INVASION ⋮ norenmin

Ⅷ

Jaemin's fever got worse at night.

Renjun wouldn't have known if not for Jeno. The black-haired boy woke up Renjun by shaking his shoulders.

"Something's wrong!" he repeated in fear.

Renjun was quick to wake up and get down to the floor to approach Jaemin. Again, the warmth of the blonde's body could be felt even when Renjun kept the distance. But on top of that, he was having hallucinations – Jaemin was murmuring some words that could hardly be understood as words and couldn't stop from trembling.

"He woke up for a minute and told me that he's cold," Jeno explained. "I put a blanket on him and we both fell asleep. Then I woke up and saw him like this."

"Did you feed him?"

"He was up only for a minute!"

"So, you didn't," Renjun hummed and glanced at the medkit.

Somewhere inside Renjun had ibuprofen. It was the only medicine that could have helped Jaemin. The problem was that it couldn't be used on empty stomach.

"I'll wake him up and you go and bring something to eat."

Jeno didn't wait and ran out of the living room. Renjun leaned in front of Jaemin but never woke him up, not when his attention was somewhere else. Suddenly Renjun sensed an opportunity. His eyes landing on the door that was reachable, unlike the daytime. No one was around him – the man was sleeping, Jeno was in the kitchen, Jaemin was passed out. If Renjun acted quick, he could wake up his cousins and get them out of there before Jeno comes in.

Renjun's heartbeat increased when he turned at his cousins. The boy wasted no time and stood up. He was so close to reaching one of the girls but suddenly stopped when he felt a strong grip on his ankle. A drop of cold sweat formed on his forehead.

"I'm dying," Jaemin wailed, making the hair on Renjun's neck stand up. "Is this the end?"

Renjun tried to take Jaemin's hand off his ankle but realized it was no use. Jaemin wasn't whispering, he was loudly sobbing. There was a high chance that Jeno heard it and was already on his way to the living room. Renjun was more annoyed at this point.

"Let go," he hissed and detached Jaemin's hand from his ankle.

Renjun harshly pushed it away and heard how Jaemin whimpered in pain right after he did it. He understood a bit too late that it was the same injured arm. The boy panicked and quickly held onto Jaemin's arm as if it would stop the pain.

At the same time, Jeno came with a small sandwich, making Renjun feel irritated that he missed the chance to run away when that dude was making a freaking sandwich.

"I'm here, baby, I'm here," Jeno fell on his knees and started kissing Jaemin's sweaty forehead.

"I'm dying..." Jaemin muttered.

"No, you're not... It's just a fever. It'll end soon."

Jaemin didn't seem to hear it.

"What did I do wrong?" he asked rhetorically.

Renjun had a lot to say. Perhaps, Jeno sensed that and before Renjun could open his mouth, the black-haired spoke again.

"You were there at the wrong time," he talked in a soft voice. "But it's my fault."

Jaemin lifted his other arm and brought Jeno's face closer. He touched their noses and weakly chuckled.

"I love you, Jeno."

"I love you too-"

"Feed him," Renjun cut off, feeling like third-wheeling his captors. "He needs ibuprofen."