Blinking at his friend, Hyuk-jae laughed. "Oh, yeah! I'm fine. I just got dizzy for a second." He pushed away from the wall. "I'm just going to make some tea or something." Reaching out, he ruffled Nagisa's hair in a distinctly affectionate manner. The dark-haired man took himself down stairs, putting the kettle on and, for once, lighting the stove with his Firebending.

Leaning on the counter, Hyuk-jae laid his palms down on the stone top, right shoulder cocked a little higher than left. The angle from hips to shoulders was pronounced when he stood that way, exaggerating his thin frame. As the water boiled he took down tea from the cabinet, dropping some into a mug. God, but he was achey! As soon as he had water in with the leaves he went back upstairs, headed for the bedroom. That wool-stuffed feeling remained.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Hyuk-jae coughed deeply. It had to be a summer cold, right? At the thought, he craved chicken soup and sour vegetables. Feeling suddenly very sad and quite lonely, the Firebender shoved his trousers back off and into a pile on the floor, snuggling in under the covers again as quickly as possible. He tucked the blankets up to his chest, gripping the tea with both hands. That glassy look to his eyes hadn't left, and his cheeks were flushed with fever.

As soon as the tea was gone, Hyuk-jae curled up next to Nagisa, pressing close to his side. He wrapped both arms around the younger man's waist, falling asleep quickly. He slept fitfully, tossing about in effort to be comfortable. Odd, restless dreams tugged at his mind as his body switched from hot to cold and back. About an hour and a half passed this way before his dreams took a turn.

Frown settled in between his brows, Hyuk-jae tightened his grip on Nagisa. "Nagisa," he murmured, voice rough with sleep.
A moment later he said it again, more insistently. "Nagisa." Gibberish. "Nagisa-ya."

The cool water seemed to calm Hyuk-jae somewhat, allowing him to sleep a little less fitfully. He still tossed and turned, however, eventually winding up with his head tucked somewhere down by Nagisa's waist. When he woke he had an awful crick in his neck and groaned, rolling onto his back and rubbing it.

"How do you feel? Can I get you anything?"

Blinking, the Firebender looked at his friend. "Nnnnhhn?" Both hands came up to his face, rubbing insistently. "Ugh. I think I have a cold, Nagisa," he said, no hint of remembering his dream in sight. "I don't think I can go to work tonight." He sat up, hair messy. "What time is it?" After he received his mid-afternoon answer, Hyuk-jae flopped back against his pillows.

He wanted chicken soup. And sour vegetables. And he was absolutely one-thousand percent certain that Nagisa did not know how to make either of those things. "Ah… can you make tea?" it was hesitantly asked, as if he felt guilty even thinking of asking Nagisa to do something for him. Usually it was the other way around, and it made him uncomfortable otherwise. Hyuk-jae still felt he owed Nagisa a lot.

As Nagisa went to take care of his request, Hyuk-jae peeled himself out of bed. Without thinking he put his old clothes back on, finding the soft comfort of the well-worn fabric better than any of his newer things. He looked a mess. As he caught sight of himself in the mirror after splashing his face with water, he let out a little laugh. His hair was fright! And his eyes were glassy, feverish and bright. He pressed a cool cloth to the back of his neck for a moment. It wasn't good to incubate a fever. Despite how cold he felt, he knew he ought to stay out of all the covers.

Shuffling downstairs, Hyuk-jae eyed Nagisa warily. The younger man might, after all, burn the place down.

Hyuk-jae stared at Nagisa in dismay as the young man chattered and spilled dried tea all over the pristine kitchen.

As the younger man poured water all over the table in effort to get it into the cup, Hyuk-jae felt the corners of his mouth curving up into a slight smile. So proud of himself, Nagisa presented the cup of something-similar-to-tea to the Firebender. It was all he could do not to laugh. "Thank you," he said.

It was difficult to swallow the tea. It was so strong! The bitterness dried the back of his throat and Hyuk-jae coughed, setting the cup down. "How much tea did you put in there?" he cried in dismay, staring at the dark brew. Even his strong headache tea wasn't as bitter as this mess.

Glancing at Nagisa, Hyuk-jae felt a stab of guilt even as another fit of coughing came upon him. As soon as he was able, he apologized. "It's just awful bitter, that's all," he said. Despite that statement, he took the cup and drank a little more. After all, Nagisa could be… sensitive, right? He'd gone to the trouble to try and make the tea. The bitter taste was too much to finish, however, and after a little bit more of it, he begged off saying he just didn't feel well.

"Is there anything else I can do? Should I call a healer? Maybe get some medicine?"

A healer? "No!" The protest came out strained, almost a yelp, as soon as the word 'healer' passed through Nagisa's lips. "No! You — you can't! Please!" Not a healer. They would — they would have all kinds of things to say, none of them good, about Hyuk-jae and his 'condition'. They might take him away, say he couldn't work at the Club any more. "I-it's just a cold, really. I'll be fine in a few days. Herbal remedies will be just fine for me, honest." His orange eyes matched the pleading in his tone of voice.

Curling up on the sofa after putting together chicken soup was probably his best bet. Sighing, Hyuk-jae pushed away from the table to clean up Nagisa's mess. Did he even have the ingredients in the house for soup? Sending Nagisa to the market alone was a nightmare, surely. Checking their stores, Hyuk-jae was able to come up with garlic, onions… everything except the whole young chicken. Suddenly wishing irrationally for his mother and her kitchen, Hyuk-jae glanced at Nagisa. "… Wanna go buy a game hen and a packet of herbs from an apothecary?" he asked.

He probably should've thought ahead before suggesting so casually that Nagisa go to the store. The younger man's face lit up at the idea of shopping, and Hyuk-jae had the distinct feeling that anything else he said fell on deaf ears.

"I'd love to go!"

… Of course he would. As Nagisa sped away to put on a shopping outfit — whatever that was — Hyuk-jae rubbed his forehead. When the young man returned, dressed in what his roommate felt was a very appropriate everyday outfit, he stood up and headed for the door. Nagisa yelped at him, pushing him back down on the sofa with surprising strength.
"You CAN'T go," the younger man said.
"But I —"
"You're sick, I'll go do it! It's just down to the market and the apothecary, right? I can do that! I promise!"

He ought to make the poor thing a list, at least. Otherwise there was no telling what Nagisa would come home with, and no telling how much he'd spend on a simple game hen. "Fine. But I'm making you a list, okay?" The Firebender sat down with a piece of paper and a pen, quickly jotting out directions to the best meat shop where Nagisa would get a fair price and the precise type of hen to buy. Next came directions to The Apothecary, a little herbal and healing clinic run by a nice man and a Waterbending herbalist. Hyuk-jae had no use for their talents, but he knew through word-of-mouth that the herbal remedies at the place were carefully made and very effective. Finished, he stood again and tucked the list into Nagisa's pocket.

"This shouldn't take you long," he said, but Nagisa ignored him. The fluffy-haired tornado insisted he drink tea and relax and went out the door, letting it fall shut behind him with a bang. Hyuk-jae moaned a little. Why did he feel such a sense of impending doom?

In the end he decided on a bath. Nagisa had some lavender bath salts in the cabinet, and Hyuk-jae thought that a hot soak might help with the aches. Pouring some of the salt into the tub, he let the water run and went back downstairs to re-make the tea. The book, sitting on the table by the sofa, caught his eye.

Nagisa wouldn't mind him reading it, would he? Surely not. Hyuk-jae didn't believe for a minute that the other man wanted to read it, anyway. Someone ought to! Taking the book with him, he collected his cup of tea and went to the bathroom. Relaxing in the tub with a book and some tea sounded like a very nice way to spend a sick day. In fact, it was practically luxurious! As he dropped his clothes into a pile, Hyuk-jae was careful to set the book in a place it wouldn't get splashed while he climbed in. The water wasn't hot enough, so he took a moment of rare privacy to heat it with his bending.

Steam curled up from the water around him and he sighed, finally comfortable. It was hot enough to make him sweat a little — perfect. Picking up the book, Hyuk-jae cracked it open and began to read.

Nagisa was gone for hours, long enough that Hyuk-jae got out of his bath and climbed into bed with the book, tucking under the covers to read and try to stay warm. He was halfway into the romance novel when the door downstairs opened — but it was so interesting that he didn't even think much of it! The main character was just wrestling with some complex emotions when Nagisa burst into the bedroom, huffing and puffing and covered in bright pink candy floss.

"I'm back! The market is so fu — is that that book?"

Snapping the book shut as his cheeks heated, Hyuk-jae stuck it face-down on the bed next to him. "No." A pause. "Okay, maybe. But — you were gone forever!" He ran a hand through his hair. "Why are you covered in pink?" And what was he holding? Nagisa looked a bit of a mess, but also like he'd had the most wondrous time. His eyes were bright and cheeks pink from running up the stairs. It was too adorable to be mad at.

Hyuk-jae got out of the bed, taking stock of Nagisa. The younger man trailed behind him, motioning to the hen and the herbal packets he'd procured. Nagisa seemed very proud of himself, and the Firebender reached out a hand to affectionately ruffle his hair. "You did good, okay?" he said, taking the hen and vegetables and putting them in a pot with water to cook. He couldn't trust Nagisa to make soup, after all. Covering his sneeze by putting his elbow up to his face, Hyuk-jae put the kettle on to make the herbal remedy. He hoped it would be less vile than Nagisa's tea.

Sitting on the sofa, the young man stretched his arms over his head. A few joints let out a cracking and popping sounds, and he sighed. "It looks like you had fun. I wondered if you'd gotten lost," Hyuk-jae said, sparing a glance for Nagisa. "Did you know you're covered in pink sugar?"

Smiling indulgently, Hyuk-jae listened as Nagisa regaled him with stories of his Market Day. He was just so animated! Idly, the Firebender wondered if he ever got that excited about anything. Nagisa's scandalized look as he mentioned the virility potion brought a laugh to the taller man's face even as he coughed. The kettle boiled and he got up to see to his remedy. As he pulled down a cup, Nagisa asked if he wanted to call off for the night.

"No, I'll go," Hyuk-jae said. He lifted the packet, showing it to Nagisa before putting it into a cup. "That's what this is for. As long as I don't have a fever, I think I'm okay to work." He'd already cost Nagisa enough time at work. The two of them needed to earn money, and Hyuk-jae could work with a cold. Right?

He came to sit at Nagisa's feet, carrying the cup. Wrapping up in a blanket, Hyuk-jae leaned his dark head against the younger man's knee and tried to show interest in the peanuts. Tasting one, he was surprised by how sweet it was. Hyuk-jae preferred savory foods to sweet ones nine times out of ten, but the peanuts weren't awful. The herbal remedy wasn't awful, either — just sort of grassy and minty. Between the sweetened peanuts and the hot beverage, the young man began to feel sleepy again.

The teacup at least was empty by the time he fell asleep, tucked up into the blanket, head leaned against Nagisa's thigh. The herbal mix had made him drowsy, as the healer had told Nagisa it would, but it would also hopefully help with the fever. He woke maybe an hour later, joints stiff from sitting on the floor. Shaking Nagisa's leg, Hyuk-jae stood up. "C'mon," he murmured, "s'go to bed." They still had a few hours to sleep before they needed to be up for work, and the soup would keep. It would even be nice packed up for dinner at the Club, all hot homemade. Hyuk-jae would add ginseng to his, of course.

He climbed the stairs slowly and stripped without fanfare, falling into bed immediately. Drowsiness clung to him, and he burrowed into the covers without thinking.

Hyuk-jae had thick, somewhat coarse hair. It was glossy enough, but it wasn't fine nor silky. It was clean, however, smelling like the soap he'd washed it with much to Nagisa's chagrin. He couldn't bring himself to use the fruity, fluffy shampoos stocked in the shower and so had bought a tea tree castile soap for washing everything.

Sleep came mercifully quickly, claiming his awareness even before Nagisa was under the covers. The alarm had quite a job of pulling him out of the deep, dreamless sleep the medication had brought on. Hyuk-jae dressed all in black without thinking, sparing a little liner for the eyes because he knew Nagisa would say something if he didn't. His red bracelet and the bright orange of his eyes were the only colors on him.

He poured out portions of soup for their dinner, adding ginseng to his before closing it up. It wouldn't hurt to have some now, in fact — Hyuk-jae spooned a little into a mug and ate it quickly while finishing Nagisa's lunch, adding rice and little sausages cut up like octopi to the box. His own consisted mainly of the soup and some quick 'overnight' pickles he'd whipped up while Nagisa was at market.

Sighing in relief over the lack of theme, Hyuk-jae carefully opened his locker to put his lunch inside. There really wasn't much else in there — a comb, an eyeliner pencil, some headache tea. Closing the locker, he looked over the list. There were two new names he didn't recognize, and Yoshida's name twice.

Twice? That was odd. It must have been a mistake. Someone was probably tired!

Following Nagisa out into the main room, Hyuk-jae took a seat and waited. The black ensemble he was in combined with his cold made him look very pale indeed, eyes flashing in his face. Nagisa was like a forest sprite next to him, and their customers seemed to find his worrying over him adorable. Several women cooed and bought him tea while Nagisa flirtatiously explained how very good he was at taking care of a sick and laid-up friend. Hyuk-jae agreed, draping his arm around him while Nagisa checked his forehead with his wrist. The ladies ate it up.

By the time Yoshida and Nakamura were scheduled to come, Hyuk-jae was starving. He stared at Nagisa longingly, thinking of the soup sitting in the back with his name on. "Can't we eat?" he hissed, leaning close. "I'm starved!"

Gritting his teeth as Nagisa talked endlessly about their day, Hyuk-jae was glad for once that he was required to play the stoic type. Nagisa played up his illness, too, using the pallor provided by black clothes to help. Why did Nagisa have to tell everyone about their real life? Weren't they supposed to be acting? It was all he could do to maintain his calm face, to smile indulgently as he hugged his friend to his side.

Dinner couldn't come fast enough. He was relieved when Nagisa led the way to the back. Maybe the soup would help.

Hyuk-jae said nothing as Nagisa complained loudly about Yoshida. He didn't particularly care for the man either, but he was used to clients like that. It wasn't anything special or new. He laughed, however, when Nagisa called the man slimy. "You're right," he agreed, sitting down with his soup. "He's an unpleasant person. But he pays us well." Yoshida obviously liked their act. He was a relatively big spender for them, and Hyuk-jae had no illusions about the fact. He needed to please him, not like him.

The younger man's surprise over the octopus-shaped sausage was adorable. Hyuk-jae hid his own smile by looking down, though he spared a sideways glance for his friend. "It's just cut with a knife. My mother used to do that for me." A long time ago, when she loved him, that is. Before the fits. "If I made them all the time, they wouldn't be special, would they?" They were relatively devoid of nutritive value, which was why they'd never appeared in their bento before. He ate his own ginseng and chicken soup quietly, sneezing here and there and trying to hide his cough. He felt better than before, but by no means one hundred percent. It was disheartening to think of going back out, but it had to be done. Letting Nagisa take his hand, Hyuk-jae admonished him to make sure he washed them before touching any food as they went back out.

Wistfully, Hyuk-jae wished Nakamura's type liked him better. It seemed that type always favored Nagisa's act, leaving Hyuk-jae with the hungry men, the ones like Yoshida. At least he knew how to make such men happy.

Glancing at Nagisa, Hyuk-jae smiled. "Shouta enjoys the market," he said, not willing to add much more. Unlike Nagisa, Hyuk-jae wanted to keep what happened at home a secret. Those times were theirs. It was obvious that Nagisa didn't think of it that way, but Hyuk-jae was a private person. The Firebender didn't want everyone to know they slept together, how Nagisa cuddled with him at night. He didn't want them to share in their everyday life, going to market and mending clothes. Couldn't he have something of his own? Just this small thing? Nagisa looked at him to continue the candy floss story, and Hyuk-jae found himself unable to comply.

He glanced instead at Yoshida, lifting a brow.

"I saw you're on my sheet twice," he said, brushing at the man's tie. "Isn't that a mistake?" He smiled a sweet, dark smile.
"Of course not," the man replied smoothly, sliding Hyuk-jae closer to him, "I thought this would be a perfect time for us to get to know each other better." He spared a tiny glance for Nagisa, but then put his eyes back on Hyuk-jae. "Candy floss is nice but I find I have… different tastes than my friend." His grin was sharp, slick.
Hyuk-jae blinked for a moment before he understood.

Yoshida had booked him solo. For an hour.

Why was Nagisa glaring at him? About to ask, Hyuk-jae found his words cut off as Nagisa turned his back on him. Yoshida made a small, quiet joke about his 'boyfriend' having his toes stepped on and laughed a rumbling, amused laugh. Hyuk-jae twisted his fingers together. Surely not, right? Nagisa hated Yoshida. If anything, shouldn't he be glad that Hyuk-jae was going to deal with the man for him?

He didn't know what to do. Hyuk-jae didn't know what anyone did in those private rooms, since the place wasn't a brothel. Was he supposed to just… pour tea for the man? Orange eyes pleaded with Nagisa as he stood, but Hyuk-jae remained stunned into silence as his friend patently ignored him. It seemed as if the younger man truly upset — both with him and with Yoshida.

The Firebender didn't really understand that he was allowed to refuse clients. Yoshida took his arm to head to a private room and he stared after Nagisa even as the man pulled him along. As the two of them sat in a room and Hyuk-jae poured tea, laughing at Yoshida's jokes, he worried over what Nagisa was doing. Without the fluffy-haired man to cover for his absence seizures, Hyuk-jae upset Yoshida at least once by being 'inattentive'. He apologized, making up some excuse about being a chronic daydreamer. The man made suggestive remarks about holding his attention.

"Is this your first time to see someone without Shouta?"
Hyuk-jae looked down at his tea. "It is," he admitted.
Yoshida smiled his oily smile. "How nice for me," he said.

By the time the hour was over, the Firebender was exhausted. He bid Yoshida goodbye and quickly went to the back, searching for his friend. They still had more clients as a pair that evening, two pairs of ladies and one last of gentlemen. Unable to find him, Hyuk-jae sat down on a bench for a moment, rubbing his forehead. He wanted to go home.

Although, why? It wasn't really his home at all. After tonight it was more clear than ever that anything Nagisa did with him was fodder for work. The way he was with him at home was fuel for stories. He probably joked about them using the same shower, about how Hyuk-jae looked when he was asleep. Rubbing the back of his neck, Hyuk-jae leaned his head against the wall.

It was ridiculous to feel such betrayal. Why had he let himself become so attached to Nagisa, and so quickly? Was it just because he'd been so nice to him? Hyuk-jae was pathetic.