Without Words ✔️

Hush

Watching his hyungs worriedly, Seungmin went to fill Chan's new baby bottle with water and quietly took a seat next to Minho. Though nervous, the dancer handed Chan over to his dongsaeng, who tapped the bottle teat against the little's chapped lips. Sniffling softly, Chan latched onto the teat and started to suckle. The cool liquid felt nice and soothing on his dry throat, taking some of the pain away. Seungmin only let him have half of the bottle though, afraid of upsetting the other's stomach. Not understanding why he couldn't have more, when it so obviously made things better, Chan whined and reached for the bottle only to have his caregiver move it away further. "Hush, baby", the vocalist cooed, "You're doing great but we need to take it slow. You can have more in a minute or two." He tried to comfort Chan but having realized that water made him feel at least a tiny bit better, the Aussie wasn't having it.

Seungmin eventually had to relent but shot Jisung a pleading look, so the rapper pushed the bucket a bit closer just in case Chan's stomach couldn't handle it. They didn't have to worry too much though, as a tired but relieved smile spread on Chan's lips after finishing his water. The little weakly dropped his head onto Seungmin's shoulder and closed his eyes. Having napped so much, Chan wasn't able to go back to sleep but with the fever raging, he didn't really have the energy to do anything, so he found himself in a daze just waiting for this misery to pass. "Channie, we made some soup earlier", Minho whispered, stroking the little's hair, "You think your tummy would be okay with that?" Chan didn't really understand what his caregiver wanted, so he just glanced up at him curiously before squeezing his eyes shut with a whimper. Accidentally glancing into the ceiling light had aggravated his headache and he found himself unable to look at Minho.

"Hush, baby", Seungmin breathed, stroking Chan's back as they waited for Felix to turn off the light. Switching on fairylights instead, the dancer asked: "That better, Channie?" When Chan dared to open his eyes, he looked around in wonder. The dim glow was so homey and comfortable, not affecting his headache at all. Changbin and Jeongin had a hushed conversation before the maknae approached Chan, tearing open a small pack of animal cookies. "He already had an entire bottle of water, so I don't know if soup is such a great idea", Jeongin explained, looking at Minho apologetically, "We do have some animal cookies though. You want some animal cookies, baby? Look, it's a lion!" The little's lips formed a small 'o' as he accepted the cookie and stared at it with sparkling eyes. Adoring his snack seemed to be as good as it got though and Chan's eyes eventually started to get droopy again without him having taken the tiniest bite. This wasn't how they'd get him medicated anytime soon.

Realizing that Chan wasn't going to eat his cookie, Jeongin pulled out another one and smiled: "Oh, this one is a hippo. Look, Channie! You can eat it." The maknae then slipped the hippo-shaped cookie between his lips and gave Chan a smile, indicating that it tasted good. What shocked Jeongin though, was how rapidly the littles eyes welled up with tears before a sob tore from his sore throat. Seungmin stiffened as Chan broke down entirely in his lap. The Aussie tightened his grip on the cookie in his hand, afraid his caregiver would eat the lion too. Calmly swaying them from side to side, Seungmin tried to soothe Chan but the little just kept on sobbing, occasionally choking out a cough.

Eventually, Changbin took Chan from Seungmin and kissed the little's heated temple, cooing: "Hush, Channie. It was just a cookie, it's meant to be eaten." The leader only shook his head, the cookie in his hand slowly crumbling from how tightly he gripped it. "He ate the saltine crackers earlier", the rapper mused, bouncing the sobbing little in his arms, "Do we still have some? Might be worth a try." Hyunjin nodded rushing off to fetch Chan something else to eat. They really wanted to get some fever reducers into their friend before he had cried himself to sleep.

"Bub, can you look at hyung?", Hyunjin tried, patting Chan's curls, "You want some crackers?" The leader eventually looked at him, eyes swollen from all the crying, but made no move to take the cracker from Hyunjin. Lightly poking Chan's pouty lips, the dancer hummed: "It's yummy, see?" He earned a soft whimper but got Chan to part his lips. The little finally accepted the cracker, sleepily nibbling on it. It would take an eternity for him to eat an acceptable amount but that was alright. They were in no rush and as long as Chan ate something, it'd be alright. If only he hadn't exhausted himself like this.

Chan was currently on his fourth cracker when his eyes fluttered shut. "Gosh, I think he fell asleep", Jisung chuckled, making his way over to his hyungs. Rubbing Chan's back to wake him back up, Jisung hummed: "You can sleep in a moment, baby. Could you finish your cracker first though? Hyung will go and fetch you some medicine as soon as you're done." The little whined softly at being pulled from his sleep. He hadn't even understood what Jisung had asked of him but went back to the one task on hand anyway, nibbling his cracker. Changbin had settled on the carpet again with Chan in his arms. Waiting for him to finish eating, the rapper pulled Stormy closer. He wanted the plushie to cheer Chan up when he had to take his medicine.

Jisung soon returned, carrying the bottle of liquid medicine. Most members winced in sympathy, none of them fond of the intense artificial taste. Felix rushed to refill Chan's sippy cup, so he'd be able to quickly wash away the taste, and by the time he returned, the little's cracker was finally gone. Jisung had already measured out the correct amount and nervously chewed on his lip as he approached Chan with the measuring cup. Crouching in front of the little, Jisung hummed: "Baby, hyung has something to make you feel less icky." No sooner than Chan had lifted his head to look at him, the rapper already tipped the measuring cup against his lip. Chan swallowed out of instinct, before gagging on the disgusting flavor. Felix instantly held the sippy to his lips, encouraging him to wash the taste away but the damage was already done. A fresh wave of tears washed over Chan, the surprise attack while he was already so vulnerable too much for him to handle.

"Congratulations, squirrel. Now you made the baby cry", Minho sighed, watching Changbin as he tried to distract Chan with Stormy. Exasperatedly throwing his hands into the air, Jisung huffed: "What did you expect me to do? I thought quick and painless would be the best option, like ripping off a band-aid." – "Does that look painless to you?", the dancer countered, his heart sinking as he watched Chan study his fist. Curiously opening his fist, the little's eyes fell onto the crumbs covering his palm. It took a while for him to connect the pieces but he eventually realized that those crumbs were all that remained of his lion cookie. He had hurt his lion. Now, he was just as bad as Jeongin.

At this point, trying to calm Chan down seemed like a lost cause but they also couldn't just let him cry. Felix grabbed to towel and gently cleaned the little's hand, hoping he'd forget about the cookie soon. Desperately clutching Stormy, Chan rubbed his tearstained face into Changbin's shoulder as the rapper rubbed slow circles on his back. Seungmin scanned the living room, eyes falling onto Jisung's makeshift rattle on the coffee table. Picking up the taped box, Seungmin approached Chan and lightly shook the rattle. The sound was enough for the little to curiously lift his head, so Seungmin shook it again. Maybe it'd be enough of a distraction.

His tears slowing, Chan babbled something unintelligible and reached for the box in his caregiver's hand. The vocalist gave Chan a smile as he handed him the rattle, waiting for the little to shake it. Chan curiously gave the rattle a shake, sniffling as the tears finally stopped. Changbin sighed in relief, patting his friend's head. "That's it, Channie", the rapper smiled, "You like that sound?" Chan gave the rattle another shake before thrusting it into Changbin's hand. The rapper chuckled, shaking the makeshift rattle. It earned him some soft, sleepy giggles as Chan rested his head on his shoulder, waiting for his caregiver to shake the rattle again.

The sound of his rattle, seemed to work wonders. Chan had finally cheered up and was slowly drifting off in Changbin's arms. The rapper continued to lightly shake the rattle, so Chan could fall asleep to the soothing sound. Anytime the little made a whiney sound in his sleep, Changbin was quick to press a gentle kiss to the crown of his head, successfully shushing him. He continued to hold the other for almost half an hour, so they could be sure he was deeply asleep. Eventually, Minho and Jisung helped him lay Chan down on the carpet with his head in Felix' lap, neatly tucking Stormy into the little's arms, knowing all hell would break loose if he ended up waking up without his plushie. While Felix comfortingly ran his fingers through Chan's hair, Jeongin went to fetch a cold washcloth. Realizing the little's face shone with tears and sweat, Jeongin carefully cleaned him up before folding the washcloth and draping it across his burning forehead.

"Does anyone want to eat soup for dinner or should we just order take out?", Minho asked quietly after glancing at the clock. Shrugging, Hyunjin hummed: "Why don't we eat both? A small serving of soup as an appetizer and take out as the main course? That way, we'll still have enough soup left for Channie tonight or tomorrow but not so much that it will end up going bad." – "That sounds pretty good actually", Changbin agreed, "Though, we need to make sure we'll get the delivery notification on our phone 'cause if the doorbell wakes Channie...." The members nodded in agreement, none of them wanting their leader to wake up before he had had a chance to sleep off his illness.