he couldn't help being giddy in class. that short, casual conversation taehyung had shared with yoongi the previous night played in his head over and over, despite him telling himself it wasn't anything to be so excited over. saying that didn't help at all, in fact. neither did assuring himself he hadn't already developed a crush on the adorable little shut-in.

he daydreamed in class. caught himself a couple times, luckily, which only caused him to feel embarrassed and paranoid everyone had seen him staring and smiling into space.

again, he couldn't help it. yoongi had said he'd order from insomnia cookies again, and that if possible, he would prefer taehyung to be his delivery boy rather than someone else.

so yeah, it was pretty much the only thing on his mind.

he still had concerns about that man. his visit at yoongi's place, despite how nice and enjoyable it had been, opened taehyung's eyes as to how the man was living, evidently in not the most desirable conditions. and he still hadn't been able to shake the memory of yoongi's worrisome 'i can't go out' after which no explanation followed.

so as much as it would be an excuse to see the cute man again, delivering to his doorstep would also be another way of checking up on him. even if only briefly.

although hopefully if he were lucky taehyung would be invited over again sometime soon.

no, stop, you're getting ahead of yourself.

his classes ended, finally, and not long afterwards tae was on his way to insomnia cookies to start work. he already predicted hoseok and jungkook would tease him if they happened to notice how eager he was to work that day - and it was a given, because nothing that taehyung wanted to get by them ever got by them. it was almost like they had 'opportunity to poke fun at taetae' sensors.

well, not 'almost'. hoseok even admitted to it one time.

regardless, taehyung wasn't about to let that size down his good mood. he waltzed into the shop at quarter of ten that night, enthusiasm painted across his face for all to see. hoseok was already there. he sat at one of the empty tables and played on his phone until it was time to clock in.

"you starting at ten, too?" taehyung asked his friend, who looked up at him curiously.

"why, yes, i am," hoseok replied. "someone looks awfully cheerful today. classes go really well?" he chuckled, not trying to hide his joking tone of voice.

"well, i guess so."

"mm. anything else you wanna share?"

"not particularly. what about you?"

the redhead rolled his eyes in disbelief. "mhm. nothing new with me, taetae, same old, same old. hey, can i ask you a question-?"

just then the door to the shop opened and in walked jungkook, who proudly announced his presence for the sole purpose of interrupting his friends' conversation.

"jungkook is here, stop the party, what's going on, fellas?"

"you're so obnoxious."

"i am not," the youngest protested. "you're just mean. so what were you two talking about?"

"oh, the goings-on, you know," hoseok said with a shrug, glancing in taehyung's direction. "and now that i think of it, i believe - and correct me if i'm wrong, taetae - you had a date yesterday, did you not?"

"i did not!" the mention of that four-letter word triggered tae's fight or flight response. "i told you already, hyung, it was just coffee."

"that's the number one synonym for date. isn't it, jungkook?"

"i mean, yeah, i can't argue with facts."

unsurprisingly, taehyung had been bested again by these two who, though he tried, he could never stay mad at. so tae pouted indignantly as he went to punch in, but by the time he returned his smile had also returned. rather slight, and not as open as it had been before, but it was still there.

throughout his shift taehyung kept his ears peeled for the phone ringing. and of course every time it rang he crossed his fingers that it would be yoongi on the other end. sadly, however, as he had a job to do, taehyung couldn't spend the entire night waiting at the shop for yoongi to call. he had to make deliveries. that being said, quite a few times he left the shop, hopped on his motorbike, and sped off to deliver as quickly as he could without driving irresponsibly.

he just wanted to make sure he'd be around for when yoongi called.

taehyung seemed to forget that man planned to request him to be his delivery boy, anyway.

after making one of many deliveries that night, tae arrived back at the shop to the sight of hoseok staring at him in an odd way.

"oh, taaaaetaaaaae~"

a smirk on his face, the redhead gestured for his friend to approach him by curling and uncurling his index finger. taehyung furrowed his brow as he walked up to hoseok. "what is it?"

"we got a call just a couple minutes ago," hoseok began. "and since i was here, naturally, i was going to make the delivery. but. as it turned out, this customer had a special request in mind."

he wasn't being subtle. if taehyung hadn't already known, that look in hoseok's eyes made it plain and clear to him. tae blushed lightly.

" 'would it be okay if taehyung delivers my order? i'll wait till he's available if necessary.' " unable to hold back his giggling, the redhead gave tae's shoulder a little push. "how cute is that? even miss saeyeong was shocked. no one's ever specifically asked for a certain person to deliver to them. must have left a good impression, huh?"

it was a gradual descent, but the level of teasing in hoseok's voice eventually turned into some degree of encouraging, his smirk having changed form into a soft smile.

"go ahead, tae." he patted the other's back. "the box of sugar cookies is on the counter. don't keep him waiting."

with that, taehyung gave a somewhat shy nod and retrieved the white paper box. he trashed the sticky note with the address written on it - didn't need it at this point. he'd been to yoongi's house three times by now, and as a delivery man taehyung had become quite skilled at remembering directions.

so off he went. on his motorbike with the boxed cookies carefully stored away in its carrying compartment to hold them until he should arrive at yoongi's - which again, didn't take very long. much to taehyung's relief.

he tried not to act so excited. biting the inside of his lip, taehyung took the boxed cookies in hand and approached the door. then he knocked.

no answer at first. so he knocked again.

still no answer. he prepared to knock again but was struck by a sudden thought - maybe he wasn't home.

no, that can't be it. he told me he doesn't leave his house.

with that in mind taehyung pulled out his phone to text him so that he could find out for sure.

me
hey yoongi it's taehyung :)
i'm outside, i've got the cookies you ordered
you're home, right?

yoongi
doors unlocked
can't come to door

no follow-up. and there was no reply even after taehyung asked jokingly if the man were so swamped with work that he couldn't stand up.

he was hesitant to invite himself in. but tae had a delivery to make, and yoongi did give him his approval, so after a long moment, that's what he did.

slowly, he opened the door and even more slowly he stepped inside and closed it. looking around the living room, it seemed nothing had changed from his last visit here - which was only yesterday, but still. taehyung lifted his head to peer into the kitchen.

yoongi was sitting at the kitchen table - well, more accurately lying at the kitchen table. his head resting against the surface of it, one hand limping at his side, one loosely clutching his phone with his and taehyung's text conversation still open.

"y-yoongi?" the younger called out tentatively. he stepped over the clutter in the living room till he soon stood beside the other man. "are you...sleeping...?"

there was the faintest grunt. an attempted grunt, that is, but it came out as more of a fatigued hum. taehyung pursed his lips and made his way around the table to yoongi's other side to see the man's face.

pale as a ghost. and yoongi was already pale to begin with. not only that, but he was noticeably sweating. taehyung set the box of cookies down on the table and placed his hand over the other's forehead.

warm would be an understatement.

"you've got a fever."

panicked, he dropped to his knees and tried getting yoongi's attention by patting his shoulder. the man eventually pried his eyelids apart but even that seemed strenuous to do.

"w-we should get you to a couch or bed or something," tae blurted, "this can't be comfortable, come on, i'll, i'll help you."

as gently as he could, taehyung helped yoongi to his feet, then proceeded to become 90% of the man's physical support system as he led him over to the couch in the living room which thankfully wasn't cluttered with things as the rest of the room was.

after laying yoongi out on the couch, tae hurried back into the kitchen to find a rag he could soak in cold water. he then returned to yoongi's side and carefully pressed the now damp rag against the man's face. yoongi shuddered. his breathing wasn't steady. taehyung felt his stomach churn.

"how...long have you been like this?" he whispered, unsure of whether or not he wanted the other to use up his strength by replying. but he wanted to know.

so he waited patiently. he waited as yoongi peeled open his eyes again, only to rest them on taehyung's face in the most gentle manner.

"...taehyung..." a breathless whisper. "...what're you...doing here...?"

"yoongi, you invited me in," tae reminded him.

"oh..."

"i brought the cookies you ordered, i wasn't really expecting you to be almost passed out on your kitchen table. have you been overworking yourself?"

"no, i...haven't really...done work...today...i...-"

his snail-paced speaking was cut short by an abrupt outburst of coughing that nearly gave taehyung a heart attack. instinctively, tae prepared to spring to his feet to go get a glass of water.

he was stopped by the feeling of yoongi grabbing his hand.

"stay, please..."

unmasked desperation. tae's heart lurched in his chest as yoongi's weak grip tightened around his fingers. tae lowered himself back to the floor beside the couch.

"i just need to call into work and let them know," he said softly. "i...i'll stay, okay?"

"...thank you, taehyung."

*

*

a/n:
welcome back to insomnia cookies where i update literally every 1.5 months :D

i've said before tho i'm trying to prioritize some of my other stories, and not only that i'm 100% winging this story like i'm making it up as i go along but you guys seem to like it so much so that's why i'm keeping it going

see you guys in October lmaooo (hopefully i'm kidding but no promises) <3