Sleeping Beauty Syndrome

7

After I had built Mingi up and encouraged him a little more, he went back into the living room, determined to stop cowering in guilt and use his energy to help his friends. He smiled gratefully at me before leaving the kitchen.

I groaned and tried to get up, but my legs had fallen asleep and I plopped back onto my butt inelegantly. Grumbling to myself, I wiggled my feet to get the blood circulating again.

"Do you need any help or something?" I heard Seonghwa's soft voice and looked up, caught off guard. I must have looked pretty embarrassed, because he was leaning against the doorframe with an amused grin, watching me fidget around like a fish out of water.

"I'll be fine in a minute." I claimed, annoyed by my limited bodily functions.

He came up to me and held out his hand to help me up. I hesitantly took it and let him pull me to my feet.

However, my legs were still as wobbly as rubber and when he let go of me, I swayed suspiciously. I threatened to fall down again and he quickly took a step towards me to grab me by the waist and give me more stability. Relieved, I just leaned against his chest and let him hold me.

It felt really good, after all those hours of looking after the boys and comforting them, to have someone look after me for once. His hug was gentle, but kept me safely on my feet.

"You know, you don't have to be the strong one all the time. It's nice that you're there for us so much, but don't forget about yourself. I don't want you to get sick because you exhaust yourself too much." he warned me worriedly and I just mumbled an "ok" against his chest muscles.

I let myself sink completely into his arms and cuddled up to him. He was right and right now I felt so comfortable, as if he was my shield from the cruel world that was on the brink.

Very slowly, my batteries began to recharge. He rested his head on mine, which was comfortable as he was so much taller than me and I could have fallen asleep standing up because he was so cuddly.

When San joined us in the kitchen, we slowly disengaged.

"Apparently no one has an appetite, but we should cook something anyway. Maybe they'll eat if they smell something tasty," he suggested. There was nothing left of his usually cheerful demeanor, his eyes were red from crying.

"Haven't you reached anyone yet?" Seonghwa asked sympathetically and San shook his head sadly. I stroked his back encouragingly and Seonghwa took him in his arms.

"I couldn't reach anyone either, the cell phone networks have collapsed. But my brother sent me an email earlier. Why don't you have a look there too?"

The younger man's face immediately lit up and he started his email app on his cell phone.

"Thanks Seonghwa, my father wrote to me. The island has been sealed off, they don't have any cases of illness there and everything will remain closed until the vaccinations start." He breathed a sigh of relief.

We prepared lunch together and then divided it onto plates, which we brought into the living room. As well as my own, I also had one for Wooyoung. I wouldn't accept him not eating, he was already so thin.

He had woken up again and was just staring at the wall, ignoring the food. I sat down with him and held the sticks of meat in front of him.

"If you don't eat voluntarily, I'll feed you," I threatened, but he shook his head reluctantly.

"Wooyoung..." I started to speak softly, forcing him to look at me.

"Our deal means the other way around, if you die, I die too... if you don't eat, you die. Then I won't eat either..." I explained to him quietly and his eyes widened in horror.

"That... no, that's not how it was meant to be..." he complained.

"But that's the way it is now." I said resolutely and after he scrutinized me for a while, he probably came to the conclusion that he'd rather not take the chance and took the chopsticks.

"Jongho... you feel kind of warm." Hongjoong, who was sitting next to the youngest, just noticed and Juhee had already pulled out the thermometer. When she looked at it, her eyes filled with tears.

"38,7"

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this is a rollercoaster