a stiff plank of wood like that of the chair he was sitting on at the moment made Kibum feel like he just… died. Not to mention that it lasted way, way shorter than that of last night (refer to: peck).

God, Kibum! You are an over acting !His inner-self said as he smacked Kibum's head imaginarily.

But Jonghyun's chuckles brought him back to life, erm to earth I mean. So! Kibum snapped his head to look —or rather glare but since his eyelids were a bit heavy all that while and looking at the other was all he could manage—at Jonghyun who was standing by his right side. He had that stupid-but-really-really-angelic smile of his again and Kibum was really wondering if his fever was the cause of the warm feeling creeping on his cheeks.

“C’mon, your bath is ready. My dad said the Lavender and Chamomile extracts would make you feel better.” Jonghyun said as he reached for Kibum's hand and pulled him up from the chair. “Hey, can you walk or do you want me to carry you?”

“Mister Kim Jonghyun, just so you know, I only have a fever. I am not disabled.” Kibum hissed. Really, what’s wrong with this guy?

“Oh sorry.” He scratched the back of his neck and smiled sheepishly at the younger. “It’s my first time to take care of another person.”

Yeah right, you are the son of a doctor anyways.Kibum wanted to say but acted against it with an audible sigh. “Whatever. I’ll just go take a bath. You take care of Chunhee.” He said as they made their way up the stairs.

“Ne~ take your time in the water, it would feel nice.” Jonghyun added before going inside Chunhee’s room.

When he was inside the bathroom, he smelled the relaxing aroma of lavender and chamomile, it was inviting. He shivered when he took off his clothes but felt better when he dipped in the warm water. It sure was relaxing. Maybe he would follow what the older told him; take his time.

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The credits rolled and SpongeBob was over. Chunhee moved from her spot on the carpeted floor to her Hyun appa’s lap.

“Hyun appa, what can we do now? SpongeBob is already away and Ki umma is not here too.” She said as she poked Jonghyun's cheeks.

“Wut chu wunt to do dem?” Jonghyun said as Chunhee pushed his cheeks forming a fish face.

Chunhee giggled. She often did that with her Ki umma and playing with Hyun appa was fun too.

“Let’s play, Hyun appa.” she skipped of his lap and pulled him towards her toys. Then Jonghyun remembered something.

“Chunhee-ah, I have something for you in my car. We could play with that instead.” He said as Chunhee was setting up her little cups and saucers.

“Kyaaa~! Really??? Can we get it now Hyun appa?” she asked as she raised both hands towards Jonghyun. He picked her up in her arms and they made their way to the garage.

Jonghyun arrived before Kibum's mom left and she was more than enthusiastic to let him in. And since both of Kibum's parents would be gone, she told Jonghyun to park in there instead of leaving the car by the road.

A soft beeping sound was heard and Jonghyun opened the passenger’s door. He balanced Chunhee between his left arm and his hip as he grabbed his present for the little girl.

“What is this Hyun appa?” she asked when he handed the plastic bag to her as they made their way back to her room.

“Stars.”

“Stars? Stickers?”

“Nope. Real stars that shine during the night.” He said as he put her down on floor. She handed it back to Jonghyun for him to open it and indeed it contained stars. Glow in the dark stars.

“Do you like it, Chunhee-ah?”

“Ne, Appa!!!” and she went to hug him, wrapping her arms around his neck and nuzzling her head on his shoulder. Jonghyun was a little taken aback with the action, but he sure could get used to that. “Kamsahaeyo, Hyunnie Appa~” she sang happily.

“You are welcome, little princess.” He replied as he hugged her back. “Should we set them up now?”

“Ne!!!”

They tied the strings on the stars as they played around, making silly faces with each other. When they were done, Jonghyun asked her where she did she want to put the stars and she pointed on the ceiling above her bed. And he smiled.

“Ah, but, Hyun appa can’t reach that. Can I ask Chunhee-ah for help?”

They put the stars in a bag and Jonghyun put Chunhee on his shoulders. They played for a while, Jonghyun going around her room as she pretend to fly. When they stopped, Jonghyun stepped up on the bed and Chunhee reached for a star. She extended her little arms up, up, up until the first star dangled successfully on her ceiling.

After they hanged the last star, theyfell on the bed with their arms spread out, tired with all the reaching up thingie. They stared at the star-filled ceiling and hi-fived at their accomplished work. Jonghyun closed his eyes after that and was a little surprised when he felt a sudden weight on his stomach and found Chunhee sitting there.

“Thank you, Hyun appa~” she said lovingly as she hugged the boy who hugged her back.

“You are very welcome darling.” He replied.

They have just started to play that airplane game when Kibum came in calling them for lunch.

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a/n: hi guys, sorry for the late update...i was busy with schooling and being a student assistant...hope you like this tho...another thing, sorry if i was not able to reply to your comments. i didn't have time but i read each one and i am really thankful to everyone of you^^

keep comments coming :))

thanks to the new subscribers and readers~ lots of love ♥

photo by:DexterousDamsel @deviantart