No Rules

Chapter 4

Kao:
Hey cutie
You busy?

Up:
Sorry Kao
i got sick so we can't meet

Kao:
Baby :( do you need anything?
I'm free today i can get you anything

Up:
No am just gonna sleep
But thanks

-ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ-

Up slumped against the kitchen counter, waiting for the water to boil so he can get another mug of tea when the doorbell rings, echoing in his skull and joining the headache in splitting it in two.

He groans, but decides to drag himself over to the door to tell the person standing on the other side to go away unless they want to catch his germs and end up feeling the way he does—half-dead.

But when he swings the door open and blinks repeatedly to adjust his eyes to the light since he's pulled the curtains in the entire apartment, he finds Kao standing on the other side, a sheepish smile on his lips.

"What are you doing here?" he croaks out, surprised, and tries to clear his throat immediately after, but he only ends up coughing until his lungs hurt.

Kao's brows are drawn together in concern as he steps into the apartment. He toes off his shoes, pushing Up back inside and closing the door behind them, his hand a reassuring force on Up's back while he says, "Oh, you poor thing."

Up still doesn't know what's going on, but he lets himself be led to the living room, where Kao sits him on the couch and fixes the blanket Up's thrown over his shoulders, wrapping it tighter around his frame.

The sound of the kettle goes off, and Kao's eyes snap over to the kitchen; he leaves Up with a pat on the head and disappears—Up doesn't have the strength to turn around and watch him go.

When he comes back into Up's field of vision, he isn't wearing his jacket anymore, and he's setting down a mug on the coffee table and crouching in front of him, worry sewn into his features.

"You shouldn't be here," Up can only say, voice still raspy, letting his eyelids slip shut for a moment. "I don't want to make you sick."

Kao scoffs. "I've got a great immune system," he says, like a fool. His hand finds its way to Up's thigh, where he caresses his leg over the fabric of his sweatpants with his thumb. "I'll be fine."

Up clears his throat. Coughs again, hiding his face in the crook of his elbow. "I don't know what you're thinking," he rasps out, "but I literally can't even kiss you right now, Kao."

Kao frowns, removing his hand from Up's knee. "Uh, I know?" He starts picking at the loose thread in his hoodie, expression unreadable—at least to Up, at least in this state. "I came here to take care of you, duh."

"I know you don't feel like eating, and I understand it, but you should at least get something in your stomach so you can take some meds, okay?"

Up thinks he might puke out, if he puts anything in his mouth right now, and he's not even sure if he can swallow anything when his throat is closed up like this, but Kao has made rice porridge , whiles Up has already passed out on the couch, and he would feel bad if he let it go to waste.

Kao helps him slide to the floor to sit by the table and leaves to get them both a mug of tea while Up makes the effort to pick up a spoonful of the porridge and chew it until he can finally swallow a bit.