Taecyeon

I did my best to reel in my reaction at Ewon's words. This...was his room. There wasn't anything wrong with the little apartment. It was rundown,yes, but very clean andorganized.If Nichkhun hadn't asked, I never would have realized that this was were Ewon slept. I walked over and pushed against the cushions of the couch. I could feel the springs underneath the worn foam.

No. This would not do. Our omega had been through the day from hell, and he expected us to just let him sleep with springs sticking into his back all night? Correction, attempt to sleep. I couldn't imagine he got much sleep on that thing on a good night, let alone now in his current condition.

I turned to see Ewon's flushed face. His cheeks were too bright on his wan face. He had nothing to be embarrassed about, though.

"Khunnie?" my voice was tight and controlled "Can we speak outside for a moment?"

Nichkhun pulled Ewon in for a hug and murmured something to him then followed me outside.

As soon as the door close behind him, Nichkhun whispered "We can't let him stay here!"

I nodded "My thoughts exactly." it was hard to find two people more different than NIchkhun and I, but when the rubber hit the road, we drew closer and had each other's backs.

"How are we going to convince him, though?"

I snorted "There is no convincing Ewon. We just have to tell him like it is.Don't give him any room for argument."

Nichkhun rolled his eyes 'Yeah, okay, caveman. We'll just knock the omega over the head and drag him back to our lair. Not!"

I took a deep breath "Okay, then. What's your plan?"

"We appeal to his weak spot. Sica. What if something goes wrong and he gets worse, and doesn't have the time to call anyone? Between the two of us, we have one person to take care of Sica, and one person to take care of him. I don't mind driving Sica into school tomorrow."

I raised an eyebrow "You realize that not only will you have to wake up before noon, you'll have to wake up before eight in the morning."

Nichkhun's jaw tightened "I can do it."

I could see the determination on his face that was in me. I wasn't certain he would be the one taking Sica to school in the morning, but one of us would. And the other would be coherent enough to attend to Ewon.

"Okay. You try your talking. And if that doesn't work, we'll do things my way." I mimed bashing Nichkhun over the head.

"My way will work." Nichkhun said confidently and knocked on Ewon's door. Ewon's response was quiet enough that I couldn't hear what he said, but Nichkhun opened the door anyway.

Ewon was sitting in a threadbare armchair and his eyes fluttered open as we came in. He was beat. The sooner we got him into a nice comfortable bed, the better.

Nichkhun walked over and sat on the footstool in front of him "We have a proposal for you. I know we said we didn't want to shake up Sica's schedule, but we're still worried about you."

"I don't want your charity." Ewon grumbled "I can take care of Sica and myself. I've done it for years."

Nichkhun reached out and placed his hand on Ewon's and I tensed, waiting for Ewon to jerk his hand back. He didn't, though, and I relaxed slightly. I was worried about both of them. If Ewon fought us, that would hurt Nichkhun, who had one of the most open and giving souls I'd ever met. And Ewon needed us, whether he acknoledged it or not.

"You've done an amazing job as both a parent and a brother, Ewon. I could tell that the first time I met you, and meeting Sica and seeing you home has only proven it further. But it would just kill us both if something happened tonight. If you developed complications. What if you couldn't reach the phone in time? What if something happened, and Sica found you and had to deal with that?"

A slight shudder wracked Ewon's body, but still he protested "I can ask Sohyang-ssi to come over."

"Not to be rude, Ewon, but where will she stay? Will she sit up all night? We have several lovely spare bedrooms that haven't seen enough use. Not to mention you're in this position because of us. It's the least we can do for you."

I could see the choises warring on Ewon's face. The young man was exhausted, not just from this recent ordeal, but from life. he'd been doing the best job he could on his limited resourses. He was the kind of person who deserved help but wouldn't take it. He deserved so much more than working himself to the bone just to sleep on an uncomfortable couch while he was unwell.

"Ewon." my voice rumbled deep in my chest "Please. Come home with us. Let us take care of you, even if it's just for the night. We'll make sure Sica gets to school. We'll stuff you full of chicken broth. And we'll be right by your side if ther's and emergency. And if you don't say yes, Nichkhun won't sleep a wink tonight, which means I won't sleep tonight." I managed a half-hearted smile and stepped forward to place my hand on the top of his head, ruffling his hair a little "It's been a long time since you let anyone take care of you. You deserve at least one night."

We could convince him to stay longer once he knew how comfortable our spare beds were.

"But Sica's already aslee