(no subject)
title: selfless
paring: kanghan
genre: general, romance, drama
rating: pg-13
summary: kangin is sick, and though both of them aren't too fond of the idea, hankyung is forced to take care of him.
Part One
When Kangin woke up, he was already feeling slightly better. He sat up slowly, still a bit dizzy, and he smiled.
Suddenly, someone knocked on his door. After a second, the door opened and Eeteuk went in.
Eeteuk smiled when he saw that Kangin was awake and sitting up. "Are you feeling better already?"
Kangin nodded. "Yeah, I'm feeling okay."
"Is Hannie taking care of you properly?"
Kangin scoffed, "As well as he could, I guess."
Laughing, Eeteuk sat on his bed and smiled, "Why are you always so mean to him? He's doing his best."
The question made Kangin think for a moment. Then he shrugged and answered, "I don't know. He's just fun to annoy."
"Fun to annoy, huh? But sometimes, you go a bit too far, you know. Hankyung's not the type to say anything about these things, so think about your words for a change. You might hurt him if you're not careful."
Kangin considered Eeteuk's words for a minute before disregarding them completely. Still, he nodded and said he'll try. Eeteuk stood up after that, checked his temperature, nodded and left. He heard voices talking outside his room, one of them was Eeteuk's, the other was probably Hankyung's.
Kangin chuckled as he settled again to sleep. Eeteuk was such a mother hen sometimes.
---
"Ready to eat?"
Kangin rolled his eyes and sat up without much effort. This time, aside from a slightly throbbing head, he felt normal already. "I think I can eat on the table now. No. I want to eat on the table. It's hard eating on a tray."
Hankyung nodded and moved to help him stand up. But when the other went closer, Kangin growled and pushed Hankyung's hands away. "I can take care of myself."
Hankyung just smiled and shook his head, "You're never going to make my life easy, are you?"
Kangin smirked, "Never." Walking out his room and into the kitchen, he noticed that Hankyung had cooked his favorite meal again. He smiled inwardly. He had thought he wouldn't be able to taste this again.
"My favorite again, huh?"
"Thought it'd be nice for a welcome back to the real world present."
Kangin only laughed and began to eat. Hankyung, on the other hand, didn't sit beside Kangin. Tapping Kangin on the shoulder to get the other's attention, he said, "I'm going to go in my room, okay? Yell when you're done. I'll come and clean the dishes. And oh! Don't forget your pills. They're in the medicine cabinet. You know what they look like, right?"
"I'm not a child anymore, hyung." Kanging answered, rolling his eyes. "I keep on telling you. I can take care of myself."
Hankyung gave him a small, tired smile and nodded. "All right." Then he left towards his room.
Kangin didn't see nor hear from the elder male as he was eating. Unruffled, he washed the dishes himself and went in his room to sleep some more, knowing that he was already well.
---
Kangin woke up abruptly when, somewhere outside his room, coughing began. They were harsh and sounded painful, so when it hadn't subsided, Kangin bolted up from his bed and ran towards the sound.
He found Hankyung, body racked by harsh coughing, eyes closed in pain and having a hard time trying to ease the coughing away so he could breathe. He was on his knees by the door, one hand covering his mouth, trying to muffle the sound. Quickly, Kangin moved towards the elder male and gently rubbed the other's back, hoping it would ease some of the pain. Worriedly, he frowned, not knowing what to do. Then a second passes and the coughs disappear, leaving Hankyung panting and almost in tears.
Kangin brushed stray strands of hair from the other's already perspiring forehead and inspected his temperature.
Then he cursed.
"Hyung, you're hot."
Hankyung tossed him a smirk and weakly said, "Thanks."
Kangin frowned even more, a little angry at the other boy's nonchalance. "I'm serious, hyung! You're burning up! Where do you think you're going with a temperature like that?!"
Easing himself to sit leaning on the wall, Hankyung chuckled, "I just wanted to help around."
"While you're neglecting yourself?!" Kangin yelled, getting more and more angry.
Hankyung shook his head, "Kangin, I'm--,"
"Fine?" Kangin finished. Rounding up on the other boy, Kangin yelled, "You call that fine?! You're burning up with fever, you can't even walk or sit up straight! And just a while ago, you could barely breathe! Do you call that fine?! Hyung! Don't lie to me! I'm not that heartless!" Trying to calm himself down, Kangin breathed in deeply. Then he frowned worriedly when Hankyung closed his eyes from exhaustion and asked, "Since when?"
Hankyung shrugged, "A day after you got sick?"
"WHAT?! Why didn't you tell anyone?!"
"Because you were sick and everyone else was busy? I had to take care of you."
Kangin didn't know what to say to that. He sighed, raking a hand shakily through his hair. In truth, he had noticed something strange with Hankyung. Why hadn't he asked about it?
Gritting his teeth, Kangin grabbed the elder male's arm and said, "Come on, hyung. You're going to bed."
Hankyung opened his eyes then, looked straight at Kangin and said, "No. I told Eeteuk I'd have food prepared when they come back."
Firmly, Kangin shook his head, "Teukie hyung can wait. Why do you insist on getting even more sick anyway? You're tired, aren't you? Don't you want to rest?"
"If I lie in bed, I'd feel like I really am sick."
"But you are!" Kangin yelled, exasperated. Tugging the other's arm, he said, "Come on. Go to bed, hyung. Please."
Hankyung laughed but he allowed Kangin to help him stand up anyway. As soon as he stood up, he swayed, out of balance, legs almost giving away. If it weren't for Kangin, he would have crashed onto the floor again. Breathing hard, Hankyung frowned and leaned on the wall for support.
"Hyung."
Hankyung closed his eyes for second, trying to get his breathing back to normal, waiting for the world to stop spinning. "Wait," he said, softly, "Just. Wait. Let me rest for a while."
Kangin nodded and held onto the elder boy's arm a little stronger. A few seconds passed by and Hankyung opened his eyes, signaling that he was ready.
The two lumbered into the apartment and into Hankyung's room. As soon as they entered, Kangin threw the covers off and gently helped Hankyung lie down. Then he took the covers again and draped them over Hankyung.
"Thanks."
Kangin looked at the other boy and found that his eyes were already closed. Then he shook his head and smiled a little.
Softly, he said, "No, hyung. I should be thanking you for taking care of me."
A small smile appeared on the elder boy's face as he replied, "It's nice to hear that from you."
"I'm sorry. For being such a pain. I'm really sorry."
Hankyung shook his head. "Don't worry. You were sick. Gives you the privilege of being an ass."
Kangin couldn't help but laugh at that. Then, with guilt gnawing at him from inside, he said, "Hyung, I haven't been that nice to you, have I? Even when I wasn't sick. Especially when I'm not sick."
"I noticed," Hankyung replied, scoffing.
"I'm sorry. I'm really, really, really sorry. Sometimes, I honestly can't help it. You don't get angry no matter what I do so I guess... it kind of turned into a game for me. It's just that... it's just weird, hyung! No matter what anyone does to you, you never get angry! Even Eunhyuk gets annoyed once in a while, but you... You don't say anything and just... I don't know! I-I don't even know why I continue doing what I do. Even when Teukie hyung's asked me about it, I couldn't answer him."
"It's not like I don't understand what you're doing. And I know that sometimes, it's just your way of showing that you care, no matter how strange it is. So it doesn't matter anymore, Kangin."
"It matters to me, hyung!" Kangin said, shouting, "It matters to me! I-I... It's my fault you're sick. If I hadn't been so hard on you, if I noticed earlier, if I had asked you about it... You wouldn't be as sick as you are now! You look like it's nothing, but even I wasn't this weak! I-I... I'm really sorry."
Trying not to look at the other, Kangin had his eyes locked on in a random spot of the room. So when he felt Hankyung's cold, cold hand come around his own, he couldn't help but gasp in surprise. Looking at the other boy, Kangin found him smiling gently at him.
Giving Kangin's hand a gentle squeeze, Hankyung whispered, "I didn't get sick because of you, Kangin. And it got worse because I didn't tell anyone. So we're both at fault, I guess. And please, don't be guilty. It's not like you at all."
"But I've been nasty to you and I tease you a lot and I don't thank you enough and I-I--,"
"Kangin," Hankyung interrupted, chuckling, "I wouldn't have you in any other way. If you aren't brash and impulsive and mischievous and a little mean, I wouldn't feel good. It'd be really, really strange. I've thought about it before, seriously. And I've come to the conclusion that that's just the way you are sometimes. I'm not as incompetent as you think. And I can read people pretty well, too. I know," Hankyung continued, snuggling deeper into the covers, voice getting more and more softer, "that you've always cared. So don't change, okay? Just tone it down a little. I like you just the way you are."
Since the time he was born, Kangin has never met anyone who says they like him 'just the way he is'. Even Eeteuk, who has and always will be his closest friend, would mention time and time again that he needed to change his attitude.
Thoroughly surprised, Kangin's eyes were wide, unable to speak or move. Then, slowly, a smile began to bloom on his face. Laughing softly, careful not to wake the other boy, Kangin whispered, "Thank you, hyung," and gave the other boy a peck on the cheek.
---
When Eeteuk and the rest of the members arrived in the dorm Kangin and Hankyung were in, he heard bickering coming from Hankyung's bedroom.
The members spared a confused glance among themselves and proceeded towards the noise.
As soon as they finished their recording, Eeteuk called his dorm expecting Hankyung to be there, cooking for them as he had asked. But no one picked up. He tried calling many times, and when no one answered his calls, he became worried. He hadn't thought about calling the other dorm at all, assuming that Kangin wouldn't answer anyway.
Curious, Eeteuk and everyone else came closer and closer to the open room.
"Hyung, come on! Open your mouth!"
"I don't want to eat that! I'll throw it up!"
'Throw it up'? That was Hankyung's voice, wasn't it? Eeteuk frowned. Was Hankyung sick? Quickly, he made his way towards the room and found Kangin force-feeding the elder male.
"I'm seriously getting impatient, hyung!" Kangin began, frowning at the boy on the bed, "EAT IT! You need to eat so you can take the medicine! And if you don't take the medicine, you'll get sick even more! And if you get sick even more, you might die!" Prodding Hankyung to open his mouth with the spoon, Kangin added, "Not that I care, but still! Who'll cook for me when I'm sick if you're gone, right?"
On the bed, Hankyung pouted, "I hate you."
Eeteuk expected Kangin to yell, but, in his many years of being friends with the other male, he wouldn't have been able to imagine him reacting like this. Because instead of shouting indignantly at Hankyung, Kangin only laughed.
"Awww..." Kangin began, pouting as well, "I love you too, hyung." Then the moment passed and Kangin was trying to force Hankyung to eat again. "Just eat this and get it over and done with! You're even more troublesome than I was when I was sick! At least I ate willingly!"
"That's because you liked the food!" Hankyung yelled, indignant. Then he groaned and held his head in his hands. Holding up one hand in front of an obviously and strangely worried Kangin, Hankyung muttered, "Wait. Room spinning. Please remind me not to yell."
Behind him, Donghae couldn't stand still, thoroughly confused at was what going on. Bursting in the room, he turned to Eeteuk and asked, "What the hell is happening, hyung?!"
At his yell, both Kangin and Hankyung turned towards the door.
"Oh," Kangin started, "You're all here? What happened? Is something wrong?"
"Is something wrong..." Eeteuk said, staring wide eyed at Kangin, "I should say the same thing to you. Who are you and what did you do to our Kangin?"
On the bed, Hankyung laughed. "See, I told you they'd find it strange."
Kangin glared at the other boy when he said that. Then he turned to Eeteuk and shrugged, "I've seen the error of my ways and changed?"
"Right," Heechul said, stepping in the room, "I demand you give our old Kangin back now."
Kangin frowned, "Not funny, Heechul hyung."
"He's just guilty," Hankyung explained, laughing, "He'll be back to normal once he forgets."
"Forgets what?" Shiwon asked, stepping into the room as well and checking Hankyung's temperature at the same time. Once he did that, he frowned, "You're sick."
Hankyung smiled, "Once he forgets that."
Kangin knows he won't forget. But because he didn't want anyone to fuzz over it anymore, he laughed his usual laughter and said, "You know me too well, hyung."
In front of him, Hankyung gave him a look, one that he couldn't quite read, before smiling again.
Upon hearing that Hankyung was sick, Eeteuk went in and checked Hankyung's temperature as well. Then he frowned and said, "Since when were you sick?"
"A day after I was sick." Kangin answered, glaring at a sheepishly smiling Hankyung.
"What?!" Eeteuk said, almost yelling. Turning to Hankyung, he lectured, "You agreed to take care of Kangin, to cook food for him and clean the other dorm while you were sick?! Are you trying to kill yourself?! Even if you feel just slightly under the weather, tell someone, okay?! I don't want anyone falling ill. Hannie," Eeteuk continued worriedly, "Please don't do this again, okay?"
Hankyung nodded. "Promise."
"Good." Eeteuk turned to Kangin then and said, "Even if you're always mean to him, you took care of him. I'm impressed."
Kangin rolled his eyes, unamused. "Hyung, even if I tease people a lot, I'm not heartless! Of course I'd take care of him!"
"You could have left the food and made him eat it himself but you didn't. You could have left him to sleep but you're here. You could have called me and asked me to send someone else to watch over Hannie but you didn't do that either." Smiling at Kangin, Eeteuk winked, "I'd say there's something else there."
Kangin couldn't believe what Eeteuk was saying! Wide eyed, he said, voice dripping with sarcasm, "Yeah. Of course," he drawled, "It's 'coz I wanted to wait while he was at his most vulnerable so that I could kill him, slowly, in his sleep." Rolling his eyes for the nth time that day, he said, "Hyung, what the hell are you talking about?!"
Eeteuk shrugged, but he had a nasty smirk on his lips. "Sorry. My bad. Jumped to conclusions."
Kangin glanced at Hankyung and found him blessedly confused. He glanced at Kangin questioningly about that. Kangin shook his head, signaling that he didn't understand either.
Kangin knew, because he and Eeteuk had been friends for so long, that Eeteuk's already realized what was going through his mind. The leader might not know exactly how it happened, but Eeteuk had an ability to read him like an open book --which means Eeteuk knows he's already harboring feelings for their resident Chinese. Sighing, he resisted the urge to groan out loud.
If Eeteuk knew, Kangin doesn't think he'll let it go.
Not until he confesses, that is.
Standing up, Kangin gives the bowl of (instant) chicken soup to Shiwon. "Here, maybe you'll have luck trying to feed him."
Hankyung groaned, "I don't want it! Make me noodles or something."
Ryeowook, who was outside the room listening in, piped up, "Hyung, I'll make it for you!"
Kangin watched one of their youngest go into the kitchen as he left the room. Making way towards his own room, he was stopped by Eeteuk.
Glancing at his hyung, he asked, "Yeah?"
"What happened?"
Kangin chuckled and said, "He said he liked me just the way I am. I don't know why, but hearing that...," gritting his teeth, Kangin continued, "No one's ever said that to me before. Even you haven't. When I heard that, coming from him of all people, I don't know! Suddenly, my heart... argh!" Hands tightening into a fist, Kangin said, "It's weird! People just can't begin to like other people because of one, friggin, sentence! It's just not possible!" Looking at Eeteuk, who was carefully listening to him, he asked, "Maybe I'm just delirious? A side effect of being sick? Hyung! What's wrong with me?"
Placing a hand on Kangin's shoulder, Eeteuk tsked and shook his head, "My friend, there are just some things that can't be explained by logic. I've never seen you act the way you did like a while ago. When Hannie seemed like he was about to faint from shouting, you looked like you were ready to catch him if he fell, you were tense and worried and panicked. And it's not like you wouldn't do the same thing for others, but there was something else in your eyes. Like you wanted to whisk whatever it was that was ailing Hannie away." Shaking his head once again, Eeteuk finished, "But still, old friend, you should look into this. I don't want you to hook up and find it was nothing in the first place."
Kangin scoffed, "Even if I asked him out, it's not like he'll agree. He's stuck with Shiwon, isn't he?"
"Shiwon is to him, like me to you." Sighing, Eeteuk smiled, "I can't believe it. You're jealous, aren't you?"
"Am not!" Kangin immediately yelled. Then he looked away and said, "Well, maybe just a tiny little bit. But that's it!"
Eeteuk laughed, "Come on. You should rest, too. And if tomorrow you still feel like you love him, then that's that."
"Hyung~"
Pushing Kangin into his room, Eeteuk chided, "Hey, that's one proof you love a person, right? To wake up every morning and say, 'I want to be with him for the rest of my life'."
---
The next morning, Kangin woke up and felt the world was shining.
He groaned.
'I want to be with him for the rest of my life'?
Yeah. That about sums it up.
THE END
paring: kanghan
genre: general, romance, drama
rating: pg-13
summary: kangin is sick, and though both of them aren't too fond of the idea, hankyung is forced to take care of him.
Part One
When Kangin woke up, he was already feeling slightly better. He sat up slowly, still a bit dizzy, and he smiled.
Suddenly, someone knocked on his door. After a second, the door opened and Eeteuk went in.
Eeteuk smiled when he saw that Kangin was awake and sitting up. "Are you feeling better already?"
Kangin nodded. "Yeah, I'm feeling okay."
"Is Hannie taking care of you properly?"
Kangin scoffed, "As well as he could, I guess."
Laughing, Eeteuk sat on his bed and smiled, "Why are you always so mean to him? He's doing his best."
The question made Kangin think for a moment. Then he shrugged and answered, "I don't know. He's just fun to annoy."
"Fun to annoy, huh? But sometimes, you go a bit too far, you know. Hankyung's not the type to say anything about these things, so think about your words for a change. You might hurt him if you're not careful."
Kangin considered Eeteuk's words for a minute before disregarding them completely. Still, he nodded and said he'll try. Eeteuk stood up after that, checked his temperature, nodded and left. He heard voices talking outside his room, one of them was Eeteuk's, the other was probably Hankyung's.
Kangin chuckled as he settled again to sleep. Eeteuk was such a mother hen sometimes.
---
"Ready to eat?"
Kangin rolled his eyes and sat up without much effort. This time, aside from a slightly throbbing head, he felt normal already. "I think I can eat on the table now. No. I want to eat on the table. It's hard eating on a tray."
Hankyung nodded and moved to help him stand up. But when the other went closer, Kangin growled and pushed Hankyung's hands away. "I can take care of myself."
Hankyung just smiled and shook his head, "You're never going to make my life easy, are you?"
Kangin smirked, "Never." Walking out his room and into the kitchen, he noticed that Hankyung had cooked his favorite meal again. He smiled inwardly. He had thought he wouldn't be able to taste this again.
"My favorite again, huh?"
"Thought it'd be nice for a welcome back to the real world present."
Kangin only laughed and began to eat. Hankyung, on the other hand, didn't sit beside Kangin. Tapping Kangin on the shoulder to get the other's attention, he said, "I'm going to go in my room, okay? Yell when you're done. I'll come and clean the dishes. And oh! Don't forget your pills. They're in the medicine cabinet. You know what they look like, right?"
"I'm not a child anymore, hyung." Kanging answered, rolling his eyes. "I keep on telling you. I can take care of myself."
Hankyung gave him a small, tired smile and nodded. "All right." Then he left towards his room.
Kangin didn't see nor hear from the elder male as he was eating. Unruffled, he washed the dishes himself and went in his room to sleep some more, knowing that he was already well.
---
Kangin woke up abruptly when, somewhere outside his room, coughing began. They were harsh and sounded painful, so when it hadn't subsided, Kangin bolted up from his bed and ran towards the sound.
He found Hankyung, body racked by harsh coughing, eyes closed in pain and having a hard time trying to ease the coughing away so he could breathe. He was on his knees by the door, one hand covering his mouth, trying to muffle the sound. Quickly, Kangin moved towards the elder male and gently rubbed the other's back, hoping it would ease some of the pain. Worriedly, he frowned, not knowing what to do. Then a second passes and the coughs disappear, leaving Hankyung panting and almost in tears.
Kangin brushed stray strands of hair from the other's already perspiring forehead and inspected his temperature.
Then he cursed.
"Hyung, you're hot."
Hankyung tossed him a smirk and weakly said, "Thanks."
Kangin frowned even more, a little angry at the other boy's nonchalance. "I'm serious, hyung! You're burning up! Where do you think you're going with a temperature like that?!"
Easing himself to sit leaning on the wall, Hankyung chuckled, "I just wanted to help around."
"While you're neglecting yourself?!" Kangin yelled, getting more and more angry.
Hankyung shook his head, "Kangin, I'm--,"
"Fine?" Kangin finished. Rounding up on the other boy, Kangin yelled, "You call that fine?! You're burning up with fever, you can't even walk or sit up straight! And just a while ago, you could barely breathe! Do you call that fine?! Hyung! Don't lie to me! I'm not that heartless!" Trying to calm himself down, Kangin breathed in deeply. Then he frowned worriedly when Hankyung closed his eyes from exhaustion and asked, "Since when?"
Hankyung shrugged, "A day after you got sick?"
"WHAT?! Why didn't you tell anyone?!"
"Because you were sick and everyone else was busy? I had to take care of you."
Kangin didn't know what to say to that. He sighed, raking a hand shakily through his hair. In truth, he had noticed something strange with Hankyung. Why hadn't he asked about it?
Gritting his teeth, Kangin grabbed the elder male's arm and said, "Come on, hyung. You're going to bed."
Hankyung opened his eyes then, looked straight at Kangin and said, "No. I told Eeteuk I'd have food prepared when they come back."
Firmly, Kangin shook his head, "Teukie hyung can wait. Why do you insist on getting even more sick anyway? You're tired, aren't you? Don't you want to rest?"
"If I lie in bed, I'd feel like I really am sick."
"But you are!" Kangin yelled, exasperated. Tugging the other's arm, he said, "Come on. Go to bed, hyung. Please."
Hankyung laughed but he allowed Kangin to help him stand up anyway. As soon as he stood up, he swayed, out of balance, legs almost giving away. If it weren't for Kangin, he would have crashed onto the floor again. Breathing hard, Hankyung frowned and leaned on the wall for support.
"Hyung."
Hankyung closed his eyes for second, trying to get his breathing back to normal, waiting for the world to stop spinning. "Wait," he said, softly, "Just. Wait. Let me rest for a while."
Kangin nodded and held onto the elder boy's arm a little stronger. A few seconds passed by and Hankyung opened his eyes, signaling that he was ready.
The two lumbered into the apartment and into Hankyung's room. As soon as they entered, Kangin threw the covers off and gently helped Hankyung lie down. Then he took the covers again and draped them over Hankyung.
"Thanks."
Kangin looked at the other boy and found that his eyes were already closed. Then he shook his head and smiled a little.
Softly, he said, "No, hyung. I should be thanking you for taking care of me."
A small smile appeared on the elder boy's face as he replied, "It's nice to hear that from you."
"I'm sorry. For being such a pain. I'm really sorry."
Hankyung shook his head. "Don't worry. You were sick. Gives you the privilege of being an ass."
Kangin couldn't help but laugh at that. Then, with guilt gnawing at him from inside, he said, "Hyung, I haven't been that nice to you, have I? Even when I wasn't sick. Especially when I'm not sick."
"I noticed," Hankyung replied, scoffing.
"I'm sorry. I'm really, really, really sorry. Sometimes, I honestly can't help it. You don't get angry no matter what I do so I guess... it kind of turned into a game for me. It's just that... it's just weird, hyung! No matter what anyone does to you, you never get angry! Even Eunhyuk gets annoyed once in a while, but you... You don't say anything and just... I don't know! I-I don't even know why I continue doing what I do. Even when Teukie hyung's asked me about it, I couldn't answer him."
"It's not like I don't understand what you're doing. And I know that sometimes, it's just your way of showing that you care, no matter how strange it is. So it doesn't matter anymore, Kangin."
"It matters to me, hyung!" Kangin said, shouting, "It matters to me! I-I... It's my fault you're sick. If I hadn't been so hard on you, if I noticed earlier, if I had asked you about it... You wouldn't be as sick as you are now! You look like it's nothing, but even I wasn't this weak! I-I... I'm really sorry."
Trying not to look at the other, Kangin had his eyes locked on in a random spot of the room. So when he felt Hankyung's cold, cold hand come around his own, he couldn't help but gasp in surprise. Looking at the other boy, Kangin found him smiling gently at him.
Giving Kangin's hand a gentle squeeze, Hankyung whispered, "I didn't get sick because of you, Kangin. And it got worse because I didn't tell anyone. So we're both at fault, I guess. And please, don't be guilty. It's not like you at all."
"But I've been nasty to you and I tease you a lot and I don't thank you enough and I-I--,"
"Kangin," Hankyung interrupted, chuckling, "I wouldn't have you in any other way. If you aren't brash and impulsive and mischievous and a little mean, I wouldn't feel good. It'd be really, really strange. I've thought about it before, seriously. And I've come to the conclusion that that's just the way you are sometimes. I'm not as incompetent as you think. And I can read people pretty well, too. I know," Hankyung continued, snuggling deeper into the covers, voice getting more and more softer, "that you've always cared. So don't change, okay? Just tone it down a little. I like you just the way you are."
Since the time he was born, Kangin has never met anyone who says they like him 'just the way he is'. Even Eeteuk, who has and always will be his closest friend, would mention time and time again that he needed to change his attitude.
Thoroughly surprised, Kangin's eyes were wide, unable to speak or move. Then, slowly, a smile began to bloom on his face. Laughing softly, careful not to wake the other boy, Kangin whispered, "Thank you, hyung," and gave the other boy a peck on the cheek.
---
When Eeteuk and the rest of the members arrived in the dorm Kangin and Hankyung were in, he heard bickering coming from Hankyung's bedroom.
The members spared a confused glance among themselves and proceeded towards the noise.
As soon as they finished their recording, Eeteuk called his dorm expecting Hankyung to be there, cooking for them as he had asked. But no one picked up. He tried calling many times, and when no one answered his calls, he became worried. He hadn't thought about calling the other dorm at all, assuming that Kangin wouldn't answer anyway.
Curious, Eeteuk and everyone else came closer and closer to the open room.
"Hyung, come on! Open your mouth!"
"I don't want to eat that! I'll throw it up!"
'Throw it up'? That was Hankyung's voice, wasn't it? Eeteuk frowned. Was Hankyung sick? Quickly, he made his way towards the room and found Kangin force-feeding the elder male.
"I'm seriously getting impatient, hyung!" Kangin began, frowning at the boy on the bed, "EAT IT! You need to eat so you can take the medicine! And if you don't take the medicine, you'll get sick even more! And if you get sick even more, you might die!" Prodding Hankyung to open his mouth with the spoon, Kangin added, "Not that I care, but still! Who'll cook for me when I'm sick if you're gone, right?"
On the bed, Hankyung pouted, "I hate you."
Eeteuk expected Kangin to yell, but, in his many years of being friends with the other male, he wouldn't have been able to imagine him reacting like this. Because instead of shouting indignantly at Hankyung, Kangin only laughed.
"Awww..." Kangin began, pouting as well, "I love you too, hyung." Then the moment passed and Kangin was trying to force Hankyung to eat again. "Just eat this and get it over and done with! You're even more troublesome than I was when I was sick! At least I ate willingly!"
"That's because you liked the food!" Hankyung yelled, indignant. Then he groaned and held his head in his hands. Holding up one hand in front of an obviously and strangely worried Kangin, Hankyung muttered, "Wait. Room spinning. Please remind me not to yell."
Behind him, Donghae couldn't stand still, thoroughly confused at was what going on. Bursting in the room, he turned to Eeteuk and asked, "What the hell is happening, hyung?!"
At his yell, both Kangin and Hankyung turned towards the door.
"Oh," Kangin started, "You're all here? What happened? Is something wrong?"
"Is something wrong..." Eeteuk said, staring wide eyed at Kangin, "I should say the same thing to you. Who are you and what did you do to our Kangin?"
On the bed, Hankyung laughed. "See, I told you they'd find it strange."
Kangin glared at the other boy when he said that. Then he turned to Eeteuk and shrugged, "I've seen the error of my ways and changed?"
"Right," Heechul said, stepping in the room, "I demand you give our old Kangin back now."
Kangin frowned, "Not funny, Heechul hyung."
"He's just guilty," Hankyung explained, laughing, "He'll be back to normal once he forgets."
"Forgets what?" Shiwon asked, stepping into the room as well and checking Hankyung's temperature at the same time. Once he did that, he frowned, "You're sick."
Hankyung smiled, "Once he forgets that."
Kangin knows he won't forget. But because he didn't want anyone to fuzz over it anymore, he laughed his usual laughter and said, "You know me too well, hyung."
In front of him, Hankyung gave him a look, one that he couldn't quite read, before smiling again.
Upon hearing that Hankyung was sick, Eeteuk went in and checked Hankyung's temperature as well. Then he frowned and said, "Since when were you sick?"
"A day after I was sick." Kangin answered, glaring at a sheepishly smiling Hankyung.
"What?!" Eeteuk said, almost yelling. Turning to Hankyung, he lectured, "You agreed to take care of Kangin, to cook food for him and clean the other dorm while you were sick?! Are you trying to kill yourself?! Even if you feel just slightly under the weather, tell someone, okay?! I don't want anyone falling ill. Hannie," Eeteuk continued worriedly, "Please don't do this again, okay?"
Hankyung nodded. "Promise."
"Good." Eeteuk turned to Kangin then and said, "Even if you're always mean to him, you took care of him. I'm impressed."
Kangin rolled his eyes, unamused. "Hyung, even if I tease people a lot, I'm not heartless! Of course I'd take care of him!"
"You could have left the food and made him eat it himself but you didn't. You could have left him to sleep but you're here. You could have called me and asked me to send someone else to watch over Hannie but you didn't do that either." Smiling at Kangin, Eeteuk winked, "I'd say there's something else there."
Kangin couldn't believe what Eeteuk was saying! Wide eyed, he said, voice dripping with sarcasm, "Yeah. Of course," he drawled, "It's 'coz I wanted to wait while he was at his most vulnerable so that I could kill him, slowly, in his sleep." Rolling his eyes for the nth time that day, he said, "Hyung, what the hell are you talking about?!"
Eeteuk shrugged, but he had a nasty smirk on his lips. "Sorry. My bad. Jumped to conclusions."
Kangin glanced at Hankyung and found him blessedly confused. He glanced at Kangin questioningly about that. Kangin shook his head, signaling that he didn't understand either.
Kangin knew, because he and Eeteuk had been friends for so long, that Eeteuk's already realized what was going through his mind. The leader might not know exactly how it happened, but Eeteuk had an ability to read him like an open book --which means Eeteuk knows he's already harboring feelings for their resident Chinese. Sighing, he resisted the urge to groan out loud.
If Eeteuk knew, Kangin doesn't think he'll let it go.
Not until he confesses, that is.
Standing up, Kangin gives the bowl of (instant) chicken soup to Shiwon. "Here, maybe you'll have luck trying to feed him."
Hankyung groaned, "I don't want it! Make me noodles or something."
Ryeowook, who was outside the room listening in, piped up, "Hyung, I'll make it for you!"
Kangin watched one of their youngest go into the kitchen as he left the room. Making way towards his own room, he was stopped by Eeteuk.
Glancing at his hyung, he asked, "Yeah?"
"What happened?"
Kangin chuckled and said, "He said he liked me just the way I am. I don't know why, but hearing that...," gritting his teeth, Kangin continued, "No one's ever said that to me before. Even you haven't. When I heard that, coming from him of all people, I don't know! Suddenly, my heart... argh!" Hands tightening into a fist, Kangin said, "It's weird! People just can't begin to like other people because of one, friggin, sentence! It's just not possible!" Looking at Eeteuk, who was carefully listening to him, he asked, "Maybe I'm just delirious? A side effect of being sick? Hyung! What's wrong with me?"
Placing a hand on Kangin's shoulder, Eeteuk tsked and shook his head, "My friend, there are just some things that can't be explained by logic. I've never seen you act the way you did like a while ago. When Hannie seemed like he was about to faint from shouting, you looked like you were ready to catch him if he fell, you were tense and worried and panicked. And it's not like you wouldn't do the same thing for others, but there was something else in your eyes. Like you wanted to whisk whatever it was that was ailing Hannie away." Shaking his head once again, Eeteuk finished, "But still, old friend, you should look into this. I don't want you to hook up and find it was nothing in the first place."
Kangin scoffed, "Even if I asked him out, it's not like he'll agree. He's stuck with Shiwon, isn't he?"
"Shiwon is to him, like me to you." Sighing, Eeteuk smiled, "I can't believe it. You're jealous, aren't you?"
"Am not!" Kangin immediately yelled. Then he looked away and said, "Well, maybe just a tiny little bit. But that's it!"
Eeteuk laughed, "Come on. You should rest, too. And if tomorrow you still feel like you love him, then that's that."
"Hyung~"
Pushing Kangin into his room, Eeteuk chided, "Hey, that's one proof you love a person, right? To wake up every morning and say, 'I want to be with him for the rest of my life'."
---
The next morning, Kangin woke up and felt the world was shining.
He groaned.
'I want to be with him for the rest of my life'?
Yeah. That about sums it up.
THE END