Donghae was standing at the door, bags packed at his feet while he was petting a pouting Kyuhyun and trying to soothe a crying Jino. 
  “I promise, I’ll only be gone for 2 days and I’ll be right back in just enough time to tuck you guys into bed, okay?” he spoke to them softly. Kyuhyun was looking away from him, frown firmly set in place and lips trembling slightly, and Jino was nodding into Donghae’s shoulder as he hiccupped into his shirt. 
  “And Hyukkie hyung will be right here with you the whole time,” he said, gesturing to Hyukjae for a little help.
  “Yeah, I’ll be here with you guys until Donghae hyung comes back. He won’t be gone long, and you can call him every day, right Donghae?” Hyukjae said as he walked over and kneeled down by them, gently prying Jino from Donghae and patting him softly in his arms.
  “Right. I always have my phone with me, so you can call anytime you want,” Donghae said as he took his phone out of his pocket and waved it in front of their faces as proof. Just as he did that it buzzed and he looked at the screen.
  “And that’s Kibum.” Hyukjae bit back a scoff at the mention of him, but couldn’t hide the grimace on his face. 
  “I’d better get going if I don’t want to miss my flight. Don’t cry anymore, okay?” he said to Jino as he wiped the tears from his face as he clung to Hyukjae, still sniffling, but calming down in his arms. He placed a kiss on his red cheeks and ruffled his hair before moving to Kyuhyun. 
  “Kyu-ah,” he said and was met with a frowning face. His eyes were shining but he didn’t let anything escape. “I need you to watch over Jino for me while I’m gone. You be a good hyung to him, okay? I’m trusting you,” he said and Kyuhyun sniffed but nodded anyway. 
  “Don’t I get a hug?” Donghae said, holding out his arms and Kyuhyun regarded him for a second before running behind Hyukjae and grabbing onto his leg instead. 
  “I’ll give you a hug when you come back,” he said with a pout. Donghae blinked in surprise, but a smile eased its way onto his face.
  “Fair enough,” he stood and grabbed his bags in his hands. “I’ll give you guys a call when I land. See you on Sunday,” he called, smiling and waving at them waiting until they returned the gesture before he closed the door behind him. 
 
  Hyukjae sat up in bed, blinking to clear the blur that covered his eyes as he looked around for whatever had woken him up. His eyes landed on Kyuhyun who was standing next to his bed with wide eyes. 
  “Hyung, wake up!” he said, pulling at Hyukjae’s hand.
  “What’s wrong Kyuhyun, what happened?” he asked, allowing himself to be pulled out of the bed. 
  “It’s Jino! He’s really hot and looks really sick!” Kyuhyun, and Hyukjae immediately woke up, Kyuhyun trailing behind him as he half-ran to Jino’s room clumsily putting his glasses on. 
  The light was already on, and Jino was breathing hard, face red and eyes squeezed closed. There was already a wet cloth placed on his forehead. 
  “I thought that might help, but he still looks sick, hyung,” Kyuhyun said sadly, looking at his brother, distress clear in his features. 
  “You did good Kyuhyun-ah,” Hyukjae reassured him, walking over to sit on the bed, moving the cloth so that he could his hand against his forehead. He could feel the dull heat emanating from his forehead even though he had a cool towel on. That couldn’t be good. 
  “Can you bring me the thermometer so I can see how high his fever is?” Kyuhyun nodded eagerly and turned to run out of the room. 
  As soon as he was out Hyukjae stood up and started pacing the floor. As soon as Donghae leaves Jino gets sick? And he had no idea how to take care of a sick kid! He gripped his hair and let out a frustrated sound, head whipping back to Jino when the latter let out a soft whimpering sound. 
  He quickly sat back on the bed and fussed over him, not sure what to do to make him feel better. 
  “Here hyung,” Kyuhyun called when he entered the room, startling Hyukjae.
  “Oh, thanks Kyuhyun-ah,” he said, taking the thermometer and gently sticking it into Jino’s ear. He flinched from the cold and let out a soft noise, but held still as the numbers began rising. 
  “100.3,” Hyukjae said after it beeped, thinking to himself whether or not it was high enough for him to take Jino to the doctor. 
  “Is he going to be okay?” Kyuhyun asked, looking at Hyukjae with his eyebrows scrunched up in worry.
  Hyukjae nodded. “He’ll be fine, Kyuhyun. I’ll make sure of it,” Hyukjae promised him. If only he knew how. He quickly ran through a mental list of all the things he knew you’re supposed to do when someone is sick. 
  Cool towel- check. 
  Check the temperature- check. 
  Food! 
  ‘You’re supposed to feed them something’ he thought
  He stood up, in hopes of making Jino some soup or porridge to eat, but halted when he realized that they had already eaten dinner before he put them to bed. ‘Maybe some water instead?’ he thought.
  “Keep an eye on him, I’ll be right back,” he told Kyuhyun, who nodded and climbed up on Jino’s bed petting the boy on his hand. 
  “It’ll be ok Ji-ah. Hyung is here.”
  Hyukjae turned and went to the kitchen, grabbing the biggest sippy cup Jino had and filling it to the top with cold water. He returned to his room and set the cup down, debating between waking him up or letting him stay asleep. His decision was made for him though when Jino began to fuss and writhe on the bed and he quickly went to his side as he opened his eyes weakly. 
  “Jino-ah, what’s the matter? What’s hurting?” Hyukjae asked. 
  Jino pointed to his stomach, and said in a weak voice, “Feels funny here, hyung.” 
  “Do you have to use the bathroom?” Hyukjae asked, moving his sweat soaked hair away. Jino shook his head slightly and suddenly scrunched up his face and moved his hands to cradle his stomach.
  “Jino?” Hyukjae called worriedly. 
  “Feels… yucky,” was all he said before he started to throw up. 
  Kyuhyun quickly moved to the end of the bed while Hyukjae made a lunge for Jino, trying to get him into the bathroom as fast as he could. He managed to get him to the sink before he could throw up again, and held him up over it until he was done. He sat him on the toilet seat and wet a towel so that he could clean him up as much as he could, in the end just deciding to bathe him again since he had made a mess of his pajamas. Kyuhyun peeked in from behind the door, wanting to check up on Jino, but not wanting to see something gross again. 
  Jino was a bit fussy due to his weakened state and the task proved to be a bit more difficult than usual, but Hyukjae managed to get him cleaned up and dressed again. He tucked him into his own bed to rest, since Jino's was fairly messy and quickly called Ryeowook for help on the kind of medicine to give him. 
  Ryeowook told him he probably have stomach flu and there was not much he can do for him but to let him rest and keep him hydrated. Hyukjae didn’t like that and wanted to give him something that would make him feel better, even if only a little bit, but Ryeowook told him it had to pass on its own. He also warned him to keep himself and Kyuhyun as far away as he could because it was really contagious.  
  After hearing that he sent Kyuhyun to stay in Donghae’s room on the other side of the apartment and began to clean and scrub his way from Jino’s room to the bathroom, disinfecting everything to keep Kyuhyun from getting sick. After throwing Jino’s soiled bedding and clothes in the wash he went to his room to check up on Jino one last time. 
  He was already sleeping, so Hyukjae just made sure he was tucked in comfortably, leaving his door open so that he could hear if the other called for him or made any noises. Hyukjae finally settled down in the living room, deciding to send Donghae a quick text telling him about Jino’s condition. 
  He tried his best to answer all of Donghae’s worried replies as he sent in question after question, barely giving the other a chance to reply before another would come in. After assuring Donghae that Jino was sleeping peacefully and that there was not much more that could be done, Donghae felt placated enough to at least decide against sending a doctor over and Hyukjae promised Donghae that he would take him to the doctor tomorrow if his condition didn’t get any better. 
  As the flurry of messages died down, he felt his head drooping- being woken up in the middle of the night finally catching up with him. He decided to check up on Kyuhyun and Jino once more, making sure that they were doing ok, before he finally allowed himself to give into the lethargy that he felt and slumped over on the couch, fast asleep before he knew it.
 
  Hyukjae tossed and turned, letting out a groan of discomfort at the wave of nausea that passed through his system. He clutched the pillow beside him, pressing it into his stomach in hopes of squashing the feeling as he blinked his eyes groggily, trying to adjust to the bright light that lingered in the room. 
  “You’re awake?” He turned his head weakly to the side, a motion that was accompanied by a throbbing behind his eyes and another sick twist to his gut, taking in the sight of a worried and disheveled looking Donghae. 
  “Dong...hae?” he questioned. “What are you… doing here?” his voice came out scratchy and hoarse and his mouth felt like sandpaper. 
  Donghae handed him a cup of water, which he drank gratefully. “I was already booking a flight back as soon as you told me Jino was sick. And when I came home looking for Jino, I found you on the couch groaning and looking pretty green yourself. You really gave me a scare,” Donghae said as Hyukjae looked at him over his cup.
  He noticed a beat later that he was no longer on the couch. He looked around, guessing that he had to be in Donghae’s room. Which means he was now in Donghae’s bed. And he could barely turn around without feeling sick, so he seriously doubted he had walked in by himself. Even in his weakened state, he still felt heat rush to his cheeks, as he shifted uncomfortably in the sheets. 
  “Are you ok?” Donghae asked, noticing his discomfort, rushing over to adjust his blankets and fluff his pillow up some. “Are you too hot, too cold?” he asked and Hyukjae shook his head, glad that he could blame his red face on the fever. 
  “How’s Jino? Where’s Kyuhyun?” he asked instead, voice not nearly as raspy now that he had some liquids in him. 
  “Jino’s doing better. He’s keeping down his fluids pretty good and he’s not using the bathroom that much. And I had Kyuhyun taken to my mom’s. With both you and Jino sick, I didn’t want to take any chances.”
  “Then you’d better go too. Don’t want you sick either,” Hyukjae said, and Donghae smiled at him.
  “Don’t worry about me. You just concentrate on getting better. It’s weird seeing you sick and weak like this. I was… I mean, Kyuhyun was really worried, seeing you like that. You almost gave him a heart attack,” Donghae said, suddenly not meeting Hyukjae’s eyes. 
  Hyukjae fumbled with the blankets, a soft smile creeping on his face. “Tell ‘Kyuhyun’ not to worry. I’ll be just fine.” 
  Donghae looked up again, clearing his throat nervously and nodding. “Well, um good. That’s good. I’ll be sure to tell him. Do you, er want anything?” he asked, rocking back and forth on his heels. 
  Hyukjae thought about it and his stomach churned uncomfortably at the thought of trying to eat anything, and he doubted that he would be able to keep anything down anyway but he was still pretty thirsty. 
  “Ginger ale?” he asked hopefully, lips slipping into a small pout unconsciously. Donghae blinked back at the sight, slightly thrown off at how absolutely cute the picture looked before he shook his head, trying and failing to clear it from his mind. 
  “S-sure. I’ll just get right on that,” he said as he turned to go out of the room, leaving Hyukjae to snuggle into the comfortable bed and breathe in the nice scent wafting from the sheets, his body relaxing almost automatically, but his mind was too muddled to wonder why.