5.39 a.m.

It's 5.39 in the morning when Donghae knows he can no longer ignore the ringing in his ears and the throbbing in his head.

He groans as he sits up in bed, thick blankets falling to his waist. One hand goes to clutch at his aching head as he squeezes his eyes shut and wills the pain to go away. But it's already been one torturous night of restless tossing and turning and Donghae is sure he's in no condition to sing and dance tomorrow (or, rather, today).

So Donghae slides out of bed and stumbles to the door. He feels beads of sweat trickling down the sides of his face and he's panting heavily as he blindly maneuvers his way to Jungsoo's bedroom door. He pushes it open and staggers over to the side of Jungsoo's bed, being careful not to make any loud sounds lest he wanted to wake Heechul up and face the wrath of their resident prissy diva. In his current state, one yell from Queen Heechul and he would surely drop dead.

"Hyung. Jungsoo hyung," Donghae shakes the sleeping lump that is their leader repeatedly, his voice calling him softly. The ringing is getting worse.

Jungsoo stirs and Donghae continues to shake him, albeit more violently. It's about a good few minutes before Jungsoo grunts and rolls over to face Donghae, eyes blinking open blearily.

"Donghae?" Jungsoo's voice is hoarse and laced with sleep as he sits up slowly and glances at the clock on his dresser. He groans before looking back at Donghae. "God, Hae, it's not even 6 a.m. Sleep is good, you know."

Donghae sniffs a little and Jungsoo seems to be more awake now. The ever-concerned leader shifts closer to examine Donghae's face and frowns when he sees the younger's obviously pained expression.

"Hae, what's wrong?" Jungsoo brings a hand to Donghae's forehead and furrows his brows.

"I don't feel good, hyung," Donghae mumbles.

Jungsoo swings his legs off the bed and takes Donghae's face into his hands. "You're running a fever."

Donghae lets Jungsoo rub soothing circles on his temples, but it's not doing any good. "My head hurts," Donghae whines like a child.

Jungsoo sighs and runs a hand through his sandy brown hair. Looks like he's got no other option but to pull Donghae out from all his schedules today. Not like their manager would be pleased, but no way in hell is Jungsoo going to let his sick dongsaeng take one step out of the dorms.

"I know, I know. I'll talk to manager hyung and get you out of work today. Let's just get you back to bed, all right?" Jungsoo gently lifts Donghae up and helps him back into his own room. He tucks the blankets around Donghae's frame and ruffles the latter's hair lightly, frowning in concern when Donghae drapes a hand over his eyes, breathing heavily.

It doesn't look like he's about to get much sleep, but there isn't anything else Jungsoo can do right now.

-

8.00 a.m.

Donghae's eyes open wearily when the first bright hints of sunlight pour in through his window. He can't say that his state has improved much since he last talked to Jungsoo, but there doesn't seem to be any other option for him besides lying in bed for the rest of the day. But before he can close his eyes and (attempt to) fall back asleep, a figure steps into his room, and he recognises it as Siwon.

Siwon quickly kneels beside Donghae's bed and smiles that charming smile at him.

"Hey, hyung. How are you feeling?" Siwon's voice is soft and gentle.

Donghae manages a weak smile. "Awful."

Siwon frowns. He's about to say something again but Donghae beats him to it. "How'd you know I was sick?"

"Oh. I was getting ready for filming when Jungsoo hyung came. He told me that you weren't feeling well and every member was supposed to check up on you whenever they could. So I thought I'd drop by before leaving for the rest of the day," Siwon explains.

Donghae purses his lips. "And where is hyung?"

"He left a while ago to go talk to manager hyung. And after that he's got to go for his own schedules."

Donghae sighs. He'd just added another thing to do to the busy leader's already filled list. "Being sick ," Donghae comments dryly.

Siwon shakes his head quickly and leans forward onto the bed, elbows resting at the edge. "Don't worry, hyung. You know, you're never alone, even when you're sick. God watches over the sick and protects them with His Holy Spirit. He'll heal you in no time, I'm sure of it." Siwon's voice gets much more animated and warning bells ring in Donghae's head. Oh , I know where he's going with this.

"You know, hyung, James 5:15 in the Bible says 'And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up.' So all we need to do now is to pray for God's healing hand to be upon you, and you'll be better by tomorrow. Shall we pray, hyung?" Siwon asks eagerly.

And Donghae feels like slapping his pillow over his face. His headache is bound to stay.

-

8.56 a.m. 

Donghae has given up trying to sleep in his own room.

It's not working. It's just not. He's flipping around on the bed like a fish (yes, literally) but his eyes keep opening after a while of desperately trying to scrunch them shut. And he's been at it for almost a whole hour, yet he feels no less feverish than before. So much for Siwon's powerful prayers.

So Donghae thinks maybe it's just my room that's making me restless; maybe it's the goddamned sun (and maybe this was why God wasn't answering Siwon's his prayers). So he pushes open his room door and steps into the corridor, looking for someplace else to crash and, hopefully, get some much-needed shut-eye.

Donghae hears the shower running in the main toilet and hears some humming from the kitchen. He knows some members have already left for morning schedules as well. So he ambles down the corridor and stops at one bedroom door. It takes him a few moments of consideration before sighing in defeat and pushing it open.

Jongwoon looks up from where he's scrolling through his phone on his bed and plucks out his earphones when he sees Donghae hovering at the doorframe.

"Jongwoon hyung," Donghae greets weakly.

"Hey," Jongwoon is quick to stand and nearly trips over his own feet before hurrying up to Donghae and placing a hand at his forehead, much like what Jungsoo had done before. "Feeling better?"

Donghae sighs and shakes his head. Jongwoon frowns, and Donghae feels his heart warm a little because no matter how creepy and weird Jongwoon is, he always puts his dongsaengs before himself, and cares for them with his small hands and big heart.

"Could I crash here for a while?" Donghae asks, getting to the point.

"Mmhmm," Jongwoon hums with a smile and guides Donghae over to Siwon's empty and neatly made bed. "Do you need anything Hae?"

Donghae gets out a muffled "no" as he flops down face-first onto the fluffy pillows, groaning. Jongwoon clucks his tongue and smooths out Donghae's hair before settling back down on his own bed. Donghae is grateful that Jongwoon understands that noise isn't his best friend now unlike his roommate Choi Siwon.

And Donghae is actually feeling much more at peace in his hyung's room than his own. Probably because Jongwoon's and Siwon's room doesn't have a window like his and Jongwoon's left the lights off and the air-conditioner on, so it just feels rather comfortable and relaxing. Donghae squeezes his eyes shut with a tired sigh and snuggles into the comforters. This could work.

But then Donghae feels something pricking the back of his grey shirt. He decides to ignore the feeling and focus on getting some rest, but the feeling doesn't go away and it's almost like something's crawling on his back, something small and hard and-

Donghae flips over immediately and shrieks when he sees a small green turtle tumble down his back and onto the sheets. He's on his feet in less than a second and launched onto Jongwoon's bed in the next, heart beating at a rate that was very much unhealthy.

"Aigoo," Jongwoon gets up and walks over to Siwon's bed, picking up the perturbed turtle with his hands and cooing at it softly, all the while ignoring Donghae's shaking frame. "My poor Kkoma. Did the big bad Donghae scare you? Daddy's sorry."

And Donghae lets out an incomprehensible screech, somewhere along the lines of "Jongwoon hyung!"

-

10.13 a.m.

"Don't you look like a wreck."

Donghae doesn't need to lift his head from where it's flattened against the counter top in the kitchen to place a name to the sarcastic, self-amusing voice.

"Nn," he manages.

He hears Heechul cluck his tongue and mutter something that sounds like rude little dongsaeng, but everything he hears now more or less sounds like an annoying buzzing. Heechul pads over to where Donghae sits, slumped against the counter, and taps his long fingers against the marble surface.

Tap tap tap

Oh my god, no, it's Siwon all over again.

Tap tap tap tap tap

Donghae snaps his head up and fixes Heechul with as angry a glare he can muster at the moment. Heechul blinks at him, completely unfazed, and Donghae roughly ruffles his hair, making it stick out at all the wrong, odd angles.

"What?" Donghae's voice comes out a little harsher than he intended it to be. But he can't help it. He's sick and he's tired and so far, apart from Jungsoo, both Siwon and Jongwoon haven't really been doing much besides making him feel worse, like tenfolds over.

Heechul tsks under his breath and gives Donghae a pointed look. "Manners, Hae. Don't be such a girl, could you?"

Look who's talking, is what Donghae wants to retort, but it'll probably just lead to a smack across the head. His head. His aching, throbbing head. Donghae sees Heechul roll his eyes and lean back against the sink, and they bask in the silence for a moment. Donghae knows Heechul is trying to do his job and spend time with him, but this is just weird, Donghae thinks, for Heechul is always the one tossing sarcastic, smart- remarks and teasing the group till he's content with himself, ensuring that all the younger members succumb to his ridiculous whims and fancies.

"Hyung, don't you have any place you're supposed to be now? Or soon?" Donghae starts.

It takes a few seconds for Heechul to scan his memory bank before he suddenly snaps his fingers. "Oh yeah, I've got that radio recording on in the afternoon. Damn, it totally slipped my mind. Thanks, Hae."

Donghae smirks, proud. But then a smug grin spreads across Heechul's face and he sees the excited glint in the older man's eyes and Donghae swallows down the lump in his throat. Oh no. Oh no no no no.

"You know, I haven't picked out my outfit yet, and appearance is of upmost importance for us idols, right?" Heechul begins.

Oh .

Donghae musters up a weak laugh. "Funny you should say that, hyung. Why don't you go on ahead and get ready? I'll be fine here," he tries, forcing some energy into his voice. He doesn't know whether to cry or to just die when he sees Heechul's laughing eyes.

It's not long before Donghae finds himself being thrown into Heechul's room and tossed all sorts of ugly funky shirts and pants while listening to Heechul's incessant blabbering. And then one important question dawns upon Donghae, and he swears he's never felt so cheated in his life.

"Hyung," Donghae begins, stumbling back a little when Heechul throws him a stack of shirts.

"Hmmm?"

"Aren't you going for a radio recording?"

Heechul's silent laughter says it all.

-

12.00 p.m.

Donghee is humming happily on the sofa in the living room when Donghae steps out of the bathroom, toweling his wet hair dry. He had hoped a nice, long shower would ease the throbbing a little, but nothing. Zero. Zilch.

Donghae smiles a small smile at his hyung before settling down on the sofa next to him, throwing his head back against the soft material. He feels Donghee place a hand on his forehead for a few moments.

"You've still got that fever," Donghee comments.

"Yeah," Donghae sighs. He looks over to see Donghee flipping through the newspaper. "What're you up to?"

Donghee shrugs nonchalantly before fixing his attention back on Donghae, eyebrows furrowed in concern. "You sure you're all right? You don't want to see a doctor?"

Donghae shakes his head. "Nah, it'll just be troublesome. I'm sure it'll be better tomorrow."

Donghee gives him one of those you must be stupid looks, and Donghae tries to ignore it. "Have you even tried bringing down your own temperature?"

Donghae shrugs. Truthfully, he's spent the whole morning trying to catch some sleep and dealing with his nonsensical bandmates that the thought of popping some pills hadn't occurred to him till now. Donghee sighs audibly and stands, motioning for Donghae to follow him to the kitchen.

"You know, if you don't get better it means being cooped up here all day, no schedules, no late nights, no going out and all of that. It'll just be you and Ddangkoma, now that I think about it," Donghee says as he searches through some cupboards, most probably looking for some medicine to bring down Donghae's fever.

Donghae shudders at the sound of Ddangkoma's name. He's officially declared war with that stupid green turtle and its stupid derp owner.

"Aha!" Donghee triumphantly pulls out a box of fever tablets. He fishes for a glass, fills it with water and places one tablet into Donghae's open palm, pushing the glass of water to him as well.

"Thanks, hyung," Donghae says, swallowing the tablet with a gulp of water. Donghee dismisses his thanks with a wave of the hand and continues to read the paper.

"Oooh, Hae, look," Donghee starts, scanning a page of the paper.

"Hmmm?" Donghae hums, peering over at whatever it is Donghee is reading.

"There's a new bulgogi place nearby," Donghee explains, a smile on his face. Suddenly, he glances at his watch and Donghae swears the smile gets even bigger.

"Say, Hae, have you eaten?" Donghee begins, tone suggestive.

It takes about a minute for Donghee's intentions to sink in. Donghae's eyes widen in disbelief.

"Donghee hyung! Whatever happened to "no going out"?" Donghae protests.

Donghee waves a hand. "Screw that."

And Donghae really has nothing left to say.

-

2.45 p.m.

Donghae can't even yell at Donghee for taking him out into the blazing hot weather just for bulgogi because the minute they get back to the dorms, Donghee leaves for a schedule with a satisfied smile.

So Donghae, feeling even more restless and hot and feverish after spending almost three hours out and subjecting himself to Donghee's incessant chatter, decides to clear his room a little by picking up all the stray pieces of clothing he's left strewn all over the floor. Thankfully, his turn to do the laundry was last week, so all he needed to do now was dump his clothes into the laundry basket and let whoever's on duty do the washing and drying.

Donghae walks into the laundry room and sorts out his clothes. He hopes it's either Ryeowook or Siwon or Jungsoo on laundry duty this week, because he's got a whole stack of clothes piled up and unwashed from hectic schedules during the days before, and those three always produced the cleanest clothes after washing.

Stepping back after tossing his clothes into the correct laundry baskets, Donghae is just about to head back to his room when he hears absent-minded humming and sees Sungmin sauntering into the laundry room, clothes in his arms.

"Hae!" Sungmin smiles cheerily and throws his clothes onto the table before giving Donghae a warm hug. "I heard you weren't feeling too good. What happened?" Sungmin gives him his famous innocent, upset pout, and Donghae thinks he looks like a bloated chipmunk.

"Fever and a headache, what can you do," Donghae replies with a shrug.

Sungmin puffs up his cheeks but says nothing, instead proceeding to separate his clothes much like what Donghae had just done, the whites from the colors, except at a much slower pace. Donghae leans against the doorframe, watching him silently. He's about to follow Sungmin out when he flings his last shirt into the basket but is stunned for a moment when the latter proceeds to carry the two baskets to the washing machine. Donghae furrows his brows.

"It's your turn to do the laundry?"

Sungmin nods, grunting a little as he lifts the particularly heavy basket filled with all their multicolored shirts. He frowns when he drops it in front of the machine.

"I bet half the in here belongs to Heechul hyung," Sungmin complains.

Donghae laughs and decides to settle down on one of the chairs there and keep Sungmin company. After all, he knew his hyung never liked to be alone all that much, anyway.

Donghae lets Sungmin carry on with his washing as he focuses on finding something to entertain him on his phone. He settles for scrolling through Twitter, playing some games and replying some messages. He only snaps his head up when Sungmin lets out a surprised yelp. Donghae's on his feet in a second.

"! What happened?" Donghae asks frantically.

Sungmin is clueless and fretting and shaking his head in a panic as he stares helplessly at the foam and bubbles leaking out from the washing machine. Donghae hastily jabs the 'off' button on the machine and turns to grab some towels hanging on the rack on the wall. Before he can ask Sungmin to help him clean up the small mess on the floor, he sees said boy trying to lift the lid of the machine.

"Hyung!"

But Sungmin successfully pulls open the lid and shrieks in shock when soap bubbles explode from the machine, leaking all over the floor, the laundry baskets and himself and Donghae. Donghae coughs and spits out some soap from his mouth before blindly reaching a hand out to slam the lid shut. The minute the thud is heard, the machine stops.

All Donghae hears next is the sound of his own heavy breathing and the constant drip drop of water and foam onto the floor. He lifts his head and stares at Sungmin.

"Oops?" Sungmin tries.

And Donghae flings the now empty pack of laundry detergent at his stupid aegyo hyung.

-

5.33 p.m.

After bathing and changing- again- into a fresh white shirt and pants, Donghae has decided that staying in his own room by himself is the safest way to spend the day. (After Sungmin got cleaned up he tried persuading Donghae to help again with the clothes, to which Donghae responded to with a snort.)

Donghae has just snugly fitted his sapphire blue earbuds into his ears, turned down the volume of his music and closed his eyes when his door opens and shuts audibly. Donghae freezes.

He has two options now. Either open his eyes and yell at the intruder to get the hell out, or keep his eyes closed and pretend to be asleep.

He decides to go with option two, just in case it's Heechul hyung.

Donghae hears nothing but the soft sound of Memories filling his ears and he lets out a mental sigh of relief, happy that his plan is working.

But then comes the loud, obvious sound of the starting up of a computer, and a snide, sarcastic voice.

"Hyung, please. I know you're awake," Kyuhyun mumbles boredly.

Donghae snaps his eyes open and sees an amused little Cho Kyuhyun sitting cross-legged against his bedroom wall, laptop balancing precariously on his lap and glasses perched on his nose. Donghae sighs, shifts forward and pulls out his earphones.

"What're you doing here, Kyu," Donghae asks tiredly.

Kyuhyun snorts and gives him a teasing, bemused expression. "What? Am I suddenly not allowed to be here?"

Right, time for a different approach. 

"Of course not, Kyu. I'm just tired, that's all."

And it seems as though this pathetic, helpless approach works well with their snide maknae. A rare softness and warmth enters his dark eyes and when Kyuhyun scratches the back of his neck awkwardly, Donghae thinks it's so adorable when Kyuhyun is shy like this.

"Ah, yeah," embarrassed laughter escapes Kyuhyun's lips. "I forgot about that. You know, that you weren't feeling good. Sorry. So, um, how're you feeling?"

Donghae laughs and decides to join Kyuhyun on the floor. He gives the maknae's hair an affectionate ruffle, causing the latter to shy away with an annoyed grunt. Donghae thinks it's so endearing that Kyuhyun had to feign ignorance of his sickness just so that he had a reason to come into his room and check up on him. But since he intruded on my sleeping time, I think bruising his inflated ego will do no harm.

Donghae leans closer to Kyuhyun and clears his throat just as the younger starts up his game of Starcraft. Kyuhyun blinks up at Donghae questioningly. "Yeah, hyung?"

Donghae fixes on an expression of pure ignorance and hurt. "Kyu-ah, do you really not know that I'm sick? Why are you here, really?"

Kyuhyun fidgets and looks away, and score, Donghae thinks. He's already grinning widely as he awaits Kyuhyun's answer, something along the lines of fine, hyung, I know that you're sick, okay? I came because I wanted to see how you were feeling. Now stop harping about it.

But then Kyuhyun opens his mouth and Donghae cannot believe what he's hearing.

"I'm here because Sungmin hyung asked me to do the laundry with him, and I needed someplace to hide. But hyung, it doesn't mean I don't want to see how you're fee-"

Donghae shuts him up with an angry shriek and a pillow to his pleading face.

-

7.55 p.m.

Lee Donghae is royally pissed off.

He's ticking off all the members he's already encountered through the day and prays that he's got everyone covered.

And then a knock at his door.

No way. Who did I miss? Donghae mentally runs through the list of names in his head but the knock comes again, and then a soft, tentative voice. "Hyung?"

Donghae's pent-up frustration and anger more or less vanishes just hearing that voice. It's Ryeowook. Harmless, innocent, eternal maknae Ryeowook. Donghae knows he could never forgive himself if he yelled at his sensitive dongsaeng.

"Come in, Wookie."

Ryeowook pushes the door open- just a creak- and sticks half his body in. Donghae notices his brown hair is still styled meticulously and he's still clad in skinny black jeans.

"Hey, hyung. How are you?" Ryeowook's voice is laced with gentle concern.

Donghae smiles encouragingly and Ryeowook pushes the door open wider. "I'm fine, Wookie. What's up?"

Ryeowook beams at Donghae's smile. "I made some soup for you. It's in the kitchen. Plus, it's almost eight, and with the members home now I don't think you've had your dinner yet. Or, rather, anything satisfying," Ryeowook rolls his eyes fondly.

Donghae chuckles and stands slowly, crossing the room in two strides and following Ryeowook out into the kitchen where he plonks down onto a chair. He peers into the living room to see Kyuhyun and Heechul sitting on the floor, eyes boring into the television screen as they jab the gaming controls furiously. Sungmin and Donghee are lounging around lazily on the couch behind them, laughing occasionally when one of the gamers let out an angry curse or made a frustrated noise.

"Careful, hyung, it's still hot," Ryeowook warns as he sets the bowl of soup in front of Donghae. He washes a spoon quickly and hands it to Donghae as well, before taking a seat opposite him, an enthusiastic expression etched on his face. "Try it!"

Donghae laughs and dips the spoon into the liquid, lightly blowing at it before sipping the spoonful slowly. He swallows a few more gulps before meeting Ryeowook's hopeful gaze. Donghae smiles lightly.

"It's great, Wookie. Thank you."

Ryeowook's face brightens like a little boy on Christmas Day and Donghae coos affectionately- although still weakly- and the two chat on about frivolous things when Donghae finally notices that Ryeowook isn't having any of his own soup.

"Oh!" Ryeowook smiles at Donghae's question. "I made this specially for you. It's kind of like medicine soup, I guess. So that you'll get better quickly."

Donghae grins lopsidedly. "And by how wonderful it tastes I'm expecting that my headache and fever will vanish by tomorrow, right?"

Donghae waits for Ryeowook's tingling laughter, but he's met only with a faltering smile. The spoon dangles halfway between the bowl and his waiting lips. "Wookie? What's wrong?"

It takes a few seconds before Ryeowook finally answers him in a low whisper. "Hyung, I thought you had insomnia."

The spoon clatters out of Donghae's hand.

.

-

11.17 p.m.

Donghae only wakes up from the most peaceful and deep sleep he's had in the entire day (thanks to Ryeowook more or less drugging him) when loud, worried, frantic voices sound from outside his bedroom door.

"- how could you- "

"- we didn't- "

"I swore I told you- "

Donghae groans and rolls over on the bed, trying to block out all the noise interrupting his sleep. He successfully manages to fall back asleep and there's peace and quiet once again, so much so that he doesn't hear the faint opening and closing of his bedroom door. The next thing that lulls him out of sleep is the gentle brushing of fingers against his face. Donghae stirs and blinks his eyes open blearily, trying to focus on the face in front of him. It takes him less than a moment to recognize the bronze, tousled hair, brown eyes and pink lips, even in the dark of his room.

"Hyukkie?" Donghae's voice comes out in a hoarse croak.

Hyukjae smiles softly and trails his fingers down Donghae's cheek, eyes tender and gentle and warm. "Hae. How are you?"

And it's Hyukjae's sweet, concerned, loving voice that brings out all the frustration and loneliness of Donghae's day that an angry tear slips down his cheek. Hyukjae is on the bed in a flash as Donghae brings himself up to a sitting position.

"Donghae? What's wrong? Do you feel okay? Do you need anything?" Hyukjae is all genuine concern as he rakes a hand through the younger boy's hair, another finger gently tipping his chin up. Donghae's lip trembles and he finally allows himself to bear the honest truth as he spills out everything he's been feeling since the start of the day.

"I couldn't sleep through the whole night so I finally decided to wake Jungsoo hyung up and tell him to pull me out of schedules. Then Siwon came in and blabbed on forever about his miracle prayers and I prayed so many times but I only felt worse and then I went to crash in Jongwoon hyung's room but Ddangkoma attacked me and he cared more about his stinking turtle than me. And after that Heechul hyung trapped me in his room for god-knows how long just so he could pick out an outfit for a radio recording which is totally ridiculous because who's going to care about what he's wearing anyway. Right after that Donghee hyung brought me out just so he could eat stupid bulgogi and the weather is so bloody hot and I felt as though my fever just multiplied fifty times over and the minute I got back Sungmin hyung went ahead and screwed up the whole washing machine and we had to clean up the whole laundry room and it was really tiring because Sungmin hyung at cleaning. When I finally thought I could relax in my room Kyuhyun comes in and I was so happy because I thought Kyu was the first person who wanted to just come in quietly and check up on me but turns out he only came here so he could hide from that walking disaster Sungmin hyung and then sweet little Wookie made me soup but in the end he realized I wasn't actually suffering from insomnia so in essence he kind of drugged me. And I've been out since then but then you show up and I realize how much I've missed you because I only feel good when you're here and this whole day has been so bad and I just really need-"

Donghae is silenced when Hyukjae, smiling affectionately with laughing eyes, leans in and gives Donghae one of those sweet, careful kisses and Donghae finally, finally finds himself relaxing because Hyukjae's lips are soft and they taste like honey and strawberries and it's really just perfect.

When Hyukjae pulls back his eyes are soft and tender and Donghae can see the flecks of black that surround his brown pupils and to him, they're the most beautiful eyes ever. Hyukjae laughs lightly and brings his forehead to Donghae's. All Donghae can see and think of now is Hyukjae and without hesitation, he pushes himself forward and presses his lips against Hyukjae's again. Hyukjae loops one arm protectively around Donghae's waist and Donghae tangles his fingers into Hyukjae's soft hair.

"Poor you," Hyukjae murmurs against Donghae's lips, "I'm sorry you had such a rough day, and I'm sorry I wasn't here with you."

Donghae shakes his head, idly playing with the strands of hair at the nape of Hyukjae's neck. "I know you were busy, Hyuk. I know the other guys just wanted to help me, though, well, none of them did, honestly, but-" Hyukjae laughs and Donghae smiles to himself as he realizes the truth of it all. "No one can make me feel better but you."

Hyukjae chuckles and he doesn't need to say anything for Donghae to know that the former wants to call him cheesy. Donghae frowns. "So what if I am?"

Hyukjae gently brushes at the pink flesh that is Donghae's lips, trying to wipe the frown away. "So nothing. You know I love you no matter what you are," Hyukjae says nonchalantly.

Donghae blushes but manages a roll of his eyes. "I am still sick, you know."

Hyukjae flashes Donghae the boyish grin only reserved for him. "Doesn't matter," he gives Donghae one more peck on the lips, winking.

"Doctor Hyukjae at your service." 

-