The moment Hakyeon falls in love, he falls a little too deeply. The same could be said when he falls ill to the common cold and fever. His temperature sky-rockets to a staggering 40°C and he’s shivering uncontrollably, bundled up in piles of blankets as he nestles closer to Taekwoon’s body that was radiating warmth.

Taekwoon had advised Hakyeon numerous times not to push himself too much. As always, Hakyeon’s natural stubbornness surfaced and he brushed off Taekwoon’s words as nothing but friendly concern. This resulted in a few emotional breakdowns during practice and his immune system failing to carry out its function over time. At first, their manager insisted Hakyeon continue with the music shows performances and such. However, seeing as his condition worsened, he decided on letting Hakyeon recuperate at the dorm with Taekwoon accompanying him. He was reluctant to leave Hakyeon on his own, knowing the leader was sure to go out of his way to make up for his disappearance to the other members, so he let Taekwoon stay with him to keep an eye on him. Usually, he dreads being left alone with the loud-mouthed Hakyeon but since one of the symptoms of a cold was painfully swollen vocal chords; he didn’t mind sharing the slience with Hakyeon. Truthfully, it was actually quite nice to finally let his ears rest from the non-stop chatter.

‘’Taekwoon-ah, can I please hold your hand?’’

His question comes out as a croaky sound, almost like a dying whale. Nonetheless, he shifts his body and allows his hand to slip through from its original position and into Hakyeon’s outstretched palm. Taekwoon’s long and slender fingers encompass Hakyeon’s slightly smaller ones in a cocoon of security. Aside from relishing in the cool touch of his hand, Hakyeon thinks the curve of his hand fits Taekwoon’s perfectly as if they were made to fit together. It’s a little hard for him to believe that the reserved male next to him has sneakily pressed his lips softly against the elder’s numerous times before they went on stage to perform; yet he also detests Hakyeon in a way that only he knows is love in disguise.  He admits, he tries to act strong on the outside by becoming the backbone of the group. He’s the one who takes all the strict criticism and harsh scoldings they receive just so that none of them have to taste the bitter hurt he himself, is so familiar with. However on the inside, he’s nothing more than a fragile boy with a heart made of paper. He knows Taekwoon has a little difficulty with expressing his emotions, which is why he always makes the first move. Yet, he was the one to confess to Hakyeon and not vice versa.

~`~

Hakyeon’s had fevers before that lasted 2 weeks so it didn’t come as a surprise to him when it happened again.

Unfortunately, Taekwoon was unaware and was on the verge of calling the hospital if Hakyeon hadn’t told him anything. Even then, he didn’t trust Hakyeon’s words and Hakyeon was forced to call his own mother in the middle of the night.

Aside from his manly pride, one of his many downfalls is his apologetic nature. Apologies are the only words that can ever roll off his tongue with ease because God knows his mouth is a dark cavern filled with secrets only dead men can tell. Taekwoon’s been annoyed more than once with the constant appearance of the word ‘sorry’ in their conversations, that Hakyeon soon grew irritated at the mention of the phrase ‘it’s okay’.  The two go back and forth at their playful banter, each hoping that something as wonderful as this can last forever. And for the meantime, it actually feels like it does.

~`~

No one told better stories than Taekwoon did. Hakyeon’s eyes light up with childish joy each time he is presented with the rare opportunity of listening to Taekwoon weave intricate webs of fantasy. Sometimes the stories he told were happy in nature like the ones parents read to their toddlers before they fall asleep at night. While other times, they were just downright depressing; today just so happened to be one of those times.

The sound of rumbling thunder outside the window woke Hakyeon up from his restful slumber. It was a Sunday and they had been given a day off. Most of the members went out to meet their family and friends, or if they were Wonshik; they stayed at the dorm and spent the entire day sleeping. His fingers fumbled around as he wondered why there was an unusually cold and vacant spot next to him on the bed. Eventually, he got up and sluggishly walked towards the shower, trying not to cough up his lungs the whole time.  When he was finished , he finds that Taekwoon had gone through the trouble of preparing breakfast for him yet was nowhere to be found. He decided to just eat his breakfast in silence as he scrolls through the morning news feed on his phone (yes, he’s that sort of person). Not long after, Taekwoon comes through the door, with an armful full of books and novels he had specially picked out for Hakyeon.

‘’Today we’re not going to do anything but read okay,’’he softly says as he places the whole stack on top of their coffee table.

Hakyeon is in shock because he did not expect this sort of elaborate scheme from Taekwoon, but he appreciates the younger one’s efforts. A smile adorns his pale face when he picks up one of the books and realises it’s one of his all-time favourite books, Pride and Prejudice translated into Korean; Taekwoon knows him too well. The two of them waste their time leisurely like this, snuggled up on the sofa; bodies pressed closely next to each other while they lose themselves in an entirely different world. Hakyeon thinks it might have been maybe 1 or 2 hours before the headaches start to kick in again and his retinas feel like they’ve been set on fire. So he gently tugs on Taekwoon’s sweatshirt, forcing himself to hold in the tears that threaten to spill over from the searing pain and asks him if he can tell him a story instead.

Taekwoon lets out a sigh of frustration, since he had gone to a bookstore 7 train stops away from their dorm and bought maybe 5 or more books for Hakyeon and another 4 for his own personal reading using his own money. But he still complied to his request, because he can feel Hakyeon’s body heat starting to rise and see the tiny droplets of water that escape from the corner his eyes. He wasn’t in a particularly good mood that day, just in between so he chooses a story that might put Hakyeon to sleep. He needs him to be asleep because he doesn’t want the other male to know that he’s the one who always places the wet rag on Hakyeon’s forehead to bring his temperature down or that he’s the one carrying him to bed if he feels too weak to get up.

~`~

Taekwoon never imagined he'd ever love the person he shares a bed with every night.

It wasn't that Hakyeon wasn't likeable, actually quite the opposite. Rather, he's never known what love feels like. His family weren't too ecsatic when he told them he wanted to stop studying engineering and become an idol. They were so ashamed of his career of choice, they disowned him and kicked him out. It was only due to him passing the audition that he was able to have a roof over his head and food to eat. But even before that, growing up; his family was emotionally distant. Both his parents refused to hug him unless there was an official event or cameras infront of them, capturing it all. Neither one of his siblings were able to relate to him, not that they even bothered to try. It seemed to young Taekwoon, that everyone living in the Jung household was living in their own tiny bubble; separate from those around them. Instead of a warm and loving family, it felt like he was being brought up in a circus as his siblings, including himself were constantly being pitted against each other to see who was the best. His older sister, Haewon took the prize for being the child who consistently maintained perfect grades throughout her academic life; allowing her to enter Seoul university. He always wondered, if the adults enjoyed watching them suffer. Were they nothing more than amusement or trophies to be flaunted at family parties?

But on that fateful day when Hakyeon came to introduce himself while he was stretching, he knew Hakyeon would be the key to his new home. The five other boys he lives with are the only true family Taekwoon feels like he's ever had. They're the only ones who have ever seen him at his weakest, when he is stripped bare and there's nothing left but the small boy with big dreams. They're the ones that celebrate his greatest successes and have seen him grow. They're the band of misfits together in this broken world who are the only fragment of home Taekwoon knows and one day, when all the fame dies down and they're all aching bones; they'll laugh about all the times they continued to run even when they saw tear streaks on each others' cheeks. They're the brothers he never had and Taekwoon would give up the world and so much more for them. Until that day comes, he'll take care of them and make sure they know what it's like to feel loved so they'll never have to go through what he did.

''Taekwoonie, are you still up? What are you doing at this hour?''

Hakyeon caught him off-guard, he must have been so deep in his thoughts he didn't realize Hakyeon had woken up. As he turns to look at the person he loves, he can't help but smile a little as he notices a little drool at the side of Hakyeon's mouth. His hair is tousled and disheveled, making him look like he just came out of the forest. He should probably mention that to him in the morning later, but for now he should probably put Hakyeon's worrywart mind at ease and sleep; especially since he's still sick and should be in bed.