Ga Young walked into her neighbour’s kitchen the next morning to find them eating American breakfast, courtesy of Kyungsoo. She smiled and greeted all of them before a frown made its way on her face when she realized that a certain member was missing.

“Where’s Chanyeol?” she asked no one in particular.

“He’s sleeping in.” Baekhyun was the one to reply as he munched on his pancake. “He’s caught a fever by the looks of it.”

“So weird. He was fine just yesterday,” Sehun commented, making a face.

“I think all the stress is finally taking its toll on his body. He should’ve listened when we told him to take things easy,” Baekhyun sighed with a concerned look on his face.

“You know how he can be, Baek.” Kyungsoo reminded him gently before turning to Ga Young. “Did you eat breakfast yet? Would you like to have some pancakes?” he asked with a gentle smile, hoping she’d say yes.

“Uhm, I think I’m going to go check up on Chanyeol, if that’s okay.” Baekhyun and Sehun shared a look at that while Kyungsoo looked confused.

“Uh, sure.”

“Thanks.”

In a flash, she was gone and Kyungsoo stared at the spot she used to be at before turning to his other members. “What just happened?” he asked.

“I think Chanyeol will be in good hands,” Baekhyun commented with a knowing smile.

“What do you mean, hyung? Did something happen between those two? Hyung, tell me.”

“No, nothing’s happened. I just think he’s going to be in good hands, that’s all.”

Kyungsoo didn’t believe one bit of it and stared blankly at the staircase.

***

Chanyeol was laying with his whole face sweaty and red from fever, and the pillow was also wet due to his perspiration. She sighed and quickly grabbed a small dry towel from bathroom to wipe away the sweat and placed a cold towel onto his forehead, hoping that it would reduce his fever soon enough. She then proceeded to use a dry towel to wipe the sweat around his face and neck before taking his arm from underneath the duvet to wipe it with another cold towel. She did the same with the other arm before covering him again.

There was a knock on the door then and she turned to see Kyungsoo there. The man seemed taken aback at something, but Ga Young dismissed it when Chanyeol groaned a little in his sleep. She moved to sit closer to him by the bed and gently patted his neck with a dampened towel. He stopped stirring at that and the frown he had on his head disappeared.

“Is he alright?” Kyungsoo asked. She didn’t hear him move closer so he was now standing by Chanyeol’s bed, staring down at her.

She nodded. “He should be fine with some rest. Poor guy, he must’ve been really stressed.”

“Yeah.”

“Are you leaving?” she asked when she finally noticed him wearing a coat.

“Uh, yeah. I have filming, and the other two have dance practice.”

“Ah, I see. Well, have fun at work today.” Ga Young told him quietly with a grin.

He smiled. “Thanks, Ga Young-sshi. Will you be alright here?”

“I–”

Baekhyun walked into the room then, followed closely by Sehun. The both waved at her before peering down at their member. “He’s going to be okay, right?” Sehun asked her.

She nodded. “Of course. He just needs to rest.”

“Good. Do you think you could watch over him today?” Baekhyun asked. “I mean, I know we pay you for cleaning the house, but if you don’t mind–”

“I don’t mind,” she quickly assured him with a smile. “I’ll do my best to take care of him.”

“Of course you would.” Ga Young tilted her head at that but Baekhyun merely waved off her questioning look with a smile. “Take good care of him, Ga Young.”

“I will,” she smiled.

“Sehun and I should be back in the evening. We’ll see you then.”

“Call us if there’s any problems,” Sehun said. “Our numbers are all in Chanyeol hyung’s phone.” She nodded at that. “Thanks, noona.”

Noona? “Uh, sure.”

Baekyun and Sehun left the room together, telling Kyungsoo to hurry up because their manager had already arrived, and the latter nodded before turning to Ga Young. “I’m sorry we had to leave you with him when he’s like this,” he said.

She smiled. “It’s fine, Kyungsoo-sshi. Don’t worry about it.”

Kyungsoo hesitated and slowly nodded his head before walking out of the room. He gave her a quick glance as he slowly pulled the door to a close, and he felt something heavy in his chest when he saw the concern look on Ga Young’s face as she wiped Chanyeol’s sweat again.

He sighed and quickly turned away.

***

Chanyeol dreamed he was a child again. He was almost six when the Moons moved into the house next door to his grandfather’s, and he had been standing beside the old man when he first saw Ga Young. The little girl had big eyes, chubby cheeks and thick lips, and her black hair was tied into a ponytail. She carried around a white stuffed animal which she held close to her chest, and Chanyeol realized after a while of staring that it was a bunny.

Mrs Moon was the one who introduced her to him, and Chanyeol remembered feeling slightly shy as the girl smiled brightly at him. “Nice meeting you, Channie!” she had giggled, and Chanyeol turned bright red at the nickname.

Since then, the two were inseparable. Ga Young carried her stuffed animal everywhere she went which prompted him to call her Bunny, and the girl had loved it. On one occasion, Chanyeol had found his Bunny crying at the playground and he realized with a start that her stuffed animal was nowhere in sight. Apparently one of the kids had taken it from her, and Chanyeol had made the chubby kid return the doll to him just by glaring at the poor boy.

When his parents visited him from America with his older sister, they threw him a birthday party and encouraged him to invite all his friends. But Chanyeol merely extended the invite to his Bunny who gave him a new toy car as a gift. When they ran upstairs to play in his room later that night, she had shyly gave him another gift that Chanyeol could never forget.

Memories continued to play in his mind, and Chanyeol found himself floating with it, happy to be a child with Ga Young again. 

***

Chanyeol slept the whole day, only waking up when he had to take his medicine and eat. Ga Young had made him porridge and had even fed it to him, but Chanyeol was too out of it to even notice who it was. He was aware that someone was with him at all times and also the cold sensation from the towels being wiped around his face and sometimes arms, but he was still too sick to properly open his eyes and notice the things around him.

Ga Young was actually grateful for that because she wasn’t sure how he was going to reach if he knew it was her. They might’ve been okay that night but she did leave without thanking him the next morning, and she didn’t know if he was okay with that. Even when she’s worried that he might wake up and be displeased at the sight of her there, she remained by his side, making sure that his fever would not go up again.

“Ah,” she let out when she saw the dark clouds in the sky, immediately remembering the laundry she’s brought outside earlier that day. She glanced at the sleeping male and fixed the towel on his forehead before whispering, “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

She quickly but quietly ran out of the room, making sure to close the door behind her. At the same time, Chanyeol stirred in his sleep and a deep frown marred his face. He groaned quietly and panted, looking like he was in pain. As the first drop of rain hit the window, a faint whisper could be heard in the room.

“Bunny…”

***

“Shouldn’t you be calling to check on Chanyeol?” Kyungsoo heard Xiumin asking Baekhyun. He glanced at the two who was sitting on the couch, already done with their hair and makeup.

“Nah, he’s probably still sleeping.” Baekhyun replied nonchalantly.

“You guys left him alone at home?” Kai asked, frowning as he came to join them. “Did you tell manager hyung at least?”

Baekhyun nodded. “I did. Manager hyung knows he’s in good hands anyway.”

“Oh, so there is someone taking care of him. Is it the cleaning lady?”

“You know about our cleaning lady?” Baekhyun asked in return with a raised brow.

“What cleaning lady?” Xiumin asked, looking adorably confused.

Kai nodded. “Sehun told me about her. She’s your neighbour, right? Is she pretty?” he asked, smiling.

“I’d say she is,” Baekhyun nodded before turning to explain to Xiumin. “Our neighbour, who is actually my age, is our cleaning lady. Sehun and I call her Ms Moon behind her back.”

“How long has she been working with you guys?” Xiumin asked.

“A few days after we moved in, and she started working with us.”

“How come you never told us this before?”

“What’s going on?” someone asked and Kyungsoo saw Chen heading towards the group with Tao and Sehun. They were obviously curious at the sight of them hurdled together in a group like that. “What are you guys gossiping about?”

“Their cleaning lady,” Kai told him.

“Ah, Ms Moon…” Sehun drawled with a smile before making himself comfortable on Baekhyun’s lap. The man below him grunted a little but didn’t make a move to throw him off. “She’s really good at cleaning. My room is sparkling clean every time she’s done with it.”

“I bet she’s going to throw a fit if Suho moves in with us,” Baekhyun commented, chuckling at the thought.

“She’d hate it for sure.” Sehun nodded then laughed.

“I’m curious about this Ms Moon now,” Tao said in his heavily accented Korean. “Sehun won’t stop talking about her and her younger brother. Oh, and his dripped coffee.”

“Is she pretty?” Chen asked, turning to Xiumin who nodded. “Is she a fan?”

Sehun and Baekhyun suddenly barked with laughter, surprising the others. Sehun was laughing so hard that he actually fell off Baekhyun’s lap onto the floor, and still he cackled. Kyungsoo smiled at the memory as the hair stylist moved to his side, thus covering his view of the others from the mirror. He heard them loud and clear though.

“She’s an ELF,” Sehun revealed to them. “But she recognized Kyungsoo from his drama though.”

“As expected from Actor Do,” Kai teased, and even though Kyungsoo couldn’t see him, he knew that the younger was grinning at his direction. He rolled his eyes though which caused the hairstylist to chuckle a little.

“She knew me because I’m close with Heechul hyung,” Baekhyun revealed next before laughing again. “But she knew Sehun only because her college roommate is a fan. And just like that, she guessed that we’re from EXO!”

The others laughed in amusement at that while the youngest of them pouted. Tao, as usual, exaggerated his laughter and even pointed a finger at Sehun’s face which made the younger retaliate by tackling him onto the ground and tickling him on the floor. The whole room was filled with Tao’s unique laughter while the others watched on, and when the hairstylist finally moved away from his view, Kyungsoo laughed quietly to himself at the sight of the two maknaes.

“So this Ms Moon is the one taking care of Chanyeol right now, right?” Xiumin suddenly asked and the laughter died down as they all turned to the eldest man. He was clearly worried about Chanyeol as Suho was not around to do so.

Baekhyun nodded. “Uh-huh… don’t worry, she won’t do anything like a crazy fangirl. She doesn’t even care that we’re from some famous boy group, so we’re cool.”

“Thank God.”

“We should worry about her instead though,” Sehun suddenly said. Everyone, including Kyungsoo, turned to him in confusion.

“What do you mean?” Chen asked.

“Well, you know how Chanyeol hyung is lately. He yelled at her once because he was moody or something, and they’ve been quite edgy around each other. And whenever we made Ms Moon sit with us during meals, Chanyeol hyung won’t join us and eat later by himself. It’s like he’s avoiding her.”

“But he wouldn’t actually… do anything to her when she’s the one taking care of him, right?” Kyungsoo asked, officially joining into the conversation.

Baekhyun scoffed and shook his head. “Trust me, he won’t. Because for one, he’s unwell and I don’t think he’s conscious enough to yell at someone or avoid them, and two, he just won’t.”

“What makes you say that?” Kai asked.

Baekhyun hesitated for a moment before he smiled and shook his head. “It’s nothing. Just trust me when I say, he won’t do anything.”

***

The guys had wanted to visit their house after their schedule, but due to shortage of time, none of them were able to do so. Sehun had been disappointed because he wanted to show the members around the house, but in the end he got distracted by Suho’s phone call and chatted endlessly with their leader on the phone. Kyungsoo and Baekhyun took turns talking to Suho as well, and when the leader asked for Chanyeol, they had to disappoint him and told him that the guy was not around.

“Make sure he gets enough rest,” Suho reminded them for the umpteenth time by the time they reached their house. “And that goes to the rest of you as well.”

“Yes, mom.” Sehun replied, laughing a little when Suho grumbled.

Kyungsoo tried not to look hasty as he walked up the stairs and made his way to Chanyeol’s room, vaguely aware that the other two was standing behind him as well as he grabbed the doorknob and pushed open the door. What they saw surprised them, and Baekhyun quickly pressed his palm over Sehun’s mouth before the younger could let out any sound.

Chanyeol had turned in his sleep and was now sleeping on his side, and Ga Young was sitting on the floor although her head was pillowed by her right arm on top of the mattress, sleeping as well. It looked like she had fallen asleep after changing the towel on his forehead as they could see a basin and a soaked towel on the floor beside her, and there was a bowl of half-eaten porridge on the bedside table as well.

But what attracted their attention the most was the fact that they were facing each other and their hands were clasped together on top of the duvet. Baekhyun leaned forward a little to get a closer look and quickly turned to whisper to the others.

“Their hands are clasped tightly!”

Sehun gawked at that and moved a little to peer at the two sleeping figures as well while Kyungsoo remained standing at the same spot, eyes glued on the floorboard and fists clenched at his sides. He lifted his eyes when Sehun let out a quiet yelp and saw Chanyeol stirring in his sleep, and they were all left to gape at the sight where he tightened his hold on her hand and pulled himself closer to the edge of the bed, their clasped hands now buried under his chest, right on the spot where his heart was.

“We need to take a picture,” Sehun whispered evilly to his hyung.

Baekhyun grinned. “Blackmail material?” Sehun nodded. “Hey Kyungsoo, do you–” His words got cut off when he realized that the other had disappeared. “Oh, where did he go?”

“He must’ve went into his room. Come on, hyung. Take a picture!”

Baekhyun frowned in confusion but quickly turned back to do what he’s told.

***

Chanyeol woke up a quarter to nine the next day feeling refreshed but a bit sticky due to his sweat accumulating on his clothes. He looked around the room to see that it was bright due to the sunlight coming in through the window, and when he glanced at his bedside table, there were a few bottles of medicines and a humidifier which he knew he didn’t own.

After taking a warm shower, Chanyeol walked back into his room only to find Baekhyun sitting at the edge of his bed while Sehun was laying on his side across the bed, head propped by his elbow.

“How are you feeling?” Baekhyun asked.

“Better,” he said. “Did any of you stayed back to watch over me or something? Because I’m sure you guys had schedules yesterday but I swore someone was with me the whole time I was unconscious.”

Sehun snorted in amusement and Baekhyun glanced at him with a smirk. “Told you,” he muttered to the younger who nodded his head.

“What are you guys talking about?”

“Nothing,” Sehun quickly dismissed it and sat up. “Anyway, do you think you feel well enough to get beef soup with rice at that old soup house you told us about?”

“We’re planning to take a walk and eat breakfast there instead of making Kyungsoo cook because he’s been up all night memorizing his script.” Baekhyun explained.

“If you’re not up for it, we could just pack the food for you.”

“No, I’ll come with.” Chanyeol said with a shake of his head. “I need some fresh air too. Give me a minute to get dress and I’ll join you guys downstairs.”

The two agreed and left the room, and when Chanyeol came down five minutes later, he saw all three of them bundled with sweaters, jackets and face masks. He himself had put on a collared shirt underneath a white sweater, yet he could still feel the coldness since he’s still recovering from his fever.

The four left the house bundled for the morning cold and had the bottom halves of their faces covered with the black face masks, and luckily most of the teenagers in the neighbourhood were already at school at that hour so no one recognized them. Chanyeol took in a deep breath, grateful for the fresh air, and smiled underneath the mask.

“God, I’m hungry.” Kyungsoo suddenly groaned.

Sehun chuckled at the usually calm member's unexpected groan and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “It’s okay, hyung. We’ll be there soon.”

Just as they turned to a corner, Chanyeol stopped short which caused the other to automatically fall back as well. His gaze seemed transfixed to something and they all turned to see what he was looking at. A guy stood a few feet away with his back turned to them, and he seemed to be talking to someone who stood before him with their head down.

“Wait, is that Ms Moon?” Sehun asked, narrowing his eyes.

“And is she… crying?” Baekhyun added, frowning deeply.

Before he knew what he was doing, Chanyeol was standing next to the guy with his arm placed heavily over the guy’s shoulder, startling the man who froze and slowly turned to him.

Ga Young looked up just as Chanyeol growled out a low question, “What do you think you’re doing?”