Stay Strong Seventeen

Junhao 🤍

"Where is he?" Jun asked the second he stepped inside the house

"He's inside,we got him to lay down for now" Joshua said letting Jun in, the boy quickly took his jacket off and sprinted inside to see his Chinese friend.

Jun got a call about 30 minutes ago.
He was in the practice room with Hoshi and Dino while Minghao was on another schedule with Joshua and DK.

The call was a bit strange, Joshua called him trying to sound as calm as possible
"We can't understand what he's saying, he's speaking in Mandarin but it's a bit too complicated for us to understand"

Jun came running after hearing that.

"How bad is it?" Jun asked while he and DK were on their way to see Minghao

"I'm sure he's just too tired to talk to us properly" Dokyeom tried to reassure the concerned Jun "He properly overworked himself"

"Joshua said that he left mid shooting?"

DK softly nodded "He wasn't feeling all too well since this morning and his fever got quite high so we wrapped up the shooting quickly and brought him home"

Jun sighed "But what is it really? Did he catch a cold?"

"We're not so sure, the doctor is on his way though"

Jun was worried, he tried to stay calm for when he meets Minghao. DK lead the way and soon Joshua followed them. Jun peeked through the door and Minghao was laying down on his bed, he seemed to be sleeping until Jun got closer.

Minghao's cheeks were flushed, holding on tightly to his blanket and slightly shivering. He felt as the mattress sunk by his side and immediately fluttered his eyes open to find Jun smiling softly at him.
Minghao almost jolted, calling Jun's name and started mumbling incoherently in Mandarin. Jun frowned, trying to grasp what the younger was saying but couldn't. He seemed to be confused and a bit out of it, saying something about Joshua brining  him home early today.

Trying to calm him down, Jun engulfed Minghao in a hug. He run his hands over his back gently patting him and feeling as the heat radiated from him. He continued to do so until Minghao's mumbling calmed down

"Shhh it's okay, I'm here"

Jun coed, he was definitely more worried now. He held his friend closely and whispered softly to him in Mandarin ... their comfort language

"Hao what happened huh?" ... "What's wrong? tell me"

"T-tired" ... "I want to sleep but I can't"

"It's okay I'm here now ... let's lay down and rest okay?"

Jun slowly put Minghao back on the bed, the boy looked so fragile right now, so thin and taken over by exhaustion. His complexion was rather pale and cheeks flushed, shivering as Jun put him down on his pillow. The older pressed his palm over the younger's forehead "Oww what happened Hao?"

"I don't know ... I'm really s-sleepy"

Minghao seemed to be breathing heavily, Jun looked around to meet Joshua and DK, the two still standing at the door looking over at them

"He says he's tired and sleepy" Jun translated

"We figured that a while ago" DK was trying to sound sarcastic but giving the situation, it didn't really sound that funny

"Hao?" Jun called the younger's name again, Minghao was clutching into his arm quite tightly "Does anything hurt?" He asked trying to find more symptoms other than his sleepiness and fever "Your head? Stomach?"

"H-head" the younger replied, voice still tired and drowsy

Jun run his hand over Minghao's head slowly soothing his throbbing headache "I'm sorry buddy, the doctor will be here soon and we will take care of you okay?"

Joshua came closer and kneeled by Minghao's side "He complained about a headache since morning, I feel so guilty for not paying more attention"

Jun hummed "I'm sure it's just a cold, he's a bit out of it I must say but I hope he'll be better once he gets some rest"

"Jun?" Minghao suddenly called for him, cutting his and Joshua's conversation short

"Yes Hao"

"I want soup dumplings and ... kung pao chicken and rice" Minghao whined cutely and it made Jun chuckle

"Homesick aren't we?" ... "Sure, I'll get you everything you want once you see the doctor okay?"

Jun promised and Minghao simply whined and hummed again while Jun's hands continued to play along his hair and speak softly in Mandarin with him. Joshua gave them the space they needed and sprinted to open the door for the doctor when he finally arrived.

The doctor did his usual checkups and just as Jun suspected, Minghao was going through a viral fever. Apparently he caught a cold a while back and simply kept pushing himself for too long. It made sense actually, even Joshua and DK knew about it but never thought that it got this bad.

The doctor left with a few instructions "He's fever should subside soon, keep him hydrated and warm, he should take his medication on time and eat well ... he'll feel better soon"

"Jun can I go home now?" Minghao asked, a wet towel was placed over his temples with Jun laying by his side on the bed while Joshua and DK sat near by. For some reason, Minghao wouldn't speak anything other than Mandarin and only to Jun.

They figured maybe he was homesick and simply needed something and someone familiar to remind him of home and that came in the form of Jun, soup dumplings and kung pao chicken and rice which Jun was more than happy to order for the sick boy.

"You are home buddy,  I'm here"

Minghao was so grateful, he spent the night chatting softly with his Chinese twin, he munched slowly on his food enjoying the aroma of home all around it.
He eventually gave up to exhaustion, the medicine was kicking in and he was giving in to the feeling

"It's okay, you should rest, I'll be right here if you need anything okay?"

Minghao nodded blinking slowly, hands still tightly holding into Jun. He finally drifted to sleep as Jun kept patting his back softly and talking in Mandarin until Minghao was finally asleep.