Chenle and NCT Dream - Not Wanting To Be Alone
It wasn’t that Chenle didn’t like living alone. In fact he loved it - the independence, no loud, messy roommates, extra space. The list could go on and on. But there was one caveat: Chenle didn’t like living alone when he was sick.
He hadn’t woken up feeling his best but, after a long day of filming, he was now feeling absolutely pitiful. He had secretly hoped that somebody would notice how pale he looked or how he shivered as chills washed up and down his spine but nobody had. Chenle couldn’t blame them though. They were all exhausted from back to back schedules and focused on themselves as they should be. And although Chenle was too proud to come out and admit that he was sick he also was dreading the idea of going home to an empty house.
“I’m going to come over tonight” Chenle told Jeno as they packed their belongings. It was far from being out of the ordinary for Chenle to invite himself over leaving Jeno none the wiser to his dongsaeng’s condition. Jeno only nodded, confirming that he had heard Chenle as they walked to the van to head home.
*~*~*~*~*~
“Please, can I shower first?” Chenle whined as the rest of the members groaned.
“If you really wanted to shower first then you should have gone home then came over here” Renjun replied with a shrug as he stepped into the washroom. They had all agreed on the order to shower earlier that morning before they knew that Chenle would be coming back with them so Chenle would simply have to wait his turn.
Accepting defeat he flopped down on the far end of the couch with his arms crossed, refusing to make eye contact with any of the other members. They all took notice, of course, but they were all too exhausted to say or do anything about it, a fact that only further frustrated Chenle. He knew he was being petulant and childish but he didn’t care. He was sick and he wanted to be grumpy and he wanted somebody to coddle him. And he wanted somebody to do it without him having to ask. Was that too much to ask?
“Want to play a game?” Jisung asked quietly, finally breaking the awkward silence after several minutes. Chenle just shook his head and rested his head on the arm rest. “Well then you can’t say I didn’t try” Jisung responded as he left Chenle, opting instead to wait for his shower in his room.
*~*~*~*~*~
As time wore on Chenle’s frustration was quickly giving way to exhaustion and discomfort much to his dismay. Jaemin was the first to sit down next to him, very much of the opinion that things were only awkward if you allowed them be awkward.
Running a towel through his freshly washed hair, Jaemin joined Chenle on the couch. “Stop being crabby. Everybody will be done showering soon enough. Jisung was the last after me, then it’ll be your turn.”
Chenle didn’t acknowledge a word that Jaemin said and burrowed his face further into the couch. Sure, he was still sour over having to wait for a shower despite how sick he was feeling, but at this point his eyes and head were pulsing with pain and the sound of Jaemin’s voice only made it worse.
Jaemin rolled his eyes. “If you were going to ignore everybody and be this way then you should have just gone back to your house. There’s more than one of us here, we had to learn how to share. Sorry that you’ve never had to learn that yourself.”
They were words spoken out of annoyance, Chenle understood that. But it still didn’t make them any less painful. He could feel tears welling up in his eyes, making him far too embarrassed to raise his head now. After a few moments Jaemin stood up and headed to bed, no longer interested in trying to remedy the situation with Chenle.
*~*~*~*~*~
By the time it was finally Chenle’s turn in the shower the rest of the members had already turned in. They all knew a volatile situation when they saw one and frankly nobody wanted to deal with it.
The silence made Chenle even more emotional than he already was. On one hand, without the chatter and sounds of the others rummaging around the kitchen the ache in his head had dulled a bit. But on the other hand it was an obvious reminder that he royally pissed off his friends.
No matter how high he turned the water temperature up he couldn’t seem to ward off the chill that had been coming in waves through the day. He trembled as the water poured over his head and his tears ran down his face. He couldn’t remember a time when he had felt so sick or when he had felt so alienated from the very people that he was closest to.
Chenle considered leaving once he was dressed. It was clear that there would be no games, no movies, no hanging out and joking around. The silence of his empty home would have been greatly preferred over the silence of an apartment full of people that were too annoyed to talk to him. Despite that, however, his body carried him in the opposite direction from the front door. Instead he found himself subconsciously gravitating toward a certain hyung’s bedroom and opening the door.
Standing in the open doorway he laid his eyes on his sleeping hyung, unsure if he should wake him or turn around and walk out before he could do any further damage for the night. But his desperate need for comfort pushed the rest of his thoughts away as he wandered toward the bed and pulled back the blankets to crawl in.
He could feel his hyung flinch in surprise before he rolled over to inspect who had taken up residence in his bed with him. For a moment Chenle was convinced that he was about to get kicked out, but then his hyung’s eyes focused.
“Chenle, what’s wrong?”
He immediately felt comfort from the Mandarin words being spoken by Renjun. Chenle didn’t respond but snuggled in closer to Renjun. Renjun leaned away from his touch making Chenle gasp lightly until he realized that he was just flicking on the small light on his bedside table.
“You’re eyes are red and puffy” Renjun said, his voice laced with concern. “What’s going on? Why are you crying?”
And then the tears started again.
Chenle hadn’t meant to start crying but between the care in Renjun’s tone and the relief he felt to have somebody paying attention to him, he lost what little control his illness had left him over his emotions.
This time Renjun sat up in bed and cupped Chenle’s face in his hands, trying to get a better look at him.
“Lele you feel so warm. Are you feeling okay?” Renjun asked, moving a hand to Chenle’s burning forehead. Chenle simply shook his head in response.
Renjun quickly pulled the covers back and left his bed before immediately returning with a thermometer.
“I’m so sorry” Chenle choked out, followed by a sob. Renjun shook his head as he ran a hand across Chenle’s cheek, catching a rogue tear.
“It’s okay. It’s no big deal. Let me check your temperature” Renjun interjected before giving Chenle a moment to catch his breath so he could slip the thermometer under his tongue.
After a couple of beeps Renjun checked the reading and sighed. “No wonder you were so cranky. You’re at 38.5°. Did you take anything?”
Chenle shook his head in response before leaving once again, this time returning with a glass of water and some tablets.
“These will help get your fever down” Renjun said quietly as he shook a couple tablets into Chenle’s outstretched hand.
It took a few more minutes for Chenle to calm down enough to drift back to sleep but, once he was finally out, Renjun dreaded the idea of waking him again by lying down next to him. Instead he grabbed an extra blanket from his closet and headed for the couch.
*~*~*~*~*~
Jeno was the first one up the following morning and was surprised to find Renjun asleep in the common area. Renjun was quickly woken by the sound of Jeno filling up the coffee pot.
“Sorry to wake you” Jeno said gruffly, running a hand through his disheveled hair. “Why’re you sleeping out here?”
Renjun was about to respond but was interrupted the sound of an opening door immediately followed by an exhausted and flushed Chenle entering the kitchen. Jeno smiled sadly, immediately understanding what was going on, and stretched his arms out allowing Chenle to collapse heavily against his chest before wrapping his arms around him tightly.
“I’m sorry for being an ass” Chenle muttered into Jeno’s sweater. Jeno rubbed his back a few times before responding.
“Don’t apologize. But please tell us when you’re sick next time” Jeno said before clutching Chenle by the shoulders and looking him over. “Clearly no work for you today” he said with a degree of finality that had Renjun nodding in agreement.
“Hyung will get you back to bed, I’ll make you some tea” Renjun added, indicating for Jeno to put Chenle back to bed in his room.
*~*~*~*~*~
By the time Chenle’s tea was ready Jeno had gotten Chenle comfortable in Renjun’s bed again before checking his temperature and confirming he was still running a fever.
“Take a few sips, then back to sleep” Renjun instructed as he took a seat next to Chenle on the bed and handed him the mug. Once Renjun was satisfied that Chenle had had enough to drink he returned it to his bedside table and allowed Chenle to lay down next to him.
“I don’t want to be alone” Chenle said quietly, resting his head against Renjun’s chest.
“I’m not going anywhere” Renjun replied, running a hand against Chenle’s shoulder. “Now it’s time to sleep.”