Eric wakes up about half an hour earlier than he usually does for school. He thinks that this is odd, but he realizes why he is up when a strong wave of nausea hits him, causing him to run to the bathroom. 

He leans over the toilet and vomits before going into a coughing fit. 

"Eric, are you alright?" Sangyeon asks, walking over to Eric. 

Eric's coughs calm down and he sniffles before answering. 

"Yeah."

"You sure? You don't look too good. You look pale and sound stuffy. Let me take your temperature." 

Sangyeon gets the thermometer out of the cabinet and puts it in Eric's mouth.

"101.3, you have a fever. Go back to bed, you can't go to school today." 

"But-"

Just as Eric is about to argue with Sangyeon, he throws up once again. Okay, maybe Sangyeon is right. He now accepts that he is sick. 

"Fine."

Sangyeon guides Eric there to make sure he does go back to bed. Sangyeon tucks Eric back in and puts extra blankets on him to keep him warm since he saw Eric shivering. 

"I'm gonna go get you some medicine, okay?"

Eric nods. 

Sangyeon comes back with a spoonful of medicine and a cold pack for Eric's forehead. He puts the medicine towards Eric's mouth, but he whines and turns away like usual. 

"No! Yucky!" 

"Come on, Eric. You need this medicine to make you feel better. Please, take the medicine for hyung." Sangyeon pleads, hoping it will work. 

Eric gives in and takes the spoonful of medicine, hoping it will make him feel better. 

"Good boy. Now, just get your rest."

While the rest of the boys are having breakfast later, Sangyeon tells everyone about Eric's condition. 

"Awww, poor baby. We'll all take good care of him."

Just then, they see Eric walk past the kitchen and into Juyeon and Younghoon's room. He comes out wearing one of Younghoon's hoodies. He loves to do this whenever he is sick, because the hoodies are very comforting and fuzzy. 

"Hey chum chum. Do you need anything?"

"Wa." Eric says, pointing to the sink. 

Eric always talks like this when he is sick, he likes to use as little energy as possible, which includes shortening his speech. The members are used to it by now and usually know what he means when he talks like this. 

"Do you want water in your ice too?"

Eric nods before going back to his room. 

Jacob gets the ice water for Eric and he takes a couple sips before going back to sleep. 

Around noon, the boys have some free time before they have to go to the company, so some of them watch television in the living room together. During this time, Eric waddles in and cuddles up to Kevin, who is sitting on the couch. 

"Eric, you know no cuddling when you're sick. That's why we got you your big teddy bear."

"Teddy lost." Eric responds. 

"Lost? I thought we put him in the hallway closet. Don't worry squishy, I will go find him for you. In the meantime, you need to go back to bed and rest." Kevin replies. 

"I'll take him." Haknyeon offers. 

Eric grabs onto Haknyeon and follows him to the room. 

Kevin looks in the hallway closet and finds Eric's big teddy bear that he likes to cuddle with when he is sick. 

"Here you go, squishy." Kevin says, handing Eric his bear. 

Eric grabs it and cuddles it before thanking Kevin. 

"Anything to make you feel better. We're about to leave soon, so who do you want to watch over you while we are gone?" Kevin responds. 

"J J." Eric answers.

"You want Juyeon and Jacob this time?"

Eric nods. 

"Okay. Get lots of rest." Kevin says, before leaving the room. 

Jacob and Juyeon are left to watch Eric while everyone else goes to practice. Eric just sleeps for the first hour, but then he wakes up calling for help all of sudden after that. 

"Hyungs!!!"

Jacob and Juyeon run into the room to see Eric crying. 

"Eric, what happened?"

"Nightmare." Eric reveals. 

Jacob goes over to Eric and holds him to calm him down. 

"It's alright. It was a fever dream. Your hyungs are here now and we'll protect you." Jacob tells Eric, while petting his hair. 

Jacob sees that Mr. Cuddlesworth is on the floor. 

"Looks like you didn't have Mr. Cuddlesworth. Maybe that is why this happened, let me fix this."

Jacob rearranges things so that Eric's head is laying on the big bear's chest and he can still hold Mr. Cuddlesworth in his hands. 

"Juyeon, can you watch him while I go make him some tea?"

Juyeon nods and sits down on a nearby chair. 

"How are you feeling?" Juyeon questions.

"Icky."

"Awww, I'm sure you'll feel better soon. We will take good care of you." 

"Hyung?"

"Yeah?"

"Nose runny."

Juyeon quickly grabs a tissue and puts it up to Eric's nose. 

"Blow." 

Eric blows his nose into the tissue and sniffles. 

"Good boy."

Just then, Jacob returns with Eric's bottle of tea. He put it in a reusable water bottle so Eric wouldn't have to get up to drink, all he has to do is pull the straw up. Eric accepts the bottle and begins to drink out of the straw. 

"Do you need anything else?"

"Stay." Eric replies. 

"You want us to stay with you?"

Eric nods. 

The two of them stay with Eric, they sing to him and give him a scalp massage until he falls back asleep. 

When Eric wakes up, it is time for dinner. He says he is actually hungry, so Sangyeon makes him some soup. Eric wants more than just soup, so he sneaks ice cream and candy right before dinner. 

"Sit." Eric says, pointing at Jaehyun who is already sitting at the table. 

Since there are enough seats and Eric does not have a favorite one, he must want to sit on his hyung's lap.

Jaehyun pushes his chair out a little and pats his lap for Eric to sit. Eric climbs into his lap, laying his head on Jaehyun's chest and holding onto him. 

"Did you have a good nap?" Jaehyun asks him. 

"Yeah." Eric replies.

A couple minutes later, all the boys show up and dinner is served. Sangyeon places the soup in front of Eric like he promised. 

"Here is your spoon, Eric." Jaehyun says, handing Eric the utensil. 

"No." Eric whines. 

"Feed me." Eric tells him. 

"Okay. I'll feed you, but that means you have to eat as much as you can."

"Okay."

Jaehyun takes a spoonful of soup and begins to feed Eric. 

"Is it yummy?"

Eric nods in response. 

Eric eats half of the bowl before getting full. 

After dinner,  Eric remains on Jaehyun's lap for just a little longer while the others clean up. As Eric is sitting there, he throws up all of a sudden. It ends up on Jaehyun's arm and the floor. Eric is beyond embarrassed, causing him to burst into tears. Changmin sees this and immediately steps in, telling Jaehyun to go shower and taking Eric to his room.

"It's alright." Changmin says, patting Eric on the back as the two of them sit on his bed. 

Eric continues to sob. 

"Threw up on hyung. He's probably mad, and it was embarrassing." 

"It was an accident, gummy bear. You didn't mean to do that and Jaehyun knows you didn't mean to either." Changmin explains. 

"Really?"

"Yes, things like this just happen when you are sick."

Eric's tears cries eventually calm down and he feels better thanks to Changmin.

When Jaehyun comes out of the shower, Eric apologizes. 

"Sorry, hyung."

"It's okay, it was an accident. I just hope you start to feel better soon." Jaehyun replies. 

"Eric, time for your bath." Chanhee chimes in, entering the room. 

"Already?"

"Yes. You're ill, so you need to go to bed early to make sure you get plenty of rest."

So, Eric follows Chanhee to the bath. When Eric is sick, he doesn't like to do much, so Chanhee has to help him bathe to make sure he gets clean and doesn't just sit there. 

"Close your eyes, I'm gonna wash out the shampoo."Chanhee warns Eric.

Eric closes his eyes before a waterfall comes down his face. 

"There, all clean." Chanhee announces, leaving the bathroom so Eric can drain the tub and get dressed. 

He puts on sweatpants and a t-shirt, but later feels cold, so he borrows one of Younghoon's hoodies again before going to bed. 

"Wanna stay up." Eric protests one last time, as Jacob tucks him in. 

"You need your rest. The more you sleep, the better you'll feel."

"This medicine will help too." Sangyeon says, walking over with another spoonful of medicine that Eric hates. 

"No! Yucky!" 

"Eric you need this." 

Sangyeon stops and thinks for a moment.

"What if it is a plane coming in for a landing?"

Eric doesn't know why, but for some reason having a plane fly into his mouth rather than a spoonful of medicine just sounds so much better, even though he knows nothing has changed. 

Sangyeon makes plane noises and moves the spoon around until it reaches Eric's open mouth. He swallows the syrup, causing Sangyeon and Jacob to smile in response. 

"Now, here is some chamomile tea. It should help you fall asleep and calm your tummy down."

"Good night, kiddo." Sangyeon says.

"Night."

"And if you need anything during the night, don't be afraid to wake us up." Jacob tells Eric, as they leave the room. 

Eric takes Jacob up on his offer a few hours later. He wakes up in the middle of the night and really wants some company, so he goes over to Sangyeon and Jacob's room. 

"Hyungs!" Eric whines, turning the light on and off. 

Eric begs them to sleep in their bed and of course, they allow him to snuggle up between them.