Mother's Touch 🍃 Meanie [⏹]

2

The next day at three in the afternoon, Mingyu couldn't make it to their meeting.

He fell ill, his body succumbing to a fever.

He could have forced himself to go to the park because otherwise, he would feel guilty. However, insisting on going would only make Wonwoo feel more guilty about him. So, he decided to rest at home and apologize to Wonwoo for his absence.

Mingyu's body temperature was higher than his normal human limit. Yet, he shivered a bit as he felt cold. Seungcheol had to take a day off to take care of his only son and patiently attend to all his needs that Mingyu couldn't manage that day. After feeding him, Seungcheol attached a fever-reducing patch to Mingyu's forehead. He reached for the thermometer under Mingyu's armpit and took a deep breath, observing the digital display on the small monochrome screen of the device.

"Why did you suddenly get sick like this? Are you too tired with all the end-of-semester activities?"

"No. Maybe it's just time for me to get sick?" Mingyu answered with a forced smile on his pale lips. There was truly no color there. Seungcheol was hurt seeing that. He always felt sad whenever Mingyu was at his sick times.

"I feel guilty for not being able to meet Jeon Wonwoo this afternoon."

Seungcheol was surprised, but he tried to hide that expression as much as possible and turned the question into another camouflage from him wanting to give an honest response. "Jeon Wonwoo?"

"Yes. A guy my age, who always meets me at three in the afternoon." Mingyu often shared with his father if he had one routine activity he incorporated into his daily schedule: meeting a guy at three in the afternoon. "In Yeosohwa Park." He continued, further adding to Seungcheol's well-hidden surprise.

"Sleep, my son. You need plenty of rest. Do you want to graduate on time this year?"

Mingyu weakly nodded in response. Seungcheol briefly stroked Mingyu's head before Mingyu slowly closed his eyes and began to drift off to sleep.