Writing an essay and a research proposal while you have covid should be illegal

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Fandom: Stray Kids

Sickie: Hyunjin

Caregiver: Minho

Minho’s POV.:

I lay in bed trying to sleep after a long day of dance practice. Most of my members were already asleep considering it was almost midnight. Chan was at the studio and Hyunjin was still in the practice room. He had stayed behind to work on some moves which he struggled with earlier. I felt bad thinking of all the nights I spent practicing and remembering how exhausted and sore I had always felt the morning after. Seeing my dongsaeng do the same to himself made my heart ache but I knew there was not much I could do to stop him. Hyunjin was very stubborn when it comes to perfecting his dance skills. I don’t even think he did that bad today, he just had a bad day; that’s human. Maybe I should go and check on him, it’s not like I could sleep anyways worrying about him. I might not look like I care most of the time but I do.

Hyunjin’s POV.:

I stopped the music still panting. Somehow I was struggeling to catch my breath after repeating the same move over and over again. I had messed up during group practice today, not being able to execute the dancemoves as accurately as I would’ve liked to. The sudden quiet felt weird, the beats still ringing in my ears as I slowly walked over to my bag. I sat down next to it leaning against the wall breathing roughly through my mouth. My nose had been stuffy all day which made it hard for me to breath properly while dancing. Opening my waterbottle I took a few gulps of water feeling relieved as the cool liquid soothed my throat. It hadn’t particularly been hurting but it felt dry and scratchy as though I had had a handful of sand for breakfast. I close the bottle and press it against my sweaty forehead trying to dull the pounding in my skull. Not sure if I have a fever but I had been feeling a little off the last few days and now I was just completely wiped. Didn’t know it was possible to feel this tired. Why does the room suddenly feel so cold? Alright, just a few more run-throughs and I’ll be done. Then I can go back to the dorm, take a hot shower and just crawl into bed. I sighed pushing off the ground to start the music again. As soon as I got to my feet I feel the room spinning, my vision going swimmy as I caught myself against the wall taking deep breaths to calm the dizziness. Weakly I collected my things dropping them into my bag, any thought about continuing practice forgotten as I fought to stay upright. I switched off the light and slowly made my way back to the dorm deciding against taking a shower just wanting to crash on my bed.

Minho’s POV.:

I had just put on my shoes to go looking for Hyunjin when the front door opened and said idol ran into me. It really took me by surprise because it really seemed like he hadn’t seen me at all before our collision, though I was relieved he had finally come home. “Hey, there you are! I just wanted to go check on you.”, I said quietly as to not wake the others. No answer, he just looked at me dazed. “Hyunjin, are you ok?” That seemed to snap him out of his thoughts. “Oh, hyung. I’m sorry, didn’t know you were still up”, he rasped trying to clear his throat afterwards. “I thought you were dancing not singing. What’s up with your voice?” I was starting to get worried again when the only answer I got was a shrug before he shut the the door and leaned back against it closing his eyes. Wow, Hyunjin must be very tired. I kicked of my shoes again and grabbed his arm to guide him to our room, that’s when I felt the heat radiating off of him. Hyunjin too kicked of his shoes but when we started walking he was suddenly leaning against me heavier than I had expected. When Hyunjin started to stumble I decided to just make a beeline for the sofa where he just dropped putting his head in his hands coughing. “Jinnie, can you tell me what’s going on?” I knew I had to be gentle with him knowing he was a bit more sensitive especially when not feeling well. “I don’t fell good, hyung”, he replied with a sniffle. “Yeah, I figured that but what doesn’t feel good”-”My head and throat hurt, it’s cold and I’m just soo tired”. I took a look at his sweatsoaked shirt, of course he’d be cold walking back home in wet clothes. Tucking a few dampened strands of his long hair behind his ears I laid the back of my hand against his forhead and had my suspicion confirmed. Especially when a feverish Hyunjin leaned into my touch shivering. I took of the hoodie I had thrown over my pajama shirt and handed it to my sick bandmate who just looked at me confused. “Come on, your shirt is completely soaked, you won’t feel warm in that.” I recieved a grateful look and could tell Hyunjin attempted to smile though it turned out to be more of a grimace. “Thank you, hyungie.”, after a little struggle he managed to shed his own shirt and was comfortably cuddled up in my shirt, pulling his legs closer to his chest and curling up on one side of the sofa. After making sure he was settled I left shortly, turned on the kettle and sneaking into our room I managed to retrieve a fluffy blanket I always keep in my closet without waking a sleeping Seungmin. On my way back to the living room I poured the now boiling water over a teabag I had put into Hyunjin’s favourite cup. I returned to my ailing dongsaeng’s side and placed his tea onto the coffeetable. Hyunjin seemed to be fast asleep when I draped the blanket over his slim form. “Hyung” - “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.” - “Wasn’t asleep” - “Oh, ok”, there was a moment of awkward silence while I cursed Chan being gone. He would be able to handle this situation so much better than me. But I’m the second oldest, I’ll figure it out. I took a seat next to Hyunjin who had folded his tall body to maintain heat taking up only very little space. “I made you tea, is there anything else you need?” At this a tear rolled down his cheek, oh god, did I say something wrong? “Hey, Jinnie, hey. what’s wrong?”, I scooted closer and started rubbing his back. Inwardly I was panicking a bit as he was just crying harder. “I didn’t finish practice, I tried to get it right but I couldn’t, I just kept messing up every single time.” His voice kept cracking as he tried to keep his sobs quiet. My heart broke as I saw how much my dongsaeng beat himself up and I pulled him into my arms while continuing to rub his back. “It’s ok. You’re sick. There is no way to achieve best results, when you yourself aren’t at your best.” - “But it’s just a cold, I can’t keep holding all of you back because of something as trivial as this.” Choking on a sob Hyunjin turned away to muffel a painful sounding cough into his arm.”You are not holding anyone back. Don’t be so hard on yourself! And you know, I don’t think it’s trivial. You’re burning and parcticing so intense surely didn’t help. It’s totally legitimate to take a step back to care for yourself once in a while. Nobody would be mad at you if you came to us and asked for help or a break. Believe it or not, I was worried about you. I couldn’t sleep knowing you were practicing still.” Hyunjin sniffled giving a frown. “I’m sorry hyung, I didn’t mean to worry you and I didn’t mean to keep you up. You should probably go to bed.” He started to get worked up all over again. This was absolutely not how I meant it. What do I do now, his fever is making him so emotional I doubt I’ll manage to talk this out with him tonight. “No, I don’t mind staying up with you, I just wanted to show you that we care. And how could I not be worried? That’s my job as your hyung. You however should go to bed or you won’t get any better.” - “You do? Can I just stay here? I’m to tired to move.” His voice had gotten even more hoarse from crying. I reached for the blanket that has slipped down to his waist, pull it up and wrap it back around his shoulders. Shifting around slightly I manage to get us into a more comfortable position with Hyunjin still in my arms. “What are you doing, hyung?”- “You wanted to stay here” - “Doesn’t mean you have to” he replied with a yawn. “Yes I do. Go to sleep Jinnie.” - “Good night hyung”

Noone’s POV.:

When Chan got home two hours later he walked in to an adorable sight of his two dongsaengs cuddled up on the living room sofa. Soft, congested snores could be heard from Hyunjin but Minho didn’t seem to be bothered at all.

“And you always say you don’t care, huh. I know you do.”