The first thing Mark thinks when he regains consciousness is, I never finished practicing. The dreadful feeling of not completely it washed over him in a wave and his body tensed. Why did he have to pass out like that? As Mark sulked over the newly found knowledge that he had to go again in a while to practice, a hand came over his forehead and Mark snapped his eyes open.

"Hey," Jaemin said as Mark stared at him in surprise. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," his voice came out hoarse and the grimace on Jaemin's face proved that it was a lot worse that he thought it sounded.

"I found you in the practice room, passed out." Jaemin looked away from Mark as he spoke. He was fiddling with a packet of tablets and a glass of water. "I spam messaged you, but you weren't answering. Mark hyung, you have a high fever. You need to rest, okay?"

"I'm fine, Jaemin," Mark repeated, applying force on his elbows to push himself up. "The fever will go away, I just have to move around a little."

"That's not how it works," Jaemin sighed and pushed Mark back onto the bed. "I wanted to call Hyuck-ie over, but when Johnny hyung picked the phone up he said he was still sleeping. Knowing his tight schedule, I didn't want to wake him up."

"Good," Mark huffed out, swatting Jaemin's hands away. "He needs rest and sleep. But I don't, I'm fine."

"Such a hypocrite," Jaemin groaned and then let a sigh of relief when he heard the doorbell ring. "I'll be right back."

Mark watched as Jaemin left the room and only then did he realise that he was in Jaemin's shared room. He eyed the bunk bed over his head and frowned. He had been eating well, sort of, and he had been getting sleep, sometimes. So why did he pass out? He felt bad for making Jaemin worry, but there wasn't even anything to worry about.

Just as Mark closed his eyes and sleep crept into him, the door to the room opened and an angry looking Johnny entered.

"I thought you went out to meet your friends," was the first thing he said as he stormed in and kneeled beside Mark. "I didn't know you went to the practice room to burn all your energy away."

"I just went for a while," Mark muttered, but Johnny was having none of it.

"A while," he mocked, unimpressed. "Mark, you should've been getting your sleep back and eating food and staying healthy, especially in a time like this."

Jaemin nodded from behind Johnny before turning around to leave the room.

"Listen, I didn't wake Donghyuck up, but I'm sure when he'll find out you fainted whilst being an idiot, be prepared for some yelling." Johnny ran a hand down his face before looking down at Mark's face with a softer look in his eyes. "Now tell me, how do you feel?"

"I really am fine," Mark answered, earning a roll of eyes from Johnny. "I'm not lying! I'm a little hungry, but other than that it's nothing."

"Jaemin said you have a fever," Johnny said as he placed a hand over Mark's forehead. "You do. You should come back to our dorm instead, it'll be better there."

"Okay." Mark nodded and tried to get up once again, only to collapse back onto the pillow.

"Come here, let me help you."

Johnny looped his arms around Mark's body and swung him up, the yelp from Mark causes Jaemin to rush back in with a worried expression.

"Are you taking him home?" Jaemin questioned as Johnny made a beeline for the door. "We can take care of him too."

"I know, I know you can," Johnny stuffed his feet into his shoes and bent down so Mark could grab his. "But I'm sure that if I go home right now without Mark, Taeyong and Doyoung will have my head."

Jaemin chuckled a little before nodding, moving to open the door and helped Johnny out without hurting Mark. "Make sure to text me when you get better, hyung."

Mark raised his head from when he had tucked it into Johnny chest and nodded slowly. He was fine, he really was. But if texting Jaemin later on meant the younger would stop stressing over him, then he'll do it with no hesitation.

-

"I'll go check if Hyuck's up."

Johnny barely let Mark react as he slipped out of the door to Mark's room. The younger was left making a noise of exclamation and then he dropped back onto his bed, an empty glass of water on the table beside him as he felt his fever calm down a little.

Mark didn't want to stress Donghyuck. He didn't want the younger to have one more thing to worry over, he already had so many things on his plate. Mark wasn't one for attention, sure it was great when he was given it in a positive light. But getting attention for being sick or tired was never great. It made him feel bad. Why were they worrying over something so small? He only passed out, something worse could've happened.

"Mark Lee," Donghyuck said in a loud voice as he burst into Mark's room, clutching onto his enormous sweater, which slide down his shoulders a few times as he hurried over to the bed. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Nothing," Mark tried to look the other way, but Donghyuck was quick to catch his chin and force him back. "Nothings wrong, Hyuck."

Donghyuck stared at him with an unreadable expression for a few moments and Mark felt conscious under his gaze. He shuffled uncomfortably in his sheets until Donghyuck cupped his cheeks and leaned in.

"Mark hyung," he whispered, his breath fanning the older's cheeks. "Stop being such a hypocrite. When I was sick, you kept telling me to rest and get my sleep. And now you're like this, sick and clearly exhausted, but you want to go and overexert yourself again?"

When Mark didn't answer, Donghyuck continued. "We're worried about you, hyung, and it's for a good reason. You're not feeling well and you need people to take care of you. I'm sorry I couldn't come earlier, no one woke me up, but now I'm here, okay? I'm here to take care of you."

"No, please," Mark groaned, grabbing Donghyuck's hands. "You need to rest as well, your well-being is important as well."

"And so is yours," Donghyuck huffed and then pinched Mark's cheeks. "I got my rest and I'll get some more later, but right now you need to eat. Come on, let's get you sitting up and I'll give you some food."

Mark waited a few seconds before allowing Donghyuck to help him sit up. By the time he was comfortable and leaning against the headboard, Doyoung entered with a tray of food. A smile blossomed on Mark's face when Doyoung rushed over to pat his arm and ask him if he was alright. The attention was suffocating, but at a time like this it was bearable.

"I'll leave you to it then," Doyoung nodded at Donghyuck, who beamed at him.

"He made you some soup," Donghyuck explained as he mixed the bowl with a spoon. "I want to eat now as well."

Donghyuck scooped a bit of soup up and held it to against Mark's lips, waiting for the older to open up. "Come on," he said. "It tastes nice, I promise."

Mark parted his lips and Donghyuck immediately poked the spoon in, watching in amusement as Mark's eyes lit up.

"I told you so," he giggled to himself as he scooped another spoonful of soup.

"Whatever," Mark rolled his eyes and took another bite. "It tastes fine."

-

"Next time," Donghyuck said as he played with Mark's hair. They were lying in Marks bed after finishing the soup. Mark had insisted that he didn't need anymore help, but Donghyuck was adamant to stay until the older had fallen asleep. "I'm going to force you to sleep at the same time as me."

"But I wasn't sleepy," Mark pouted.

"Are you sleep right now?" Donghyuck asked, pulling back a little to glance down at his chest to look at Mark. The older tilted his head to shake him head, but his droopy eyes gave him away. "Sure you aren't."

"I'm really not sleepy," Mark's words slurred and he frowned to himself. "I wanna stay awake and talk to you."

"We can talk in the morning," Donghyuck smiled to himself and then tightened his grip on Mark, casually placing a kiss on the top of his head. "Now get some sleep, yeah? I'm sure you'll feel better in the morning."

"Hmm, okay." Mark closed his eyes and threw his leg over Donghyuck's, getting himself comfortable.

Donghyuck brushed Marks hair with his fingers and his smile widened when he heard a snore only a few moments later. Next time, Donghyuck was going to make sure he was the one who caught Mark before he fell.