Fluffy SKZ Oneshots EP.2🧸

This was a bad idea🌡

A little short, I'm sorry

Sickie: Chan

Caregiver: Jeongin

No one's POV.:

Groaning in frustration, Jeongin pulled his pillow over his head. Despite this ungodly hour, his dormmate was awake, so Jeongin inevitably was too. He never told Chan but he could hear the leader pacing in his room every night when his insomnia got bad. If he knew, the Aussie would be mortified, feeling guilty that he robbed the maknae of his precious sleep, so Jeongin kept it to himself despite ending up almost as exhausted as Chan himself. Tonight, the boy was reaching his breaking point though.

"Don't you think you should head to bed, hyung?", the youngest yawned, gently resting his hand on Chan's shoulder. Startled, Chan spun around, his tried eyes needing just a moment too long to focus on Jeongin. Calming his racing heart, the leader sighed: "What are you doing up, Innie?" - "Making sure you go to sleep", Jeongin replied, hesitant to let the older know. Chan plopped down on the couch, frowning: "Yeah, good luck with that. If I could, I would be sleeping right now. You should sleep though." - "Hyung, I can't sleep either with you pacing like this", the maknae admitted, "I know you're restless but let's try to settle down, yeah?" - "I kept you up, didn't I?", Chan pouted defeatedly. Patting the spot next to him, the Aussie sighed, "I'm sorry. Go back to bed, I'll keep it down."

Jeongin didn't go back, much to Chan's dismay. Shaking his head, the younger denied: "That would only be ignoring the problem. We gotta figure out how to put you to sleep, hyung." He couldn't bear feeling so helpless while watching Chan suffer. "Well, I tried pretty much all there is, from meditation to prescription medicine. Nothing has helped my insomnia so far", the leader complained as he rubbed his eyes. Jeongin took his hands and softly pulled them away from his face, knowing the dark eyebags would only become more prominent if Chan kept rubbing.

Dropping his head back against the couch, Chan squeezed his eyes shut. They stung badly from how long he had been awake and the faint light from the hallway illuminating the living room made his headache worse. "My mom once gifted me that valerian root tea when I had trouble sleeping and it always makes me really drowsy. I could make a cup for you", Jeongin offered, giving his hyung's hand a gentle squeeze. By now, Chan was so exhausted, he'd try anything if there was even the slightest chance for him to get some shut eye though he neither had high expectations nor hope. He nodded slowly, even if it was just for Jeongin's peace of mind, so the younger wouldn't feel so helpless, he'd drink the tea.

Chan massaged his temples as he listened to Jeongin rummaging through the kitchen. He always hated these late nights wen he was at the mercy of his body and mind, never knowing whether he'd be lucky enough to be granted some sleep this time. "Just so you know, it tastes really bad", Jeongin warned, stirring a spoonful of honey into the cup of steaming tea, "I added honey because it's impossible to get it down without any additional sweetness but you can always add more." Despite his exhaustion, Chan chuckled. His dongsaeng surely was dramatic at times.

Or so he though.... "Ugh, that's nasty", the leader frowned, shuddering as he lowered the cup after a single sip. Taking a seat next to the older, Jeongin laughed softly: "Told you. If you want, we can add more honey." - "Nah, it's okay. Just didn't expect it to taste this bad", Chan denied, lightly blowing on his tea. It wasn't worse than some of the caffeine concoctions he had forced down in desperate situations when he needed to function despite not having had any sleep, so he could handle the taste, if it meant it would help.

Against all odds, Chan had to admit that he was getting drowsy after he had finished his tea. Still, he didn't want to go back to his room, afraid the restlessness would overtake him once again, so neither did Jeongin. "Was that your stomach?", the maknae asked with wide eyes when a loud gurgling noise cut through the silence. Awkwardly rubbing his stomach, Chan mumbled: "Yeah, the tea's really sloshing around in there. I don't know if I chugged it too quickly or what...." Jeongin guided his hyung's head down on his shoulder and hummed: "Try to relax."

Chan really seemed to get sleepy but before Jeongin could ask him whether he finally wanted to go to bed, the older winced: "My stomach's not handling this all that well. I'll go sit by the window for a bit." Sluggishly getting to his feet, Chan protectively wrapped an arm around his middle and shuffled to the dining table. He pulled a chair up to the window and opened the window to let in some fresh air. The cool night air cleared his mind and also soothed his headache a little, though it had little effect on the nausea.

Grabbing the blanket from the back of the couch, Jeongin followed Chan and draped the blanket around his shoulders. If he was going to stay there by the open window, he shouldn't catch a chill. "You okay, hyung?", he whispered, carding his fingers through Chan's curls. To exhausted to lie, the Aussie just shrugged. It was safer not to give a verbal reply right now anyway. 'This was a bad idea', he thought to himself. He drew his knees up to his chest and rested his chin on them, breaking into a sweat. His stomach still churned angrily and it took all his remaining self-control to swallow down the saliva that rapidly filled his mouth.

Jeongin jumped a little when the chair scraped across the floor from the urgency with which Chan got to his feet. The older knew he wouldn't make it to the bathroom, so rushed to the kitchen sink. A burp brought up a small trickle of tea, which was all the warning he got before his stomach contracted and a large wave gushed from his lips. "It tastes even worse now", he choked out when he felt Jeongin's hand on his back before retching again. Chan shuddered and clutched the counter for support. This was disgusting. If he had really thought the tea had tasted bad going down, he had had no idea....

"You think you can handle some water, hyung", Jeongin frowned, offering Chan a glass. The eldest weakly shook his head, merely rinsing his mouth with some water from his cupped hands. Bringing the chair Chan had been sitting on, Jeongin instructed: "Here, sit for a moment, hyung. How're you feeling now?" - "Wrung out", the Aussie rasped, shivering in his sweaty shirt. "I'm sorry, I made you sick, hyung", Jeongin pouted as he picked up the blanket that had fallen from Chan's shoulders earlier. Once again wrapping it around his hyung's shoulders, he sighed: "Once your stomach calms down, you should really have some water before going to bed. Your headache's only going to get worse if you get dehydrated." - "How'd you-" - "You've had your signature headache-crease on your forehead all day", the maknae informed. "There's no such thing as a signature headache-crease", Chan argued, rubbing his forehead to smooth it. Nodding, Jeongin giggled: "Yup there is and you have one."

He managed to coax Chan into sipping some water before guiding him back to the couch. Chan still refused to go to his room, reasoning that he felt pressured to fall asleep if he went there and if he felt pressured, he'd inevitably fail. Glancing at the couch, Jeongin was truly surprised how small Chan managed to look when he curled in on himself so tightly. He didn't want to leave the eldest there by himself, not when he looked so vulnerable and not after making him this miserable in the first place, so he pulled up a chair next to the couch and started to pet his hyung's hair.

Jeongin's own eyes had started to droop shut as he sat in his chair, fingers tangled in Chan's curl when a noise caught his attention. Glancing down at Chan in the dim light, the maknae realized his friend was snoring softly. A surprised laugh escaped Jeongin's lips. He'd have to remind Chan that puking his guts up was the solution to his insomnia.

Fixing the blanket one last time, Jeongin curled up on the other couch and finally allowed himself to go to sleep too.