(for coxy132)
❊ for: coxy132
❊ title:
❊ pairings: kai/d.o
❊ rating: pg
❊ warnings: very bad descriptions of illness/caretaking duties, unbeta-ed
❊ word count: 2,715
❊ summary: Jongin gets put on boyfriend duties when Kyungsoo gets sick, but Jongin doesn't really mind.
❊ a/n: ahh I feel like the pace is really slow and I'm sorry if it's not exactly what you wanted, but I hope you enjoy it anyway! (I probably have a lot of wrong info in here... please don't trust me to take care of you if you ever get sick OTL (aka this is trash please forgive me))
The first thing Jongin notices when he opens his eyes the utter, unbroken silence that fills the house. There's no noise, not even faintly from the living room or kitchen. The second thing he notices is how bright it is outside - the sun shone through his curtains as if proud of its ability to wake people up from their peaceful, blessedly quiet sleep. Jongin disagrees.
It also meant that it wasn't quiet because everyone else was asleep - Jongdae and Minseok were often up before the sun rose, and the rest of them followed shortly after. Plus, the other members had a habit of being so loud the noise would wake Jongin before they themselves could invade his room and wake him up forcefully (most likely with a bucket of ice cold water to the head).
That meant the only other possibility was that the other EXO members had left him to sleep, purposefully, and now they were all out at the practice room or having fun or whatever the hell they had on their schedule today that their manager hadn't bothered to tell him.
Jongin will be in trouble later, he assumes. Sleepily, Jongin reaches a hand over to the small table that sat between his and Minseok's bed and feels around for his phone, picking it up loosely. It almost drops onto the floor when he lifts it, but his hold tightens before it falls.
10:42.
Jongin can't remember the last time he had slept in this late, a fact which both pleases and alarms him. Is something going on? But he has no missed calls or texts, so he lets his phone rest on his chest and closes his eyes again.
Suddenly, the door creaks open and Jongin almost has a heart attack, heart rate shooting up and adrenaline pulsing through his veins as he pushes himself up. But it's only Kyungsoo, shuffling through the door with a heavy blanket wrapped around his shoulders, looking back at Jongin with a similar (though slightly less alarmed) expression on his face.
"Kyungsoo?" Jongin is the first to speak, voice higher pitched than usual from his surprise, though his body slowly settles back to normal.
The older man blinks back. "You were still home?" His question comes out as a whisper, and he coughs into his blanket.
Jongin raises a brow, and he knows now why the others left him. "Are you sick?"
Kyungsoo scowls and nods, plodding to his bed on the other side of the room. Jongin doesn't ask him any more questions, not wanting to talk, but he gets up just as Kyungsoo slides into bed, striding across the room to their closet. He dresses there, quickly slipping on sweatpants and a less worn shirt, emerging to find Kyungsoo resting, maybe sleeping, peacefully with his eyes closed.
Frowning at the sight, Jongin crosses to the door, exiting and pulling the door until it was almost but not fully closed, and went to the kitchen. He fills a cup with water then looks around for a towel, finding one in a cabinet in one of their bathrooms, and wets it.
The sick vocalist hasn't moved since Jongin left, but he stirs when Jongin pulls the chair from the desk and sits next to him.
"Shh," Jongin whispers. "Sleep. I'll be on boyfriend duties until you get better." Kyungsoo blinks at him, confused, before he recognizes the dancer and nods with a soft smile. He relaxes as Jongin places the wet towel on his forehead (something he wasn't one hundred percent sure worked, but it always seemed to help in dramas and anime).
Soon, Kyungsoo's breathing has evened out and Jongin is sure he's asleep. The latter pulls out his phone, deciding to search for tips on how to care for a sick patient. He gets through a page of search results before zoning out, and decides to just go down to the corner store and ask the lady who always works the counter there - she's a mom, and mothers know everything.
Jongin changes clothes again, this time into jeans and a graphic tee, making himself more presentable to the public, and goes to brush his face and wash his teeth, grabbing a face mask and scribbling a note he puts on his seat beside Kyungsoo's bed on the way out.
The lady, Mrs. Ahn, Jongin had found one day after asking, greets him warmly, as always. Jongin explains his predicament to her and soon he leaves with a bag of medicine and snacks, with a note stuck in the bag with other advice and a "get well soon" note for Kyungsoo. Jongin leaves the convenience store in a good mood, and the fact that he goes unnoticed only makes him happier.
Soon, he finds himself back at the dorm, once again standing beside Kyungsoo's bed, staring down at the sick man, and Jongin wonders whether he should wake the former up to take some of the medicine and eat, or if it would be better for Kyungsoo to sleep more.
Sleep, he decides, so - as quietly as possible - he picks up the bag and takes it to the kitchen to sort through it, taking out the snacks and setting them to one side, the medicine to the other.
Idle now, he wonders what to do. In the past, whenever he hasn't had a schedule, he would normally sleep longer and play around with the other members, or go to the dance studio anyway and just dance, having fun without the stress of other eyes watching and judging him as they did every other moment of his life.
Then his stomach grumbles, and it occurs to him that he hasn't eaten anything all day and it's - according to his phone - 1:32 in the afternoon. Jongin rummages through the refrigerator for any leftovers. He was never all that good at cooking (he had never needed to learn, with the company providing for him after he left home, being in EXO already, and his mother making food every day for his family). Cooking is a handy skill, though, he muses as he pulls out a leftover bowl of jajjangmyun from the last time they got home late and no one felt like cooking. A night ago, or two.
Jongin sits at the island, eating his lunch and browsing the web on his phone. He chats with the other members, too, sending lots of stickers and updating them on Kyungsoo's situation.
They promise to be back by midnight (or, at least, Yixing promises, and none of them disagree) after their impromptu practice, and Jongin sends them a small "fighting" before the break is over, then puts his phone away to wash his dirty bowl and bring the medicine to Kyungsoo.
The glare Jongin receives when he shakes Kyungsoo awake is enough to make him shy away, even though the latter is sick and Jongin could easily overpower him. Smiling weakly, he holds up the (refilled) glass of water in one hand and the small bottle of pills in the other. "It'll make you get better faster," he pleads.
Kyungsoo shakes his head and turns to lay on his side, facing away from Jongin.
"If you don't take this yourself I'll put one in my mouth and feed you like a mother bird feeds her young." Jongin crossed his arms and tries not to laugh at the absurdity of his statement. That was the weirdest thing he's said in a while, but it seemed to work. Kyungsoo flopped back onto his back with a grin on his face, half laughing and half coughing.
Jongin cracks, smiling, but helps Kyungsoo sit up and pats his back, slightly worried, until Kyungsoo regains his breath.
"You'll take the medicine?" Jongin reaffirms, gesturing to where he had set down the bottle and water.
Kyungsoo nods, reaching out a hand for it.
Jongin watches him anxiously as he downs the pill, pulling a similar unpleasant face. "Do you feel better?"
Scoffing, Kyungsoo shakes his head. "That's not how medicine works, Jongin." His voice is still raspy and a whisper, making Jongin shake his head.
"You should know your limits by now," he berates gently. "Don't overdo it next time. You aren't invincible, and your health and voice are both really important to you, right?"
Reluctantly, Kyungsoo nods, and Jongin smiles back, satisfied.
"Are you hungry? Have you eaten anything today?"
Kyungsoo shakes his head. "Threw up at five in the morning."
"Are you hungry?" Jongin could probably find more food to eat, or look up a recipe online. It wouldn't be good for Kyungsoo to not eat.
But Kyungsoo shakes his head, and hands Jongin back the cup of water. "I just want sleep."
Jongin nods, and Kyungsoo settles back down, eyes closing as soon as his head hits his pillow. After tucking the blankets in around his patient, Jongin leaves to go find something Kyungsoo could eat.
Five minutes later has Jongin staring at a pile of fruit: bananas, apples, pears, and a watermelon that one of the other members had gotten from their parents last week, but had been sitting in the fridge until now.
He could make fruit salad with this. That wasn't a bad idea, actually, it really only required the use of a knife, and Jongin wasn't totally hopeless in that aspect, even though one of the older members usually did the cooking. He and Sehun often did the menial, mindless tasks, like chopping vegetables, as the youngest were so prone to be assigned to.
Jongin washes his hands before touching the fruit any more, then gets a bowl to keep the peels in. He takes out a small knife from the drawer and carefully slices each fruit into pieces, setting them apart in groups as he finishes. The peels go in the trash, and the bowl is rinsed to hold the fruit.
Afterwards, Jongin takes a step back to look at his finished product. A masterpiece, if he could say so himself. Satisfied, he covers the fruit with saran wrap and places it in the fridge, to be eaten later when Kyungsoo wakes up again. For now, Jongin could wander aimlessly again, looking around for something to do.
There isn't much, being home essentially alone. They had various games and gaming consoles, but they were mostly two player, and Jongin knew that he had a tendency to get loud when he played games. So he looked for something else to do instead.
His laptop calls to him from its spot on his desk when he re-enters his room (for the thousandth time that day - he probably walked a mile around the dorm trying to find something to do other than roam around aimlessly) so he pulls it onto his lap and sits on his bed, back against the wall. There would probably be news articles or similar things he could read. It rarely hurt to check up on how EXO was doing among netizens as well.
Kyungsoo stirs and wakes once more, and Jongin wastes no time in closing his laptop to stand by the former's bed.
"Do you need anything?"
"Water?" Kyungsoo asks, looking up at Jongin with big eyes.
"Right away," Jongin nods, leaving the room to refill the glass of water. He pauses for a second in the kitchen, taking the fruit bowl out too, and grabbing two forks on the way back.
"Thank you," Kyungsoo says upon Jongin's return, gratefully downing half the cup. He reaches for the fruit too, and Jongin shares it with him, picking up a slice or two of fruit for himself.
For the most part, Jongin stares at Kyungsoo. "My pleasure." He watches the way he eats and examines the redness of his eyes and nose. Kyungsoo no longer looks on the verge of death, and Jongin is happy, even though he is still sick and sniffling.
As soon as they reach the bottom of the bowl, Kyungsoo sucks in a breath, pushing Jongin away in his attempt to rush to the bathroom. Jongin follows behind, startled, and listens to Kyungsoo retch into the toilet before he reaches the open door to see Kyungsoo kneeling on the ground.
"Kyungsoo? Are you okay?" Jongin asks, alarmed. "Was it the fruit?"
"I just don't think I can keep anything down is all." Kyungsoo wipes at his mouth with the back of his hand, and Jongin hands him a napkin. "Could be the stomach flu."
Jongin rubs soothing circles onto his boyfriend's back, kneeling on the cold tile beside him. "Can you stand up?"
Kyungsoo nods. "I'm fine." Jongin helps him up anyway, keeping a close watch as Kyungsoo rinses his mouth at the sink.
They walk back to their shared room together, slowly, with Kyungsoo frowning in concentration and Jongin intent on making everything as easy for Kyungsoo as possible. Kyungsoo immediately falls back into his bed, pulling the covers back up to cover him, and he asks Jongin to talk to him for a while.
Jongin complies, and Kyungsoo slowly falls asleep. It doesn't happen as quickly this time, Kyungsoo still fighting the unpleasant taste in his mouth and stomach, but his unrest fades into exhaustion, and the smooth tone of Jongin's voice lulls him to sleep. Jongin keeps talking, even after he's sure the sick male has once again fallen asleep, with the intention of giving Kyungsoo sweet dreams, but he eventually stops talking, starting to feel tried as well. He rests his head on his arms, sitting on the floor and leaning on the bed.
The others get back to the dorm just as the couple wake up, and they immediately flock to their room, wanting to know how Kyungsoo is doing, if he's feeling any better, Jongin didn't do anything while he was sick and they were gone, right? Kyungsoo laughs them off and assures them in his hoarse voice that, yes, he was going to be fine, and he had just lost his voice, everything could resume as scheduled tomorrow, and no, Jongin was a perfect caretaker. Jongin nods happily at that, but soon stands up to usher the others out at a pleading glance from Kyungsoo.
"How are you?" Jongin asks once everyone, save Minseok who stays to grab a change of clothes from the closet before walking out after the rest of them, is gone.
"Feeling better," Kyungsoo replies.
His voice sounds better, too, and Jongin proudly says, "It's because you took that medicine."
"If you say so."
Jongin headbutts Kyungsoo lightly on the arm. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Are you tired?" Kyungsoo changes the subject.
"A little," Jongin admits. "How'd you know?"
Laughing, he replies, "It's midnight, and you only do that when you're tired. You should sleep."
Jongin smiles sleepily. "We've stayed up later before. Besides, I wanted to make sure you were getting better."
"I've been getting better all day," Kyungsoo says. "Listen, can't you hear my voice? It was a lot worse in the morning. Thank you, Jongin."
"My pleasure." But his reply is muffled by Kyungsoo's lap, his head having dropped to rest there.
Kyungsoo lets him stay like that for a moment, brushing combing his fingers through the younger's hair fondly. "Come on, get up, what if you get sick?"
"I'm blaming you," comes the reply, with no intention of lifting his head.
"I'll call Joonmyun to come move you if you don't get up," Kyungsoo threatens, and Jongin complies, slowly.
"I'm sleeping. Good night!" Jongin plops face down onto his bed, without taking his clothes off or washing up, and Kyungsoo sigh, resigned to letting him sleep like that. He lies back down, snuggling into his blanket, and closes his eyes, ready for more sleep despite having already slept through most of the day.
-
When Jongin wakes up, he feels like he's in a haze, and the world is too hot, and the lights too bright. He opens his mouth to try to speak, but he only coughs violently, and he doesn't try again.
"Jongin?" A face appears above him - and angel? No, just Kyungsoo. But Kyungsoo is an angel.
Jongin cracks a smile, looking up at his boyfriend's worried face. "You got me sick."
❊ title:
❊ pairings: kai/d.o
❊ rating: pg
❊ warnings: very bad descriptions of illness/caretaking duties, unbeta-ed
❊ word count: 2,715
❊ summary: Jongin gets put on boyfriend duties when Kyungsoo gets sick, but Jongin doesn't really mind.
❊ a/n: ahh I feel like the pace is really slow and I'm sorry if it's not exactly what you wanted, but I hope you enjoy it anyway! (I probably have a lot of wrong info in here... please don't trust me to take care of you if you ever get sick OTL (aka this is trash please forgive me))
The first thing Jongin notices when he opens his eyes the utter, unbroken silence that fills the house. There's no noise, not even faintly from the living room or kitchen. The second thing he notices is how bright it is outside - the sun shone through his curtains as if proud of its ability to wake people up from their peaceful, blessedly quiet sleep. Jongin disagrees.
It also meant that it wasn't quiet because everyone else was asleep - Jongdae and Minseok were often up before the sun rose, and the rest of them followed shortly after. Plus, the other members had a habit of being so loud the noise would wake Jongin before they themselves could invade his room and wake him up forcefully (most likely with a bucket of ice cold water to the head).
That meant the only other possibility was that the other EXO members had left him to sleep, purposefully, and now they were all out at the practice room or having fun or whatever the hell they had on their schedule today that their manager hadn't bothered to tell him.
Jongin will be in trouble later, he assumes. Sleepily, Jongin reaches a hand over to the small table that sat between his and Minseok's bed and feels around for his phone, picking it up loosely. It almost drops onto the floor when he lifts it, but his hold tightens before it falls.
10:42.
Jongin can't remember the last time he had slept in this late, a fact which both pleases and alarms him. Is something going on? But he has no missed calls or texts, so he lets his phone rest on his chest and closes his eyes again.
Suddenly, the door creaks open and Jongin almost has a heart attack, heart rate shooting up and adrenaline pulsing through his veins as he pushes himself up. But it's only Kyungsoo, shuffling through the door with a heavy blanket wrapped around his shoulders, looking back at Jongin with a similar (though slightly less alarmed) expression on his face.
"Kyungsoo?" Jongin is the first to speak, voice higher pitched than usual from his surprise, though his body slowly settles back to normal.
The older man blinks back. "You were still home?" His question comes out as a whisper, and he coughs into his blanket.
Jongin raises a brow, and he knows now why the others left him. "Are you sick?"
Kyungsoo scowls and nods, plodding to his bed on the other side of the room. Jongin doesn't ask him any more questions, not wanting to talk, but he gets up just as Kyungsoo slides into bed, striding across the room to their closet. He dresses there, quickly slipping on sweatpants and a less worn shirt, emerging to find Kyungsoo resting, maybe sleeping, peacefully with his eyes closed.
Frowning at the sight, Jongin crosses to the door, exiting and pulling the door until it was almost but not fully closed, and went to the kitchen. He fills a cup with water then looks around for a towel, finding one in a cabinet in one of their bathrooms, and wets it.
The sick vocalist hasn't moved since Jongin left, but he stirs when Jongin pulls the chair from the desk and sits next to him.
"Shh," Jongin whispers. "Sleep. I'll be on boyfriend duties until you get better." Kyungsoo blinks at him, confused, before he recognizes the dancer and nods with a soft smile. He relaxes as Jongin places the wet towel on his forehead (something he wasn't one hundred percent sure worked, but it always seemed to help in dramas and anime).
Soon, Kyungsoo's breathing has evened out and Jongin is sure he's asleep. The latter pulls out his phone, deciding to search for tips on how to care for a sick patient. He gets through a page of search results before zoning out, and decides to just go down to the corner store and ask the lady who always works the counter there - she's a mom, and mothers know everything.
Jongin changes clothes again, this time into jeans and a graphic tee, making himself more presentable to the public, and goes to brush his face and wash his teeth, grabbing a face mask and scribbling a note he puts on his seat beside Kyungsoo's bed on the way out.
The lady, Mrs. Ahn, Jongin had found one day after asking, greets him warmly, as always. Jongin explains his predicament to her and soon he leaves with a bag of medicine and snacks, with a note stuck in the bag with other advice and a "get well soon" note for Kyungsoo. Jongin leaves the convenience store in a good mood, and the fact that he goes unnoticed only makes him happier.
Soon, he finds himself back at the dorm, once again standing beside Kyungsoo's bed, staring down at the sick man, and Jongin wonders whether he should wake the former up to take some of the medicine and eat, or if it would be better for Kyungsoo to sleep more.
Sleep, he decides, so - as quietly as possible - he picks up the bag and takes it to the kitchen to sort through it, taking out the snacks and setting them to one side, the medicine to the other.
Idle now, he wonders what to do. In the past, whenever he hasn't had a schedule, he would normally sleep longer and play around with the other members, or go to the dance studio anyway and just dance, having fun without the stress of other eyes watching and judging him as they did every other moment of his life.
Then his stomach grumbles, and it occurs to him that he hasn't eaten anything all day and it's - according to his phone - 1:32 in the afternoon. Jongin rummages through the refrigerator for any leftovers. He was never all that good at cooking (he had never needed to learn, with the company providing for him after he left home, being in EXO already, and his mother making food every day for his family). Cooking is a handy skill, though, he muses as he pulls out a leftover bowl of jajjangmyun from the last time they got home late and no one felt like cooking. A night ago, or two.
Jongin sits at the island, eating his lunch and browsing the web on his phone. He chats with the other members, too, sending lots of stickers and updating them on Kyungsoo's situation.
They promise to be back by midnight (or, at least, Yixing promises, and none of them disagree) after their impromptu practice, and Jongin sends them a small "fighting" before the break is over, then puts his phone away to wash his dirty bowl and bring the medicine to Kyungsoo.
The glare Jongin receives when he shakes Kyungsoo awake is enough to make him shy away, even though the latter is sick and Jongin could easily overpower him. Smiling weakly, he holds up the (refilled) glass of water in one hand and the small bottle of pills in the other. "It'll make you get better faster," he pleads.
Kyungsoo shakes his head and turns to lay on his side, facing away from Jongin.
"If you don't take this yourself I'll put one in my mouth and feed you like a mother bird feeds her young." Jongin crossed his arms and tries not to laugh at the absurdity of his statement. That was the weirdest thing he's said in a while, but it seemed to work. Kyungsoo flopped back onto his back with a grin on his face, half laughing and half coughing.
Jongin cracks, smiling, but helps Kyungsoo sit up and pats his back, slightly worried, until Kyungsoo regains his breath.
"You'll take the medicine?" Jongin reaffirms, gesturing to where he had set down the bottle and water.
Kyungsoo nods, reaching out a hand for it.
Jongin watches him anxiously as he downs the pill, pulling a similar unpleasant face. "Do you feel better?"
Scoffing, Kyungsoo shakes his head. "That's not how medicine works, Jongin." His voice is still raspy and a whisper, making Jongin shake his head.
"You should know your limits by now," he berates gently. "Don't overdo it next time. You aren't invincible, and your health and voice are both really important to you, right?"
Reluctantly, Kyungsoo nods, and Jongin smiles back, satisfied.
"Are you hungry? Have you eaten anything today?"
Kyungsoo shakes his head. "Threw up at five in the morning."
"Are you hungry?" Jongin could probably find more food to eat, or look up a recipe online. It wouldn't be good for Kyungsoo to not eat.
But Kyungsoo shakes his head, and hands Jongin back the cup of water. "I just want sleep."
Jongin nods, and Kyungsoo settles back down, eyes closing as soon as his head hits his pillow. After tucking the blankets in around his patient, Jongin leaves to go find something Kyungsoo could eat.
Five minutes later has Jongin staring at a pile of fruit: bananas, apples, pears, and a watermelon that one of the other members had gotten from their parents last week, but had been sitting in the fridge until now.
He could make fruit salad with this. That wasn't a bad idea, actually, it really only required the use of a knife, and Jongin wasn't totally hopeless in that aspect, even though one of the older members usually did the cooking. He and Sehun often did the menial, mindless tasks, like chopping vegetables, as the youngest were so prone to be assigned to.
Jongin washes his hands before touching the fruit any more, then gets a bowl to keep the peels in. He takes out a small knife from the drawer and carefully slices each fruit into pieces, setting them apart in groups as he finishes. The peels go in the trash, and the bowl is rinsed to hold the fruit.
Afterwards, Jongin takes a step back to look at his finished product. A masterpiece, if he could say so himself. Satisfied, he covers the fruit with saran wrap and places it in the fridge, to be eaten later when Kyungsoo wakes up again. For now, Jongin could wander aimlessly again, looking around for something to do.
There isn't much, being home essentially alone. They had various games and gaming consoles, but they were mostly two player, and Jongin knew that he had a tendency to get loud when he played games. So he looked for something else to do instead.
His laptop calls to him from its spot on his desk when he re-enters his room (for the thousandth time that day - he probably walked a mile around the dorm trying to find something to do other than roam around aimlessly) so he pulls it onto his lap and sits on his bed, back against the wall. There would probably be news articles or similar things he could read. It rarely hurt to check up on how EXO was doing among netizens as well.
Kyungsoo stirs and wakes once more, and Jongin wastes no time in closing his laptop to stand by the former's bed.
"Do you need anything?"
"Water?" Kyungsoo asks, looking up at Jongin with big eyes.
"Right away," Jongin nods, leaving the room to refill the glass of water. He pauses for a second in the kitchen, taking the fruit bowl out too, and grabbing two forks on the way back.
"Thank you," Kyungsoo says upon Jongin's return, gratefully downing half the cup. He reaches for the fruit too, and Jongin shares it with him, picking up a slice or two of fruit for himself.
For the most part, Jongin stares at Kyungsoo. "My pleasure." He watches the way he eats and examines the redness of his eyes and nose. Kyungsoo no longer looks on the verge of death, and Jongin is happy, even though he is still sick and sniffling.
As soon as they reach the bottom of the bowl, Kyungsoo sucks in a breath, pushing Jongin away in his attempt to rush to the bathroom. Jongin follows behind, startled, and listens to Kyungsoo retch into the toilet before he reaches the open door to see Kyungsoo kneeling on the ground.
"Kyungsoo? Are you okay?" Jongin asks, alarmed. "Was it the fruit?"
"I just don't think I can keep anything down is all." Kyungsoo wipes at his mouth with the back of his hand, and Jongin hands him a napkin. "Could be the stomach flu."
Jongin rubs soothing circles onto his boyfriend's back, kneeling on the cold tile beside him. "Can you stand up?"
Kyungsoo nods. "I'm fine." Jongin helps him up anyway, keeping a close watch as Kyungsoo rinses his mouth at the sink.
They walk back to their shared room together, slowly, with Kyungsoo frowning in concentration and Jongin intent on making everything as easy for Kyungsoo as possible. Kyungsoo immediately falls back into his bed, pulling the covers back up to cover him, and he asks Jongin to talk to him for a while.
Jongin complies, and Kyungsoo slowly falls asleep. It doesn't happen as quickly this time, Kyungsoo still fighting the unpleasant taste in his mouth and stomach, but his unrest fades into exhaustion, and the smooth tone of Jongin's voice lulls him to sleep. Jongin keeps talking, even after he's sure the sick male has once again fallen asleep, with the intention of giving Kyungsoo sweet dreams, but he eventually stops talking, starting to feel tried as well. He rests his head on his arms, sitting on the floor and leaning on the bed.
The others get back to the dorm just as the couple wake up, and they immediately flock to their room, wanting to know how Kyungsoo is doing, if he's feeling any better, Jongin didn't do anything while he was sick and they were gone, right? Kyungsoo laughs them off and assures them in his hoarse voice that, yes, he was going to be fine, and he had just lost his voice, everything could resume as scheduled tomorrow, and no, Jongin was a perfect caretaker. Jongin nods happily at that, but soon stands up to usher the others out at a pleading glance from Kyungsoo.
"How are you?" Jongin asks once everyone, save Minseok who stays to grab a change of clothes from the closet before walking out after the rest of them, is gone.
"Feeling better," Kyungsoo replies.
His voice sounds better, too, and Jongin proudly says, "It's because you took that medicine."
"If you say so."
Jongin headbutts Kyungsoo lightly on the arm. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Are you tired?" Kyungsoo changes the subject.
"A little," Jongin admits. "How'd you know?"
Laughing, he replies, "It's midnight, and you only do that when you're tired. You should sleep."
Jongin smiles sleepily. "We've stayed up later before. Besides, I wanted to make sure you were getting better."
"I've been getting better all day," Kyungsoo says. "Listen, can't you hear my voice? It was a lot worse in the morning. Thank you, Jongin."
"My pleasure." But his reply is muffled by Kyungsoo's lap, his head having dropped to rest there.
Kyungsoo lets him stay like that for a moment, brushing combing his fingers through the younger's hair fondly. "Come on, get up, what if you get sick?"
"I'm blaming you," comes the reply, with no intention of lifting his head.
"I'll call Joonmyun to come move you if you don't get up," Kyungsoo threatens, and Jongin complies, slowly.
"I'm sleeping. Good night!" Jongin plops face down onto his bed, without taking his clothes off or washing up, and Kyungsoo sigh, resigned to letting him sleep like that. He lies back down, snuggling into his blanket, and closes his eyes, ready for more sleep despite having already slept through most of the day.
-
When Jongin wakes up, he feels like he's in a haze, and the world is too hot, and the lights too bright. He opens his mouth to try to speak, but he only coughs violently, and he doesn't try again.
"Jongin?" A face appears above him - and angel? No, just Kyungsoo. But Kyungsoo is an angel.
Jongin cracks a smile, looking up at his boyfriend's worried face. "You got me sick."