Work Text:
Seungwoo wakes up to find Seungyoun still sound asleep next to him, which is not uncommon. In fact, his boyfriend is such a deep sleeper that he often sleeps right through his alarms, requiring Seungwoo to forcefully wake him up on most mornings, and Seungyoun’s stubbornness makes it a difficult process.
Still, he checks the clock and it’s still early, so he decides to let the younger enjoy his slumber a bit longer while he heads to the kitchen to make breakfast for them. Naturally waking up earlier, he’s always the one to make breakfast, and since Seungyoun’s job as a music producer gives him a more flexible schedule than Seungwoo’s office job, he usually takes care of dinner instead. It’s a nice arrangement they have.
Not in the mood to make anything too complicated, Seungwoo decides to just fry up some eggs. When the eggs are cooked to his liking and the coffee is brewed, he goes to wake up Seungyoun before everything gets too cold.
He sits on the edge of the bed and tries to unwrap Seungyoun from the blanket which he seems to have curled himself even tighter into after Seungwoo left the bed. “Seungyoun-ah, it’s time to wake up.”
To his surprise, he’s not met with the usual frustrated groan and sleepily mumbled “five more minutes.” Instead, all he receives in response is a weak whimper. That’s not right.
He turns Seungyoun, who is currently curled so that his face is hidden from Seungwoo, towards him and gently peels the blanket away from his face. His face is slightly flushed and his expression is scrunched in discomfort.
Seungwoo presses the back of his hand to Seungyoun’s forehead and then to his own only to find that the younger is burning up. He rushes out of the room to find their thermometer, not caring about the mess he makes searching for it because he’s too worried about Seungyoun to think rationally.
He goes back to the bedroom to find Seungyoun curled up in the same position. He gently tries to wake the younger, so he can properly take his temperature.
“Seungyoun-ah, can you wake up for me?” he asks, gently nudging the giant cocoon that Seungyoun has formed from their blankets.
“…Seungwoo-hyung?” the younger mumbles weakly.
“Younie, I think you have a fever,” he tells him. “Can you open your mouth for me so I can take your temperature?”
Seungyoun doesn’t respond, but wordlessly complies with the order, parting his lips slightly, so that Seungwoo can slip the thermometer under his tongue. When he hears the characteristic beep, he takes it out to find that Seungyoun’s running a fever of 102.1 degrees.
“Your fever’s really high, Youn-ah,” he informs the younger. “I’m gonna call in sick for us and then make you some porridge so you can take your medicine, okay?”
Seungwoo isn’t entirely sure if Seungyoun actually registers what he just told him, but decides it’s better to just let the younger get back to resting, so he tucks him back into the blanket cocoon and closes the bedroom door behind him to avoid disturbing him.
After calling both his and Seungyoun’s company to notify them, he puts the porridge on the stove, but needs something to occupy himself while he waits for it to cook. He settles on looking up home remedies for treating a fever on his phone, but doesn’t find anything too useful aside from the basic tips of staying hydrated and cool.
When the porridge is done, he quickly transfers it to a bowl and pours a glass of water to bring it to Seungyoun.
“Seungyoun-ah, are you awake?” he asks as he enters the room.
His boyfriend responds with a quiet moan, which he takes as a yes.
“You need to eat and take your medicine.”
“Not hungry,” Seungyoun whines from where he’s still curled up in blankets.
“You still need to eat,” Seungwoo gently tells him, sitting on the edge of the bed and placing the tray of food on the small nightstand beside their bed, so that his hands are free to maneuver a reluctant Seungyoun into sitting position.
“Do you want me to feed you?” he asks and the younger responds with a slight nod. Seungwoo knows Seungyoun is sick and miserable right now, but he can’t stop himself from thinking that his boyfriend is cute like this.
He blows on each spoonful of porridge and carefully feeds it to him. He gets through about half the bowl when Seungyoun refuses to keep eating.
“Hyung, I can’t anymore,” he pleads and Seungwoo can’t bring himself to argue with him in this state.
“That’s okay, you did well, Younie,” he praises, gently caressing his head. “Can you take your medicine for me now?” he asks, handing him the small tablets and glass of water.
Luckily for him, feverish Seungyoun is quiet and obedient, easily following the command and quickly downing the medicine.
“Can you drink a little more water for me too?” Seungwoo asks and Seungyoun follows the instruction wordlessly.
If only he was always this cooperative. Seungwoo thinks back to the last time Seungyoun was sick, though that was only a minor cold. The younger refused to take his medicine, denying that he was sick in the first place. He knows Seungyoun has a tendency to push himself too hard, despite Seungwoo constantly scolding him for it, which means that he usually tries to hide pain and pretend he’s perfectly fine. Even though Seungwoo will admit that Seungyoun complying to his requests without the usual defiance makes his job a lot easier, he knows that the younger must be in a lot of discomfort for him to be in this state and to just say he’s worried is an understatement.
He leaves the water on the table, but brings the porridge back to the kitchen and leaves it in the sink for him to deal with later. Grabbing a small towel from the closet, he wets it and goes back to the bedroom to lay it across Seungyoun’s forehead.
The younger squirms a little at the sensation of the wet towel. “Hyung, it’s cold,” he whines.
“Sorry, Younie, but we need to bring your temperature down,” he says apologetically. “Please bear with it, okay? Can you do that for me?”
Seungyoun reluctantly agrees and lets Seungwoo tuck him back into the covers.
“Try to get some more rest,” he instructs gently. “I’ll just be in the living room, so call if you need anything, okay?”
After checking on Seungyoun one last time, Seungwoo brings out his laptop in an attempt to at least get some work done, so he’s not swamped when he goes back to the office.
He does some drafting and responds to some emails, but he doesn’t get very far because his mind keeps wandering back to Seungyoun’s condition and it’s hard to resist the urge to check on him every five minutes. Suddenly, he hears his stomach grumble and comes to the realization that he never actually ate anything that morning.
Walking over to the kitchen, he finds his forgotten eggs and throws them in the microwave since they’ve long since become cold. He fills a glass with ice and pours himself some coffee, thinking he might as well repurpose it since it’s also gotten cold. He scrolls through his phone absentmindedly as he eats his breakfast, though if he’s being technical, it’s probably closer to lunch at this point.
Not in the mood to try doing more work, he settles on turning on the TV and finding some random drama to watch. He doesn’t actually pay much attention to what’s happening on the screen and if someone asked him for even just the name of the show, he probably couldn't tell them. Still, he gets through the greater part of an episode when he hears the rustling of blankets and a loud thump.
Concerned, he quickly hurries back to the bedroom only to find Seungyoun, tangled in his mess of blankets, sitting on the ground.
“Are you okay, babe?” he asks worriedly. “What happened?”
“Was cold,” Seungyoun mumbles. “Wanted to find you.”
“Next time, you can just call for me,” he says gently, helping him back onto the bed.
“You were watching TV. I didn’t wanna bother you.”
“You could never be a bother to me, Younie.” Seungwoo caresses his hair lovingly. “How are you feeling?”
“A little better. I think the medicine helped,” he answers. “I don’t wanna sleep anymore though.”
“Do you wanna come watch a drama with me then?”
Seungyoun nods hid head enthusiastically and reaches out both arms in a silent request for Seungwoo to carry him.
“You’re such a big baby,” he laughs, but indulges him anyway and picks him up bridal style to bring him over to the couch. Seungyoun doesn’t always let Seungwoo spoil him like this, always the type to put others before himself, so he savors the moment of his boyfriend being clingy and needy.
They lay on the couch, Seungyoun leaning back against Seungwoo’s chest while he uses his free hand to soothingly run his fingers through Seungyoun’s hair.
“Wait, hyung, my hair’s probably sweaty and gross right now,” the younger protests.
“I don’t care,” he replies, placing a kiss on top of his head to prove a point. “I love you.”
“That’s gross.”
“It’s gross that I love you? Babe, that hurts.”
“Shut up, you know that’s not what I meant,” Seungyoun grumbles. “I love you too.”
Seungwoo chuckles as they fall back into silence, attention turning to the drama they’re supposed to be watching.
“Hyung,” Seungyoun calls suddenly.
“What is it?”
“Thank you for taking care of me,” he mumbles timidly. “I don’t know how I got lucky enough to have you.”
“You say that like it’s not the same for me,” Seungwoo answers. At Seungyoun’s lack of response, he gets a growing suspicion that the younger doesn’t believe him. “Younie, you take care of me just as well and I’m so lucky to have you too. You know that right?”
Still no response. This calls for drastic measures.
Seungwoo untangles himself from Seungyoun, earning a disapproving whine from the younger, and flips him around so that they’re laying face to face. Seungyoun looks at him questioningly.
“You don’t believe me,” Seungwoo states matter of factly and Seungyoun makes no effort to deny it.
“Look at me,” Seungwoo commands, cupping the younger’s cheeks and holding him in place to prevent him from shying away. “I know how you always make sure we’re never out of tea because you know that I prefer it over coffee. Whenever I’m stressed, you always run to the convenience store and pick up my favorite snacks without even needing me to ask you. Even without you doing any of those things, just being with you gives me so much strength. And I am so—” He pauses to kiss Seungyoun’s forehead. “—lucky to have you in my life.”
He tries to pour as much love as he can into his gaze and he feels Seungyoun squirm under the intensity of it.
“Say you believe me,” Seungwoo commands, kissing the tip of his nose this time.
“Hyung, stop, you’re gonna get sick too,” he whines in protest.
“I won’t stop until you say you believe.” Now, his cheek.
“I don’t wanna!” Seungyoun tries to break free from Seungwoo’s grip, but he’s too strong and the younger still hasn’t fully recovered, so the effort is futile. Seungwoo holds him still long enough to kiss his other cheek.
“Fine!” Seungyoun relents. “I believe you, okay?”
“Was that so hard?” he teases.
“You’re such a bully,” Seungyoun pouts.
“I love you too.”
The drama on the TV has long been forgotten and the two of them simply get lost in each other. Seungwoo rubs circles into his boyfriend’s back as Seungyoun nuzzles himself into his neck.
Seungwoo couldn’t have predicted that he would spend today at home, caring for his sick boyfriend, but looking at the adorably clingy Seungyoun currently wrapped in his arms, he can’t say he’s upset with how the day played out.
They fall asleep with limbs entangled and bodies pressed together, knowing that they’ll always be safe and well taken care of as long as they have each other.