He didn't realize just how important the immune system was. Or how much it sucked when it wasn't working properly.

No one had ever told him the importance, the only thing he knew for sure was that his immune system was the reason he was allergic to lychee. He only knew that because the doctor, as well as Dae-Hyun, had explained it thoroughly to him.

But it was like life had decided to teach him the importance of his immune system the hard way.

His head was killing him. The fever, which was apparently from him catching the fever virus that only newborns get, was sapping his energy and mental fortitude. He knew that if he had been healthy, he would have been able to deal with the pain effortlessly. But with everything going on, every little ache and pain felt magnified.

"Ijin," Cold fingertips were pressing against his bare shoulder, and he jolted in response," Please," He cracked open his eyes and stubbornly turned away from Dayeon when he saw the glass of water in her hands," You have to drink something."

He just groaned in response.

The sores that had invaded his mouth and throat made everything and anything painful to swallow. Even water would sting terribly, the sores on his gums and throat hurting the most.

It was bold to assume that he could keep anything down, the stomach bug has been making it difficult to intake anything. Even then, he could feel a pressure at the back of his throat, as if his body was just waiting for the chance to expel his meager stomach contents.

The last time he let them coax him into drinking some water, he ended up throwing up everything into the toilet.

As one might expect, stomach acid stung a lot more than water when it came to the sores. The ear and sinus infection had made his head feel like it was full of cotton and it was terrible. The combination of everything made his head throb each time he gagged and coughed.

Last he heard, the only saving grace was that his shoulder was healing perfectly fine. Though he was sure that was due to Dayeon and grandfather diligently changing his bandages to prevent infection. But with the way all of his energy had been sapped, to the point where he was too weak to undress, he was just laying in bed shirtless, shivering under the thin cover. His shoulder was the warmest part of his body, no doubt due to the bandages and sling that held his arm in place.

"Come on," There was a faint tone of frustration in her voice that he related to," Just enough to take the pain killer."

He groaned, the mere air passing through his throat aggravating the sores further," N-no," Everything hurt so much," I'll just t-throw up." The pain killer couldn't be taken on an empty stomach, but he couldn't eat anything because his mouth and throat hurt too much. Even if he managed to swallow the pill, it would just team up with the stomach bug and make him throw up.

"Just some water than," Dayeon said gently, trying her best to convince her surprisingly stubborn brother," Just a little bit."

She knew that she had lost the battle when Ijin made eye contact with her, and nearly glared at her as he said no one more time. His face was pale, his cheeks a bright red as his body tried to fight off the multiple infections and viruses he had contracted. But none of that managed to make him any less stubborn.

He was propped up against his multiple pillows and plushies, the thin sheet pulled up to his shoulders since they couldn't afford to give him a thicker blanket because of the fever.

She could tell that he was suffering. He tried his best to hide the pain, but he couldn't hide the winces each time he swallowed, or when one of the sores on his lips cracked open.

But at the same time, he needed something in his stomach.

She held up the bowl of frozen grapes, the clinking of the grapes against the glass catching his attention," What about a frozen grape?" he stared at her, and she gave him a few more seconds to properly comprehend before she continued," It'll numb your mouth."

That was enough to convince him.

He tried his best, but in the end, she had to help him sit up. Pulling on his hand until he was sitting as straight as he could.

She watched with bated breath as he slowly put a frozen grape into his mouth, hoping that he wouldn't gag like he had done earlier with the water.

He chewed slowly, sucking on the frozen fruit as it melted in his mouth, he swallowed and sighed in relief," Thanks." His voice sounded slightly better, and he was reaching for another one that he carefully popped into his mouth.

She smiled, happy that Ijin was able to get a meager source of water and relief through the grapes. Now that she knew that Ijin was able to eat them, she got up to get him more.

It wasn't ideal, she would have preferred that he actually drank some water or ate the crackers, but it was better than nothing.

She was scooping more grapes into the bowl, her attention being drawn to the ringing doorbell.

She rose her eyebrow when she looked at the time. It was almost evening, a little bit later and her brother sicker than she would like.

The doorbell rang again, and at their insistence, she peeked through the peephole.

Hrm…

It was late.

But who knows, maybe they'll convince Ijin into sleeping, drinking, and/or sleeping.

Again, Ijin was surprisingly stubborn.

He forced himself to stay sitting up, his body demanded that he get some sleep, even as he slowly chewed on the frozen fruit. He savored the way the cold soothed the sores in his mouth and throat, as well as settling his stomach. It was a small improvement, but it was enough to make him more comfortable.

His eyes drifted close from pure exhaustion before he forced them back open.

His brain had a horrible habit of plaguing his dreams with nightmares when he was sick, especially when he had fevers. Thankfully, between the coughs, stomachache, as well as the other aches and pains, he hadn't been getting much sleep either way.

He was planning to sleep as much as he could without having a nightmare, but that meant that it wasn't going to be much in the first place.

"Wow," He looked up at the doorway, and felt way too tired to be surprised at the presence of his friends at the doorway," You look like shit man."

And without a single ounce of hesitation.

He promptly flipped off Jaehyung, far too tired and sluggish to try and think of a comeback.

He wasn't surprised when they just started chuckling, Jaehyung, Hyeokjin, and Seokju taking that as their cue to come in and make themselves comfortable.

"Seriously though," Seokju said seriously, settling down on his desk hair after dragging it closer to his bed," When's the last time you drank something?"

He hummed tiredly, waiting until he swallowed the thawed fruit before he carefully answered," I can't keep anything down."

They grimaced," Damn. Stomach bug?" Jaehyung asked morosely.

That, along with other infections that his immune system was too weak to fight off.

He nodded, cringing at the way the movement caused his head to throb again.

His friends took that as a cue to talk quieter, switching on the lamp and turning off the ceiling light so the room would be dimmer and easier on his eyes.

The grapes had settled his stomach, the pressure in the back of his throat had disappeared and the nausea was gone. His head was still pounding, but just that minute change was enough to make him feel better. The quiet background muttering of the other's voices almost lulled him to sleep. The background noises giving his exhaustion a chance to grab on and pull him under.

He felt himself listing off to the side, but before he could even try to steady himself, there was a hand pushing him back onto the bed. Taking care that they didn't press down on his shoulder, they gently pushed him back onto the pillows and plushies he had been propped up against for the last two days. The cold presence of the bowl left as it was taken off his lap.

Half his mind was bristling at the fact that he was so weak and lethargic, to the point that he couldn't keep himself up.

But the other half was thankful that someone had helped him and kept him from tumbling off his bed like a fool. Even more so when he felt someone pull the thin, but warm blanket up to his shoulders, further comforting him.

Jaehyung passed the bowl to the others as he motioned for them to leave. Silently communicating that he would keep an eye on Ijin for the time being.

They ended up staying for a few more hours, having small talk with Dayeon and their grandfather as Seokju helped her catch up on her homework, while Hyeokjin helped their grandfather around the house. Their help was allowing Ijin's family to take a much-needed break as they caught up on everything else.

"If it makes you feel better," Seokju said as he showed Dayeon the correct answer, ( that he looked up)" I'm not good at dividing trinomials either."

"Really?" it looked like the confession had made her feel better as she erased her answer and her work," I thought you were good at studying?"

He hummed, explaining where she went wrong before continuing," I'm better at chemistry and English."

They were moving on to the next question.

"No!" They jumped, their heads snapping towards Ijin's bedroom," I won' do it!" Seokju was the first one out of his chair and ran into the bedroom, the others following him closely.

It was clear that Ijin's fever had spiked, his eyes bright with fever and hazy as he struggled against Jaehyung who was trying to keep him from hurting himself. Seokju rushed over to help Jaehyung to help hold down Ijin, who was still putting up a decent fight in his fevered state and carefully pushed him down onto the bed.

Ijin squirmed under their hands," N-no," His words were slurred," 'm not h'rtin' h'r."

What?

They exchanged looks, realizing that Dayeon was off getting her grandfather, leaving the three of them with Ijin. He was looking at everything he could, glancing over their faces as if he couldn't quite grasp that they were hovering over him.

"Juss' a kid…can' h'rt us."

Hyeokjin rushed forward," Hey hey," his voice would have been calm if he had been able to hide the panicked note in his tone," Ijin. You're here in Korea. Major Kang brought you here. Remember?"

Ijin slumped back into the bed, exhausted from the brief struggle. Becoming complacent as he reminded them that Ijin trusted the major with all of his being," Major?"

Hyeokjin sent some looks towards Seokju and Jaehyung, motioning for them to let go of Ijin," Yeah." they slowly let go of Ijin, feeling relieved when he remained limp against his bed," Do you remember?"

Ijin made a muted sound in the back of his throat, swallowing heavily for a few seconds.

"Ijin?" Seokju asked quietly, furrowing his brows at the way Ijin was slowly losing his color.

With a speed that surprised them all, Ijin sat up, his free hand wrapped firmly around his mouth as the very distinctive sound of a suppressed gag escaped him.

After nearly lunging for it, Jaehyung pushed the nearby trashcan into Ijin's lap. Ijin heaved into the bucket, and he dry heaved into the trashcan for a few minutes.

Even though Jaehyung had moved as fast as he could, it was clear that he hadn't moved fast enough, bile was dripping off Ijin's fingers and onto the bedsheet. Seokju found himself supporting his feverish friend once he was done gagging, Ijin trying his best to catch his breath among the coughs and groans. His arm was wrapped around Ijin's shoulders, the position allowing Ijin to slump against him and lean his head against his shoulder.

Seokju kept him still as Dayeon nudged the thermometer into place before she gently held his mouth close.

It was silent as they waited for the thermometer to beep, all of them waiting for the reading on his temperature.

"Damn," Dayeon sighed heavily, prompting the others to lean over her shoulder to take a look at the tiny screen," 102.9. I'll go get some more towels."

Ijin visibly shuttered when they pulled the bedsheet away but was still complacent as his grandfather tenderly cleaned his hand off, cleaning up the bile that had gotten on his fingers.

The problem was when they started lay cold towels onto his wrist and ankles.

He squirmed, weakly kicking his legs to knock off the cold towels, but was easily restrained. A pitiful whine escaped their friend when a towel was laid upon his neck and chest, pulling at their heartstrings when Ijin would try his best to take off the cold towels, jolting each time a cold towel was laid upon his feverish skin.

"I'ss col'." Ijin's words were still slurred and weak," h-hate the col'." He muttered weakly, seemingly giving up when his grandfather put a towel onto his forehead, covering his eyes in the process.

It felt… wrong to see Ijin so vulnerable.

They were used to seeing their strong and immovable friend. The friend that didn't even complain after Yeongchan accidentally knocked the breath out of him when they were fooling around.

It was like he was in the hospital again.

Seokju almost blinked in surprise when he felt a hand wrap around his. It was clammy, and his grip was weak, but the moment he tried to pull away, his grip would tighten. Practically asking him to stay.

"He does that," Dayeon said quietly, placing a new bedsheet at the bottom of his bed for their convenience, her eyes lingering on Ijin's hand as it wrapped around Seokju's," He won't remember. We think it's because he was alone after the accident."

That…

That sounded about right…

The thought of young Ijin, being in a foreign land with no one to help him, sent shivers down his spine. A pang in his stomach as he realized how lonely and scared his friend must have been.

Seokju accepted his fate.

A whimper made him wake up, and the hand around his own tightening helped him wake up even more.

It was dim, but Seokju could barely see Ijin frowning in his sleep, the towel had been knocked off at some point and was laying on the pillow.

He pressed his hand against Ijin's forehead and cheeks and was relieved to see that while it was still present, his fever had dropped. After wringing out the towel, he tried to place it onto Ijin's forehead again, only for him to jerk awake as soon as it came into contact with his skin.

It was relieving when Ijin made eye contact with him," Seokju?" his voice was groggy and rough with sleep. He had finally let go of Seokju's hand so he could rub at his face and like Dayeon had said, Ijin didn't seem to realize that he had been holding his hand.

"How do you feel?" Seokju whispered, being courteous to the headache that he was sure was still plaguing his friend.

Ijin hummed tiredly and groaned as he changed position," had a nightmare."

Ok. Maybe Ijin wasn't completely awake after all.

"Yeah?" deciding that the fever was low, he spread the bed sheet over his friend, almost smiling when Ijin pulled it around him, turning onto his good shoulder as he got comfortable.

"Yeah. Dreamt that I forgot you guys. I-" Ijin yawned, showing his exhaustion as he propped his head onto one of his plushies," don't wanna forget you guys." He quietly muttered out, quickly falling back to sleep after that, ending on such a heartfelt comment like it was nothing.

His chest tightened at Ijin's comment and he had to try his best to keep the blush off his face. It was rare for Ijin to say such comments, but when he did, it was like he went for the throat.

He awkwardly cleared his throat.

He better get some sleep.