You knocked again on the door to the dormitory, tapping your foot impatiently. You were perfectly welcome in there whenever you wanted, but you weren’t about to risk barging in again after the whole Boxers Incident. No, it wasn’t a simple case of walking in on anyone undressing. You’d opened the door to see the boys amid a fierce underpants fight, led by Baekhyun and Sehun. It had already been quite startling, to open the door to a blizzard of boxers. But then… You couldn’t be sure who had thrown it, but a pair of boxers had come flying straight at you, and— well, since then, you just gave them a bit of warning before you walked in.

     The door swung open, and suddenly you were face to face with a smiling Suho. “C’mon on in,” he offered politely, and stepped aside so that you could walk past him. “The rest of us were just about to leave,” explained Suho, as you observed the chaos of boys making messes, scrambling about looking for misplaced belongings, and of course partaking in the usual barrage of teasing and bickering.

     “HELLO!” A loud voice burst out from directly behind you without warning.

     You nearly jumped out of your skin as Chen snickered, clearly proud of having snuck up on you successfully. “Hi, Chen,” you grumbled, fighting the urge to hit him over the head even though he was older than you.

     “What are you doing here? Is she coming with us?” Chen turned to Suho with his second question.

     Suho raised his eyebrows slightly at this. “I don’t think so. It would risky for a girl to be seen with all of us, even if we are only going on a shopping trip. And she’s a bit young to pass as staff.”

     “Suho texted me that Baekhyun was sick,” you explained to Chen. “He asked me to keep an eye on him in case he needs anything while you guys are out, or if his fever gets worse or something.”

     “So… you’re his babysitter?” Chen mused mischievously.

     “Oh, I don’t think I should sit on him,” you deadpanned.

     Chen looked at you, opened his mouth, and shut it again. As he turned to Suho for help, you giggled and headed toward Baekhyun’s room. Knocking on the door, you heard only a groan from inside. After a moment of hesitation, you let yourself in.

     The sight you walked in on was not pretty. There was dirty laundry everywhere, even a dirty sock hanging on the lampshade. The nightstand was stacked with an army of empty cups, all of them bone dry. Baekhyun lay in a tangle of sheets, his face quite pale.

     “I’m sick,” he whined weakly, when he finally noticed your presence.

     “Really? You’ve never looked better,” you joked.

     Baekhyun pouted and pulled the sheet over his head. In an instant, he threw it off again, groaning, “Too hot.”

    “We know you’re hot. You don’t have to keep throwing it in our faces,” you joked again, trying to get a smile out of him.

    You were unsuccessful. Baekhyun merely rolled over in bed and laid there limply, and that’s when you really began to worry. A Baekhyun who was too sick to be his usual cocky, jokester self was a very sick Baekhyun indeed.

    Chanyeol poked his head through the doorway. “Hey, we’re leaving. Good luck! Thanks for taking care of Baekhyun. Want me to buy you anything?” He grinned, and for a moment you had the impression that you were staring into the sun.

    “No, thanks,” you shook your head as you craned your neck to look up at the tall boy. “It’s unnecessary. I’m just being a good friend.”

    Chanyeol just laughed and patted you on the head, which felt even more unnecessary to you, and said “You’re so sweet. I’ll bring you back some candy.” Turning to Baekhyun, he said, “Feel better, Baekhyun!” and then exited just as suddenly as he had entered.

    Picking your way through the mess as best you could, you finally reached the side of his bed and sat down. “The boys went on a shopping trip, so I’m going to be here for a little while and take care of you until they get back, okay?”

    “Thank you,” Baekhyun mumbled, barely loud enough for you to hear.

    Pressing the back of your hand against his damp forehead, you gasped at how hot it was. “Baekhyun, you’re burning up. I’m going to get you some water, okay?” Taking his groan as a response, you hurried out of his room again, this time caring less about stepping on things. After all, the clothes were dirty anyway, right?

    When you reached the kitchen, you found a bottle of pills on the counter with a note in what appeared to be Xiumin’s handwriting.

     These are for Baekhyun. Make sure he takes one. I think he might be hiding them instead of taking them. Idiot.

    You took a glass out of the cupboard and filled it with cold water from the tap. After reading the instructions on the pill bottle, you unscrewed the cap and carefully took out one small, white pill. Bearing the glass in one hand and the pill in the other, you returned to Baekhyun’s bedroom only to discover an empty bed. Wrinkling your brow in thought, you managed to inch the glass of water onto the crowded nightstand and place the pill next to it. You then stacked the glasses inside one another and carried the two precarious stacks out of the room with you. As you passed the bathroom, you heard retching noises coming from inside. Poor thing. You shook your head in sympathy and continued to the kitchen to set the glasses on the counter and proceed to load them into the dishwasher.

    When you returned to Baekhyun’s room, he still hadn’t come back. Deciding he’d recover better in a clean(er) room, you began gathering armfuls of dirty laundry and cramming it into the laundry basket, which you eventually located in the closet. There were also other lovely surprises to be discovered while cleaning, such as candy wrappers, a half-eaten Hot Pocket under the bed, and, for some reason, a long chain of sour gummy worms which appeared to have been welded together with a lighter or something of the like, which was under his pillow of all places. You looked at this last one for a very long time before deciding you didn’t want to know and throwing it into the garbage bag with the rest of the trash. You lugged the trash out to the larger can in the kitchen and disposed of it. Under the kitchen sink you found a can of Lysol, which you sprayed generously around his room for good measure.

    Baekhyun stumbled back into his room as you finished straightening his sheets, and collapsed into his bed face down with a sigh. He laid there for a while before rolling over and looking around. “Whoa… What the hell happened in here?”

    “Well, a tornado named Baekhyun happened here, but I think I managed to pick up a fair amount of the debris,” you answered him drily.

    “Wow.” Baekhyun looked a bit shell shocked. “Uh… Thanks. Sorry. Um, I mean, that it was such a mess. Sorry. You didn’t have to clean it.”

    “Well, it was either that or risk breaking my neck trying to walk around in here,” you joked.

    He laughed weakly.

    You were relieved, honestly, to see him finally laughing. “I brought you some water. And some medicine.”

    “Oh, thanks.” He shot you a grateful look before grasping the glass and gulping thirstily from it.

    “Don’t drink too fast,” you cautioned. “Save some to help you swallow your pill.”

    The glass was already empty, and Baekhyun set it on the table. “I already swallowed the pill. Didn’t you see me?”

    “Oh, I didn’t. I must just not have noti-” You broke off your sentence and eyed him suspiciously. “Did you really?”

    He eyed you carefully. “Ye-es.”

    “Okay. I know you wouldn’t lie about something as silly as taking your medicine. You’re not a small child after all.” You laughed lightly.

    Baekhyun laughed too. “Yeah.”

    “Sit up for a minute so I can fluff your pillows, okay?”

    “Okay, thanks.” Baekhyun sat up, grunting with the effort.

    You reached for the pillows and then quickly snatched them up.

    “Hey!” Baekhyun protested.

    “A-ha!” Ignoring him, you dropped the pillows and triumphantly pointed at the pill which lay innocuously upon his sheets. “Liar.”

    Wincing, he grinned at you guiltily. “Wonder how that got there.”

    You frowned and folded your arms. “Baekhyun. You are too old to be scared of swallowing pills. When I come back, you’d better swallow that pill. And don’t you even dare hide it again.” Taking his glass with an exasperated sigh, you returned to the kitchen and filled it with water again. Bringing it back to his room, you found a sullen Baekhyun awaiting you. “Here’s your water.” When you heard no response from him, you threw your hands in the air with frustration. “If you just took your medicine, you’d probably be better by now! Just take the damn pill or I’ll force it down your throat, and I mean it.”

    Shooting you a baleful glance, Baekhyun took the pill and the glass of water. He stared at the pill so long you almost warned him that it wasn’t going to blink first, but finally he popped it in his mouth, scrunched up his entire face, and quickly took several gulps of water.

    It took all your effort, but you managed to maintain a straight face throughout this spectacle. Bending down to retrieve his pillows from the floor, you fluffed them up as best you could and gently placed them behind Baekhyun. Placing your hand lightly on his shoulder, you slowly guided him back down onto the pillows. You allowed your hand to linger for less than a second before coming to your senses and jerking your hand away.

    Baekhyun’s eyes didn’t leave yours.

    You felt like a magnet was holding you, forcing your eyes to remain locked on his. You felt a tug in your stomach, a prickle down your spine. You forced yourself to look away. As you were turning to leave, though, you felt another tug, this time at your sleeve. Ignoring it, you tried to walk away. The tug was too strong, though, and you couldn’t. Confused, you looked at your sleeve. There you realized the source of the problem; there was a hand on your wrist.

    Baekhyun clung tight, his eyes beseeching. “Please don’t leave.”

    You stared at him, feeling your heart beat oddly quickly.

    “It’s boring in here all by myself. I’m too sick to do anything. Even my phone is too bright. Could you please stay? At least until I fall asleep?”

    Sighing slightly, you nodded and smiled. “Of course I will.” Gingerly, you sat down next to him on his bed, making sure to keep a few inches of space between you.

    Baekhyun smiled slightly, and nestled into his pillows. His eyes drifted shut, and he sighed. His hand didn’t leave your wrist.

    At first you thought he was asleep, but his brow was still creased. Occasionally he would squirm slightly, trying to get more comfortable. You felt sympathetic, watching his struggle to get some rest in his feverish state.

    Moving your free hand slowly, you allowed it to tangle in Baekhyun’s hair. Softly his head, you hummed quietly, hoping to lull him to sleep.

    Instead, however, his eyes opened. He was staring dreamily at you, mesmerized. “I love you so much.”

    Was he delirious? You paused momentarily and then carried on almost as though nothing had happened. Unable to meet his gaze any longer, you looked down at your wrist. He squeezed it, then allowed his hand to slip down so that he was holding your hand.

    “I love you, too,” you whispered.