A few weeks later, the boys came home from school one afternoon and were greeted by Leeteuk. “Hey guys, how was school?” the brunette parent inquired.

          “Great,” Yesung, Sungmin, Donghae, and Eunhyuk responded before heading upstairs.

          Heechul slowly walked in and sat down at the kitchen table before lying his head down. “Heechul, sweetheart are you alright?” Leeteuk asked as he sat down next to his son and lightly touched his back.

          “No, I’ve got a horrible headache,” Heechul responded.

          “Oh, well luckily I went to the drugstore today and picked up some aspirin,” Leeteuk said before standing up and retrieving the pill bottle and a glass of water.

          “This isn’t what we usually get,” Heechul noticed as he looked at the bottle label.

          “They were out of our normal brand, so I got this new kind,” Leeteuk replied. “But it’s supposed to work just as well.”

          “Okay,” Heechul muttered before downing a couple of pills with the water.

          “If you don’t feel better in the morning, let me know and you can take another,” Leeteuk informed as Heechul stood up.

          “Thanks, I’m going to go lie down for a while,” Heechul stated. “Hankyung’s supposed to come over in a few minutes, will you tell him to come upstairs?”

          “Sure sweetie,” Leeteuk agreed, smiling at his raven haired son. 

          Heechul walked upstairs and down the hall to his bedroom. Opening the door, Heechul headed inside and threw his backpack down on the floor before falling onto his bed, gripping his pillow in his hands as he closed his eyes. His head throbbed and his body was beginning to ache all over. About half an hour later, Hankyung entered the house and walked into the kitchen. “Hi Leeteuk,” he greeted.

          “Oh hi Hankyung, Heechul’s upstairs in his room,” Leeteuk said.

          “Okay thanks,” Hankyung responded before heading up the stairs to his boyfriend’s bedroom. Hankyung quietly opened the door and walked inside, where he found Heechul lying on the bed with his eyes closed. “Heechul?” Hankyung whispered as he lay down next to the raven haired Korean.

          Heechul opened his eyes slowly and looked up at Hankyung. “Hey,” Heechul muttered as he wrapped his arms around his boyfriend and held him close, while burying his face in Hankyung’s chest.

          “You feel alright?” Hankyung wondered as he ran a hand through Heechul’s raven hair.

          “I’m fine,” Heechul mumbled into Hankyung’s chest as he fell back to sleep. Hankyung didn’t say a word, but pressed a kiss against the top of Heechul’s head and slid his arms around Heechul’s body, pulling him into his embrace.

          A few hours later, Hankyung awoke and gazed at the clock, which showed that it was half past ten. Looking down at Heechul; Hankyung saw that his boyfriend was still fast asleep. “That medicine must’ve made you drowsy,” Hankyung whispered. The blonde leaned down and kissed Heechul’s cheeks, and noticed how hot they were. Hankyung grazed the back of his hand over Heechul’s forehead and felt a light layer of sweat cover his boyfriend. Yet when Hankyung reached down and interlaced his hands with Heechul’s, he found Heechul’s fingers to be freezing cold.

          Immediately, Hankyung climbed out of bed and headed over to Heechul’s closet to retrieve an extra blanket before hearing Heechul moan quietly “Hankyung, where are you?”

          “I’m here baby, I’m right here,” Hankyung replied as he lay back down next to Heechul and draped the other blanket over his boyfriend, covering him in head to toe with the thick material.

          “Hankyung, I don’t feel good,” Heechul muttered with a raspy tone.

          Hankyung gently Heechul’s face and quietly shushed him. “Try and go back to sleep, maybe tomorrow you’ll feel better,” he suggested.

          “Will you stay with me?” Heechul requested.

          “Of course I will,” Hankyung confirmed. “Would you like me to get you anything?”

          “No, I just want you,” Heechul whispered before leaning his head back against Hankyung’s chest and falling asleep again.

          The next morning, Heechul awoke with a jolt. He cringed his body and rolled over off the bed, hitting the hardwood floor with a thud. The raven haired Korean pulled his knees to his chest and moaned as he gasped for breath. Almost immediately, Hankyung shot up. “Heechul,” he said as he got down next to his boyfriend. “What happened, are you okay?”

          “My stomach hurts,” Heechul muttered.

          Hankyung stood and pulled Heechul back into bed before feeling his forehead. Heechul still had fever, and with the discovery of his hurt stomach, Hankyung figured Heechul must be getting a cold. Hankyung watched Heechul shiver violently as he covered him back up with the blankets. “I’ll be right back,” Hankyung whispered before leaving the bedroom. He returned a few minutes later, carrying a glass of water and a damp washcloth. Sitting down on the bed, Hankyung helped Heechul drink down some water slowly, to help with his dry, raspy throat.

          Afterwards, Hankyung lie back down next to his boyfriend and lightly placed the washcloth against his forehead to wipe away the sweat, before gently grazing the cool rag against Heechul’s flushed cheeks. “I’m sorry I don’t feel well,” Heechul quietly apologized.

          “It’s not your fault Heechul, you can’t help things like this,” Hankyung replied.

          “Thank you for taking care of me,” Heechul whispered before pressing a kiss against Hankyung’s arm.

          “You’re welcome baby, I’ll always be here to take care of you,” Hankyung promised, running a hand up and down Heechul’s back. Heechul’s condition hadn’t gotten any better over the next couple of days. His fever was still persistent, his cramping had gone down only slightly, and his cheeks had stayed flushed. Hankyung had tried to take care of Heechul as best he could in the evening, but during the day, he had to leave him and go to school. Heechul hated being apart from Hankyung, especially when he was sick; it made him feel even more alone.

          Hankyung came over one afternoon to check on Heechul and noticed that there were patches of red appearing all over Heechul’s arms and neck. “Hankyung,” Heechul mumbled as he scratched at the red splotches.

          “Heechul,” Hankyung replied before pulling Heechul to sit up slowly. “What happened, you look like you’re getting a rash of some kind.” The blonde pulled Heechul’s shirt up off him and discovered more red patches covering his back. “Oh my god, you’ve got them on your back too.”

          “Hankyung, I hurt,” Heechul muttered as he closed his eyes.

          Hankyung gently nudged his face against Heechul’s, placing a kiss on his warm cheek before saying “Stay here, I’ll go see if your parents have some stuff to make the itching stop.”

          Rushing downstairs, Hankyung entered the living room and asked “Leeteuk, do you have any kind of rash cream?”

          “For what, what’s going on?” Leeteuk wondered as he stood up.

          “Heechul’s got a rash spreading over his body, so I’m trying to get some cream for him that’ll hopefully help him relax,” Hankyung informed.

          Leeteuk led Hankyung into the kitchen where he retrieved the proper medicine for Heechul. “Tell him that I’ll call the doctor tonight and try to get him an appointment for tomorrow,” Leeteuk said as Hankyung headed back upstairs.

          “Here we go, this’ll help you,” Hankyung whispered to Heechul as he uncapped the tube of cream and squeezed some out onto his fingers before gently rubbing the substance over Heechul’s aching, itchy body. “There baby, how does that feel?” Hankyung asked as the cream began to soak into Heechul’s skin.

          “Much better,” Heechul muttered before lying down on the bed again.

          “Your parents are making you an appointment for the doctor tomorrow,” Hankyung informed as he continued to rub Heechul’s back.

          “No, no doctor,” Heechul said into the pillow.

          “Heechul, it’s the best thing for you,” Hankyung reminded before lying down next to his boyfriend.

          “Come with me,” Heechul requested, leaning his face against Hankyung’s chest.

          “I can’t Heechul, I’ve got school, but I’ll come over immediately afterwards,” Hankyung promised.

          “I’m scared Hankyung, I don’t like doctors, they’ll hurt me,” Heechul said.

          “No they won’t, your parents will be there with you. They won’t hurt you, they’ll help you feel better,” Hankyung replied.

          Heechul inhaled deeply, gripped his boyfriend’s shirt tightly, and whispered “I love you Hankyung.”

          “I love you too Heechul,” Hankyung echoed, placing a kiss on top of Heechul’s raven hair.

          The next morning, while his brothers, friends, and boyfriend headed to school, Heechul went with Kangin and Leeteuk to the doctor’s office. “Leeteuk, do we have to do this?” Heechul asked as his brunette parent signed in.

          “Yes sweetheart, nothing bad is going to happen, the doctors are just going to look at you and give you some medicine,” Leeteuk responded.

          “Everything will be okay son,” Kangin added as they sat down in the waiting room. Heechul pulled out his phone and saw that Hankyung had texted him, telling him not to be nervous, and that he loved him and would see him after school.

          “Kim Heechul,” a nurse called several minutes later. Heechul stood up along with Kangin and Leeteuk and was led back to one of the rooms. “Alright, if you’ll just sit up here on the table, the doctor will be with you momentarily.”

          The nurse left the three Koreans sitting there silently. “Are you okay Heechul?” Kangin asked.

          “I guess,” Heechul muttered. “You guys aren’t going to leave me alone with the doctor are you?”

          “No honey, we’ll be right here the whole time,” Leeteuk promised.

          A few minutes later, the door opened up and the doctor walked inside. “Hello, you must be Heechul,” the white clad man figured.

          The raven haired teen gripped at the sanitary paper on the table underneath him and muttered “Yes.”

          “Well it looks like you’ve got a rash on you, now is this rash just on your arms?” the doctor wondered.

          “No, it’s on my back and this morning it moved to my torso,” Heechul quietly explained.

          “Can you please remove your shirt so I can examine you better?” the doctor requested.

          Heechul’s eyes widened as he watched the doctor put on latex gloves. “No, please don’t touch me,” Heechul said as tears formed in his eyes.

          Leeteuk immediately stood up. “It’s okay sweetie, I’m right here, I won’t let anything happen to you,” the brunette parent promised.

          Hesitantly, Heechul removed his t-shirt, before feeling the doctor gently touch at his back and torso. “My goodness, you seem to have gotten your back torn up somehow,” he stated before turning to write on his clipboard.

          Hearing those words made Heechul think back to his past and he started panting as his heart pounded. “Leeteuk,” he whispered, looking up at his parent.

          “Doctor could you please just focus on the rash, my son is having enough trouble letting you touch him as it is,” Kangin requested as he got up and stood next to Leeteuk, while Heechul leaned his head back against Leeteuk.

          “Yes, my apologies,” the doctor said. “Alright Heechul, you may put your shirt back on.” As Heechul dressed himself, the doctor asked “Now have you had any other kind of ailments besides rash?”

          “I’ve had a headache, really bad fatigue, dry throat, fever for like four days, I had some stomach pain for a couple of days, and this rash ever since yesterday,” Heechul explained.

          After the doctor wrote down Heechul’s symptoms, he asked “Have you taken any medication lately?”

          “Yes, I gave him this aspirin about a week ago,” Leeteuk informed as he handed the doctor the pill bottle.

          “Now Heechul, this is very important, have you been ually active?” the doctor questioned.

          “What?” Heechul asked.

          “I need to rule out some of the possible diagnosis’s, and I need to know if you’ve had ,” the doctor explained.

          “Do you want to know consensual or nonconsensual ?” Heechul wondered quietly, causing the doctor to freeze.

          “Um, both please,” he slowly requested.

          “I’ve had consensual a few times in the past year with my boyfriend, and –” Heechul stopped and looked up at Leeteuk.

          “It’s okay honey, we’re right here,” the brunette promised.

          Heechul turned to the doctor and stated with tears falling from his eyes “I was almost every day over a six year time span from age six to twelve, so I would guess about two thousand times I’ve had nonconsensually.”  

          “Have you ever experienced these symptoms before?” the doctor wondered.

          “No, this is the first time,” Heechul stated.

          “Alright, Heechul I need to speak to your parents and while I do that, I need you to give me a urine sample in this cup please. The bathroom is down to the hall to the left,” the doctor said before Heechul left the room.

          “Is everything alright?” Leeteuk asked. “What does my son have?”

          “Well from what he’s telling me, he could have one of two possibilities; one just a mild case of serum sickness, caused by a reaction to the new aspirin you gave him. If that’s the case, I’ll give him a couple of antihistamines and his symptoms should be gone in a few days,” the doctor responded.

          “Well what’s the other possibility?” Leeteuk nervously wondered.

          The doctor sighed before saying “Given your son’s unfortunate ual history, and the symptoms he’s displaying, it’s not unlikely that he could quite possibly have AIDS.”

          Kangin and Leeteuk dropped their mouths open, unable to speak for several moments. “What did you say?” Leeteuk muttered as his voice came back to him.

          “How can that be, he’s never shown signs of HIV or anything like that; before we adopted him we read his medical records and there was nothing about HIV or AIDS,” Kangin added.

          “Well you see HIV and AIDS are both very tricky viruses. Heechul could’ve been in the chronic stage of an HIV infection, in which cases this stage lasts for many years, and he would show no sign or symptoms of infection. But now the virus may be acting up again because the HIV is turning into AIDS,” the doctor explained. “But I cannot medically confirm or deny anything without a blood test. Again, he may have been fortunate enough not to have gotten HIV and it’s just a case of serum sickness, but I strongly advise we do a test on Heechul’s blood so I can prescribe the proper medication, and if he comes back positive, I would strongly suggest his boyfriend get tested.”

          Leeteuk felt his knees buckle underneath him as he dropped to the ground. Kangin knelt down and wrapped his arms around Leeteuk as his husband cried. “We’ll go ahead and do the blood test,” Kangin said before the door opened up.

          “Leeteuk, what is it?” Heechul asked as he handed the doctor his cup and saw his parent crying.

          “Heechul, the doctor needs to take some of your blood for a test, is that okay?” Kangin quietly wondered.

          “With a needle?” Heechul demanded as he looked over at the doctor.

          “Yes, but it won’t take more than two seconds,” the doctor promised as he pulled out a syringe.

          “No, keep that thing away from me!” Heechul yelled as he backed up against the wall.

          “Honey, come here, it’ll be okay, just from your arm okay? You won’t have to take your clothes off, and I’ll be right here with you,” Leeteuk promised as he pulled Heechul close.

          Heechul leaned into Leeteuk’s warm, loving embrace and closed his eyes. “Make it quick,” he requested.

          The doctor rolled up Heechul’s sleeve and wiped an area with a cotton ball before Heechul clenched his eyes shut and held onto Leeteuk as the doctor drew blood from Heechul’s body. “There we go, all done,” the doctor informed.

          Leeteuk looked down at Heechul. “You did very good sweetheart,” he muttered.

          “I’ll get this blood to our lab and get it tested. My office will give you a call tomorrow to let you know the results,” the doctor stated before leaving.

          “So what’s wrong with me? Why’d I have to get my blood tested?” Heechul asked.

          “We’ll tell you at home Heechul,” Kangin said before they too left the office.

          As soon as they reached home, Kangin and Leeteuk sat Heechul down on the couch. “The doctor had to have your blood drawn because there are two possible things you could have,” Leeteuk informed. “The first thing is just a mild case of serum sickness, meaning you’re allergic to the aspirin I gave you, and they’ll give you something for it.”

          “What’s the other thing?” Heechul nervously asked.

          Kangin and Leeteuk looked at one another before Kangin slowly explained “The doctor said that given your ual history and the symptoms you’re showing, that you may possibly have AIDS Heechul.”

          Heechul froze; his eyes widened and his mouth dropped. “What, that’s crazy,” he said, standing up and pacing the living room floor. “I-I’ve never shown any signs before, I-I-I’ve been healthy –”

          “The doctor informed us that HIV can hide in the body for several years and never show any signs or symptoms and then just one day appear again, this time as AIDS,” Leeteuk said as tears formed in his eyes again.

          “No, no this can’t be true,” Heechul cried. “I was , I was drugged, why is this happening?”

          “Heechul, it may be nothing, but the doctor doesn’t want to risk it, and if you’re positive, then we need to get Hankyung tested,” Kangin reminded. Thinking about that caused Heechul to choke out a sob before running upstairs and shutting himself away in his room. The raven haired teen cried into his pillow, pounding a fist into the mattress. Why was this happening to him? Hadn’t he been through enough Hell for one lifetime already?

          Later that afternoon after school let out, Hankyung came over and walked upstairs to Heechul’s room. He found his boyfriend lying in bed crying still. “Heechul, are you okay?” he asked.

          “No,” Heechul replied as he climbed out of bed and walked over to the window.

          “What happened, did something happen at the doctor’s office?” Hankyung wondered. “Did they tell you what you have?”

          “They had to do a blood test on me,” Heechul muttered.

          “A blood test?” Hankyung repeated. Heechul nodded. “Why?”

          Heechul took a deep breath before lowering his head. “I’m so sorry Hankyung,” he cried quietly.

          “What, why are you sorry?” Hankyung asked as he walked up behind Heechul and wrapped his arms around his torso.

          “I may have made you sick,” Heechul whispered.

          Hankyung leaned his head against Heechul’s hair and questioned “What do you mean?”

          Heechul took another breath before explaining slowly “The doctor said that given my ual history and my symptoms, that I could possibly have AIDS, and, and I may have given it to you. I could’ve made you sick Hankyung, I’m so sorry; I’d understand if you hated me forever because of it, I’d hate me too.”

          Hankyung turned Heechul to face him and kissed his lips as tears fell from his own eyes. “I could never hate you, and if I am sick, then I will be sick with you, but it is not your fault,” he whispered.

          “Yes it is, it’s the World’s ed up way of punishing you for loving someone like me,” Heechul mumbled.

          “Listen to me Heechul; I will never stop loving you, no matter what life throws at us. I will love you until the day I die, and I will stay with you until the end. I could never hate you, never ever. No matter the results of the test, I want you to know that I’m not going anywhere, and that I love you so, so much,” Hankyung explained as tears fell down his cheeks and he placed a light kiss against Heechul’s forehead.

          Heechul wrapped his arms around his boyfriend and buried his face in Hankyung’s neck as his body began to tremble. “I’m sorry Hankyung, I love you more than anything, the last thing I wanted was to hurt you,” he sobbed as he clenched Hankyung’s shirt in his fists.

          Hankyung walked him and Heechul over to the bed and lie them both down on the mattress, as he pulled Heechul close to him. “I’ll stay with you no matter what happens Heechul, I promise,” he whispered, running a hand through Heechul’s raven hair.

          Hankyung didn’t go to school the next day and instead stayed over at Heechul’s, waiting with him until they got the call from the doctor. “I’m scared Hankyung,” Heechul muttered as they lay in bed together.

          “Don’t be scared, I’ll take care of you,” Hankyung replied, Heechul’s face before kissing his cheek.

          Downstairs, Leeteuk and Kangin sat nervously on the couch, when Leeteuk’s cell phone rang. “Yes, hello this is Leeteuk,” he said immediately answering.

          “I have the blood tests back for your son,” the doctor stated.

          “Alright, hold on one moment please,” Leeteuk requested before he and Kangin walked upstairs and knocked on Heechul’s bedroom door.

          “Heechul, they’ve got your test results,” Kangin informed as Hankyung and Heechul sat up.

          Hankyung took Heechul’s hand as Leeteuk said into the phone “Alright, I’d like the results now.” After a few seconds, Heechul and Hankyung saw Leeteuk’s mouth drop open and his eyes widen. “Yes, yes thank you. We’ll pick up the medicine tomorrow, thank you.”

          As Leeteuk hung up the phone, Kangin asked “What’d they say?”

          “Heechul tested negative for AIDS, but you do have serum sickness. You just have to take a prescription for a couple of weeks,” Leeteuk explained.

          “I don’t have AIDS?” Heechul repeated.

          “No, you don’t,” Leeteuk confirmed. He and Kangin hugged Heechul close. “We’ll go get your medicine tomorrow sweetie. We love you.” Leeteuk kissed the top of Heechul’s head before he and Kangin left. Turning to one another, the couple hugged each other tightly. “He’s gonna be okay, he’s gonna be okay,” Leeteuk whispered as tears fell from his eyes.

          “I know, I’m so relieved,” Kangin agreed.

          Hankyung wrapped his arms around Heechul and pulled him into an embrace. “You’re not sick, you don’t have AIDS,” Hankyung muttered as Heechul sobbed into his shoulder.

          “That means you’re not sick,” Heechul replied. “I didn’t make you sick.”

          “See, everything will be okay, just like I promised,” Hankyung whispered before placing a kiss on Heechul’s lips.

          “I love you, I love you so much,” Heechul cried as he pressed his face against his boyfriend.

          “I love you too baby, and I promise, no matter what happens, I will never stop loving you,” Hankyung reminded as he brushed the tears off Heechul’s cheeks and leaned their foreheads together. 

Before anyone comments, please know that even though this is a fictional AU, I did lots of research so I could be as medically accurate as I possibly could, so as not to offend anyone. This chapter was emotionally hard for me to write, because of the sensititivy of it. I honestly hope none of you were offended by what I wrote, and if you were, I apologize for that. I love you readers and subscribers and ELFs!! - Fangurl P.