Chapter 12 

Take the Stage 

It took him almost a week to somewhat recover from the cold that gave him a terrible cough and a really high fever. Jinwoo and Seunghoon had both been angels looking after him, picking up medicine and feeding him the whole time. 

It was already Friday when he braved himself out the door to go to a lecture. His fever was finally gone, but he still felt weak and his throat scratchy. He promised himself just one lecture and then he would go back to bed for the weekend if he still felt as terrible as he did that morning. 

He was secretly hoping to run into Mino too, even if he had told him to stay away so he wouldn’t catch his cold. They were suppose to meet to practice for the festival that weekend, but if his voice still was this weak then it would be no good. He felt terrible about it, but it wasn’t something he could just fix. 

Walking onto campus he shivered wondering if his fever was back already. His eyes felt watery and his head was spinning from exhaustion just from walking up the small hill from the bus stop. 

He found a quiet spot with some couches not far from the lecture hall to rest for a bit. Questioning if this had been a bad idea he brought up his phone to check the bus schedules for after the lecture. 

    "I didn’t think I’d see you here. Are you well now?" he froze in place realizing exactly who was talking without looking up. 

Zico was standing right before him, leaning forward slightly while giving him a curious look. 

    "Still sick, but I really didn’t want to miss this lecture" he explained trying to hold back a cough. 

Zico didn’t waste any time bringing up last time they met which was what he dreaded the most ever since it had happened. If it had been up to him would he rather forget all about it and pretend it never happened.

    "Listen, I’m sorry about the other day. I shouldn’t have done what I did. I got caught up in the moment, but I shouldn’t have" Zico said this having just pulled up a chair from a nearby table, sitting down way too close considering he had just warned him about his cold. "How did you like the finished song by the way?" he asked playing with the zipper on his leather jacket. 

    "I told you already, it’s amazing! Thank you for letting us preform it" he said, voice slowly disappearing with every word he spoke. Zico was clever, apologizing but changing the subject before he could comment on it. Not that he wanted to talk about it anyway, but he knew he should let Zico know where they were standing properly. When he tried to speak again had only a wheezing sound come out and he sighed exasperated.

Zico shook his head at him before offering to buy him some tea from the cafeteria as he was going there to get something for himself anyway. It felt rude to reject him and since his class would be beginning soon anyway wasn’t it as if it would make them spend a lot of time together and so accepted the tea.

A good ten minutes later and Zico had returned with his tea along with what looked like tea for him too. 

    "Thank you" he mumbled in between sniffles. He really shouldn’t have come to school after all. 

    "No problem, take care. I’ll see you later" Zico said, ruffling Seungyoon's hair a little before walking on ahead down the hall. 

Of course Zico had to touch him, before he would have thought nothing of it, but now he couldn’t help but to be sligthly bothered.

The lecture was about music theory and composition with a really popular producer as a guest lecturer who really went through the whole process in detail from idea to finished product. 

Once the class was over did he feel happy that he had come after all. Even if he wondered how much he would remember later had it been really inspiring. 

The producer was a previous student of the university which had made it all ever more interesting as he got some of the same background as them. 

He was on his way to the bus stop when he heard a familiar voice call out from behind him. Despite how exhausted he was couldn’t he help but to smile knowing perfectly well who the voice belonged to. 

    "Mino" he said turning to face him right away. 

    "Aw, you still look really sick" Mino commented stopping only when he got right up in front of him. He trailed a gentle finger across his cheek probably looking at the dark circles that had taken permanent residence under his eyes. 

    "Yes, don’t get too close or you’ll catch it too" he said taking a step back to make his point. Mino just shook his head at him before stuffing his hands into his jacket pockets.

    "Going home?" he asked nodding towards the direction of the bus stop. 

    "Yes, to sleep. I’m exhausted and I think my fever might be back" he replied supressing a shiver before turning in the direction of the bus stop as Mino walked up beside him. 

It was the first time they met since the evening in the hall where he had told Mino about his and Zico’s kiss. They had talked on their chat and Mino had dropped of an almost inedible soup, but they had yet to meet. 

    "I’m sorry about how all of this turned out, with us, and Zico" Mino said in a low voice before they reached the bus stop where several others were waiting. 

    "I’m sorry too" he replied a wave of worry flowing over him as all the thoughts he had been left to think on his own in bed all week came flowing back at him at record speed. 

    "Will you be able to practice this weekend?" Mino asked giving him a worried look. He felt himself sway a little on the spot as his exhaustion caused him to feel dizzy. 

    "I hope so" he responded just as the bus arrived. 

When they were on the bus had they made their way to the far back right away even if there were several free seats in the middle of the bus. It was a clever move by Mino who had led the way because it meant that no one could see them. Once they had sat down he had suggested he could lean on him and he could wake him in case he fell asleep on the way home. 

Grateful for the opportunity to rest he let his head rest heavily on Mino’s shoulder as soon as the bus started driving. Mino had found his hand moments later and was now holding it tightly in his. 

This calm closeness was exactly what he needed and although his body felt like it was about to shut down for good from this fever was his heart beating away steadily fueled by Mino’s love alone. 

No one was home when they returned and Mino asked if he could stay around as he got a lot of reading to do for a test anyway. Worried he’d catch his cold he had turned Mino down at first, but he didn’t take no for an answer and so in the end had they both settled on his bed. 

Mino was sitting perched up against his pillow reading his book, while he was resting on his side using Mino’s free arm as a pillow, his face nestled into the side of Mino’s chest. Feeling more comfortable than he he had all week didn’t it take him many minutes until he was dozing of. 

Looking down at his sleeping boyfriend Mino was happy that he had decided to stay persistent. The whole week had gone by without them meeting and considering what their last meeting had been like had he felt more than a little anxious to see Seungyoon again. Seunghoon scolding him back then didn’t help the case either. 

Trying to read for his test didn’t it take his mind long before started to stray. First to his many worries, but in the end landing on his last conversation with Zico. 

He had kept delaying their confrontation until his anger had subsided enough for him to collect his thoughts, but despite having thought things through had one cheeky snigger from Zico been enough to reawaken his fury. 

Zico had as expected played the victim card, accused him for playing dirty and he seemed perfectly calm while spewing up argument after argument. He had accused him back, reminding him how he’d said he would wait. Kissing someones boyfriend is not the same as waiting for someone to break up. 

That was the only thing Zico had apologized for, but he had not forgiven him. He would be on watch from now on. Especially on that cabin trip they would all be going on because he knew Zico alway got a lot bolder when drunk. 

Staring on the highlighted page of his book he tried to memorize the name of a familiar European composer he felt he had heard about a thousand times before, but never taken an interest in. 

His mind was already racing ahead to the cabin trip, both Jinwoo and Seunghoon had said they were happy to tag along. It would be the first time all of them went somewhere together and he hoped it would go well. 

Seunghoon’s word still haunted him reminding him of how him acting so selfish had in the end hurt the person he cared about the most. What was good was the both of Seungyoon’s roommates knew about the Zico situation too and could keep an eye out for any sneaky moves.

Forcing himself to study he finally found focus for a while and was only interrupted when Jinwoo’s head poked in to the room. 

    "Oh, sorry!" he said after spotting them on the bed hiding behind the doorframe again. 

    "It’s okay, come in but be quiet" he replied and soon Jinwoo’s head appeared in through the half open door again. 

    "I was just wondering if he, and now you, want some dinner?" Jinwoo asked smiling before holding up a shopping bag with vegetables poking up from it. 

He nodded silently and Jinwoo gave him a thumbs up. Seungyoon sighed in his sleep, the hand that had been resting on his chest suddenly clutching lightly at the fabric of his t-shirt.   

Continuing to read until Jinwoo told them dinner was ready he tried to wake Seungyoon gently, but he was still startled as he his fingers through his hair gently while saying his name. 

Watching his boyfriend sit up, eyes still closed Mino did his best not to comment on how cute he thought Seungyoon looked. Face flushed, probably from the fever, accompanied by the sleepy pout and the fluffy hair. 

    "Dinner is ready" he told him while putting his book away, sitting up a bit himself. His back felt stiff from sitting in the same position for so long and the arm Seungyoon had used as a pillow had lost circulation almost completely making it feel numb as he tried to shake it back into it’s normal state. 

    "What dinner?" Seungyoon asked confused turning to put his feet on the floor before resting his face in his hands. 

    "Jinwoo cooked for us" he explained calmly before hugging Seungyoon from behind now that his arm had regained some circulation again. Resting his cheek on the skinny back he could hear the faint raspy breathing telling him Seungyoon definitely weren’t recovered from his cold. 

    "Let’s go eat" Seungyoon mumbled slowly wiggling free from his hug before turning to reach out a hand towards him.  

He made his way to the living room closely followed by Mino where Jinwoo already had sat down to eat. It was a vegetable soup of some kind with bread on the side which suited him well considering he couldn’t taste much anyway. 

Seunghoon got home the moment they began eating and took a seat next to him asking how he was feeling. Sniffling a little he explained that he was still sick. 

    "At least you got a decent soup this time" Seunghoon teased throwing a glance at Mino who previously had dropped off a hideous soup while he was at his sickest.

    "He should get credit for the effort though" Jinwoo said patting Mino on the back. 

    "Cooking really isn’t my forte, but I’d love to learn" Mino replied smiling over at Jinwoo in an appreciative way. 

They ate in silence after that, the hot soup felt good against his sore throat but it made his nose runny and so he struggled through the meal sniffling. 

He spent his saturday catching up on school work despite his fever and come Sunday was he finally free of the fever. Seunghoon and Jinwoo had offered to head out for the day so they could practice their songs at home which he was really appreciative about. 

Mino arrived at his door late in the morning his lap top nestled under his arm. They managed to