Leeteuk~Ryeowook~Yesung 2
One-Shot Collection "B"
"Wookie! Are you okay?!" his hyung's surprised voice was heard above his kneeling form.
Gasping for air, the boy felt tears forming on the corners of his eyes as the coughing fit was violently shaking his body. He dug his nails in his soft palms, trying hard to calm down. He had the impression his throat was about to be torn apart. His nasal way and eyes burning, Ryeowook vaguely registered Kyuhyun hurrying to uncap a bottle of water.
"Here!"
Taking it gratefully, the singer gripped it hard, waiting for a couple of torturously long minutes to calm down before slowly drinking. The boy winced when the liquid made contact with his sore flesh.
For about half an hour, they had been doing vocal exercises, when something every singer is scared of happened: he started coughing. His throat had been itchy since this morning he had woken up, but he had dismissed it as simple tire. Once he'd eat his breakfast and ready his voice, everything would be fine.
He was wrong.
Small and rather persistent coughs were pestering him all day and, in the end, the major shock hit him while he was learning the lyrics of the newest KRY song.
"Thanks..."
His raspy voice had the oldest even more worried and Ryeowook glanced at him through blurry eyes as he hastily took the mobile phone off his jacket's left pocket.
"Hyungnim, we're done for today," he threw the words to one of their managers despite his effort to keep collected.
Hugging the small male, Jongwoon patted his head and was softly murmuring meaningless things at him, even when their manager arrived and they got in the van.
"Hyung, I'm alright..." the brunet protested weakly and Kyuhyun rolled his eyes, unlocking the door of their dorm for the patient to walk in first.
The youngest made sure Ryeowook would remain tucked in his bad and then dragged his feet to his room, knowing that his friend would be fawned over by the older members. In the kitchen, cupboards were flying open, mugs were hitting the counter's surface and tea bags were being snatched away from their boxes, feet shuffling around rapidly on the cold tiles.
"What is this commotion all about?" another voice was heard behind Jongwoon, but he didn't pause to properly greet the man.
"Hyung! Please tell me there are still some of those eucalyptus drops foreign fans had sent when Siwon caught that nasty cold!"
The blond kept standing under the door-frame, slightly raising an eyebrow at the frantically bouncing singer, even though the man didn't actually see that. Sliding his hands in his jeans' pockets, he leaned on the wooden frame and followed Jongwoon's messy movements for a few seconds before answering. Apparently, said candies had been found between Sungmin's underwear - melted and stuck onto cotton fabric - and thus, thrown away.
"Why are you asking?" he questioned as the younger halted and exclaimed "Oh, no!", his fingers dramatically tangling in his black locks.
"Ryeowook has come down with the flu! He started coughing like crazy at the recording studio."
That explained everything. Rising up, Jungsoo hurried to turn off the electric kettle and then poured the hot water in the mug the other man had prepared. The bag of black tea floated on the surface before the dry leaves absorbed enough water to send it on the bottom. He tugged at the attached string a couple of times, till the liquid took a dark colour, placing the steaming mug on a plastic tray afterwards. Scratching his head, he looked around, wondering where Donghae could have possibly put the rest of the cups.
Someone please remind me never to let that kid go near the pile of washed dishes again... - he thought and pulled two more mugs behind the rice cooker, where the dancer had deemed was an appropriate storing place for them.
Picking tea bags for himself and Jongwoon, he remembered to throw away the younger's after dipping it for mere milliseconds in the water - just so that the chamomile the singer preferred would leave a faint taste behind. In the meanwhile, the black-haired man had rushed to the bathroom to grab some clean towels of the small, rectangular ones they all had for wiping the sweat off themselves between the breaks from dance practice. Keeping them under the faucet so that they would soak in cold water, Jongwoon then wrung out the excess and stormed back in the kitchen.
"Come on, come on!"
Urging the older man along, he approached Ryeowook's room with barely audible steps, afraid not to disturb his precious resting moments. He knocked twice, and opened after a faint answer was heard. Behind him, their leader craned his neck to get a glimpse of the first sick member of the winter. He carefully pushed the door closed with his foot as Jongwoon made his way next to the small man's pillow.
"How are you feeling?" the black-haired man asked and brushed aside the strands of Ryeowook's fringe, so that he could feel his temperature.
As expected, he was warmer than normally. Bitting his lip in worry, Jongwoon picked one of the soaked towels and folded it in half before placing it with care on the younger's forehead. Jungsoo let the tray on the bedside table and then kneeled beside Jongwoon. He examined the maknae's twisted expression and asked what was wrong.
"It's just that," the young man started and winced again before continuing, "my throat hurts so bad whenever I swallow."
To underline his words, he swallowed the excess amount of saliva that had formed in his mouth, his features distorting once again. He exhaled and kept his eyes closed, enjoying the feel of the cold cloth on his burning skin. Squatting closer, Jungsoo instructed the black-haired man to go around the bed and sit on the other side. That way, both would be equally near the one in need. Jongwoon nodded and quickly did as he was said, taking all the towels and setting them beside him anew.
"Shouldn't he take a pill for that fever?" the blond asked unsure as he was helping the young singer sit up in the bed.
Shaking his head, Jongwoon said the manager had already given him one. For now, all they could do, was take care of him and wait for the medicine to work. He straightened Ryeowook's pillows and caught the boy's other arm as him and Jungsoo gently pulled him up. The youngest avoided talking, and only nodded. A shock of coughs violently shook his body despite his precautions though, and the two older men didn't say anything when he swore after the fit was over.
He fell back against the pillows, glaring at the far wall as Jongwoon changed the towel to a fresh one. The blond smiled and picked up the cup of tea they had prepared for him, bringing it to Ryeowook's lips for him to sip. The boy eyed it suspiciously and blew the steam away, then took a small quantity of it into his mouth. He scowled and began voicing a complain but Jungsoo cut him short.
"I know how grumpy and picky you become when you're sick, but please be quiet."
Pouting cutely even though he was felling awful, the young singer took a bigger gulp and swallowed cautiously. He blinked at Jongwoon's direction in search of support and coughed for a more dramatic effect. The black-haired man placed his hands to his waist and pierced the leader with the notorious dark gaze.
"Now hyung, look here..."
Jungsoo sighed and tolerated the preaching on how should someone behave towards sick people, noticing Ryeowook's triumphant grin with the corner of his eye. He momentarily turned his look to the ceiling, praying to every deity he could think of to give him patience.
"Alright, alright. I got it," the leader exclaimed and outstretched an arm over Ryeowook to clamp the younger's mouth.
The tea dangerously the rim of the cup in Jungsoo's hand, and the three of them simultaneously reached to steady it. Keeping still for a few seconds, first the youngest laughed. Jongwoon followed and then Jungsoo, till they were all loud enough for the dorms of the other floor to hear. Ryeowook held the cup with both hands, anticipating the warmth to spread from the ceramic to his cold skin. The blond patted his hip to make him move a little to the right, and he sat beside him, mug in his hands and legs over the thick covers. He gave Jongwoon his and the singer folded his legs beneath him on Ryeowook's bed, facing the other man.
"Ah... It's nice like that."
The brunet coughed with less force this time and dismissed Jongwoon's alarmed expression with a shake of his head. Scooting closer to him, the older singer fixed the quilt over Ryeowook's legs. He then turned the towel to the other, cool side and caressed the youngest's warm cheek.
"You'll stay away from practice for at least two days," he instructed, his tone leaving no room for arguments from Ryeowook's part.
Now, it was towards the blond that he blinked and pouted, but it was all in vain.
"You brat..." Jungsoo murmured playfully and wrapped an arm around the boy's shivering shoulders to keep him warm.
Pulling him closer, he promised they would let him work twice as hard once he was healthy again. He could use whichever dance room he liked, till the sun was visible behind the clouds of the dawn. The youngest nodded satisfied with that solution. He got more comfortable in Jungsoo's arms and closed his eyes, perfectly content with drinking his hot tea and listening to his hyungs quietly talking about serious stuff. The corners of his lips curled up.
It was at times like this one that Ryeowook was feeling really lucky for having chosen the path of being a celebrity. Because, if he hadn't, he would have never met all those great people around him. With that in mind, the young man fell asleep, the last things he registered before his heavy lids closed, being Jungsoo taking his empty cup from his hands and Jongwoon replacing the towel on his forehead with a cool one, after a soft ruffle of his brown locks.
Fluff fluff fluffffffffff~
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