Sickie: Hyunjin
Caregivers: 3racha
No one's POV.:
An intense storm had been raging for the past days now, with no sign of letting up. Hyunjin had been caught in a sudden downpour when he was walking home after practice on the first evening of the storm. The heavy rain combined with the mercilessly cold winds, had left the dancer chilled to the bone. By the time he had made it to their dorm, his teeth had been chattering so hard, he couldn't get a single sentence out. Chan had hurriedly fetched him a towel before ushering him to the bathroom to take a hot bath. Hyunjin had taken his time, soaking in the hot water, and when he had finally emerged from the bathroom, 3racha had already finished making dinner. The hot bath had made him sleepy and his dormmates had encouraged him to have an early bedtime, hoping he'd stay healthy if he slept enough and would be kept warm by his thick duvet. Changbin had even brought the dancer a hot water bottle to keep at his feet before telling the younger 'good night'.
With the storm too strong to safely leave the building, Chan, Changbin and Jisung worked from their dorm, writing new songs. They even managed to complete a few they have been working on, at least managing to feel a little productive. Hyunjin was the opposite. Though he had gone to bed so early and continued to do so for the next few nights, he always felt so incredibly run down. 3racha didn't really notice as they were too busy working but all the dancer could get himself to do workwise, was stretch his muscles a little and maybe go over some of the slower moves. He felt so incredibly sore, that even the stretching hurt though he usually thought of himself as rather flexible. When his nose started to run, Hyunjin realized that he had been coming down with a cold all along, probably due to getting soaked in the rain.
Not wanting to disturb his friends when they were working, something he too should be doing, Hyunjin holed himself up in his room and started a new painting. He simply didn't have the energy to do much else. Even so, he hadn't been painting for long before his head started to ache and his legs felt weak. Plopping down on his bed, Hyunjin scrubbed at his tired face before plucking a tissue from the box and blowing his nose. Maybe he could make himself a cup of tea before laying down for a nap. Sniffling, the dancer dragged himself out to the kitchen and ran into Chan. The Aussie had just started to prepare lunch, while Changbin and Jisung chopped vegetables at the dining table. Appropriately for the cold season, they wanted to make a hearty soup. That was also when Hyunjin realized that he had completely forgotten about breakfast after sleeping in late.
Not looking up from the pot on the stove, Chan greeted: "Ah, good to see you. Lunch should be ready in about thirty minutes if you wanna join us." Hyunjin knew it would be impolite to turn down the offer, especially when he hadn't seen his friends all morning, but he wasn't really hungry. "Not sure yet", the dancer shrugged, awkwardly scratching his neck, "I'll see if I'll be hungry by then." Chan nodded in acknowledgement as Hyunjin grabbed his steaming cup of tea and shuffled back to his room. Changbin and Jisung made eye contact after overhearing the conversation. Though Hyunjin hadn't officially said 'no' he didn't sound too enthusiastic. They didn't want to read into things but the dancer had seemed uncomfortable. While Jisung continued chopping up the last few pieces, Changbin got out of his seat and washed his hands to go after his donsgaeng.
Changbin lightly tapped the door and quietly slipped into the room when he heard a soft 'yeah?'. He realized the voice had been so muffled because Hyunjin had his face burrowed in some tissues. "Everything okay?", the older asked softly as Hyunjin gave another sniffle before disposing of the used tissue. Following the dancer with his eyes, Changbin noticed the trashcan overflowing with used tissues and hummed: "You're sick, hm? I could hear it in your voice." His dongsaeng only shrugged. "Not really sick but coming down with a cold or something", Hyunjin breathed, massaging his temples. "Headache?", Changbin asked worriedly and the younger nodded. "You should really come and have at least a small serving of soup for lunch. Doesn't have to be much but you could take painkillers as soon as you have something in your tummy", the rapper encouraged and Hyunjin had to agree, sniffling: "Not really hungry but you have a point. 'm just not sure how much I'll be able to force down." – "Doesn't have to be much, it's okay", Changbin repeated before leaving the other to rest, while he'd go talk to their friends.
"That rain really got you, huh?", Chan frowned, when Hyunjin joined them for lunch, a fluffy blanket draped around his shoulders. Somehow, he had started to feel increasingly cold and was soon shivering. The tea hadn't helped much but maybe the soup would warm him up, so it didn't matter much that he barely had an appetite. Hyunjin immediately drew his legs up to his chest when he sat down, trying to stay warm. Jisung sympathetically patted his back after placing a steaming bowl of soup in front of the older. As promised, they only gave him a small serving, so he would hopefully manage to finish it. The steam made Hyunjin's nose run even more and he tiredly dabbed at it with the edge of the blanket. By the time they had all settled to eat, his nose had turned an irritated shade of pink. The dancer winced every time he swallowed a spoonful of soup. It tasted good but his throat was scratchy and considering he wasn't even hungry, he wasn't sure if eating was really worth the trouble.
Hyunjin was glad he had eaten though, when his friends cleared the table and Chan placed two pills and a cup of water in front of him. "Thanks", the dancer rasped quietly, quickly downing the pills before resting his aching head on the table. Rubbing his back, Chan hummed: "Anything we could do to make you feel a little better?" – "I thigk I'll jus' go for a nap", Hyunjin sniffled but needed a moment to find the energy to go back to his room. "Sounds good", Chan agreed, "You have earplugs, right? Wouldn't want the storm keeping you up." The rain had been pelting against the windows relentlessly and thunder rumbled lowly every once in a while. The younger nodded, though he admitted: "I doubt I'll need them. 'm so tired and my ears are kinda muffled, so...."
Since Hyunjin made no move to get up anytime soon and Chan doubted he'd get a good rest there at the dining table, the leader gently helped him out of his seat and kept one arm around his dongsaeng's waist as he walked him back to his room. Giving a stuffy groan, Hyunjin flopped onto his bed and muffled a cough into his pillow. He hated this. Hopefully he'd be able to fall asleep quickly. Well, he did but maybe he should've put in his ear plugs like Chan had suggested. Only thirty minutes had passed but the thunder was much closer now. Plus, his friends were so noisy moving around the living room. With the thick clouds, it had suddenly gotten really dark outside despite it only being afternoon. Sniffling thickly, Hyunjin reached for the light switch. Nothing happened. He heard a crash followed by some muffled curses and curiously turned on his phones flashlight to check what was going on outside his room.
"What're you doing?", the dancer frowned, shining his flashlight into Jisung's face. Covering his eyes, the rapper hissed: "I stubbed my toe on the way to the living room. I was looking for candles and you can come and help me because you have light and I don't have my phone on me." – "What?!" – "The power cut out", Jisung sighed, grabbing Hyunjin's sleeve and tugging the older along to the living room. The dancer sleepily stumbled along, trying to aim the flashlight into the right direction. He was too tired for adventures like this. Once arriving in the living room, Hyunjin plopped down on the couch and handed Jisung his phone, so the rapper could go look for candles. He could hear Chan and Changbin talking in hushed voices in the kitchen. The leader was rummaging through cabinets, trying his best not to blindly knock things over.
Hyunjin saw a dim light coming from the kitchen. "Found the matches!", Chan cheered, making his way to the living room before the match was burned down and it got dark again. Changbin had followed close behind the oldest and soon, Jisung returned with a candle, handing Hyunjin his phone back once Chan had lit the candle. Shivering, the dancer pulled his legs up to his chest and rested his chin on his knees. "Okay, so here's the plan", Chan announced, "We'll first gather all blankets out here because the heating is probably out too. Since we don't know how long the power will be out, we should prepare for a cold night ahead. Everybody should dress in a few layers. Hyunjin, maybe put on a scarf too, we can't afford you getting too cold again or else your cold could get much worse." The dancer nodded but had not intention of getting up again. He had just walked all the way here.
He had almost dozed off when a heap of blankets was dumped onto him and he startled awake to Changbin's giggle. Shaking the blankets off him, Hyunjin blinked up at his hyung right when Chan joined the two of them. The leader was carrying a bunch of hoodies and sweatpants, so the dancer could put on a few more layers. When Hyunjin settled back on the couch, Chan pressed his palm to his forehead. "You feel pretty warm, let me go grab the thermometer", the Aussie frowned, hurrying to the bathroom. On his way, he passed Jisung, who dragged Hyunjin's duvet to the living room, so the dancer would be as comfortable as possible. Changbin had already started to tuck two thinner blankets around his dongsaeng's curled-up form but the boy was still shivering. Chan was probably right, a fever would definitely explain the chills.
A few minutes later, it was confirmed, Hyunjin did have a fever but Chan decided: "I don't think it's high enough for the blankets to do you any harm. Besides, it might get pretty cold soon, so better preserve the warmth." Hyunjin nodded pathetically, pulling the duvet up to his chin as he tried to keep his teeth from chattering. He just wanted to go back to sleep but he was too cold to be able to drift off. "Are you still cold under all those blankets and with all those layers you're wearing?", Jisung asked incredulously, furrowing his brows when the dancer nodded. Rubbing his nose into the fabric, Hyunjin sniffled: "Feel like the cold's already in my bones and there's ice covering my skin." The rapper took a seat next to him and cupped his flushed cheeks, confirming: "You're definitely not covered in ice but it would make sense for you to feel that way. If you scoot over, I could keep you warm."
Hyunjin was grateful when Jisung got under the blankets next to him and wrapped his arms around his waist. "Thagks", the older sniffled, cuddling into Jisung's chest. Frowning at the pair, Chan warned: "You'll catch his cold, Han." – "Well, rather his cold than pneumonia from freezing half to death", the younger shrugged. This way, they'd both stay warm. "Let's just hope for this storm to be over soon", Changbin sighed, resting his hand on Chan's back to reassure the leader, "Maybe sharing body heat isn't the worst idea for now." – "I guess, let me go grab our phones and we can join", the Aussie hummed, "We should save the batteries but still keep them close by."
Soon all four of them were settled in the living room. Hyunjin and Jisung cuddled up close together, Chan and Changbin sharing one blanket to cover their legs while also having one wrapped around their shoulders. Jisung had fallen asleep not long after Hyunjin but the older two continued writing lyrics, scribbling them down on scraps of paper. It'd probably be difficult to decipher the handwriting later considering they could barely see what they wrote but at least they could keep themselves busy and didn't have to overthink their situation. Chan looked up from his paper an hour later when he heard weak groans form the blanket bundle that were his dongsaengs. Worriedly the leader got up to find Hyunjin blinking up at him, his eyes holding a sickly gloss in the light of the candle. "Hey", Chan cooed, brushing the backs of his fingers against the other's forehead, "Your fever hasn't gone down. How do you feel? Want to remove one or two blankets?" The younger shook his head and sniffled before scrubbing at his nose. "Don't do that", Chan warned, "Your skin's already all chapped."
Hyunjin soon dropped his head back onto Jisung's chest but before he could drift off again, Changbin stood in front of them, squeezing his shoulder. "I got you some Vaseline", the rapper explained, "Maybe you want to apply some around your nose. It does look pretty raw." – "Thagks", Hyunjin breathed, accepting the container with shaky hands. Mainly he just wanted to go back to sleep but his skin did sting, so it would definitely be worth a try. The dancer winced, giving a scratchy cough before dipping his finger into the Vaseline and applying some around his nose. The touch tickled and he hurriedly handed the container back to pinch his nose shut and stifle a sneeze. "You shouldn't do that. You'll hurt yourself worse", Chan sighed as he shook his head. Wiping tears from his eyes, Hyunjin sniffled: "Didn't wanna wake Sungie. He's pretty comfy when he's quiet." – "You're a mess", the leader chuckled, "Go back to sleep, hm? We'll see how you're doing by tonight."