"Here's your medicine," Youngsaeng coaxed as he poured the liquid into the spoon and carefully moved it towards Hyunjoong's mouth, his other hand underneath the spoon to catch spills. "Open your mouth."

The older boy stared at the thick, pink medicine with a grossed out face. "Isn't there some others? I hate this type of medicine..." he whined childishly. Youngsaeng sighed. "Come on, just drink it."

Hyunjoong pursed his lips but it was Youngsaeng feeding him and that was the first time. Too bad the first time had to be feeding medicine. Hyunjoong reluctantly opened his mouth and the latter gently poured the medicine in, immediately handing him a glass of water to wash out the taste. The prince stood up and placed the spoon on a plate on the desk so that he could use it later.

"I'll go and cook some porridge for you, okay?" the younger boy told him. "The medicine should help you go to sleep soon."

Hyunjoong took his lover's hand. "Stay with me until I fall asleep."

"I..." Youngsaeng began to protest but then stopped. "Fine..." The older boy brightened and turned away, sneezing before pulling down his boyfriend onto the bed beside him. The latter blushed when Hyunjoong wrapped his strong arms around the boy. "I love you..."

"Me too," the otter whispered as he softly pecked the boy on the cheek. They smiled at each other for a while, neither moving before Hyunjoong closed the gap and pressed his lips against Youngsaeng's.

A while later, Hyunjoong finally fell asleep and Youngsaeng carefully unwrapped the boy's arms from him and got up, sliding off the bed and slipping his slippers on. He looked back at his boyfriend who was asleep and kissed him on the forehead before going down to the kitchen.

Every few minutes in cooking, he would get Hachi to run upstairs and check up on Hyunjoong and then report back to him. Twenty minutes later, Hachi whimpered, saying that the boy was awake. Youngsaeng sighed. "Already...?"

He turned down the stove before going upstairs and entering the room to see the boy sitting up, coughing heavily. Youngsaeng hurried over and began to his back to try to calm him. "Are you okay? What do you need? An icepack? Water? I'll go get some water for you."

Even when sick, Hyunjoong grabbed the boy's hand and leaned into his ear, smirking. "I need you."

The otter slapped his lightly on the arm, his cheeks burning. "Ya... Not the time to be joking around. You're sick. Do you want water?" Hyunjoong nodded.

Youngsaeng brought upstairs an icepack with his teeth and two large glasses of water in both his hands, just in case the older boy finished one too quickly. After he stopped biting the ice pack, he noticed that Hyunjoong was staring at him.

"Something wrong?" the prince questioned, moving towards his lover with the ice pack and a glass of water. "Here, drink the water and then lie down."

Hyunjoong obediently did as told. Youngsaeng was quite surprised. "You're obedient today." The latter grinned. "I wanna get better so I can do things with you~"

The younger boy nodded with satisfaction and placed the ice pack on his boyfriend's forehead before pulling the covers over. Hyunjoong was shivering a bit. "Are you cold?" asked Youngsaeng worriedly. "I'll get you another blanket."

Hyunjoong grabbed his lover's hand before he could step away. Youngsaeng turned back in question.

"Lie down beside me. That'll make me warm."

"I have to cook your porridge," the latter replied, slowly slipping his hand out of Hyunjoong's grip. "Now stay there." Youngsaeng went over to his closet and saw the Chinese hanfu's hanging there. He smiled before digging in to find a blanket.

"Otter..." Hyunjoong started hoarsely after the second layer came on him. "When's your birthday?"

"November 3rd," the younger boy replied quickly as he rearranged the ice pack and started towards the door. "I'll be up soon."

Hyunjoong sighed, staring up at the ceiling. His eyelids began drooping but he didn't want to sleep, he wanted to wait until Youngsaeng came back up. Every few seconds, he glanced at the door but there was no sign of the boy, no footsteps coming up the stairs. Until finally, he couldn't hold back anymore and fell asleep.

Another fifteen minutes passed until Youngsaeng finished cooking and brought the food upstairs on a tray to see that Hyunjoong was fast asleep. He smiled and decided to let the porridge cool for a while, sitting down beside his lover and not waking him up. Gently, he took the boy's hand into his and repositioned the ice pack. As he looked around the room, he caught side of the calender and sighed when he saw the date. 

"Otter..." he suddenly heard a groan from the sleeping boy and turned around. "Hyunjoong? Are you awake?" he asked quietly. 

The latter groaned again, as if having a bad dream, his forehead glistening with sweat. "Don't... Stop it... Please, Otter..." 

Youngsaeng began to shake the boy to wake him up. "Joongie, wake up. You're dreaming, Joongie." Hyunjoong's eyebrows furrowed as he seemed to be having trouble breathing and without warning, his eyes snapped open and he saw Youngsaeng. Without giving the younger boy time to react, he shot up and hugged him tightly, trembling and coughing. "You're here, thank goodness. You're still alive, you're here..."

"You were dreaming, Joongie..." the boy soothed softly as he the older boy's back slowly. "It's okay... Your porridge is ready now so why don't you eat?"

Youngsaeng pulled away and stood up to get the tray of food but then Hyunjoong stopped him, shaking his head. He sneezed. "No, what if something happens again? I'm not letting you go."

"It's... around three steps to get to the desk," the prince told him. "Nothing's going to happen."

"No! In my dream, you walked away from me and you took one step and you were shot in the head. What if someone shoots a bullet from outside?" Hyunjoong blurted without thinking. "Or what if you suddenly slip and hit your head on the edge of the desk. You might die that way or--"

Youngsaeng hugged him to stop him from panicking, calming down his breathing. "Nothing will happen, Joongie. I won't slip, I won't trip, I won't get shot. Even if I do, I won't leave you, alright?"

Hyunjoong bit his bottom lip. "Balli..." Youngsaeng nodded and strutted over, taking the tray into his hands and returning with a grin. "See? Nothing happened."

The older boy relaxed and let his lover sit down beside him. The otter placed the tray onto Hyunjoong's lap, handing him the spoon. "Can you feed yourself?"

The latter coughed and pouted. "Can't you feed me...?" Youngsaeng sighed and scooped up a spoonful of porridge, his other hand under the spoon again as he brought it close to Hyunjoong's mouth. "Here."

Hyunjoong brightened as he opened his mouth obediently and chomped down, sliding the porridge off the spoon. The prince watched him. "Good?" The older boy nodded, opening his mouth again.

After the sick patient finished the food, Youngsaeng made him eat his medicine before making him lie down again with a new ice pack on his forehead. He got up with the tray but Hyunjoong grabbed the hem of his shirt.

"What is it?" the boy questioned, turning around.

"You said that you would stay with me after I ate the porridge," Hyunjoong reminded him.

"But I have to wash it."

"You can wash it later. Just sleep beside me for now."

The otter smiled slightly as he set down the tray and climbed under the blanket beside his lover. "Now go to sleep, arasseo?" Hyunjoong pursed his lips. "I want to stay awake with you..."

"Didn't you say you wanted to get better faster?" Youngsaeng remarked. "You won't get any kisses if you don't get better."

Hyunjoong's eyes widened. "That's not fair! I can't control when I get better." The latter smiled and patted him on the head. "You can try, can't you? Now go to sleep."

The older boy coughed a few times and sneezed before nodding slightly. Youngsaeng brought him closer and hugged him as he felt Hyunjoong's breathing calm down a few moments later.