It had been three days since Yoseob lost his voice and got sent home. Kikwang and Junhyung visited him after lessons, until Junhyung caught his cold and wound up in bed, too.

Kikwang smirked at his reflection in the practice room mirrors. Well, at least Junhyung never did anything half-assed. His cold had nailed him on their way home from Yoseob’s, and Kikwang had wound up supporting a good chunk of his weight on the way. To top it all off, the timing had been terrible. It had started to rain halfway home, which only worsened Junhyung’s condition.

Now it was just him and Doojoon until they both got better. Kikwang scrunched up his face at that; he was still pissed off at Doojoon for how he’d treated Yoseob. Regardless of the stress they were under during training, it wasn’t okay to treat each other like that. 

The door opened, admitting Doojoon and their instructor. Kikwang scrambled to his feet, spending the next hour in a frenzy of movement. Regardless of who was missing from their usual practice group, he had to make sure he kept up and brought the best he could to practice.

It wasn’t very long after they’d been left alone to finish up for the day that Doojoon spoke to him. Lacing up his sneakers and shoving his practice shoes in his bag, Doojoon looked up at the younger teen. “How is Yoseob?”

Surprised by the sudden desire to chat, Kikwang stopped in the process of pulling his coat on. “Why do you care?”

“Come on, Kikwang…”

“The last time you saw him all you did was snap at him because he couldn’t keep up,” Kikwang said sharply, surprising Doojoon with the clear anger in his features. “Why the hell would I tell you how he’s doing?”

“I was stress-”

“So were the rest of us!” Kikwang’s voice rose a little. “You think we weren’t tired? That we weren’t nervous about the evaluation? You think it was funny to him that he couldn’t keep up?” 

“I didn’t realize he was sick! I should have-”

“Yeah, you should have!” Kikwang snorted and shoved his hands into his pockets, shrugging one shoulder jerkily. “But you didn’t. You just yelled at him and made him feel like crap. Did you know he’d been sick with that cold for almost two days already? He was still coming to practice every day. Would you have wanted to be yelled at if that were you?”

Doojoon swallowed and looked away, focusing on the floor. “I regretted it as soon as I said it…” He muttered quietly. “But you guys were gone before I even got close to him. And then the next day…”

“So go see him,” Kikwang said quickly, huffing in irritation. “Apologize. See how he is for yourself. Don’t come to me.”

As Kikwang stooped to snatch his stuff off the floor in jerky movements, his anger over the injustice to his friend was obvious. He stalked to the door and left the older boy sitting on the floor, but stopped just inside the doorway, turning to look back at him.

“Whether you apologize or not, don’t ever do that again. If you hurt him, I’ll never forgive you. I don’t care what else happens… I’ll never forgive you. Ever.”

---

Moving quietly, Doojoon pushed open the door and peeked in. Yoseob lay with his back to the door in bed, the covers pulled up around his shoulders. The only glimpse of him that was out from beneath the blanket was the shock of dark hair. Judging by the way it seemed to be permanently stuck in several different directions, he probably hadn’t showered in at least a day or two.

Doojoon shut the door quietly behind him and padded across the floor in his socks. Still Yoseob didn’t rouse, the subtle rise and fall beneath the blanket proof that he was sleeping. With a soft sigh Doojoon pulled out the chair by the desk and settled in to wait. 

And think.

The more he thought, the more he began to wonder just why he had been so hard on Yoseob. He never got so upset with Kikwang or Junhyung when they had trouble, no matter how close to an evaluation they were. Yet he’d been irrationally angry and worried that Yoseob would fail on the day of the evaluation, and had ignored the younger boy’s obviously weakened condition as a result.

What was so different about Yoseob?

“Yah, what are you doing here?”

The quiet croak had Doojoon jerking slightly in the chair. He opened his eyes and straightened up, glancing at the window to find the sky dark. When had he fallen asleep? More importantly..

“When did you get your voice back?” He asked, looking curiously at Yoseob.

Sighing, Yoseob pulled himself up against his pillows and cast a groggy gaze onto his visitor. After a moment he chuckled and scratched at his head. “I wouldn’t say it’s back…”

“You can talk. That’s back.” Doojoon scooted the chair closer to the bed, his focus entirely on Yoseob. “You’re doing better then?”

Yoseob frowned at him, a little suspicious. “Yeah… Doojoon why are you here?” It was the first time he’d really had to repeat a question, and he wasn’t too happy about it. Then again, he wasn’t really happy with anything at the moment. Whenever he was sick his parents and Kikwang withdrew any and all sources of caffeine and sugar. So he was an absolute bear the entire duration.

“I’m visiting.” The older boy’s attempt at innocence was met with an annoyed look from Yoseob, and Doojoon chuckled nervously. Scratching the back of his neck, he gave a brief smile. “Going through withdrawal, huh?”

“Why are you here?” Yoseob repeated with a little more annoyance.

Doojoon sighed. “Okay, okay… I wanted to apologize for.. You know.”

Yoseob stared at him drolly. “No, I don’t.”

“For uh… Well, the other day when I… during prac- oh come on, Yoseob, you know what I’m talking about!” 

The outburst would have drawn a laugh from the normally bubbly boy, but instead Yoseob just continued to stare at him. Crossing his arms over his chest, he tilted his head slightly and sniffed, clucking his tongue in mocking disapproval. “There you go raising your voice again. You yell an awful lot, you know. Usually at me. I don’t like it.”

Doojoon’s eyes narrowed in exasperation and he spoke through clenched teeth. “Well maybe if you wouldn’t-” 

The look of challenge Yoseob shot at him had Doojoon stopping mid-sentence. He closed his eyes and sighed heavily. “Okay. Let’s try this again…. I’m sorry for yelling.”

“And?”

He opened his eyes and looked at Yoseob, confused. “And what?”

“What else are you sorry for?”

“Uh…” Doojoon blinked, eyes wide in a very bewildered sort of way. “I don’t…. I’m not sure…”

“Well, I don’t exactly see any ers on you, for starters,” Yoseob grumbled with a glower that looked too adorable to be threatening. 

For a moment Doojoon just looked at him until he realized the change of subject was his forgiveness. Grinning in relief, he rubbed the side of his neck and shrugged. “Ah… Yeah, sorry. Kikwang kind of gave me the third degree about sugar when you’re sick… And your Mom asked if I had any just to be safe.”

“Conspiracy..” Yoseob’s nose wrinkled in a grouchy pout at the news. It wasn’t surprising, though…. He’d expected it. Still, he wanted sugar, damn it!

Doojoon hesitated, trying to ignore the endearing pout, then, “I do have a piece of hard candy in my coat..”

---

“I get to come back tomorrow..” Yoseob mumbled sleepily, and for a second Doojoon’s hand paused its . Immediately the smaller boy whined and smacked lightly at his thigh.

Shaking his head, Doojoon resumed sifting his fingers through Yoseob’s hair. “You can’t sing yet.”

“I can dance. Since I can dance, I’m coming back. They won’t test me until next week anyway.”

“Just don’t go overboard,” Doojoon murmured, tugging the covers further up the bed. “Take it easy tomorrow.”

He’d called his mother after Yoseob’s mother had invited him to stay the night, and after dinner he’d called Junhyung to check on him while Yoseob bathed. He’d leave first thing in the morning with Yoseob. For now, he just needed to get the kid to sleep. 

“They switched us up in vocal… I don’t get it.”

Doojoon smirked; Yoseob’s voice was getting softer despite his best attempts to stay awake. “I bet they’ve got a reason.”

“Better be a… good one,” Yoseob yawned, stretching beneath the blanket. “Kiki’s so competitive…”

“He’s not the only one,” Doojoon muttered in amusement; it wasn’t exactly a secret that Yoseob hated losing.

“Hm?”

“Nothing. Go to sleep, Seobie.”