𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗜𝗡𝗦𝗜𝗗𝗘. ❥ nct.

𝙱𝚁𝙰𝙸𝙽 𝙳𝙴𝙿. 𝟶𝟶𝟹

"I can't live like this."

"I never thought that you would ever become so emotional," Doyoung chuckled, turning around in his chair.

Taeyong groaned. "You've taken away my job. What am I supposed to do now? I feel useless."

"That's how we feel when you start making illogical decisions."

"I am driven by logic, so I have no idea what you mean."

"Then why were you trying to send Sanghyun off to work while he's sick with a contagious disease?"

"Woah." Renjun, who was passing by, held out his arms to gesture STOP to the two. "Why are we having a catfight?"

"Taeyong's being dramatic."

"Really?" Renjun raised his eyebrows in surprised. "I'm surprised he can do that."

"Why are all of you against me?" Taeyong whined, pressed his cheek against the edge of the table.

Jeno chose this as his point to join in as well, tapping Renjun on the shoulder before gesturing to Taeyong. "Is he, like... alright?"

"Jeno, just because you're whispering doesn't mean that I can't hear you."

Jeno's response was cut off by whirring, followed by the secondary lights of the room turning on suddenly. The department stared up at them for a moment, eyes all turning towards Doyoung's monitor.

"He's awake?" Renjun asked.

"I should probably get this idiot to take some medicine, huh?" Doyoung clicked away at the screen, noticing the way that Taeyong perked up when the tasks tab opened. "Don't get excited, Taeyong."

"But the tasks are–"

"Leave the tasks alone, Taeyong." Renjun patted the older on the shoulder in an attempt to stop himself from losing it. "Think of this as Doyoung kindly replacing you to get all of that stress from being head cell away."

"I'm still head cell."

"Oh." Renjun leaned his head away from Taeyong, turning to Jeno instead. "Did we not..."

"No."

"Oh." Renjun pretended as though he hadn't actually said anything, now carding his fingers through Taeyong's hair. "Well, you're still getting a rest. Doyoung'll make sure that Sanghyun gets all his work done, and you can sit back and just make sure that he wakes up to take medicine. Isn't that–"

Taeyong let out something that sounded like a painful squeak, arm stretching out to reach for the monitor.

Doyoung rolled his eyes, swiping to delete a few more tasks. "What, you'll remember to add them back later. I can't have you getting distracted and trying to run these things."

"But–" Taeyong cleared his throat. "But you can't just–"

"I'm trying to make Sanghyun focus here." Doyoung shifted his gaze to look at Jeno and Renjun. "You two should get back to work. I've got this guy under control."