Jeonghan walked down the hall with Jihoon as they made their way to the last period of the day. It had been three days since their little scuffle and Jeonghan had very much pushed the memory to the back of his mind. He didn't want to relive a single moment of it. Seungcheol had been very vocal about his disdain for being yelled at by his mother despite not being the one who messed up. He also made sure to let Jeonghan know about how much pain he was in whenever he did something -- boy did Seungcheol love to complain.

"Look, it's turning purple!" Seungcheol hollered as he stuck his cheek in Jeonghan's face.

"It's the same colour it was yesterday," Jeonghan rolled his eyes.

"Mingyu, that little ," Seungcheol grumbled as he put his ice pack back on his face.

"It's not his fault you bruise like a peach," Jihoon said looking back from the seat.

"I saved his and the kid still had the nerve to slam his door in my face when I offered him an ice pack," Seungcheol shook his head.

"You threw the ice pack at him, you didn't offer it," Jeonghan gave Seungcheol an unamused look.

"You and your brother are both so ing juvenile," Jihoon turned back around in his seat.

"I second that," Jeonghan agreed.

"The er gets to miss school as well, how is that fair?" Seungcheol rested his head against the table.

"He hasn't been attending school?" Jeonghan asked, no wonder he hadn't seen the boy around.

"Nope, he's been running a fever and mom's been trying to get him to take his medication but the kid has been difficult," Seungcheol said.

"He's never liked taking medicine," Jeonghan smiled sadly, some things just never changed.
"You coming to the basketball game after school?" Seungcheol leaned over Jeonghan's desk.

"Not today," Jeonghan shook his head, he wasn't in the mood for anything lately.

"What happened? You've been missing in action lately," Seungcheol gave his friend a curious look.

"Nothing really, I'm just tired," Jeonghan said with a shrug.

"Get better soon because we need your to show up for band practice tomorrow," Seungcheol said before pulling out his notebook.

"Worry more about yourself, Choi Seungcheol," Jeonghan shot back just as class started.

After the final bell rang Jeonghan walked home by himself. Without the added weight of his bass on his back the journey home was actually bearable. Just as he was about to set foot into his front yard Mrs. Choi pulled into the driveway rolling down her car window. Jeonghan gave the woman a greeting.

"Jeonghan, you coming over for dinner?" Mrs. Choi asked as she climbed out of her car

"Sure, I'll put away my backpack and I'll come over to help," Jeonghan said, quickly he ran inside.

He went over to the house next door and headed straight for the kitchen where Mrs. Choi was unpacking the groceries. He busied himself with helping her prep for dinner and did as he was told. He was in the middle of chopping up some spring onions when Mrs. Choi gasped and ran out if the kitchen. She returned a few moments later grabbing her handbag and her car keys.

"I forgot to buy the meat, I'll be back Jeonghan! Just get the vegetables ready and put a pot of water on the stove!" Mrs. Choi shouted before she ran out the door leaving Jeonghan alone in the kitchen.

Jeonghan didn't feel all too bothered by Mrs. Choi's sudden dissappearance. He was more than capable of cooking until the older woman came back. He put a pot of water on the stove like Mrs. Choi told him to and continued cutting up vegetables. When he turned to grab a carrot from the fridge he noticed a small block of chocolate sitting on the top with a small piece of paper taped to it. The piece of paper read 'I'm really sorry' as well as a sad face drawn in blue ink. Jeonghan shook his head and pretended he didn't see it. He continued on with prepping ingredients, completely ignoring the small peace offering.When he turned toward the kitchen counter Jeonghan found a cupcake covered in blue icing as well as another note saying 'I'm really, really sorry' on it. Ignoring the cupcake Jeonghan reached over it to grab the cutting board and washed it in the sink. From the corner of his eye he could see someone peeking out from the corner, by the height Jeonghan easily identified it as Mingyu.

"If you're going to loiter around you might as well come out and help me," Jeonghan said in a casual tone.

While Jeonghan was cutting up the kimchi he heard slow footsteps approach the kitchen. Suddenly he felt a pair of arms circle around his waist and a chin rest on his right shoulder. Jeonghan looked down at his feet to see a pair of yellow slippers, Mingyu's yellow slippers. He proceeded with the task at hand completely ignoring the younger boy.

"I'm really, really, really sorry," Mingyu whispered tightening his grip on his hyung's waist.

"Let go," Jeonghan said coldly.

"Hyung," Mingyu whimpered.

"Go over there and peel the potatoes," Jeonghan gestured over toward the counter with the knife in his hand, Mingyu let go right away.

Jeonghan transferred the chopped kimchi into to bowl and placed in next to the other ingredients. As he worked he couldn't help but notice the sound of sniffling coming from Mingyu. The boy stood peeling potatoes as Jeonghan had asked of him but his back was hunched over and he sounded out of breath. Unable to hide his concern Jeonghan walked over to the younger boy and placed a palm on his forehead -- the boy was indeed running a fever like Seungcheol had said.

"Go to bed, you're sick," Jeonghan took the potato peeler out of Mingyu's hand.

"I don't want to," Mingyu whispered looking down at his feet.

"Disobeying really is your new hobby," Jeonghan turned away.

"Please don't say that," Mingyu grabbed his hand.

"Then go back to your room," Jeonghan recoiled from the touch.

"I'm sorry hyung," Mingyu said more time before he dragged his feet out of the room.

Jeonghan bit his lip trying very hard to remember why he was angry with the boy. He had to repeatedly tell himself that Mingyu couldn't just throw out a simple 'I'm sorry' whenever he did something wrong and expect that to be enough. Mrs. Choi arrived at that time allowing Jeonghan to keep his mind occupied instead of thinking about Mingyu, he very much thankful for the distraction. Allowing the older woman to take over the role of cooking Jeonghan set the table and chatted with the woman while she stirred the pot on the stove.

"Can you bring that small sachet up to Mingyu's room? He finally decided to take his medication yesterday so he might take it again today. That boy hates the bitter taste so much he'd rather stay sick," Mrs. Choi pointed toward a small packet filled with white and blue pills on the counter.

"Sure," Jeonghan felt his lips pull into a frown but did as the older woman asked.

Jeonghan filled a glass with water and palmed the sachet on the kitchen counter. He gave himself an inner pep talk as he went up the stairs and down the hall until he reached the last door. He gave the door three knocks before opening it. Stepping foot inside he saw Mingyu curled up in a ball under the covers, sniffling audible despite having his head covered.

"Mingyu, take your medicine," Jeonghan said as he approached the bed.

Instead of a response Mingyu curled himself in tighter. Jeonghan let out a sigh placing the glass of water in his hand on Mingyu's nightstand as well as his medication. Jeonghan tried pulling the covers back but was met with resistance, the younger boy wasn't going to make things any easier for him. In the end Jeonghan let out a frustrated sigh and turned away, if Mingyu was going to continue his childish tirade then he was just going to leave. He took one step before noticing a small tug on the bottom of his shirt. Jeonghan turned his head to see Mingyu's arm stick out from under the comforter, he was pinching onto the hem.

"I'll take my medicine," Mingyu said, voice muffled from under the covers.

"Good," Jeonghan nodded once.

Mingyu slowly unraveled himself from the comforter and for the first time Jeonghan got to have a good look at the younger boy. He'd avoided looking at Mingyu's face earlier in the kitchen and now being faced with the full reality of his condition Jeonghan felt his heart ache. The boy was a mess. Mingyu's lips were parched with the cut on his bottom lip now scabbed over. There was bruising on his left cheek as well as the butterfly bandages holding his cuts closed. Jeonghan didn't even want to think about the bruises the boy was hiding under his shirt. Unable to keep his cold exterior Jeonghan touched M