Rub His Back | A JJK Sickfic

chapter two: make a puppy pile

summary:

Eomma Jin takes full effect.

Jungkook gets a little worse.

Namjoon clams up.  

____

Jin was never a heavy sleeper, thank God.

The moment Jimin lets himself into the dark bedroom, Jin is already rustling awake. Jimin doesn't even bother turning on a light. He just launches himself—socks slipping and all—toward Jin's side of the bed and places a heavy hand on Jin's shoulder.

"Hyung, I need you," His voice is breathless and shaking. "Jungkook-ah—he's throwing up—,"

Jin hisses something under his breath and Jimin hears sheets rustle and move in one swift whoosh. He's out of bed and across the room in seconds. The light clicks on and Yoongi's hand is on the lamp switch. His eyelids look heavy, but he's also climbing out of bed. "He just woke up and felt really sick—it happened so fast, he couldn't get to the bathroom so I got him a bowl. I just—I need your help," Jimin continues, his heart thrumming in his throat. He passes a nervous hand through rebellious fluffy blonde bangs and tries to puff out a calming breath, but he's so wound up that it fails from the start. Jin lays a stabilizing hand on top of Jimin's head, just for a second, to reassure him, because the now lit room reveals Jimin's eyes are pretty buggy and glistening, clearly a bit traumatized.

"Of course, Jimin," he says gently, mumbling something about knowing something didn't seem rights and wishing he'd been there to help sooner as he follows Jimin out the door. Yoongi is close behind.

Hoseok almost collides into them on the way and Jimin can spot Namjoon and Taehyung approaching from the farthest end of the hallway. None of them say a word when they all see each other and Jimin is 99.9% sure he doesn't even have to tell them what's going on. It's natural now, but in the past it used to be pretty freaky.

Whenever Jungkook got sick, everything seemed to go on high alert among his hyungs, a nagging gut feeling that always seemed to bring them together right when their maknae would start to feel worse. It didn't matter whether they all were asleep or awake. An intuition gained from living together all these years, they somehow respond to their youngest at the exact same moment, on multiple occasions. It was probably heightened by the fact that Jungkook so rarely got sick, so rarely displayed weakness, that the actual occurrence just put the boys on edge.

When they reach the living room, the sight before them is overwhelming; Jungkook is hyperventilating, body stiff and trembling, skin sallow and sweaty, white-knuckling a half full bowl of vomit. His face is hidden past the rim of plastic, his breaths wet and catching within the not so empty container. He's struggling to breathe. He's coughing so hard that his inhales are just hiccups that sound more like wheezing, low squeaks that make his body lock up with a painful gag.

There's no easing into this one. No moment of calm before the storm. No time to assess damage and carefully diagnose. No time to ask "Kookie, what's wrong," or "tell me where it hurts". This was a "Yoongi, we need a trashcan over here right now" from Jin. An "I'll be right back," as Hoseok dashes to the bathroom for towels. A "Joon-ah, get Sejin-nim on the phone, hurry," with Namjoon too stunned to react and Jimin prying the phone from the leader's hands to dial him in himself. A silent and quick Taehyung breezing through cabinets and drawers in the kitchen for all and any types of medicines he can find before sprinting off to raid Yoongi's emergency meds.