It happens to the best of us ✔️

~4~

The next morning, Felix was the first one to wake up, snuggled against his daddy's side. He sat up and at first, he didn't know what had woken him because it was still very early. There was a pained groan and the little looked down at his daddy. Even in the dim light of their bedroom, Chan looked sickly pale, beads of sweat dotting his forehead. His brows were furrowed as if he was in pain but Felix noticed he was still asleep. The little remembered the events of last night and felt bad that his daddy had caught the same bug. He himself was already feeling loads better and contemplated pulling himself out of his headspace, so that he could care for the older, but with the slight fever still lingering, Felix' mind remained fuzzy. His attempts were soon interrupted when a sob tore from Chan's throat and tears spilled from his eyes. Felix panicked, as he wasn't used to seeing his daddy cry but when he went to comfort him, he realized the older was still asleep. "He nightmawe?", the little whispered to himself. He wasn't sure what to do, should he wake his daddy up? The caregiver usually woke Felix up when he noticed the little having a nightmare, which Felix was really glad for but on the other hand, Chan needed sleep at any cost. Waking Hyunjin to ask the caregiver what to do would've also been an option but even in his little mindset, Felix felt guilty of putting too much of his worries onto his caregivers and the dancer was burdened with taking care of two sick members, one of them little, yesterday. He needed sleep too.

For a few minutes, the little watched Chan squirm and cry in his sleep, before he couldn't take it anymore and shook the leader's shoulder. Waking Chan proved to be a lot harder than usual but he eventually sat up, still crying into his hands. "Chu otay, daddy. Monstas nuh weal", Felix comforted like a big boy and wrapped the older in a tight hug. The leader returned the hug, clutching Felix' shirt tightly, afraid the younger would slip away. There had been no monsters in his dream but Felix hadn't been there either. In his dream, he hadn't been able to care for the younger anymore in the way the little needed it, which resulted in Felix leaving him and cutting their friendship off to go and find himself a new caregiver. Of course, he couldn't tell Felix about this dream, so he just sat there, sobbing into the little's shoulder and holding on so tight the younger wouldn't be able to leave him. The fever didn't help him distinguish dream from reality either and he had to realize, with how sick and weak he felt, how was he going to take care if Felix? He couldn't, he just couldn't and the little would for sure leave him to find somebody else who could.

When Chan still hadn't calmed down or spoken to Felix after five minutes, the little started to get more and more scared. He hated to see his daddy sad and he had no idea how to make the caregiver happy again. How had Hyunjin not woken up at this point? The leader's sobs turned into hiccups while Felix tried his best to understand what had the older so worked up. He was surprised when Chan's iron-grip loosened and the caregiver moved away, if only slightly. Felix could see him swallow convulsively between the hiccups and even in his childlike mind, he knew that wasn't good. He desperately tried to force himself out of his headspace but it didn't work, at least this time, he managed to get to an older headspace, around six to eight years old. Chan's hands were shaking as he wiped at the tear and Felix managed to grab the sick bowl just in time for the leader to hunch over with gag. The little's eyes widened and he held the bowl under the older's chin as he retched up a small trickle of stomach acid. He was mostly empty but that didn't mean his body didn't forcefully try to expel something. Felix cringed in sympathy, the endless rounds of dry heaving still a feverish memory of his. "You're okay, daddy. It'll be over soon, Lix knows it's not fun", the younger comforted, his speech already a bit clearer than in his toddler headspace. He also remembered how his daddy had rubbed his back to calm him down and Felix really wanted to do that for his daddy too but he was to focused to catch everything in the bowl that he didn't want to remove one of his hands from it.

Even the dry heaves had tapered off after ten minutes and Felix was honestly surprised how Hyunjin managed to sleep through it all. Carefully, he set the bowl down and took a closer look at his daddy. The holder still hadn't said a single word but his sad sniffles broke Felix' heart. He reached out to wipe Chan's tears with his sleeve when he noticed something. The leader looked up at him with innocent eyes, tears still dotting his lashes. Confused and feeling slightly helpless, Felix stammered: "Da- Channie, how old are you?" Chan pouted a bit, not sure if his feverish mind understood the question correctly. He whined hoarsely and showed three fingers before lifting his sleeve to his lips, chewing on the fabric. Felix eyes widened and he looked at the other in shock. Chan had never slipped before. The terrified expression scared Chan too and he broke into tears again, making grabby hands at the older little. Somewhere at the back of his head, there was a thought, foggy and barely making sense to the sick little. Something reminded him that he was supposed to take care of Felix or he would leave. But how could he take care of Felix? What did it even mean to take care of someone? The little couldn't even comprehend it but he knew he was not able to do something that he was supposed to be doing, which would result in Felix leaving him. He felt Felix arms around him and desperately clung to him, afraid he'd walk away.