December 11th

Rudolf - Xiumin/Luhan - 1368 words

Luhan gets a cold.

Luhan liked to pride himself on the fact that he had a good immune system. When everyone else was coming down with colds or some other form of illness, Luhan would be the one that remained healthy.

Not that he played nurse. He had tried that once and Yixing had made him promise never to do so again after he had tried to force feed the dancer some chicken soup that he had tried to make. It wasn't his fault that it had accidentally overcooked... or that a pot of spice had tipped over into the bowl. But it was his fault for still trying to feed it to his friend.

Either way, he rarely got sick himself. And he was proud of that. But it did mean that on the rare occasion he did fall ill, the other members never failed to make a big deal out of it. They would relentlessly, and Luhan hated it.

Like right now. He wasn't terribly ill, all it was was a simple common cold, but everywhere he went one of the other members would be, and the teasing would continue. Even though it wasn't his fault that his words were muffled and he was sneezing all over the place. They still for it. And what was worse was that his nose was red.

Bracing himself, Luhan entered the kitchen to grab himself a bottle of water. He knew that Jongdae and Yixing were in there at the table going over some of the trickier Chinese words that the Korean vocalist had had some problems with. He was hoping that he could nip in and out of the room silently, but his body had to go against him and he sneezed loudly as soon as he had stepped foot into the room.

"Look who it is! Our little Rudolf!"

Sighing to himself, Luhan tried to ignore them as he walked over to the fridge. He didn't want to admit how much these jokes hurt him, but they did. Especially coming from people he cared about. It frustrated him how they couldn't see what their teasing was doing to him. Any time he asked them to stop they just told him he was being too sensitive because he was ill.

It hurt though, so any time he could ignore the teasing, that's just what he did. Like now, he was trying his hardest to ignore the teasing grins on his friends' faces as he opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water from the door. They were silent though and Luhan wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

It was only after he had shut the fridge door and was making his way back towards the hallway that Jongdae piped up. "Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer..." He sang.

Of course, like he hadn't heard them singing that every time he walked past before. It was frustrating and a little upsetting. It embarrassed him that they constantly referred to him as a deer, and now that they kept calling him Rudolf of all things... It just made him feel even worse.

Feeling himself growing upset, Luhan tried to hurry out of the kitchen, but as fate would have it that was when he had to sneeze loudly again, making the other two laugh loudly as they continued the song. "Had a very shiny nose..."

Unable to stop himself, Luhan turned to them almost pleadingly. "Guys, can you not? I really don't feel well."

He only got laughter in response and an idly waved hand. "Oh, lighten up Rudolf. We're just teasing."

"Don't call me that!" He said, frustrated tears coming to his eyes.

He had had enough now. He was tired, he was ill and right now he wanted nothing more than to crawl back into bed and stay there for eternity. But of course he wasn't allowed to do that since they had schedules the following day. Life was so unfair sometimes. And now on top of how bad he already felt, he now felt humiliated.

And as his friends simply laughed in response, Luhan sighed and left the kitchen. He loved them all dearly but right now he didn't want to see any of them. Especially not if they were going to make constant Rudolf jokes. Yes, his nickname was 'Little Deer' but right now he didn't want to hear anything about that.

Feeling a tear slide down his cheek, Luhan groaned in frustration as he bumped right into Minseok who had been making his own way to the kitchen. He really did have the worst luck sometimes.

Trying to avoid the other's eyes, Luhan ducked around him, aiming for his bedroom when he felt his arm being grabbed. "Lu...? What's wrong?"

Gently sliding his arm out of the other's grasp, he shook his head as he spoke, trying to keep his voice as neutral as possible. "Nothing, I'm fine. My cold is just making me tired. I think I'm gonna go lie down." He said before he slipped off and into his bedroom, lying face down onto his bed as he sighed.

But of course he wasn't going to be granted any peace, which was made evident when he felt someone sit on the edge of his bed. His eye twitched in annoyance. They all knew how much he hated other people on his bed, but the soothing hand that started to rub circles into his back and the soft voice that accompanied it made him forget all about that.

"Lu? Tell me the truth... What's wrong?"

Minseok had followed him. And Luhan was both relieved and frustrated by this. He had tried not to get too close to the older while he was ill as he really didn't want him to catch this cold. But Minseok had other ideas apparently and had put himself right into the danger zone of sickness. Luhan knew though that the other didn't care if he got ill or not. He just cared about Luhan. And Luhan cared about him just as much.

So, relenting, he sighed and pushed himself up to sit on the bed next to the other. He couldn't look at him though, not when his nose was bright red and his eyes were full of frustrated tears. He probably looked a right state. No way did he want his Baozi to see him like that. Minseok had other ideas though apparently again as Luhan found his chin being lifted and his eyes reluctantly met those of the elder.

"I just..." He started, pausing to bite onto his bottom lip. "I feel really ill and drained, and every time I see any of the others they tease me about being ill. They keep calling me Rudolf, Baozi, and it's starting to really hurt." He finally admitted, blushing softly in embarrassment.

Unsurprisingly, Luhan found himself being pulled to the other's strong chest, and he didn't hesitate to snuggle in closer. Minseok always helped him to feel better. Even in simple ways like holding his hand, or snuggling into each other, he always made him feel better. Minseok was always there for him. Even in the middle of the night when his nightmares would hit and he would end up screaming the dorm down, Minseok was always the first one there, pulling him into his arms and rocking him until he fell back into a more peaceful sleep. Luhan really didn't want to think what life would be like for him without the other.

"Every time they tease you, and you feel it hurting you, just think of this instead." The older boy almost hummed into his ear. "That you may be a Rudolf right now... But you're my Rudolf, okay? Don't forget that."

And just like that, Minseok had managed to make him smile again. It was like a special ability of his, and Luhan loved him for it.

Giggling softly, Luhan nodded before he raised his eyes to smile at the other, receiving a wide gummy smile in response. "Okay."

"Good." Minseok spoke again before he leant forward and kissed Luhan gently on his bright red nose, causing him to blush slightly. "That's My Rudolf."

Coming Up Next...

Sleigh Ride