Syncing Dream [Aespa x M!Reader]

15. Maknae Down

It started with a loud, echoing sneeze—a sharp, drawn-out sound that filled the entire dorm and was immediately followed by a groan of frustration. Y/n looked up from his spot on the couch, where he had been lazily scrolling through his phone, and saw Ningning curled up under a massive blanket on the other side of the room. Her hair was messy, and her eyes were red from what he could only assume was a cold.

Guess the cold decided to transfer from Y/n to Ningning today.

"Ning," he called out, watching as she struggled to get comfortable in her blanket cocoon. "You good?"

"No," she sniffled dramatically. "I think I'm dying."

He raised an eyebrow, getting up to walk over to her. "Dying? Really? From a cold?"

Ningning glared up at him, her face flushed from fever, her nose runny, and tissues piled up next to her. "Yes, really! You wouldn't understand. It feels like my entire body is shutting down."

Y/n rolled his eyes, half-amused as he pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders. "Let me guess—you left the window open last night?"

Ningning's eyes widened in surprise. "How'd you know?"

"Girl, you always do that when it's too hot," Y/n sighed. "But Ning, it's winter. Having the window open while the fan's on full blast? Genius."

Ningning groaned, burying her face in the blanket. "It was fine until I fell asleep, and then when I woke up... well, I felt like this. I swear the weather's out to get me."

"Well, congratulations," Y/n chuckled, mocking her with a single clap. "You've officially caught a cold."

"Wow, thank you, Jung Y/n-psssssss" Ningning blew her nose.

"I know you love me too much, tryna copy me when I was sick last time"

Before Ningning could retort, Karina, Winter, and Giselle entered the living room, dressed and ready for their schedules. Karina took one look at Ningning's disheveled state and sighed. "You're staying in today, aren't you?"

Ningning nodded miserably. "Yeah... you guys go on without me, unnie."

Giselle, clearly annoyed, huffed, "Great, we'll be the ones running around while you sit here like a burrito all day."

"You make that sound like a bad thing," Ningning shot back, trying to maintain her usual sass, but her voice was too nasally to come off intimidating.

Winter leaned down, placing a hand on Ningning's forehead. "You do feel warm. Stay put and rest, okay? Don't make our idiot's life more difficult than it already is."

Y/n snorted. "Don't worry, I've got this covered. You guys go handle idol life. Minji-noona is downstairs."

Karina glanced between the two of them, clearly unconvinced. "Alright, but if she gets any worse, call us. And make sure she doesn't convince you to do anything ridiculous."

"I make no promises, mom" Y/n joked, giving them a half-hearted salute as they waved goodbye and headed out the door.

Once the apartment was quiet again, Y/n turned to Ningning, who was now staring at the TV screen in front of them. He grabbed the remote and lazily flipped through the channels. "So, what now? Want to binge-watch some K-dramas or something?"

Ningning perked up slightly at the suggestion, her eyes lighting up for the first time since this morning. "Yes! You haven't watched 'True Beauty', right?"

Y/n groaned. "Oh, c'mon. Isn't that one of those sappy romance dramas? I thought you were more into action stuff."

Ningning pouted, crossing her arms. "I AM into action stuff, but 'True Beauty' is ICONIC, okay? Besides, you need to catch up on your K-drama knowledge, oppa."