Archive of Our Own ^beta

It was hot.

At first, Mingi thought it was just that maybe he was overheating but then sweat began to cling to his skin and it started to irritate him. He frantically tore off his hoodie and searched for a tank top. He pulls it on and stalks out of his room to the thermostat in the living room.

“75? Are you guys crazy?” Mingi squinted at the thermostat before just shutting it off entirely.

“Hey!” Yunho retorted from his spot on the couch. “The rest of us are freezing, man!” It looked like it. Yunho was clad in sweatpants and a sweatshirt and San was dressed similarly. Mingi couldn’t really bring himself to care when his freshly clean shirt was already sticking to him like it was no one's business,

“It’s hot. ” Mingi grumbles, crossing his arms, giving Yunho a death glare.

“That’s our problem, how? ” San supplies, a little meanly.

Mingi pouted and rolled his eyes. “Let me have it off for a little while, yeah?” The pair stared at him. “Please?” he gives his best doe eyes and pout and San sighs.

“Fine.”

“San, you’re too easy, dude.” Yunho scrunches his nose when Mingi comes from behind the couch and plants a kiss on the top of San’s head.

“You’re the best, Sannie,” Mingi says cheerfully, sticking out his tongue at Yunho who just rolled his eyes.

“It’s your fault if I freeze to death, Min.” Yunho cries, collapsing onto the couch.

Mingi claps his hand on his shoulder, ignoring the way Yunho's face screws up at the touch, and gives him a smile. “You’ll be fine, Yun.”

Mingi stumbles back to his room and thirty minutes later, he’s still roasting. He tugs at the neck of his shirt and fans himself with it. The cool air felt nice on his skin, but it wouldn’t do. He whines and cracks open his window to let in the cool night air and then sprawls out on his bed, kicking the covers to the side of the bed, before curling up with his pillow and falling asleep.

☆

When Mingi wakes up and his throat feels raw.

His throat feels like he swallowed a bunch of razors and it felt like his ears were stuffed with cotton.

He groans. Of course, he’d be the one of the first to get sick into the sick season. 

His skin still felt hot to the touch but his body was quivering as if it was wintertime. He tries to call out to his roommate but he winces when he feels his throat protest. He clears his throat, but it only brought on a rough coughing fit.

“Mingi?” Someone calls softly from his door, knocking lightly before letting themselves in. Yunho peaked his head in, his eyebrows drawing worry seeing Mingi’s state. He opens the door and quickly rushes to crouch by the side of his bed, his hand quickly coming to his forehead. “Hey, what’s wrong, are you okay?’

“Throat hurts.” Mingi croaks, wincing when his throat ached. He spared another glance at Yunho who looked at him with his mouth tugged downwards. 

“I think you have a fever…” Yunho trails off, taking his hand off his forehead, and gently nudges Mingi on his side before sticking his hand up the back of Mingi’s shirt. Mingi hisses when Yunho’s freezing hand makes contact with his hot skin. He pulls away and throws a glare over his shoulder at the older.

“Cold.” He mutters before a coughing fit takes over his whole body. He feels drool spilling over the side of his mouth and he quickly wipes it away, flopping back onto the bed.

“We need to get you in the shower, Min.” Yunho gently tuts.

“Rude.”

“No I mean, you’re burning up.” This is where Mingi would’ve made some reference to Burning Up by Monsta X but his throat protested and frankly? He was tired. And achy. “It’ll take your body temperature way down, you’ll start to feel a lot better.”

“Don't wanna. Body hurt.” Mingi rasped, taking a slow deep breath to get air into his lungs. Yunho gently tugs on his hand.

“More of a reason to get up,” Yunho countered, a sheepish grin on his face and Mingi sighed. He really hated when Yunho was right. Mingi hums in eventual agreement, before Yunho's half climbing over his body and scooping his arms behind his back, to sit Mingi upright.

Mingi’s delirious mind doesn't give a shit about how close Yunho is to his face right now, but Conscious Mingi, way in the back of his mind, is screaming. Yunho is so close he sees light freckles splayed out over his face and Conscious Mingi just about passes out.

He groans when Yunho gently tugs him to the edge of his bed, his bare feet hitting the cold floor. He cringes at the sudden temperature change and feels his body begin to quiver just a little more violently.

“I know, I know.” Yunho almost coos at him. Conscious Mingi is feeling a little queasy. Yunho glances at Mingi whos pulling his arms around himself, sitting on the edge of the bed. “Do you want me to carry you?” he asks seriously.

Before Mingi could give a proper answer, he feels Yunho sweeps his arm under his knees and lifts him with ease. It catches Mingi off guard and he just stares dumbly at Yunho’s stupidly cute, worried face.

The bridal carry to the bathroom was only a couple of feet from his room, it wasn't a big apartment, but it felt like hours to him. He was just staring at Yunho’s stupidly perfect side profile, his lips pulled into a worried pout. When they get to the bathroom, Yunho doesn't set him down right away. instead, he screws his head just far enough away from Mingi’s face so their noses won’t brush and looks at him with a worried gaze. “You doing alright?” All Mingi could do was nod quickly and glance away, finally, heat crawling up his neck that was definitely not fever induced.

Yunho carefully sits him down on top of the toilet and goes to run the shower for him, making a point to make the water as lukewarm as possible. Not cold or hot.

“I can run the shower,” Mingi mutters and Yunho spares him a glance.

“Just saving you the trouble.” He lets his hand test the water and shivers, turning the hot water knob just a little more. Perfect.

He dries his hand on his sweats and turns to Mingi who is busy wiping away snot from his nose. “Alright, you shower and I’ll set some clean clothes on the counter for you.” Yunho gives him a small smile and all Mingi could do is nod. Yunho moves quickly out of the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.

Mingi groans quietly and lets his head fall into the palms of his hands. 

Why did Yunho have to be the caring for his sick friends' person?

It feels like time is dragging on because he’s still sitting on the toilet where Yunho left him and Yunho hasn't come knocking on the door yet, signaling he will probably be any minute now. He sighs in protest at his aching muscles and strips of his sticky shirt, discarding it onto the floor, followed by his shorts and boxers. He shivers as he steps into the shower, grimacing when he remembered the whole point of the shower was to cool his body temperature down somewhat. He swipes the stream of water over his hair tiredly, even the smallest movements seemed to upset his body.

There’s a knock at the door, followed by Yunho’s voice. 

“Mingi? I'm not coming in, just wanted to leave you clean clothes.” he hears the door creak open a little bit and a soft thud on the bathroom counter.

“Thank you,” he says. He hears a hum in response and the soft click of the door latching.

When he gets out of the shower, he’s shaking more. He quickly dries himself off before pulling on the clothes Yunho had set out for him. It’s just a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, he shivers with the added warmth and gathers his dirty clothes on the ground to throw in his hamper.

He leaves the bathroom to go into his room to find Yunho already in his room, seemingly finishing up changing the sheets on the bed. His nightstand had a couple of bottles of water, tissues, cough drops, and various types of medicine.

“Ah, you’re out.” He’s throwing the crumpled sheets into his hamper and he’s walking towards Mingi, taking the clothes from his hands, also throwing those in the hamper and turning to Mingi. “I gotta take your temperature and then ill have you take some meds, just wanna see where you’re at with your fever.” 

Mingi nods half-heartedly, sitting on the edge of his bed. Yunho clicks the thermometer, a quick beep alerting the device was on before he gestures for Mingi to open his mouth. He sticks the thermometer under his tongue and closes his mouth, waiting for the damn thing to beep.

“102… Hm. So no covers for you then.” Yunho grimaces and Mingi whines. “I know it sucks, but you’re just gonna raise your temp. I can bring you popsicles or ice to see if you’ll cool down faster if you want.” Yunho gives him a questioning gaze, hands coming to rest on his own hips.

“Popsicle ‘s fine,” Mingi mutters.

“It’ll hopefully help with your throat too. Uhm…” Yunho trails off, looking at the spread of meds he has by Mingi’s bedside. “Okay, so I may have grabbed a lot. Throat hurts, body aches, coughing…” Yunho was talking to himself again as he picked through what Mingi could take now. ”Okay, so you can take two of these every six hours, it’ll help lower your fever, and then I have Sudafed to help with your sinuses, should help with any ache you have in your nasal area too,” he gestures to the T-zone on his own face where Mingi felt pressure weighing down on his face.

“So go ahead and take these,” He shakes out two pills and pops two tabs out of the metal tablet thing. Mingi gives him his palm and the four tablets drop into his hand. He pops them in his mouth and Yunho hands him an open water bottle. Mingi carefully swallows the water and the pills. He goes to set the water down but Yunho tuts. “Drink a little more. Gotta keep your fluids up.” Mingi obliges, taking a few gulps of the water. He lets out a breath and hands the water back to Yunho who caps it off and set it to the side.

“This is gonna suck,” Yunho says to him and Mingi looks up to see him pouring the red syrup into a small cup. Mingi groans.

“Do I have to?” He tries to say but is interrupted by a cough that has him heaving.

Yunho gives him an apologetic smile and hands him the medicine. He takes it with a saddened look and stares at it for a moment, willing himself to just throw it back like a shot. He doesn’t do it quite that quickly, knowing that’ll just cause him to cough more, but he tries to gulp it down as fast as he can. He slurps the rest of the syrup down, reaching for a water bottle but Yunho shoos his hand away. “That’s why I gave you the pills first, you need to let the syrup settle a moment. Water will just wash it away.”

“This is the worst,” Mingi says, finally settling himself on his bed, grimacing at the bitter sludge that was coating his throat. He notices there are a couple more pillows so he can sit upright to help clear his chest. He’s going to have to remember to thank Yunho for all of this after, but his sick mind cannot comprehend anything but the dull thumping in his head.

“I know, but if you keep drinking water and staying on top of taking medicine, and getting rest, you’ll be better in no time.” Yunho lightly claps his shoulder, giving his a reassuring smile. “Let me know if you need anything else, I'm gonna let you rest, okay?”

Mingi nods weakly and watches Yunho exit the room, leaving the door open in case he needs him. 

Mingi lets his head fall back on the pillows. 

Holy shit. 

This is so much for Conscious Mingi to unpack.

☆

Mingi wakes up to the sound of Yunho entering his room with something rustling in his hands.

“Hey,” Yunho stands over the bed looking down at Mingi who’s squinting up at Yunho. “You’ve been out a few hours but it looks like you’re still a little hot, so I brought you a popsicle.” Mingi sits up a little straighter, his head feeling light. He blindly reaches for the frozen treat and is met with Yunho’s forearm. “Oh, sorry.” Yunho gives him the popsicle.

“‘S fine. Thank you.” He mumbles, rubbing at his eyes with his fist.

“Feeling any better?” Yunho asked, a little hopeful.

“Honestly? Not really. ‘M ears feel like they're stuffed with cotton.” Mingi says, unwrapping the popsicle. He pops it in his mouth and shivers at the cold sensation. Yunho hums in response.

“Well at least, you didn’t wake up coughing!” Yunho tries to supply brightly and Mingi shoots him a deadpan glare. 

“Yet.”

“Oh, don't be so pessimistic.” Yunho rolls his eyes playfully, settling Mingi with an overly fond gaze, Mingi realizes this much, much later. “Do you wanna take more medicine? Or do you think you’re okay for now?”

“I don't know, I'm just tired.” Mingi sighs. “Everything just kinda aches,” He pouts and readjusts himself so he can sit up a little better, wincing at the way his muscles protest. Mingi pops the popsicle back into his mouth, sucking on it mindlessly. He doesn't notice the way Yunho is zeroing in on his mouth and Yunho must be glad about that.

Yunho clears his throat and Mingi looks up at him with half-lidded eyes, pop still in his mouth. “Gonna let you rest, make sure to drink lots of water, okay? Call me if you need anything.” Yunho hurries out of the room, Mingi staring at his retreating figure just a little confused.

Mingi kind of wants to ignore everything that has happened in the past few hours, knowing that’ll just send him to unpack the feelings he has stashed away for his stupid best friend. And he doesn't want to unpack that when he’s sick and half-conscious because he could 100% just be overthinking every single action Yunho has done in the last, what, 8 hours?

But god.

The way Yunho was taking care of him was sending his mind through the roof, gently reminding him of things, bringing him things he didn't need to…

He did not need to unpack this right now. 

Mingi sighed, and leaned into his mountain of pillows finishing off his popsicle and tossing it in a bin that Yunho has also placed beside his bed. God, that man did think about everything.

He scrolled on his phone mindlessly, it was sometime around 4 pm. TikTok had become too boring to scroll on so he tries to sleep. keyword: try.

Every time he lay down, his chest bubbled up with the urge to cough. So he does. He hacks up his lungs to try to spit that nasty shit out, but it just keeps coming.

“You okay?” Yunho asked from the door frame. Mingi looked up at him through his lashes, his eyes tearing excessively at how hard he was coughing.

“No-” he gets cut off by another coughing fit. He feels the bed dip next to him and feels Yunho gently rubbing his back as he tried to spit more phlegm out. He spits into the trashcan and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. “God.” His voice sounded so wrecked to him, raspy and deep but in a way that made Mingi realize that that means he may have a while to go before he gets better.

“Did that help?” Yunho asked, still perched on his spot on the bed. Mingi reached over and grabbed a tissue to blow his nose.

“Yeah, a little bit.” He wipes his eyes. Holy shit, coughing should not hurt that much. “Throat hurts worse now, though.” He says, flopping back on the bed. He stares up at the ceiling for a moment before looking over at his roommate. He looked like he was contemplating giving Mingi more medicine but Mingi could care less when the sun filtering from the blinds was shining on his face just right. The golden light caught Yunho’s eyes like the stars in the night sky the dark brown turning to smooth pools of caramel. His skin looked so soft and ethereal that Mingi doesn't even realize he’s reached out and poked Yunho in the cheek, the older glancing at him with a confused gaze.

“What’s up?” Yunho asked, his voice falling to a whisper, almost like this is meant to be some sort of romantic private moment. Mingi could only really hope.

“I didn't know you had freckles,” His brain filter decided to work somewhat this hour, maybe because he wasn't riding on the ‘just got sick’ high. Good enough distraction to hide that he was checking him out.

It’s funny the way Mingi doesn't miss the way Yunho's ears turn red, almost like it was expected. “Yeah, they don't show up too well, usually, you got to see them in the right lighting, I guess.” Yunho shrugs, rubbing the spot where Mingi had poked him subconsciously. Mingi’s heart flutters just a little bit at the idea of Yunho being flustered. His eyes felt heavy suddenly, the heavy weight of sleep taking over his tired body rather quickly.

“Pretty.” He mutters before flopping onto the bed. 

Yunho is left in stunned silence as Mingi falls back to sleep, coughing fit seemingly taking all the energy he has stored away from those few hours of sleep.

☆

The next time Mingi is woken up is when he feels the gentle press of a hand against his forehead.

“Eh…?” Mingi muttered, confused, blinking away his bleariness and found Yunho standing over him again, closer than needed.

“Sorry to wake you. Just wanted to check how the fever was going,” He says handing Mingi two tablets for the fever. Mingi takes them groggily, gulping down water like he is dehydrated. When he was finished, Yunho gave him a warm smile and Mingi felt his insides melt just a little bit. “Brought you some soup!” Yunho chips, waiting for Mingi to sit up more properly, handing him a plate with a bowl and some bread.

“Oh, thank you,” He replies, not even realizing how hungry he was when his stomach seemed to rumble in protest to him not eating most of the day. Yunho chuckles at the noise and sits in Mingi’s desk chair he pulled to his side of the bed. He had his bowl himself. It was chicken noodle soup and Mingi sipped the broth carefully to not burn himself. He was surprised to find the broth was very flavorful.

“Wow.”

“It’s good, right? It's my mom’s recipe,” Yunho explains. Mingi whips his head to Yunho so fast that it startles Yunho a little bit.

“ You cooked this? Have you been holding out on me?” Mingi asked incredulously, wincing when his voice climbed that extra octave. Yunho just laughs. “Yunho, I assumed we made ramen all the time because we both couldn't cook.”

“Well, it's not that I can, it's just that I followed a recipe-”

“If I follow i recipe, it always ends up in disaster.” Mingi says, taking a bite of the soup, noodles, and all.

“Well, yeah, but we almost always can't afford anything but ramen. And you just suck at taking instructions.” Yunho teased when Mingi shot him a glare over his bowl.

“It’s really good. Good job, chef.” Mingi snickered and Yunho rolls his eyes.

“Okay yeah, whatever.” 

They sit like that for a little while, enjoying each other's company, and eating their dinner. Mingi didn't even realize it was close to 10 pm this time when he woke up. He had been knocked out a good portion of the day, his immune system was thanking him, rewarding him with being able to without being sore every waking second of the day.

“You look a lot better than you did this morning,” Yunho commented, pointing his spoon at him.

“Yeah, or you're just getting used to seeing me sick.” Mingi scoffs, he did feel a bit better, of course, all thanks to Yunho.

“That's a good point, I could've already gotten used to seeing your sickly face after a day.” Yunho jokes and Mingi shakes his head, a small smile adorning his face. 

God , this swarm in his stomach needed to calm the fuck down. But the way Yunho was looking at him was incredibly warm and it made him feel incredibly warm.

“Aren't you worried you’ll get sick?” Mingi asked, suddenly hit with the realization that he had been around Mingi every time he had been conscious. 

“Nah,” Yunho shakes his head. “I don't get sick easily, you know that.” He shoots Mingi an easy smile. “Plus, even if I did, you kinda owe me for all this so…”

Mingi raises his eyebrows in mock offense. “Oh? so you did all this just to get back at me in the future?” 

“Yup.” Yunho replies, popping the ‘p’ in his reply.

“I knew it. You’re the worst.” Mingi sighs in defeat and Yunho's laughed, standing up and stretching his arms over his head, the hem of his shirt climbing with it. Mingi had to force every single cell in his body to not follow the movement. Yunho reaches down to pick his plate and bowl off the ground and reached to grab Mingi’s, but Mingi caught him by the wrist. Yunho looked at him with a confused gaze.

“I do appreciate all this Yunho, really. Thank you.” He offers a smile and Yunho stares back at him, face seemingly tinting red before he quickly glances away. He collects Mingi’s dishes with a strange chuckle.

“That's what bros are for, right?” Yunho says stiffly and Mingi feels himself kind of droop as Yunho quickly made his way out of his room.

Okay.

“Yeah, I guess so.” Mingi mumbles.

Had he read this whole thing wrong? Had Yunho really just been doing this because he’s his roommate and might want something in return later?

Yunho walks back in and Mingi’s eyebrows are knit together in thought. Yunho doesn't say a word, though, like he usually would. He only moves Mingi’s desk chair back and brings in a cup of some herb tea for him to drink before he knocks out again.

“Think I'm gonna head to bed, Mingi. Drink this before you sleep, it'll help with your throat.” Yunho says, setting the tea down by the nightstand. Mingi nods and reaches for the mug, still warm in his hands. Yunho’s already heading for the door when he turns around at the door frame. “Did you want the light on or off?”

“Uhm… off is fine, I have the LEDs,” Mingi responds stiffly, the mood suddenly feeling negatively charged. 

Yunho nods, turning away with a quiet, “Goodnight, Mingi.” leaving the door open just a crack, switching the light off, leaving Mingi bathing in the moonlight and the soft glow of his led lights that hung from the walls.

Mingi stared at the teacup in his hands, watching the spoon clatter lightly against the bottom of the cup. Yunho had added a lot of honey, just as Mingi liked it.

Something as simple as honey should not make Mingi tear up as much as it did.

Mingi took a sip of the tea, placed it back on the nightstand, and brought his knees to his chest, scrubbing at his eyes. When did things with Yunho get so weird? And why did they get so weird, so fast? Everything was going well, great even. He had only wanted to thank Yunho for taking care of him.

He felt his heart plummet to his stomach. He must've seen the way Mingi was looking at him, something in his eyes must've revealed his little secret to him. 

Mingi felt a little sicker.

A different type of sickness that grew like a pit in his stomach and it scared him.

He didn’t let his mind visualize the word, but he knew what it was nonetheless. 

☆

Yunho quickly cleaned up the kitchen and stumbled into his room, his heart feeling heavy.

He brushed his teeth, and fell into bed, wrapping himself up in his comforter, and curling himself towards the wall. He stared out the window slightly above him. The moon was bright tonight, it always tended to be around the winter, but the stars showed prettier than usual shining as if they were on a stage performing for the world to see them. In a way, they were.

Yunho squeezed his eyes shut and tried to will away that roller coaster drop feeling from his gut, but it didn't seem to let up. He felt like the biggest idiot in the world and there wasn't anything he could do to fix it.

Mingi knew right? 

That’s what that confused look on his face was when he came back, right? 

Or maybe it’s because you called him ‘bro’ while simultaneously trying to woo him? His brain unhelpfully supplied. Yunho shook his head. They called each other dude and man all the time, bro was… similar.

Right?

It was just another guy/dude phrase.

Even if that was the case, Mingi still found out somehow, maybe his actions today were too… too much? Mingi connected the pieces that he was taking care of him the way he was just because he had a pathetic crush on his best friend. Mingi definitely could take that the wrong way and see it that way and that's what made Yunho’s stomach fall further.

What if he wanted to move out? What if he didn’t want Yunho around anymore because things would get too weird now that he knows?

Yunho groans and digs the heels of his palms into his eyes.

He was such an idiot.

☆

Mingi woke up with a dull headache and sunlight streaming into his room from the window. He almost expected to see Yunho in the room with him when he remembers their awkward good nights the night before.

No Yunho. However, there was a note and some medicine on his side table.

-Two Tylenol every 6 hours

-Sudafed every 4 as needed

-Cough syrup (don't drink water after)

Your fever seemed to have broken sometime last night, you should be okay to cover up if needed. There’s leftover soup in the fridge and bread on the counter. Classes all day, don't wait up for me. -Yunho

Mingi read over the little note and felt his heart clench. He crumples up the stupid note and tosses it at the wall. He was frustrated, but mainly with himself. He had made things weird and there didn’t seem to be much he could do to fix his little problem.

Mingi turned over on his side and curled in on himself, glaring at the wall as if it was the one who was causing this. His eyebrows were angrily knit together as he mulled over every possible way Yunho could reject him.

It was around noon when he finally decided that maybe he was hungry. He finally manages to stand up for the first time in several hours and makes his way into the kitchen. The apartment was quiet, as expected, but it seemed to be lacking the usual energy it had, that being his or Yunho’s sunshine energy. Mingi’s heart panged pathetically at the remembrance of Yunho’s name and he sighs. He shakes his clear of thoughts and pulls out the container of soup that was placed in the fridge.

He microwaves himself a bowl and stares at the ground absentmindedly until it beeps. He shuffles over to the living room and puts on a movie, wrapping himself up in the throw blanket. Mingi’s hardly paying attention to the movie, just eating his soup and then zoning out. His mind kept floating to his roommate and it was to the point where he didn't even bother to mope about it, just let it happen as if it was inevitable, as Thanos would say.

At some point he falls asleep on the couch, placing his empty bowl on the coffee table before he does. He can't even bring himself to even study for the classes he missed yesterday or to find out what he is missing from today either, he's just too burnt out.

When he wakes up, it's somewhere around 9 pm. He blinks at his phone. He was out for 5 hours straight. His head panged dully and his face felt swollen with the pressure from his sinuses. Mingi swipes a hand over his face and sat up, rubbing the tiredness out of his eyes. He's massaging the back of his neck, head hanging between his shoulder when he hears a key in the lock. 

He looks up sharply as the door opens and his heart jumps into his throat. 

It’s Yunho.

Yunho doesn't notice him yet, too busy locking the door behind him, so Mingi, as quietly as he can, leans back down and pretends he’s still asleep, too scared to be confronted by the man, not when he’s still recovering. He closes his eyes when he hears Yunho’s footsteps freeze in the doorway.

“Mingi?” Yunho whispers. He doesn't respond.

He hears footsteps coming towards him, coming to a slow stop in front of his “sleeping” body. He hears rustling and then a cool hand is pressed to his forehead. He does all he can not to wince at the touch. Yunho hums and Mingi is expecting him to pull away, to walk away as anyone else would do. But no.

Yunho’s hand makes a slow slide down the side of his face, cupping his jaw in his hand, just holding his face. Mingi could feel a blush running up his back so Mingi pretend to be moving in his sleep, making a small tired groaning noise and accidentally nuzzling Yunho’s hand.

Fuck.

Yunho breathes in sharply and then his hand is pulling away. Mingis could just feel him standing there, watching him sleep. It feels like hours before Yunho leaves, picking up his bowl from the coffee table, shutting off the TV,  and taking the bowl to the kitchen. He heard the water turn on for a moment, to wash the dishes he assumes, and then he hears footsteps retreating to the direction of their rooms, but then there was a pause in the steps and faint mumbling and the footsteps are coming in his direction again.

“Mingi-ah,” Yunho tries gently, nudging Mingi lightly. Mingi doesn't open his eyes, just continues to sleep.

“Fuck. okay.” Yunho mumbles to himself and then Mingi can feel him getting closer to him, his arms wrapping under his back and behind his knees. Mingi is trying as hard as he can not seem like he's faking it to Yunho, so he makes the small tired noises again, sounding like a protest. “I know. Taking you to bed,” He mumbles, lifting him off the couch. Mingi feels his face redden as he lets his head loll into Yunho’s chest, his arm hanging limply in the air as Yunho made his way to his room.

At this point, Mingi can’t help but open his eyes a little bit, trying to seem tired and out of it, to look up at Yunho who looked equally as tired but still managed to be stunning at the same time. He feels Yunho's arms start to lower him onto the bed and Yunho is leaning half over him, laying him on the bed gently. 

Mingi forgets to stop staring and Yunho catches his gaze.

“Oh.” is all Mingi slips out because Yunho still hasn't looked away. Yunho has this emotion swirling in his eyes and Mingi for the life of him can’t figure out what it is. His eyes look like they have stars in them from the dim moonlight being let into his room. His brown hair was falling into his eyes and his lips were drawn into a tight line.  Mingi’s desperately trying to figure out what was going on when Yunho finally breaks the stare.

“Night Mingi.”

Mingi could only stare pathetically at the closed door.

☆

Day three and Mingi no longer felt sick. Yunho didn’t leave a note for him the following morning when he woke up to an empty apartment. But he wasn’t really sick anymore, so why should he have had to?

So things went back to normal. Kind of. 

Four days later, he and Yunho both seemed to be avoiding each other like the plague, trying to ensure their paths hardly ever crossed, which is hard when you’re roommates. Luckily, it being finals season, he had easy excuses, not that Yunho ever really asked. Just pushed past him with his gaze trained on the ground before him.

“So,” San let himself into their apartment, shutting and locking the door behind him, thoroughly interrupting Mingi’s thoughts. He gives him a dead look from his spot on the couch, head dug into a textbook. San scratched the back of his neck and put his hands on his waist, walking over to Mingi. “What’s up with you and Yunho?”

“What do you mean?” Mingi asked, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.

“C’mon, don't do that. The rest of the guys are confused too, you both have been turning down our invites for group study!” San pouts and Mingi turns to continue taking his notes.

“I just haven't been able to focus too well recently.” Mingi brushes off and San scoffs at him, sitting down next to Mingi, taking his notes and textbook from his grip.

“Hey-!”

He sets it down on the coffee table and gives Mingi a pointed stare. “You can talk to me for five minutes, it won’t kill you.”

“You don't know how bad my math grade is failing,” Mingi mumbles as an excuse.

“Spill.” San demands and Mingi lets out a defeated sigh, knowing that San will not budge.

“I like Yunho,” He starts, and looks over at San, trying to gauge his reaction. San is just staring at him. Mingi gestures at San.

“Oh, sorry, was I supposed to be surprised? I thought you knew that I knew!” San says, his eyes widened with surprise.

“Fuck, is it that obvious?” Mingi groans, throwing his head back.

“Yeah, buddy, just a little.” San chuckles, clapping his hand on Mingi’s shoulder. He sits there with his hands rubbing over his face.

“I think Yunho found out, Sannie.” He mumbles, finally breaking the silence.

“Why is that such a bad thing?” Mingi sputters, gesturing wildly.

“Why is that- San! He knows I like him. He hates me!” San rolls his eyes and Mingi felt his skin burn with a tinge of annoyance. “I'm serious! I mean, he noticed…something when I was sick, maybe I was looking at him too long or something and it weirded him out.” Mingi looks over at San a little helplessly and San sits back and studies him. 

Mingi’s blonde hair tussled over and over again like he just rolled out of bed, and he had dark circles under his eyes. He doesn't look like he’s slept at all these past few days.

San pursed his lips. “Have you thought maybe he hasn’t spoken to you because he’s also found out some things?” He tries carefully and Mingi shakes his head.

“What are you even trying to say?”

“Maybe he likes you back? Or maybe he thinks he scared you off?” San pushes. Mingi just shakes his head.

“Hyung, where are you even getting that idea from ? Yunho liking me ? No way. And Yunho has never once scared me off, he knows that.” Mingi retorts, crossing his arms.

“Why does that sound so impossible to you?” San quips, his voice sounding a little impatient. Mingi makes a face, scrunching his nose.

“Because he just doesn’t!” 

“Why do you think that? Has he told you?” San argued.

“Well, no-”

“Then why?”

Mingi fell silent. San made a good point, but he didn't really want admit that, a bigger part of his denying every single possibility that he might be right.

“I think you two would benefit from a really good conversation about this.” San nods and Mingi stares at his hands for a moment.

“San?”

“Yeah?”

“I'm scared.” Mingi’s voice sounded small in his ears, and he felt tears well up in his eyes. He feels San reach over and embrace him in a hug and Mingi feels like that was his last straw. All the stress of finals and then this was just building up and it finally broke.

He quietly cries into San’s chest while he rubbed his back soothingly. “It’s okay to be scared. Minnie. That’s your best friend. But Yunho wouldn’t leave your side because of something like that.” Mingi lets out a shaky breath and San rests his chin on the top of his head. “Plus, he looks at you a lot too, y’know.”

“You’re only saying that,” Mingi sniffs.

“I'm not, but you won't really know, until you talk to him, huh?” San knocked his chin gently into Mingi’s head.

“I suppose not.”

“Are you gonna talk to him?”

Mingi sighs. “I don't know. I know I should but it… It seems more intimidating than fuckin’ college. What do I even say?”

“Just say, ‘hey, I like you more than a friend.’ and the rest of it will figure itself out.” San strokes Mingi’s hair.

“You make it sound so easy.” Mingi scoffs.

“Well, it can be. ‘S what I told Wooyoung and Sangie.” San shrugs and Mingi looks up at him with a quirked eyebrow.

“You and I both know that is not what happened.”

“It’s basically what happened.”

“You cried in their arms because you felt bad for crushing on them both.” Mingi deadpans and San flushes lightly.

“That’s beside the point and you know it.” Mingi gives him a small smile and sits up. He wipes his nose with his sleeve. “You okay?

“I think I will be. Thank you, Sannie.” Mingi gives him a bright smile. Maybe things would be okay.

“Oh actually, uhm.”

“What?” Mingi asked with a tilt of his head.

“I may have forgotten to mention that Yunho’s-” He was cut off by the sound of the key in the lock. He gave San a wide-eyed stare and San looked apologetic.

Yunho opened the door to their shared apartment and looked at the pair, turning to close the door behind him. “Hey Sannie, Min.” Yunho sets his keys on the hook by the door and immediately retreats to his room. Mingi feels his stomach rumble uneasily.

“Ouch,” San whispers when the door to Yunho’s room shuts behind him. He looks at Mingi who has a crestfallen gaze fixed on him.

“It's been like this for days now. He’s the one actively avoiding me. Staying holed up in his room anytime he is here.” Mingi mumbles.

“Are you gonna talk to him today?” San asked, a tilt to his head akin to a feline.

On one hand, if they talked about this now, it would be dealt with and behind them. But on the other hand, he doesn’t want to face the taller man. He dripped an intensity and Mingi doesn’t think he’ll be able to hold that kind of attention for longer than a second. He let out a long sigh, falling back onto the couch's cushions and staring at his hands. “I… I don’t know.”

San hums and gets up from the couch, stretching his arms over his head. Mingi looks up at him from the position on the couch as San places his hands on his waist. He offers a sweet smile. “I think you should try today. Maybe he’s just as anxious about this, maybe it's making his day hell, too.”

Mingi didn’t understand San. He kept making all these little… hints that he knew something. Something that Mingi didn't know and it scared him. 

Before Mingi could utter a word, San was already heading to the front door, shouting goodbye to Yunho, a muffled response, and giving Mingi a thumbs up with his dimpled grin, and then the apartment fell to silence once again. 

Mingi stares at his abandoned notes and textbook on the coffee table, and the pen he was using stray askew to the floor.

“Me too buddy,” Mingi murmurs to himself. He’s lost all urge to study, his body quickly becoming tired, his heart wrenching at the thought of picking up the textbook when Yunho was in the other room, closer and longer than they've been in each other's presence in days, kind of.

Mingi finds himself staring at the open textbook longer, chewing on his bottom lip wondering whether or not he should even bother with continuing his little study session. He knew his mind would keep drifting to Yunho.

He’s about to reach for his book when he hears a loud crash coming from their rooms followed by a strangely quiet fuck. 

Mingi yelps at the noise, quickly snapping his head in the direction of their rooms, knowing it was Yunho. He had to see if he was okay. Pushing his own selfish desires to the side,  Mingi quickly bolted to Yunho's room. He swung open the door and nothing could’ve prepared him for the sight that he opened the door to.

The first thing he notices is everything that was on Yunho's desk was now on the ground, spreading all over the floor were textbooks, notebooks, mugs with pens and highlights, and even Yunho’s laptop.

The second thing he notices is Yunho slowly sliding down the wall, his head in his palms, knees bending to his chest. Mingi felt his heart shatter into tiny, little pieces. 

Yunho hasn’t heard him yet, so he slides open the door slowly and makes his way around the mess until he was crouching in front of Yunho. Mingi could see his shoulders tense, but that didn't stop the flush from reaching his ears or the tears he could see spilling out of the corners of his eyes. Yunho’s arms didn't cover much as he let out a small sobbing noise, choking back on his tears.

Mingi has almost never seen Yunho like this, not sputtering and struggling with his own breath. With shaky hands, Mingi reaches out, gently prying Yunho's arms from his face. The older boy averted his gaze. Mingi lightly squeezes his arms. “Do you want me to breathe with you?” Mingi searches his face for any kind of nonverbal cues, and Yunho just quickly nods his head, breathing out a shuddering breath.

“Okay. In through your nose,” He breathes in, hand on his own chest. “Out with your mouth,” He breathes out slowly, Yunho following his instruction. Broken sniffles in between breaths. Yunho and he sit there for a few moments, doing these small breathing exercises while Mingi. Yunho visibly calms down, being able to now officially avoid Mingi’s gaze entirely by just staring at their joined hands.

“Better?” Mingi asks softly, his tone barely above a whisper. Yunho wipes his eyes, nodding slowly. They fall into a soft lull, the energy around them felt charged, but it was not half as bad as it was before. Mingi felt like Yunho just needed time to collect himself properly.

“Thank you,” Yunho whispers, his voice sounding raw. Sounding broken. 

“You take care of me all the time, Yunnie, it’s the least I could do.” Mingi smiles, his heart plummeting when Yunho tenses again. Mingi gently squeezes Yunho’s hand and for a second, Mingi thinks Yunho’s gonna pull away because he feels a light tug, before Yunho squeezes his hand back. 

“Can we talk?” Yunho mumbles. And Mingi feels his heart spike with anxiety. 

It was happening now.

Mingi nods solemnly and Yunho pats the ground behind him, finally lifting his head to look at Mingi’s panic-stricken face. Mingi shuffles quietly to Yunho’s side, situating himself against the wall so there was a small sliver of space in between them. He had no idea how this was gonna go.

He watches Yunho, his face turned towards the other man who was still facing forwards, his head leaning against the wall. It’s midday and the sun seems to be able to capture Yunho’s features gorgeously much to Mingi’s dismay. The blue sky in contrast to his softly tanned skin and the white T-shirt he adorned that day caught Mingi’s eyes like a photographer.  His best friend will never not be the most handsome man he’s ever seen. ( well, Lim Changkyun exists his brain supplies unhelpfully.)

“Mingi, I need to tell you something and I want you… to try to understand, okay?” Yunho says carefully,  almost like they were meant to be quiet words just for him to hear, shutting the rest of the world out as if any other ear could endanger them. 

Yunho turns his head finally to finally meet Mingi’s gaze. He felt his heart jump into his throat when he saw that same emotion in Yunho’s eyes that he saw the other night. Mingi nods, a silent ‘okay’ on his lips.

Yunho’s tongue swipes his bottom lip and Mingi can tell he’s nervous but before Mingi could reach over and take his hand, Yunho turned away, facing the other side of the room. He’s wringing his hands together and his eyes squeeze shut.

“I just can’t really keep it in anymore, it feels like it's eating me alive. Our friendship is definitely going to change because of this but I… I can't keep it away from you anymore Mingi. It’s selfish but I just-” Yunho’s rambling now, he's trying to anchor himself with one long, deep breath.

Mingi is just staring, chewing on the inside of his cheek, because this is it. This is where Yunho kicks him out for being a creep. This is-

“I like you.” Yunho finally breathes as if a weight has been lifted off his chest. “More than a friend. I don't know how long it's been, but I know now that I always want to be around to take care of you, even if you don't feel the same way.”

Mingi’s brain was full of static. 

what?

“I’m sorry- did. Did you just say you liked me?” Mingi whispers, eyes wide with shock as Yunho looks back at him, a fond smile on his lips. He seems significantly more relaxed, confessing to Mingi like this. Yunho nods, his brown hair bouncing with the movement. “Yunho.”

“Yes?”

“I’ve been in love with you for months,” Mingi lets out a shaky breath he didn't realize he was holding. Now, it's Yunho’s turn to be surprised. His eyes grow wide and Mingi just chuckles, all the stress he's been holding the past few days slipping easily from his shoulders.

“What? But you never said anything!” Yunho whines, mouth agape. Mingi shrugs.

“Didn’t think I had a real chance.”

“You’re Song Mingi! Of course you would have a chance!” Yunho retorts, his hands gesturing aggressively in the air. Mingi grins at him, his heart fluttering peacefully as he leaned back against the wall. Yunho did the same, their hands finding each other and entwining in between their thighs.

“This crush got worse when you got sick.” Yunho murmurs, his thumb swiping over the back of Mingi’s hand lovingly. Mingi hums. “It sounds so… perverted and weird but seeing that you needed help and couldn’t help yourself made something in me want to take care of you so badly. More than what would’ve been necessary to do so.”

“I liked it a lot. Thought you were avoiding me because of how I was looking at you all of that day.” Mingi says, sparing a glance at Yunho who was studying his side profile. 

“Thought you were avoiding me, so I avoided you.  Thought you caught onto how I felt because I went to lengths to make sure you got better.” Yunho said, a tilt in his head. “San kept pestering me to talk to you because you looked just as shitty as me, but I couldn’t do it. Hence,” He gestures to his room with their joined hands.

“Ah,” Mingi nods. “Y’know, I convinced myself that one day that I was just hopped up on cold meds, and that everything you were doing was for the sake of not getting whatever it was that I had. I see now how that logic is severely flawed.”

“Very.” Yunho laughs and it is the first Mingi’s heard in days. It makes his heart swell in his chest as he watches the other man. Yunho catches him looking at him and locks his gaze on Mingi’s his eyes searching for some other emotion that they have not bared to one another.

Yunho’s hand comes up, lightly grazing under Mingi’s chin, before gently cupping the side of his face Mingi leans into the touch, his hand coming up to hold the one to his face.

“Mingi, can I…” He trails off, his eyes flicking towards his lips, his tongue coming out to wet his lips again. This time, Mingi let himself track the movement before he's slowly leaning up.

Their lips barely brush before Mingi’s heart seems to disperse back into his throat again as Yunho's lips press back against his own gently as if he'd break him, Mingi kisses him back slowly, tremors running up and down his spine. “Yunho,” Mingi mutters, before Yunho's kissing him again, using both hands to cup his face.

Mingi shivers when Yunho’s tongue licks gently at his bottom lip and Mingi opens his own mouth, his tongue welcoming Yunho’s. His tongue glides easily against his own and Yunho lets out a low groan. Mingi’s hands find themselves anchoring on the length of Yunho’s thigh. 

It takes a little bit of them kissing before they part, resting their foreheads against one another. Taking deep breaths. Yunho’s legs moved to cage Mingi’s waist in between his calves, his hands still clinging to the sides of his face. 

“Yunho…” Mingi trails off, flicking his eyes to meet the others, stars shining in his eyes. Mingi felt his heart stop. Yunho quirks a brow at him. “Do you want to be my boyfriend?” Mingi asks, diverting his eyes away from the other man, his hands coming to cradle the ones holding his face. He feels his face redden at the attention he's getting from the older, not feeling his soft gaze leave him once.

Yunho is studying his face with an almost curious gaze, his eyes flicking all over Mingi’s face, making Mingi shrink in on himself. “Yes.” He breathes, leaning to peck Mingi on the lips once again. Mingi could feel his grin on his lips and couldn't help his own smile forming on his face.

Yunho leans back with a goofy smile adoring his lips and Mingi feels his heart stop at the sight. “I get to call you my boyfriend. ” He says incredulously and all Mingi could do was duck his head and huff out a chuckle.

Maybe it takes them a little longer than it should to finally get up and pick up the mess on Yunho’s floor, but it didn't really matter to Mingi no matter how much his ass hurt from sitting on the hard ground.

Because seeing that type of light in his best friend’s, no, boyfriend’s, eyes made sitting on the hard floor worth every second.