Sunoo has a brain-crushing headache while he and Sunghoon are moving into their apartment together for their shared music course.

-

"Your parents are nice," Sunghoon said as he backed out of the driveway, with Sunoo waving at his parents from where he was sitting in the passenger seat.

"I know," Sunoo grinned, watching as his home got further away while they drove down the street. It was a pleasant day, and it was a shame that they had spent most of it indoors packing up the last boxes to put into the back of the car.

The boys had been speaking to each other all day, so they had nothing left to say as they began the long car ride to their shared apartment. Sunoo took out his phone and headphones from his bag, his playlist already waiting for him from the last time he had listened to it.

The street outside flew past in a river of trees and houses, the midday sun beaming down on the parks and fields that they drove past. If he was honest, Sunoo thought the day was warm enough to be unpleasant, but he supposed it was better than having to move out on a rainy day.

He leaned his head back against the seat, closing his eyes to block out the sun's rays. His music played softly, bringing him to relax and almost forget about everything around him. It was warm, but it was peaceful too.

He didn't notice that he was falling asleep, the sound of his music fading out as he drifted away.

-

When he woke up, it was still warm. His whole body felt warm, not so much from the actual temperature but from a distant ache that was becoming closer and closer until he was aware.

He opened his eyes but immediately regretted it, light piercing through his eyes and into his skull. He shut them again and took in a deep breath, biting his lip as his pounding headache got worse. His music was still playing, but now it seemed much louder and less clear, so he turned on his phone and winced at the brightness of the screen. He pressed the pause button and put his phone down, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

Now he was dizzy, and even without lifting his head up it felt like the car was turning in circles. He leaned his head back and glanced at Sunghoon, who was still entirely focused on the road.

He was now painfully aware of the strong aches and abnormalities in his body, so much that he wouldn't be able to get back to sleep. It felt like canons were going off inside of his brain, or like his nerves were being fried with electricity. He'd become too sensitive to sound and light, and the sound of the car engine and the road wasn't helping.

He dug his nails into his hand to try to numb the pain in his head, and it partially worked as he focused on something other than the breaking of his skull. His grip on his hand loosened as he tried to sleep, a dull pain still clawing at the side of his face.

Then the car stopped. It felt like the sudden stop had thrown his insides around, and his head was crushed just by the force of the air. He opened his eyes, noticing a strange dark spot in his vision. A migraine? Now?

Sunghoon tapped his shoulder and told Sunoo they had arrived, and the latter nodded slightly but it only made his headache worse. Sunghoon left to go and get the boxes, and Sunoo realised he would have to help too, despite the state he was in. It was his apartment too, of course he had to help.

He leaned his hand on the car door as he stood up, shutting his eyes tightly to try to block out the blinding light. It was like the sun was burning a hole through his skull. He walked towards the back of the car to get the boxes, and he followed Sunghoon inside to take them to the apartment.

When he'd been in the car, he'd hardly thought he'd be able to walk, let alone carry heavy boxes full of god-knows-what all the way up the flight of stairs. They really should have cut down on what they brought with them.

He trailed behind Sunghoon as he trekked up the stairs, feeling like he was getting stuck in an endless loop of time. Sunoo's eyes wanted to close, but he kept them open like his life depended on it. Considering the amount of stairs there were behind him, it probably did.

His nausea died down as they reached the top of the stairs, and he breathed in a deep breath as he leaned his back against the wall. The sound of the jingling keys made his ears ring, but it would be far too obvious if he covered his ears.

Eventually Sunghoon got the door open to their apartment, and Sunoo was hit with the light from the apartment and the unsettling smell of dust. He placed the box down and leaned against the wall, then followed Sunghoon as they went to collect the rest of the boxes.

The journey back and forth between the car and the apartment was exhausting, and Sunoo felt like his body was moving without him. Maybe his brain was still in the car, and it was tearing apart his physical being to be moving around so much when he should just be staying still and collecting up his overused braincells.

He squinted every time they went outside, and his limbs felt broken as he collected a box and brought it inside. When they finally finished, he huffed a sigh of relief and sat on the floor of the apartment against the cold wall.

"Sunoo, are you going to help me with putting the beds together?" Sunoo glanced up at Sunghoon and nodded, but really he couldn't bear the thought of standing up. The spot in his vision was making his head scream at him, and he wanted to listen but he was already standing up, watching as Sunghoon dragged one of the boxes into the first bedroom on the left of the main room, which was almost completely empty except for the kitchen counters to one side.

He followed Sunghoon, the room spinning as he grabbed Sunghoon's sleeve to keep himself going in the right direction.

-

Sunghoon passed the instruction manual to Sunoo as he began to organise all of the components for the bed frame, and Sunoo tried to make sense of the manual.

His head was spinning and making it difficult to read the words, but he managed to decipher the first instruction to be able to read it out to Sunghoon.

He held his head in his hands while Sunghoon put the frame together, only occasionally opening his eyes when he needed to read another instruction to Sunghoon. The headache wasn't letting up, and he was afraid that it could last all day.

They worked in silence, which Sunoo was thankful for, until Sunghoon dropped one of the components of the frame onto the hard floor, and the noise resonated in his skull painfully. He winced, his ears ringing as he covered them with his hands.

"Sunoo, what do I do with this?" Sunghoon asked, but the words were just more noise against Sunoo's fragile brain. It felt like his hands didn't do enough to suppress the noise, and he whimpered quietly at the building pressure in his head.

Sunghoon knelt in front of him as he finally noticed that something was wrong with his roommate.
"Hey, Sunoo, what's wrong?" Sunghoon asked, but he didn't make his voice any softer. Sunoo winced, mumbling quietly for Sunghoon to lower his voice.

"Sorry," Sunghoon said, this time in a hushed whisper, "Have you got a headache?"

Sunoo thought he should answer, or at least nod, but he was afraid it would only amplify his headache. He waited for the ringing to stop, and then he whispered, "My head hurts and I'm dizzy."

He kept his eyes closed, and he heard shuffling and then he felt a hand around his wrist.
"C'mon, you need to lie down," Sunghoon said, helping him to his feet as he guided him out of the bedroom and into the large room they had entered through.

"Lie down… where?" Sunoo asked, leaning heavily on Sunghoon as he didn't trust himself to stay balanced.

"Here, sit down, I've put the mattress down for you," Sunghoon said, and Sunoo slowly lowered himself down until he was sitting on the mattress, and he lay down with Sunghoon's assistance.

"I'll finish the bed frames, just get some rest and hopefully you can sleep this off, okay?" Sunoo nodded as Sunghoon took a collection of blankets and pillows from their boxes and gave them to him, "Do you need anything else?"

"A will to live," Sunoo grumbled, hiding his face in one of the pillows. Sunghoon chuckled as he went to the bedroom to continue to decipher the code of IKEA.

-

Sunghoon thought he was fairly close to finishing the bed frame, and he was undeniably proud of his work. Reading the manual and constructing the frame at the same time was a level of genius that even he couldn't quite believe he'd done.

He'd put himself in quite a good mood, but it didn't last long as he heard footsteps throughout the apartment and then the slamming of a door. He opened the bedroom door and glanced towards where he had left Sunoo, but there were only pillows and blankets left on the mattress.

He'd heard where the footsteps went, and he approached the bathroom door and knocked on it.

"Sunoo, are you okay?" Sunghoon asked softly, even though he was pretty sure Sunoo was not okay and had most likely rushed to the bathroom to throw up.

"Yeah," Sunoo responded miserably, his voice quiet and rough-sounding. Sunghoon immediately felt bad, but he pushed it aside as there were more important matters.

"Can I come in?" He asked, and he heard a soft hum from Sunoo that sounded like a 'yes'. He slowly opened the door and found Sunoo kneeling on the floor, holding himself up by leaning his arm on the toilet seat.

"Hey, let's get you back to bed," Sunghoon suggested, and Sunoo nodded as he began to stand up with Sunghoon's help.

Before taking Sunoo back to bed, he sat him on the toilet lid and got him to brush his teeth. He let Sunoo lean on him as the boy sleepily brushed his teeth to get out the taste of vomit from his mouth.

Sunghoon took Sunoo to bed, lying him down in the pile of blankets and pillows. Sunoo watched as he got the other mattress from the side of the room and lay it out on the floor next to Sunoo's.

"I'll be sleeping here later, okay? We can sort out the bed frames tomorrow." Sunoo nodded tiredly and closed his eyes, and Sunghoon left the room to go and unpack some things from the boxes they had brought.

He made a few clattering noises from dropping things, and he winced in regret at the loud noises, hoping Sunoo was already sleeping and wouldn't be affected by it.

-

Once Sunghoon was satisfied with the amount of work that he had done, he went back to the living room and sat on the mattress next to Sunoo's. Sunoo was still awake but only slightly, his eyes half open as he stared at Sunghoon.

"Thanks for dropping those boxes, it really helped my headache," Sunoo said, and Sunghoon laughed guiltily. He patted Sunoo's hair gently, as if silently begging for forgiveness; a sick Sunoo was not always a kind one.

"I'm sorry, I did try to be quiet. How do you feel?" he asked, and Sunoo shrugged as he shuffled closer to Sunghoon.

"Better than before, I guess. I'm hungry though," Sunoo said, curling up cutely in a pile near Sunghoon.

"Hungry? Do you want me to order us some food?" Sunghoon suggested but Sunoo pouted and shook his head, confusing Sunghoon, "You don't want food? But you said that you're hungry?"

"Yeah, I'm hungry but I don't feel like I can eat," Sunoo explained, just as his stomach grumbled. There was silence before they both giggled, but Sunoo winced at the sound of their laughter.

"I'm ordering food for us, I don't think you've eaten in a while anyway," said Sunghoon, and Sunoo didn't have the energy to resist.

The wait for their food wasn't long, but it felt long enough for them to be relieved when there was a knock on the door. Sunghoon answered it, feeling bad about the breeze that drifted in from the corridor outside the apartment as he thanked the guy who delivered their food.

He brought the delivered food over and placed it on the coffee table, but Sunoo didn't move an inch from where he was lying.

"Sunoo, the food is here," Sunghoon said, hearing Sunoo yawn and shuffle around slightly.

"I'm not hungry." Sunghoon glanced at Sunoo and sighed, the boy was already half-asleep again.

"You need to eat something, you'll starve," Sunghoon argued as Sunoo pulled himself into a sitting position, using Sunghoon's arm as support.

"Not true, humans can go 3 weeks until they starve and die," Sunoo said with the biggest grin that Sunghoon had seen on him all day.

"That doesn't mean it's healthy, now eat," Sunghoon said, taking the food containers out of the bag and shoving a pair of chopsticks into Sunoo's hands. Sunoo pouted and sighed, but he knew he wouldn't be let off without eating.

-

To be fair, he had ordered from Sunoo's favourite takeaway, and Sunoo hadn't eaten from there in weeks, so he eventually gave in. He still had the blanket around his shoulders and he occasionally leaned on Sunghoon just to make sure he wasn't going dizzy again.

Sunghoon put on a movie on the TV - which had been Sunoo's priority to set up when they first got there before properly moving all of their possessions into the apartment - and suddenly Sunoo was completely distracted, watching the movie sideways as his head was leaning on Sunghoon's shoulder. He fell asleep halfway through with his chopsticks still in his hands, which Sunghoon then took from him and placed on the coffee table as he carefully lay Sunoo back down again.

Just when he thought the boy was asleep, he felt a tug on his sleeve and he glanced at Sunoo, who had just woken up. He apologised in case he had woken him up, but Sunoo didn't let go of his sleeve.

"Sunghoon, my head hurts," Sunoo complained, leaning his head on Sunghoon's shoulder. To be fair, he had been awake for quite a while considering he should be resting, and Sunghoon felt a bit bad for keeping him awake to get him to eat something.

"Do you need me to buy some painkillers?" Sunghoon asked, keeping his voice soft to not make the headache any worse. Sunoo nodded slightly and lay back down, his face still scrunched up in pain.

"If you need me, call me, okay?" Sunghoon said and Sunoo nodded, desperate for Sunghoon to leave and come back with something to ease his pain.

Sunghoon got up and grabbed his coat, putting his shoes on at the door as he glanced at Sunoo again. He didn't know if it was really a good idea to leave Sunoo on his own, but he couldn't just leave him to be in pain without trying to help.

He left the apartment, the breeze in the corridor hitting him as he zipped up his coat and stuffed his hands in his pockets for warmth. His footsteps echoed through the corridor as he descended the staircase and left the building, heading into the cold evening.

The shop was only down the street, but the longer he took the more he worried about Sunoo. He knew that the boy was probably just sleeping as he waited for him to return, but his worrisome mind still created countless scenarios of what could have happened to him while Sunghoon was gone.

Sunghoon finally reached the convenience store and he went straight to the medicine aisle, his eyes scanning the shelf for anything to help with headaches. He found a pack of painkillers and took it from the shelf and headed to the counter, and he also got a bottle of water from the cold drinks section, since they hadn't unpacked their glasses from the boxes yet.

He took them to the counter to pay for them, and luckily there was hardly any queue. He payed for the items and left the shop quickly, tempted to run home just in case Sunoo needed him. He dismissed the irrational thought and walked home, albeit much quicker than just a normal walk, and was almost jogging by the time he entered the building.

He took the stairs up to their floor and speed-walked down the corridor to their apartment, unlocking the door as he balanced the bottle and medicine packet in one hand. When he opened the door he saw Sunoo, half-asleep on the mattress as he watched an episode of a sitcom that was on TV.

Sunghoon sighed in relief, taking off his shoes and coat as he sat down beside Sunoo, who sat up while Sunghoon gave him the water bottle. Sunghoon opened the packet of painkillers and handed one to Sunoo, who didn't hesitate to put it in his mouth and take a sip of the water.

"It'll feel better soon, okay?" Sunghoon said, shooting a small smile at Sunoo. Sunoo nodded and lay down again, his limbs feeling like jelly as he closed his eyes again.

-

When Sunoo woke up, it was light outside, and rays of sunlight shone onto his body and from the window across the room. The window which was certainly not there last night.

He blinked and sat up, rubbing his eyes as the room around him became clear. He was no longer on the floor in the living room, but instead he was lying in a bed in one of the bedrooms in the apartment.

He sat up and was startled by the sight of Sunghoon, who stood leaning against the doorframe.

"How do you feel?" Sunghoon asked, entering the room and sitting on the bed beside Sunoo.

"I'm okay, but I'm tired," Sunoo said, pouting. Sunghoon smiled as he patted Sunoo's shoulder reassuringly.

"I made the bed frames last night after you fell asleep," Sunghoon said, as if he was waiting for Sunoo to ask about it. He lay back down and glanced at Sunghoon, who smiled back waiting for Sunoo's approval.

"Thank you," Sunoo said, already just wanting to fall back asleep.

Before he did, though, he realised he should really start making the most of his migraines, this was the most efficient that Sunghoon had been in a while.

--

FINALLY! I am so sorry that this took so long and it isn't even that good- It turned out much longer than I had thought, I must have written too much plot, which all turned out to be really boring. I hope someone still found this enjoyable!

And this means that the first lot of chapters is complete, and I now have a chapter for every member. I'm glad I've finally done it, just as we hit 2k reads as well!

- Kiran 💙

P.S: the title is making me think of the meme of Key saying "it isn't that bad"