LIKE A STAR, ☪

      Daehyun found himself laughing as the other demanded that he keep the secret. Personally, he didn’t see anything all that embarrassing about it --- but then again, he guessed everyone handled sickness differently. So he playfully put one of his hands over his heart, “Don’t worry, it’s safe with me. Cross my heart.” Chuckling once more, he raised an eyebrow as they said that they worked in a hospital. Immediately, his mind went to Rory, and he wondered if they worked in the same building --- or knew each other, even --- but this wasn’t the conversation for that. “It’s amazing how our bodies work like that, really. Kind of makes me want to hang out in a hospital all the time so my immune system is used to this stuff. I’m thinking it’ll be worth it if it means I never have to deal with this again.” 

      “Yeah, right? I don’t understand it, but I guess that’s just how the cookie crumbles.” Daehyun sighed, shaking his head. “I will say though, I am happy it was me and not one of the kids. I probably wouldn’t have been able to handle it all on my own, on top of everything else. So there’s a silver lining to this whole thing.” Stepping forward in line, once it was his turn, he ordered his usual coffee and turned to address AJ. “What’re you getting? It’s on me.” 

      “How about we just agree to disagree and say that those two go hand in hand?” Daehyun said with a smile, shrugging his shoulders a little. He happily accepted the hand sanitizer and bowed in thanks before squirting a generous amount into his palm and handing it back. As he began to rub it in, he answered, “I think so, yeah. It started as a cold, and then I think I got some sort of virus along the way, but then it just passed through and left me with the same cold again.” He practically groaned thinking about how horrible he’d been feeling, but at least it was him and not his kids who came down with something; he could be thankful for that. “I know, it sucks. I mean --- it’s usually not me who catches the seasonal colds and all that, so I guess my body had to give me a kick to remind me that I’m human this time around.” 

      “Yes, exactly.” It was needless to say that Daehyun hadn’t been feeling the most ‘human’ lately, so it was indeed nice that he could finally make it out of the house. And considering how fickle sickness usually was, he was going to take it for granted before he potentially felt worse again by this afternoon. When the other said that he didn’t look great, he laughed, shaking off the comment with a wave of his hand because he knew it was the truth. But then when the woman ahead of him in line was involved, he turned around, curious. He didn’t notice anybody visibly keeping their distance from him, but honestly, he couldn’t blame her for wanting to. Even if getting sick was always inevitable during this time of year, it still wasn’t ideal to be around a sick person. “Are you sure? I mean, you don’t have to, I think I'm not gonna drop any second,” he glanced behind him once more to catch the woman staring at him, before looking away quickly, and he sighed. “But, yeah, it’s probably .... better, if I do. Thank you.” He took a step out of line. “Um, just black, please. I can put everything in myself.” 

      Daehyun found himself sighing as he took the car from her, though a smile was soon on his face to show that his aggravation was in no way aimed at her, but at his son --- who was probably waiting for him to return to the table so that he could get his toy back. But he slipped the car into the pocket of his hoodie and had no intentions of giving it back if he wasn’t going to listen, so he could wait forever. “Well, uh, I’m glad he wasn’t distracting you from something interesting,” he said with a laugh, “But, really, I’m sorry. He’s being a bit of a brat, I should probably make him come and apologize.” 

      It wasn’t like sneezing was something that you could necessarily control, unless you counted saying ‘banana’ multiple times in the hope of preventing it a form of control, but still. Not everyone wanted to be around a sick person and honestly, that many sneezes in a row was quite disruptive, so Daehyun felt like it was right to apologize. Luckily, the person behind him didn’t just dismiss him with a huff --- like most people probably would have considering how many germs he probably just subjected them to --- and instead started pulling out a packet of tissues and hand sanitizer for him. “Oh,” he said, somewhat in surprise, taking both items from her. “Thank you.” He bowed slightly, turning away from her for no more than a moment while he took the mask off and used a couple of tissues, before settling the protective wear back around his mouth and nose to face her again. Finally, he squirted some of the germ-ex onto his palm and rubbed it in so that he could give everything back. “Usually I’m able to skate by cold and flu season pretty easily, but I guess this year my body had other plans for me,” he said jokingly. “Seriously though, thank you. I definitely should’ve come more prepared.”

      The only thing he could think to do to try and stop thinking about it was initiate conversation, so once it happened again and Daehyun felt his face going red, he wiped his mouth with a napkin and started talking. “So what’d you audition for again, babe? I know you told me before, but I ---” I forgot because a pretty man winked at me. “I think my head’s still a little foggy.” 

      Daehyun pouted, even though Rory wasn’t able to see the full expression on his face, and obliged. Luckily, there were some tables in the outside area for him to sit at, and he made himself comfortable at the one farthest away from any other people while he waited for his friend to return. And he could admit, he perked up a little as he saw the paper bag in her hand --- if he was honest, he didn’t even think about getting actual food until now, and now with the possibility of eating something, he was suddenly reminded of how hungry he was. “Oh, I love you,” he mumbled, grabbing his cup and taking it out of its holder before digging out one of the muffins. He shrugged as he started to take the wrapping off. “A couple people have been babysitting for me when they’re not in school,” he explained. “Isabel, mainly. Jae Eun. Seokli, once or twice. I’ve been trying to keep them away from me as much as possible, ‘cause I don’t want them to catch whatever this is, but Ariel’s been pretty adamant on playing nurse, whenever she’s around.” He took a bite, letting himself chew for a few moments, “She tries to get Sam to help, but he tried feeding me soy sauce once, so I don’t trust him.” He giggled to himself, sniffling again. “I’m okay, though. I don’t think I need anything, but thank you.”

      Daehyun smiled politely once he saw Kaira reaching down to grab the toy, emerging within a few seconds with the car between her fingers. “I’m sure he’ll be happy about that,” he said in response, “Thank you.” His words were accompanied with a slight bow as he took it from her, before he turned on his heel to head back to his table. He made Samuel promise not to throw it again - to which Samuel replied that it was an accident - and he gave it back reluctantly. However, it only took a few minutes, when his attention was focused on his daughter for Samuel to wheel the car off the table again. And funnily enough, it landed under Kaira’s feet again. “아빠!” the little boy whined, which elicited a sigh out of Daehyun after he saw what he was whining for. Sheepishly, he walked back over to her table and waited for the opportunity to speak. “I’m sorry to interrupt. Again. But, uh --- he threw it again.”

      Daehyun didn’t know whether to laugh or roll his eyes, though he supposed what Rory was saying wasn’t exactly false. Despite the fact that he hadn’t looked in the mirror that morning, he could only imagine what he looked like if his appearance matched how crappy he felt on the inside. “Yeah, no. I wish it was a minor flu or something. Probably would’ve been over by now, if that was the case.” He sniffled. Once she gestured for him to step away from the line, he was reluctant, but he wound up obliging. Purely because she was right, and he didn’t want to get anyone else sick just for a cup of coffee. Having a mask on could only do so much, after all. “God, that’s how you know I feel fucked. I’m just agreeing and not, like, threatening to cough on you or anything.” He chuckled to himself. “Or sneeze on you, I guess.”

      “Ahh, so you’re worse than I am, then.” Daehyun chuckled. He supposed that logic went far beyond the boundaries of doctors and medicine, but the irony that came from it was amusing nevertheless. Just like a therapist never taking their own advice. “But, that makes me feel at least a little better about this whole thing --- like I’m not the only one stupid enough to not take medicine, y’know?” He moved up another space in line, before he was at the counter and placing his order. “I’m okay, though, yeah. I’ll live.” Once the coffee was in his hands, he debated pulling his mask down to try and drink it, though he ultimately decided against it. “I wouldn’t wanna get you sick, though. Even if I’ll live, I can admit this bug is a bit of a pain in the ass.”

      Daehyun couldn’t stop himself from laughing. “I wish. But no --- that was just the weirdest batch of seconds in my life, I couldn’t really see anything.” He went to go grab some napkins, facing away from the other man again to wipe his face and put the mask back on before continuing their conversation. Even if it was only for a few seconds, he still didn’t want to expose his germs to other people. “Mhm,” he replied, “I was stuck in bed for days, it was horrible. At least today I could, y’know, move and stuff. So I’m assuming the worst of it’s gone now. If not, I’m gonna be really pissed.”

      Daehyun couldn’t even be offended when the other insinuated that he hadn’t been treating his sickness right, because really, he wasn’t. He wouldn’t necessarily consider himself the type of person that swore against treatment and medicine, but he genuinely thought that the cold he had wasn’t as bad as it later turned out to be. He thought it was something that he was able to just ride out on sleep and bowls of warm soup, but he was wrong. “I, uh --- well, no, I haven’t been,” he said sheepishly, sniffling to try and clear his blocked nose. “But the worst of it already passed, I think, so I should be alright. In a couple days time, probably.” Stepping ahead once in line, he turned behind him again, smiling a bit even though the other couldn’t see. “And for the record, I’m not that stubborn. I just didn’t think it’d get that bad.” 

      “Thank you,” Daehyun responded, resisting the urge to wipe his face immediately and instead taking a few steps towards the napkin dispenser, grabbing a bunch before heading back to his place in line. He adjusted the mask so that it would sit on his chin as he used some of the napkins, but then immediately put it back on to face AJ again. “You’re just as prepared as I always wish to be, man. I envy you,” he said with a laugh, “But --- that’s a yes to the hand sanitizer, please?”