note: jungkook is 14 and jimin is 19

___

a whiny cry echoes in the middle of the night, making jimin frown as he pushes his assignment papers aside, turning his chair around to see what made his sister cry out at this hour, disrupting her sleep. he stands up, turning the lights on and goes near the bed, sitting on the edge as he pats the toddler's stomach gently to put her back to sleep.

"it's okay, go back to sleep." he hums softly, leaning down and presses a kiss on her forehead that feels too warm against his lips. he stares at the little girl, bringing his hand up to feel the temperature, realising it's a fever that woke her up.

he sighs softly, glancing at the desk with his undone assignment, biting the inside of his cheek and carries aera in his arms, patting her back to make her stop crying. "hey, don't cry princess. you'll be okay, oppa will give some medicine and then riri will feel better hm?"

the girl doesn't listen and continues sobbing, clutching on the fabric of his plain white t-shirt, "are you hurting somewhere, baby?"

"oppa... icky,"

"aw it's alright, it'll get better. don't worry." he says, heading downstairs to the kitchen and makes her sit on the counter.

she rubs her eyes, letting out tiny hiccups while jimin pours some water for her in her favourite sippy cup that she wouldn't let go even after being three and a half years old now. but he said nothing, it was adorable to watch her staring around with her round eyes, suckling the water or the milk out of the cup quietly.

he hands it to her and grabs a pack of her snacks, believing it would be better to feed her something than giving the medicine on an empty stomach. however he's pondering on his thoughts, then deciding it's better to wake the jin up and ask him for some professional medical guidance for giving his three-year-old sister something wrong would be too risky.

"eat this okay? i'll come in a minute." he says, handing the cookies to her after putting them in her plate. aera takes one in her hand, staring at the five more, nibbling on it slowly while jimin jogs upstairs to the eldest hyung's room.

"hyung," he calls, knocking on the door, "jin hyung, wake up it's an emergency."

the eldest grumbles something out which sounds too slurred for jimin to make out a meaning. so he repeats the process, and soon the door opens, revealing a half asleep jin.

"hyung, sorry to wake you up right now, but aera's temperature is high and she's crying a lot." he says, taking jin's arm and pulls him downstairs with him, "i don't know what's wrong, and so i thought of asking you first before giving any medicine."

"hm it's okay," jin nods, "is her stomach hur-"

his words get interrupted, hearing another sharp cry and some coughing noise from the kitchen that has the two rushing in, wincing on seeing the little girl sitting between a mess after throwing up, crying as her hand moves to her mouth.

"oh my god," jin sighs, grabbing some tissues and paper towels to clean aera. "jimin, you clean up here, i'll see what's wrong with her." he instructs, feeling his doctor-instincts kicking in.

jimin nods, getting to work once jin's taken aera aside and started wiping her hands and mouth. the toddlers continues wailing her lungs out, earning frequent worried glances from the brother who still couldn't understand what's making her cry so much suddenly.

"hey, don't cry. our riri's a good girl right?" jin says, unfastening the buttons of her night shirt and wipes her body clean, "ah my baby, you're okay, don't cry honey."

"oppa.." the girl whimpers, eyes looking around through the kitchen, searching for jimin and nothing else. the boy finishes the cleaning work and wipes his hands in the towel, joining jin and aera.

"yes, aera. i'm here." jimin pats her back, "jinnie is helping you, let him do his work yeah?"

"riri tummy icky..."

he carries her and sits in front of jin, holding her onto place as the elder touches her stomach with a subtle frown while the brother brings her sippy cup closer to her mouth, letting her drink the water to provide some relief to her throat.

"she ate something wrong i guess." jin says, holding her wrist as he feels pays attention to the pulse rate, "it's food poisoning. what did she eat last?"

"uh just the dinner." jimin says, "vegetables and steak. but we ate it too hyung."

"anything else? snacks or something in the evening?"

"no- yeah, jungkook bought some fries, but he didn't feel hungry so he left it like that. aera was there, she might've eaten that maybe."

"hmm that's the problem." jin smiles a little, "don't worry, it'll be fine, just the fever might take some time to go down. i have some medicines at home, let's try them first. if it doesn't work then we might have to take her to the hospital tomorrow."

"is it serious?" jimin asks.

"if she throws up again, then yes it might be. because i'd suggest an iv to avoid dehydration. she's still very young y'know, and kids tend to get be dehydrated quite faster than adults."

the brother sighs, nodding his head as he glances at aera, sitting quietly with her head resting against his chest and breathing calmly, almost falling asleep.

"give her something to eat, i'm getting the meds." jin says, patting aera's head, making her jolt slightly, opening her eyes before looking up to find jimin.

"don't sleep yet, you've to eat first." he says, standing up, "should i make you a sandwich?"

"no... not hungwy,"

"just a little bit? riri likes eating with oppa right?"

"ouch" she whimpers again, clutching her bare stomach and sticks to jimin, turning around as a tear slides down her cheek. "oppa icky... make icky go away..." she cries.

"yes, my baby. that's why i'm telling you to eat."

"e-eating make icky go...?" aera looks up at him and he nods instantly.

"yes, so oppa will make a sandwich for riri okay?"

"mm" she nods slowly, but whines when he makes her sit on her high chair. "oppaa!"

"yeah, i'm not going anywhere my love." he looks at her, sighing when she's still reaching out for him, trying to stand up on the chair. "hey, okay come." he picks her and places her on the counter right next to where he's making the sandwich.

aera stands up on the marble top, leaning on his arm quietly, shivering at times which jimin notices and realises she's still not wearing anything more than her underwear as her clothes had gotten dirty with the vomit.

"let's get your dressed first." he sighs, carrying her little, warm body in his arms, warm enough to worry him about the fever that wasn't this high when he checked a few minutes ago.

"oppa," the baby mumbles a bit in a hoarse voice.

"hm?"

"i no feeling not good..."

"you're not feeling good?" he interprets, earning a small nod from aera as she rests her head on his shoulder. "is it hurting anywhere?"

she nods again, pointing at her head and then at her stomach, "hurts so much, oppa..." jimin rubs her back, heading upstair to jungkook's room, quietly opening the closet and pulls the drawer in which there are aera's clothes.

"koo," she mumbles, climbing on the bed and sits beside the sleeping boy.

"don't wake him up, aera." jimin says, "come here,"

she looks at jungkook and then at jimin who notices the change in her expression and stares with cautious eyes, trying his best to figure out what was happening. and before he did anything to take her to bathroom on seeing her clutching her stomach, she had already thrown up on the bed.

jimin closes his eyes, inhaling deeply as he prepares himself to clean again, while jungkook is up looking around with a confused face until he realises what the problem is.

"ahh!" he screams pulling himself back and pushing aera away harshly as stares at her with aversion in his eyes, "are you stupid?! you came to throw up on me?! get away you nasty!" he yells at the already crying toddler.

"jungkook," jimin warns, glaring at the boy who is on his feet now, checking himself to make sure he has nothing on his clothes and body while the elder is carrying aera is his arms, patting her back. "it's okay, i'll scold kookie later. he didn't mean to shout at you, baby."

"i did." jungkook glares at her, "why did she throw up on my bed?! ew! disgusting!"

"shut up," the elder scolds, "she's not well, it happened accidentally."

"she did it on purpos-"

"jungkook, she's three for god's sake! and she's sick, which explains why she threw up accidentally on your bed. you're not gonna die because of that."

"still, that's disgusting." the boy huffs.

jimin sighs deeply, glancing at the boy and tells him to put the sheets in the laundry and sleep in his room instead. jungkook huffs at the girl, the glare never lessening as he exits the room.

the elder decides to talk to him later and takes aera to the bathroom to clean and dress her first. once she stops crying, they head downstairs back to the kitchen where jin is already waiting. jimin makes aera sit on the counter and continues making a sandwich for her that he left in the middle.

"she threw up again." he sighs, telling jin who looks at the little girl, sticking to jimin's arm.

"give her these for now." jin places two tablets on the tray, "wait, she won't swallow it..."

the two stare at each other, now realising another problem as it occurs to them that she wouldn't be able to do it. jimin sighs and asks, "isn't there a syrup or something?"

"it's not at home at right now." the elder says. "it's okay, we can crush it into a power and give it to her."

"okay," jimin nods, handing him a the sandwich and gestures towards aera, "feed her please, i'll go put the sheets in the laundry or jungkook's room will stink."

"yeah," jin nods, seating on the stool near aera and starts talking to engaging her in a conversation and feed her without letting her know while jimin heads upstairs to jungkook and aera's shared room.

he pulls out the sheets, putting them in the laundry basket and slides the window open for some ventilation. then he decides to check up on jungkook, walking to his room and pushes the door open slowly.

"jungkook, did you sleep?" he asks, entering and sees the boy shaking his head as lifts it up to look at jimin. "are you okay? don't be mad, aera's very young, she didn't understand what is happening. jin hyung is giving her some medicine, she's been crying for almost two hours now. try to understand, you're her big brother right?"

jungkook nods slowly, "it was just so gross. i didn't want to shout at riri..."

"i know, it's okay. i told her you didn't mean it. she just wanted to see you, and suddenly threw up."

"hm, how is she now?"

"not that good. jin hyung is trying to feed her, then give her the medicine and after that i'll try to put her to sleep."

"okay, will she sleep here?" jungkook asks cautiously, making jimin chuckle and shake his head.

"she'll sleep in jin hyung's room if you don't want her here."

"i-it's not like that, just tell her not to puke on me again." jimin laughs, shaking his head at jungkook's words and leans down ruffling his hair against the brother's.

"she'll sleep somewhere else, don't worry."

"okay, or hyung i'll go sleep with hobi hyung. you and riri should sleep here."

"he's sleeping bud, it's alright you can sleep here, we'll manage."

"it's fine hyung, i'll go to hobi hyung." jungkook smiles and gets up, giving jimin a hug, "bye, good night."

"sleep well," jimin smiles, ruffling the younger's hair and exits the room with him, heading down the stairs to see aera almost done eating the sandwich, now throwing a fit for the last two bites.

"look? it's almost finished, riri's a strong baby. come on, finish it quickly." jin says as aera turns her head away, pushing his hand back. "please, princess."

"no, oppa icky" she whimpers.

"i know, okay are you full?" he asks as jimin walks near them, sitting beside jin who glances at him, shaking his head, feeling defeated against the kid. "well, at least she ate something." he sighs, taking half of the tablets one by one and crushes it until each is in it's powder form.

"hold her," jin instructs, mixing it with a few drops on water in a spoon and holds it closer to aera's mouth once jimin has made her sit on his lap. "open your mouth, aera." he says, patting her cheek gently.

"ahhh oppa..." she whines, turning away on realising he's giving her a medicine which she knows tastes bitter. too bitter.

"it's nothing, baby, you'll get well if you take the medicine." jimin says, holding her hands so she won't hit the spoon and spill the medicine. jin stares at the little girl with pitty, opening her mouth and makes her tilt back a little, pouring the mixture of water and crushed tablet in her mouth.

aera cries louder, squirming and trying to get away from the two who were making her eat the bitter tasting medicine. jin beings the cup of water near her lips, giving her sip which makes her cough as she does it unwillingly.

"hyung," jimin looks at the elder and then at his sister, seeing her crying unstoppably, "she's crying so much... can we do something else?"

"i can understand you're worried, jimin. but we have to giver her the medicine or else her stomach will keep hurting and the fever won't go down. she needs some rest, and for that it's important." jin assures.

"i can't see her like this," jimin sighs, "she's been crying ever since she woke up, it's almost morning now."

"it's okay, kids do cry when they're sick." jin chuckles, patting his shoulder, "she'll be fine, relax. just hold her."

jimin nods slowly, holding his sister's hands again as jin resumes the power struggle against a three-year-old. he makes her drink the medicines and then a little water to help her get of the bitterness in her mouth. even when the process is done, the toddler doesn't stop crying, sticking to jimin and mumbles something between the cries.

"it's done, princess. no more medicine now." he assures her, carrying her properly in his arms, rubbing her back as he makes her lay her head on his shoulder. "jinnie is so bad, he made my riri eat that icky medicine right? we'll make jinnie eat the medicine too, okay? don't tell him our plan."

"o-oppa..." she sobs in the crook of his neck, her tiny arms weakly wrapped around his neck.

"yes, my love. don't cry, nobody's giving more medicine to riri."

"ji-jinnie so bad... i no' wike jinnie..."

"yeah, even i don't like jinnie." jimin sighs, glancing at the elder who pretends to be offended, making jimin chuckle a little. "but jinnie was trying to help us, baby. he gave you the medicines to make you feel better."

"i no- feeling b-butter..."

"you mean better?" jimin presses his lips together, earning a glance from aera as she stops crying for a moment and shakes her head, staring at him. "you don't feel better?"

"no," she mumbles, "i- i feeling icky, jinnie is bad, we no' wike jinnie an- kookie..."

"kookie too?" jin chuckles.

aera nods, rubbing her eyes, "kookie sco'ded riri and push riri... he's so bad... e'ryone is bad!"

"yeah, everyone is bad. they're making my baby cry." jimin says, wiping her tears and pecks her lips softly, "but we won't let them succeed in their mission hm? no crying now, riri has to win right?"

"mm..." she nods slowly, rubbing her eyes and puts her head on his shoulder again, "head hurting..."

"don't cry then, or else it will hurt more." jimin says, patting her back, "let's go and sleep okay?"

"i sleep wid you," she says, hugging him.

"okay," he agrees, before facing jin, "thanks hyung, and sorry for waking you up at midnight. you have to go the hospital today."

"it's okay jimin, i'm a doctor and doctor's don't see the time when it comes to treating their patients." jin smiles, "so it's completely fine. yeah just that aera hates me now..."

jimin laughs at that, shaking his head, "she'll forget it by the time she wakes up."

"yeah, now go and put her to sleep. she must be tired with all the fuss." jin says, patting jimin's shoulder who nods in response, heading upstairs to his room with his baby sister in his arms, deciding to put her to sleep and continue with his assignment in the three hours he's left with.

__

"is aera still sleeping?" jimin asks, entering the living room and throws his bag aside.

"yeah, but how are you home early?" yoongi asks.

"i didn't attend the classes," jimin shrugs.

"and your assignment?"

"mark." he smiles proudly, earning several sighs from the elders. "come on, it's okay i was worried about aera. what if she woke up and started crying again on not finding me at home?"

"we're here jimin, you shouldn't skip your classes like that." namjoon sighs.

"it's fine hyung," jimin rubs his neck, "i wouldn't be able to concentrate there anyway. so i came home, at least i'll make sure aera's fine now."

"you're great, i just don't know what your parents fed you to be this versatile." hoseok smiles widely. "really, aera and kook are so lucky to have you."

the boy smiles, almost going to thank the elder, however stops on hearing jungkook's voice. they turn to the stairs, seeing the boy holding aera's hand, taking careful steps down the stairs while taking to the little sister about something to which she nods in response.

"-then we ate chicken and came home."

"and party?" aera looks up at him as he nods.

"yeah we came home after the party was over."

"what party? what are you talking about?" jimin asks, and carries aera in his arms checking her temperature that hasn't gone down yet.

"oh i'm telling her my dream." jungkook says. "y'know there was pikachu, bulbasaur, charizard, squirtle, clefairy, and there was misty, serena and dawn! it was the best dream i ever had!"

"all the girls?" jimin nods, while the rest laugh silently. "and how's riri feeling?"

"not good" she mumbles.

"we'll go to jin hyung, i guess."

"having a doctor among us is such a relief." namjoon chuckles.

"i know right?" the others agree, while aera quietly lays her head on jimin's shoulder and jungkook is busy telling taehyung his dream about being in a party with the three girls from the anime along with some of his favourite pokemons.

"jungkook-ah, come have your breakfast." yoongi calls from the kitchen as he's preparing the cereals for the boy and pancakes for the rest of them. "jimin, what will aera eat?"

jimin thinks for a moment, glancing at the little girl, letting out a tiny yawn, "will you eat cereals?" he asks and aera shakes her head, "sandwich?"

"cookie..." she mumbles.

"yeah?" jungkook turns, "i'm eating cereals,, you'll eat that?"

aera looks confused for a moment, before shaking her head and turns to jimin, "no, cookie... riri eating cookie."

"ah, cookies, okay," the brother chuckles and makes her sit on the high chair, leaving for a moment to grab her a few cookies from the cabinet.

"i'll prepare some milk for her," yoongi suggests, earning a nod from jimin who takes a seat near aera, giving her the cookies and checks the temperature with a thermometer, seeing the fever is still there.

"oppa, tummy..." aera whimpers in a small voice, reaching out for jimin who brings her in his lap, assuring her that she'll be fine and feeds her the cookies while yoongi brings the milk in her sippy cup.

once they're done with the breakfast, he gets her ready, making sure to dress her in appropriate amount of layers to avoid her getting cold.

"oppa" aera pouts, "icky"

"hm?" jimin turns to her, leaving his coffee for a moment and sees aera clutching her stomach just like last night. he gasps, stepping ahead and carries her to the sink as it was the nearest he could think of to save other parts of the kitchen.

"my goodness, she's really sick." namjoon shakes his head, seeing the toddler crying as jimin makes her sit and cleans her mouth once she's done throwing up again.

"yeah, she puked on me at night." jungkook complaints.

"really?" taehyung scrunches his face, imaging how gross that might be.

"shut up you two." yoongi scolds, "jimin, i'll get the car, let's go to the hospital."

"yeah," jimin nods, following the elder, carrying aera in his arms as she looks too exhausted now and stopped crying, breathing quite fast but steady with her eyelids dropping low.

__

"don't move your hand, okay?" jin says, patting aera's head as she's sitting on jimin's lap, crying and staring at the drip in the back of her hand. the brother is holding her hand, prevent her from hurting herself or trying to snatch the needle away.

"her fever isn't going down, hyung." jimin says, "it was around 102° when i checked last."

"it's gotten worse," jin nods, looking at the thermometer that's showing 104° farenhite now and writes something on the paper in front of him, before handing it to yoongi. "these should help. keep her hydrated and avoid giving any fluids other than water for a while, or if you do, make it with something solid."

"yeah, thanks. when are you getting done?" jimin says.

"not until evening." jin sighs, "i have a few appointments in the later half of the day. but, don't worry, just call me if there's something urgent."

"alright, let's go." yoongi says, glancing at jimin, "you can wait in the car, she must be tired. i'll get the medicines."

jimin nods in response, taking aera with him in the car, patting her back as he tries to put her to sleep for a while, instead of crying every two minutes. soon yoongi opens the door to the driver's seat, hopping in and hands the bag to jimin in the passenger seat.

"there aren't any tablets." yoongi sighs, "jin hyung told me how he's become the worst person on earth after last night."

jimin laughs a little, "yeah, she was quite upset with him and jungkook."

yoongi chuckles, glancing at the sleeping girl and ignites the engine, driving back home where once again jungkook has been waiting by the door and rushed towards them on seeing the drip on his sister's hand.

he gasps, staring at it with wide eyes, "is riri going to die? why's there this thing on her hand, hyung..."

"she's not going to die, jungkook. it's to recover from the dehydration." yoongi sighs, patting the boy's head, "now, keep your voice low. let her sleep okay?"

"mm-hmm, but hyung, it looks so bad... jin hyung gave it to her? it must be hurting right?"

"yeah, she was crying. but she'll be fine soon, don't worry."

"she's a baby..." he mumbles, touching her hand gently as he's observing the drip attached to the back of aera's hand with a gauge and a bandage, accidently touching a little too hard, making the the toddler jolt up from her nap and move her hand, crying on being hurted.

jimin sighs deeply and rubs her back, kissing her cheek, "it's okay, nothing happened."

"i'm sorry, princess, i didn't want to hurt you." jungkook looks at her with worried eyes, gulping thickly and takes a step back to avoid touching the drip again, "it happened accidentally hyung, i promise."

"it's okay, bud, i know didn't mean to hurt her." jimin says, smiling a little at the boy before focusing back on the sister. "my baby is a strong girl, right? let's go and sit in the backyard, hm? we'll watch birdies sing and jungkookie will play soccer. do you wanna play with him?"

"o-oppa... riri ouch..."

"i know, my love. tell me where is it hurting?" he asks and smiles when she shows him her hand. "ah okay, should we kiss it better?"

aera nods subtly, rubbing her eyes with the other hand as jimin gently places a kiss on the side of her hand and one on her palm, "does it feel better?"

"no..."

"hmm, let me try again." jimin scrunches his face, placing another kiss on her hand and one on her cheek, "now? i'm sure the pain went away now."

aera noda hearing his words, staring at her hand, "pain wen' away. oppa, kiss it butter.."

"better" the brother corrects, chuckling softly when she shakes her head, not in the mood to repeat the right word after him. "okay fine, let's sit outside hm? the birdies are waiting for riri to come out and play."

"i'll get the ball!" jungkook chimes, running upstairs, "yoongi hyung, basket ball!"

"alright," the said elder nods, smiling at the youngest boy as he agrees. "let's go, riri will watch oppa playing basket ball."

"i'll play!" taehyung says.

"me too!" hosoek says.

"same, count me in!" namjoon joins too.

"great, we can have teams." yoongi says, looking at aera who's staring at them quietly, resting her head on jimin's shoulder. "who will riri cheer for?"

"for me!" jungkook says, coming down with the basket ball in his hand, "i'm her big brother and she's my sissy, so she'll cheer for me."

"no, she'll cheer for me." taehyung grins, "right princess?"

"back off, she likes me more." hoseok declares.

"who said that?" namjoon scoffs, "she'll cheer for me obviously."

"keep dreaming you guys." yoongi smirks, "my riri will cheer for me."

"ah, look they're fighting." jimin says, glancing at his sister, "tell them to stop fighting."

"no fighti-..." she mumbles.

"then tell us who will you cheer for?"

"chiminie oppa." she huffs, turning around and buries her face on jimin's shoulder, hugging him tightly.

"that is cheating! he's not even playing!" jungkook complaints, "riri cheer for me, i'll give you my last chocolate."

"chiminieeeee!" aera whines, pushing jungkook's hand away.

"okay, okay," jimin pats her back, "you can cheer for me."

"what about me?" jungkook pouts.

"hyungie will cheer for you, hm?" he smiles.

"noooo!" the toddler cries again, "riri!"

"you won't let me cheer for kookie?"

"oppa cheer riri..."

"ah okay-"

"no, he'll cheer for me." jungkook says, "you don't need cheering."

"you baaaaad!"

"you're bad!"

"koo's bad!"

"no, you're bad." jungkook says, turning around, ignoring her cries and pulls yoongi's hand, "i want yoongi hyung in my team, you three can be together."

"riri not bad..." aera sobs, looking at jimin who sighs and nods his head in agreement.

"yeah, riri's good girl. stop crying now." he says, wiping her tears, "we'll go watch oppas' game hm? let's see who wins."

"koo wins."

"yes! i knew it! she loves me more!" jungkook cheers, stepping near the sister and hugs her along with his hyung's arm coming in between, which unfortunately makes the toddler cry again on her hand being hurted by jungkook again, making him gasp and move back instantly. "i'm sorry... i- i didn't mean it again."

"be careful, jungkook." yoongi sighs as jimin struggles to calm her down all over again.

"sorry hyungie... sorry aera..."

"it's okay, you go and start your game. we're coming." jimin says, heading to the kitchen and takes aera's snacks with him, "we'll watch the game and eat, so riri can take a nap later."

aera nods slowly, looking too tired with all the crying and lack of sleep since last night. jimin sighs softly, kissing her warm forehead and rubs her back, "my baby, you'll get well soon."

_________

a/n: helloooo again after a long time 😭  how are you all?

i had no chapter ready, but actually i'm working on something and it's taking so pong because i haven't written anything like that before. i had to do some research and study for it and i honestly don't wanna rush with that and mess up the plot. it'll be very different from what i've written till now and what you've seen me doing in this book so far. so it's a bit exciting and making me quite nervous too. i can't wait to finish the chapters i'm working on and publish it for you guys 😭😭 i wanna release all the spoilers and everything right now but i can't do iiiitt 😤 so we have to wait

anyways stay tuned for that this week could  be massive 🌚🌝

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