“.” Kyuhyun cursed under his breath as he shifted the weight on his back to a more comfortable position.

On Kyuhyun’s back was an unconscious young man with soft brown locks soaked from the fevered sweat on his forehead. The brunet’s arms and legs were hanging limp and dangling as the younger boy walked down the darkening street. The sun was quickly setting and the dim orange glow of the streetlamps would soon be all the light that Kyuhyun would have to get the brunet home. What was worse, was that he didn’t really know where the guy lived, unfortunately he hadn’t been carrying his wallet with him and he had passed out too soon for Kyuhyun to get an address out of him.

“What the hell am I even doing…?” He asked himself as he steadily made his way around in the limited light. “Seriously Donghae, you’re not doing much to help me with this. I might as well just leave you at some random house, it’s not like I know what to do with you. You’re basically just some invalid and you’re not a light either. Aish!” Kyuhyun continued to ramble to himself, complaining to a boy who couldn’t hear him or respond. He figured that he must have looked like a mad man, that is, if there were anyone else on the streets with him; it was eerily quiet out.

Groaning under the weight of Donghae’s sick body, Kyuhyun turned a corner and walked halfway down a street until he stood at an apartment complex. He rested against a large metal mail box for a few minutes to catch his breath and then went to the front door of the complex where he had to buzz in to the room he wanted.

“Hey, it’s me Kyuhyun, open up already.” He snapped at the small voice box and didn’t wait for an answer before going to pull the glass door open and wiggle his way in without dropping the brunet from his back. There was no one else in the lobby, and he took solace in the fact that nobody was going to see his sweating, red hot face of a wimpy failure that hadn’t exercised like this since he could remember.

The blue haired boy walked up to the elevator and pushed the button with the upwards arrow on it. When it didn’t light up he had to straighten his back a bit and strain his neck to see that there was a piece of paper taped to the elevator doors with five deathly words sending him to his execution written in bold black letters: OUT OF ORDER; USE STAIRS.

“Oh me.” He cursed as he stomped his feet up the five flights of stairs to his destination.

After a grueling fifteen minutes and multiple pit stops, Kyuhyun and the unconscious brunet had made it up the stairs and were standing at the end of a hall with several doors on either side. Kyuhyun readjusted Donghae on his back and stumbled a few feet to the third door on the right. He stood in front of it and tried the door knob, hoping that it would be open so things could go faster and he could finally rest his aching back and legs. To his great delight, the door was unlocked and he entered the apartment with ease.

In all honesty, Kyuhyun wasn’t exactly sure if coming here was the right thing to do. He wasn’t even sure if things would work out, but he had no other choice when he took Donghae’s condition into consideration. Of course, he knew that bringing the brunet here may also have been as good as sending him to his death, but for the moment Kyuhyun really just wanted this day to be over, so he let go of all the negative thoughts for the day.

Quietly, but quickly, Kyuhyun shuffled into the apartment and looked around. It didn’t seem like anyone had heard him enter, so he called out once. There was silence, so he walked further in. He passed the kitchen area on the right and past that where the living room area was. He was just about to continue when he stopped in his tracks at the sound of a voice calling out.

“That you Kyu?! I’m takin’ a so I’ll be a while, just hang out for a bit.” Kyuhyun stifled a laugh, although he was actually really scared at what might happen when that person finds out that Kyuhyun didn’t come alone. Either way, Kyuhyun was already here and there was no turning back. He went into the living room and his face twisted in disgust at the sight of the mess.

The contents of the room was all garbage and messy clothes; empty pizza boxes and beer bottles lay scattered around the couch and coffee table. Kyuhyun sighed as he kicked the trash out of the way so he could get to the couch. Once there he gently sat on the very edge of the cushion and let Donghae’s body go. The brunet’s back hit the couch with a small thud and Kyuhyun got up to move his body around so he was lying in a somewhat comfortable position on the couch. He went over to check the boy’s temperature and frowned to himself when he felt that it was even hotter than when they were at the convenience store. Donghae’s breath seemed to be uneven and his brows were furrowed as if he were in some kind of terrible pain, or having a nightmare.

Kyuhyun sighed but shrugged his shoulders.

“Whatever. It’s not my problem anymore… , I hope this wasn’t my fault.” Kyuhyun closed his eyes and rubbed his temples and then left to find something to write on. Once he was finished writing a note he decided that it was better to just leave as soon as possible so that this apartment’s resident wouldn’t have a chance to throw Donghae out or abandon him to die. At least he hoped that that was what would happen. He also told himself that he had to get home too, he didn’t want his mom getting all worried like the last time he stayed out late on a school night.

“Get better soon so we can continue our conversation.” Kyuhyun spoke to the passed out boy and then made his quick escape when he heard the bathroom toilet flush. “And don’t die.”

A blond haired man was washing his hands in the bathroom sink. He wiped them dry on a small hand towel beside a bar of soap and other toiletries. The blond then pulled up his loose sweat pants so they were comfortably at his hips. Then he sprayed some air freshener in the bathroom and sniffed the air a little. He nodded his head and exited the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

When he walked into the main area of his living quarters, he had been expecting his good friend to be sitting on the couch ready to complain to him about something. What he had not been expecting was to find his ex-boyfriend lying on his sofa with a piece of paper taped to his chest. At first glance, Hyukjae was ready to explode with anger and send fists flying. With a closer inspection however, the blond saw the sweat and the obvious pain on the brunet’s face, and he hesitated for a moment.

“,” he cussed and crouched on the floor with his head in his hands. “That bastard Cho, I thought he was on my side… what the was he thinking, bringing this guy to my place?”

Hyukjae reluctantly walked over to Donghae and ripped the note off of his shirt. He read it out loud.

“To my beloved Eunhyuk, – beloved my – I leave one Lee Donghae in your care after he passed out in my company. I don’t know where he lives, and you know I couldn’t take him to my place. Blah, blah, blah, this guy, he has a fever already so don’t kill him, and yes I am still 100% with you no matter what darling.” Hyukjae crumpled the piece of paper and threw it on the floor, gritting his teeth. “ that bastard, jeez. I really don’t feel like doing this today.”

The blond stuffed his hands in his pockets and let out a groan. He stared down at Donghae and then took a hand to feel the boy’s forehead. He was surprised by the heat, but he was being stubborn and refused to help the boy who had been so traitorous to him not so long ago. Hyukjae turned his head away and pouted, trying to think if he could just throw the guy into the hall and let him rot. He was almost about to do it when he heard the invalid moan in discomfort and roll around on the sofa. Hyukjae turned around and glanced at Donghae with somewhat worried eyes. He gave up and rushed to the bathroom. Without thinking about anything else he brought out a cold wet cloth and placed it carefully on the brunet’s forehead.

“, what am I even doing? After all this has done, and now he expects me to take care of him?” Hyukjae was complaining, but there was something in the way he looked at the sick boy before him that would have made anyone doubt his words.

Letting out another sigh, he went into his kitchen and got a metal bowl that he filled with water. He grabbed a clean cloth and set both items on the coffee table – he had to shove a few empties on the floor to make room. The blond sat down on the floor with his legs crossed and took the dry cloth to wipe away the sweat from Donghae’s face. As he was doing so, Hyukjae noticed that Donghae’s shirt was wet from all the sweating he has been doing. The blond placed his open hand on Donghae’s chest and shook his head at the heat radiating from it. He didn’t really want to, but it looked like he was going to have to change the brunet right then and there.

“The sooner he gets better, the sooner he can be gone. That’s the whole point of me doing all this anyway.” Hyukjae talked himself into taking on the role of nurse for the night. It wasn’t like he hadn’t had to do this before, and he willed back the memories because this was a different time and he was still angry – no furious – with Lee Donghae.

Hyukjae carefully sat Donghae upwards on the sofa. From there he proceeded to take off Donghae’s shirt while gritting his teeth because no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t deny the fact that there was a part of him which really wanted to touch the brunet’s skin. He really hated this part of himself. After everything that Donghae did to him, after his betrayal, and he still had these lingering feelings dwelling inside of him. That’s why Hyukjae really didn’t want to be doing this, because he wasn’t sure if he could control himself like this.

The diligent blond continued to take care of the brunet despite his inward war. He wiped away all of the sweat with a cool cloth and redressed the sick brunet in whatever clothes he could find in his size laying around. Remembering his hatred towards Donghae though, he dressed him in the worst looking clothes that he owned. Hyukjae wasn’t even sure if they were his or not, because he knew that he’d never wear something as unfashionable and horrid as that. In reality though, he had dressed Donghae in a pair of stretched out pajama bottoms and a very old plain t-shirt that may have even been Donghae’s at some point in their relationship.

The brunet now lay comfortably on the couch with a pillow from Hyukjae’s own bedroom under his head. His fever had gone down to a more manageable state after Hyukjae’s hard work. The blond aforementioned, was acting very nervously in his own house. His feet were tapping on the hardwood floor and he was starting to bite at his nails – a nasty habit that he had only recently revisited. Hyukjae couldn’t help but to be anxious though, after all he was in the same room with a ticking time bomb.

He was torn between sending the boy off in some cab and being rid of him and letting the brunet stay for a while longer in his apartment. For most people, the obvious decision would be to keep the sick person under a trustworthy eye until they are fully recovered, but it wasn’t exactly like Hyukjae could do that. First of all, he didn’t want Donghae to see that he had taken care of him. He feared that it would completely give the other the wrong impression, and he did not want that to happen. The only reason he helped Donghae was because he didn’t want someone dying on his count.

“I guess I’ll clean up a little,” Hyukjae said to himself, shrugging his shoulders.

He bent over to pick up several cardboard coffee cups and a pizza box that had been shoved underneath the couch. He had to stretch his arm out pretty far to pull it out, and when he opened the box he found a half-eaten slice of pizza that had started to grow mould. He scrunched his nose and looked away, half disgusted that he could even be possible of such grossness. Believe it or not, the blond was actually somewhat of a neat freak, but recently he hasn’t had the motivation to get anything done around the apartment, although he did manage to keep his bathroom and bedroom tidy, which he was proud of.

Hyukjae went to grab a large garbage bag from the closet so he could just shove everything in there and be done with it, but as soon as he stood up, he felt something grab onto his shirt. He looked down and saw that the brunet’s hand had clenched his hand around the bottom of Hyukjae’s shirt. At first, the blond was scared less. He was afraid that Donghae had woken up and caught him in the act, but when he looked at the boy’s face, he noticed that his eyes were still firmly shut. Letting out a sigh of relief, Hyukjae carefully pried the other’s fingers off of his shirt, shaking his head when he saw the wrinkles it left. He placed the boy’s hand beside his body on the couch and then went to get the garbage bag so he could at least get a little cleaning done.

While he was cleaning, his face had become somewhat serene, more of an emotionless serenity that made him look like he was thinking about something really important and so what was happening now didn’t matter. In fact, the blond was thinking about something important. He was remembering the days with the brunet and when Donghae would do that same gesture whenever he got sick.

“Don’t leave,” the brunet whispered in his raspy voice. “I-I don’t wanna be alone.”

Hyukjae turned around and took the boy’s hand in his. He sat down on the bed next to him and smiled.

“I promise I’ll never leave you,” Hyukjae the soft brown hair and continued to smile happily.

“Me too… I’m never going to leave you…Hyukkie..”

Hyukjae frowned. His hands balled into fists and he nearly ripped the trash bag in two. He sat down on the edge of a chair parallel to the couch. His eyebrows furrowed and his nails dug deep into the palm of his hand. He let go of the garbage bag and pulled his phone out of his right pocket. He quickly punched in the numbers and held the phone to his ear. It rung three times and then there was a deep “hello” from the other line.

“Get over here as fast as you can. Before I kill someone.”

A/N: 100+ subscribers! Woohoo ^^