Yongguk thought a night of peaceful sleep is on his way when Daehyun doesn't appear to wreck havoc again. He dozes off gradually but is disturbed by an incessant barking at his door. Rubbing his eyes, he pushes himself up on his bed, squinting his eyes at Tigger's whimpering barks outside his room. He slaps the digital clock at his bedside. 3:14AM. What is it again?

He groans and strolls to the door, scratching his stomach lazily, yawning, "Tigger?"

Tigger responds with high pitched barks and scratching paws at Yongguk's legs. Reaching down with a tired exhale, Yongguk lifts Tigger up and walks into the guestroom where Daehyun is sleeping in.

"Dumb kid slept with the door open..." Yongguk murmurs to himself. Daehyun's sleeping curled up on one side of the bed, the blanket pulled up to his shoulders. The room is stifling with the air-con turned off. Tigger frees itself from Yongguk's arm and leaps onto the bed, crawling up onto Daehyun's shoulder. Tigger starts whimpering at Yongguk. 

Yongguk's brows furrow with confusion. He sits down on the bed and pets Tigger but the dog keeps whimpering against Daehyun who lies unmoving from the noise. Yongguk's hand brushes against Daehyun's shoulder and the heat felt is alarming. He grabs Daehyun's shoulder, turning the boy around to feel his forehead and the scorching heat spreads through his palm immediately. 

"Yah, this..." 

Daehyun doesn't even make a sound or even move the slightest bit worryingly. Yongguk wets a towel in the bathroom immediately and presses it on Daehyun's forehead. Yongguk takes quick steps down the stairs, stumbling a little in the dark before digging for an icepack in the fridge. He throws it onto the counter and raids his cupboards for medicine. Daehyun probably caught a cold in the rain which escalated into a fever. There's not a single medicine in his cupboard but there are a lot of instant noodles...

"Aish..." Yongguk scratches his head. He doesn't get sick often so he doesn't buy stuff like panadol. There's no doctor at this hour, unless they go to the hospital which is a little too far and a little too much for a big boy like Daehyun. Nah, he'll get better soon, Yongguk thinks as he throws a dismissive hand and grabs the icepack on the counter, boys doesn't need that much attention. He convinces himself of that when he reaches the guestroom and replaces the towel with the icepack, too damn tired to run for the hospital in the middle of the night. Daehyun breathes sound labourious, his hands hot when Yongguk tucks them underneath the blanket.

Yongguk quirks his lips to one side before groaning. "Aye, araseo, araseo. I'll go get medicine for you, urgh. Tigger, take care of him. I'm going out for a while."

He drags his feet back to his room, Tigger barking after him excitedly as he tugs on a jacket. He takes a glance at Daehyun when he passes the guestroom and goes inside again with a frustrated exhale to find extra blankets in the closet and dump them on Daehyun, spreading them out sloppily before heading out again. Tigger follows him and he pushes the puppy back into the guestroom with his foot, instructing Tigger to stay inside. Tigger sits by the door obediently when Yongguk goes down the stairs and leaps back into bed, snuggling tight against Daehyun afterwards.

"Why am I doing this? Seriously?" Yongguk groans as he starts his car, a big yawn stretching his face when he drives off.

Fifteen minutes later, Yongguk returns with a box of pills, trudging up the stairs before realising he needs water. 

"Urgh, troublesome!"

Another yawn emerges when he enters the guestroom, Daehyun still lying in the same position before he went out. He pats Daehyun on the shoulder. 

"Jung Daehyun, wake up and eat some medicine."

He shakes the boy but Daehyun shows no signs of response except for the subtle furrow of brows Yongguk catches.

"Don't be a lazy bum. Hurry up and eat it before your brains melt." He slaps the lights on, he himself squinting from the sudden brightness before pulling Daehyun up into sitting position. Daehyun sits unmoving, having a giddy spell. Yongguk presses a pill into his hand and Daehyun swallows it with water while keeping his eyes shut throughout. Yongguk eyes the pale lips and colourless cheeks, worry creasing his brows unknowingly. 

"Yah, drink more water. We'll go see a doctor in the morning."

Daehyun doesn't bother replying, only dropping down into bed after he swallows the cup of water Yongguk lifts to his hands, curling into his fetal position again. Tigger jumps on top of Daehyun, snuggling against the thick blankets. Yongguk's eye twitches.

"You're incredible... We should switch roles. How about I be the personal assistant... "

Yongguk drags his feet 7am in the morning into the guestroom to uncurl Daehyun from his fetal form again. He presses his palm onto Daehyun's forehead, feeling that the heat has subsided but still feverish. Yongguk shrugs his rickety shoulders. "Aye, just eat the damn panadol. I don't have time to bring you to a doctor."

Daehyun makes a noise in his sleep, as if hearing Yongguk's words. Yongguk just scoffs at him.

"Tigger... My head hurts..." Daehyun groans as he lies flat on the bed, the sun shining through the curtains and waking him.

Tigger totters on the mattress and stares at Daehyun's squished up face that is in agony.

Tigger: Well, I guess you're fine now that you have the energy to grumble!

"Where is ahjussi... I'm dying..."

Tigger: You should stop calling him ahjussi, he's not that old...

"Oh no... I'm supposed to be working... He's going to kill me..." Daehyun whimpers as he swings one of his legs over the edge of the bed, the throbbing headache and his stuffed up throat making everything seem a hundred times more tiring. He rubs his face into the mattress, slowly sliding off the bed with Tigger staring at him in the fifteen minutes he takes to stand up and make his way out.

He's holding his spinning head when he reaches the ground floor, Yongguk nowhere to be seen. The man, however, left a dubious note on the kitchen counter.

Eat ramen if not edible.

"What?" Daehyun squints at the note and spots the covered bowl. He lifts the lid and finds porridge in it, mixed with little bits of those frozen vegetables and meat. Even though whatever Yongguk could find to put into a porridge in this empty bachelor house is rather suspicious, Daehyun still can't defy his stomach's growling orders. He puts the bowl into the microwaves and heats it before digging in, his appetite lost halfway through from the fever. He rubs his crusty eyes and heads to the toilet. finding another post-it on the mirror.

Eat the medicine beside your bed.

You're dead if you make a mess of my house.

Daehyun scoffs at the last line. "Yah this ahjussi, would it kill him to not say this kind of things for one day? I was just getting moved..." He crushes the note and throws it into the toilet bowl.

"Tigger, I'm dying..." Daehyun whines at the puppy when he curls back into the heaps of blankets. Tigger tilts its head when Daehyun's complaints become murmurs and then snores.

Yongguk peers around when he comes back home around 4 o'clock. The living room dead quiet without even the sound of welcoming puppy footsteps. He goes up the stairs and sees Daehyun's form on the bed, sleeping like a dead log. Tigger welcomes him with a wagging tail, watching curiously when Yongguk tests Daehyun's temperature again. Yongguk jumps when Daehyun suddenly turns around, whining, "Ahjussi! I'm hungry!"

"You almost gave me a heart attack... Yah! I'm not your mom!"

"Ahjussi... I'm dying..." Daehyun's whine resembles that of an ambulance siren and Yongguk wouldn't stay one more second to bear with the pain. Tigger follows suit.

"Not you too, Tigger! Come back!"

Daehyun's temperature went up again at night when Yongguk checks on him. Daehyun grabs things in his sleep and wouldn't let go. And this time it involves Yongguk's hand.

Yongguk would have unclenched the fist on his sleeve if not for the thunder outside. He sighs and sits down beside Daehyun, waiting for the boy to release his wrist gradually. When minutes have passed with him staring in the dark, Yongguk finally gives up and lies down with a free arm tucked under his head, Daehyun's fingers still a vice grip around his sleeve. Tigger squeezes out from the tiny space between the two men and settles down on Yongguk's stomach.

"Stupid rain..." Yongguk grumbles, Tigger as he stares at the ceiling blankly in the dark.

The air-conditioner is shut off and Yongguk's just about to get suffocated. He sighs at his misfortune and shakes his heavy wrist. Daehyun's raspy breathing is absoutely audible and rhythmic yet rather intruding. Yongguk turns to a curled up Daehyun who starts to sleeptalk, amusing Yongguk who listens on intently.

"Eomma... Eomma..." Daehyun murmurs as Yongguk purses his lips together with the urge to laugh. Yongguk could just imagine the pitiful expression on Daehyun's face.

"Eomma, no..." 

"Yah--" Yongguk jerks when Daehyun hugs his arm, cringing at the ticklish sensation. "I'm not your mom!"

Daehyun, oblivious, carries on sleeptalking to his 'eomma' while mistaking a wincing Yongguk for her. Tigger stirs and leaps off the bed, heading out of the room.

"Yah, Tigger!" Yongguk calls out after the puppy which doesn't turn back even once. Everyone is scared of a sleeptalking Daehyun and Yongguk is no exception. He tries to pull and tug but a sleeping Daehyun sure is stronger than an awake one... He's just about to free himself when another thunder claps and Daehyun's hands tighten around his arm again, this time with an almost vengeful grip.

"This kid..." Yongguk tilts Daehyun's face away from him and resigns to his imprisonment. He arranges a pillow between their faces and lies down again, adjusting himself and shaking his wrist again to no avail. Yongguk sighs and closes his eyes. Well, it's sleep or no sleep.

"Appa!"

"AISH!"