after the accident, jeno helped jaemin to his bedroom. he laid the boy onto the soft mattress, raising his upper body using a pillow.

"does it still hurt?" jeno asked.

"yeah..." jaemin replied, still breathing with difficulty.

"let's take your shirt off, i'll apply some ointment so that no bruise form there."

jeno helped jaemin taking his shirt off before walking to the bathroom to get the first aid kit.

jaemin wasn't very comfortable being half naked in front of jeno, but at that point, if it could help jaemin feeling better, he wouldn't hesitate to stay half naked forever.

jeno camfe back after a minute, closing the door behind him and sitting on the bed next to jaemin.

"jisung is really careless." he spoke, uncapping the ointment.

"he's young..." jaemin replied, eyes jeno's hands.

"yeah, but he knows you've been sick... and he wasn't even careful around you."

jaemin cuckled.

"i was sick. i'm not some disabled person..."

jaemin didn't even know why he said this.

surely to reassure himself.

first, he was sick. and more than being sick himself, his heart was.

and considering his sickness, he would sooner or later become a disabled person.

but did he care at the moment? no.

it would feel good to hear someone tell him that he was fully capable.

"sure." jeno replied. "but he could have seriously hurt you."

"it's okay..." jaemin replied as jeno squeezed a great amount of ointment on two of his fingers.

"it's not, jaemin. you should be taken care of."

jaemin's cheeks dusted pink.

jeno's and his relationship had always been confusing for the younger.

sure, they were friends and they shared happy moments.

but there was also something else. something stronger.

jeno took care of jaemin as he would take care of a lover.

in his eyes, jaemin was like a rare and fragile pearl.

he would always make sure everything was alright with jaemin.

and jaemin enjoyed it.

it felt good to be taken care of. it felt good having someone that cared for you.

"isn't it what you're doing at the moment? taking care of me?" jaemin asked.

"of course."

jaemin looked as jeno's fingers approached his bare chest.

unconsciously, his heartbeat fastened in his chest, making him feel out of breath again very soon.

"ohh!" jaemin exclaimed once jeno's coated fingers entered in contact with his skin.

the older boy immediately pulled his hand back, looking at jaemin with worried eyes.

"i'm sorry. i hurt you." he said guiltily.

"no, no. it's just... huh... it's cold..." jaemin told fidgeting with his fingers.

let's be honest, it had hurt. but at that point, even a feather being settled on his chest would hurt.

anyway, seeing the guilty look in jeno's eyes had made jaemin feel so bad that he felt the urge to lie.

but let's be honest a second time, jeno's fingers were freezing, and the ointment didn't help to warm them up.

"oh... yeah... huh... i'm not sure i'll be able to warm them up." jeno replied.

"yeah, it's okay. i'm going to get used to it." jaemin replied, pulling jeno's hand towards his naked chest.

jeno delicately placed his hand on jaemin's chest again, making jaemin squirm before relaxing as the older boy massaged the sore spot.

jeno smiled, looking at jaemin smiling with his eyes closed, enjoying the little attention he was receiving from his hyung.

"there." jeno told after a few minutes of massaging.

jaemin opened his eyes, looking at jeno capping the ointment tube.

"thank you." he told, already feeling his chest warming up, meaning that the ointment was working.

"you're welcome." jeno stood up. "now rest a bit. you need it."

jeno opened the door and found jisung standing there with a frown.

"renjun told me to apologise." he spoke. "i wasn't careful and i hurt jaemin hyung..."

jeno allowed the boy to enter his bedroom as he approached renjun who was standing a few metres away with his hands on his hips.

"acting like a mom. i see..." jeno smirked, washing his hands full of greasy ointment in the sink.

"shut up, lee." renjun spat.

the chinese boy waited for a few seconds before speaking again. but this time, he was much calmer, almost worried.

"is jaemin okay?"

"yeah." jeno replied. "the shock of jisung's head added to his angina got him dizzy and out of breath for a few minutes. but he's feeling better now. i put some ointment on him."

renjun nodded, taking his phone out and checking the nct group chat to see if there was something important that had been said.

"is it me or jaemin seems tired?" jeno asked.

renjun lifted his head from his phone. "he was sick. and angina isn't something light."

"yeah, but that was more than a week ago. he seems weird now."

renjun took some time to think about the past days.

it is true that jaemin used to be one of the mood makers of the group, always loud and cheering on everybody.

these days, he was more sulking than cheering. and he was awfully silent and slow. it's as if his bubbly persona had left his body.

"now that you say it... it's true that he's been in retreat lately." renjun told, meeting jeno's worried eyes.

"i don't know what could be wrong..."

"his angina?" renjun asked.

"perhaps. but so long after?"

"i don't know..."

the two boys stayed silent for a few minutes, thinking about the possible reasons for jaemin's change of behaviour.

"oh, yes." renjun broke the silence. "i forgot to tell you about that."

"about what?"

"around a week after he went to the doctor... one night, he woke up. i don't know what he did, but he got out of the dorm. for long, because i wanted to wait for him inside, and i fell asleep. he told me he had seen his mother because she missed him." renjun explained. "maybe it was something else."

"it could be..." jeno nodded.

"anyway." renjun said. "we need to find out what happened to him."

"we really do." jeno approved.

"and quickly. before it becomes even worse."