Alley Cat

10: Roommate? 🏠

Now that he's awake he might as well start the healing. He sits on the bed and steadies the hybrid, looking at his face. He's pale and sweaty, probably dehydrated. Hoseok checks his eyes. 'yep he's dehydrated.' He thinks, chastising himself for not making Yoongi drink more water before putting him to bed last night. "Alright, some of this for you first here we go open up" Hoseok says. Pouring the medicine onto the spoon. Yoongi sniffs making a gross sound as the snot in his clogged-up nose goes further up. Hoseok moves the spoon carefully, trying not to drop any liquid onto the bed. Yoongi scowls at him but compiles. Opening his mouth and letting Hoseok put the spoon in. He gulps down the medicine and makes a face at the taste causing Hoseok to chuckle. "Yeah, I never liked it either." Hoseok puts the medicine away and hands Yoongi some warm soup. He sits up straight on the bed and eats in comfortable silence.

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Hoseok likes to take care of others and despite Yoongi's insistence that he's martyring himself, he feels rejuvenated in his life's mission to be a doctor. He won't be hand-feeding people medicine or making them soup, but he will be helping them, in a caring and gentle manner which for him feels like it will be enough. When Yoongi finished eating Hoseok cleans up and leaves Yoongi to fall back asleep curled into a ball under the blanket. Hoseok grabs a textbook and studies a bit, glancing up periodically when the hybrid shuffles around under the covers. He isn't sure how to feel about leaving him here all alone. He doesn't think Yoongi's the type to steal from people. No, it's leaving him here for a few hours while he works when he's so weak which is making him worry. Yoongi is in a strange place, sick, and now to be left alone.

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It makes Hoseok think of all the times he was carted to weird places and left in the corner alone while the adults drank and did other questionable things around him. He remembers a time he was sick and had to go to some house that smelled bad. He had been so scared and weak, his dad made him sit on a little chair and by the time he came and got him, he had simply laid on the floor to try and rest, attempting to get his strength back. Hoseok's phone alarm beeps, letting him know it's time to get ready for work. Quietly as he can he gets ready and gives one final look at Yoongi as he leaves. His ears are above the covers and one flicks barely visible in the dark room. Hoseok smiles and leaves for work.

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Over the next few days, Hoseok keeps his usual routine, except that now instead of waking up early to visit Yoongi in his alley, he wakes up to fluffy hair tickling his neck and a tail around his waist. After the third day of trying to sleep separately on the small bed, Hoseok gave up and immediately cuddled Yoongi when getting ready to sleep. Pressing his front against Yoongi's back wrapping an arm around his belly and sighing into his neck. He hadn't meant to be so forward, but every morning he woke up with Yoongi plastered to him. So he just figured he would stop denying them the clearly needed contact they were both craving. Yoongi had frozen stiff when he did it, but as they had laid there quietly, their breathing syncing up and the hybrid slowly relaxing. His sickness had started to decrease that day, his fever had broken sometime in the morning and one nostril had cleared up enough that he didn't sound as nasally when he spoke anymore.

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Normally, Hoseok would be happy about someone getting better, but instead, the hybrid's better health had made Hoseok feel dreadful that Yoongi was going to leave soon. He had been starting to get used to making extra food each morning and night, eating together without saying much, washing Yoongi's hair and tail for him, making sure to scrub behind his ears in just the right way that made the hybrid accidentally start to purr before he would catch himself and stop. Most of all, he had gotten used to Yoongi always being there and he was scared that soon enough he wasn't going to wake up to Yoongi asleep in his arms. That he wouldn't get to secretly pet Yoongi's hair as the morning sun just barely started to light the room. He had grown attached to him so quickly, even though the hybrid barely said anything to him these last few days, too sick to form complex thoughts. It had made Hoseok realize how truly lonely he had been before, and how utterly devastated he was going to be when Yoongi decided to leave him.