ɪɴsᴏᴍɴɪᴀ ᴄᴏᴏᴋɪᴇs || ᴛᴀᴇɢɪ [[on hiatus]]

seven。

needless to say, it wasn't the easiest thing to explain to his boss why he wouldn't be able to head back to work. and not because his boss was skeptical or disappointed in him, rather that taehyung felt embarrassed.

mostly wondering how hoseok and jungkook would react when they found out.

it's just to take care of him while he's sick, he said, more to convince himself than anything. and again, he wasn't lying, that's exactly what he was doing, but it still embarrassed him.

yoongi did not want to let go of his hand.

he clung to it, like a helpless, desperate child, squeezing taehyung's fingers every now and then and pulling the man's hand closer to his chest. it must have comforted him, tae thought, but that didn't make him feel any less shy about the situation.

yoongi was cute - no, adorable, the most adorable man taehyung had ever seen, he had only met him a couple days ago, and here that man was, clutching his hand close to his heart like it was his last breath of oxygen.

it melted taehyung's heart over and over again. yoongi's hands weren't small but for some reason they felt small holding his.

the man breathed heavily as sweat rolled down his face. and the sight caused tae to breathe heavily as well, but simply out of worry.

"y-yoongi, let me go get a cold rag to rest on your forehead, okay??"

"no, don't leave..."

a heart-shattering plea. "i'm...i'm not leaving, yoongi, i just want to try bringing your fever down. and you should really drink some water."

"mmmngh..."

"just let go of my hand, please. i'll be right back. i swear."

as though it distressed him more than the fever itself, yoongi reluctantly pried his fingers off from around taehyung's hand to allow the younger to do as he claimed he would. weakly, he muttered a hurry, please, which naturally boosted taehyung to move five times as fast.

so within a minute or so he returned to yoongi's side with a cold, damp rag and a glass of water. tae brushed aside the man's bangs so that he could drape the rag over his forehead, then press it down gently.

"can you lift your head for me?"

yoongi grunted.

"you need to drink water, yoongi..."

"my hand..."

confused for but a second, taehyung glanced down at yoongi's hand which now curled and uncurled its fingers repeatedly.

"hold...please..."

taehyung's heart lurched in his chest. oh, no, i don't know if i can take this. "o-okay, yoongi, but you need to drink some water first. i won't hold your hand until you do."

as though those words had sent some sort of energy boost to his muscles, yoongi began ever so slowly to lift his head, half-lidded eyes turning towards the other man. taehyung smiled in satisfaction. with one hand against the back of yoongi's head to support him, he held out the glass carefully as yoongi pulled it towards his lips.

he took several small sips of the water before pulling away again - it wasn't much, but it was better than nothing, so taehyung accepted it and placed the glass down again on the end table. and immediately his gaze fell again on yoongi's hand.

"hold, please," he muttered again.

there was something so childlike about him. of course, it was understandable not wanting to be alone when one is sick, but as adults most simply deal with it or insist they don't care or need someone by their side. but yoongi was so open about it. and it struck some place deep in taehyung's heart, that part of him that had been worrying about yoongi since he met him, and more so since he visited him. and in reality that hadn't been long at all - a mere few days. but it felt like longer.