cuddlepilefics

[cuddlepilefics]

Magic overuse

Fandom: Ateez

Sickie: Hongjoong

Caregiver: Ateez

Magic AU

Domaystic2025: 23 stressful days @domaystic

Maylancholy2025: 20 overworked and collapsing

Whumpay2025: 9 magic overuse @whumpay

No one’s POV.:

Things had been a little hectic in the Ateez coven lately. Especially since San and Wooyoung had returned home with a dragon egg, nobody knew where they had gotten it from. Knowing pair caring for a hatchling would inevitably end in disaster, Hongjoong had promptly confiscated the egg and entrusted it to Seonghwa. The eldest had his way with magical creatures, so Hongjoong wasn’t worried about the care it’d receive. San and Wooyoung weren’t please about the arrangement though and had decided to go on a strike. The timing was bad, the summer solstice approaching, so the entire coven was flooded with orders for spells, charms and potions.

Jongho had barely been out of the kitchen lately, trying to keep up with the high demand of potions. Usually, Seonghwa helped him with it but the eldest had his hands full, caring for their newly hatched pet, so the maknae tried to handle the brewing by himself. He’d manage, he was sure of it, as long as Seonghwa kept Haku out of the kitchen and from setting their house on fire, it’d be fine. Yunho and Mingi spent most of their days out in the woods, gathering ingredients their friends needed for their spells or potions, while making sure the perimeter was safe. Tensions often flared close to the summer solstice and the often worried the wolves in the east might forget about the lines of their territory but so far, they hadn’t encountered any.

Hongjoong was drowning in orders, despite Yeosang’s best efforts to help him out. Usually, San and Wooyoung handled enchanting objects that had been dropped off at their house, while Hongjoong and Yeosang focused on spells and charms but with the chaos duo still sulking especially now that Haku had hatched, the leader had to take over their duties. He wasn’t all that confident in his enchantments but it would have to do for the time being.

“Hyung, don’t you think you should take a break?”, Yeosang hummed, when Hongjoong shut his spell book with a thud only to reach for a different one. Pinching the bridge of his nose, the older sighed: “I can’t, Sang. I’m falling behind already.” – “You know performing magic without paying proper attention is dangerous, hyung. I can tell, you have a headache, so I doubt you’re able to focus and you’re already slurring your words a little”, Yeosang softly pointed out, “Go have some water and check on Seonghwa-hyung, hm? Last I heard, he wanted to teach Haku how to fly.” With a defeated nod, Hongjoong turned and shuffled out of the room, hoping to find Seonghwa in less of a mess than he himself was in.

Stepping out into the yard, the leader took a deep breath. His shoulders dropped as the deep pine-scent grounded him. It was surprisingly quiet out here, compared to the coven house, which was always chaotic and even more so during such stressful days. “You’re not gonna fall, I promise”, Hongjoong heard Seonghwa call, chuckling as he spotted the elder. Seonghwa had placed the dragon hatchling on a tree branch, so it could try to glide down to either the witch’s outstretched arms beneath or the soft moss, covering the forest floor. Walking up next to his hyung, Hongjoong smiled: “I see someone’s cautious of heights.” – “Oh, hi Joong”, Seonghwa laughed, startled, “Yeah but we’re working on it. How’re you holding up?” – “I’m okay”, the leader hummed, “Yeosang sent me to get some fresh air because he’s afraid I might get careless.” Nodding towards a tree stump, the older smiled: “Go sit, yeah? You look tired.”

Seonghwa eventually managed to coax Haku down, gently catching the little dragon and carrying it in his arms. Plopping down in the moss opposite Hongjoong, he hummed: “You’re running thin, Joong.” The leader saw no point in denying it because his hyung was great at reading auras and even if he wasn’t, they had known each other for enough centuries to give away the way they felt. “It’s my own fault though, isn’t it?”, Hongjoong smiled bitterly, “Sannie and Wooyoung are old enough to make their own decisions and deal with the consequences. I’m not sure I was right to interfere, so I can’t blame them for being upset. I feel mainly sorry for Yeosangie and Jongho-yah because their workload increased due to us two trying to take care of this mess.” Seoghwa patted Haku’s head and hummed: “It’s true, they are old enough to fix their own messes but I know they still seem like babies in our eyes and it’s hard to refrain from protecting them. I don’t think that they are able to see that your decision was for their own safety and that of the coven but I’m sure they’ll come around. As for Yeosang and Jongho, it’s not fair for them to feel the consequences but their stronger than you give them credit for. I know they can handle it.”

Their heads shot up at a crunching noise from between the trees. A moment later, Yunho stepped out behind the tree line, Mingi following close behind. “Hey hyungs, hey Haku”, Yunho smiled, “The house is still in one piece, good job.” – “From the outside”, Hongjoong muttered, dropping his head into his hands. Patting the leader’s shoulder, Seonghwa nodded his thanks and hummed: “I see, the two of you were successful?” – “Oh, yeah! We were!”, Mingi beamed, holding up his satchel, “You want a few wild black berries? You look like you need them.��� Hongjoong accepted a handful of berries and gave his dongsaeng a tired smile. “Thanks, I’ll go back to work in a moment. If you happen to run into San and Wooyoung, tell them I’m sorry. They’re avoiding me, so I can’t tell them myself”, the leader sighed before popping a berry between his lips.

The sweet, yet slightly tart flavor of the snack refreshed Hongjoong and he soon returned to his work, despite Yeosang’s worried glances. With Haku perched on his shoulder, Seonghwa sauntered into the kitchen to check on Jongho, confident the hatchling was far to exhausted to cause a ruckus right now. Still, the maknae looked critical when he got company. “Everything going alright so far?”, the eldest hummed, earning a soft glare. Pointing his wooden spoon at his hyung, Jongho muttered: “Who do you take me for? Of course, it’s going alright.” – “Sorry”, Seonghwa laughed, as he reached for a kettle to boil some water before making his way over to their tea cabinet. “Everything alright?”, the maknae asked, much softer now as he watched the older pick out a couple of herbs, he recognized well enough. Giving his dongsaeng a small smile, Seonghwa whispered: “Hongjoong’s overworking himself. He doesn’t have much magic left and is still overusing it. I can see his aura dimming by the hour.”

Muttering something under his breath, Jongho reached for a small vial and handed it to Seonghwa. He was upset at San and Wooyoung for their childish antics but knew the last thing Seonghwa needed was for him to vent his frustration too. “I sadly can’t offer any power amplifying potion but I got some health potion left over from one of the orders if you wanna add that to his tea, hyung”, the maknae offered, handing the other the vial. Giving the younger a grateful smile, Seonghwa also added a spoonful of honey to mask the taste and hummed: “This should do. Thanks, Jong. Let’s see if we can keep him functional through these stressful days.”

“Why can’t you grow the fuck up”, Mingi spat, “I get that you’re not happy with hyung’s decision but seriously. The way it is right now, you’re taking it out on everyone.” – “It’s true”, Yunho sighed, soothingly resting his hand against Mingi’s back. San and Wooyoung made eye contact, not expecting their friend to be this mad at them because he hadn’t previously had any part in the argument. Furrowing his brows, San muttered: “How are we taking it out on everyone?” – “Are you dumb-“ – “Mingi-yah, shush”, Yunho warned, “Well, who do you think is brewing the potions on his own while Seonghwa-hyung takes care of the thing you two brought home? Who do you think is covering Hongjoong’s work while he covers both of yours? Mingi and I still get away mostly unscathed but we need to watch our friends fall apart unable to do much to prevent it, other than deliver a message from Hongjoong-hyung. He said, he’s sorry. Would’ve told you himself but you’re not really giving him a chance to. Did you know his magical aura has faded almost completely?”

Not wanting Mingi to say anything hurtful, Yunho dragged the younger back out again, hoping their words might have knocked some sense into their friends. While San and Wooyoung still contemplated, a shrill screech made their blood run cold.

Seonghwa had just delivered Hongjoong his tea, Haku still perched on his shoulder, when the leader suddenly crumpled tk the floor. The eldest had only barely managed to catch Hongjoong in time before he could hit his head, while Haku panickedly flapped his wings. Yeosang too was by his hyungs' side in an instant, gently touching his fingertips to the leader's temple. “There’s nothing left”, he informed Seonghwa as he brushed a strand of hair out of Hongjoong's face, “And he's burning up, hyung.” – “Can you help me get him to the couch?”, the older hummed, trying to keep the fear out of his voice. In a combined effort, Seonghwa and Yeosang moved Hongjoong to the couch and elevated his legs on a stack of pillows. Jongho brought a glass of water, having overheard the commotion.

When Wooyoung rushed to the living room, the first thing he heard was Haku's distressed cry, the little dragon climbing all over Hongjoong's chest. Gently tapping a finger to the leader's temple, Seonghwa funneled some of his own power into the other, who soon regained consciousness with a pained groan. “Stay down, Joong”, the eldest whispered, “You'll be okay, just rest for now.” – “Hyung, what happened?”, Wooyoung gasped, heart racing as he took in Hongjoong's ghostly pale complexion. Glaring at his dongsaeng, Seonghwa hissed: “Overused his magic obviously.” – “’m sorry”, the younger mumbled, glacing at San who had walked up behind him. “Is he going to be alright?”, San asked quietly, arm wrapped around Wooyoung’s waist for comfort. Seonghwa pinched the bridge of his nose but it was Hongjoong himself, who answered: “I’m fine, Sannie.” – “No, you not”, the younger denied, “and it’s our fault.”

Despite the climbing fever, Hongjoong slowly became more coherent, weakly apologizing. “Would you please stop, hyung?”, Wooyoung shushed as he took a seat on the edge of the couch, “If you’ll hear it, I am the one who’s sorry.” – “So am I”, San piped in, resting his hand on Wooyoung’s shoulder. Gently petting Haku as the dragon curled up on the leader’s tummy, Wooyoung hummed: “You were right in making Seonghwa-hyung care for him. I don’t know what we were thinking but we would be in way over our heads caring for him and he actually seems to be pretty well behaved.” – “Just a little scared of heights”, Hongjoong chuckled, closing his eyes. That made the others laugh too and Wooyoung added: “Thanks for taking such good care of Haku, Seonghwa-hyung.” – “And thanks to the rest of you for keeping this business running while we childishly abandoned our duties”, San sighed, glancing at the chaos of enchanted items on the work desk.

San and Wooyoung hurried to get to work, while Hongjoong and Haku rested on the couch. With the little dragon supervised, Seonghwa went to trade places with Jongho, so the maknae could finally take a break. Jongho took the opportunity to throw together a nourishing meal for Hongjoong, well aware that the older had been skipping his meals to keep up with the demands of his work but he wouldn’t be able to recover his magic if he didn’t take care of his body. “How’re you feeling, hyung”, Jongho whispered as he placed the plate on the coffee table. Blearily blinking up at his dongsaeng, Hongjoong mumbled: “Dizzy, everything hurts.” – “You didn’t even get to drink your tea. Hang on. Do you think you can sit up?”, the maknae hummed, coaxing Haku to move to Hongjoong’s lap instead, “Here, drink something.” – “Thank you, Jong”, the leader winced as he sat up. The tea seemed to soothe the headache a little and Jongho and Haku kept him company while he forced down some of the food.

When Yunho and Mingi returned from the forest, they were equally shocked and relieved because they hadn’t expected Hongjoong to burn himself out that fast but at least, San and Wooyoung had returned to their usual coven dynamics. “Just for a bit to bring down your fever”, Yunho shushed sympathetically when the cold cloth, he draped over Hongjoong’s forehead made the leader shiver. Brushing his thumb over the leader’s temple, Yunho muttered: “I don’t need my magic as much when I’m out foraging, I’ll share some with you if you accept it.” Though he hated taking from his dongsaengs, Hongjoong gave a small nod, relaxing as a wave of warmth flooded him, the headache receding. “It’s not enough for you to actually perform magic but you should feel less lousy, so you might be able to rest more peacefully”, Yunho explained as he removed his hand.

For the rest of the day, the coven house was surprisingly quiet only the soft muttering of spells and the occasional clinking of a pot being heard as the members worked while Hongjoong slept on the couch. It would be a while till he’d fully recover his magic but with Seonghwa’s potions and the power of the summer solstice, he’d be alright.

[cuddlepilefics]

Well, it sounds to me like you need a little bit of TLC.

Fandom: Stray Kids

Sickie: Seungmin

Caregiver: mainly Felix

Prompts:

Feveruary 2025: 13 “I wouldn’t even trust you to boil tea in your current condition.”, 24 “Don’t you think you should stay home today?”, 28 “Well, it sounds to me like you need a little bit of TLC.”, alt 4 sneezing fit @feveruary

Fluffbingo:  forehead kiss @flufftober

March whumpness 2025: 1 “I’m fine.” @marchwhumpness

No one’s POV.:

“Don’t you think you should stay home today?”, Felix hummed, voice even huskier than usual as he had just woken up. He dropped his spoon into the bowl of cereal and got up from the dining table to check on Seungmin, who had just shuffled out to the kitchen, dressed for a day of schedule. Shaking his head, the younger suppressed a sniffle and claimed: “I’m fine.” – “You probably don’t want to hear it but you don’t look fine”, Felix pointed out, taking Seungmin by surprise when he cupped his cheeks. The vocalist pulled away and shrugged: “Looks can be deceiving.” – “Yeah, but- You’re also running a fever”, the Aussie frowned, “Are you going to claim, your temperature can be deceiving?” – “Your hands were cold, so your perception was probably off”, Seungmin hummed, scanning the counter while discreetly running the cuff of his sleeve under his nose.

None of his options for breakfast looked appealing at all to Seungmin, probably because his throat ached, but he knew he’d need the energy to get through the day. Defeated, he opted for a fruit smoothie and winced at the sound of the blender. Gosh, why did his head feel like it’d split in half just because there was a normal everyday noise? “What’s first today?”, he yawned, barely able to avoid an embarrassing voice crack. Pulling out his phone, Felix scanned over their schedule and smiled: “Lucky you. Meeting in the morning, photoshoot around noon and then after lunch, we’ll have dance practice for the rest of the day.” Seungmin groaned. How was he lucky? There was no way he’d be able to focus during the meeting. He was indeed running a fever, so being cooked under the professional lighting would definitely make it worse. Not to mention dancing. That sounded like hell.

“What? The meeting is chill, you won’t have to do much but sit there. You can rest your voice during the photoshoot. Just smile and look pretty as you always do”, Felix chuckled, “You won’t be participating during dance practice anyway, so since it’s last for the day, you’ll get home early.” – “Why wouldn’t I participate?!”, Seungmin huffed, forcing down his smoothie. Giving the vocalist an incredulous look, Felix sighed: “You don’t really think that Chan will let you once he had a look at you?” The younger wanted to argue back but his nose had started to itch and he had to turn to the side, catching a throaty sneeze in the cuff of his sleeve. “Bless you, is your throat ok-“, Felix frowned but got cut off by a second, more forceful sneeze. “Ow”, Seungmin sniffled and massaged his throat. When he caught the Aussie’s look, he shot him a glare though, warning him not to mention it.

Despite not wanting to let on that he was feeling a bit under the weather, Seungmin still put on a scarf that didn’t exactly match with the rest of his outfit. At least it protected his throat and felt soft enough not to irritate his fever-sensitive skin. He had downed something for the headache after he finished his smoothie but so far, it hadn’t kicked in and he really prayed it would before the meeting. If only his nose would stop bothering him. “Did you bring tissues?”, Felix asked worriedly, watching the vocalist scrub at his face. Glaring at the Aussie with watering eyes, Seungmin groaned: “Of co-ourse. Do you- do you think I’m stu-huh hNXT-uh! H- hNXT heh- hNXT *sniff* Heh'ESHHuh!“ – “Bless!”, Felix laughed, “You should probably use one then. Stop stifling though. You’ll hurt your head.”

“You want to what?! No! Most definitely not. What were you thinking?”, Chan frowned closely scanning Seungmin. Even to Felix, who had seen the younger this morning, it was obvious that the trip to the company building had been draining already. Seeing Seungmin’s face fall, the leader added: “I really think you should’ve stayed home today. You don’t look well at all and dance practice is absolutely out of question.” – “But I’m fine, hyung”, Seungmin sighed, cursing his voice for ruining his argument by cracking. Chan shook his head: “You’re not. I can tell you’re running a fever just by looking at your eyes and you never sneeze like this unless you’re sick.” – “Like what?”, the younger pouted, scrubbing at his nose as he hoped it wouldn’t betray him. “In fits like you just did when you walked in”, Chan sighed, “Really, Seung, take it easy today.”

Seungmin didn’t intend to overdo it. He just wanted to participate like everyone else, nothing more but also nothing less. The meeting truly wasn’t so bad, if only his nose hadn’t been so incredibly itchy. It seemed Chan had a point, Seungmin found himself caught in multiple sneezing fits over the course of the meeting, which he of course stifled as to not disrupt the conversation. As Felix had predicted, by the end of the meeting, Seungmin had a splitting headache and his eyes watered from the built up congestion and pain. He couldn’t imagine the discomfort of standing under the flood lights and have his pictures taken.

Once the meeting was finally over, Seungmin reached for his water glass desperate to soothe his throat. Just when he was about to lift it to his lips, he was overcome by another sneeze. “Heh’ESH! Heh-Heh’ESHHuh! H-Heh'ESHHuh!” – “Bless you”, Jeongin laughed as he took the glass from Seungmin’s shaking hand. When the vocalist looked down, he realized what had the maknae so entertained. He had spilled most of his drink on his shirt and he couldn’t help but shudder when the moisture soaked through the fabric and touched his feverish skin. Jeongin’s smile immediately faltered when he noticed the tears of frustration springing to Seungmin’s eyes. Before he could comment on it though, Chan had already shrugged out of his hoodie and held it out to the second youngest, smiling: “Change into that, so you don’t get cold on the way home.” – “Thanks. Thought we’re having a photoshoot now”, Seungmin sniffled, rubbing his eyes. Clicking his tongue, the leader agreed: “The rest of us yeah, you’re going home though. Our stylists are great but I don’t think they’ll be able to conceal how poorly you feel. Seriously, I wouldn’t even trust you to boil tea in your current condition.”

Seungmin didn’t even have the energy to feel offended by Chan’s statement, secretly glad the eldest had made the decision for him because he could never make that decision himself without the guilt eating him up inside. “Try to get some rest and I’ll be home soon”, Felix informed. He was still banned from participating during dance practice but he had intended to at least watch. Holding back a cough, Seungmin forced out: “If you want to watch, you can do that. I can handle myself, Lix. You don’t need to leave early for me.” – “Well, it sounds to me like you need a little bit of TLC”, the Aussie chuckled, “If you need medicine or anything I should pick up on the way, text me. I really don’t mind.” – “I’ll give you your hoodie back once I washed it ‘cause it’ll probably get some snot on it”, Seungmin rasped, making Chan laugh. Petting the vocalist’s head, Chan hummed: “Don’t worry, it’s fine. Just focus on getting home and resting, so you get better soon.” The younger nodded obediently and hoisted his bag over his shoulder. He had already turned to leave when Felix called after him: “And Min, stop stifling your sneezes!”

When Seungmin got back to the dorm, he regretted not having listened to Felix earlier. The headache had gotten so much worse and if the congestion was truly to blame for that, he might actually give into the desire to take a hot bath. Sniffling thickly, he shuffled to his room and grabbed some warm pajamas before filling the tub. Maybe a few drops of eucalyptus oil would clear him up, so it was a good thing Felix always kept a small bottle in their bathroom cabinet. Wasn’t it also supposed to help with muscle aches? Hopefully. Seungmin felt painfully stiff and sore after sitting in that meeting for so long and the car ride hadn’t helped with that. Yet, he reminded himself that as much as he wanted to relax, he mustn’t fall asleep in the bath.

Falling asleep in the tub soon became impossible anyway, as Seungmin had to realize. The strong scent of the bath oil had him trapped in repeated sneezing fits that drained him of what little energy he had left but also frequently startled him awake again. The hot water must have raised his temperature because by the time he couldn’t stand the tingling in his sinuses anymore, his muscles had seemingly turned into dough. Getting out and draining the tub took unspeakable effort and Seungmin weakly sat down on the fuzzy rug, towel wrapped tightly around his shivering form. Despite having prepared his pajamas, he only managed to throw on his bath gown before laying down on the rug and closing his eyes.

Felix unlocked the door to their shared apartment as quietly as possible, so he wouldn’t wake Seungmin if he managed to take a nap. A small smile tugged at his lips when he recognized the scent wafting through the apartment. It seemed the vocalist did his best to take care of himself. What Felix hadn’t expected, was to find the other curled up on the bathroom floor, hair still damp. “Min, hey? What are you doing down here?”, the dancer hummed as he crouched next to Seungmin. Blearily blinking up at Felix, the younger breathed: “When did you get home? What time is it?” – “I just got home and it’s five pm now. You didn’t faint, did you?”, the Aussie explained, helping the other sit up. “Fuck”, Seungmin rasped, rolling his shoulders, “No, was jus’ asleep.” Sleeping on the bathroom floor for close to three hours certainly hadn’t helped his sore muscles. “Let me help you to bed?”, Felix offered, holding out his hand.

After hoisting his dizzy dongsaeng to his feet and maneuvering him onto the closed toilet lid, Felix left and turned on the kettle. When he returned, Seungmin had changed into his pajamas and tried to walk back to his room himself. Noticing the younger sway, Felix wrapped an arm around his waist and accompanied him the rest of the way. Settling the vocalist on the edge of his bed, Felix sighed: “Did you have any medicine yet?” – “No, didn’t eat either. Jus’- jus’ wanted a bath”, Seungmin sniffled, pulling the collar of his pajama shirt over the lower half of his face, “Heh'ESHHuh! Heh-hh'ESHH *ugh* h-heh- *sniff* h’Eshuh!” – “Bless you!”, the dancer hummed sympathetically, “Your tea should be ready in a moment and I’ll go grab some other supplies too, yeah? Be right back.”

As promised, when Felix returned with a steaming cup of tea, he placed the bottle of fever reducers right next to it. Taking a seat on the edge of the mattress, he turned his attention to the fruit in his hands and smiled: “Before you take your meds, you should have something in your stomach. I figured you didn’t have too much of an appetite but you should still have some vitamin c.” Felix calmly peeled the tangerine and handed Seungmin the bite-sized bits. Though completely drained and not hungry in the slightest, Seungmin nibbled the few bites, Felix so fondly prepared for him and tiredly downed the pills with a few sips of tea. He hadn’t wanted the dancer to come home early because of him but now he was glad that he had. “Do you want to sleep some more, Min?”, Felix whispered and helped the other pull the blanket all the way up to his chin to help with the chills. Nodding, Seungmin mumbled: “Would you stay, Lix?” He wouldn’t openly admit it but some TLC might really be all he needed right now.

[cuddlepilefics]

Caught in the rain

Fandom: Seventeen

Sickie: Vernon/Hansol

Caregivers: DK/Seokmin, Dino/Chan, Jun/Junhui

Prompts:

Feveruary 2025: 3 caught in the rain, 14 falling asleep in the wrong place, 15 guiding sickie back to bed, 20 lost voice/strep throat @feveruary

Fluffbingo: sleepy hug, “You’re the best.” @flufftober

No one’s POV.:

Should Vernon have known about the rain after it had already been pouring all week? Yeah, he probably should. Was the rain the last thing on his mind when he woke up late after forgetting to set an alarm? Most definitely. Knowing he wouldn’t be able to make it to practice on time, Vernon threw on some sweatpants and a t-shirt before grabbing his backpack and rushing out the door. He loved his group and how large their team was but that ultimately meant more people to let down by being late. If only he had had the same morning schedule as Jun, DK and Dino, they would’ve made sure he was up but they had wanted to grant him that extra hour of sleep that ended up being an extra two hours.

With the adrenaline soaring through his veins, Vernon didn’t feel the cold, only the rain in his eyes was a slight bother. He hadn’t wanted to wait for a cab, so now he was paying the prize for it, his clothes soon soaked through to the skin. Luckily, he was wearing black, so it wasn’t immediately apparent, just how soaked he was. Arriving to practice late was already more than embarrassing enough. To Vernon’s surprise, the scolding turned out relatively mild, though he couldn’t tell whether the members had pity on him because he looked like a drowned dog or whether they didn’t want to waste anymore valuable practice time on him.

Jumping straight into practice had some unexpected benefits. Vernon didn’t get the chance to feel cold in his wet clothes, immediately staring to run hot. At some point, he wasn’t sure if the moisture in his clothes were rain or sweat and honestly, it didn’t really matter either. Vernon wanted to make up for being late by giving it his all and going all out during practice, in hindsight probably exerting himself more than he should’ve.

“Please tell me you have some dry clothes to change into”, Seokmin frowned when practice was finally over. Vernon was far more drenched than any of them, so he knew it couldn’t all be sweat. Wiping his face on his towel, the younger groaned: “Fuck, I forgot. Only grabbed my bag and left.” – “Alright, we’ll find you something”, Seokmin sighed, digging through his bag. He only had a spare shirt but with so many members, chances were high someone else would be carrying something.

Jun had a pair of sweatpants in his locker and promised to grab them for Vernon, while Jeonghan offered his hoodie. Though he ended up looking a little funny, Vernon was glad to finally feel dry again. Being caught in the rain and exerting himself in wet clothes for four hours had taken quite a toll on his mood and to make matters worse, he felt completely off now, flashing hot and cold. “You good now?”, Seokmin asked as they prepared to head to a meeting. Not wanting to vent his sour mood at the older, Vernon nodded. It was his fault that his day had begun so shitty. If only he had set an alarm.

Seated between Wonwoo and Seokmin, Vernon easily let his thoughts drift away during the meeting. He was brought back to focus when Wonwoo nudged his arm and gently slid his water bottle closer. Getting the hint, Vernon took a few sips and shuddered. He was starting to feel a little chilled, despite having changed his clothes. The water had felt nice on his throat though, so he shot his hyung a small smile. He was so spaced out, that he didn’t even notice how they took a small break, startling when Wonwoo hummed: “Are you okay, Sollie? You’re so quiet.” – “Throat hurts”, the younger mumbled, resting his chin on his hands. Not even finding the energy to keep up appearances anymore.

Vernon closed his eyes as Wonwoo’s hand ran up and down his back. “Really not your day, huh?”, Seokmin chuckled softly but it soon turned into a frown, when Vernon cupped his sweater paws over his lips and muffled a painful sounding cough. Jeonghan looked up at the sound and shot Wonwoo a look, they both silently agreeing that their second youngest was most definitely coming down with something. Gently tugging the hood off of Vernon’s head, Wonwoo cupped the younger’s forehead and clicked his tongue: “You’re pretty warm. Think you’re running a fever?” – “I dunno, might still be from dancing”, Vernon mumbled, his voice undeniably hoarse, “Just having an off day, will probably be fine once I take a nap.” – “If you say so”, Seokmin hummed, not wanting to argue with their dongsaeng though he too had some concerns.

Before the meeting resumed, they had gotten Vernon some lozenges for his throat but he only seemed to grow sleepier and they couldn’t shake the feeling the he was starting to run a temperature. He had spent the rest of the day in a fog and looked down in confusion when he noticed that he was wearing a scarf all of a sudden. It looked a lot like Jihoon’s but why was it around his neck?

“He’s so out of it”, Jihoon commented as he returned to his seat next to Seungcheol. Following a harsh coughing fit from Vernon, he had gotten up to lend his obviously unwell dongsaeng his scarf but the younger seemed to be so far in his own world that he didn’t even blink when Jihoon wrapped the scarf around his neck. Seungcheol studied Vernon closely and sighed: “Glad he doesn’t have anymore schedule after this meeting but by the looks of it, I doubt he’ll be fit to work tomorrow. Whatever this is, he’s only just coming down with it.” – “Can you clear his schedule for tomorrow?” – “You can trust that I will try my very best”, the leader muttered, “You know it’s always a gamble.”

“Come on, Sollie. Time to go home”, Seokmin smiled as he picked up his dongsaeng’s bag. Vernon weakly pushed his chair back and got to his feet, holding onto the table for a moment. Linking their arms, Jun promised: “I’ll make you some nice soup once we’re home. You sound like you need it.” Vernon wondered how he could sound like he needed it when he hadn’t said a word in the past two hours. Doubling over with another harsh coughing fit was all the explanation he needed. Maybe he wasn’t as discrete in his suffering as he had convinced himself he was.

Gently easing the younger down on his bed, Jun instructed: “Change into something comfy and I’ll have some soup ready soon.” Vernon nodded obediently. Part of him was really craving a hot shower but the task seemed so strenuous, he wasn’t sure he’d manage. “Hey, you wanna have a movie night later? You look like you could use some maknae-time as a cheer up after such a bad day”, Chan smiled as he popped his head in. Looking up at his fellow makane-liner with glossy eyes, Vernon rasped: “My eyes and head hurt but if we watch something I already know, so I can just listen….” – “Sure, you can pick whatever you want and I’ll provide cuddles and snacks”, the younger giggled, “Come on, get ready for dinner.”

“Hyu-“, Vernon forced out, turning away coughing. When he turned back to Jun, tears dotted his lashes. He tried asking his question again but no sound would come out, so he pulled out his phone and typed: ‘Hyung, I think I need to call S.Coups-hyung. I have a fever.’ – “You only figured that out now?!”, the older gasped, “Sol, trust me, we’re all well aware and S.Coups-hyung knows too. He’s doing his best to clear your schedule.” Vernon looked so adorably confused, Jun couldn’t help but coo as he guided the younger to a chair at the dining table. “How?”, Vernon mouthed. Ruffling the younger’s hair, Jun chuckled: “You’re so out of it. You always get so spacey when you run a temperature. Today it was as if only your body was present.”

Soon Jun, Seokmin, Vernon and Chan were all gathered around the dining table, quietly eating dinner for the sake of Vernon’s headache. Seokmin had brought the younger a small writing pad for communication when he learned he had lost his voice from all the coughing. “Do you think he’ll be up for movie night, hyung?”, Chan asked softly as he helped Jun clear the table while Seokmin went to find some medicine for Vernon. Shrugging, Jun hummed: “He looks like he’s about to fall asleep with his head on the table but maybe he’ll appreciate the company?”

“Sollie, hey, wake up for me for a moment, yeah?”, Seokmin whispered, stroking the younger’s hair, “Swallow those, will you? They should help with the pain and fever.” Yawning, Vernon propped his head up and chased the pills down with a few sips of water. He almost went back to sleep, when Seokmin poked him again and smiled: “You can sleep but let’s at least get you back to bed first, hm?” Chan joined them right away, helping Seokmin manhandle him to his room. “Let me guess, you just wanna sleep?” Vernon desperately shook his head, though he could barely keep his eyes open. “Wait, I’ll get your writing pad”, the maknae promised, hurrying back to the table. When he handed it to his friend, the other clumsily scribbled ‘movie’.

‘Where he go?’, Vernon scribbled, pouting at Seokmin when Chan disappeared. He knew he wasn’t that great company right now but he figured the maknae would watch a movie with him anyway. Helping Vernon under the blanket, Seokmin shrugged. He had no idea what the younger was up to.

Not long after, Chan returned with his laptop, a steaming cup of tea and a bag of cough drops. “I promised you snacks, didn’t I? Sick-people snacks will have to do though”, Chan beamed as he placed the items on the nightstand. As soon as he took a seat on the bed, Vernon pulled him into a sleepy hug, breathing: “You’re the best.”

[cuddlepilefics]

Could you just hold me?

Fandom: TXT

Sickie: Beomgyu

Caregiver: Soobin & Yeonjun

Prompts:

Feveruary 2025: 5 “Could you just hold me?”, alt 2 cool wash cloth @feveruary

Fluffbingo: hoodie @flufftober

March of pain 2025: 15 headache, 20 migraine @marchofpain

March of whump 2025: 3 “Don’t leave me.” @marchwhumpness

Angstpril 2025: 20 fear @chaos-company

No one’s POV.:

Beomgyu already knew it wouldn’t be his day, when the shrill ringing of his alarm pulled him from a restless slumber. He had already felt a little out of it but figured a good night’s rest would restore his energy. Maybe it would’ve. If only he had been able to sleep. For most of the night, he had lain awake, countless thoughts circling through his head. It had only been two hours before his alarm went off, that he finally managed to doze a little.

Sitting up in bed, Beomgyu switched off his alarm and rubbed his face. The movement made his head pound and he tried to massage away the pressure behind his temples but there was little use. He released a shaky breath before finding the strength to get to his feet and shuffle to the bathroom. The bright light above the mirror made his eyes sting and water, sending a jab of pain through his skull. “Hurry up, Gyu”, Taehyun muttered as he bumped into the other, “Driver will be here shortly. Did you turn off your alarm again?” Stumbling from the sudden impact, Beomgyu clutched onto the sink. How could he possibly be running late? With how badly he had slept, there was no way he could’ve missed an earlier alarm.

Beomgyu hastily went through his morning routine, ignoring his growing headache for the sake of making it to his schedule in time. Checking his phone, he winced at the brightness of the screen but confirmed that he was luckily enough to be scheduled for recording today. Small graces. There was no way he could power through dance practice today. Deciding that looks didn’t matter today, Beomgyu slipped on an oversized hoodie and pulled the hood over his head to try and shield his eyes. He didn’t know why but they were giving him a hard time, his vision spotty for now apparent reason than his lack of sleep.

“You ready to go?”, Soobin asked, already tying his shoes, “We can grab some breakfast for you on the way, ‘cause you’re kinda late.” The younger gave an unenthusiastic hum, fumbling to put on his shoes. It messed with his balance quite a bit and Soobin needed to steady him for a moment, so he wouldn’t fall over. Buckling his seatbelt, Yeonjun handed Beomgyu a thermos and smiled: “Coffee. Figured you might need a little boost.” – “You’re a lifesaver, hyung”, the younger muttered as he shakily lifted the thermos to his lips. Hopefully, the caffeine would ease his headache and get him functional before they’d arrive at the company building.

Beomgyu didn’t want to admit it but he had never had a headache that severe. It left him dizzy and he clung to Hueningkai as they made their way up to the recording studio. “Are you okay, hyung?”, the maknae asked when he felt Beomgyu’s grip on his arm tighten. The older hummed indecisively, too focused on placing one foot in front of the other to express himself. To be completely honest, he was a little scared. His eyes had started playing tricks on him, making him see weird flashed of light, where he was convinced shouldn’t be any.

Yeonjun and Soobin exchanged a look when they watched Beomgyu collapse onto the couch with a groan. Taking a seat next to the younger, Yeonjun hummed: “You alright, bud? You don’t look so hot.” Beomgyu pulled his hood lower to protect his eyes and winced: “Headache.” – “I see”, the eldest smiled sympathetically, “What about your eyes? You keep looking at the floor.” – “’s too bright. Makes me see splotchy”, Beomgyu mumbled as he rubbed at his eyes. Comfortingly rubbing his dongsaeng’s back, Yeonjun explained: “Soobin’s finding you something to eat and once you got something in your tummy, you can have a painkiller.” – “Thanks, hyung. Not sure I can eat right now though. My tummy’s meh”, Beomguy admitted, palming his middle. “You haven’t eaten anything yet, so that’s probably why your tummy feels weird”, Yeonjun smiled, “You’ll feel better once you had a bite.”

Beomgyu did in fact not feel better after eating. Yeonjun and Soobin had traded places when the leader returned with a sandwich for their dongsaeng. With a trembling hand, Beomgyu popped back the pill before pulling his hood over his face and resting his head on Soobin’s shoulder. “We arranged for you to record last, so there’ll be enough time for the painkiller to kick in”, the leader hummed, “Try to take a little nap if you’re able to.” Though Beomgyu appreciated to gesture, he just wanted to get the recording over with, so that he might be allowed to go ho earlier.

Half an hour later, Beomgyu was glad that he didn’t have to be in the recording booth right now. His headache had only gotten worse and the studio felt unbearably stuffy to him, so he couldn’t even imagine how uncomfortable the inside of the booth must be. He had his knees drawn up to his chest to try and get as much strain off of his stomach as possible but so far, it did little to help. Nausea licked at the back of his throat, his stomach doing somersaults while the slightest noise made his head thump. Soobin glanced down at the younger when he picked up on a soft whimper. “You okay?”, he whispered quietly, hand stroking Beomgyu’s head through his hood. Sniffling weakly, the younger breathed: “No.”

Beomgyu gripped onto Soobin’s arm as he tried to ride out the pain and nausea but only seemed to spiral. “You wanna get some fresh air? You look like you need a breather”, the leader cooed, wrapping his arm around his dongsaeng to help him up. The world tilted when Beomgyu found himself hoisted to his feet and he gagged into his mouth, barely able to swallow it back down but Soobin didn’t seem to notice as he walked him out of the studio. The leader had just closed the door behind them when his dongsaeng’s nails dug into his arm. When he turned to Beomgyu, what little he could see of the younger’s face, had turned ashy white, his knees buckling all of a sudden. With how suddenly the boy had gone down, all Soobin could do was slow his fall and ease him down gently.

Cradling his pounding head, Beomgyu leant to the side his meager breakfast and coffee spilling from his lips. Soobin grabbed his shoulders and steadied him as he retched again, almost knocking himself over. “Breathe, Gyu”, the leader shushed, trying to calm his dongsaeng who only became more worked up. The force of his heaves caused his vision to cup out for a few seconds and Beomgyu clung to Soobin arm as he sobbed. To say Beomgyu was terrified would’ve been an understatement. Never before had a headache left him this miserable and he barely hung onto consciousness as Soobin moved him away from the puddle of sick. Propping the younger up against the wall, Soobin whispered: “You’re okay. Looks like you’re having a migraine. I’ll go get you some water, ‘kay?” – “Don’t leave me”, Beomgyu whimpered, reaching for his hyung.

Not having the heart to leave his dongsaeng alone in this condition, Soobin texted Yeonjun to bring them some water and tissues. “What’s going on?”, the eldest frowned as he crouched in front of his friends. He knew Beomgyu had been feeling poorly but this seemed like quite the escalation. Accepting a tissue, Soobin dabbed at Beomgyu’s lips and sighed: “Migraine most likely. Gonna take Gyu home once he got a chance to catch his breath.” – “Aw, shit”, Yeonjun whispered, “Have some water, hm?” – “Can’t”, the younger whimpered as he buried his face in his sweater paws. The two sat with Beomgyu for a few minutes before he was shifted into Yeonjun’s arms, so Soobin could clear his schedules for the rest of the day.

“Alright, I got permission to take you home, Gyu”, Soobin smiled when he returned, both his and his dongsaeng’s bags slung over his shoulder. Reaching into his bag, he pulled out his sunglasses, handed them to Beomgyu and explained: “It’ll be brighter when we go outside, so you should protect your eyes. Do you think you can stand?” – “No, help?”, the younger sniffled, reaching out his hands. Gently putting the sunglasses on Beomgyu, Soobin took his hands and with Yeonjun’s help pulled the boy to his feet. The younger swayed on his feet and Soobin quickly wrapped a protective arm around him, guiding him down the hallway while Yeonjun went to find some cleaning supplies.

The way back to their dorm was an adventure too, Beomgyu spending most of it cradling his head as he tried to breathe through the nausea and pain. Soobin had given him a plastic bag but considering how badly throwing up hurt his head, Beomgyu fought the urge with all his might. Since he still felt awfully faint when they finally arrived, Soobin pulled him onto his back and carefully carried him up to the dorm. Getting his shoes off was a struggle but Beomgyu eventually found himself sprawled out on his bed, the thrash can pulled up close next to it. “Do you want me to make you some warm broth to settle your stomach?”, the leader asked as he took a seat next to Beomgyu. Voice muffled by his pillow, the younger slurred: “No, jus g’nna puke ‘gain.” – “Possibly”, Soobin agreed, gently running his fingers through his dongsaeng’s hair, “It’ll hurt less when there’s something in your tummy though.”

Beomgyu was already convinced his hyung had left him to succumb to his misery but the elder eventually returned with a cool washcloth, whispering: “Come on, let’s elevate your head a bit to ease the pressure. The cold cloth should make the pain more bearable.” – “Hyung, how do you do this all the time”, Beomgyu whimpered, almost turning to putty as Soobin rearranged his pillow and gently positioned his head, so he could drape the cool washcloth over his forehead. “I dunno, bud. It sucks but it’ll pass”, the leader cooed, stroking Beomgyu’s pale cheek, “Anything I can do to make you more comfortable?” – “Could you just hold me?”, the younger requested and who was Soobin to deny?

[cuddlepilefics]

This was a bad idea

Fandom: Stray Kids

Sickie: Chan

Caregiver: Jeongin

Prompts:

Feveruary 2025: 4 herbal remedy, 21 from better to worse @feveruary

Fluffbingo: “This was a bad idea.”, late night @flufftober

March of pain 2025: 6 insomnia, alt 5 side effects @marchofpain

March whumpness 2025: 8 exhaustion @marchwhumpness

Whumpril 2025: 7 restless @whumpril

Angstpril 2025: 12 insomnia, 29 inevitable, alt 2 unable to help @chaos-company

No one’s POV.:

Groaning in frustration, Jeongin pulled his pillow over his head. Despite this ungodly hour, his dormmate was awake, so Jeongin inevitably was too. He never told Chan but he could hear the leader pacing in his room every night when his insomnia got bad. If he knew, the Aussie would be mortified, feeling guilty that he robbed the maknae of his precious sleep, so Jeongin kept it to himself despite ending up almost as exhausted as Chan himself. Tonight, the boy was reaching his breaking point though.

“Don’t you think you should head to bed, hyung?”, the youngest yawned, gently resting his hand on Chan’s shoulder. Startled, Chan spun around, his tried eyes needing just a moment too long to focus on Jeongin. Calming his racing heart, the leader sighed: “What are you doing up, Innie?” – “Making sure you go to sleep”, Jeongin replied, hesitant to let the older know. Chan plopped down on the couch, frowning: “Yeah, good luck with that. If I could, I would be sleeping right now. You should sleep though.” – “Hyung, I can’t sleep either with you pacing like this”, the maknae admitted, “I know you’re restless but let’s try to settle down, yeah?” – “I kept you up, didn’t I?”, Chan pouted defeatedly. Patting the spot next to him, the Aussie sighed, “I’m sorry. Go back to bed, I’ll keep it down.”

Jeongin didn’t go back, much to Chan’s dismay. Shaking his head, the younger denied: “That would only be ignoring the problem. We gotta figure out how to put you to sleep, hyung.” He couldn’t bear feeling so helpless while watching Chan suffer. “Well, I tried pretty much all there is, from meditation to prescription medicine. Nothing has helped my insomnia so far”, the leader complained as he rubbed his eyes. Jeongin took his hands and softly pulled them away from his face, knowing the dark eyebags would only become more prominent if Chan kept rubbing.

Dropping his head back against the couch, Chan squeezed his eyes shut. They stung badly from how long he had been awake and the faint light from the hallway illuminating the living room made his headache worse. “My mom once gifted me that valerian root tea when I had trouble sleeping and it always makes me really drowsy. I could make a cup for you”, Jeongin offered, giving his hyung’s hand a gentle squeeze. By now, Chan was so exhausted, he’d try anything if there was even the slightest chance for him to get some shut eye though he neither had high expectations nor hope. He nodded slowly, even if it was just for Jeongin’s peace of mind, so the younger wouldn’t feel so helpless, he’d drink the tea.

Chan massaged his temples as he listened to Jeongin rummaging through the kitchen. He always hated these late nights wen he was at the mercy of his body and mind, never knowing whether he’d be lucky enough to be granted some sleep this time. “Just so you know, it tastes really bad”, Jeongin warned, stirring a spoonful of honey into the cup of steaming tea, “I added honey because it’s impossible to get it down without any additional sweetness but you can always add more.” Despite his exhaustion, Chan chuckled. His dongsaeng surely was dramatic at times.

Or so he though…. “Ugh, that’s nasty”, the leader frowned, shuddering as he lowered the cup after a single sip. Taking a seat next to the older, Jeongin laughed softly: “Told you. If you want, we can add more honey.” – “Nah, it’s okay. Just didn’t expect it to taste this bad”, Chan denied, lightly blowing on his tea. It wasn’t worse than some of the caffeine concoctions he had forced down in desperate situations when he needed to function despite not having had any sleep, so he could handle the taste, if it meant it would help.

Against all odds, Chan had to admit that he was getting drowsy after he had finished his tea. Still, he didn’t want to go back to his room, afraid the restlessness would overtake him once again, so neither did Jeongin. “Was that your stomach?”, the maknae asked with wide eyes when a loud gurgling noise cut through the silence. Awkwardly rubbing his stomach, Chan mumbled: “Yeah, the tea’s really sloshing around in there. I don’t know if I chugged it too quickly or what….” Jeongin guided his hyung’s head down on his shoulder and hummed: “Try to relax.”

Chan really seemed to get sleepy but before Jeongin could ask him whether he finally wanted to go to bed, the older winced: “My stomach’s not handling this all that well. I’ll go sit by the window for a bit.” Sluggishly getting to his feet, Chan protectively wrapped an arm around his middle and shuffled to the dining table. He pulled a chair up to the window and opened the window to let in some fresh air. The cool night air cleared his mind and also soothed his headache a little, though it had little effect on the nausea.

Grabbing the blanket from the back of the couch, Jeongin followed Chan and draped the blanket around his shoulders. If he was going to stay there by the open window, he shouldn’t catch a chill. “You okay, hyung?”, he whispered, carding his fingers through Chan’s curls. To exhausted to lie, the Aussie just shrugged. It was safer not to give a verbal reply right now anyway. ‘This was a bad idea’, he thought to himself. He drew his knees up to his chest and rested his chin on them, breaking into a sweat. His stomach still churned angrily and it took all his remaining self-control to swallow down the saliva that rapidly filled his mouth.

Jeongin jumped a little when the chair scraped across the floor from the urgency with which Chan got to his feet. The older knew he wouldn’t make it to the bathroom, so rushed to the kitchen sink. A burp brought up a small trickle of tea, which was all the warning he got before his stomach contracted and a large wave gushed from his lips. “It tastes even worse now”, he choked out when he felt Jeongin’s hand on his back before retching again. Chan shuddered and clutched the counter for support. This was disgusting. If he had really thought the tea had tasted bad going down, he had had no idea….

“You think you can handle some water, hyung”, Jeongin frowned, offering Chan a glass. The eldest weakly shook his head, merely rinsing his mouth with some water from his cupped hands. Bringing the chair Chan had been sitting on, Jeongin instructed: “Here, sit for a moment, hyung. How’re you feeling now?” – “Wrung out”, the Aussie rasped, shivering in his sweaty shirt. “I’m sorry, I made you sick, hyung”, Jeongin pouted as he picked up the blanket that had fallen from Chan’s shoulders earlier. Once again wrapping it around his hyung’s shoulders, he sighed: “Once your stomach calms down, you should really have some water before going to bed. Your headache’s only going to get worse if you get dehydrated.” – “How’d you-“ – “You’ve had your signature headache-crease on your forehead all day”, the maknae informed. “There’s no such thing as a signature headache-crease”, Chan argued, rubbing his forehead to smooth it. Nodding, Jeongin giggled: “Yup there is and you have one.”

He managed to coax Chan into sipping some water before guiding him back to the couch. Chan still refused to go to his room, reasoning that he felt pressured to fall asleep if he went there and if he felt pressured, he’d inevitably fail. Glancing at the couch, Jeongin was truly surprised how small Chan managed to look when he curled in on himself so tightly. He didn’t want to leave the eldest there by himself, not when he looked so vulnerable and not after making him this miserable in the first place, so he pulled up a chair next to the couch and started to pet his hyung’s hair.

Jeongin’s own eyes had started to droop shut as he sat in his chair, fingers tangled in Chan’s curl when a noise caught his attention. Glancing down at Chan in the dim light, the maknae realized his friend was snoring softly. A surprised laugh escaped Jeongin’s lips. He’d have to remind Chan that puking his guts up was the solution to his insomnia.

Fixing the blanket one last time, Jeongin curled up on the other couch and finally allowed himself to go to sleep too.

[cuddlepilefics]

You need a tissue?

Fandom: Enhypen

Sickie: Jay

Caregivers: Enhypen

Prompts:

Feveruary 2025: 23 “You need a tissue?”, 24 “Don’t you think you should stay home today?” @feveruary

March of pain 2025: 1 cough, 26 infection @marchofpain

March whumpness 2025: 16 cold, 17 fever/sick @marchwhumpness

Whumpril 2025: 7 restless, 27 tossing and turning, alt 7 congestion @whumpril

No one’s POV.:

“You look like shit”, Heeseung greeted when Jake shuffled into the kitchen that morning. Rubbing his eyes, Jake groaned: “Hyung, if you think this is bad, you should see Jay.” – “Let me guess, he didn’t catch a break, did he?”, the eldest frowned, taking in the dark circles under Jake’s eyes. The Aussie shook his head. Jay had come down with a cold a couple of days ago and what had merely been an annoying tickle in his throat, soon turned into a persistent cough that kept him awake for most of the night. Sluggishly dumping some cereal into aa bowl, Jake yawned: “With how restlessly he’s been tossing and turning, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was running a fever. Could you check on him before we leave, hyung? I don’t think he should go to work today but your chances of convincing him are higher than mine.” – “Will do”, Heeseung smiled and ruffled his dongsaeng’s hair, “Thanks for telling me.”

Softly knocking on the bathroom door, the eldest called: “Can I come in, Jay-ah.” The door opened and Jay blearily looked at his only hyung, toothbrush in hand. “Don’t you think you should stay home today?”, Heeseung hummed, cupping his palm over Jay’s forehead, “Mhm, you’re running a fever and Jake told me you didn’t get much sleep. How’re you feeling?” Jay squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. Those were far too many words for his sleep-muddled brain to comprehend and he needed a second to focus. “’m just cold, hyung”, he sniffled, placing his toothbrush down on the sink before taking a seat on the edge of the bathtub. If they were to have a conversation, he really needed to sit. Raising an eyebrow, the older challenged: “Plus, sick and sleep-deprived. You look awful.” – “Geez, thanks”, Jay mumbled, voice cracking painfully. Lifting his towel to his face, he muffled a scratchy cough into the damp material and sighed: “What choice do I have? We got so much to do and it’s just a cold. Doesn’t matter that I’m not fully on top of my game.”

While Jay continued to get ready for the day, Heeseung approached Jungwon and hummed: “Wonnie, could you call manager-nim, please? Jay is sick and he shouldn’t work today but he feels like he has no choice, so maybe manager-nim has an idea.” – “Of course, I’ll give him a call”, the leader nodded, already pulling out his phone, “What do you want me to tell him is wrong with Jay-hyung?” – “His cold has gotten a lot worse, he’s feverish and barely got any sleep last night”, Heeseung explained, patting his dongsaeng’s shoulder, “Thank you, Wonnie.”

“Good morning, Jay-hyung”, Jungwon smiled as he returned to the living room, finding the older slumped on the couch, “I called manager-nim for you. Damn, you really look bad.” – “Thanks”, Jay muttered, his bitter laugh quickly turning into a cough. The leader winced as he heard the congestion rattling in Jay’s chest and informed: “Manager-nim said, he’d take you to a doctor after dropping the rest of us off at the company and that he wants you to wear a mask while we’re in the car because you probably have some sort of infection and he’s afraid of it being spread.” Nodding obediently, Jay pushed off the couch, ready to head to his room to get his mask. “Thank you for calling him, Wonnie”, the older rasped before he shuffled off.

Jay scrunched up his nose as he felt it leek behind his mask. He had been sniffling through most of the ride and felt he couldn’t do so again if he didn’t want to annoy his friends. With how badly his skin was stinging, he knew his nostrils would be chapped before the day was over. “You need a tissue, hyung?”, Sunoo offered quiet, holding out the travel pack, “Keep them.” Jay nodded his thanks and pulled out one of the tissues before slipping the travel pack into his pocket. As soon as the members got out of the car, he tugged his mask down and blew his nose, cringing at the thick gurgle. It had been a while since he had last been this congested and he couldn’t even remember when that had happened. Glancing over his shoulder, his manager frowned: “Jungwon-ah wasn’t kidding. You sound like you’re drowning, kid.” – “Feel it too”, Jay muttered as he fixed his mask and leant back in his seat. He closed his eyes in hopes of easing his headache a little and hoped they’d be there soon. The sooner he could get his doctor’s visit over with, the sooner he could go back to bed.

Collapsing back into his seat, Jay sighed. The trip hadn’t been rewarding at all because he already knew he had some respiratory infection before he had left the dorm and hearing that there was not much that he could do about it except for resting and staying hydrating, was nothing short of frustrating. At least, they stopped at a pharmacy, so Jay could stock up on tissues, nasal spray, cough syrup and vapor rub. He felt a little sorry for Jake, knowing he had kept his roommate up all night with his coughing. Still, the Aussie had to attend their schedule while he could go back to bed. Not wanting that to happen again, Jay also bought earplugs for Jake before finally heading back to the dorm.

As soon as they arrived, Jay thanked the manager for taking him and for clearing his schedule before trudging inside and dropping his bag on the kitchen counter. Starting the kettle, he checked his phone and found a text from Sunghoon, who let him know that he’d be coming home sooner than expected. The younger had been casted to participate in another drama and would be sent home to memorize his script. Jay probably wouldn’t admit it but he was grateful for that. A completely empty dorm always felt weird since he had become used to having the members around him at all times.

After preparing his tea and stirring in a generous spoonful of honey, Jay sliced an apple and nibbled it slowly. He had no appetite but he really wanted to take something for his headache and the vitamins surely wouldn’t hurt, right? “Hey, what did the doctor say?”, Sunghoon asked, startling Jay into dropping his apple slice. He hadn’t heard the younger get back, a testament to the feverish haze that still clouded his mind. Clearing his throat, Jay rasped: “I should rest and drink lots of fluids, nothing fancy.” – “So, you’ll live?”, Sunghoon chuckled, earning an amused snort. “Unfortunately, you won’t get rid of me that easily”, the older joked, “I’ll take some medicine and lay down for a nap once I finish this apple. Won’t distract you from your work.”

“Oh, right! Heeseung-hyung wanted me to ask if they should bring back some takeout soup for dinner when they get home later”, Sunghoon remembered before Jay could walk off. Though he really loved cooking, Jay could see himself find the energy or motivation to do so anytime soon, so he nodded: “That’d be great. How’s Jake doing? He’s gotta be so tired.” – “He’ll be fine, don’t worry. Yeah, he’s tried but he’s handling it well”, the younger promised, wanting to ease his friend’s guilt, “But you gotta be at least as tired and I don’t like that glossy look in your eyes. You should really try to get some sleep.” Giving Sunghoon a strained smile, Jay nodded and shuffled to his room.

Placing the tea on his nightstand, Jay changed into more comfortable clothes and smiled tiredly when he pulled out his warmest sweatpants. He knew his fever was still pretty high from the way his skin immediately pricked with goosebumps when he took off his shirt. Plopping down on the edge of his bed, he used his nasal spray and allowed himself to go to sleep.

Sleep didn’t come all that easy, his muscles too achy for him to get comfortable. For most of the afternoon, he kept tossing and turning, only managing a few minutes at a time before eventually waking up to a cold hand on his forehead. He blearily blinked up at Jake, who smiled sheepishly: “Sorry, I didn’t wanna wake you.” – “’s fine”, the older breathed, voice thick with sleep and congestion, “What time’s it?” – “Eight. We just got back”, the Aussie replied, “We got you soup, do you want me to heat it up for you?” – “Yes, please. I’ll be there in a minute”, Jay sniffled, sluggishly sitting up and running a hand over his face. It took a moment for him to get his bearings but he eventually rolled out of bed and padded to the common area.

“He’s alive!”, Sunoo cheered, patting the spot next to him. Placing the bowl on the table, Jake chuckled: “Looks more like the walking dead but hey, you’re up.” – “Mean”, Jay pouted as he sat down next to Sunoo, “Would anyone be up for movie night?” – “Sure am but are you?”, Heeseung questioned, giving his friend a scrutinizing look. Shrugging his shoulders, Jay mumbled: “I might fall asleep but I feel too restless to sleep right now and I don’t wanna be alone. Maybe some distraction is exactly what I need to sleep.”

After dinner, they all settled in the living room with Jungwon and Niki collecting all the blankets they could find. Jay hadn’t said it but they could see him shiver from time to time though he tried not to let on how miserably chilled he still felt. “There are your fluids”, Sunghoon winked, handing Jay a steaming cup of tea. Carrying some supplies, Heeseung asked: “I got some cough drops and a box of tissues, you need one?” The younger nodded slightly and accepted the tissue with a hoarse ‘thanks’. He tried to blow his nose but failed, the congestion clogging it completely. When the members were satisfied, they had gotten Jay set up with everything he might need, they could finally start the movie.

“Sorry, the later the evening- the later- the worse it gets”, Jay choked out between coughs, pressing his blanket to his face. Sunoo handed him his tea and Jake calmly rubbed his back, while Sunghoon hummed: “Didn’t you bring back cough syrup earlier?” When Jay nodded, he continued: “Stay put. Just tell me where you put it and I’ll get it for you.” – “Nightstand”, the other forced out, voice almost gone by now.

Hurrying back to the living room, Sunghoon passed Jake a little jar and measured out the cough syrup, announcing: “I also found the vapor rub. Figured it’d help you breathe a little easier.” Jay knocked back the medicine and took a sip of tea to wash away the taste. Heeseung passed him a cough drop to suck on while Jake opened the vapor rub and dipped his finger in. “Relax and try to breathe deeply”, the Aussie instructed softly as he slipped his hand under Jay’s shirt, gently spreading the ointment on his chest. Since it seemed to soothe his friend, Jake kept his hand on the other’s chest as they resumed their movie. Jake’s hand trailing in slow circles over his chest was Jay’s last conscious memory that night before sleep finally took him under.

[cuddlepilefics]

Neglect

Fandom: Stray Kids

Sickie: Minho

Caregiver: Jisung

Prompts:

March whumpness 2025: 4 blood sugar, 26 hiding an injury/unseen injury @marchwhumpness

Whumpril 2025: 5 neglect, 10 bandages, alt 8 silent tears @whumpril

Angstpril 2025: 6 Holding back tears, 13 hiding their pain, 26 accident, 27 giving everything they've got @angstpril

No one’s POV.:

Approaching another comeback, the group had been working incredibly hard. The dance-racha had barely been outside the practice room all week, perfecting the choreographies for 3racha’s new songs. They were on a tight schedule and with Felix’ back giving him troubles, it had been mainly up to Minho and Hyunjin to ensure they’d get everything done on time. Keeping in mind that they’d also have to teach the choreos to the rest of the group. With Hyunjin frequently being gone for individual schedules since he had struck another modeling deal, Minho had taken it upon himself to stay at the company building longer each night to compensate for his dongsaengs’ absence. When their other schedules were too tight and he couldn’t stay longer, he’d cut his breaks and occasionally skip his lunch for those extra thirty minutes.

Luckily, Hyunjin and Felix were fast learners and Minho had no problem bringing them up to speed with the steps he had added. That way, they could at least help him teach the other members because Minho had found his patience wearing thin lately and he doubted he’d be able to keep his calm. It was probably his lack of sleep lately that had left him on this emotional rollercoaster and that the members would probably understand if he told them how worn down he was from trying to take as much off his dongsaengs’ shoulders as possible but he wasn’t one to complain and he knew how guilty Hyunjin and Felix would feel. He’d have to suck it up and try not to make his tense nerves anyone else’s problem.

The had been practicing for most of the day already. ‘Like usual’, Minho thought bitterly. He loved dancing but doing it all day every day was still a bit over the top. Now however, the rest of the group joined them and they could present what they had come up with before teaching them the steps. Felix had been struggling with the steps himself, so Minho had once again skipped his lunch to help the Aussie get it right, which he now kind of regretted. His legs already felt crampy and he wished he could’ve sat down for a couple of minutes but their time was tight, so no break it was.

Minho’s mind felt slow when he walked up to the speakers to start the music, knowing the others were watching them. ‘Focus!’, he reprimanded himself, pinching his arm. He couldn’t afford to slack off now. The world still seemed off kilter when Minho got into position and the first beats rang out. That had happened a lot lately and he figured it was him running low on energy but he had gotten increasingly good at ignoring it lately.

Everything seemed to be going well and Felix nailed the sequence they had been working on till the very last minute, so Minho was glad they had taken the time to go over it instead of getting lunch. With every spin though, his vision blurred as if his eyes had gotten to slow to follow his body’s movement, while his left ankle felt stiff, leaving him unable to put as much energy into the jumps as he would’ve liked. Having been a dancer for so long, Minho should’ve known that what he was doing was a recipe for disaster and before they managed to get to the bridge, him and Felix collided, tripping over each other’s feet. A sharp pain shot up Minho’s leg and he gritted his teeth before turning to check on Felix. With tears trailing down his freckled cheeks, the Aussie struggled to his feet, one hand pressed firmly against his back.

“Gosh, Lix. I’m so sorry!”, Minho stammered as he forced himself up off the floor. The pain that shot through his ankle took him by surprise and nearly knocked him back down but the adrenaline kept him on his feet. Felix had been making so much improvement lately, it couldn’t all have been for nothing just because of Minho’s clumsiness.

The group had all but crowded around the youngest dancer who tried some gentle movements, harshly scrubbing away his tears. Holding back another wave of tears, Felix sniffled: “I-I’m okay.” The pain was still evident in his voice and after checking the younger over, Minho decided to not take any risks. “How about you sit the rest of the day out? You got all the steps down an hour ago, so no need to push yourself further”, Minho hummed, rubbing Felix’ shoulder, “I’m sorry, hyung should’ve been more careful.” Giving a defeated nod, Felix trudged off towards his bag to have some water and put on his sweater, so he wouldn’t catch a cold, Chan and Hyunjin following close behind to make sure the boy was alright. Minho instructed the rest to take a small break before excusing himself to the restroom to collect himself.

It had taken quite a bit of willpower not to limp in front of the members but once the door had closed behind him, Minho hobbled down the hallway to the restroom. Fulling down his sock with a wince, he bit his lip. Silent tears dripped from his chin. This wasn’t good. His ankle was already beginning to swell with a bruise forming on the outer side. Though it hurt badly when he tried to move it, Minho was glad that he still could, so he decided it couldn’t be broken. Hell, he had sprained his ankles dozens of times in the past. It was something that just came with being a dancer and trying more reckless stunts every time. With Felix out of commission for the rest of the day, they couldn’t afford him being hurt. He couldn’t just dump all the responsibility on Hyunjin, so after soaking some paper towels under cold water, Minho stuffed them into his sock and hopped to his locker.

Minho was glad he always kept a first aid kit in his locker and carefully removed his shoe and sock. If there was any more swelling around his ankle, he wouldn’t be able to wear his shoe anymore, so he bandaged it tightly before covering it with his sock and putting the shoe back on. It had to be laced very loosely but hey, he was still able to wear it. Determined not to let this slow him down, Minho wiped his tears and hobbled back to the practice room.

When he entered, Hyunjin tossed him an energy bar from his bag, informing: “You skipped lunch and looked out of it, so your blood sugar’s probably low. You should watch out for such things, hyung. We can’t afford anymore injuries due to your negligence.” Hanging his head in shame Minho nodded and tore into the energy bar. It barely tasted like anything, probably because his breath was a little wonky while he tried to hold back his tears. His ankle throbbed and putting any weight onto that foot felt like an impossible task but Minho pushed on. They had all danced injured before and it was his fault that him and Felix were injured in the first place.

Minho’s mind had shifted to autopilot at some point as he demonstrated the moves again and again. Hyunjin took over most of the teaching and Felix eventually started to pipe in some advice too after calming down and assuring his friends that his back pain was probably just flaring up and that he doubted he had seriously injured himself. Surprisingly, nobody seemed to have caught on to Minho’s struggle or if they did, they probably didn’t care. All they cared about was him being the reason somebody else got hurt. “Don’t skip your meals, Minho-yah”, Chan warned before they parted ways to got home to their individual dorms, “Today proved how dangerous that can be.” The dancer nodded defeatedly. All he had wanted was to help Felix learn the moves he had been struggling with.

Jisung sat quietly next to his during the ride home, figuring the older didn’t want to talk. Only when he glanced over at Minho, did he notice the silent tears glistening on his hyung’s cheeks. Wordlessly reaching over, Jisung took the other’s hand and linked their fingers. Minho would talk if he wanted to, so for now, silent support it was. The dancer stumbled when they got out of the car and Jisung worriedly caught him around the waist, frowning: “You okay, hyung? Is your blood sugar still low?” – “I’m okay”, Minho forced out, trying to shift his weight, “It’s just my ankle, I twisted it a little earlier.” – “Hyung! Why didn’t you say anything?!”, the rapper gasped, stepping closer so Minho could lean on his shoulder. Shrugging, the older winced: “It was my fault we got hurt and since we were already a dancer down, I couldn’t leave Hyunjinnie teach you all on his own. Don’t worry, I bandaged it earlier for stability and to reduce the swelling.”

“Take off your shoe. We gotta take a look at that”, Jisung announced after disposing Minho on the living room couch, “You shouldn’t have been dancing on it. Do you know how negligent that was, hyung?!” – “Please don’t use that word?”, the dancer groaned. Couldn’t they see that he was trying his hardest? While Minho slowly and carefully peeled himself out of his shoe and sock, Jisung gasped: “Hyung! That bandage is far to tight! What were you thinking?” – “It wasn’t so tight earlier”, Minho defended, swallowing hard when he saw how the bandage dug into his swollen and bruised ankle. He slumped back against the couch cushions defeated while Jisung carefully unwrapped his ankle and inspected the dark bruise, frowning: “Are you sure it’s not broken?” The dancer nodded. “Probably sprained, dancing just made the bruise worse”, he muttered, “Didn’t mean to neglect it but I felt so guilty for what happened with Lix. I couldn’t, I just couldn’t be injured too.”

Placing a pillow on the other side of the couch, Jisung instructed: “Elevate your leg and I’ll go fetch an icepack.” While his dongsaeng walked off to the kitchen, Minho stretched out on the couch, rubbing his face. How could he let something like this happen so close to a comeback? “Here, keep this on your ankle for the time being”, the rapper smiled, handing the older an icepack wrapped in a tea towel, “How about we order delivery for dinner? This mess happened because you weren’t eating well, so I want you to have something nutritious for dinner. Your body needs it to heal but you’re not getting up from this couch anytime soon and I’m not in the mood to cook, so….” – “Sounds great. I’m starving”, Minho hummed, tiredly running a hand through his sweaty hair. He’s still need to take a shower at some point but he really didn’t want to stand. Seemingly reading his mind, Jisung offered: “Want me to run you a bath?” – “After dinner? The icepack feels nice right now”, Minho breathed, closing his eyes. The rapper hummed in agreement, gently playing with his hyung’s hair to comfort him.

“You ordered pudding too?!”, Minho gasped, a bright smile spready on his lips. Mirroring the dancer, Jisung chuckled: “I wanted to cheer you up with a nice dessert because I know you were doing your best and I saw how hard you’ve been working lately. It just hurts my heart to see you neglect yourself for the rest of the group.” Maybe if he hadn’t been so tired, Minho’s eyes wouldn’t have gotten so teary or maybe they would’ve. With how quickly he dabbed at them, Jisung didn’t notice it either way. “I’d like to put some ointment on your ankle and bandage it properly after you washed up”, the rapper munched, worriedly scanning over the sizeable bruise. Bumping his shoulder, Minho pouted: “Are you telling me I did a bad job with the way I bandaged it?” – “Yeah, you did a terrible job”, Jisung teased, “With how tightly you wrapped it, you’re lucky you didn’t lose a foot.”

After devouring his pudding, Minho let his dongsaeng help him to the bathroom. He was surprised how much tension melted off his shoulders once he was submerged in the warm water, his foot resting on a towel at the edge of the tub. The heat had him grow sleepy and he was glad that he could go to bed soon. Like he had promised, Jisung gently spread ointment around his swollen ankle and dressed it with a fresh bandage, his touch careful and light. “Keep it elevated on this pillow while you sleep, hyung”, the rapper advised, helping the older get comfortable. Lips turning into a pout, Minho whined: “I don’t think I can sleep like this. That’s not even close to my normal sleeping position.” – “Well, don’t get hurt then if you’re so picky about your sleeping positions or don’t sleep”, Jisung remarked, earning a weak punch to the arm, “Just kidding. Cuddles would help, wouldn’t they?” – “Cuddles would help”, Minho agreed with a smile and opened his arms. Finally, he could get some sleep.

[cuddlepilefics]

I don't want your apology

Fandom: Ateez

Sickie: San

Caregiver: ?

Prompts:

Feveruary 2025: 11 “you’re burning up”, alt 1 forced to work @feveruary

Fluffbingo: “It’s just so much.” @flufftober

March whumpness 2025: 6 alone, 8 exhaustion, 20 fainting, 29 collapsing at work @marchwhumpness

Whumpril 2025: 25 too weak to stand, alt 11 missed medication, alt 13 “Why won’t you believe me?” @whumpril

Angstpril 2025: 4 “I trusted you”, 8 ignored, 9 “I don’t want your apology”, alt 1 “did you even care?”, alt 3 collapse @angstpril

August of whump 2024: alt collapse @augustofwhump

No one’s POV.:

San sighed as he plopped down in the backseat of a taxi. The rest of the group had long since been able to go home for the day but he had been stuck at his solo schedule till late into the night. His entire body ached from the exhaustion, head throbbing. Knowing he’d feel far worse if he didn’t eat well to fuel his body, San opened the takeout bag and glanced at the kimbap in disgust. For some reason, it didn’t look the slightest bit appealing, which was weird considering how long he had gone without food. There simply hadn’t been enough time for him to eat, so perhaps the dull ache in the pit of his stomach was hunger pain. With a sigh, San sank his teeth into his late-night dinner, wanting to be done eating once he got back to his dorm, so he could collapse straight into bed.

Shortly before the car came to a halt, San suddenly flashed hot, the car’s interior seemingly closing in around him and he was glad when he could finally get out. His head spun for a moment and he had to brace himself against the trunk before the cool night air cleared his head, allowing him to stand up straight. Shakily making his way up to his dorm, San envied Seonghwa and Mingi for already being home. He stifled a soft burp against the back of his hand as he kicked off his shoes, wincing as the kimbap he had forced down sat heavy in his stomach. Eating so late never really worked well for him but it had never actually made him sick, so he figured he’d be fine if he just went to bed to sleep it off. Especially because he barely had any time left to sleep anyway.

Sleeping it off didn’t work for San though and only half an hour later, he found himself kneeling on the bathroom floor, knuckles turning white as he clutched the toilet seat. His throat burned as he brought up wave after wave of barely digested kimbap. San didn’t even try to stay quiet anymore at this point, partially hoping one of his dormmates would wake up and come to check on him. The dorm stayed quiet though, an eerie silence hanging over him as San sat back on his heels, only disrupted by his panting. Still trembling, he pulled off his shirt and cringed at how sweaty it had become in only a matter of minutes. A shudder ran down his back and he swallowed hard. When had it gotten so freaking cold? There were only a couple of hours left till his alarm would go off, so he should really get to bed but his legs had gotten all numb from kneeling there.

San stretched out his legs, trying to ignore the tingle as blood flooded through them again. Swallowing, he tried to ease the burn in his throat but it was to no avail. He couldn’t even get rid of the vile taste because the sink was so far away and his legs still felt like jelly, refusing to carry him. Defeatedly slumping back against the wall, San ran his hand over his sore abs. What had he done to deserve this misery? And how had both Seonghwa and Mingi managed to sleep through his ordeal? San knew he wasn’t a quiet puker by any means, but they were probably exhausted too. Still, he hated being alone when he was sick.

After what felt like ages, San finally managed to pull himself to his feet, though he was still a little wobbly. He had a few sips of water and rinsed his mouth with mouthwash before grabbing some painkillers for his headache. There was no way he could take them right now, not with how bubbly his stomach still was, but he would place them on his nightstand to swallow as soon as his stomach calmed down. Why did they have to split up dorms? He really didn’t want to sleep in a room all by himself right now but he also didn’t feel like he could go bother Seonghwa or Mingi, so he tiredly trudged back to his room and flopped down on his bed.

Morning came far too early for San’s liking though he counted it as a success that he hadn’t thrown up again that night. His stomach hadn’t really calmed down though, so he doubted he could handle eating breakfast today. When his eyes fell on the painkillers on his nightstand, he quickly shook two into his palm and swallowed them dry, wincing as they scraped his raw throat. Since he still felt a little chilled, he threw on an oversized sweater and made sure to wear loose pants, so they wouldn’t dig into his middle. Luckily, Mingi was already in the bathroom getting ready and San managed to catch Seonghwa alone in the kitchen.

“Good morning”, he rasped as he walked up behind the oldest and poured himself a glass of water. Seonghwa greeted him with a smile and took a sip of coffee. Carefully sipping his water to see if his stomach would tolerate it, San pouted: “Hyung, I don’t feel good. Can I stay home today?” – “Aish, Sannie”, the older chuckled, “I know you have a special dislike for that choreographer but come on. You gotta grow up. We can’t just fake sick whenever we dislike our schedule. Now, come on. Get ready or else we’ll run late.” San was stunned. His hyung didn’t believe him?! Shit, he had completely forgotten what schedule they had today. He couldn’t do this. Not today.

Though Seonghwa had brushed him off, the eldest seemed more amused than annoyed at San’s perceived attempt at skipping dance practice. The same wasn’t true for the rest of the group though. None of them really enjoyed working with this choreographer, so the atmosphere in the practice room was already tense to begin with. “Why won’t you believe me?”, San pouted after Hongjoong chewed him out for acting childishly. Rolling his eyes, the leader reminded: “I know you don’t wanna do this but we have no choice. He’s good at his work and we need him if we want our next comeback to be a success.” There was still another hour left till San could have another dose of medicine and knew he’d need it if he was forced to work. By now, he was convinced that he was also running a fever and when he went to check his bag, he realized that he had left the medicine on his nightstand at the dorm.

“Woo, you don’t happen to be carrying some painkillers?”, San whispered during one of their water breaks. Leaning back against the wall, Wooyoung ran his hand through his sweaty hair and sighed: “No, I don’t and seriously, Sannie. Taking medicine just to keep up an act isn’t good. It’s not healthy to swallow this stuff unnecessarily.” – “You have no idea how necessary it is”, the older muttered bitterly but Wooyoung didn’t hear him. Having missed his medication, San was feeling more miserable by the minute. He tried talking to Hongjoong again but the leader ignored him. Eyes burning with tears, San trudged back to his position and took a deep breath. His vision was already fuzzy around the edges and he feared that if he lost his breath, he might faint right there. He didn’t think he could handle being scolded for ruining another run-through although it wasn’t in his control.

By some sort of miracle, San made it through most of the song before the dizziness really hit but when it did, boy did it hit hard. It felt like someone pulled the rug from under his feet. Luckily, he didn’t stumble too much but he barely heard the last few beats over the ringing in his ears, tumbling to the floor the moment the music was cut. For a moment, he must’ve been unconscious because he didn’t even feel the impact of his body slamming into the ground but when he came to, all he was really aware of was pain.

A hoarse whimper escaped San’s limps as he clutched his head, the throbbing unbearable. His stomach cramped, making him subconsciously curl in on himself, which took a lot more effort than he had anticipated because his aching muscles strongly protested the movement. “Stay down”, Seonghwa instructed, a gentle hand on San’s shoulder keeping hi down, “Shit, you’re burning up.” – “Told you”, the younger breathed, weakly sitting up despite Seonghwa’s objections. The water San had sipped earlier sloshed nauseatingly in his stomach and he feared if he lay down flat, he wouldn’t stand a fair chance at keeping it down. Hongjoong’s heart raced as he requested the others give them space. How could he have ignored his dongsaeng when he so adamantly told him that he couldn’t keep going.

“Shit, Sannie, I’m so sorry”, Hongjoong mumbled as he knelt down next to the younger, offering him his water bottle. Weakly pushing it away, San whispered: “I don’t want your apology.” What he really wanted was to go home, to lay down in his bed and not on the practice room floor, to take the medicine he had forgotten, so he’d hopefully feel less shitty soon but he couldn’t voice that. Not with how heavy his tongue felt in his mouth, already struggling to swallow the saliva that filled his mouth at an alarming rate.

Before either Seonghwa or Hongjoong could react or even comprehend what was happening, San pulled the hem of his shirt up as his stomach lurched, the water he had forced himself to drink suddenly gushing from his lips. Though taken by surprise, Seonghwa gently patted his dongsaeng’s back when he choked on a cough. San shuddered with a retch, his stomach burning as it tried to bring up something that wasn’t there. Since he had skipped his breakfast that day and had already thrown up his dinner earlier, stomach acid and bile were all that was left and burned his already strained throat on the way up.

Holding the trashcan underneath San’s chin, Yunho hummed: “Try to take a deep breath.” He had traded places with Hongjoong because San looked so obviously uncomfortable with the leader’s presence, who now gathered the rest of the members and left the room with the choreographer in tow. Drawing a shaky breath, San broke into tears. Sobs wracked his frame while Seonghwa did his best to comfort him. “I know you probably don’t want to hear it right now but I’m really, truly sorry for not believing you”, the eldest whispered, carding his fingers through San’s hair to get it out of his face. Squeezing his eyes shut, the younger whimpered: “I trusted you, hyung.” – “I know you did, love”, Seonghwa sighed.

“Did you take any medicine?”, Yunho asked after helping the other removed his soiled shirt. Wiping his lips on a clean corner of his shirt, San shook his head and mumbled: “I took some this morning but missed the next dose. They’re on my nightstand, so I asked Woo but he didn’t have any.” – “I have some”, Seonghwa frowned, feeling San’s forehead again, “Do you think you could stomach them right now?” The younger shook his head again as another wave of tears washed over him. “I wanna go home”, San choked out, exhausted from the night he had had and the torturous dance practice that had taken the rest out of him, “I’m sorry, it’s just so much.” – “No, you’re the only one who doesn’t have anything to apologize for”, Yunho scolded, “And especially not for feeling upset and overwhelmed right now. Let’s get you cleaned up. You can borrow my hoodie, yeah?”

Yunho helped San clean himself up, while Seonghwa packed their bags. “Do you think you can stand?”, the eldest asked, offering him a hand. Shaking his head, San mumbled: “I-I feel like jelly.” – “It’s okay”, Yunho smiled, “We’ll help you but we should really get you home.”  They soon came to realize that San hadn't been kidding. It took them both immense effort to hoist their dongsaeng to his feet and even more to keep him there. “Hyung, I don’t feel good”, San slurred, squeezing his eyes shut. He wasn’t sure if he was going to faint again but his vision was cloudy to say the least.

With San in their middle, Seonghwa and Yunho slowly shuffled to the door, hoping Hongjoong was already arranging a ride for them. In the hallway, they ran into Wooyoung, who paced anxiously in front of the door. When San and him made eye contact, the older breathed: “I really needed medicine.” – “I know, Sannie. I’m so sorry”, Wooyoung apologized, trying to hug his friend. Shaking his head, San muttered: “Did you even care?” The younger bit his lip, eye trained on the floor. Of course, he did care but he surely hadn’t acted like it, so he couldn’t blame San for being hurt. “We’re taking him home now, Woo. Do you know where Hongjoong is?”, Seonghwa asked calmly though he was slowly starting to sweat from how much strength it took to keep San on his feet.

They found Hongjoong at the front desk, chatting with their manager, who seemed stressed when they approached, frowning: “Hey. I heard you weren’t feeling well, San.” San shook his head, trying to stand up a little straighter between his hyungs but he was still unbearably dizzy and too weak to hold his own weight. “Do you want to go to the hospital to get checked, since you collapsed or would you want me to take you back to the dorm?”, the manager offered, closely studying San’s ghostly pale face. Drawing a shaky breath, San rasped: “I really just want my bed please.” – “That’s alright”, his manager agreed, “We’re already working on the schedule changes to make sure you’ll be off for the rest of the week to recover.”

“Sannie-“, Wooyoung called after him, guilty still eating him up. Turning his back on his friends, San sighed: “I don’t want your apologies, I trusted you.”

[cuddlepilefics]

Sore hug

Fandom: Stray Kids

Sickie: Jeongin

Caregivers: Stray Kids

Prompts: 1 sore, 3 hug @whumpril

 

No one’s POV.:

Jeongin had already felt a little off when he went to bed the previous night, so it really wasn’t all that surprising to him when he had trouble getting his bearings that morning. The night had been far too short and his alarm went off far too early for his liking, leaving him hazy as he got out of bed. Every muscle seemed to protest his movement but Jeongin didn’t have a choice but to get moving because there was no way, he’d risk being late for his schedule. Though the maknae had managed to get up on time, he didn’t find it in himself to return Chan’s cheerful ‘good morning’ with the same energy. The leader chuckled at Jeongin’s tired groan and handed him a cup of coffee.

It was moments like this that had Jeongin convince, Chan was actually a mind reader because he knew there was no way he’d be able to get through the day without filling up on caffeine first. The younger was glad that it was only to two of them sharing a dorm now because it was comfortably quiet while the two of them got ready. With the slowly developing headache behind his temples, Jeongin truly didn’t miss the noisy chaos of their early days, when eight people tried to get ready for the day at the same time.

Jeongin winced as he got into the van, rolling his shoulders to try and get comfortable because he knew they had a rather long ride ahead of them. The day would start off with an interview and he was kind of grateful about that because the questions were rarely ever directed towards him and all he’d have to do, was sit there and look pretty. He really didn’t see himself pushing through hours of grueling dance practice, while his muscles were already on fire. “Someone’s still asleep, huh?”, Chan smiled as he reached over and ruffled Jeongin’s hair. Frowning at the older, Jeongin yawned: “Why did the alarm have to go off so early? This is cruel, hyung!” The Aussie only laughed at that and waited for the car to come to a halt before unbuckling his seatbelt and getting out.

To their surprise, most of the members had already arrived at the venue and were getting their makeup done, while Chan and Jeongin were ushered to the changing room to put their stage outfits on. The maknae’s body ached and he sat down with a groan to untie his shoes. “What’s with the long face?”, Felix hummed as he zipped up his jacket, shooting his dongsaeng a worried look. Jeongin muttered something, faintly sounding like: “Tired an’ sore.” – “You okay, though?”, the dancer asked, “You’re looking kinda pale and the circles under your eyes are impressive.” – “Mhm, jus’ would’ve liked more sleep”, the younger yawned, slowly pealing himself out of his shirt.

He didn’t know how he did it but he had gotten himself dressed in his stage outfit and allowed himself to rest his eyes while the makeup artist worked on his face. Standing behind his chair, Felix gently kneaded Jeongin’s shoulders and winced in sympathy. The maknae’s shoulders were overly tense. No wonder he felt sore. “You want some more coffee?”, Chan offered, slowly getting worried because Jeongin was still so out of it. Cracking an eye open, the youngest mumbled: “Don’t think it’ll help much and I don’t wanna be too jittery during the interview. I’ll be fine, thanks.” – “Are you sure, you’re fine?”, the makeup artist asked softly, “Your face is a little warm. Not like, feverish or anything but still.” – “Yeah, yeah, the lights are warm. No need to worry ‘bout me, noona”, Jeongin insisted, forcing himself to put on a smile.

During the interview, Jeongin actually felt better. Probably because of the distraction and because he didn’t need to move his sore muscles too much. He wasn’t even really sure what was going on with him, not actually feeling sick but maybe a little rundown. They had been busy lately and he didn’t get all that much sleep, so maybe this was his body protesting. Either way, it wasn’t bad enough to make a big deal out of it. Jeongin would just try to get a little more sleep and it should be fine.

The interview passed in a blur and luckily, Jeongin and Seungmin had their vocal lesson afterwards. Before they parted ways with the other members, Changbin patted the maknae on the shoulder and asked: “Wanna head to the gym together after work, baby bread?” Giving the rapper a thin smile, Jeongin shook his head. “Sorry, hyung, but I’m sore as hell”, he informed, shoulders still tense despite Felix’ best efforts earlier. “No pain, no gain”, Changbin chuckled as he nudged the younger, “Just kidding. You don’t look so great.” – “Yeah, my head hurts”, Jeongin sighed, massaging his temples. He really needed an early bedtime. Scratching his neck, the older offered: “Want me to find you some painkillers before I go to the studio?” – “Um, actually that’d be great”, Jeongin mumbled, “Not sure I could focus on my lesson like this.”

Glad the maknae was medicated, Seungmin guided his only dongsaeng to their lesson. He had noted the other’s sluggish movements during dance practice the previous evening and he knew the rest of the group had as well, even though nobody called him out. It was odd, how readily Jeongin had accepted their support today. Whether it was Felix’ massage or Changbin’s medication, the youngest gladly took it, and Jeongin admitting to feeling low? That was almost unheard of. “Are you cold?”, Seungmin asked when he caught the other shuddering from the corner of his eye. Pulling his sleeves down to cover his hands, Jeongin shrugged: “A little maybe. No big deal.” – “Didn’t noona say you felt warm to the touch?”, the older worried reaching out to feel Jeongin’s forehead. The maknae avoided his touch and reminded: “She said I didn’t feel feverish and I always get a little chilled when I’m tired.”

Though Seungmin didn’t fully agree with that logic, he let it go and their lesson went pretty well despite the faint hint of tiredness in Jeongin’s voice. Afterwards, they had their individual schedules, with Seungmin heading to a photoshoot, while Jeongin was supposed to join the dance-racha to polish up some of the moves he hadn’t been able to nail during their last group practice session. He already dreaded having to move, his sore muscles only aching worse as the day progressed and he honestly just wanted to go to bed already.

Tiredly shuffling into the practice room, Jeongin dropped his back by the mirror and greeted his hyungs. Hyunjin jogged over to him and pulled him into a hug despite being sweaty all over. To his surprise, the maknae didn’t push him away. If anything, he melted into the embrace. “Hang on, I’m allowed to hug you?!”, Hyunjin gasped, tightening his arms around his dongsaeng. Swatting at the dancer’s arm, Jeongin whined: “Fuck off if you gotta be weird about it.” – “Noo, I like hugging you”, Hyunjin denied.

“Wait, Innie accepting love?! Are you sick baby bread?”, Minho frowned, only half teasing. To him, Jeongin’s cheeks looked flushed though he hadn’t even begun to dance yet. Sure, it could be embarrassment but it could also be a fever. Making his way over to check on the younger, Minho hummed: “I’d like to check your temperature before you start but since I’m already running hot, there’s no use in me feeling your forehead. Let’s go upstairs and talk to Chan-hyung first before we decide whether you’re fit to dance.” To his surprise, Jeongin didn’t fight him on the idea but truth be told, the maknae was too exhausted to put up a fight. Besides, Hyunjin’s hug just felt too nice to have him let go.

Like a lost puppy, Jeongin trudged after Minho and almost slammed into him because he didn’t notice how they arrived at the studio. “Oh, hey you two”, Chan smiled, “What’s up?” – “I think Innie might be running a fever but I can’t really judge that, so I’d like your ‘all clear’ before I let him dance”, Minho explained. Crossing his arms, Jeongin sighed: “Just because I enjoyed a hug.” – “He what?!”, Jisung gasped, making the youngest wince. Studying Jeongin closely, Changbin frowned: “Has the headache gotten any better?” – “Not really”, the younger shrugged, “I’m just really sore and a little cold. Hyunjin’s hug felt nice because he was warm.”

“I agreed, you do feel pretty warm to me and your eyes look glossy, so yeah, fever”, Chan confirmed, earning another sigh from Jeongin. The younger wasn’t even really disappointed because it meant he didn’t have to dance but having his symptoms confirmed made him feel them more clearly. He couldn’t lie to himself and gaslight himself into being fine anymore. Opening his arms for a hug, Chan hummed: “You wanna go back to the dorm or lay down here and go home with me later?” Leaning against the Aussie’s chest, Jeongin breathed: “Can I lay down here or would I disturb your work too much? I don’t wanna ask anyone for a ride home if I can just stick around till you go home anyway.” – “That’s fine, right?”, Chan agreed, Changbin and Jisung nodding along. With how exhausted Jeongin had been all day, it came as a surprise to no one when he dozed off as soon as the others had covered him with their coats to quell the chills.

By the time Chan shook him awake to go home, there was no denying it. Jeongin’s fever had spike and he was undoubtedly sick now. “Time to go home”, the leader informed softly, passing the younger his water bottle. ‘Mind reader’, Jeongin though as he lifted the bottled to his lips. His throat was parched and his head throbbed. How did Chan know? When Jeongin glanced around the studio, he realized that his friends had already packed up and were only waiting for him. Rushing to get up, the maknae’s head spun and Chan frowned: “Easy. Not gonna leave you here, don’t worry.” He linked their arms to keep Jeongin from toppling over and smiled: “Let’s get you home. You can shower first, while I make a light dinner.” – “Thanks”, the younger sniffled, rubbing his face. He wanted nothing more than to get ready for bed but if he ate a bite first, he could have another dose of medicine.

“By the way, I told manager-nim that you’d need tomorrow off to recover”, Chan stated as he ushered his dongsaeng into their shared apartment. Kicking off his shoes, Jeongin mumbled: “Thanks, hyung. I’ll go take a quick shower.” – “You can also take a long shower”, Chan laughed, “Might soothe you sore muscles.” While the maknae shuffled off in the direction of his room to grab fresh clothes, Chan headed to the kitchen and started some soup to let it simmer till the younger was ready to eat. He should’ve known something was up when they got up that morning. Jeongin wasn’t usually so listless, not even in the morning and Chan usually caught on to things like that, yet he had let himself be fooled by the ‘just tired’.

To make up for it, there was a steaming bowl of soup waiting for Jeongin when he shuffled to the kitchen. Next to it lay two pills and a glass of water. “Feeling more like yourself now?”, Chan asked as he took a seat opposite of his dongsaeng. Resting his chin on his hand, Jeongin yawned: “A little. Absolutely sleepy though.” – “Well, eat up so you can go to bed”, the leader chuckled, “I’ll try to be as quiet as possible when I get ready tomorrow. You should really sleep in and try to rest as much as possible. The others were a little unnerved today.” That earned him a small laugh and Jeongin smiled: “Didn’t think I could scare them this much by accepting a hug.”

[cuddlepilefics]

When a writer tries to structure all the prompts from events they have missed out on and want to write anyway...

[cuddlepilefics]

MILDLY SCREWED

SICKIE⇒CHAN

snowy winter day, late morning, light schedule, it was going to be the perfect day for chan. but when he woke up, he felt wrong.

he could see the snow through his window and his phone showed 11:37, the dorm was- fuck, 11:37. he never slept that late. yet, somehow, he didn’t feel well rested either.

he really didn’t feel like going about his day. dance practice would start in an hour, then he guessed he’d have lunch with 3racha, and lastly they had recording in the afternoon.

it wasn’t much, really, but his motivation to get out of bed was about zero. he was deep in self pity when a loud noise from the kitchen startled him into sitting up.

‘clumsy maknae’, he thought as he heard the familiar sound of a pot clattering to the floor. sighing, he forced himself to stand up and his vision immediately filled with dots. yeah, that was his blood pressure dropping as fast as his mood.

he groaned as the dots finally faded and grabbed grey sweatpants and a matching hoodie and beanie before walking into the kitchen where jeongin was, in fact, glaring at a pot on the floor.

hearing the approaching footsteps, the maknae looked up at him and gasped.

“woah, hyung, you look super pale! like, more than usual”, he said, walking over to chan as the older shrugged.

why did jeongin look so worried? he must look worse than he feels. “i don’t feel bad”, chan told him, “just off”.

jeongin raised an eyebrow at that, “very descriptive, hyung. explain a bit?”. chan chuckled and rolled his eyes, starting the coffee machine.

he noticed that the maknae was ready to go out, shoes on and everything.

“i have no energy”, the leader said, “but like, i slept a lot”. the maknae hummed and crossed his arms as he about it for a moment. “maybe you slept a lot but not well?”.

assuming it was indeed just tiredness, chan nodded, “probably”. after some more light chatter, he went ahead with his morning and made some toasts.

i.n had actually woken up a long while before ago, so when chan sat down with his coffee and toast the boy was already going to leave the dorm. “see you later, grandpa”, he said with a smile that showed his dimples, and left.

as for chan, he spent the next half an hour completely spaced out. he barely registered finishing his breakfast and was only brought back to focus by the chills that had started going through his body.

he groaned, annoyed that the heating wasn’t on, and made his way to the thermostat before stopping on his tracks. oh, so the maknae did turn it on. why was he so cold, then?

chan didn’t bother thinking about it and instead went back to his room since he still had a while until dance practice started. he sat on his bed with a blanket to try and stop the shivering. it didn’t work.

actually, the longer he sat there, the worse he felt. somewhere during the last 10 minutes his head had started to throb. it wasn’t bad, it was barely there, but it was still annoying.

his eyes had started watering too so he put his phone down and dabbed under his eyelashes with his sleeves. what a great fucking morning.

when he felt like he’d silently complained enough, chan reluctantly got out from under his blanket, put his phone, keys, computer and bottle of water in his bag and deemed himself ready to leave the comfort of his room.

he wasn’t ready at all though. the pounding behind his eyes had only grown stronger and when he looked at himself in the bathroom mirror, he saw what jeongin had meant when saying he was paler than usual.

he genuinely looked like a ghost. a hot one, but a ghost nonetheless.

chan splashed his face with cold water in hopes of regaining even the slightest bit of colour, but he was unlucky. thinking about it now, there was no denying that he didn’t feel good.

could he stay home today? it might be an option, but the schedule was so light that he doubted he’d be allowed to skip it. plus, he wasn’t sick sick, because he didn’t have a fever.

‘that’s dumb, you don’t need a fever to be sick’ chan thought, but soon forgot about any chances of missing work when his phone rang with the managers number.

oops, he was going to be late, and if the manager had gone as far as calling instead of texting then he definitely couldn’t stay back.

deciding not to waste anymore time dwelling on his discomfort, chan got out of the bathroom, put on some random nikes he found, grabbed a jacket and finally left the dorm.

the cold winter air greeted him mercilessly and he almost called a cab before deciding that the cold wasn’t worth risking getting recognised by the diver and having to have a conversation.

antisocial chan was a rare find, but he came to the surface every once in a while.

it felt like an eternity before he finally reached the company, and by then his teeth were chattering and his body was trembling from the cold. at least, at the very least, he didn’t have a stuffy nose. or a fever, that would be even worse.

luck wasn’t on his side that day because chan ran into more people than he had talked to the whole year, and everyone seemed to have a conversation to strike with him. yes, he was definitely going to be late to practice.

when he finally made it to the practice room, he was greeted by lee know’s glare. “you’re late. very”, the dancer said, but he was quick to let it go when he saw chan’s lack of response and the way his face had less colour than a paper sheet.

the leader himself felt bad for making his members wait, but he found himself not caring that much.

he’d showed up, that felt like enough effort today. quickly dropping his bag to the side, chan walked to the centre of the room and was relieved to see that the others had waited for him before stretching.

“you didn’t take off your jacket”, changbin pointed out when chan sat next to him, “oh- never mind, hyung, you’re shaking. are you okay?”.

the leader caught sight of the worried expression on the rappers face and it made his chest feel warm. he shrugged and said “its freezing out there and i came walking, i feel like an ice cu-”.

“YOU CAME WALKING?? IN THIS WEATHER??”

startled by the yell, both chan and changbin looked up to an amazed han. “hyung, you have superpowers or something”, the youngest member of 3racha said, wincing when he saw chan’s shaky hands, “not very good decision making skills, though”.

chan chuckled mid stretch and argued that “it didn’t feel so bad when i left the dorm”. their discussion halted when minho walked over to the speakers and started looking for a song to dance.

he must’ve caught felix making puppy eyes at him because he chose mountains. that was a fairly easy dance compared to what they had and chan silently thanked god for it.

the rest of practice was uneventful, mostly. they had to learn a dance for one of the next comeback songs and chan struggled more than usual to get the moves down, but it could have been worse.

through the fog that had settled over his brain and the constant waves of pain in his head, the leader didn’t notice lee know’s careful eyes watching him throughout the whole practice.

instead, he was just grateful that the dancer was in a seemingly unprompted forgiving mood and said nothing when he kept making the same mistakes in a row.

of course, minho had a reason to be so patient. all of the members had noticed chan’s low mood today and the way his face lacked colour. the flush on his cheeks made up for the paleness though, but it eased no one’s worries.

moreover, none of them missed the leader’s winces whenever the music’s bass echoed louder in the room or the way he’d quietly sit down next to his water bottle during the breaks. normally, whenever he had trouble with moves, he’d spend the breaks practicing them, but he didn’t today, and they could guess that he didn’t feel the best.

lunch with 3racha passed in a blur for chan. he didn’t pay attention to their conversation at all even if he probably should have and he appreciated the fact that neither changbin nor han forced him to talk.

dance practice had messed up his stomach, maybe he’d drank too much water? whatever it was, he didn’t feel like eating, but changbin didn't let him leave his food untouched.

‘probably for the best’ chan thought ‘it’s not like i have enough energy to just not eat’. yes, his stomach felt kinda bad, but he was thankful that he didn’t feel actually nauseous. maybe it was just sore from so much dancing? most definitely not.

walking to the studio, chan assessed the situation. his head was pounding, his stomach felt sore and the chills that racked through his body hadn’t completely disappeared.

not good, but not too bad. on a scale from 1 to 10, he was mildly screwed.

now that he thought about it, what bothered him the most was the exhaustion that hadn’t let up ever since he woke up. okay, he could deal with being tired.

han grabbing onto his arm pulled him out of his thoughts and he smiled at the rapper. “what’s up?”, chan asked, slightly amused at the gesture. han replied with a soft “nothing”, so the leader just let him be clingy. he was warm anyway, chan welcomed that.

out of the corner of his eye, he saw changbin jokingly pout over ‘not being chosen by han’ and he couldn’t hold back a laugh. could he ever not laugh while he was with 3racha? probably not.

when they got to the studio, he was surprised to see that the equipment was already set up. changbin must’ve caught his confused expression because he giggled. “we were recording han’s song in the morning, hyung”, he told chan in a playful tone, “you’d know if you had listened to us during lunch”.

the leader rolled his eyes and smiled, plopping down on the couch and pulling out his phone before replying “y’all talk too much, i can’t listen to everything”.

at that, han gasped like he was offended an sprawled out on the couch half on top of chan’s legs. “how could you, hyung, you like listening to me talk”, the boy complained, and then bragged, “everyone does, actually”.

the two older boys laughed and chan ruffled han’s hair playfully, which sent the younger on another round of whined complaints even though he had no intention on moving off of chan’s legs, that at some point started to feel numb from the lack of circulation.

“let him breathe, hannie”, a teasing voice said from the door. 3racha looked up to see minho there. “whats with the looks”, the dancer questioned, “wasn’t i first for recording?”.

to be honest, chan had no idea. he hadn’t checked the order at all but minho was responsible enough. if he said he was first, then he probably was.

“sure”, the leader answered, acting like he knew, “you know the lyrics or…?”. lee know seemed to ponder the question for a moment before saying “let me read them again. han can start recording if he wants”.

the truth was, he did know the lyrics, quite well actually since for once they weren’t in english, but he wanted changbin and han to focus on recording so he could check on chan.

and hey, it worked. han left the couch and got into the booth while changbin sat on the producer’s chair, so now lee know had chan all to himself.

“hello, hyung”, he said a little too sweetly, sitting down next to chan on the couch, “how are you feeling?”. he couldn’t help but laugh at the leader’s surprised expression. he looked like a deer caught in headlights.

“is it that obvious?”, chan asked quietly, not wanting the other two to hear them, “i don’t even feel that bad”

lee know smiled at him, trying to seem reassuring, “not that obvious, just enough. so?”. chan internally cursed but decided to keep it simple. “my head hurts”, he said, “and i’m cold. freezing actually”. a shiver accompanied his words, giving away just how freezing he waqs.

still, the dancer didn’t look convinced. “you made way too many mistakes earlier to be just that”, minho said, and then winced at his words, “no offence”.

chan fidgeted with the sleeves of his hoodie, feeling bad that he did so bad at practice. surely he had been an inconvenience, but he swore he did as well as he could. “sorry”, he mumbled, “i don’t know. i’m really tired but i don’t have a fever, so i- i don’t know”, he looked at his lap, “my stomach feels bad too”.

lee know frowned, getting kinda worried. he reached up to feel chan’s forehead with the back of his hand and then moved it down to the older’s cheek.

“not a fever”, he agreed, smiling slightly when chan unconsciously closed his eyes and leaned into his touch. “see? i’m f-” chan tried to speak but lee know interrupted him with a firm “yet”.

“what do you mean yet”, chan huffed, maybe a bit childishly if the amused expression that took over minho’s face was anything to go by.

“i mean,” lee know started, dropping his hand from chan’s face and smirking at the sad expression the older made, “that you don’t feel too warm. but you don’t feel cold either and your cheeks are rosy, so lets see how long ‘no fever’ lasts”.

chan glared at him and automatically reached up with both hands to touch his face. “i don’t feel warm”

“yes you do”

“no. i’m not warm”

“yes you are, hottie”

“minho!”

the dancer laughed and stood up. “my turn”, he said, pointing at han that was leaving the recording booth. chan rolled his eyes and moved to sit next to changbin, now frowning.

“what’s with the grumpy look, hyung?”, the rapper laughed, playfully nudging the leader’s arm when he mumbled “i’m not grumpy, focus on the recording”.

while minho was smoothly recording his lines, jeongin and seungmin came into the room and sat on the couch to review their part, quietly talking between themselves.

chan liked it when the boys recorded in korean because they barely made any mistakes and didn’t need help with the pronunciation. that meant he, as a producer, didn’t need to be that focused.

of course he always payed a lot of attention to everything, but on days like this when he only wanted to be in his warm bed, a break from hyper-focusing on every detail was very welcome.

changbin was there anyway and he was just as professional as chan was. in fact, it was the rapper that was doing the most work today, because chan soon realised that his headache was steadily getting worse and he couldn’t help but zone out for the most part.

he was still halfway in a daze when minho finished his lines for the day and seungmin took his place in the booth.

“chan hyung”, minho called, standing next to chan who was now slumped over the table with his head resting on his crossed arms. no response. “channie hyung, channie hyung, chan-”

“what.”

lee know smiled at him, “you look dead”, he said, resting his hand on chan’s back. “i feel dead”, the leader groaned, wrapping his arms around his stomach and dropping his head on the table, “everything hurts”.

“sounds fun”, the dancer replied sarcastically, but against his words, he crouched down next to the leader and ran his hand down his back, “do you want pills?”.

chan cracked a smile at that and propped his head up on his hand, “don’t say it like that, it sounds sketchy”. minho laughed and shrugged, “not unless you make it sound sketchy. do you want painkillers or not?”.

when he received a nod in response, he went over to his bag and rummaged through it it until he found pills. “tell me you ate something at lunch”, the dancer said, walking back to chan, who nodded. “changbin made me”.

the rapper seemed to hear their conversation because he smirked, “you can thank me now hyung”. chan glared at him and sat straight to take the pills, which he swallowed dry. “disgusting” changbin mumbled, to which minho agreed, “very disgusting, are you dumb? you have water right there”.

“leave me alone”, chan complained, annoyed that his members were teaming up against him. the other two laughed, but let him be since seungmin needed to start recording.

chan couldn’t really complain right now. changbin was carrying most of the recording, the maknaes’ voices sounded as angelic as always and felix and hyunjin arrived on time to record their parts. everything was going perfectly well.

but still, the later it got, the worse chan felt. don’t get him wrong, the painkillers did work, but they had worn off way too quickly. now, his head was throbbing intensely, making his eyes water.

at some point, changbin had called han to take chan’s place because anyone could tell that the leader wasn’t able to do much even if he tried.

chan himself didn’t even put up a fight, instead giving up his seat to walk to the couch. as soon as he stood up a wave of dizziness washed over him and he was sure he’d have fallen if minho hadn’t been quick to steady him.

the dancer helped him to the couch where chan sat with his knees to his chest. minho felt his forehead again, and in a low voice so as not to make the headache worse, he announced “you now have the fever”.

chan bit his lip, of course everything had to take a turn for the worse before the schedule was over. if he was honest, he could cry.

“of course i fucking do”, he mumbled shakily, rubbing his eyes. at least if he ended up crying he could blame the headache for making his eyes water.

lee know looked surprised at the leader’s reaction. he usually coped well with being sick. apparently not today. “hey”, he said softly, “it’s fine, you’ll be good tomorrow. do you want to go home?”

did chan want to go home? yes he did. he was cold and tired and sick so he legally had absolutely no reason to be here. but he didn’t want to go home alone and miss what little was left of the recording, so he shook his head.

“no? why not? this is almost over- oh, that’s why, this is almost over”. it was almost funny, really, how the second oldest was able to read his mind, but he appreciated it. “then…”, minho continued, “try to fall asleep? you can at least rest, can’t you?”.

chan shrugged. could he? he always found it hard to sleep when he was in pain, so probably not. but it wouldn’t hurt to try.

seeing how he was having an internal debate, minho gently pushed chan’s head to his shoulder and rested his arm over the older. “just try, hyung, it’s fine if you can’t”.

so chan tried. he closed his eyes and tried to focus on the background noise. felix’s and hyunjin’s raps were great for stage, but weren’t exactly relaxing, so it wasn’t long before he needed to grab his airpods to block the noise.

minho winced in sympathy at the way chan kept moving in his seat because he couldn’t get comfortable and started rubbing the leader’s back in a way he hoped was comforting.

it was comforting, that was for sure, but chan felt too bad to rest. he kept moving around, trying to get comfortable, but he didn’t get anywhere. “i can’t”, he whimpered quietly, sitting up and struggling to take a deep breath in without breaking into tears.

minho bit his lip sadly. the leader looked awfully pale and his eyes were glossy, wether that was the fever or tears he couldn’t tell. “i don’t know, hyung…”, the dancer said softly, “i really think i should take you home. binnie and han got this”.

chan didn’t even find it in him to say no this time. his head hurt so bad, his stomach was flipping and he still felt as freezing as he did in in the morning.

plus, he was sure he’d end up crying and he didn’t need everyone watching him. “okay”, he told minho, looking down at his shaking hands, “i-i just want… i r-really want this to s-stop”.

“of course you do”, minho hummed, standing up and giving the leader an unusually gentle smile, “we’ll go, just let me tell changbin first”.

he went over to the rapper and whispered “i’m taking hyung home, he’s dying over there”, to which changbin’s eyes widened in worry.

chan watched the interaction, not even able to feel guilty because he knew there was no way he could stay here, in the crowded recording room, any longer.

out of the corner of his teary eye, he saw changbin shoot him a reassuring smile, and he couldn’t help but smile back, albeit a bit unsteadily as a tear rolled down his flushed face.

when minho came back, took his hand and helped him up and towards the door, he didn’t resist.

when he was gently pushed to the backseat of a car and minho had to buckle him up because his hands were shaking too badly to fasten the seatbelt himself, he didn’t protest.

and when the soothing and constant motion of the vehicle finally lulled him into a light doze, he didn’t catch minho’s loving smile.

but the short drive to his dorm was too short for sleep to help him, and he was woken up by minho slowly shaking his arm. minho, who had apparently taken the role of chan’s pillow.

the leader sat up, a bit shy that he’d acted so… soft? was that even the word? his clouded mind didn’t even know, but he was embarrassed.

as for the dancer, he simply chuckled and waved his hand in front of chan’s face, breaking into a laugh when the older looked up at him with a very not intimidating glare. “let’s go”, he said, leaning across chan to open the door for him, “what a gentleman i am, hm?”.

chan rolled his eyes at minho’s cocky manners, but the movement made him wince. right, his head was killing him and he was feverish. he almost forgot. slowly, so as not to trigger another wave of pain, he got out of the car and thanked the driver.

immediately, minho wrapped an arm around his shoulders and walked with him. once again, chan’s shaky hands prevented him from unlocking the door and, with a poorly concealed pout, he gave the keys to minho.

“can’t believe you’re still cold”, minho teased, opening the door quickly to let chan out of the winter air asap. “don’t believe it, then”, snapped the leader. more like mumbled, actually, because his voice was weak and his expression not offensive at all.

the dancer laughed at him yet again. how many times would he today? it was unfair. chan took small steps into the elevator and slumped against the wall, not having the energy to stand up on his own.

when minho got inside too, next to him, chan couldn’t help but drop his head on the younger’s shoulder.

the dancer let him and even brought a hand up to his neck, but removed it when it’s coldness made chan shiver. “sorry”, he apologised quietly, instead touching his forehead again, “still too warm. you’re taking more pills as soon as i find them”.

true to his word, minho didn’t waste a second, and when they finally got into chan and jeongin’s dorm, he made the leader change into warmer sweatpants and a long sleeved shirt—he didn’t think the thick hoodie would be of any help to the fever, so he made chan take it off—before finding fever reducers and giving them to him.

“comfy?”, he asked after a while, proudly looking at the way he’d gotten chan settled on his bed under a fluffy blanket and looking the slightest bit more colourful. yeah, not colourful, he wasn’t a rainbow (lowkey tho-), just less pale. chan, for maybe the first or second time that day, giggled quietly and nodded.

“won’t you sit with me, lino-yah~?”, he asked in a playful voice, but there was a slight pleading hidden in his words that minho couldn’t ignore, so he just nodded and sat next to the leader, letting himself be used as a pillow once more.

chan was still hurting, of course, but he was in his comfy warm bed and had his ‘cutest little thing’ next to him. and minho would make it better if the pain got worse again, would wake him up if the fever gave him the nightmares that always chased him when he was sick.

minho was there, and would take care of him, right? yes, 100% right.

[cuddlepilefics]

Hiii! Loved your fic I'm sure ur gonna be amazing. I just wanted to ask if u could write a sickfic where Jisung catches a head cold and spends the whole week sneezing. If you could add some of the members it would be great! If you wanna add something more feel free to.

THANK YOU😭

Thank you so much! As I started this I realised I haven’t dabbled as much in snz as I have in emeto, and I found myself googling “how to write the sound of a sneeze”🫡 full on researching haha

I hope this is fulfilling to your wishes! <3

Sickie: Han

Caretakers: Lee Know, Seungmin

Smile, sneeze, repeat

It started with a sniffle one ordinary Tuesday morning, a tickle in his nose that wouldn’t relent no matter what he did.

Jisung brushed it off, convinced it was nothing more than a mild cold. Nothing he couldn’t handle. His energy was still high, and he didn’t have a fever or anything. Nothing that was particularly taxing other than the persistent tickle and occasional sneeze.

By the time Wednesday rolled around, the tickle had started evolving into something far more persistent.

During the morning hours, it grew into an annoying pressure in his sinuses that gave room for a blooming headache. The sneezes grew more frequent, as if his body was desperately trying to rid him of whatever was infiltrating his airways. Still, Jisung didn’t feel that bad. The sneezing was annoying, sure, but he didn’t feel sick. Not yet, anyways.

Seungmin had been the first to comment on it, narrowing his eyes pointedly at Jisung during breakfast.

“You’ve been sneezing a lot” he remarked, looking unimpressed as he took a sip of his coffee.

Jisung chuckled softly and waved him off with a sniffle. “It’s just a little cold, I’ll be fine”

Seungmin didn’t look convinced, but he couldn’t be bothered to press on the matter either.

Before their scheduled dance practice in the evening, Jisung had tried everything he could think of to relieve his symptoms: blowing his nose, drinking hot tea, nasal spray, even inhaling steam infused with essential oils. But nothing gave him the relief he craved.

The pressure was still there, the pain increasing sharply whenever he sneezed or bent forward. Which, unfortunately, was a lot.

By the time they pulled up to the studio, Jisung had lost count of how many times he’d sneezed. His head felt heavy, his body a little sluggish, but he chalked it up to exhaustion. After all, their schedules had been packed the last couple of weeks. They were all tired. It made sense.

Warming up wasn’t too bad. Jisung stood at the back of the group, tissues safely stuffed in his pockets. The physical activity actually seemed to clear his head a little, and he was able to push through rather easily. His nose was runny, and he sneezed a couple of times, but the ache in his muscles lessened as he limbered up.

However, as they started working on actual choreography, things quickly took a turn for the worse.

The first run through was fine. He was a little slower than usual, but he managed to keep up with the steps without too much trouble. His sneezes were on beat for a lot of it, and they didn’t throw him off enough to ruin the flow. As the music stopped, Jisung braced himself against his knees, trying to catch his breath- only for it to hitch.

“Hhhh’ksssh! Hhhh’KTCHH!”

The sneezes caught him a little off guard, and Jisung quickly pressed a tissue to his nose, wiping it shyly.

“Sorry-“ his voice was thick, his vision wavering a little as he collected himself. He could feel the eyes of his band members on him, but he ignored it for the most part, focusing on steadying his breath.

“Gee, bless you!” Felix sang out from the opposite side of the room, snickering softly.

Jisung huffed a quiet laugh, lips tugging into a small smile. “Thanks”

Chan’s gaze lingered on him a little longer before he spoke up. “Alright everyone, let’s do that one more time, from the top”

Jisung nodded, swiping at his nose again before getting into position.

During the second run through, Jisung had to admit he was feeling a little worse for wear. The pressure in his sinuses made him feel like his eyes were going to pop out of their sockets, the pain amplified whenever he bent forward and making him nauseatingly dizzy.

The choreography was as always sharp and quick, but Jisung could feel himself struggle to maintain his usual fluidity. His movements felt enervated, his limbs slow to react to his will. The further they got along, the further his movements were lagging behind.

It felt like his body was running on a defect autopilot. He vaguely noticed himself sweating more than usual as well, a damp heat pressing against his skin that had nothing to do with exertion.

At a particularly sharp shift in position, the pain in his sinuses flared, and his breath caught in his throat.

“Huh’tsch! Hhh-tsshhh! Huh’ekTSHIEW!”

His body pitched forward with the force of the sneezes that tore through him, each one stronger than the last. The potency of had his head spinning so much that his steps faltered, making him completely miss his mark. He collided into Hyunjin, who let out a sharp breath of his own before swiftly steadying Jisung by his waist.

“Woah, are you okay?” Hyunjin asked, looking down at him with big eyes as Jisung still stood bent over, holding his nose. He tried to ignore the dizziness that swirled in his head, shutting his eyes briefly as he waited oft the world to stop spinning.

Jisung cleared his throat with a wince and sniffled as he slowly straightened up again. His lips jutted out into a pout as the music was promptly cut off, leaving him to feel awfully exposed.

“Yeah, I’m-I’m good…. Sorry about that-” He croaked, keeping his gaze locked in his feet. His throat had started feeling a little raw, but it wasn’t excruciating. Besides, they were dancing, not singing. He could push through.. right?

“Nonesense” Lee Know spoke up, suddenly right beside him. His eyes flickered over Jisungs face, taking in the glassy eyes and the pinkish hue on his cheekbones and nose. “You’re sneezing all over the place. Plus, you look like shit”

Jisung snorted at that, looking askance to avoid his insistent gaze. “Wow, thanks, hyung. You really know how to fladter me..” he muttered, before pitching forward into his sleeve again.

“Hh’iich- uhh, hh’ihhcht!”

“That’s, like, the tenth time in five minutes” Seungmin informed with a sigh, having taken over Hyunjins place at his left.

“It’s not-“ Jisungs breath hitched again, and he buried his nose in his sleeve, trying to stifle yet another sneeze. “-not that bad…” before he even had the time to ask Seungmin why the hell he was even keeping count, Lee Know spoke again.

“Right. Not that bad” Lee Know narrowed his eyes at him, crossing his arms over his chest. He cleared his throat, gazing at the clock hung on the wall.

“Break. Take ten minutes” he announced to the room, leaving no room for argument as he watched the other stray kids scatter.

“No-” Jisung said quickly, looking up at Lee Know with pleading eyes. Guilt clawed at his chest, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. “No, I can continue- p-please, I don’ wan..”

Lee Know raised an eyebrow and looked at Seungmin with a baffled look, silently asking something along the lines of ‘are you hearing this?’

Seungmin just shook his head, rolling his eyes in disbelief.

Lee Know sighed deeply, exasperated yet concerned as he saw the tears stinging in Jisungs eyes. “Han-ah, are you serious right now? You can’t be serious…”

“Hhh’tssskk—“

Jisung hung his head a little as he sniffled, still not meeting his piercing gaze. “I’b.. fide” he insisted, but his congested voice did nothing to help his case.

Seungmin let out a short, humourless laugh. “Right.. Because nearly knocking Hyunjin over mid-sneeze is totally part of the routine.”

Jisung scowled, but before he could argue, Lee Know grabbed his wrist and tugged him toward the couch at the back of the studio.

“Sit”

Jisung sighed as he plopped down on the black couch, admitting to his defeat. His body slumped forward, elbows resting against his knees as he buried his face in his hands. Now that he had a moment to pause and take it all in, he had to admit… he felt pretty awful.

A shiver ran down his spine as the air from the AC hit his skin, goosebumps prickling across his arms. He tensed as he felt weight land on his shoulder, peeking up over his fingers to see Lee Know draping his jacket around him.

“Tsk… You’re so dumb sometimes” The older dancer muttered, though there was no malice in his words. Jisung shut his eyes, his breath a little shaky. “Yeah…”

Lee Know sat down beside him on the couch, and Jisung instinctively shifted against him, seeking out any comfort he could find. To his relief, Lee Know didn’t hesitate, wordlessly pulling him closer and draping an arm over his shoulders.

“Here”

Jisung fluttered his eyes open again to see Seungmin standing in front of them, holding out a water bottle.

“You should drink something. You’re probably dehydrated” He explained, voice calm but insisting. Jisung nodded as he feebly reached out for the bottle, unscrewing the cap with trembling fingers.

He took a long sip. The coolness of the water felt soothing to his sore throat, but swallowing still made him grimace with discomfort.

Jisung sniffeled pathetically, basking in the heat Lee Know provided as his body practically melted against him. His eyes felt heavy, so he let them fall shut again.

“You’re burning up” Lee Know commented softly, brushing his fingers across Jisungs flushed cheek. “Why didn’t you just say you were sick?”

“I jus’.. I didn’ wan’o slow us dowd.. i’s jus’ a cold, anyway… ugh, we hab-have so much to do..” Jisung mumbled petulantly, clutching a box of tissues to his chest like it was a security blanket.

“Yeah, and how’s that working out for you?” Seungmin chided, gently reaching out to brush some rogue strands of hair out of Jisungs face.

Jisung didn’t answer, his lips pulling into a pout as he sank further into the couch, exhausted, and a little ashamed. The guilt weighed on him, pressing on his chest in an almost suffocating manner.

“It’s okay to take a break, Hannie-hyung” Seungmin said, noticing the gloomy look on Jisungs face as he reclined in his seat. “You can’t help being sick, y’know? The only thing you can control is how much you rest and allow yourself to actually recover..”

Jisung didn’t respond, but he knew Seungmin was right. Of course he did.

He rubbed at his eyes, breathing shakily as his lips wobbled dangerously close to the edge. He didn’t want to cry. He was too tired for that. Save it for later.

There was a beat of silence before Lee Know nudged his shoulder lightly, pulling him out of his foggy thoughts.

“Come on” he said “ I already talked to Chan, I’m taking you home”

Jisung blinked, stunned, before furrowing his brows.

“But-“

“No, no buts. You’re not coming back here until you’re better”

Jisung huffed in exasperation, but there was no backup to gather from Seungmin. No way to whine himself out of this one. Resigned, he rolled his face against Lee Knows shoulder, peeking up at him with bleary eyes.

“Will you s’ay wity be..?” Jisung hadn’t expected his voice to be as frail as it was, so weak and feeble, but it was an honest reflection of how he felt. The thought of being alone, left to spiral into a web of ‘I’m falling behind’ and ‘I need to catch up’, made his blood run cold.

There was a flicker of emotion that ran through Lee Knows eyes, too fast for him to really capture what it was.

“Well, duh.” Lee Know sighed as if it was the most obvious thing in the world “I’m not trusting you to be on your own, so I guess I’ll have to babysit you”

Lee Know crossed his arms in mock annoyance, but Jisung couldn’t help but feel a small smile tug at his lips at his antics. He knew he didn’t really mind, and he appreciated that more than he would ever know.

Seungmin stood silently against the wall beside them, watching the scene unfold. His gaze was soft, his eyes carrying a fondness that Jisung rarely saw. After a moment of thought, the younger pushed off the wall and crouched down in front of his hyungs, placing his hands gently on Jisungs knees.

“Hey..” Seungmin started, narrowing his eyes as he met Jisungs gaze. “Go rest up, okay? Don’t do anything stupid…”

“I won’..” Jisung promised, though it wasn’t entirely convincing. The guilt still gnawed at him, the fear of falling behind before their upcoming performances lingering in the back of his mind.

Seungmin must have sensed the doubt that still clung to him, because without warning, he reached out and lightly flicked his forehead. Not hard enough to hurt, but enough to snap him out of his thoughts.

“Hey-ow!” Jisung protested with a whine, pouting as he rubbed his forehead.

“That’s for overthinking” Seungmin explained, smirking in satisfaction as he stood back up.

Lee Know chuckled beside him, amused by the exchange. He gave Jisungs arm a comforting squeeze before moving to stand up. “Alright, let’s get going” He readjusted the jacket around Jisungs shoulder before reaching out his hand, waiting for him to follow his movement.

Jisung hesitated for a moment, eyes flickering to Seungmin, who gave him an encouraging nod. “We’ll be fine here.” He promised, and that was enough for him to gather some strength.

Slowly, Jisung rose from the couch, his body heavy with the fever that had slowly crept in and numbed his senses. It was as if his entire body was made of lead, and he was grateful for Lee Knows hand steadying him by the waist as he swayed.

Seungmin, ever the pragmatic, picked up the box of tissues left on the couch and pressed it back to Jisungs chest. “Don’t forget these. Now get out before you spread your germs any more”

Jisung sighed a little, touched by the gesture despite Seungmins typically blunt delivery. "Thanks, Minnie."

Lee Know guided him outside the studio with an arm securely around his body, and Jisung leaned on him heavily, as if his body wouldn’t be able to move on its own accord. The lump in his throat made him wince, his nose wouldn’t stop running and he was starting to feel a little queasy from congestion clogging up his sinuses. Safe to say, he was looking forward to be home in his bed again.

The car ride was quiet, save for the gentle hum of the engine and the occasional sneeze Jisung stifled into his elbow. As soon as Jisung sank into the passenger seat, he let out a sigh, his head tipping back against the headrest. Lee Know immediately turned on the seat warmer, and Jisung curled up, drawing his feet up to make himself comfortable.

Lee Know glanced over at him every now and again, a mix of concern and care etched into his features. He saw the way Jisung hugged onto himself, his eyelashes brushing against his pallid yet flushed cheeks, and the older reached over to gently pat his thigh. “It’s okay, just try to get some rest”

Jisung didn’t need further encouragement. The soothing warmth of the seat wrapped around him like the embrace of an old friend, easing the chill from his body. With each passing second, he felt his body surrendering moreto the comfort of the familiar surroundings, and his congested breaths evened out as he allowed himself to drift into a fevered slumber.

[cuddlepilefics]

Obviously, I had to write a sickfic based on the skz Consequence interview…

You can find the whole interview on YouTube if you wanna watch the whole thing!

Now bear with me, this is the first time I’ve done any creative writing in YEARS and I’ve never written a K-pop sickfic before.

Previously when I’ve written, I’ve always written mostly in 3rd person, but with a limited insight from the sick persons point of view.

In this, I wanted to capture both Hyunjins side of the story, his emotions etc, but also some from Seungmin- naturally. Idk, I enjoyed writing it, but I do find it a little hard to make the shift feel smooth.

Please let me know what you think! I definitely would like to write more sickfics, this was an alluring start… and I really would like to improve!

Enjoy

_____________________________________

Blurred edges

It was almost like muscle memory, the way Hyunjin reached out his hand and waved it in a circle in front of Seungmins face. His other hand rested down on his shoulder as he looked at him, concern blooming in his chest.

He could notice the looks from the other members, but luckily Bang Chan held the microphone and answered the final question before they were free to leave. The camera crew could focus on him, Hyunjin thought, and he could focus on Seungmin.

His absent gaze lingered in the nothingness a little longer than Hyunjin liked, but after a second, Seungmin turned to his bandmate with a dazed blink. His expression was unchanged and vacant, eyes still glazed, but there was a silent understanding. He just wanted it to be over, and hoped it would be soon. Seungmin turned to look at Chan, dizzily trying to comprehend what he was saying.

Hyunjins hand moved from his shoulder to gently caress the back of Seungmins neck, noting the cool dampness of his skin and the heat radiating from him. He prayed the cameras didn’t catch the way he visibly cringed, unable to mask his worry. At the very least that it wouldn’t make the cut. He just felt so helpless, watching Seungmin struggle in such pained silence.

He had forgotten the ‘don’t draw attention to it’ completely in favor of checking in on his dongsaeng. It was the end of the interview anyways, so it was fine.

“-so, buckle up and get ready for the storm to come” he heard Chan finish the interview with a perfect flourish, and everyone gave a small round of applause. Hyunjin merely pat his free hand against his outer thigh, too preoccupied with Seungmin.

If it was possible, Seungmins complexion had paled even more since the start of the interview, and Hyunjin couldn’t help but notice how dull his eyes were. The worry burned in his chest.

That morning, when he had asked, Seungmin had merely shrugged and said he felt a little ‘off’. But during breakfast, Hyunjin had watched as Seungmin managed to stomach nothing but half a saltine and a couple sips of water. This wasn’t just exhaustion. Something was obviously wrong.

Chan exchanged a few more words with the interviewer, and once the cameras were off, the tension in the air seemed to shift. Without warning, Seungmin slumped forward in his seat. Hyunjin was by his side in an instant, wrapping an arm around his waist as the feverish boy wavered on his feet.

“Come on” he said with a voice so tender it almost cradled his words. Seungmin ducked his head, eyes blearily looking at the path before him as they trudged together towards the dressing room.

During the objectively short walk, Hyunjin couldn’t help but steal glances at him, increasingly aware of how he was not just supporting him, but carrying more of his weight with each step. Seungmin could hardly take a single step of his own, his feet dragging sluggishly and stumbling against the floor.

“Soon there, Minnie, I got you” Hyunjin murmured, unsure if Seungmin even heard him, but giving it a try nonetheless.

The door to the dressing room was just down the hall, only a few more steps to go.

“Hyung…”

Hyunjin wasn’t sure if Seungmin had stumbled on the threshold or if his body simply gave out, but in an instant, he was just about carrying deadweight.

“Shit-“ Seungmin felt like a deflating balloon in his arms, his face pale and his breathing shallow and erratic. Before anyone could react, a deep, guttural gurgle echoed from his throat. Hyunjin’s eyes shot wide, but he didn’t move as a surge of vomit erupted from Seungmin’s mouth, splashing across his jacket sleeve and hitting the floor with a nauseating splat.

Hyunjin swiftly dropped himself down to sit on one knee, easing Seungmin’s collapsing form into a safer position, his body the only thing holding him up. One arm wrapped tightly around Seungmin’s back and waist, the other crossing over his chest to keep him from toppling forward. He couldn’t tell if Seungmin was even conscious—his body felt like it was barely holding itself together by the seams.

Another choked noise tore through Seungmin, and a second wave of vomit poured from his pale lips, mixing with the mess already on the floor. Hyunjin didn’t even register the mess on his jacket, his attention fixed entirely on Seungmin, and what he could possibly do to help. Seungmin’s body shook like a leaf, wringing itself out, before going completely limp in his arms.

“Seungmin—” Hyunjin’s voice caught in his throat, his breath hitching with panic. “Help! Someone!” he cried out, his voice sharp and desperate as he pulled Seungmin’s unresponsive body against his chest.

Shaking, he shuffled away from the rancid mess on the floor, carefully lowering his bandmate down with trembling hands. His fingers moved instinctively to Seungmin’s neck, checking for a pulse. A rush of relief washed over him. Thank god— it was fast and weak, but at least he was still alive..

The echo of multiple sets of feet pounding down the hallway was almost disorienting, but Hyunjin barely registered it as he looked down at Seungmin, his chest tight. When he finally glanced back, he saw the rest of the group rushing toward them, their faces a mix of confusion and fear.

Chan was quick to take charge, sending out orders and making sure the scene was as secluded as it could be in an open hallway. They called the medics, and the rest of the members shielded the boys on the floor from the onlooking crews.

Within a minute or so, medical staff took over, and Hyunjin sat frozen on the floor, eyes watery and heart pounding rapidly against his chest.

Seungmin remained motionless, his brows pinched together in what seemed to be pain, his skin an alarming shade of ashen white. The sight made Hyunjin’s stomach churn, dread clawing its way up his throat.

God, please don’t let this be as bad as it feels, he thought desperately. Why hadn’t he pushed him harder that morning? If he’d insisted, maybe they could’ve postponed the interview, or Seungmin could have been excused— maybe this could’ve been avoided altogether.

“Hey-“ Changbins voice broke through his spiralling thoughts. Hyunjin flinched when he felt a hand on his shoulder, but when he looked up, he saw his hyung offering a look of care and concern. “Are you okay?”

For the first time since Seungmin had collapsed, Hyunjin allowed himself to exhale. He dropped his head forwards, hiding his face in his hands as he took a couple deep breaths to steady himself.

“Y-yeah” he cleared his throat, raising his head back up and meeting Changbins gaze.

“I just… I just need him to feel better” he concluded. His voice carried much less power than he intended, deflated and shaky. Changbins wrapped a strong arm around him, welcoming his slimmer frame into a comforting hug. Hyunjin didn’t oppose it, latching onto his hyung as the burning in his chest kept soaring.

“He’s going to be okay” Changbin said, and although there was a shakiness in his voice as well, Hyunjin believed him. Seungmin was going to be okay. He had to be.

______________________________________

The world around him came to in pieces, everything muffled like his body was floating weightlessly in icy water, the chill seeping deep into his aching bones. His head pounded in a rhythmic manner, like a dull drumbeat synchronised with his heart.

Seungmin fully expected to open his eyes to find the ceiling of a hotel room looking back at him. He didn’t. Nor was he in a comfy hotel bed, much to his dismay. Wait, what was going on?

With his eyes cracked open to slits, he meekly scanned the space around him the best he could without moving his body the slightest. A couch. He was on a couch, his neck propped up by pillows and his legs resting across someone's lap. Hyunjin's lap, his hazy mind finally supplied.

His gaze drifted downward, catching on a faint sting in his left arm. Confusion deepened as he noticed the plastic tubing taped into his skin, trailing up toward a steel pole standing beside the couch. A bag hung from it, clear liquid dripping methodically into the IV line.

His stomach twisted in knots, a wave of nausea gnawing in the pits, and he groaned softly. It was a quiet sound, but it was enough.

The weight beneath his legs shifted, and Hyunjin startled, his head snapping up from where it had been resting against the couch. His eyes widened, locking onto Seungmin with immediate, unguarded relief.

“You’re awake” Hyunjin said, a soft, relieved smile stretching across his face. Even so, there was evident tension in his expression. Concern. “How do you feel, ‘minnie?”

Seungmin blinked slowly, still feeling so out of it all. He parted his lips to say respond, but the only sound coming out was a small, unsteady breath. Hyunjins face softened, and his hand moved instinctively to rub Seungmins leg in reassurance.

“It’s okay, take it easy” the older of the two murmured, gently massaging the aching muscles in Seungmins calf.

Hyunjin was only wearing a white t-shirt, and Seungmin couldn’t help but wonder how he wasn’t freezing. He was, and he had… what, 6 jackets covering him? Could they really not find a blanket?

Clearing his throat, Seungmin winced at the sharp sting that radiated into his jaw. “Hmm.. what.. what’s going on?” He finally mustered, his eyes fluttering close to relieve them of the strain.

Hyunjins hand paused for a moment, but then squeezed his leg gently. “You passed out..” he started explaining, voice sheepish as if he was dialling it down to not alarm him.

“After the interview.. your fever was so high we almost had to have you admitted to hospital, ‘Minnie” Hyunjin clicked his tongue, taking a small break in his speech before continuing “luckily, the IV fluids and medication the medics sat up for you was very effective. We’re in a private back room right now, they said we could stay here until you get a little better”

Seungmin frowned slightly, trying to piece the fragments of his hazy memory together. He remembered feeling weak, dizzy, nauseous, hot, cold. But everything that happened after he left the studio was a total blur. His eyes fluttered open again, confusion hanging over him like a dark cloud.

He startled a little when he saw Hyunjin pointing some alien-gun looking device to his forehead, hovering just above his skin. It beeped, and Hyunjin pulled it back with a concentrated expression.

“38.8°C (102.F).. much better at least” Hyunjin said with a soft ‘tsk’, and Seungmin couldn’t help but wonder how high his fever must have been if that was considered ‘much better’.

“How long..” Seungmin trailed off, voice small. Hyunjin looked at the clock ticking on the wall. “You’ve been out for almost two hours.” He explained, and Seungmin felt his stomach drop for reasons beyond his ailment. “But it’s okay- the others aren’t even back yet. They decided to do another appearance with a studio close by so you could get some time to recover. We can probably leave when they finish” Hyunjin quickly added, sensing the distress that flashed through his eyes.

He wanted to ask more, guilt was clawing at his heart, but his energy was quickly waning. “I’m sorry… ‘didn’t mean to cause trouble..” he managed softly, tears stinging the corner of his eyes. Hyunjins eyes softened, and he shook his head, the corner of his lips twitching upward.

“Don’t” his hyung said with a sigh. “You didn't cause any trouble, Seungmin. Just get some rest. The others will be here to pick us up soon enough”

Seungmin's chest tightened in something close to gratitude, but he didn't have the strength to say more. His bandmates cared so much for him that it made his heart ache, the least he could do was try to get better for them as soon as possible.

The soft sound of Hyunjin's voice, the rhythmic drip of the IV, and the comforting weight of his touch lulled him back into a drowsy, half-conscious state. And for once, it felt okay to just let go and sleep.

[cuddlepilefics]

End of winter

Fandom: Stray Kids

Sickie: Changbin

Caregivers: Chan & Jisung

This is a gift for @1dwaekki, thanks for the compilation<3

 

No one’s POV.:

The snow had barely melted away a week ago and 3racha was back at the studio recording the guide tracks for their upcoming album. Wanting to start the new year off strong, they had a comeback scheduled in the first few months of the year. It embarrassed Chan to say but they had fallen behind schedule. They hadn’t recorded a single on of the tracks yet, most of the tracks even lacking guide versions, so there was no way the dance-racha could possibly work on the choreographies. Chan knew why they were so off schedule and he felt guilty for it, knowing the chaos stressed his dongsaengs out.

Chan himself had been struck down with the flu for close to two weeks and while he had tried to get some work done on occasion, his success was mediocre. Changbin and Jisung did their best to compensate but there was only so much the two of them could do without their leader. They insisted it was no problem to stay the nights at the studio as they tried to catch up after Chan’s recovery. Chan immediately jumping back in working the nights to catch up, worried the two rappers greatly. Not too concerned about a relapse, the Aussie mainly worried about his dongsaengs. Jisung seemed on edge from the messed-up schedule and Changbin’s eyes were adorned with angry red rims though he insisted he wasn’t that tired.

The recording was mainly Jisung’s task this time because Chan’s voice hadn’t fully returned yet and Changbin admitted to feeling quite stuffed up, making it difficult to record. Afraid their trio would be picked off by sickness one by one, they had agreed for Changbin to wear a mask around the studio in case he was coming down with something. To be fair, the rapper was sneezing up quite a storm too but he claimed not to feel sick. It made Chan’s heart ache because he figured his dongsaeng was afraid to admit to feeling unwell because they were already behind schedule, which was entirely Chan’s fault and the eldest knew it.

Chan absentmindedly passed Changbin his water bottle when the younger tried to clear his throat but only ended up triggering a cough. He tried not to cringe when Changbin tugged down his mask to drink and his upper lip glistened in the dim light of the screen. Jisung must’ve noticed it too because he offered the older a tissue and frowned: “We’re so doomed for this comeback.”

“Your cold’s only getting worse, huh?”, Chan worried, glancing at Changbin who hesitantly lowered his arm again after catching a flurry of sneezes against his wrist. His eyes still watered when he shook his head and muttered: “I-I’m not su-huh-re this i-hih-s a cold.” Scrubbing at his itching nose in irritation, he tried to stop his breath from hitching couldn’t. In a hurry, Changbin fumbled with the tissue Jisung had given him, cupping it over his mouth and nose before pitching forward with a harsh sneeze. “Bless you. I’m so sorry I gave you my flu”, Chan hummed sympathetically, “Why didn’t you say it was this bad?” – “Huh-what? Ndo”, Changbin sniffled as he shook his head, “Ndot the flu either. ‘mb way too- too itchy for that. Would’ve guessed it’s allergies but it- it’s too early for that, right?”

With Changbin insisting he wasn’t really sick, he tried his best to power through, which probably would’ve worked if his symptoms weren’t as disruptive as the were. Since it was only the guide track, the trio had gotten a small practice studio and none of the larger recording studios, which meant that they didn’t have a recording booth, merely a mic on the desk. Jisung tried not to get upset but it surely was frustrating to record the same line over and over again because his hyung seemed to be overcome by the need to sneeze the second Chan hit record.

“Alright, Ji. One more time”, Chan sighed, pressing the button. Changbin’s nose hadn’t stopped itching at all and he held his breath to keep himself from sneezing. Praying Jisung would be done quickly, the older glanced away with watering eyes and scrubbed at his nose. "hEGSHU! ohmygodimsorryi-hih h-hESSH!" – “Bless”, Jisung sighed as he leant back in his seat. Covering his face, Changbin groaned: “I’m sorry.” – “We know”, Chan breathed, pinching the bridge of his nose, “It’s okay. Maybe you wanna step out for a moment? You could grab some tea from the breakroom because those sounded like they hurt your throat.” The younger nodded in resignation, rubbing his eyes as he got up to leave. Jisung felt bad for him because he couldn’t tell whether the tears were from the itch or the frustration. Making eye contact, Chan nodded at Jisung. They should better get this over with quickly.

Sniffling into the cuff of his sleeve, Changbing trudged to the breakroom. He had left his phone at the studio, so there was little to occupy his mind with as he waited for the water to boil. Still, he startled when the door to the breakroom opened and the two maknaes walked in. They had just finished their vocal lesson and wanted to rest for a moment before heading to their next schedule. “Oh, hi hyung”, Jeongin smiled but it soon faltered when Changbin turned to him, eyes red and watering. Plopping down in his seat, Seungmin frowned: “Chan-hyung got you sick, didn’t he? You look awful.” – “Dod’t thigk I’mb sigg”, the rapper rasped, clearing his throat a few times, “If you have your phode with you, could you check the pollend coudt? I’mb so itchy.”

“Oh, guess it really is the end of winter. It’s pretty high actually”, Seungmin hummed, surprise evident in his voice. He looked up when he didn’t get a reaction from Changbin, the rapper’s eyes holding a faraway look. "hESH! KGSH! *sniff* guess that explaids id”, Changbin muttered, reaching for a paper towel to blow his nose. While the older tended to his nose, Jeongin poured the boiling water over the tea bag and worried: “Do you have your meds with you, hyung?” Shaking his head, the rapper sniffled: “Did’t thigk mby allergies would start up this early. The sdow is barely gode.” – “I could try to find Hyunjin-hyung and ask if he has any antihistamines with him”, Seungmin offered, already getting to his feet to look for the dance-racha.

“Oh, I didn’t expect you here, Innie”, Chan smiled as he entered the breakroom, “Is the tea helping any?” Changbin shook his head slightly, mumbling: “’s dot goi’g to. The polled cou’t is too high.” – “So, it’s allergies after all”, the Aussie sighed and watched his dongsaeng blink away itchy tears, “We found a different studio and Jisung is already heading over there to set everything up. It’ll be far more productive if he can just sing in the recording booth. How’re you feeling? Wanna join us there?” – “Yeah, sure. Mby eyes a’s ndose are itchy as hell a’d my throat’s scratchy but it’s okay. The headache’s really botheri’b mbe though. Mby whole face aches frob it”, Changbin groaned, massaging his forehead. “Seungmin is trying to find him an antihistamine, hyung”, Jeongin piped in, taking the teacup from Changbin when his breath hitched again.

Rushing to grab a few more paper towels, Changbin turned his back to his friends “h-hESSH! Heh-hESH!” – “Bless you”, Chan smiled, cringing when the younger blew his nose. Changbin sounded absolutely miserable but Chan understood his determination to keep working. Luckily, Seungmin did manage to get some antihistamines from Hyunjin and Changbin knocked the pill back with a few sips of his tea.

After bidding the maknaes goodbye, Chan guided Changbin to the studio they had chosen and the younger gave Jisung a little wave as he plopped into his seat. “You good, hyung?”, Jisung asked, the older looking more exhausted than he had an hour ago. Nodding, Changbin claimed: “Dot sigg, jus’ allergic.” – “He took some meds, Sung. Don’t worry”, Chan added as he got settled in front of the laptop, ready to pick up where they had left off. Though Changbin could tell the pill was strong, already getting drowsy, the sneezing didn’t stop yet. It didn’t interrupt Jisung’s recording anymore though.

With how out of it Changbin had gotten, he didn’t even notice how Chan and Jisung took a break before moving onto the next song. While Chan went to use the restroom, the younger approached Changbin, resting his hand on the rapper’s broad upper back. “Maybe you should lay down on the couch, hyung. You look like you’re falling asleep”, Jisung mused, catching his hyung’s attention. Rubbing his eyes, Changbin yawned: “Huh?” – “Exactly my point”, Jisung giggled, “Come on, hyung. We have a comfy couch back here and you should rest your eyes a little. They’re flaming red already.” He gently coaxed Changbin out of his seat, steadying him when his balance tipped for a moment. Tiredly shuffling over to the couch, Changbin flopped down, arm draped over his face. "hEGSHU!”

“Is he asleep?”, Chan hummed softly. He closed the door as quietly as he possibly could but Changbin still groaned: “’mb dot.” – “Almost”, Jisung chuckled, running his fingers through the other’s hair, “You can go to sleep, hyung, you know? It’s okay. Just relax, yeah?” – “Keep your eyes closed”, Chan instructed. He had run some paper towels under cold water and now draped the makeshift cold compress over his dongsaeng’s swollen eyes. Gently stroking the hair out of the rapper’s face, Chan whispered: “Go ahead and take a nap, Bin. We got you.”

[cuddlepilefics]

Perfect gift @fluff-cember

(DAY 6) @12daysofchristmas

Present

Making a new Christmas tradition

“Not another Christmas movie!”

“You say you hate Washington’s birthday or Thanksgiving, and nobody cares, but you say you hate Christmas, and people treat you like you’re a leper.”-Gremlins

 

Fandom: Stray Kids

Little: Changbin

Caregiver: Hyunjin

 

No one’s POV.:

“Are you not going to go home? Why are you not packing?”, Hyunjin frowned when he found Changbin sitting on the couch of their shared apartment. The dancer had just dragged his suitcase to the front door, so he’d be all ready to go later. Shaking his head, Changbin muttered: “No, I’m not going home.” – “What?! Why?”, Hyunjin gasped, abandoning his suitcase and instead plopping down on the couch next to the older. Changbin shrugged, his voice shaking slightly when he admitted: “I’m avoiding one of my relatives and I learned that he’s going to be there, so I’ll be spending Christmas here. There’s no way I could possibly face him. He’s the reason I hate Christmas anyway and I don’t feel like celebrating.” The younger’s heart broke at that. Yeah, he had heard how Changbin had gotten into a fight on Christmas the previous year but he had assumed things had been smoothed over since. The rapper wasn’t usually someone to hold grudges, especially not for a year.

Not feeling like he could leave his friend alone right now, Hyunjin settled properly on the couch and hummed: “You wanna tell me about it? I had assumed whatever happened last year had just been a little hiccup that happens during family dinners everywhere.” Almost tearing up, Changbin shook his head. “It nuh h-hiccup”, the rapper choked out, already slipping into his headspace as he thought back to how worthless he had felt that evening. Though surprised because Hyunjin had only known about Felix’ littlespace, the dancer shushed: “You don’t need to talk about it, Binnie. I just thought it’d help to get it off your chest.” Looking up at his friend with big, watering eyes, surprised by how calmly the other handled his slip up, Changbin pouted: “Bin swip at howme.” Rubbing his eyes with his fists, he sniffled: “He noticed an’- an’ he said- Bin be stwange an’- an’ sick- an’ – an’ he said Bin- Bin disg- disgust-gusting.” – “Oh honey”, Hyunjin cooed as he pulled the sobbing little into a hug.

With Changbin crying too hard to talk, Hyunjin just let the rapper cry it all out in his arms and promised: “Binnie, you’re none of those things he said. Gosh, how could someone be so mean. You’re so adorable and I absolutely understand that you wouldn’t want to face him again.” Still holding the sobbing little in his arms, Hyunjin typed a message to his family group chat to tell them there was an emergency and he wouldn’t be able to make it. “Bin hate Chwis’mas!”, Changbin announced, his voice holding unconcealed anger Hyunjin had never expected from his friend. Shaking his head, the dancer scolded: “You can hate meanies but you can’t hate Christmas, lovely. I understand if you don’t want to spend Christmas the way you used to but you know, we can make new traditions. How about you’re going to spend it in your headspace this year with no one to judge you for it? If you let me, I’ll take care of you and make sure the two of us have a cozy evening together.”

Staring at his friend with tears in his eyes, Changbin studied the other’s face closely, searching for any sign of deception. Did Hyunjin really mean it? Hyunjin got to his feet with Changbin in his arms, startling the rapper enough to cling to him tightly. He wasn’t used to being carried around but he couldn’t deny that he liked it. “Do you have any little gear?”, Hyunjin asked softly, heart clenching when the little shook his head, “I always have a bunch of emergency pacifiers in my room and back pack in case Felix slips while he’s here or we’re out, so that’s the first thing you get. Poor baby.” Settling Changbin on his bed, Hyunjin rummaged around a drawer and handed him a cute pastel pink pacifier. Ruffling his hair and pinching his cheek, the dancer beamed: “You’re so adorable!” – “Chu weawwy ‘tay wif dis?”, Changbin mumbled behind his new paci. He would’ve never guessed he’d get a caregiver for Christmas but right now, it almost looked like it.

Changbin seemed more at ease now and happily clapped his hands when Hyunjin sat down next to him. “What do you want to eat for dinner, bubba? Maybe I need to run out to the store and grab a few things, so we can have a nice Christmas dinner”, the dancer asked, slightly worried because he had nothing prepared. Playing with his fingers, Changbin mumbled: “I wan’ cookies an’ miwk an’- an’ nuggies.” – “Okay, sweets”, Hyunjin laughed, “We’ll have cookies and milk but not for dinner. Let me check if we still have nuggets in the freezer.”

They hadn’t. Afraid of taking Changbin out in public while regressed, Hyunjin settled the boy on the couch and turned on ‘Rudolph’ for the little to watch while he was out. He made sure Changbin’s phone was close by, so he could call him in case something was wrong. Not wanting to leave his friend alone for too long, Hyunjin did his best to hurry but still took the time to pick up a pastel pink baby bottle and a new bunny plushie for his new found little. Luckily, they also had gift bags, so he didn’t need to worry about wrapping Changbin’s presents.

“Honey, I’m home”, Hyunjin called from the door. Instantly perking up, Changbin squealed: “Momma!” – “Hey there, bubba!”, Hyunjin chuckled and placed down the bags, so he could wrap the little in a hug. The fact that Changbin already had a title for him in mind made his heart flutter and he didn’t want to let go of the other at all. Curling up in his caregiver’s arms, Changbin pouted: “Momma, chu nuh ‘pset wif Binnie?” – “Why would I be upset, love”, Hyunjin breathed, nuzzling into the rapper’s hair. The little anxiously tightened his grip on Hyunjin’s shirt and sniffled: “Cuz chu stwuck hewe wif me.” – “No, bubba. I’m here because I want to be here and spend Christmas with you”, the dancer denied, pressing a soft kiss to Changbin’s temple.

As they slowly got hungry, Hyunjin put the chicken nuggets in the oven and laid the table, while Changbin doodled on an empty piece of paper. “Momma, dis chu an’ Binnie”, the little called, holding up his drawing. There were two stick figures and a red heart around both of them. Hyunjin accepted the drawing and smiled: “That’s really the perfect gift. Let momma hang it on the fridge right away.” – “Dis us, momma”, Changbin whispered shyly. “I know, honey. Recognized us right away. I think my baby should get a present too, hm?”, the dancer mused retrieving the gift bag. Looking up at him with big innocent eyes, the little wondered what might be in there and almost bounced on his feet, impatient to look inside.

“BABA!!!”, Changbin squealed, hopping in place as he clutched the pink baby bottle. Wrapping Hyunjin in a bone crushing hug, the little giggled: “Thankie, thankie, thankie!” – “You’re more than welcome, my love”, Hyunjin chuckled, kissing the crown of the other’s head, “If I’m going to take care of you, I’m going to do it right and that means you need some little gear.” – “Chu awe da bestest gift evew”, Changbin smiled, his cheeks heating up. This Christmas wasn’t at all like the ones he had spent before but there was nothing wrong with making a new Christmas tradition.

After finishing off their nuggets, Hyunjin washed Changbin’s new bottle and heated up some milk, so he could try it out. “So, what else do you wanna do today, Binnie?”, the dancer asked, bottle in hand. Waddling to the couch, Changbin dragged his fluffy blanket with him and announced: “Chwis’mas movie.” – “Not another Christmas movie”, Hyunjin sighed exaggeratedly, plopping down next to the little. Changbin immediately curled up in his lap and covered both of them with the fluffy blanket while his caregiver turned on a movie. When both of them were comfortable, Hyunjin held the teat to Changbin’s lips and the little started suckling softly. It was a foreign feeling but he couldn’t deny he liked it, feeling so loved and care for in Hyunjin’s arms.

[cuddlepilefics]

Christmas tree @fluff-cember

(DAY7) @12daysofchristmas

Decorations

A little accident

"I was just trying to help!"

“I want my house to be seen from space.”- Deck The Halls

@whumpcember : alt1 sore throat

Fandom: Enhypen

Sickie: Sunoo

Little: Jake

Caregivers: Enhypen

 

No one’s POV.:

With their last-minute Christmas preparations, all hell had broken loose in the Enhypen dorm. Jake had slipped the second they had gotten off work after having suppressed his little-side for weeks. Sunoo was even more relieved about the break than Jake though. He had been dealing with a sore throat for the past week, the members worried about him making it to the Christmas break without falling seriously ill. Knowing how much his friends tended to worry about him, Sunoo kept his fever a secret because there was no way they’d let him keep working if they knew and he just wanted to finish their schedule before the holidays. Now that they were off though, Sunoo didn’t find the energy to get out of bed. This was more than the sore throat he had made it out to be and the members had caught on, now that he wasn’t putting as much effort into maintaining appearances.

“Morning”, Sunghoon yawned when he noticed Sunoo was awake. The younger gave a tired wave before burying his face in his pillow to muffle a cough. “Not feeling well, huh?”, Sunghoon hummed as he approached Sunoo to feel his forehead, “That’s a fever, Ddeonu. Let me go get you some water.” Not finding the strength to argue, Sunoo just closed his eyes again and waited for his hyung to return. Sunghoon had barely made it down the hallway when he heard Jake squeal: “I wan’ ma house to be seen fwom space!” The Aussie currently sat on Jay’s shoulders as the pair hung up fairy lights together. They seemed to be catching up on the decorating they hadn’t had time for before their break. “Good morning, guys”, Sunghoon chuckled, waving back at the excited little.

Joining Heeseung in the kitchen, Sunghoon informed: “Sunoo-yah is really sick now, hyung. Got a fever now and I think he’ll remain in bed for most of the day. I just came to bring him some water for his throat.” – “Oh dear, I’ll come along to check on him. Thank you”, the eldest hummed, wiping his hands on a towel before following Sunghoon to his room.

Sunoo had thought he might go back to sleep but the noise level from the living room made that incredibly difficult. “Jungwon and Niki just returned with a small Christmas tree”, Heeseung explained, taking Sunoo’s temperature, “Jake is completely hyped over getting to decorate the tree.” – “He’s little?”, Sunoo rasped when the older finally removed the thermometer from his lips. Heeseung nodded, clicking his tongue at the high reading. Handing Sunoo the water, Sunghoon offered: “I could walk you to the living room if you wanna watch him and Jay-hyung decorate. It’s adorable.” The younger took a few tentative sips before clearing his throat. He was sore and his head hurt, so he wasn’t exactly looking forward to the level of noise from the living room but Jake was the most adorable in his headspace and there was no way he could miss that.

Heeseung and Sunghoon flanked Sunoo, supporting him to the couch. “HYUNG!”, Jake squealed as he leapt at Sunoo and wrapped his arms around the other’s neck. Wincing at the volume, Sunoo returned the hug and croaked: “Good morning, puppy. You’re already up and working so hard, hm?” The little nodded, clambering off the couch to show him the tree. “I think getting that tree was the best idea you could’ve had”, Jay chuckled, patting Jungwon’s shoulder before he joined Jake. They went through their box of decorations and ornaments and laid out all the ornaments they wanted to hang on their tree, while Heeseung went to make some tea for Sunoo. Niki pulled the fluffy blanket off the back of the couch and helped his sick friend to get comfortable.

Among the ornament were also some glass ornaments but Jay wasn’t too worried about that, knowing that Jake wasn’t all that accident prone while in his headspace. He didn’t take into account the Aussie’s excitement though. Eager to help the older, Jake rummaged through their assortment of ornament at lightspeed, not even noticing how his hands got sweaty from the excitement. Before anyone realized what was going on, one of the ornaments had slipped from Jake’s grasp, shattering on the floor. The little froze at the sound of shattering glass and everyone looked at him in surprise. By the color of the shards, it was obvious, which of the ornaments he had broken and tears immediately sprung to Sunoo’s eyes. His mother had gifted him that ornament. Jake’s heart raced as he crouched down and started to pick up the shards before Heeseung called: “No, Jake! Don’t move! Don’t touch anything!”

With his friend crying and Heeseung raising his voice, Jake froze, completely overwhelmed. He let go of the shards in his hand, chest hitching with quiet sobs. Carefully tugging on the little’s sleeve, Jay got him to step around the glass and pulled him to the side. Sunoo knew he would snap at Jake for being so careless with something that meant so much to him if he didn’t get himself under control, so he shakily got to his feet and Jungwon helped him flee to their shared room. “I ish sowwy”, Jake hiccupped, hoping the other would still hear it. Heeseung already swept up the shards, humming: “Maybe you should take him outside for a bit to calm down and I’ll go talk with Sunoo.” – “Good idea, hyung”, Jay sighed, “Come on, pup. Let’s get some fresh air.”

Jay had made sure Jake was bundled up warmly in his coat before they stepped out. The fresh air usually did wonders to calm the younger down but this time, it wasn’t working. With the guilt eating him up inside, Jake only noticed something odd, when he felt warm moisture in his hand. Looking down, the little gasped. “Hyung”, he whimpered, holding up his bloody hand. He must’ve nicked his finger when trying to pick up the glass and hadn’t even noticed it in the chaos. Cursing under his breath, Jay examined his dongsaeng’s hand before he sighed in relief that the cut seemed rather small and superficial despite the amount of blood on the boy’s hand. Since they were closer to TXT’s dorm than their own, Jay decided to just ring there and ask their hyungs for a band-aid.

To say Soobin was surprised to find his Enhypen dongsaengs at his door, one of them bloody and worked up, would’ve been an understatement. He quickly ushered the pair inside, asking: “What happened to you?” – “Jake nicked his finger, do you have a band-aid?”, Jay explained, wrapping his arm around the little’s shoulders, “He’s small right now, that’s why he’s so worked up.” – “I was jus’ twyin’ to hewp”, Jake sniffled. Nodding, Soobin announced: “Let me get the first-aid kit.” While the leader disappeared, Yeonjun joined them, carrying Beomgyu on his hip. “Gyu, say hiii”, the eldest instructed and the little waved at their guests, giving especially Jake a cute smile.

While Soobin carefully cleaned Jake’s hand and wrapped a cute paw-print band-aid around his finger, Jay explained what had happened earlier. “Sunoo is sick, so I’m not surprised by how emotional he got but it makes it a lot worse to Jake that he made him cry”, Jay hummed, rubbing the Aussie’s back, “Bubba, Ddeonu knows you didn’t drop it on purpose. He’s just feverish.” Scratching his neck, Soobin mused: “Maybe you could apologize to him by getting him a new Christmas ornament. I bet Jake will feel a lot better when they made up.” – “Oh, try to find something special. Gyu and I recently saw ornaments that could be personalized with a picture inside”, Yeonjun recalled, “Gyu, do you know which store that was?” The younger nodded enthusiastically as he pulled out his phone to show their friends. He didn’t like using his words so much but could use a phone for communication just fine.

After accepting a cookie from their hyungs, Jake waddled after Jay as the older led the way to the store. They’d get Sunoo a new ornament and put a picture of Sunoo and Jake inside. There was no way the boy could be mad at Jake then. The most difficult task was actually deciding which picture to put inside. Since they couldn’t decide, they got a few ornaments and Jake was already more cheerful as they made their way home.

“Where have you been?!”, Heeseung frowned when they returned, “I thought you’d just step out for a moment.” – “We visited TXT-hyungs and got something to apologize to Sunoo with”, Jay smiled, holding up a small gift bag. Tugging on his hyung’s sleeve, Jake pouted: “We go now?” – “Yeah, pup. We go talk to Ddeonu now”, Jay agreed and handed the bag to his dongsaeng.

Sunoo was almost drifting off when the door to his room creaked open. The mattress at dipped at the foot of the bed and when he blearily glanced down, he spotted Jake sitting at his feet. “I ish sowwy”, the little mumbled sheepishly, clutching the gift bag in his trembling hands. Sunoo propped himself up and had to squeeze his eyes shut for a moment to handle the vertigo. Shakily sitting up, he watched Jake lay out the ornaments on his blanket and rasped: “They’re so pretty, pup.” – “Pwease, nuh be sads”, Jake whispered as he got to his feet, “We go hang ‘em now, yeah?” – “I’ll help you, don’t worry”, Jay smiled and wrapped his arm around Sunoo’s waist when the younger struggled to his feet. Jake had already dashed ahead, waiting impatiently for his friends to join him in the living room.

Jake happily clapped his hands once Sunoo had hung the new ornaments on the Christmas tree and waited till Jay had settled the sick boy on the couch before climbing in his lap. Nuzzling into Sunoo’s neck, the Aussie mumbled: “I wuv you.” – “I love you too, Jake”, Sunoo croaked as he held the boy close. Heeseung brought Jake’s bottle filled with milk and handed it to Sunoo, who gladly accepted it and breathed: “Do you want your baba?” Nodding eagerly, Jake shifted in Sunoo’s lap and let the other feed him his bottle as he slowly relaxed. It was only then that Sunoo noticed the band-aid on his friend’s finger and pressed a worried kiss to the little’s hair. Despite the injury, Jake seemed okay now and Sunoo would be too eventually, relieved that they had made up.

[cuddlepilefics]

Homecooked meals @fluff-cember

@hurtcember : 23 bedbound

Fandom: Stray Kids

Sickie: Seungmin

Caregivers: Stray Kids

TW: emeto

No one’s POV.:

“Lix, do you know if we have any tea left?”, Seungmin hummed as he shifted on the couch. Him and Felix were enjoying a quiet evening watching movies but he just couldn’t seem to get comfortable. Shrugging, Felix muttered: “I dunno, why don’t you go check? Do you want me to check for you?” – “Please”, Seungmin breathed. He wouldn’t usually make one of his friends get up but his stomach hurt and had he known for sure that they had tea, he would’ve gone and made himself a cup, but not knowing whether the effort would actually be rewarded made it hard for the vocalist to find the energy to get up. 

“Good news is, we still have some peppermint tea, though that’s all we have”, Felix informed, “I turned on the kettle in case you’re fine with peppermint.” – “Peppermint’s alright”, Seungmin mumbled, resting his chin on his knees that he had drawn up to his chest. Taking a seat next to the younger, Felix frowned: “Are you okay? You look peachy.” – “Stomach’s been bothering me since lunch and it’s really starting to hurt now”, Seungmin admitted, nervously palming at his middle. “What did you have?”, Felix asked since they had both spent the day out. Taking a shaky breath, the vocalist mumbled: “Some sort of stir-fry. Gosh, I can still taste it every time I burp and it’s not sitting right at all.” – “I’m sorry. I’ll get you your tea and we’ll see whether that soothes your stomach”, Felix cooed as he got up to head back to the kitchen.

As they resumed their movie, Seungmin slowly sipped his tea. It felt nice initially, until the liquid started to slosh around and he shakily placed the cup onto the coffee table. Curling even further into himself, Seungmin felt beads of sweat forming on his forehead. Felix reached over to rub his back for comfort but the younger couldn’t bear to be touched right now. A wave of heat washed over him and he felt the fabric of his hoodie cling to his skin when he tried to switch up his position. 

“I think, I’ll go sit in the bathroom for a bit”, Seungmin announced quietly, already walking off while Felix fumbled to pause their movie. The dancer was shocked, sure, he had known that his friend wasn’t feeling well but he hadn’t expected it to be this bad. Though, knowing how Seungmin always tried to hide his struggle, he should’ve known there was more to it the moment the younger spoke up about not feeling well. The sound of retching pulled Felix from his thoughts and he followed Seungmin to the bathroom, only to find the door unsurprisingly locked. Of course, his friend wanted his space. Since Felix didn’t remember who Seungmin had been out with, he texted their group chat afraid one of the other members might have gotten food poisoning too.

Felix had expected Seungmin to just shuffle out of the bathroom at some point when he felt like he was done but that didn’t happen. The Aussie had heard the lock click but Seungmin made no move to exit, so he went to check on the younger. “Here, I got you some water”, Felix hummed as he approached the slumped figure on the floor. A soft, pained whimper escaped Seungmin before he looked up at Felix, face ashy pale, his forehead coated with a sheen of sweat. Kneeling down next to the vocalist, Felix brushed the damp bangs out of his face and frowned: “Do you at least want to rinse your mouth? Come on, I’ll help you sit up.” Despite the Aussie’s help, Seungmin shook from the strain and weakly rinsed his mouth before leaning against the bathtub, closing his eyes.

Running a wash cloth under cold water, Felix gently wiped Seungmin’s face and whispered: “How are you doing now?” – “Awful, ‘s so much worse than earlier”, Seungmin groaned, holding his head, “’m so dizzy an’ my head hurts.” – “Should we get you to bed? I’ll bring a bucket”, the older offered, holding out both of his hands. It took him quite a bit of effort to maneuver Seungmin off the floor but even more to keep him on his feet. The room seemed to spin around him and Seungmin desperately clung to Felix to not lose his balance. “I got you”, the Aussie promised, “Just try to put one foot in front of the other and I’ll make sure you end up in your room.”

Seungmin shook from the strain as he collapsed on his bed, stunned that he could go from feeling a little uncomfortable to miserable in such a short time. Promising to be back soon, Felix rushed to fetch their cleaning bucket and Seungmin’s water bottle. The younger had curled up on his side and Felix cooed: “Can I get you anything? I’m sorry you feel so awful.” – “Could you stay and distract me? Please?”, Seungmin breathed, throat raw from being sick. Of course, Felix couldn’t deny him and sat with him gossiping about the protagonists of the movie they had been watching.

With how deeply he had fallen asleep to Felix’ rambling, Seungmin didn’t wake up when their doorbell rang and Felix rushed to open before it would ring again. The Aussie’s face lit up when he realized their friends had come over to help them out and he followed Minho to the kitchen, where the older started making some soup. Chan started the rice cooker and Jeongin picked up some of Seungmin’s favorite tea, knowing the other had run out of it only a couple days ago. “Changbin and Hyunjin are on their way too but they said they’d take a detour to pick up some medicine”, Chan informed softly, “How’s he doing?” – “Got really sick”, Felix pouted worriedly, “He was so dizzy, he could barely walk but he’s asleep now.” – “Oh dear, I’ll go check on him”, the leader sighed, quietly making his way to Seungmin’s room.

From outside the door, Chan could already hear Seungmin cough and rushed to step in. The younger had snatched the bucket off the floor and forcefully choked up a wave of what seemed to be mainly water. Chan was by his side in an instant and rubbed his back, wincing when he felt his dongsaeng tremble. He was quick to take a hold of the bucket when Seungmin was done, the boy’s energy spent, causing him to collapse back into his cushions. It was only when Chan had placed the bucket on the floor that he noticed the younger was full on crying and he gently brushed his sweaty hair out of his face, cooing: “Oh, Seungminnie.” – “’m sorry”, Seungmin whimpered hoarsely, “Wasn’t quick enough.” It took Chan a moment before he understood what the other was talking about. There was a wet stain on his blanket though it seemed that most had landed in the bucket.

Carefully folding the blanket up, Chan placed it on the floor and promised: “It’s okay, don’t worry, Min. Can you sit up for me?” Seungmin shook his head, tearily glancing up at Chan. The only reason he had managed to sit up was the adrenaline but now…. “Here, I’ll help you. You probably don’t want to drink right now?”, the leader hummed as he carefully sat Seungmin up by the shoulders. Shaking his head, the younger closed his eyes against the dizziness. Chan still steadied him by the shoulders and pulled the desk chair closer with his foot, explaining: “Your sheets are completely sweaty too, so I’ll help you move over to your desk chair and quickly change the sheet. With the way you look, you’re probably going to be bedbound for the next couple of days and you should at least be comfortable.”

Seungmin whimpered as he sat in the chair, the upright position not really helping. Chan had handed him the bin from under the desk, afraid the stench coming from the bucket would make him sick again. The leader made quick work of stripping the sheets and replacing them with fresh ones from Seungmin’s closet. When he was done, he carefully lifted the younger out of his seat and placed him back on his bed with the bin next to him. “Try to get comfy and I’ll be back in a moment”, Chan instructed, picking up the sweaty sheets, soiled blanket and bucket. While he started a wash load and rinsed out the bucket, Felix brought Seungmin the fluffy blanket from the couch, heart aching for his dongsaeng.

“Hyun-Bin hyungs will be here with some medicine soon”, Felix promised as he covered Seungmin with the blanket and rubbed his back through the soft material. Wiping his eyes to dry the tears, the younger sniffled: “I’m never eating out again.” – “That’s okay”, Minho chuckled sympathetically. They hadn’t heard the dancer appear in the doorway but Felix smiled when the older hummed: “I’ll gladly prepare homecooked meals for you if it means you’ll eat. We got soup and rice ready, so whenever you feel like you could handle a few bites, let us know.” – “Thanks”, Seungmin whimpered, still far to nauseous to stomach anything. Jeongin joined them with a cup and thermos bottle, whispering: “Your throat must be so painful, hyung. I restocked your tea because you said you ran out during our last vocal lesson.” – “I love you, maknae”, Seungmin slurred, making his friends gasp.

“We really need to worry now, Chan-hyung”, Minho frowned when the leader returned with the bucket. Nodding along, Jeongin explained: “Seungmin was nice and he said he loves me.” – “Oh, fuck off”, Seungmin groaned hoarsely, making the others laugh. “Guess everything’s fine after all”, Minho shrugged, turning to the door, “I’ll let Changbin and Hyunjin in when they get here and then you can take something to calm your stomach.” 

Seungmin kept dozing in short intervals with Chan tracing his back, while the others gave them some space. The medicine Changbin fed the younger helped some and Minho could even convince him to have a few bites of rice and a small scoop of soup before going back to sleep. Chan had been right, Seungmin was far to dizzy to get out of bed for the next few days, only spending a few hours a day on the couch when one of the members carried him there so he could get a change of scenery. Minho was able to nurse him back to health though, the vocalist’s trust in him probably being the only reason he let himself be talked into consuming anything at all.

Even after Seungmin recovered, he still preferred homecooked meals whenever he got the opportunity.