Twisted Life, Thorny Love

14. Sick...

"Back early?" Jin asked as Taehyung and Dohyeon walked back home and Dohyeon ran into his arms. He was sure they would spend at least four hours together. "Yeah. Jungkook wasn't feeling well" Taehyung said, flopping onto the couch. "What's wrong with him?" Jin asked. "It seemed like a cold in the college, but he was kinda burning up in the park and I am sure he was feeling dizzy" Taehyung said. 

"Burning up, did you say?" Namjoon asked, coming out of the bedroom with a towel around his waist. "Yeahh. Why?" Taehyung asked. "He doesn't take tablets, man! This is bad!" Namjoon said. "He doesn't take tablets?" Taehyung asked, confused. "Yeah. Something happened last year to make him like that. He kinda has this strong feeling that he'll die if he takes any fever tablets" Jin said, sitting in the love seat with Dohyeon on his lap. 

"Why!?!" Taehyung asked, voice going a few octaves high in confusion. "It's his story to tell. His family went through horrible times the last three years. He'll tell you when he is ready" Jin said. "Ohh. Is that why he dropped out after BTech?" Taehyung asked. "Yeah. There was no other way for them. He used to do three jobs, you know! He worked at Dell in the morning, some part time job in a cafe in the evening and took weekend tutions online non-stop. His free time was very rare back then" Namjoon said sadly. 

"Ommo" Taehyung exclaimed, not exactly knowing what to say. "Wait a second, I'll just check up on him once" Namjoon said as he reached out for his phone that was lying upside down on the table. He called him four times but never received an answer. 

"He might be sleeping. Tae said he was feeling dizzy, right? We can check on him tomorrow. We'll just go to his house tomorrow instead of bringing him here" Jin said. "Bring him here??" Taehyung asked. 

"Ohh yeah, I forgot to tell you. We discussed about this in the morning and you weren't there. It's his birthday tomorrow. So we were thinking of bringing him here for a surprise. But looks like we'll have to change our plans" Jin said. 

Taehyung felt bad for Jungkook, who fell sick right before his birthday. "Shall we shift his surprise to the morning, then? It's weekend, anyways" Namjoon asked. "Yeah, of course. Tell everyone else" Jin said. 

"Yup, on it. Hey, can I add you to our group chat?" Namjoon asked Taehyung. "Sure" Taehyung said. "Done" Namjoon said after a few seconds. 

"Okay, then. Let's have dinner. We can check up on him in the morning. He will be fine, though. He generally rides out his fevers with a night's sleep" Jin said. "Ohh, that's good. But why does he live alone in the first place?" Taehyung asked again. 

"He was under extreme pressure for the past three years and is finally free of everything. So he just wanted to live alone like every other guy of his age even though he has a kid to raise" Namjoon said, reaching out for Dohyeon so that he could feed him. 

'At least it is half of the truth. I am not lying, though" he thought. 

Jin noticed how uncomfortable Namjoon was getting. "He will tell you when he is ready to share. He really went through a very hard time the last three years. It is upsetting just to think about it. Let's not spoil the mood now" Jin said. 

"Yeah, right."

.............................................

"Knock, Call or Bang?" Hoseok asked, standing right in front of Jungkook's door. The six of them, along with Dohyeon, were standing outside the door with a cake and a few party poppers and gifts. 

"Knock" all of them said and he knocked lightly, gesturing to everyone to keep their mouths shut. He knocked again, with a bit more force this time. But again, there was no response. 

They decided to call him, thinking the father and son might have gone somewhere. Yoongi pulled his phone out and dialed his number. They could hear the phone ringing inside the apartment, but Jungkook never answered. Jin and Namjoon's eyebrows furrowed as Yoongi started calling again. 

And that's when they heard it. They heard Junha's voice. The kid had been trying to wake his dad up, but started crying when he could not. Even though the cry was silent at first, it escalated when he heard his father's phone ring and had no idea how to answer it. And that was when the people outside heard it. 

They started yelling for him as they banged on the door. But instead of Jungkook, his neighbour opened her door and asked them to be quiet. "Sorry" Yoongi and Hoseok bowed to her.

"Let's just ask the security" he said and Taehyung ran down the stairs along with Jimin to ask if the security had a spare key. 

They ran back with the key that the security fortunately had and hurried to open the door. The scene that they were greeted with was heart breaking. Junha was crying on the floor beside Jungkook's couch while Jungkook kept on sleeping without acknowledging it. He had a blanket around him which did nothing to stop him from trembling violently. 

Jin and Yoongi ran to him while Hoseok went to the bedroom to get a wet towel. Taehyung and Jimin went to comfort the crying kid. Namjoon just stood there, not exactly knowing what to do. He held Dohyeon tightly so that he wouldn't go anywhere. 

"Ohh. Looks like Junha woke up alone. He has morning breath" Jimin said. "Ohh. Joon, you can do that, can't you? The same way you do it with Dohyeon" Jin said as he put the towel on Jungkook's burning forehead. 

"Okay. Give him to me" Namjoon said and took Junha into the bathroom to brush his teeth, leaving Dohyeon with Taehyung and Jimin. 

Taehyung and Namjoon waited for another hour and a half, surfing through their phones as Jin and Yoongi worked on cooling Jungkook's body down. Hoseok and Jimin had taken Dohyeon and Junha outside after Junha started crying from hunger. 

Jin suddenly realized that the poor kid might not have had anything the previous night as well and thus asked them to take him outside for breakfast as none of them were in a mood to cook right now. 

Finally, after a lot of work from Jin and Yoongi's side, Jungkook woke up, feeling exhausted even after sleeping for soo long.