Chapter Text
Yeong-gi woke up before his alarm for once since he started sharing his bed. He yawns and just lies there, blinking the drowsiness away. Then his head turns to the right and he can’t help but smile. “Good morning, gorgeous..” One arm is already wrapped around the sleeping girl beside him and she’s still tucked against it, hair tangled and a mess - but it smelled like his shampoo when he leaned in to press a soft kiss to her forehead.
“Babe?”
Her skin was hot. Not warm-from-a-regular-deep-deep-sleep hot but temperature high hot.
“Shin-ae,” He says, brushing her hair back. “You’re burning up.”
She stirs, mumbling incoherently. “Five more minutes..”
He sits up a little and touches her cheek. “Yeah, I think you’ve got a fever.” Then her neck.
She groans, pushes his cold hand away, rolling onto her other side.
As much as he’d rather stay there all day, he’s already out of bed, searching for a thermometer. By the time he comes back from the bathroom, she’s half-asleep again and stubbornly cocooned in their blankets. She sighs dramatically but lets him slide the thermometer under her tongue after some struggle. When it beeps, he checks the screen and lets out a low whistle. “Congratulations, you’re officially grounded for today.”
That wakes her up. “Wha-? I feel fine.. I can still go to work.”
But he’s already scrolling through her phone. “Nope. I’m calling in for you.”
She groans. “Nolan, no-“
“Nolan, yes. Don’t be stubborn.” The way he says it is affectionate, like a sigh.
He disappears into the kitchen. A few minutes pass and she’s blinking up at the ceiling. There’s the sound of a cabinet opening, something boiling on the stove. She can sort of hear the conversation between him and her boss. It ends before he returns with a steaming mug in one hand and a cool cloth in the other. He nudges her shoulder back down when she tries to sit up and sets the cloth against her forehead. “Don’t move. Doctor’s orders.”
“You’re not a doctor.”
“I’m the only sane person in this apartment right now.”
She snorts.
He dialed another number. “It’s me. I won’t be in today… well, yeah, sort of a personal emergency. Just taking care of someone important.” When he hung up, he caught her watching him.
“You didn’t have to do that.” Shin-ae said.
He sighed. “I wanted to.”
Her eyes softened at that.
Now, they had been living together for a while but Yeong-gi rarely saw her like this: flushed cheeks, glazed eyes, grunting like a wild animal when she tried to speak. Shin-ae was someone who powered through bad days and headaches and still met deadlines. Now she looked so small and tired.
A selfish part of him liked it. Not her being sick, never that. He liked being the one who got to do something for Shin-ae. This time, she couldn’t just brush him off with ‘I’m fine’ and for once, she needed him. The rest of the day passed slowly with him fussing over her. At one point, she requested to move so he carried her to the living room couch where she slept through his off-key singing. She was soon woken up by a pot lid clattering followed by his curses. When he brought her a bowl, it’s steaming and slightly overfilled.
“Bon appétit.” He says proudly.
She peers into it with caution but lets him spoon-feed her after seeing a small burn on his hand. He refilled her water, adjusted her pillows, brushed her hair and put on the whatever show she wanted. Her laughter would be medicine in itself although he admitted it would benefit him more. Instead, she was groaning and apologizing for being a hassle.
He bent down until their foreheads touched. “You kidding? I’m finally useful.” He said, smiling. “I love taking care of my girl.”
She cringed and swatted at him weakly. “Ew. Don’t say it like that.” Her glare lacked heat and her cheeks flared pink from something other than the fever.
“Hey, this reminds me of that night.”
“What night?”
“At the hospital.” He focused on the good parts. “Remember? When I woke up and you were with lil buddy. We thought I was on a morphine drip but I was actually feeling that way because you were there.”
She nodded absently. There was a wall in her mind that made it hard to absorb his words.
“I can’t believe I didn’t just ask you out right there.” He closed his fist and released it. “I was such a coward.”
She placed a both her hands on his, like that time she caught him off guard at Wacdonald’s. Then again, when did her actions not catch Yeong-gi off guard? He could tell she wanted to say more but shook his head. “See? You’re sick and you’re still the one looking after me.” He leaned in to kiss her and she turned away.
“I’m contagious.”
That didn’t matter but he did want her to rest. So he pulled the blanket up on her shoulders and fiddled with a loose strand of her hair instead.
The only time he wasn’t by her side that day was when he went to take a bath. Although her offer to join him was tempting, he refused knowing he couldn’t overheat right now.
“You’re not sleeping here.” She said later that night.
Yeong-gi froze in the doorway, toothbrush still in his mouth. “Ekshcushe me?”
“I don’t want you to get sick.” Shin-ae said plainly.
He spat into the sink, rinsed his mouth and grabbed his pillows. “I’ll sleep on the floor then.”
Shin-ae’s frown deepened.
He was already making a little nest on the floor beside her side of the bed. She watched him with a mix of exasperation and reluctant amusement.
“You’ll regret that when your back seizes up.”
“Don’t worry about it. Just focus on getting better.” He winked, switching off the lamp. “Goodnight.”
Only a few seconds passed before she broke the silence, “You’re really gonna sleep there?”
“Yup.”
“..It’s weird.”
“What’s weird?”
“You being down there.”
He smirked in the dark. “So you do want me up there, with you. With Yoo.”
She rolled her eyes let out a long exhale.
“What are you building?”
Without standing up, she started stacking a barricade of pillows between his space and hers. He turned the lamp back on to see the fortress of fluff.
“There. No cross-contamination zone.” She then turned onto her side, content. “Low effort. Effective. Perfect. Good night.”
For a while, he silently accepted her terms, lying down on his spot and turning the lights off again. The room was quiet except for the hum of the heater and her congested snores. Yeong-gi stayed awake, the pillow fort looming between them and mocking him. He rolled onto his side, eyes tracing the faint outline of her in the dark. Her arm draped over the blanket, fingers curled slightly, chest rising and falling.
The instinctive urge to pull her close grew stronger. And so he reached out, fingers brushing one of the pillow barricades. He wanted to feel her warmth against him, to kiss the fever from her skin, to prove to himself that she was still right there. Quietly, guiltily, he tugged one pillow away. Then another. The wall crumbled soundlessly. Right as he reached for her wrist, a sleepy voice cut through the dark.
“I can feel you scheming.”
He was about to make a joke when he realized that she was shaking. He sat up fully, swept aside the barricade and leaned over her.
“Hey,” he said gently, “you’re freezing.” He reached for the blanket, tucking it tightly around her but she still trembled under it.
Before she could argue, he slipped under the covers beside her, wrapping his arms around her frame, pulling her close. She stiffened in protest. “You idiot, you’ll catch-“
“Then I’ll catch it.” He said simply, his breath warm against her hair.
She huffed, too tired to argue now. Gradually, her fingers, which had been initially pressed against his chest to push him away, unclenched and settled there instead. He felt it when her body relaxed. Her weight sunk into him, the last bit of tension dissolving.
“That’s better.” He whispered.
“You’re a dumbass.” She complained.
He smiled, letting his chin rest lightly atop her head. “I’ve been told worse.”
Her shaking had stopped. “You’re also a human heater.”
“Glad to be of service.” His heart kicked helplessly. “Shin-ae,”
“Hm?”
“I’m gonna kiss you.”
Her brows knit.
Before she could think, he leaned in, brushing his nose against hers. But as his lips grazed close, she suddenly turned, burying her face right into his chest.
“I don’t care if you’re sick.”
“I do. No.” Although there was no real bite to it.
“Yes.”
“No!” Her head jerked up.
“Come on, please? Just one.” He tilted his head. She couldn’t see it but she already knew he was making that lazy, infuriating grin that always meant he’d already made up his mind. He leaned in slowly. Not enough to corner her but enough that she could feel the warmth of his breath ghosting her lips. He only whispered, “Push me away.”
She didn’t.
And when he carefully kissed her, she melted against him despite herself. Now both their cheeks flushed for reasons that had nothing to do with her fever.
Just one, my ass.
Maybe it was the relief of her finally giving in or the way her flushed skin felt against his palms. Either way, he kissed her once more and then again at the corner of her mouth, her cheek, the tip of her nose. She let out a breathy laugh, squirming.
“Stop it.” She scolded, laughing.
He only said between kisses, “Can’t.”
“You’re getting all my germs.”
“Don’t care. Worth it.”
“You’re being gross.” She tried to sound exasperated but failed. “If you get sick, I’m not taking care of you.”
He laughed, “Fine by me.” Oh, but he knew she would. She’d sooner get eyebags staying awake and watching him recover all night than go to sleep if he were the one with the fever. His arms tightened around her in a small cocoon sort of way.
“..Thank you.” She rubbed her nose on his throat.
“For what?” He brushed his fingers down her back soothingly, slowly, in the way he knew she liked.
“For today. For taking care of me like always.”
“Anytime.”
A quiet pause settled and then, before he could say anything else, he felt it. A press of her lips against the side of his neck. Once. Then a second, longer one with more of a pinch to it.
His breath hitched.
Shin-ae hummed, the tiny sound content and drowsy, while the sensation she was causing drove him crazy.
He swallowed, trying to keep his composure. Her voice came out tauntingly. “Figured I’d return the favor.”
Even when she tried to joke, he knew her too well. This was typical Shin-ae making light of things even when she was in pain. He drew a quiet line for himself tonight. No matter how close she leaned, he would keep his restraint. He wanted her, of course he did. But wanting her meant wanting her condition to improve first. Anything else would feel selfish. So he stayed still.
It wasn’t uncomfortable for either of them. Just a bit unfair.
“You’re killing me.” That was all he could muster as he felt her add another mark on a different spot before her head dropped back to his shoulder.
Her breathing soon became deep and slow. Yeong-gi stared into nothing, utterly helpless, heart pounding, a stupid smile creeping up his face.