"Get over it, Ki," Minhyuk sighs in exasperation, popping a piece of gum between his teeth. Jooheon sits beside him on the ty couch they'd salvaged from a scrap yard two months ago, their knees pressed together. Kihyun shakes his head with an exasperated groan, running his hand through his mussed-up hair as his eyes fall to the weathered coffee table.

 

Just two weeks before, Changkyun and Kihyun had gotten into probably the biggest fight they’ve had yet. Granted, that’s not saying much considering how well they get along typically, but that doesn’t take back the shouts the two had thrown at each other in that tiny little garage.

They’d just been practicing the usual songs, Kihyun up on the main mic and Changkyun thrumming out the rhythm on his bass guitar. The others were all standing around, either singing, playing their instruments, or just being there for moral support—as was always the case with Minhyuk—and Changkyun had wandered into Kihyun’s space. Or, Kihyun wandered into Changkyun’s space, as the younger had insisted.

Immediately, an argument broke out. The tension had been rising between them for a month, almost. Kihyun knows why such a thing was happening on his end, but he wouldn’t dare hope it’s for the same reason from Changkyun’s perspective…

 

The two spit insults at each other, none of which Kihyun remembers now, and Changkyun had stormed out. He hadn’t heard so much as a word from the younger since, though he knows the others have. Now, he’s ing about it to Minhyuk and Jooheon, who seem completely bothered by it all.

“Just make up already, hyung,” Jooheon sighs in exasperation. Kihyun purses his lips at this, his brow furrowing.

“It’s not me who needs to do the making up,” he insists, standing from the couch to pace. Minhyuk rolls his eyes, looking away to check why his phone starts to buzz and thank whoever is responsible for distracting him from his insufferable same-age friend. He frowns, though, at seeing the message Changkyun has just sent him.

“Well, that won’t be happening any time soon,” Minhyuk tells him, causing Kihyun to halt mid-step. Kihyun whirls about, a question on his lips. “Kyunnie’s sick. He says it’s the flu, he thinks… He won’t be coming to practice for a while.” Kihyun crosses his arms over his chest as Minhyuk begins to type out a reply, his lips seemingly stuck in a pout at how his own phone remains free of notifications.

Of course Changkyun wouldn’t tell him he’s sick, after the fight they’d had. But, Kihyun absolutely hates that the younger would text Minhyuk instead of him, a bitter jealousy rising up within him. It shouldn’t matter if they’re in the middle of fighting or not, that damn maknae should always tell him if he’s sick or not! After all, Kihyun’s the one who can take care of him, who’s done so on too many occasions to count…

“I’m leaving,” he announces, his tone grave as he grabs his coat and leaves. Jooheon shoots Minhyuk a questioning look, but Minhyuk only shrugs, despite the knowing smirk tugging at his lips.

 

Changkyun hasn’t felt this awful since… Well, he doesn’t know the last time he felt this bad.

His body seems to be eternally stuck in a constant state of dampness. He shakes uncontrollably, making it impossible for him to do something so simple as eat a bowl of soup. His throat aches with a dull pain, and his head feels as if its about to implode due to the amount of heat pouring out from behind his own eyeballs. His hair sticks to his forehead, but he doesn’t bother fixing it.

After sending the text explaining his ailment to the band’s busy-body, he’s sure the others will all know about it within the hour.

He sets his phone aside after sending the message and spending the next half hour playing games on his phone, curling up under his mountain of blankets on the couch. He huffs out a hot little breath, his eyelids feeling entirely too heavy, and he shuts them to drift back to sleep. He does so easily, slipping into dreamland without a care in the world.

That is, until a thunderous knock shakes his front door.

Changkyun jolts up, a groan of pain slipping passed his lips at the sudden movement. His eyebrows crease together in confusion, as he can’t possibly think of who would be coming over. The knock comes again, and he can’t help but pout as he stands on wobbling knees. He keeps a blanket around his shoulders, dragging it behind him like a train. He reaches out and turns the doorknob with a slick hand, cracking it open and staring out at his guest with a weary gaze.

Kihyun suddenly pushes passed him and into his apartment, grocery bags hanging from his arms and a worried, frantic light filling his eyes. Changkyun follows his path with a delayed shout of protest, closing the door as the older makes his way to the kitchen. Changkyun trudges behind him, pulling the blanket more tightly around his shoulders as he drags his feet atop the hardwood floor.

“Of course you have nothing here,” Kihyun grumbles as he hovers in the doorway to the kitchen, unpacking the groceries and putting the items into their appropriate locations.

“Hyung…?” Changkyun asks, seemingly in a daze. He blinks slowly, his deep voice coming out much higher-pitched than normal, more like a whine. “What… What’re you doing here?”

Kihyun pauses in what he’s doing to walk over to Changkyun, pressing the back of his hand against the younger’s forehead. He pulls back with a hardly-concealed grimace, wiping his hand on his jeans.

“Go take a shower,” he tells his dongsaeng, his tone gentle. He physically reaches out with both hands to turn Changkyun towards the bathroom, and the younger instinctively follows his lead, feeling much too weak to put up a fight.

Wait, he and Kihyun are supposed to be fighting still, aren’t they? After all, he doesn’t remember getting an apology from the older…

“I’ll bring you some fresh clothes,” Kihyun tells him from behind, one hand gripping Changkyun’s arm and the other pressing to the small of his back. “I’m also going to change out your sheets and make some soup.”

“We’re fighting,” Changkyun says dumbly, even more confused as his fever-addled brain won’t process just why the hell Kihyun would come over like that if they’re fighting. Kihyun chuckles breathily behind him, and he releases his hold as they near the bathroom.

“We can keep fighting once you’re better,” is all he says, and then he leaves Changkyun to it, turning round to head back to the kitchen. Changkyun frowns, very much not liking that idea as he drops his blanket right there in the hall before entering the bathroom.

 

Kihyun makes quick work of making soup, stripping and redressing Changkyun’s bed, and slipping an outfit for the younger into the bathroom. Changkyun stumbles out of the steam-filled bathroom, seeming all the more disoriented with his wet hair stuck up in about fifty different directions. Kihyun would coo if he weren’t so worried for the younger’s health.

The older steers him towards the bedroom in the back, where the bowl of soup awaits him on the bedside table. Changkyun drops into the bed, a relieved sigh escaping him. Who’d have known taking a shower was so draining? He feels as if he could pass out at any second.

“Eat something first, Kkungie,” Kihyun instructs, forcing the younger to sit up at the head of his bed. Changkyun whines, but he doesn’t even have to lift a finger Kihyun holds a spoonful out to him. The warm broth feels like absolute heaven running down his sore throat, and a silly little smile pulls up his lips as he gazes sleepily at his hyung.

Kihyun manages to get him to eat more than half the bowl and take a dose of medicine before he falls asleep, still sitting up. The man sighs, shaking his head fondly. He leans over the guitarist, manhandling him into a lying-down position. He tucks him in all cozy. Changkyun mumbles out a word of gratitude before fully drifting off, hugging a spare pillow tightly to his chest.

“Will you… stay, hyung?” Changkyun mutters, gripping the pillow tighter as he thinks of waking up without Kihyun there. The vocalist says nothing as he watches the younger drift off, silently promising to stay with the younger as long as he likes.

 

After four days of endless rounds of medication, soup, showers, and bedrest, Changkyun finally feels 100% again. He can tell he’s doing better, as Kihyun begins to nag him about how he should clean up more often. The older looks a bit worse for wear, though, obviously not having gotten much sleep as the younger snoozed off. Changkyun isn’t too surprised, as he’d been awoken exactly every four hours to receive his next dosage.

Though, as he finally has the strength to wander out of his room and to the living room to sit on the couch, it seems Kihyun’s kept himself plenty busy. His apartment is cleaner than the day he’d moved in, every surface sparkling with a polished shine and the sweet smell of lemon cleaner filling his nose.

Kihyun passes through the hall with a basketful of clean laundry in his arms, going from the laundry room to the living room. He sits at the coffee table, sorting out clothes and blankets and folding them in neat piles. Changkyun watches him as he works, the older seeming so entirely natural doing something so domestic. A lump of guilt fills his throat, though, as he realizes he should be doing all this himself now, as he’s definitely healthy enough to.

“Hyung,” he finally says, the guilt evident in his tone, “I can do that. You should go home and rest. I’m feeling better than even before I was sick.” Kihyun seems to take a moment to register his words, the days without sleep having taken a toll on him. The focused pout at his lips eases as he looks up from his task, a soft little smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

“I just want to make sure you’re all better,” he tells him, turning back to the laundry. “You could have a relapse or something for all we know.” Changkyun sighs in exasperation, shaking his head.

“Am I gonna have to pick another fight with you to get you to leave?” he asks, only halfly teasing. Kihyun whirls around then, a pained look in his eyes.

“You really want me gone that bad?” he demands, and Changkyun physically recoils at the hurt tone in the older’s voice. Kihyun pauses for a moment, as if realizing how he’d just sounded, and his shoulders visibly drop. “Look, I’m just making sure you’re okay, alright? Let me do that. Please.”

Changkyun is silent for a moment, his heart pounding in his ears at the concern etched into his hyung’s face. The ball of guilt is replace with a lump of resentment as he knows the worry for him doesn’t come from a place of anything more than friendly care.

“I don’t see why you care so much,” he grumbles, pouting as he crosses his arms defiantly. “You wouldn’t do this much for Hyungwon-hyung or even Hoseok-hyung if they were sick. You’ve done more than enough, and all this extra makes me think—” He stops himself just in time, swallowing down his words just before they can slip out.

His eyes widen as he realizes just how close he’d been to confessing just now, just like back in the garage. It’s why he’d picked a fight with the vocalist in the first place, but of course he couldn’t say such a thing. That’d ruin the band, his friendships… everything. He couldn’t risk it all for a man he’s certain doesn’t even like him back.

Kihyun watches as the thoughts circle round and round in Changkyun’s mind, almost as if they were written clear as day. His eyes widen in realization, and he can’t help but chuckle a bit in relief. Changkyun seems to misinterpret the laughter, though, as his pout only worsens.

“You can definitely leave now,” he grumbles, throwing himself down into the fetal position on the couch.

Kihyun coos, leaving his work for now to wrap himself around the younger. Changkyun stiffens in his hold, but Kihyun kisses at his neck and pets his tummy, and his dongsaeng has no choice but to relax.

“I’m staying, because I like you and I’m not leaving until I know you’re all better, you dumb idiot,” Kihyun tells him, squeezing the younger even tighter.

Changkyun in a breath of surprise, craning his neck to see if the older is being serious or not. Kihyun merely smiles at him, such a pretty smile that Changkyun feels himself getting all dizzy again despite the lack of a fever.

Kihyun gives a small peck on the cheek, and they stay like that long enough for Kihyun to fall asleep. His soft little breaths blow Changkyun’s hair a little with every intake and exhale, but Changkyun doesn’t dare move.

He’d willingly stay for as long as he can in Kihyun’s arms~