A/N: 

Woooo guess who finally updated???? As always, your comments are appreciated! Also, I start summer classes next Monday, so I'm not sure how often I'll be able to update, but I'll try my best to get the next chapter up before then!

Also I did not proofread this at all, so I apologize if there are any mistakes (I'll fix them later if I find any!)

Yanjun wakes up to Zhangjing on top of him, face resting on his chest with their legs tangled together. “Cute” Yanjun mutters to himself, sitting up slightly to get into a more comfortable position. When he sees a crease forming in between the man’s brows, Yanjun feels a bit guilty, thinking that he must have woken him up. The guilt however, turns to concern when Zhangjing begins to cough. His forehead feels hot when Yanjun presses the back of his hand against it to check for a fever. “,” Yanjun sits up a bit more and gently rubs the man’s arm. “Zhangjing,” he whispers when the other’s eyes flutter open. “Huh?” Zhangjing weakly rubs his eye, then glances up at his best friend. “Are you feeling okay?” Yanjun’s frown stretches when Zhangjing coughs once again. Zhangjing replies with a predominantly incoherent answer, but the raspiness of his voice tells Yanjun everything he needs to know. Without hesitating a second longer Yanjun takes the man into his arms and rises to his feet. After carefully placing Zhangjing’s head on his shoulder, Yanjun shuffles towards his bedroom.

Once Zhangjing is lying on his mattress, Yanjun props a pillow under his head and pulls the blankets up over his body. “I’ll be right back,” he doesn’t know if Zhangjing is even conscious enough to understand what he’s saying, but he decides to speak anyway just in case. In the kitchen, he scans through his cabinet for anything that would help Zhangjing feel better. At least neither of them had work today, meaning that Yanjun could put all of his energy towards making Zhangjing feel better. About a minute later, he returns with a bottle of medicine in one hand, a cup of water in the other, and a damp washcloth hanging on his forearm. “Zhangjing wake back up for a second,” Yanjun sets everything down on his nightstand and gets in bed beside his friend. Zhangjing blinks up at him when Yanjun holds the cup and a pill towards him. Grunting slightly, Zhangjing readjusts himself to a better angle and slowly takes the cup in his hand. After downing the pill and taking a big gulp of water, he hands the cup back and goes back to laying down.

Once Zhangjing seems comfortable, Yanjun retrieves the cloth and turns back to him. He can’t help but note how soft the man’s hair is when he pushes Zhangjing’s bangs back. Afterwards, he carefully places the cloth on Zhangjing’s forehead and gently presses it into his skin. The elder keeps lulling in and out of sleep, so Yanjun decides to take this opportunity to just observe him. Hesitant fingers trace over the outlines of Zhangjing’s features and Yanjun takes in his appearance. A thumb brushes over the other’s cheeks and Yanjun sighs when he realizes they aren’t full as he remembers them being. “You need to eat more,” he whispers, already planning out a delicious meal that he knew Zhangjing couldn’t pass up. Eventually, his fingers drop down to the man’s lips and Yanjun subconsciously bites his own. They still had yet to properly discuss what happened between them. While Yanjun of course felt bad that Zhangjing was sick, he was also a bit relieved. This gave him some time to sort out his feelings before Zhangjing approaches the topic again. “Get some sleep okay? I’ll be back later to check on you,” Yanjun gets up from the bed and glances at Zhangjing one last time before turning off the light and exiting the room.

While they both took care of each other a fair amount now, things didn’t always used to be that way. As the older (and more mature) of the two, Zhangjing sort of took it upon himself to look after Yanjun during college. Zhangjing had his parents and his other family to rely on, but Yanjun could only really come to him for guidance. The rocky relationship Yanjun had with his mother withered even more after high school graduation and none of his friends were particularly good influences (with the exception of Chaoze, sometimes). He and Chaoze didn’t have that close of a relationship though. As roommates, they lived together, but Yanjun still found it difficult to open up in front of him. They weren’t nearly close enough for him to feel comfortable having deep conversations with the bespectacled man. His closest bond was with Zhangjing, meaning that he would only spill his heart out to him.

Consequently, Chaoze never quite understood why Yanjun acted the way he did. Still, as a friend he was concerned for him whenever he wasn’t acting normal. “Zhangjing,” Chaoze ran up to the man after their calculus class one day and placed a hand on his shoulder. Gnawing on his lower lip in worry, Chaoze removes his hand and gives Zhangjing a hopeless look. “Yanjun hasn’t left his room in three days, at least when I’ve been home. Do you know what’s going on? I don’t want to intrude by interrogating him about it, but I’m getting concerned,” he says and Zhangjing frowns. “Is he sick?” he questions, hoping it was just that and not what he predicts is probably the issue. “I’m not sure. I didn’t want to bother him by being too nosey, so I haven’t really seen him,” the younger sighs and runs his fingers through his hair. “Okay, I’ll drop by later when I’m done with classes and talk to him. Don’t worry too much, I’ll take care of it,” Zhangjing offers the man a reassuring smile and Chaoze returns it, feeling a bit more comforted knowing that Yanjun would be in good hands soon.

The bus ride over is riddled with anxiety. Zhangjing taps his foot against the floor persistently, earning him more than a few annoyed stares. When he arrives, the door is unlocked. Chaoze wouldn’t be home for another hour, but he made sure Zhangjing would be able to get inside without trouble. “Yanjun?” he slips off his shoes and leaves them by the entrance, waiting for a reply but receiving none. As he nears Yanjun’s room, he hears sniffles. Maybe he was right about his friend being sick after all? When Zhangjing opens the door, he gets no reaction from the lump laying in the darkness. However, once he is just a few steps from the bed, Yanjun stills. Maybe he didn’t hear him come in? After a few seconds, Yanjun wipes his face and sits up and Zhangjing feels his chest constrict. Even in the darkness he can see the redness of Yanjun’s eyes. “Hi,” Zhangjing says softly, toes curling in nervousness. His words are parroted when Yanjun lets out a weak “hi” in response. His voice sounds hoarse and Zhangjing can’t help but notice the tear stains on his cheeks. Yanjun isn’t looking at him and Zhangjing knows he’s just prolonging the inevitable. He’d talk eventually, even if Zhangjing had to pry for hours. “Have you been taking your medicine?” Zhangjing inquires and Yanjun remains silent, biting his lip.

Zhangjing lets out a sigh, but tries his best not to sound too upset. He felt frustrated that Yanjun kept skipping, but he had to try and be sympathetic. Up until recently, Yanjun hadn’t been taking proper care of himself. It took years to just convince him that therapy could be helpful. Yanjun only decided to go when they entered university and that was only because it was cheaper. Though the man hadn’t talked too much about it, Zhangjing could tell he was making progress. Yanjun was never comfortable around authority figures, but one day Zhangjing saw him laughing with his therapist after one of their sessions. That had to mean something because the only adult Zhangjing had ever seen Yanjun smiling around was an older woman who offered him free drinks at a bar they went to last semester.

Zhangjing was happy that at least Yanjun looked embarrassed for skipping. For a few months, Yanjun would get very stubborn with him, arguing that he shouldn’t have to take medicine to feel normal. Now, Yanjun knew better. However, whenever things started to get bad, he wouldn’t take care of himself. This meant going days without eating, showering, or taking his medicine. He would sleep all day and skip his classes, only really getting up to use the bathroom. Zhangjing couldn’t judge him. Although he had his own problems, Zhangjing at least had support from his family. It made sense that Yanjun struggled to decipher what was and wasn’t appropriate coping mechanisms.

“I know it’s hard Yanjun, but you have to do it,” Zhangjing explained, climbing into bed with Yanjun after turning on the lamp beside them. Carefully, he laid Yanjun’s head on his shoulder and began to comb his fingers through his hair. The two laid there in silence, both staring up at the ceiling while waiting for words to come to them. After a while, Zhangjing hears a sniff and looks at Yanjun, whose eyes were starting to get watery again. Suddenly thinking of an idea, Zhangjing reaches down to give Yanjun’s hand a squeeze before getting up, “I’ll be right back.”

He disappears into Yanjun’s bathroom for a second and returns with the medicine. He first sets the bottle down and then leaves to go to the kitchen. Minutes later, he comes back with a pair of chopsticks and noodles. “Eat, you’ll feel better,” he explains before handing the bowl to his friend. Yanjun moves slow, but eventually takes a bundle of noodles into his mouth, much to Zhangjing’s excitement. Zhanjing knew Yanjun wanted to be adamant and refuse the food, but after going days without eating, he couldn’t resist it.

“Let’s play a game,” Zhangjing suggests, peaking Yanjun’s interest. The younger raises an eyebrow at him and chews his food. “What are the rules?” Yanjun sets the bowl down to the side and blinks at the other man. “I’m going to tickle you,” Zhangjing moves to sit at Yanjun’s feet, a mischievous glint in his eye. “That’s hardly a game,” Yanjun argues, but seems amused nonetheless. “I know, but it’ll make you smile,” Zhangjing explains and the slight tug at the corner of Yanjun’s mouth increases Zhangjing’s excitement.

In seconds, Zhangjing is straddling Yanjun’s hips, the younger thrashing around to try and escape his fingers. Yanjun bites down on his lip harshly, fighting hard to contain his laughter. However, he doesn’t last long under the older man, soon turning into a giggling fit. The redness dusting Yanjun’s cheeks and the man’s bright, genuine smile leaves Zhangjing mesmerized. It isn’t until Yanjun’s laughter subsides that Zhangjing realized he had stopped tickling him.

They both stare into each other’s eyes, chests rising and falling in unison as they try to catch their breaths. No words are exchanged between them and Zhangjing can’t pinpoint what exactly has him so tongue-tied. “Oh my god-” the moment is ruined when Chaoze shrieks from the doorway, hands flying up to cover his eyes. “At least send me a courtesy text if you’re going to do this in our apartment. I’m leaving before this goes any further.” Zhangjing immediately pulls away, face flushing as he vehemently insists that nothing was happening. Yanjun just smirks, watching in amazement as Zhangjing chases after his roommate to try and convince him that  he had misinterpreted the situation.

When Zhangjing wakes up, he’s feeling much better, but Yanjun insists that he stays in bed. It doesn’t take much convincing, Zhangjing loves to be pampered. They decide on finishing the marathon they started last night, snuggled up on Zhangjing’s bed together. By the time evening comes around, Zhangjing convinces Yanjun that he’s well enough to go home. They both have work in the morning, so it makes sense that Zhangjing doesn’t want to stay super late. Yanjun reluctantly agrees to let him go, but not before packing up some meds along with a canister of soup.

As Yanjun walks Zhangjing to his car, he celebrates internally. Zhangjing has yet to bring up what happened and Yanjun suspects that he might get away with a completely drama-free day between the two of them. “Hey Yanjun,” Zhangjing turns to face him after opening the car door and Yanjun decides that he celebrated too soon upon seeing the expression on his face. “Yeah?” he crosses his arms over his chest and tries his best to act oblivious. Zhangjing senses his nervousness and lets out a sigh. “Let’s talk tomorrow,” he decides to give the younger a bit more time, but it isn’t enough to give Yanjun any real comfort. “Okay,” Yanjun sighs and steps back a bit as Zhangjing gets into the driver’s seat. Zhangjing looks up at him and forces a smile, “I’ll see you at work?” Yanjun responds with a terse nod and a quiet “yeah” before he waves goodbye to the man. Zhangjing looks like he wants to say something, but instead just closes his door and slowly drives off.

Neither of them get much sleep that night.