They never did get around to talking about their situation, despite having plenty of opportunity to, neither one seemed willing to broach the subject. In fact, they didn't speak much to each other at all. Jongin tried to convince himself that he didn't care much, but in reality, he was worried that he'd made things between he and Taemin awkward. It ate away at him, keeping him up at night, consuming his thoughts until he thought he couldn't stand it any longer. Finally, on one of Jonign's few days off, he made up his mind. When Taemin got home from work that night, Jongin would make him talk to him, whether he wanted to or not. 

Of course, Jongin never got to act on his decision, because with his luck, things obviously took an unforeseen turn. It was around one in the afternoon when he got a call from Baekhyun. Irritated at being called by his manager on his day off, Jongin begrudgingly answered his phone. 

"What, Baekhyun?"

"Hey, Jongin, sorry to call you on your day off, but Taemin is sick. Like, really sick. He's in the back puking his guts out right now-"

"-Didn't need to know that, but anyways, what do you want me to do about that? If he's sick let him go home."

"Yeah, well. I don't really think he's well enough to make it back on his own, and none of us can just take off to walk him there."

Jongin sighed. 

"We live two blocks away from the shop, I think he'll be fine. He's an adult, not a five year old." 

"Jongin, he wants you to come, just do it." 

His shoulders slumped in defeat. Looking up at the ceiling, he made a 'why me' gesture before answering Baekhyun. 

"Fine. I'll be there in a few."

*****

When Jongin got there, Baekhyun was standing by the staff room, looking mildly stressed. 

"He wanted me?" Jongin asked skeptically as he approached. 

"Yeah, that's why I called. He insisted that I get you, hell if I know why, but..." 

"Is he still, uh, you know...?" Jongin made a small gesture, not really wanting to say the words out loud. 

"I'm pretty sure he's done for now, stopped a minute or so after we got off the phone." 

Thank goodness.

Jongin brushed past Baekhyun, heading into the staff room. Taemin was sitting in the corner, eyes closed as he rested his head against the wall. His face was pale and sallow, and his hair, damp with sweat, clung to his forehead. Dark bags rested underneath his eyes, and he sagged against the chair he sat in, appearing nearly completely lifeless. He looked absolutely awful. 

"Taemin?" Jongin had no idea if the other was awake. Taemin shifted, head rolling to the side to look at Jongin as his eyes opened. The corner of his mouth twitched upwards in the faintest attempt of a smile. He didn't say anything at first, eyelids drooping as if in exhaustion. 

"I look terrible, don't I?" Taemin eventually asked, finally giving in and closing his eyes. Jongin wasn't sure how to respond. 

"You look like you're sick. And you are, which is why I'm here. Let's go home." 

Taemin nodded slowly, opening his eyes again. He began to get up, carefully picking himself up off the chair. He shuffled towards Jongin.

"Let's go." 

They made their way to the door, where Jongin stopped Taemin. 

"Wait, don't you have a coat?" 

"Didn't wear one."

"Are you crazy? It's freezing out!" 

Taemin shrugged. Jongin sighed, already regretting what he was about to do. He began taking off his own coat, slipping it off to give to Taemin. He held it out. 

"What are you doing?" Taemin asked Jongin, confused. 

"What does it look like? Put it on already, I want to go home." 

Taemin reached out, gingerly taking the jacket. He put it on, glancing up at Jongin as he did so. 

"Thanks." It fit a little big on Taemin, who was slightly shorter and a lot scrawnier than Jongin, but it would work just fine for the short walk back to the apartment. 

"I swear if I catch a cold now because of you..." Jongin grumbled, pushing open the door and stepping into the frigid air outside. It really was rather cold out, and Jongin was instantly frozen to the core. Goose bumps popped up on his arms and he shivered as a cold wind blew from behind. 

"Are you sure you don't want your coat back?" Taemin asked. 

"I'm sure. It's a short walk anyway," He reached behind Taemin and pulled the coat's hood over his head. "You, however, need to stay warm." 

Taemin looked down shyly, not saying a word. They continued walking in silence, Jongin trying his best to ignore the cold. 

*****

It only took a few minutes to get home, but for Jongin it felt much longer. When they walked through the door into the warm apartment, he breathed a sigh of relief, for once glad that he'd paid for heat. He turned to Taemin, who looked even worse than before, and was fumbling with the zipper, too tired to grab ahold of it. Jongin pushed his hands away, ping it for him before helping him take it off. 

"Since you're sick, you can take my bed, I'll sleep on the couch tonight."

"Are you sure?" 

Jongin started guiding Taemin towards his bedroom. 

"Don't argue. It's just while you're sick, anyway." 

"Okay..."

Jongin stopped outside the door to his room, opening it for Taemin. 

"Let me know if you need anything."

Taemin nodded, walking into Jongin's room. Jongin had just turned around when Taemin spoke. 

"Wait, we never got the chance to-"

"Not now. Wait until you're better. Right now you should focus on that." 

"But-"

"It can wait. It's already been put off for a while, it'll be fine if we wait a few more days."

"I guess." 

Jongin looked back. Taemin had left the door open, and was getting into bed. Jongin turned around, feeling assured that while they weren't going to talk about that today, it would happen eventually. It seemed to him that everything was going to work itself out just fine. 

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A/N 

Hi! I was gonna do a triple post, since this is the third week I've been late, but I'm taking a little longer on the next chapter than I'd hoped, so I'm giving you the double post I promised two weeks ago... I swear I'll get this next chapter out soon, I've just had a lot going on recently, so I haven't had much time for writing :( I'm so so sorry. 

Anyways, I'm going to go back to writing the next chapter, which I hope will be out in the next day or so. (( and I'm now on spring break, so I have more time to write :D ))

Thanks for reading! <3

-H