#him being a fashion king who unfortunately sacrifices his health to look good is very him actually ahha

[fairyhaos]

◈ adorable and insufferable // joshua hong

joshua x gn!reader, 1.5k+ words

tags: sick fic, fluff, crack, established relationship, joshua makes small snuffly bunny noises when he's sick

warnings: food mention at the end

notes: for his birthday present, i give him a cold. as you can see, i love him very much.

Your boyfriend is sick.

He is, also, an absolutely terrible liar.

That leads you to the situation right now, where you’ve cornered Joshua in the kitchen, hands on your hips, a bunny headband pushing your hair back, and it’s not the most intimidating sight but Joshua gulps all the same, eyes darting around the kitchen nervously.

He’s looking for an escape route. You can see it in his eyes, clear as day, so you step even closer, voice dangerously calm as you speak.

“No, keep your eyes on me,” you say, face set into an angry frown. “Shua.”

Joshua looks at you, and tries not to breathe too weirdly. “Um. Y/N?”

You look him up and down, and then slowly fold your arms. “Shua,” you say again. “Are you sick?”

He blinks rapidly, and then has to stop, because it makes his head feel all woozy. “No?” he tries, and then coughs a little. He’ll claim it was out of nervousness, because you look kind of terrifying right now, but your eyes immediately widen at the sound, and he knows he’s busted.

“You are!” Instantly, you lunge for him as he tries to dive past you and escape this interrogation. “Joshua, come back! You’re sick!”

“I’m not! I’m not, I swear I’m not,” he insists, trying to pull away from the iron grip you’ve clasped around his wrist. Resistance is futile, though. You’re not letting him go, now that him and his wellbeing are involved. “Y/N, baby, please, I’m totally fine.”

“No you’re not,” you say firmly, and then begin dragging your whining boyfriend out the kitchen and towards the stairs. 

“I—” He sneezes, then, a loud and wet sneeze that scrapes at his throat and makes his eyes water, and he pauses, shocked. He sniffles, rubbing his nose. “Okay. Maybe I am.”

You shake your head, partly exasperated, partly fond, and continue pulling Joshua up the stairs.

He’s been shuffling around the house looking mildly ill all day, and you’ve been waiting for the right moment to pounce on him and get him up to bed. Because Joshua, when he gets sick, utterly refuses to give in and accept that he’s coming down with something, always waiting until the last moment to finally admit defeat to whatever illness has plagued him this time.

By the time you’re opening the bedroom door and ushering Joshua inside, he’s looking considerably worse than before, face all flushed and eyes watering from the sudden coughing fit he had while coming up the stairs.

“Come on, baby,” you coax, tucking him into bed. You press a hand to his forehead, a little alarmed and a little amused by how quickly he managed to look severely ill during the short walk upstairs. “Sleep.”

“I can still function, you know,” he insists as you pull the covers over him. “I can—I can do things.”

“I’d rather you not,” you say, smoothing down his hair and tucking away a few stray strands. You shake your head in faux disappointment. “I knew you’d get sick from all those days where you went out wearing all those thin layers in winter. What were you thinking?”

Joshua huffs petulantly. “It’s called fashion.”

“It’s called making yourself sick,” you return, and then chuckle at his pout. Leaning down, you press a quick kiss to his forehead, brushing a finger over his cheek fondly. “Now sleep. You’re going to feel way worse tomorrow if you don’t.”

He grumbles, but there’s a small smile on his face as he bids you goodbye and asks you to shut the door properly on the way out.

───────────── 💗

Your boyfriend is very, very self-sufficient. He tries not to bother other people with his struggles and his concerns, but he’s also very terrible at hiding it away when someone asks him directly if everything’s okay.

He’s also really weak in the face of attention.

Which means that while he’s very self-sufficient, the moment you notice he’s unwell and call him out on it, he melts instantly and gets taken over by his sickness so quickly that it surprises you every time.

Slowly, you creak open the bedroom door, peering inside to see Joshua staring blankly up at the ceiling. His head snaps towards you as you walk across the room, but his eyes are all glassy.

“Y/N?” he murmurs, and all he’s said is your name but it’s like he’s speaking through a ball of cotton. 

“Yes, it’s me,” you say, smiling a little, because his eyes positively shine when you confirm it. Sitting down on the edge of the bed, you place a damp towel over his forehead, feeling his cheek with the back of your hand, and wince a little at how warm he is. “Goodness me, Shua, you’re burning up.”

“No, I’m not,” he murmurs. “You’re burning up.”

You smile a little, pinching his cheek lightly. “If you were this sick, then why didn’t you say anything, hm? You should’ve told me earlier.”

“I’m not that sick. I can still do stuff,” he says, eyes falling shut just slightly as you begin stroking his hair, a relaxing movement. “Hey, hey, Y/N, watch this.”

“Hm?” You stop stroking his hair, sitting back and waiting patiently. 

There’s a long silence, and then Joshua cracks an eye open to look at you. He looks expectant—well, as expectant as a person with an extremely high fever can look—but when you don’t say anything, a small frown creases his brow.

“Didn’t you see it?”

“See what, baby?”

“The cartwheels. I did cartwheels.”

The statement is so absurd that you think he’s joking, but his face is set into such a serious pout that you can’t help but laugh a little, because there's something about fever-drowsed Joshua that is so adorable.

“You didn’t do any cartwheels, baby,” you say gently, and go back to stroking his hair. “You didn’t even get up.”

Joshua frowns, the pout deepening. “Oh.” His eyes close, and then open again. “I did them in my head, though. I’m sure I did.”

Cute, you think helplessly, unable to stop the smile spreading across the face. “Okay.” You kiss his nose. “I believe you. But I’m gonna go get you something to drink and eat, and then you’re gonna meds, okay?”

He makes a small noise of discontent when you get up, and then coughs, giving a pathetic sniffle like a sad little bunny, and you almost want to just stay next to him and never leave his side.

“You’re gonna need to take the meds to get better faster,” you say at the door. “I’ll be back soon, promise. Wait here.”

Joshua makes that sad noise again, but he watches you go. “Okay,” he says, all mumbly. “I promise not to cartwheel away.”

You laugh a little, because good lord, he’s so adorable. “Okay. I’m trusting you, alright?”

“Mhm.”

You close the door and walk down the stairs, shaking your head fondly.

───────────── 💗

It’s only several days later that his fever finally lets up, and he’s well enough to walk around the house once more. You wake up to Joshua in the kitchen, a blanket around his frame, making pancakes.

“Baby?” you ask, rubbing your eyes and yawning. “What are you doing?”

Joshua turns to you, and then grins, eyes crinkling fondly. “Hey, sweetheart,” he says, and deposits the last pancake onto a plate. “I’m making you breakfast, of course. Here. Eat up. Want some french toast too?”

“Wh—huh?” you say, incredibly intelligently, slowly sliding into the seat that, like the gentleman he is, Joshua had pulled out for you. “Why?”

“It’s a thank-you present, obviously,” Joshua says, as he busies himself making french toast. As if the pancakes and spread of fresh fruit and waffles (he cooked waffles too?) aren’t enough. “I’ve been insufferable over the past few days.”

You chuckle a little, thinking of Joshua insisting he can do cartwheels while you try to spoon feed him soup. “Yeah, you have. But I didn’t mind. You’re my boyfriend. Of course I’m gonna put up with you.”

Joshua laughs. “Thank you, Y/N. What would I do without you?”

“You’d be dead without me,” you say, incredibly seriously, and it makes Joshua laugh again. His eyes are still a little puffed up, but he beams at you, all full of life, and it makes you grin too.

“You’re totally right,” he says, and leans over to peck you on the cheek. “I love you.”

You smile, taking hold of his chin and bringing him down to press a longer kiss to his lips. “I love you more.”

Joshua quirks a grin at that, kissing your forehead for good measure before going back to the bread. “Let’s not start that argument again. Eat your pancakes, sweetheart, before they get cold.”

You look over at him as he busies himself making yet more food, and it makes you a little dizzy, really, just how much Joshua loves you. And how much you love him in return. Even when he’s doing cartwheels in his head and insisting he’s doing them in real life.

“Hey, now you’re all better, you can do those cartwheels you kept wanting to do.”

“Really? Should I?”

“Yeah! I bet I can do them better though.”

“Oh, you’re on.”

fics tags: @jeonginssa @weird-bookworm @minhui896 @bunnyiix @slytherinshua @haowrld @belladaises @moonlitskiiies @mirxzii @zozojella @kawennote09 @thedensworld @a-wandering-stay @abibliolife @doublasting @wonranghaeee @icyminghao @sweet-like-caramel @your-yxnnie @evasaysstuff @odxrilove @kyeomyun @crackedpumpkin @jeonride @kellesvt @sakufilms @eightlightstar @onlyyjeonghan @aaniag @amxlia-stars @raevyng @isabellah29

[a-royal-obsession]

The Prince of Wales to Prince Frederick

Tuesday evening, 17 July 1781

You will not wonder at my long silence when you know the cause of it. Ye misery yt. I suffer is not to be believed. However, you must give yr. word & honor as a gentleman before you begin to read ye sad tale I have to unfold, yt. it must be buried in ye strictest silence, for reasons wh. will strike you, & for others wh. I will mention to you. What I have suffered ever since last Saturday was sennight, is beyond ye power of man to describe. However, I will now begin.

Soon after I recovered my violent illness in ye winter [sic] I went to Court. There I saw Monsieur Hardeng̣ Madame was there also, but whether on account of the crouds there were ye two ensuing Drawing Rooms, I never saw her either yt. Drawing or any of ye other two, but being at St. James’s ye ensuing Thursday, someone, upon my asking, shewed her to me at ye other end of the room. I bowed to her but could not get up to speak to her before ye. Court was over. However, I met her in ye evening in ye. Queen’s appartment, at a great concert we had there. I then was introduced to her. After having conversed with her some time I perceived yt. she was a very sensible, agreable, pleasant little woman, but devilish sincere. I thought no more of her at yt. time. Busche having desired me to take notice of her husband as a very sensible honest man, I invited him to dinner, with a grand société, in order to shew him every civility & attention yt. was in my power, by introducing him to several people, in short, to as many as I possibly could, in order to encrease his acquiantance & make him known to some of ye. people of ye. first fashion here. He dined with me once or twice before I met him, alone, at ye. Lodge at Windsor, in order to hunt with our pack of hounds ye. next morning. The King invited him down twice in this manner in order to hunt. However, ye. third time he was invited down, he was ordered to make up ye. King’s hunt, & desired to bring Madame with him. I had seen & met Madame only once since ye. first time I mentioned meeting her at ye. Queen’s House, in ye. Queen’s appartment, when I was set down to whist with a set of very good and consequently very grave players. She was set down at ye next table opposite to me to a commerce party with my sister, a thing I could easily perceive by her looks she disliked very much, not particularly because she was to play with those girls, but because, as I have since learnt from her, she hates all games at cards, as I do, unless they are games of chance, merely for ye sake of gambling. That night I thought her devinely pretty. My attention was naturally taken from the cards, & in short, I could not keep my eyes off her. One of my sisters who had undertaken to teach her ye. game, with wh. she was totally unacquianted, played her cards for her, & I observed her to be equally inattentive to her play, as I was, but I thought I met her eyes too frequently to fancy yt. it proceeded from inattention or common curiosity only. However, at yt. moment I was too much taken up with looking at her myself to be so observant, tho’ it struck me afterwards. From that moment ye. fatal tho’ delightful passion arose in my bosom for her, wh. has made me since, ye. most miserable & wretched of men. With whom should I so soon place my whole confidence & all my cares & misfortunes wh. have now brought me to ye. utmost pitch of misery, as with whom who is ye. friend of my heart, who has always proved himself deserving of ye. confidence I have placed in him, my dearest brother? Yes, my beloved Frederick, with you I know this unhappy secret will be buried in eternal in eternal [sic] silence. O did you but know how I adore her, how I love her, how I would sacrifice every earthly thing to her; by Heavens I shall go distracted; my brain will split. But to return to our subject. I went down to Windsor. I met Mme. Hardenberg there; she was to stay & did stay a fortnight there with us. During ye. first three or four days I shewed her every attention possible, & did not mention a word of love to her. However, within a day or two I said to her, after having shewn her very particular attentions, yt. it was a pity after having met so often at Windsor I could not have ye. satisfaction of seeing her so frequently in London, & asked if she was not to be seen in town sometimes after eleven o’clock when her husband was out. She resented this with very great spirit saying she believed I had forgot whom I was speaking to, but, upon my making her strong excuses & saying I really did not mean to give her ye. smallest offence, she said she would forget all. But in order to shorten my dismal tale & not to stick upon minutiae I will tell you yt. [I] dropped every other connexion of whatever sort or kind, & devoted myself entirely to this angelick little woman. I grew more & more fond of her, & to so violent a degree did I doat upon her, yt. it impaired my health & constitution very much. Jebb was obliged to attend upon me. I have spit blood & am so much emaciated you would hardly know me again. This had a strong effect upon her. She began then to perceive how truly I was attached to her, & one morning when I called upon her at her house at Old Windsor while her husband was absent, after I had complained much of her coldness & cruelty to me, she thus spoke to me, “I certainly am very much attached to you, & do love you most sincerely, & it affords me great delight to think yt. you are attached to me, but I must tell you yt. I was once very much attached to another person, & did think that a woman never could love but once sincerely during her life. If, after such a declaration, you can attach yourself to me, it will be an additional proof of your love, but should you not, for God’s sake let us drop all thoughts of love & part very good friends”. I assured her yt. what she had said, so far from lessening my affection, encreased it if possible, & made me entertain a higher idea of her honor. I then continued visiting her two or three times more before she would consent to listen to any idea of compleating my happiness. However at last she did. O my beloved brother, I enjoyed beforehand ye. pleasures of Elyssium; but this is a secret wh. no one but Hulse & you know of. Thus did our connexion go forward in ye most delightful manner yt. you can form any idea to yourself of, till an unfortunate article in ye. Morning Herald appeared. saying yt. ye. German Baroness who had been imported by ye Queen, had taken a house next door to Perdita’s in Cork Street, & yt. my carriage was seen constantly at her door. Ye. confusion wh. caused this article is yt. a Polish Countess, Countess Raouska, has taken ye. house next to Mrs. R[obinson]’s, & ye. Duke of Gloucester’s carriage is very often, nay even every day seen at her door. Be this as it will, her husband, who had been put upon his guard by some servant in his family, came to her & told her yt. unless she immediately wrote a letter to me saying she would drop all connexion with me he should suppose she had cuckolded him. She endeavoured to convince him concerning his absurdity about ye. newspaper, & at last grew angry. However, he intim[id]ated her so much by his brutality yt. she was in a moment of fright weak enough to confess I had made proposals to her, tho’ never had succeeded, & forced her to write ye. letter I have already mentioned to you, to me. He also wrote one to me wh. accompanied it. I almost fell into fits when I received the packet from him,& augured no good from it, but upon opening it I thought I should have run distracted, as I conceived her to be guilty of ye. blackest ingratitude & cruelty to me. However, I immediately sat down & wrote to them both saying to him yt. it was very true I was very strongly attached to his wife, but yt. I should be ye. most infamous of human beings if, after the proposals I had made her I should have a single doubt concerning his wife’s character, for yt. she had always treated me with ye. utmost coolness & yt. I was the only person yt. he [sic] was to blame in ye. whole of this affair. As to her, I wrote her ye. most passionate of letters. I thought everything was then at an end, & I sent an express for Lord Southampton & desired he wld. go into ye. King & ask his permission for me to go abroad, as an unfortunate affair had of late happened to me wh. made me excessively miserable, & I wished by yt. means to try if I could not a little dissipate my thoughts; yt. it was not an affair yt. would ever come to ye. King’s ears & yt. therefore I flattered myself I should receive his Majesty’s leave to set out as soon as possible. The answered [sic] Southampton brought me was yt. the King cld. not at present think of my going abroad as it was during ye. war. This was on Sunday sennight in ye morning, & on Sunday at noon I received a letter from her, yt. she was forced to write ye. preceding one to me, reminding me of her attachment, saying she hoped I had not forgot all my vows & would run off with her yt. night. Adoring her as I do, judge of ye. different combats my heart had to endure, ye. idea of ye. noise my flight would cause in ye. world, then ye. idea of being in possession of her who alone forms all my happiness. For some time I in a manner lost my senses entirely. However, I chanced to meet her & consented to ye. plot, but as soon as I had, reflection crouded itself on my mind. Ye. thought wh. then occurred to me was yt. although she was unhappy, nay miserable, with her husband, yet she would live as a woman in her situation in life ought to do; at least she could eat & she cld. drink & live, but had she been with me, you know our father’s severe disposition; everything yt. was shocking is to be expected from him; ye. very thought yt. I should perhaps see ye. object of all my tenderness, of all my love, in short, ye. only woman upon earth I can & do only love, perishing for want, is such an idea yt. it stabbed me to ye. very heart & staggered my resolution. I need not desire you, dearest Frederick, to feel for my sufferings. Yr. generous heart will sufficiently share ye. pangs & conflicts I have & still do endure; in short, my misery was such yt. I went under ye promise of ye greatest secrecy & threw myself at my mother’s feet & confessed ye. whole truth to her. I fainted. She cried excessively & felt for me very much. There was then but one thing to be done, & we sent Hulse to Mme. H. to tell her yt. nothing but an unforseen accident wh. had happened cld. prevent my coming. Upon this ye. Queen only begged me to allow her to tell ye. King upon condition he took no part in it, what had been ye. subject of our conversation. Whether she was quite true to me or not I cannot say. However, all yt. I have now time to tell you is yt. my father sent for Hardenberg & yt. he went off with my little angel to Bruxelles on Thursday night, leaving me to all ye. agonies of misery & despair. I have not time, my best friend, to explain anything more to you at present, but will certainly by ye. very next post. I only now have to add yt. I trust so much to yr. honor (yt. supposing her [be] capable of allowing of it, wh. I believe impossible but I say supposing yt. possible) yt. you would not add to my misery by making up to her or making love to her even in ye. most distant. If ever I should hear it you wld. be ye. cause of my death, but I cannot help upbraiding myself for want of confidence in yr. honor, so you are incapable of it, you wld. not hurt yr. brother who loves you so tenderly, in ye. most distant manner, however you must allow for ye. feelings of a lover. You will see ye. necessity for yr. secrecy. I will tell you & explain to you much more in my next, concerning all my plans & views wh. are ye. only things wh. now keep me alive. With regard to the King, you will not make any comments, I hope, upon any part of ye. business with him, only say you are sorry to hear of the affair & promise yr. secrecy upon ye. occasion. Adieu, dearest of brothers, my heart is ready to burst.

Queen’s House, Friday, 20 July 1781

P.S. You will perceive my agitation by ye. horrid style & scrawl. You shall hear from me again almost immediately, as I have scarce any other satisfaction left than yt. of knowing I have a friend who will feel most truly for me. Once more, adieu, my dearest Frederick.