#superm sick

“Well that’s kinda mean.”

“Is it?” Jongin asked. And, as Baekhyun’s full time group mate, he was allowed. He was, after all, the most well acquainted with just how irritatingly whiny Baekhyun could be when he wanted. 

A lesson the other SuperM boys had gotten the chance to learn this week (minus Taemin, who, as Jongin’s best friend, had already had the pleasure.) Their eldest had been plagued with the most mild of cold symptoms since last Saturday, and had chosen to make it everyone’s problem. Extra sensitive about jokes, extra sensitive to room temperatures, extra sensitive to loud noises and certain foods… the sheer amount of whining would have had anyone questioning who the real youngest was in the group. And it was clear that his members had had it with Baekhyun’s neediness, leaving him alone for majority of their rest day. 

“It’s no meaner than us locking Haechan and Jisung in their room that one time they had the flu,” Taeyong remarked, to which Mark shrugged in acquiescence. 

“What?!” Jongin exclaimed, pausing the game to look around at the collected NCT members. “Okay, that’s so much worse.”

Taemin shrugged. “Nah. That was a normal day with Kibum and Minho…”

“Okay, but the SHINee dorm was a completely different, lawless realm of chaos,” Jongin replied. Taemin nodded. “It’s shocking that the NCT dorm…”

“Wasn’t even more lawless and chaotic given that there are fifty of us?” Taeyong shot back with a knowing smirk. “It’s a great day if we can make it without something breaking.”

“Or someone breaking,” Lucas said. 

“Or even just a moment of silence,” Ten added. 

That’s when it hit Jongin like a bolt of lightning. Spine straightening instantly, the dancer vaulted off the couch, staring ominously towards the hallway. 

“What is it?” Mark’s gaze followed Jongin’s. 

“Silence,” Jongin repeated, voice blank. “The whining stopped.”

The rest of the group exchanged glances “Yeah? And?” Taeyong asked, skeptical. 

“The whining stopped!” Jongin repeated, moving quickly towards the hall, toe catching on the couch. He only stumbled slightly, laser focused on his mission. Jongin nearly wiped out again, his socked feet sliding on the tile floor as he skidded to a halt in front of Baekhyun’s room, where he threw open the door. The lump of vocalist hidden beneath a nest of blankets on the bed didn’t move. Not even when Jongin threw on the overhead lights. 

“Hyung?” Jongin rushed to the bed, roughly digging through the blankets until he uncovered a squinting, pouting Baekhyun. “Hyung?! What’s wrong?”

“Don’ feel so good,” Baekhyun slurred, twisting away from the light. The last word caught in his throat, and he bent in half with a wracking cough. Jongin’s heart dropped.

“Why didn’t you say something sooner?” 

Jongin jumped at Taemin’s voice directly to his right. He hadn’t heard the other guys come in, but, looking around, he saw that Taeyong was right behind Taemin, and the other three were crowded in the doorway. 

Baekhyun shrugged at Taemin’s question. “Happened too fast…” He paused, pulling in a rattling breath. “…didn’t want to…” Another shaking inhale. “…be a bother.” Another hacking cough. Jongin lunged forward, angling himself behind Baekhyun and hosting him up so he had a better chance of not choking to death on what gunk had been building up in his chest.  

“He always does this,” Jongin muttered, slapping a hand against Baekhyun’s sweaty forehead. He sighed. “Someone call a manager. Please.”

“On it!” Ten ducked out of the room, already tapping away on his phone. 

“Always does this?” Taemin sat on the bed, near Baekhyun’s stomach, where he slowly began to pull the blanket nest apart, quilt by quilt. Baekhyun whined when his legs were finally exposed. “I know, hyung, I’m sorry. But it’s clear you have a fever, and too many blankets are dangerous for that.”

“What can we do?” Mark asked, taking a tentative step forward. His eyes were wide, his hands shaking slightly. Lucas looked equally lost as he followed one step after Mark. 

“Ummm.” Jongin met Taemin’s eyes, at a loss. His best friend shrugged. 

“Hey, how about we give hyungs some space?” Taeyong suggested, stepping forward and wrapping an arm around both Mark and Lucas. He nodded back to the trio on the bed as he shepherded them away. 

“God bless leader instincts,” Taemin murmured to Jongin’s enthusiastic nod as Ten’s head popped back in the doorway. 

“Manager’s on his way! Ten minutes out.” He shot a thumbs up at Jongin and Taemin before following after Taeyong, clearly clued in by the rapper of the need for space. 

“Always does this?” Taemin repeated, prompting an answer. 

Jongin sighed, readjusting his hold on the seemingly asleep Baekhyun so the vocalist’s head rested against his shoulder and Jongin had the freedom to use his hands. “Yeah. Hyung’s got a bad habit of making a big deal about nothing, but staying silent when he’s really in pain. He’ll complain for hours about a paper cut or a slight headache, but then says nothing when it’s a 40 degree fever, or at the start of a hypothyroid flair up.” Jongin rubbed at Baekhyun’s arm as a shiver coursed through the vocalist’s body. “Or, ya know, he’ll be a whiny shit about a cold, until it becomes pneumonia, and then he shuts us all out…”

“Hey.” Jongin didn’t even realize he was crying until Taemin’s hand cradled his cheek, thumb brushing away an escaped tear. “It’s not your fault…” “But I should KNOW this by now,” Jongin whimpered. “I should’ve noticed. Should’ve seen through the whining…”

“Nini, you did know!” Taemin insisted. “You just put two and two together, and now manager-nim’s on the way to get Baekhyunnie the medical attention he needs. YOU did that.”

“I guess…”

Taemin shook his head. “No guesses. You rock. And Baekhyun will agree when he’s lucid again.”

“I agree.” Both heads snapped down Baekhyun. His eyes were still closed, but his hand bunched in Jongin’s sweater, trying to hold onto him. “Thank you, Nini. You…” Another one of those heart shattering, rattling breaths. “…you grew up so well.”

“Damn you, hyung!” Jongin cursed around a laugh. “Still cracking jokes when you’re literally on your deathbed.” The ghost of a grin crested on Baekhyun’s lips, fading far too fast as he fell back into whatever half consciousness he’d been in previously. Jongin shook his head, meeting Taemin’s eyes. “I’m never upgrading from maknae status, am I?”

“But we ARE hydrated!” Jongin exclaimed, wincing a bit from the volume of his own voice. “We’ve been drinking water all day!”

“Well, we’re in a different altitude here. That changes thing,” Baekhyun said. 

“That explains a lot,” Taemin replied. Then his face melted into a pout. “I want to be the maknae again.”

“Dude, SAME!” Jongin exclaimed, playing with his best friend’s hair. “This never would’ve happened if I wasn’t looking after the others all day! Do you know how many times Lucas asked for clarification on that arm part?” 

“Yeah, and I had to sacrifice my snacks to Mark cause he didn’t eat breakfast.”

“And then Ten misplaced his shoes?!”

"Hyung, how do you do it?!” Taemin asked, pleading eyes turning to Baekhyun. “Having to be on top of yourself AND responsible for other people?”

“It’s… really not that deep,” Baekhyun said, holding back a laugh. 

“Maybe for you!” Jongin replied. “You’ve had so much practice. And, I would argue, you’ve had it easier with us in EXO rather than these new kids.” Baekhyun snorted. “I’m serious!” 

“Yeah, we’re not trained for this,” Taemin replied in complete seriousness.