Just a Fever

22:16

It took Jaehyung a while to reach his destination, the line at the grocery store where he had to pick up some food was incredulously long at such a time, then he had to get the medicine needed for Brian. After he was done with all that, he skated — with his rusty skateboard — as fast as he could.

At the moment, he couldn't think of anything as worriness was the only feeling that overwhelmed him for the past 40 minutes.

However, when he realizes he's already at the entrance of his apartment building, his heart started to beat fast. Oh my God, I'm really here, I'm gonna meet him. He clutches his chest with his hand, trying to calm himself down as he knew he couldn't waste any more time.

Before he headed up, he took his phone out to make a call to Brian. Just a few rings and the other side picks up. "Hello?" It wasn't prominent but the grogginess in his voice was something Jaehyung noticed. After all, they had been calling each other every day that a tiny difference from their voices would be something to be concerned about.

"I'm here, what floor are you in?" He asks, picking the skateboard up from the ground as he eyes around the area. While he does this, he hears a continuous cough from the other line.

Finally, Brian got it to stop. "I'm on the 19th floor, 6th room." He responds, the rasp from his voice obviously coming from the cough.

"Okay, I'll head upstairs, see you." He says as he presses the lift button, hearing a hum from Brian before he hung up abruptly, leaving Jaehyung confused but he completely understood. He wouldn't have the energy to speak if he was that sick.

As his eyes look up to the floor count displaying on the LED screen, he could feel his heart pulling back and forth; where a tiny move would make him jump. He's happy, excited and anxious at the same time. The anxiety only growing as the floor number continues to deplete in levels.

The elevator reaches the ground floor. When he could finally enter the lift, he lifts his shaky hands up towards the button leading to the 19th floor. It was only that moment when he realized how shaky he was and he tries to calm himself down.

But when he looks at the LED screen again, he couldn't help but feel so out of touch with his senses.

Oh no, I totally wasn't ready for this. I didn't think this would happen now and I only came here on a whim. His head started to run a train of unnecessary thoughts that he didn't realize he was already at the destinated floor.

He steps out and he realizes that he's here, literally standing on the same floor Brian is standing on.

He could feel it, his heart rate is picking up the pace and so is his footsteps; even if he wasn't ready, he wanted to see Brian.

Carefully reading the numbers on the door, Jaehyung stops at the one with the number 6 displayed on it. He gulps, swallowing his nervousness down as he could feel it building up in his chest.

He stares at the door, wondering if he should knock but his hands stop every time he tries to lift them. It was irrational, he came here to take care of Brian but he's stalling time because he doesn't have the courage to simply knock on the door.

When he realized how immature he was being, he takes in a sharp inhale before knocking on the door before pulling back quickly, his hands clasping as he grips bags that held the items he bought earlier.

A few seconds passed, then turned into minutes. He went in for another knock but there was no answer. He thought he got the apartment number wrong, or the floor, so he roamed the halls around but he was on the right floor and he was definitely knocking on the right apartment.

Though it was a silly thought, he felt like putting in a random code on the lock of Brian's door but he knew it was gonna end up bad and he doesn't really know how passcode locks work; he thought Brian might get locked in if he put in the wrong code for God knows how many times would he attempt to put.

It only occured to him that he can just call Brian to let him know that he's waiting. So, he pulls his phone out, seeing the passcode written on the text Brian had sent to him three minutes ago.

Jaehyung wanted to hit his head on the wall but he wastes no time and inputs the passcode, 4748.

The door unlocks.

Slowly, he steps inside the cold apartment until he could finally shut the door behind him. He looks around first — it's clean, almost too clean for him to believe. Everything is organized in Brian's apartment and the only mess was on his kitchen, where a bowl and a spoon was the only thing hoarding the space.

He takes his shoes off, put his skateboard somewhere appropriate and he walks into the living room. The space isn't that small but it wasn't huge either. He scans the area around and as he saw it from the entrance, it's clean. Everything is clean.

It shouldn't be making Jaehyung amazed this much, but when he knows that Brian is cramped up with work and stuff, he couldn't help but be in awe when everything is so clean. The fact that Brian is sick too didn't help him keep his jaw shut.

As he was staring around, he was wasting time until he realized the bags he's holding and what they were for. He hastily sets them down on a table before he made his way towards the bedroom door.

He was going to reach for the doorknob until it turns itself, the door swinging open a bit fast that his hair flew along the wind, causing his eyes to shut.

"Oh, you're here already."

When he opens his eyes, his heart drops as soon as he saw Brian standing in front of him. His hair being a complete mess and Jaehyung could see his eyes puffing up in redness but he couldn't see the rest of his face as he had a mask on.

They were both just staring at each other.

Jaehyung had to break the ice. He quickly puts his palm up to Brian's forehead and the other one on his own. "You're really hot!" He exclaims, the worriness in his tone being so obvious.

Though Brian has a mask on, Jaehyung could hear the smirk emitting through it. "I know I'm hot." He says, only to receive an eye roll.

Without thinking, he grabs a hold of Brian's hand, pulling him into the room he's already in just to set him back down onto the bed.

"You need to rest," Jaehyung had a frown on his face that the latter found cute. "Did you even eat?"

"I already told you I did."

Jaehyung sighs, "What time did you eat?"

"Five. Afternoon."

Another sigh from Jaehyung and he walks away from the bed while Brian laid confused as he watches the tall boy leaving the room, he comes back shortly with two packets of ramen in different flavors. "Choose one." Jaehyung offers, his eyes being stern as he wouldn't take no for an answer.

Brian, being a huge food enthusiast, replied, "Both." His eye smile was so strong that Jaehyung could almost see the grin through the mask.

"Okay." He nods before walking away again.

Oh my God, what the hell, I'm shaking. Jaehyung looks down on both of his hands which were trembling and the sound of the ramen packets were definitely screaming fluster. That two minute moment of just talking with Brian was already too much for Jaehyung. If he couldn't handle a minute in a voice call without blushing, then how could he stand for at least thirty seconds in front of Brian?

He takes time to calm down by grabbing a glass from the kitchen drawer, then he reaches for the refrigerator where he sees the shelves filled with junk food. Of course.. he lives alone after all. He thought to himself before taking the cold pitcher.

Before he closes the door, he notices a packet of a facial mask that he recognizes. It was the same mask that Young K frequently uses and there was a whole box of it inside the fridge. "And he says he isn't a big fan..." Jaehyung chuckles as he shuts the fridge.

With his hands still trembling, he pours himself a glass as he chugs the water all down while he looks around. Everything is so clean around Brian's house, almost like there was a storm of clean freaks coming into his house. It could be room service but an apartment being clean doesn't just depend on service but on how the owner takes care of themselves and their surroundings.

Why am I so focused on the place being clean..?

He shakes his head, getting ready to make dinner for Brian.

—

21:09

Shit, he's coming over.

Alright Younghyun, think, think! How the hell are you supposed to hide this damn face?!

Younghyun was getting frantic as he faced his mirror. He doesn't have the energy to move or do shit at all as the fever is draining everything in him, but he knew he had to start hiding every evidence that could point him out to be the one person he doesn't want to be right now; Young K.

He looks around until his eyes lands on the box of face masks, quickly grabbing a piece as he wears it on. He turns his gaze back onto the mirror and though he had a mask on, his face was still an obvious Young K.

With his hands, he messes up his hair by simply raking through them, covering his brows and half of his eyes. Okay, good enough, now onto the room.

He walks out to see the mess of his apartment; his clothes were scattered and crumpled sheets of lyrics were everywhere along with the notepad that he abruptly stopped writing in since he felt dizzy. Without a thought, he picks everything up to put them in place.

The lyrics and crumpled papers were placed in a container that the couch hid under its seatings. Other items that could link to himself being Young K were also hid under the couch.

Next, he goes into his bathroom. He had to as he revealed in an interview of what he uses on his face and other stuff. He hides them all in the laundry basket, putting clothes over them. He couldn't risk anything. He thought of cleaning his kitchen as well but he remembers that he didn't really do anything that could leave the area a mess.

As he moves, he feels the wave of fatigue hitting him but he knows he has to keep moving and cleaning. He can't let Jaehyung find out, not yet.

He cleans and hides some more until the time has passed just enough for him to compose himself again. While he continues to make himself look convincingly sick — even though he is — his phone rings, causing him to startle a bit.

He picks his phone up from the desk and answers the call, "Uhm, hello?"

It was a little quiet until the other line spoke, "I'm here," Just by the second, Younghyun felt his cheeks heat up at the sound of Jaehyung's voice. It was one he never thought would make him feel such a way. "What floor are you in?"

He smiles to himself, his worries were all gone and he was amazed by it.. so amazed that when he smiled, he accidentally took a breath in from his mouth, causing the air to hit the back of his throat and making him cough.

When he got it to stop, he wipes the tear on his eye before responding to Jaehyung. "I'm on the 19th floor, 6th room."

"Okay, I'll head upstairs, see you." The call abruptly ends before Younghyun could say anything. He only chuckled and put his phone aside.

–

22:21

It took a few minutes for Jaehyung to cook the noodles but he didn't think he'd end up waiting outside the bathroom door, waiting for Brian to finish his meal.

Jaehyung doesn't try to put much thought into it as Brian assured him that he was trying to be careful not to make him sick.

He overthinks a lot. Ironically, he thought to himself as he watches Brian trying to fall asleep. He could sense the latter was struggling to with his eyes shaking while they were shut. His intense body heat was painfully slow to come down and it only made Jaehyung worried to even go home.

Brian jolts awake, "Shit, I really can't sleep." He sighs.

"But you have to. Why don't you try to relax?" Jaehyung also let out a sigh. Despite wanting to stay to take care of Brian, he also wanted to go home as quick as possible since it's getting late.

It's silent, Brian seems deep in his thoughts while Jaehyung sits patiently, waiting for a word to come out from him. "I think I'm a little anxious right now." Brian couldn't help but admit it, there wasn't even any other way to describe what he's feeling.

"Do you know why, at least?" Jaehyung says as he gulps, wondering if what he said was fine.

"Yeah, well, it's nothing much." Brian turns to face Jaehyung as they lock eyes, not even flinching as he continues to speak. "Just wondering if everything will be okay, I guess."

Jaehyung quickly reacts, his eyes widening as his lips purses, "O-of course! You'll be fine, Brian. I'll make sure of it." He held a thumbs-up gesture as Brian only chuckles at him.

"So get some rest.. will you? I'll be here until you sleep."

Brian blinks while Jaehyung sat worriedly, wondering if he said something weird. "I don't think I can fall asleep like that." He says which didn't help with Jaehyung's worries.

Quickly, he stands up after hearing what Brian said. "O–oh, well, should I just go to the other roo— Ah!"

Before Jaehyung tries to leave, Brian grabs ahold of his wrist to pull him down, making his knees fall onto the bed as Brian latches his other arm onto Jaehyung's neck. "No, what's the point of having you here if we don't do anything together?" Brian whispers, he couldn't bring his voice to have its own volume anymore as the fatigue is starting to hit him.

It took a while for Jaehyung to process what Brian had just said, but when it did, his face flushes as he bites his lip down, trying to surpress anything else that might come out to show how flustered he is right now.

The position he was in was a little uncomfortable, so he lifts himself up a bit onto the bed where his legs could stretch. He then realizes how close he is next to Brian when he lifts his head up, making his red cheeks even redder than it already is.

"You're gonna catch my cold, face the other way."

For some reason, he obliged.

Jaehyung lets out a shaky sigh, his heart is beating way too fast and the only thing that he can hear Brian's breathing that the fan couldn't drown out. He feels like he's about to get a fever as well; not from Brian, but with how red and hot he is right now.

He didn't notice Brian's arms around him until he got pulled closer. Though Jaehyung is taller than the latter, he started to feel how he was easily wrapped under Brian's huge figure. As if that helped anything with his racing heartbeat.

It's silent, just the breathing filling the air. "Did you fall asleep?" Jaehyung asks quietly, lifting his hands to hold Brian's arms to help himself calm down.

He didn't get a response, making him sigh in relief.

He feels really warm.

The more the second passes, the more Jaehyung's heart falls into a normal pace, but one where his heart was blinding his ears. He felt it — the warmth of being in Brian's arms. He wanted this moment to last long, forever even.

Have I fallen for you? Jaehyung wonders, but as he shuts his eyes, he couldn't think of anything else but Brian.