nothing's gonna hurt you baby - cigarettes after sex
a throaty groan pierced through the silence of the night. it took a mere second for minghao to jolt awake and to see whatever had caused junhui to make a sound like that. and what he saw next was heartbreaking.
junhui lay on his side, back facing minghao and clutching his stomach as something was visibly making him squirm in physical pain. muffled sobs were only scarcely audible as the elder tried to silence his sounds as much as possible, not wanting to grow concern on the boy who lay beside him.
yet he didn't notice that minghao was actually staring helplessly at the scenario that happened right in front of his eyes.
"jun..?" minghao whispered, carefully reaching for his shoulder to reassure him in some way.
"h-hao? i-" junhui let out another sound, not able to suppress it. "i.. i didn't wake you up r-right?" even in a situation like this, where he was literally squirming in pain, he worried more about minghao's well being than about his own.
"jun, what's going on?"
finally, junhui tilted his head and allowed himself to look up at minghao. it was for the first time minghao noticed the agony that clouded in his eyes. especially since junhui was one to never speak his sorrows out loud to his loved ones, including minghao.
even now, he refused to tell what was going on. even with the current state of his body.
"i- just don't feel v-very well."
"then what do you feel, please talk to me." minghao tried to stay as calm as he was capable of, not wanting to worsen junhui's symptoms. it wasn't time for him to panic now. especially not in the middle of the night, when all doctors were fast asleep and minghao felt the responsibility to take care of him.
"i'm just a little nauseous.. and i- i feel like i ha..have a stomach ache.." junhui tightened the grip around his stomach, starting to cough really heavily. "b-bathroom.." he managed to stammer out, rolling back on his side as he tried using his last bit of strength to push himself up from the bed.
minghao took the hint and rushed over junhui's side of the bed, trying to hold the boy up around his waist. yet still, junhui refused minghao's offer, wanting to prove that he wasn't weak. junhui barely even noticed himself swatting away minghao's arm and with that declining his help.
"pl-please.. i can do it on my own." he muttered our, though once he was released from minghao's grip he had to reach for the wall to keep his balance.
"jun please. let me be there for you." at this point, tears were shimmering in the corners of minghao's eyes as he desperately tried to help junhui with whatever was causing his sudden pain.
a weak nod was enough for minghao to grab a hold around his waist again, quick but gently guiding the boy to the bathroom. junhui made his steps as fast as possible, seemingly in a hurry to reach the room.
and once minghao opened the door for him, junhui simply dropped his body on the floor and didn't even care to flick the light switch on, crawling over to the toilet as he started throwing up unexpectedly. worriedly, minghao turned the light on and rushed over to the poor boy, caressing his back and brushing through his hair to keep it from falling in his face and with that getting vomit all over it.
"shh, it's okay.. i'm here.." minghao whispered, staying close by junhui's side as he tried to reassure the boy in some sort of way.
blood clots dripped down the inner side of the toilet as junhui kept on coughing his lungs out, grabbing onto the seat as if his life depend on it. with every break he took he had to gasp for oxygen to remain somewhat calm, his breathing pattern disturbed and unsteady.
however, minghao never budged his side and calmly continued his form of reassurance. even with tears uncontrollably streaming down his face as he couldn't bare to see junhui in so much physical pain. at this point there had to be something junhui was keeping from him, and minghao knew it could never be any good..
and when junhui was finally done, he had to remain with his hold on the toilet since his entire body was too weak to move a single muscle. strength drained from his entire body as he was only able to keep coughing, which also started fading eventually. minghao hurriedly got up to flush the toilet, wishing for the scent to vanish so it wouldn't cause more troubles, which only had junhui's body completely collapsing onto the ground once the younger released his grip.
"oh fu- jun, i'm sorry." minghao rushed back to junhui, sitting beside him and grabbing a gentle hold of his face which he guided to his lap. with his fingers ever so tender, minghao started stroking through his hair, examining junhui's plain white face as his eyes were closed. junhui couldn't even bring it up to give a proper verbal reply in return, too physically tired to even curl his lips in the slightest smile.
"it's okay now jun.. i'm here and nothing will hurt you no longer.. it's okay.." tears dropped down junhui's pale cheeks, which minghao wiped away occasionally.
"what happened here?" a third voice was audible. minghao's head peered up as he found doc standing in the door opening, a bewildered look on his face since he looked visibly shocked about the scenario he walked in on.
"jun.. he just.. he said he didn't feel wel.." minghao managed to stammer out between his sobs, keeping a gentle hold on junhui's face so he wouldn't get overwhelmed by doc's sudden presence.
"let's get him downstairs so he can recover and maybe even tell us what exactly has happened." doc rushed forwards and lifted junhui's partly unconscious body from minghao's lap, hurrying to the bathroom's exit as he made a gesture with his head for minghao to follow him.
"i know it's probably the last thing you want to hear right now minghao, but we can't do anything else but to wait. there's nothing we can do to help right now beside giving him a little space and time to recover."
