Solid GrounD (MxM)

When Priorities Shift

(A little cute)

He'd honestly never expected to hear those words from anyone again. After his previous relationships had ended one after the other, he hadn't been looking for someone to say such a thing to him.

"I love you..." He repeated slowly, tasting the words on his tongue as he stared down at Roh-Ahn in wonder as he settled into his arms.

A smile curved his lips at the idea of actually being able to call Roh-Ahn his boyfriend. It was a crazy idea, considering that he was only there for the exchange program, and the semester was already half over, but Austin couldn't think about anything else besides eagerly accepting his words.

He was just opening his mouth to reaffirm what he'd just said when a hard sneeze made him jerk his head to the side and cover his mouth with his arm.

Before he could even straighten back up, sniffling, Roh-Ahn was grasping the sides of his face with wide, worried eyes.

"I told you to dry off earlier." He said with a frown before hurrying to his feet and partially hopping to his room.

Austin shook his head, feeling a slight ache behind his eyes as he slowly got himself up off the floor. By the time he headed out of the kitchen to find Roh-Ahn, the young man was back with a bottle in his hand and his cane in the other.

"Here. Take one with some water and a few bites of food." He said as he shoved the bottle into his hand.

Austin eyed it, noting that it was something to help with general illness.

"I swear I'll be fine, Roh. I just sneezed." He said, sniffling again as he offered the bottle back.

He had a slight headache building and felt another sneeze itching at his nose, but it was nothing that sleep couldn't get rid of.

"I'll just go to bed and be good as new tomorrow." He said with a tired smile that Roh-Ahn didn't mirror.

Instead, he pushed the bottle back into his hand.

"Please? If you get sick, I'll have to stay far away from you, and I don't want to do that." He said quietly, looking down at their joined hands, the bottle pressed between them.

Realizing that him getting sick would hurt Roh-Ahn's already compromised system, Austin quickly took the bottle and shook out a pill, then walked over to the sink and got a glass of water to wash it down with.

He took it with a slight grimace, not being one who liked taking any kind of medicine. But if it will keep him safe... A small container was nudged against his free hand after he set the empty glass down, drawing Austin's eyes downward as he grasped it, setting the bottle of pills aside.

"I sneaked this into my cart the last time we went shopping. You were so distracted by the fried chicken in the cart of the lady in front of us that you didn't notice." Roh-Ahn said with a smile that turned his cheeks slightly red.

Opening the lid on the small plastic container, Austin couldn't help but grin after coughing a few more times into his arm.

"Oh?" He whispered as he saw the banana chips stacked in neat lines inside.

He often snacked on them while grading to keep himself from eating something bad, but had forgotten to get them during their last trip to the store.

"Thanks a lot." He said, as he started to lean over and give Roh-Ahn a kiss, but caught himself just in time.

The look on Roh-Ahn's face when he took a step away made Austin wish that he wasn't feeling worse by the second. He'd pull the guy into the tightest hug possible.