Darkness.

It was the only thing surrounding him. Taemin felt like he was floating- he wasn't aware of anything. No noise, no pain, no nothing. It stayed like that for what felt like hours.

Which is exactly why he could tell when his senses began to return. He could feel his pulse thrumming through his head, how warm he felt. He could hear sounds, muffled, but there all the same. It felt like his head had been stuffed with cotton; he felt so drained of energy. 

But slowly but surely, the muffled sounds turned into harsh whispers. There were at least five different voices around him, and the intense conversation confused Taemin's already-muddled brain.

"-hospital!"

"We can't do that, but we are going to call a doctor to come check him out. That part's not up for discussion."

"Are you sure that's what we should be doing? I mean-"

"Yeah, like I said before, he should be going to a hospital! He just passed out! That's not normal, and it's definitely not healthy!"

"Jongin, calm do-"

"No!"

"Relax! It could just be a build up of symptoms and nothing more than a bad cold, or the flu or something, mixed together with an extreme migraine-"

"Yeah, I've heard of people passing out from fevers, and I've heard of people passing out from really bad migraines. Like, put those two together and it's not as uncommon as you think-"

"And his fever's have been pretty intense, especailly since last night."

"We just don't know."

"Which is why we're calling a doctor."

"Exactly."

The conversation suddenly gained two new voices, like they were just walking into the room.

"How's he doing?"

A gentle hand pushed his bangs from his forehead before a the 'tsk' of someone clicking their tongue was heard. "He's still pretty warm, guys."

Taemin suddenly let out a sigh and slowly turned over- he was beginning to realize how uncomfortable his current position was. Luckily, it seemed like he was surrounded by an abundance of pillows.

The conversation halted mid-sentence, and the bed dipped on either side of him where he assumed his friend's were sitting down.

"Taetae?"

"Kiddo? You awake?"

"Hey- hey kid. You with us?"

Taemin could only groan and give a small "Mm-hm..".

A hand ran through his hair and Taemin slowly opened his eyes. The room he was in was blissfully dark, the only light coming from the cracked door and the TV playing softly in the background. He could see the shadowed faces of Baekhyun (who was laying down next to him), Chen (who was standing by the door), Chanyeol (who was sitting comfortably in a La-Z-Boy recliner by the TV), Suho (sitting on the bed), Luhan (also sitting on the bed), Kris (standing next to Suho), and Jongin (pacing the room).

Normally, having the undivided attention and worry of seven friends would have made him uncomfortable, but he was too tired to care; dang it if he wanted to just curl up and cuddle himself into Baekhyun's chest- so that's exactly what he did. Baekhyun's arm wrapped around Taemin's thin frame easily, the younger boys head nestling into the crook of Baekhyun's neck.

Luhan moved from his sitting position to lay down on Taemin's other side, throwing his arm out to tangle into his highlighted hair. "How're you feeling?"

Taemin only shook his head and pressed closer to his hyung.

Suho gave him a sympathetic look and rubbed the back of his neck as he spoke. "Yeah, we called a doctor, kiddo. He'll be here in about an hour because of how bad the weather is."

"Is it still raining?"

Taemin's question was answered by a rumble of thunder.

"Yeah, and its starting to hail, so it might take a little bit. But you're on strict bed rest until he get's here. Got it?"

Taemin rolled his eyes, but was stopped when Baekhyun flicked his forehead and glared at him. He sighed. "I got it, hyung."

Suho looked satisfied and said, "Alright, I'm going into the other room. You guys, come on. Let the kid get some rest."

Taemin was pecked on the forehead by both Luhan and Baekhyun before they got off the twin-sized bed and made their way out the door. Taemin didn't miss how Suho grabbed Jongin's arm before he left, whispering something in his ear and giving him a meaningful look. Jongin sighed, nodded, and Suho grinned at him while ruffling his dancers dark hair before leaving the room.

Now it was only Taemin and his best friend.

Taemin raised an eyebrow. "What was that about?"

Jongin gave a content groan as he stretched out next to Taemin, sliding up next to him. "Just Suho telling me I needed to calm down- I've been.... Worried, since you fainted." He finished lamely.

"How long was I out?"

"Hm... Twenty? Thirty minutes? I don't know... Too long." Jongin looked Taemin dead in the eye and spoke softly. "You really scared me, Taetae."

Taemin knew his friend's protective instincts were on overdrive, but it still spoke volumes that Jongin was using his old nickname. Jongin rarely called him that anymore. "I know, I didn't mean to..."

"Don't do it again. Please." Taemin looked up to see his friends eyes were watery.

"Jongin~" he cooed and pulled his friend into a hug. "I'm okay- really. I just had a really bad migraine- nothing to worry about."

"How does a migraine make you pass out? How is that not something to worry about?!" -Jongin was becoming frantic again.

Taemin sighed and placed both of his hands on either side of Jongin's face like a toddler. He occasionally had to do this with Minho and Key when they got out of hand- he was hoping it had the same calming effect on Jongin. He smiled when Jongin stilled under his touch and looked him in the eye.

"Jongin. I'm okay. It's just all the stupid up-and-down fever's I've been having have got me kinda weak, you know? Pair that up with a bad migraine and you get our little scene in the kitchen. The doctor will be here soon and he can tell you exactly what I'm telling you now- I'm. Fine."

Jongin looked down and mumbled, "I know, I just-... I mean, I-I, uh... Like, I don't know- like... Y-You should get some sleep, Tae. Just, never mind."

Jongin was so out of his element when he couldn't fight the battle for Taemin. The elder found it pitifully and hopelessly hilarious; he wanted to laugh and hug his friend until he understood that Taemin was simply sick.

Taemin nodded and Jongin pulled his smaller friend into his side, hoping for good news once the doctor arrived.

Jongin watched Taemin slowly fall asleep on his chest and tried not to think about what had happened in the kitchen. He had totally panicked- Taemin had gone really pale in the face, and Jongin had run his hands through his best friend's dyed hair to hopefully bring him back to awareness, but Taemin had ultimately collapsed. 

Jongin cringed as he remembered it all. He remembered tears flooding his vision as he yelled for the rest of EXO, who were running to the duo from all sections of the dorm. He had clutched Taemin's limp body to his own and he had felt so helpless. When the members had decided to move Taemin into D.O.'s bed again, Jongin had easily lifted his friend's body and hefted him into the other room.

Taemin probably didn't remember it, but he had opened his eyes for few seconds and he has looked at Jongin with so much fear plastered across his baby-face that Jongin could feel the blood drain from his own face.

Taemin had interrupted Jongin's weak attempts at comfort by wrapping his thin arms around Jongin's neck. When he spoke, Taemin's voice was hoarse, and he spoke so softly Jongin was sure he was the only person who had heard. Taemin had sounded close to tears as he told Jongin to simply stay with him. Needless to say; when Taemin closed his eyes again, Jongin hadn't left his side for anything.

Taemin had fainted once before when EXO were trainees and SHINEE had just debuted; Taemin was overworked and he had passed out in the dancing studio when he and Jongin were practicing. Jongin had felt this same way then- and he had hoped he could keep it from happening again.

He sunk deeper into the pillows behind himself in self-loathing. He should have made sure Taemin was okay this morning. There could have been something he could have done to help, but he-

"Jongin," a soft voice spoke from his side. He looked down to see Taemin's eyes were cracked open and they were rimmed with red. He was obviously exhausted. "Go to sleep- it's okay. Stop frowning like that, your face will freeze that way. Did you know it takes forty-two muscle in your face to frown? Like that's insane, you could just use seventeen muscles to smile, or like, you could just sit there like Kyungsoo-hyung and like not look interested in anything- I don't think that takes a lot of muscles either-"

Jongin grinned and slapped a hand on Taemin's mouth to shut him up before he worked himself into a tizzy. Usually he was a reserved person, but when he was sleepy and slap-happy, Taemin could talk for hours about absolutely nothing. Jongin thought it was hilarious- and it reminded him why he and Taemin were best friends. Even when Taemin didn't know how to cheer Jongin up, he did it by just being himself. They had a remarkable friendship, and Jongin thanked the heavens for it every chance he got.

Jongin knew that the doctor still had to get there to check on Taemin, and they still needed to call SHINEE to update them on what was happening to their maknae. But with Taemin snuggled into his side giggling like a two year old, and Jongin trying to shush him without laughing too hard himself, he couldn't find it in himself to care; he was more relaxed than he had been all week.

So when his eyes began to close, he let them. 

HEY BABES SO LOOKIE HERE I UPDATED BC I FELT BAD AND I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH LIKE YOU ARE MY BABIES AND I WISH I COULD GIVE YOU ALL A BIG BASKET OF HUGGLES AND KISSES

TO MY NEW SUBSCIBERS... I'M SORRY. I'M A TERRIBLE AUTHOR WHO DOESN'T UPDATE ENOUGH BUT I THANK YOU FOR SUBSCRIBING ANYWAY.

I ADORE EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU.

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