"Hyung? Seokjin-hyung? Hyung... Hyung? Hyung- I think he's getting hot again. Hyung? Jin-hyung-"

Jimin's quiet voice slowly invaded Jin's sleeping mind; the repetition of his name in that softly concerned tone easily pulling him into wakefulness. Pushing himself upright against the give of the soft pillows, he blinked indolently as he vaguely registered the still darkness of the room; it was clearly so late as to actually be early.

"Hyung? He feels kinda hot again- "

"Mkay. M'hmm, just give me a second-" Jin murmured as he blindly felt for the lamp power cord that trailed somewhere off the small side table wedged between their two beds. Flicking the power switch attached to the cable bathed the immediate vicinity in soft golden light, and Jin turned to peer toward the bed to the left of his.

Jimin was closest, half seated on the edge, his legs still tangled in covers that had been shoved towards the bottom of the bed. Jin could just see the hand Jimin was carding soothingly through the silvery grey mop that was Taehyung's hair, and he assumed Jungkook was wedged in on the far side, pressed up against the wall.

Sliding from his mattress, Jin closed the half-step gap between the beds, easing himself to the carpeted floor by Jimin's side, who shifted sideways slightly.

Jungkook's leg- stretched vertically up against the wall, sweatpants pooling down around his knee- was the first thing Jin noticed, and despite the relative normalcy of the situation (he'd definitely seen weirder), Jin still felt his eyebrows crawl incredulously toward his hairline at the ridiculousness that was their youngest.

The actual subject of his concern though was tucked in between the pair; maknaes 1,2,3.

Taehyung was sprawled inelegantly on his back, one arm curled across his torso in a manner that spoke to him having been firmly plastered down Jimin's side until the dancer woke, and concerned, had extracted himself from the overheated octopus that was Kim Taehyung.

Still barechested after his sulky refusal to wear a shirt earlier (not even the offer of Namjoon's had swayed him) with the blankets shoved into heaped jumble at knee level, Tae was a mess of blotchy skin; flushed and pale in turn, a fine sheen of sweat glistening over his collarbones, the beading moisture raising goose-pimples where Jin knew he'd find only unnatural warmth.

Jimin's hand closed around his wrist, and Jin allowed himself to be tugged closer until the back of his knuckles were pressed against Taehyung's cheek.

"See, hyung? It's going up again? That's what woke me up- " Jimin somehow explained and doubted himself simultaneously; as if worried he would be reprimanded for waking Jin at some ridiculous hour unnecessarily.

Jin turned his wrist slightly to catch the youngers smaller hand within his own, squeezing encouragingly as he reassured, "Yeah, his temp is definitely going up again. Thank you for waking me, Jimin-ah".

Jin caught the small pleased quirk of his lips as the younger twisted his fingers loose and untangled his legs to stand, asking, "Do you want the thermometer?"

Jin nodded, replying " I think I left it on the microwave earlier, thanks Jiminie."

As Jimin left to navigate the dully lit motel room toward the small kitchenette area, Jin turned back to his second youngest dongsaeng, his knuckles returning to drag lightly over the heated skin, before cupping the left side of the youngers face, feeling the warmth radiate against his palm.

"Aigoo, TaeTae..."

His other hand joining its partner, Jin gently framed Taehyung's face, drawing his thumbs in soft sweeping arcs beneath darkly circled eyes.

"Mmm- he okay?" Namjoon voiced through a sleepy yawn, and Jin looked up to see the leader sitting up on the side of the bed they'd been sharing, face creased from his pillow, eyes hooded with sleep, but his gaze attentive as he peered at Taehyung's flushed face.

Jin shrugged, sweeping his own eyes over the youngers lax features, "His temps gone back up. Dunno how high; Jimin's getting the thermometer. He feels pretty hot though, Joon-ah- I don't know if he'll be right for tomorrow night."

Namjoon shrugged, voice matter of fact as he replied, "If he's too sick he's too sick. You know the fans would be more upset if he performed sick than if he took the rest he needed."

Jin knew. They all did. He also knew something else, "You know he'll be more upset with himself than anything else if he can't perform".

Namjoon swept a weary hand over his face as he replied, "Yeah, I know. We'll deal with it if it happens though. Manager-nim managed to postpone this morning's interview, so we've got until late this afternoon to get him back on his feet-"

"Here, hyung-" Jimin appeared at his left shoulder, holding out the thermometer, waiting until Jin took it before he turned and sat the glass of water from his other hand on the bedside table, explaining as he sat beside Jin, "I thought he might be thirsty when he woke up- "

"Aish...he's really warm again-" Namjoon worried, leaning over Jin to press his hand to Taehyung's forehead, before dropping his weight onto the older's shoulder as he pushed the sticky wisps of damp fringe back from clammy skin, asking "Do you want me to soak that cloth in cold water again?"

Jin nodded, pressing the thermometers power button until the device beeped and then replied, "Yeah, get it as cold as you can Joon- the tap water is hardly chilled, it'll be warm before you get it back here. Maybe use the jug in the fridge or see if there's any ice."

Namjoon's weight disappeared from his back as Jin reached for Taehyung, tilting the younger's face towards himself slightly, and gently guiding the thermometer between lax lips.

Taehyung's nose twitched, scrunching slightly, and Jin felt the slight reverberation of a tongue prodding inquisitively at the thermometer tip.

"Shhh- " Jin coaxed wordlessly, the hand not stabilizing the thermometer settling firmly over the youngers bare chest, patting reassuringly.

Taehyung mumbled something entirely incoherent, barely more than a slurred run of indecipherable vocal(ish) sounding grunts and whispers.

Jimin snorted, rolling his eyes in sympathy at Jin (as if the older was supposed to have somehow understood that slurred mess?), before replying, "Yeah yeah, we know you're hot stuff. Shut up and go back to sleep, you moron."

Jin half expected a "Takes one to know one", but Taehyung went limp against his hand again, head lolling trustingly in his grasp. Jin shook his head in bemusement as the thermometer beeped.

Removing it, Jin peered at the small screen and relaxed slightly as he answered Jimin's pointed look, "38.4. Not dangerously high, but yeah- it's up again. It's been long enough, let's see if we can get some more Tylenol in him, get it down again-"

Already on his feet, Jimin nodded, "I'll get them, hyung-" before scampering toward the door, where most of them had dropped their bags earlier that evening.

Leaving the dancer to his self-appointed task, Jin glanced down at Taehyung again, settling the younger flat against the mattress with a frown-

Reaching across, Jin snagged the corer of one of the pillows beneath Jungkook's head and tugged, shaking his head in disgusted admiration when the boy didn't even flinch at the jarring shift.

Jin tried to ease the pillow under Taehyung's head, only for the brat to somehow curl his arms around it, hugging it to his torso.

Jimin's scrounging echoed in the room, loud and out of place at 2am-

Aish...maknaes.

"Wha-s What time is it-?" the thin groggy voice echoed quietly from the far end of the room, and Jin turned quickly, just able to make out the shadowy form that was Hoseok, sitting up and staring in their direction from the third bed, on the far side of Jin and Namjoon's.

Pitching his voice low, Jin replied, "Its early Hoba- 2am. Everythings fine, you can go back to sleep."

Hoseok yawned tiredly, scratching his stomach as he glanced around the still darkened room, asking, "Tae?"

"Yeah. His fevers spiking again- It's not too bad yet. He's about to take some more tablets and -"

Jin's explanation was cut off by Jimin's frustrated cry, "Hyung! They're not here-"

Jin frowned, remembering back to earlier in the evening as he answered, "Shh, Jimin-ah, it's late. They've got to be there somewhere. Who put them away-"

"Me! I put them in your bag-" Jimin wailed, albeit with some attempt to lower his volume as he dropped the bag he was searching and stood slowly.

"There's some in my bag-" Yoongi slurred, and Jin was just able to make out the whites of his eyes, gleaming slits in the blanket covered lump that was Min Yoongi.

Jimin nodded his thanks and then upended Yoongi's bag on the floor.

Jin wasn't sure if he actually saw Yoongi's eye roll in the dark, or if he just knew with certainty that was exactly what had happened. Whatever the case, Jimin was saved from 2am repercussions by Namjoon's return from the adjoining bathroom area.

"Sorry, I had to use ice to get the water cold enough. It took a while-" Namjoon explained as he dropped into Jimin's vacated spot beside Jin.

"No worries," Jin answered, accepting the sheet of little pills from Jimin, continuing, "His temp is 38.4- some Tylenol should help bring it back down. Tae? TaeTae- "

The promptness with which Taehyung mumbled at him (incoherently again), told Jin that the kid was awake (by some definition of the word), and he smiled, "Stop playing possum, you brat- I've got some pills with your name on them, then you can go back to sleep..."

"'m 'already 'sleep-" Taehyung slurred, pulling the pillow higher to cover his face when Jin began to pat gently at his cheek.

Jin heard four distinct snorts from throughout the room, and couldn't help but add his own when he tried to pull on the pillow and realized that Taehyung was biting it, "Come on, TaeTae-Tiger, just a few seconds, I promise. They'll help get that fever down a bit and-"

"Hyyyuung-" Taehyung whined, letting the pillow go to Namjoon's slightly more insistent tugging, his eyes going huge and liquified as he pouted, looking about one more comment away from actual tears.

And Jin knew that some of it was put on; nothing more than mulish desire to be difficult.

But Jin also knew that some of it (if not most )was genuine; the poor kid was exhausted. Taehyung had been running on fumes for days before his body had finally gone into viral meltdown, and now he was just misery and ache, with a side of guilt and stress.

"For hyung?" Yoongi coaxed from two beds away, wrapped up like a blanket burrito- and it was an underhand tactic, but one Jin had been about to employ himself; because Taehyung would do near anything for those two small words.

"For hyung?" Jin echoed, and Taehyung wilted, even as he nodded in reluctant agreement.

Careful of Jungkook's sprawled form (he wasn't 100% sure where those long stretched-out limbs ended-up. Except the one halfway up the wall.), Jin knelt on the bed and managed to get Taehyung semi-upright; Namjoon slipping an arm around his shoulders to help hold him up.

Eyes slipping tightly shut, as if the effort to sit upright had drained him, Taehyung fumbled with the glass, swallowing two of the pills and half the water before the cup dropped from lax fingers-

The cup that Jin hadn't quite trusted him enough to let go of completely.

Namjoon's soft snuffling snores echoed from behind him again, and Jin was sure both Hoseok and Yoongi had also returned to dreamland (he wasn't 100% sure that Yoongi had ever actually left, to be honest), although Jimin was now curled up between them, reasonably guessing that having the body heat of all three of them at such close quarters wouldn't have helped with Taehyung's fever..

Folding the still cold washcloth into a narrow strip, Jin carefully draped it across Taehyung's forehead, only for the younger to frown, nose twitching in displeasure as he tilted his head to one side until the cloth slipped off.

Jin rolled his eyes, "C'mon TaeTae- it's nice and cool. The Tylonel won't kick in for a little while, this will help-'

Taehyung pushed it off again and twisted away, cuddling into Jungkook as his unsuspecting accomplice, hiding his face quite effectively.

Jin sighed, folded the cloth in half again and settled it across the nape of Taehyung's neck instead.

Whining a low throaty disapproval that Jin could have translated if he was Jimin, but instead had to settle for the satisfaction that the washcloth stayed where he'd put it, Taehyung just pressing his face more firmly against Jungkook's bicep.

Jungkook; who rolled slightly, draping one arm across to curl his hand around Taehyung's shoulder as he mumblingly questioned, "'kay h'ung?"

Taehyung muttered back, " - hyung mother-henning me 'gain"

Perfectly coherent, Jin noted.

Jungkook nodded sleepily, patting Taehyung's head in an awkward maneuver of clear commiseration.

Jin went back to bed.