Junmyeon could hardly walk without stumbling. His legs felt so weak, his body was so tired and his mind was floating. He just finished his felt-like-an-unending-day at work at 11 p.m. and was walking home. He barely caught the last train as his senior insisted him to stay for a discussion for a new project they worked on, a discussion which he felt he was not needed there as all the seniors were so casual and just talked to each other about everything aside from the project like what they had last night for dinner and how great their child in math. The real discussion only took the first 5 minutes and the rest was trash. But what can Junmyeon say to his seniors, he did not want to be on their watchlist.

He sighed loudly. It was hard to be an intern, wasn't it? But tomorrow was the weekend. He could sleep for the whole day and eat whatever food he wanted, some time for himself. Feeling slightly motivated, he nodded to himself. Keep fighting Kim Junmyeon!

Junmyeon swung the front door, loud noise echoed from the door hitting the wall. The apartment was dark and silent. Feeling dejected again, he walked to the living room and plopped down on the couch. He was alone. Tomorrow was supposed to be a fun day with his-supposed-to-be-best friend. He was looking for it since two weeks ago but nothing he already planned could be achieved tho. Kris had left for Singapore yesterday, having a seminar with his team and Jumyeon felt unmotivated to execute the plan alone by himself. He frowned. Kris seemed excited for the seminar even telling him he would buy a T-shirt with The Merlion for Junmyeon.

Jumyeon huffed. He decided that freaking giant was no longer his friend. Junmyeon won't buy him coffee every morning ever again. He should suffer for leaving Junmyeon alone.

Lying down on the couch, he closed his eyes. This place was so quiet. Waking up, leaving for work and coming home from work, this place was lacking of people. Kris did come sometimes, or most of the time but Junmyeon could not help to feel lonely. He thought he was ready to be independent and stayed by himself after he graduated but it seemed he was not. He definitely should take Kris' offer to stay together before. So tired to even move his limbs, he loosened the tie and shirt, slowly drifted to dreamland. Shower can wait for tomorrow.

The bright sun peeked between the half close curtains. It successfully woke the man on the couch. Who did not close the curtains properly yesterday? He grunted but there was no person to be blamed but himself. Annoyed with the sunlight, he stood up to close the curtain before fall back onto the couch on a split second, groaning at the sharp pain in his head. Junmyeon crunched up due to the pain, both hands tightly held his head, waiting for it to pass. As the sharp pain had lessened to throbs, he slumped back on the couch before his dry throat decided to act up and make him cough violently. Junmyeon curled himself into fetal shape, gasping for air when the cough had gone. Teared eyes, dried lips, feeling yucky and itchy from his unchanged work clothes and back pain after spending the whole night on the couch, Junmyeon scoffed at himself. Great! Just great! Out of all day, he got sick on today. Great.

Kris looked at his phone, secretly opened his chatroom. He was in the seminar and phones were supposed to be prohibited but he was feeling so bored. The talk was so boring, the person who was talking on the stage talked so soft and the text was so lengthy. He lulled everyone in the room instead of gaining their attention. He looked at his senior, already nodding off, head swaying up and down. It was lucky his snores could not be heard to the stage but still it could be heard to everyone around him. Meanwhile, his other senior was busy recording the sleeping man with his phone, probably for blackmail purpose or to make fun of him on their group chat.

His attention was back on the phone. The kids had sent him hundreds of pictures of them enjoying their vacation in Japan. They had been there for three days already, routinely sending their photos to him from their mom's numbers, not missing even a day. Kris was sure Junmyeon got it too. Their phone memories were definitely going to be busted from all the pictures they sent. Kris chuckled at a photo of Jongdae sitting on Baekhyun's back who fell face first on the snow. It seemed the kids were in a ski resort today. Poor Sehun with his red cheeks and nose from the cold. But it seemed the kids had been wrapped up warmly by their mother from the layers and layers of clothes he had seen from the photos. Kris frowned. He wanted to go for a vacay too, cold snow or warm beach, but now he stuck here, could not do anything but sit on this cramped chair, listening to still-did-not-end talk. But it was okay. Today was the last day. They would fly back to South Korea the next morning and more importantly, there would be a wrapped up party tonight. And that was the only motivation he got for joining this seminar.

He looked at the time and groaned. This would not end until two hours. He wanted to scream.

Junmyeon blankly stared at his reflection on the tv, still laying on the second-hand, old couch he got from his parents. His legs were hanging out of the couch. He felt like his body did not act under his command anymore. He felt like a strong gravity had pulled him down and he was stuck on the couch. His head was still throbbing and it hurt even more when he suddenly stood. His lips were dried and he needed to drink but he did not want to get up. Junmyeon slowly closed his eyes again before his stomach decided to interrupt his sleep with a loud growl. He needed to eat.

With tremendous effort, he forced himself to get up. Feeling slightly dizzy, he waited for it to disappear before walking to the kitchen. There was nothing he could eat instantly, no bread, no snacks. Opening the fridge, he sighed. It was empty. He forgot to restock it last week, again, no one he could blame but himself. He opened the upper cabinet, there was a packet of dried seaweed. He decided to make porridge and just eat it with the seaweed. He sniffled. Poor you, Kim Junmyeon.

It was hard to finish even half a bowl of porridge. It was bland and he couldn't taste anything, even the salty seaweed. After eating the bland porridge, taking a shower and changing to his pajamas, he threw himself on the bed. All parts of his body were aching. He felt like crying when he found he did not even have any medicines to ease the ache neither he could go to the pharmacy to get the meds. He did not think that he could survive walking half a mile without fainting halfway.

He scrolled his contacts. He could not call his mom or his dad as they were thousands miles away enjoying their vacation in Bali. He stopped at his brother's number before shaking his head. His brother was in Busan, Jumyeon could not just call him to come to Seoul to take care of him and his fever. He already had his family to take care of. He could call one of the Park kids to just buy him the meds but they were not here too. He sighed. He was left with one more person, and definitely he was not an option too. Switching off, he threw his phone on the bed and closed his eyes. His head was still throbbing. Maybe sleep can make the pain go away.

Kris cheered after he finished packing his thing. The seminar was finally done. All documents, folders, his laptop and his work clothes were safely tucked in the carrier. He left only necessary things he needed to get dressed for tonight's party and tomorrow's flight. Tonight was going to be wild and he felt he would not in his right mind to pack his luggage with the amount of drinks he planned to have. Kris grinned. It had been a long while.

He looked up at the window. It was good weather to stroll. He walked to a nearby shopping mall, opted to buy some souvenirs for the kids and of course, his friend who he promised to. It was weird, he thought. Junmyeon did not send him even one message for this whole day, nor he was online. What was he doing? Sleep all day? Did he do anything wrong to him? He did promise Jumyeon to spend this weekend together and Junmyeon said he already planned for everything but with the sudden notice from his boss, this seminar had cut it off. Was he mad at me? Kris questioned himself. It can't be. It was not like they can't do whatever Junmyeon had planned another weekend. He shook his head. He thought to call the man before the party to check on him.

Kris went to a fast food restaurant for his lunch. Entering his order at the self service kiosk and paying his bills, he waited at the table, hand mindlessly fiddled the receipt. He looked at the list, such a long list for just one person.

His eyes stopped at the date. It was such a familiar date. He frowned. Why did he feel something important happened on this date? What should happen today? But his deep thought was cut short with the arrival of his burger sets. Grinning, he thanked the staff and excitedly unfolded the wrap. The burger was right in front of his mouth, he was ready to bite when something crossed his mind.

Today is…

His eyes widened.

The sound of someone retching his gut broke the silence in the one-bedroom apartment. All his porridge he ate, his one and only meal for the day, all had been flushed down the toilet. Waking up from his nap, Junmyeon was feeling even worse. His throat became dried, his eyes watered and when sudden nausea hitted him hard, he could not help but vomit right then and there on his blanket. He grimaced at the sight of his now soiled blanket but he was having no time to worry about it as he was all but ran to the bathroom when the nausea came back.

Jumyeon slumped against the bathtub. Every ounce of his energy had left him. The vomiting had made his headache became worse and it throbbed so bad. Everytime he turned his head, he felt like someone had hit him with a metal baseball stick. His body was sore from head to toe. Everything's hurt. He closed his eyes, slowly regained his self. He could feel the heat escaping from his body but the cold from the bathtub and tiles of the floor felt somewhat nice. Wasn't it nice if he can just sleep in the bathtub rather than on the heat-trapped bed, he thought.

Slowly he raised himself up, hands reaching up for wall to support his weight. Black spots already filled his vision and he wanted to lie down fast.

Kris unlocked the door and stepped into the dark apartment, dragging his luggage behind him. He just touched down the land after taking a last minute flight from Singapore. He was getting worried when Junmyeon did not respond to any of his calls. After hundreds of calls and text messages, his snxious was getting worse, his gut told him to get home and thus he did, immediately booked the flight ticket and ran to the airport. And now he was here at Junmyeon's apartment at one in the morning. It was dark and no one was in sight. It was only lit by the street lamp from the large window in the living room. The curtains were not closed. Kris doubted the said friend was not home at the moment as all his shoes were laid messily at the entrance.

Kris flipped the switch on and frowned. He walked deeper into the apartment. There was a bowl of unfinished porridge at the kitchen counter with an exposed-to-air box of seaweed. Why did this kid leave the food like that?

"Junmyeon?" He called. Leaving his luggage at the living room, he barged into Junmyeon's room, expecting the man was sleeping on the bed but there was no one there. The bed was unmade, the blanket was tossed to one side. Was he in the bathroom? But the lamp was off. Kris knocked on the bathroom door. "Junmyeon, are you in there?" When he got no answer, Kris twisted the knob and opened the door, hoping there would be no unexpecting scene appeared on his eyes. But what he saw after the lamp lit the area was really the unexpecting one.

"What the... Kim Junmyeon, what are you doing in there?!" He nearly shouted. There, Kim Junmyeon was sleeping soundly in the bathtub, with his favorite pillows, one for the head and one he was hugging. His neck would be in pain tomorrow from how it was twisted in a bad angle. No. His whole body would ache tomorrow if he continued sleeping like this.

"Hey, wake up. Why did you sleep in here?" He called. He approached his friend when there was no response. Decided to tap his cheeks lightly to wake him up or maybe slap if the other did not work, Kris grimaced when he touched his skin. Junmyeon was burning. Did he get a fever? Kris just noticed the heavy breathing he let out, the sweaty forehead and how pale Junmyeon's lips and skin right now.

He tapped Junmyeon's cheeks lightly, "Hey, wake up," he softly called. It was not until several times of tapping and calling out his name, Junmyeon finally responded to him. His eyes fluttered open, wincing at the brightness from the lamp.

"Hey, it's me." Junmyeon's eyes were unfocused. He blinked for some times, hazy mind was trying to register the man in front of him. "Kris?"

"Yes. Come on. Let's get out of here first." He helped the poor man stand on his wobbly legs. It was kind of slippery and Kris did not want his friend slipped and fall and hurt himself even more so he told Junmyeon to wrap his arm around his neck so that he could heave him out of the bathtub. Junmyeon complied without any complaint, even when every time he moved he felt like his head had split open. He was too tired to even utter a word. Kris wrapped his arms around Junmyeon's waist when he heard Junmyeon was mumbling something under his breath. "What?" He asked but the question was left unanswered when Junmyeon went limp in his arms.

Junmyeon slowly opened his eyes, looking at the wall in front of him. Staring emptily at it before his eyes wandering around. He was alone in an unfamiliar room. Looking at his left, there was an IV bag attached to his arm. He was at the hospital. He sighed in relief. He was still feeling lethargic but somewhat it was a lot better than what he felt when he was at his apartment. But he could not remember when and how he got here. Did he unconsciously drive himself to the hospital and drop dead at the emergency like in the kdrama he watched? He doubted that. He did not think he could pull that stunt with the sickness he had. He could barely think tho.

Looking at the clock, it was 3, judging by the darkness he thought it must be in the morning. Looking around, there was no one else in the room. It appeared to be a single room with a single bed, two chairs on the side and an attached-to-the-ceiling-television. It was so quiet. Thought of being sick and alone in the hospital with no one around brought tears in his eyes. No one should be sick and alone in the hospital. Maybe sickness had made him sappy but Junmyeon did not care. There was no one here to judge him anyway.

His train of negative thought abruptly stopped when he heard someone was unlocking the private bathroom on his left. Now all the sadness had turned into creepy. Realizing now he was alone, at the hospital, at the wee hour, he wanted to curse all those scary movies he watched before. A dark figure emerged. Shutting his eyes tight, Junmyeon certainly regret his past decision

"Aish. My shirt is wet. F-- Who set the water pressure so high?"

Junmyeon heard the 'ghost' cursed. Well, no ghost could say the F word right, and he definitely thought the voice was so familiar, so he tried to take a peek. But upon seeing the person in front of him he could not help but cry.

"Oh, you're awake." Kris just realized his friend was staring at him but suddenly became panic when he saw the man was tearing up. "Are you hurt? Do you want me to call the nurse?" He was in the midst of pushing the emergency call button when Junmyeon pulled his hand to stop him. He shook his head. He was not hurt then. Kris sighed in relief, slowly sinking on the chair beside the bed.

Junmyeon looked at his friends, eyes still brimmed with tears but looked confused. Trying to talk but he was stopped by a violent cough. He gasped for air when it stopped. His throat felt like being layered by a sand paper.

"Doctor said you can't talk now." Kris gave him a bottle of water. "There are some inflammation and probably it could take one or two days until you can regain your voice. You are finally quiet now." He teased, grinning widely when the friend rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Aside from that, you are okay. The temperature is going down now. I think?" Kris put his hand on Junmyeon's forehead to test the temperature, nodding when it was better, a lot better than before.

"I called your mom. She told me to take care of, as she quote her dumb kid who can not take care of his health by being busy 24/7 until her flight tommorow. And your brother will come here in the morning." He could hear Junmyeon grumbled under his breath. His parents and brother would definitely give him long lectures for sure. It was better they did not know. Damn you, Kris.

"Stop mumbling like I can't hear you complaining I ratted you out." Kris rolled his eyes.

"Now sleep. It's still early." Kris tucked him on the bed. There were still a lot of questions he wanted to ask Kris but suddenly he was feeling lethargic again. He indeed needed more sleep. Jumnyeon slowly closed his eyes.

Kris picked up the trash at the side table. He could afford buying just sandwiches and a chocolate drink from the store downstairs as he wanted to hurry get back to the room, worried if Junmyeon would wake up and see no one was there. He made his way to the trash can at the corner of the room when a hand stopped him. Junmyeon was staring at him anxiously.

"I'm going to throw the trash," he told. He settled himself back on the chair after finishing his business. Junmyeon was still looking at him with hopeful eyes.

"I'm not going anywhere. Now sleep." He put his hand on Junmyeon's eyes, forcing him to close his eyes. Junmyeon grumbled and shook off the large hand from his face, turning his back to find a comfortable position to sleep. Seeing his friend was ready for bed, Kris turned off the light, leaving only the dim bathroom light to lit the area. He then sat back beside his friend. It was dark and quiet again.

"Kim Junmyeon?"

Junmyeon hummed.

"Happy Birthday."

It might not be his birthday anymore and Kris might not see it but Junmyeon drifted to the dreamland with a happy smile that night. His birthday was not all awful.