"Why can't you cook like this, grandpa?" 

That voice sounds familiar... and unwanted. 

Groaning, Austin coughed roughly a few times before forcing one of his aching eyes open. The other was still pressed against his pillow, and he had little strength to bother wasting moving in order to get a better view. Not that he wanted it. 

Ike stood in the doorway to his room, holding a bowl of food that he just knew Roh-Ahn had made for him, not Ike. 

Wait. He said grandpa? 

Sitting upright far too quickly, Austin felt his head spin and teetered for a second, then fell right back down. His head flopped against his pillow, amplifying the headache his fever was working hard on. 

"Don't instigate him right now, Ike. He's already in bad shape." Wan-Nu said in English, making Austin grateful that the guy had thought about not using Korean around him... at least while his brain felt like a pile of overheated mush. 

When Wan-Nu came into view, having stepped out of the bathroom with a few small damp towels folded in his hands, Austin felt confused but relieved at the same time. 

He would have been absolutely furious with himself if Roh-Ahn had been the one taking care of him. 

"Where is Roh? Is he okay?" Austin rasped, leaning over his bed in time to nearly hack up a lung. 

Thankfully, he had nothing in his system since he'd thrown up hours ago, but his throat sure burned once he was finally able to return to resting on his back. He'd coughed so much already that it was practically raw. 

"He's at work. He got so worried about you that he was going to try and take care of you anyways, even if his health would most likely deteriorate from doing so. I told him to not be stupid and just call the hospital to send out an ambulance, but my darn nephew couldn't bare the thought of not being able to at least check in on you regularly, and he can't go anywhere near a hospital unless it's an emergency." Wan-Nu said as he knelt down besides Austin's bed and began pressing one of the cool cloths to his forehead. 

Just the temperature from the cloth tapping along his overheated skin made Austin sigh in relief. 

"What time is it?" He whispered, knowing darn well that he could turn his head and try to read his alarm clock, but also knowing that he was likely going to pass out with just the simple action. He was barely hanging on to consciousness already. 

Wan-Nu frowned and glanced toward the alarm clock, but before he could reply they all heard the front door open and the sound of a stumbling limp head their way. 

Austin couldn't help the huge grin that covered his pale face as he looked toward the bedroom door. His vision blurred with the action a little, but when he saw Roh-Ahn's head peek just a tiny bit inside his room, Austin nearly melted. 

Thank god he looks amazing. Roh-Ahn's face was a little flush, but it was clear that he'd been moving as quickly as he could manage to get back home. His eyes were bright and the smile Austin had dreamed about waking up to every day since he'd been sick made his heart beat excitedly in his aching chest. 

"Aus, you're awake!" Roh-Ahn nearly shouted, looking so relieved that Austin just knew he had to try and act like he wasn't feeling as bad as he actually was. 

With a good deal of effort, he shoved himself up against the pillows and smiled. 

"Sorry for worrying you, Roh. I'm still not feeling that great, so don't come in, but thank you for getting me some help. I was feeling pretty horrible there for a while." 

The look he got from Wan-Nu was a bit hard to read so he decided to push it aside in his mind and instead licked his lips and gave a slight nod toward the kitchen. 

"Would you mind heating me up something that won't be too hard on my stomach? I'm not sure how well I'll be able to keep down food right now." He said, hoping to give Roh-Ahn something to do so that he could feel like he was helping too. It was obvious that he desperately wanted to come in, but that was an absolute no. 

When Roh-Ahn nodded, disappearing a second later, Austin relaxed back against the pillows and sighed, closing his eyes to the sound of the front door opening again. 

No soliciting...

"Who the hell are you?" Ike asked before Austin could hear him grunting, as if he were shoved out of the way. 

The sound of Max's voice meeting ears drew Austin's eyes open wide and toward the door. His brother had never come when he'd gotten sick. Granted, he'd never called him, but still. Wait. Why is he here? I didn't call him and no one knows his number. 

When his brother stormed into the room looking quite out of breath, a scowl on his face as his eyes zeroed in on him, Austin fidgeted. 

"Hey... what are you doing here?" He asked, not bothering to sugarcoat his words or change his harsh tone. He was still miffed at his brother. 

Wait. If he had just barged in, after I'd made him leave his spare key here last time... 

"Roh-Ahn contacted you and left the door unlocked?" He asked in disbelief. 

He would severely harm his brother if he had said anymore horrible things to his boyfriend. 

Max nodded, swinging a heavy-looking backpack off his shoulders and dropping it on the floor beside Austin's bed. He then knelt down and reached over, checking his forehead as if Austin was a little kid. 

"You idiot, why didn't you go to the hospital if you were feeling like shit?" His brother started, making Austin groan and turn his head away, closing his sore eyes. He wasn't going to argue. His throat already hurt enough, and Max was never one to give up on an argument until he'd won it. 

I surrender. You win. 

"Damn, you aren't even trying. Your boy was right, you are sick as hell." He said as he pulled out several things that sounded like pill bottles from his bag. 

Why Roh, why? 

"Wait. What did you just say?" Austin rasped, coughing terribly for a few seconds before a glass of warm water was pressed against his lips. He sipped carefully for a few moments before he could manage to catch his breath. 

"I said, your boy. Dude, you think I'm blind? We grew up together. I know you, and I know you don't get defensive over shit unless you seriously give a damn. You're head over heels for that Spanish guy." Max said, making Austin purse his lips. 

"He's Korean." He corrected his brother. 

"Whatever. Why the hell didn't you call me?" He asked, finally drawing Austin's attention back to him, making him open his tired eyes. 

"Because I was extremely mad at you." He whispered, not daring to talk much louder in case he got another itch in his throat and started coughing again. 

When his brother tugged off the gold wrapper of a small lollipop and shoved it toward his mouth, Austin wanted to turn away, but he knew what it was and couldn't decline anything that would help his hurting throat. 

It was a ginger candy. Their parents had always kept them on hand in case one of them wasn't feeling so well. It really helped sooth sore throats and was just sweet enough to not make their younger selves spit them out and throw them under the bed like everything else their parents had tried on them. 

Wan-Nu took that moment to step out of the room, pulling Ike with him, who had been lingering in the doorway with a fork in his mouth. The awkward silence stretched for several minutes before Max sighed loudly and rolled his eyes. 

"I'm sorry, alright? I was an ass to your boyfriend, okay? I still don't like the idea but I shouldn't have said what I had." Max said, surprising Austin with the apology. 

He didn't have to like the idea of them being together, but he had been way too harsh on Roh-Ahn. 

"Apologize to him." He said quietly, making his brother glare at the floor and scratch the back of his neck. 

"Seriously? You can't just accept it and tell him later?" He asked, clearly not wanting to say it to who really needed to hear it. 

When Austin just returned his glare as his brother looked back up at him, Max grumbled under his breath and got up, stomping out of the room and turning toward the kitchen. 

"Sorry I was an ass Rowan!" He yelled far louder than necessary. 

If he could move his arm decently, Austin would have smacked himself in the face. He was about to tell his brother off, again, when he heard Roh-Ahn answer him in Korean. 

"You are forgiven for being what you are!" 

Unable to help himself, Austin leaned onto his side to keep from choking on the lollipop as he burst into laughter. The candy dropped from his lips to one of the pillows but he couldn't keep himself from laughing, even as he began coughing badly. 

It took him a full glass of water and some very toxic glares from his brother to calm himself down enough to keep from coughing more. He then returned the candy to his mouth and tossed the dirty pillow off the bed. 

"The hell did he just say to me? Am I going to have to go steal his walking stick to feel better?" Max growled out, making Austin roll his eyes. 

"He said that you are forgiven for being what you are." Austin said, his lips curving into a smirk, no matter how hard he tried to hide it. He was proud of himself for catching the entire sentence with his muttled mind, and of Roh-Ahn for saying it. 

Max didn't seem pleased at all, though as he ooked toward the kitchen with a determined stare. 

"Hey Rowan, come here!" He called loudly.

That's not his name.

When Roh-Ahn appeared in the doorway holding a container of something he'd clearly just warmed up with a hesitant smile on his face, eyes raised to Max's, Austin had a bad feeling immediately begin to twist his stomach into knots. 

"Don't do it. Whatever the hell you're thinking." Austin warned his brother, who didn't seem to have heard him. He swung his arm around Roh-Ahn's shoulders and pulled him too close, then leaned over as he spoke. 

"You're not too bad, and I can totally deal with you being a... gay guy, see?" He said as he tilted his head just enough to press his lips against Roh-Ahn's for less than a second. He then disappeared toward the living room area, a bit of pep in his step, as if he had just fixed the whole situation he'd caused before instead of making it ten times worse. 

You. Are. Dead. 

You. Are. So. Dead. 

As soon as I can fucking stand on my own again! 

(Max... you are not getting a story. Get out. I have enough things to write. *shoves him toward the door*)