Chapter Text
Chan was mentally holding himself back from not fighting a staff member, and Changbin, was watching very intently just in case physical reinforcements were needed.
“Okay, and last thing before we go live, everyone needs to increase the energy a bit, we don’t want any weird speculations, especially after the change in car/plane.”
Chan raises his brow and doesn’t say anything. Before he can get himself in trouble, Seungmin saves him.
“Okay, understood. Thank you.” He dips his head. Chan thinks about how he's thankful that Seungmin defaults to manners in times of stress. He does a quick survey of the room and notices just how much of a mess they look. Changbin is looking around, much like Chan. Seungmin is rocking slightly on the bed, zoned out. Jeongin is barely able to follow a conversation. Felix is clearly in pain, constantly adjusting his back. Minho keeps closing his eyes, trying to ignore his racing heart and nausea, and Hyunjin’s eyes are visibly swollen, and he's wincing at each noise and adjustment of the lights from the staff. The staff gives the signal, and they're live.
The live starts, and they begin joking around and answering some questions. They talk about the tour so far and how they didn’t expect it to be so hot up north.
“Was the gym hotel good?” Chan reads a comment and translates it for the others. “Enough to get what I need done, what do you think, Changbin?”
Chanbin tilts his head, thinking, “Agreed, the weights at this one are better, I think. Maybe you’ll get a full review on a vlog…” He smirks. As they discuss vlogs, Felix moves closer so that he’s sitting behind Hyunjin and is reading the comments over his shoulder. He grabs one of his hands and starts playing with his fingers, and Hyunjin closes his eyes and rests his head back against Felix’s chest. The staff starts waving their hands and crossing their arms. Felix sits back up, and Hyunjin nearly falls backwards onto the mattress. Half of the other members turn to see what happened, and comments begin to flood in. Seungmin thinks quickly to distract from what just happened.
“I think they want a full review of Minho Hyung’s gym outfits.” Seungmin pipes up, moving to his knees, laughing.
“Huh! What’s wrong with my gym outfit?” Minho yells, one os the staff jumps.
“Yeah, Seungmin, I’ve never seen you in a gym outfit,” Jeongin raises his eyebrow, and Seungmin pushes him over.
“I saw him in flip flops once,” Chan adds
“They were slides,” Minho says. Hyunjin takes a deep breath, nearing a sigh, clearly out of the conversation entirely. He rubs his forehead and mumbles something about looking for his water, and Changbin gives the staff a pointed look. The staff just responds by signaling that they only have five minutes left. Chan scans the room, relieved at first that it will only be a few more minutes, but when he sees Hyunjin’s face pale, he begins to realize the mistake this truly was. Hyunjin takes a deep breath and shakes his head, dropping it towards his knees. Chan gets the message and starts to wrap things up despite the stern looks from the staff. Jisung is the one who ends up standing to shut the live off after everyone had waved or said goodbye.
“Jisung, we weren’t done yet.” One of the staff looks up from behind the live stream phone.
“Yeah, well, Hyunjin’s done.” Chan scoffs, rubbing Hyunjin’s back. While Hyunjin’s head and stomach were throbbing and rolling, Seungmin could feel a familiar itchy feeling of pins and needles. The room started to feel too hot and he could feel his clothes on skin. He’s suddenly too aware of how dry his eyes are from his contacts and how the belt from his pants are too loose but too tight at the same time. He squirms to try to fix the feeling, but Changbin goes to open the window to let in some fresh air, and the noises from the highway are too loud. He tries to take a deep breath, but the tightness in his back makes him feel worse. Felix is helping Hyunjin to the bathroom and Jisung is trying to get a water bottle from the fridge, but Seungmin swears it’s like they’re running to the bathroom, and Jisung is slamming the fridge door.
“You okay, Seungmin?” Changbin asks. He can’t respond, because if he does it will set him off. The fan in the bathroom is going at the same time as Chan is ushering out the last of the staff and their bright lights, and the same time that someone is moving on the sheets too loudly and—
“Min?”
“Stop.” It’s all become too much now, all of it’s out, and there’s no keeping it all back in. He stands up, pulls off his sweatshirt, and starts pacing around the room to try and calm down.
“Seungmin, maybe you should go back to your room, you’re pulling at your hair again and—“
“Just Stop!” He shouts at Chan as he approaches him. He’s hitting himself in the head with the base of his palm. He tries to breathe but can’t, and he grabs his hotel key card and walks out of the room and down the hallway.
Once Seungmin gets back, he strips off his clothes and looks for the black shorts and white T-shirt he wants to find, but they’re not where he last put it and he’s getting more and more frustrated. His skin is prickling again, and he wishes he could take off. He finds another pair of shorts that aren’t as good but are better than being as exposed as he is. He slips on another shirt, but it’s not the shirt or the shorts he wanted to wear. He starts scratching at his arms, trying to calm himself down because he just feels so, so stupid that he’s doing this right now. There’s a knock at the door.
“Seungmin?” Changbin’s voice creeps through the door. Seungmin doesn’t answer, just letting out high-pitched whines. “I’m coming in, okay?” He clicks the door open and walks in. Seungmin is scratching at his arms and hitting his chest in the corner. “Min?” Changbin doesn’t fully approach. “Do you want your diffuser on?” Changbin asks. One of the first things he's seen Seungmin put on to try and calm himself down; he even has a travel one for tour. Seungmin sniffs and nods.
“Eucalyptus, please.” His voice is quiet and nasally from crying. Changbin starts to fill it up with a bit of water and puts a few drops in. “I can’t find the shorts and shirt I want, and I can feel my skin on my skin.”
“Which ones? The black shorts?” He asks. Suengmin just hums trying to take a few more deep breaths.
“I think I saw you put them in the lighter-grey packing cube.” Changbin mentions. In a few hours, he’s sure that snarky Seungmin will be bringing up the fact that he’s taken a visual inventory of his packing habits. Right now, he just wants to do anything he can to make sad Seungmin less sad.
Seungmin opens his suitcase back up and deflates. “Oh, it’s– yeah,” He holds his shirt and shorts in his hands for a second, zoning out.
“Do you want to go change into them?” Changbin prompts.
Seungmin nods and slowly walks to the bathroom to change. The smell of eucalyptus has helped a little, and he feels a bit less escalated. In the bathroom, he also brushes his teeth and splashes some cool water on his face. He comes out again and looks down, walking over to the bed. Changbin motions towards his weighted blanket, and Seungmin nods and drapes it around himself like a kid in a towel, fresh out of the bath. He turns to lie on his side, and Changbin goes and lies down on the other bed.
“You feeling a bit better?” Changbin asks.
“Can you not look at me when we talk?”
“What?”
“Can you just turn away from me? It– I just it feel too much when you’re looking at me right now.”
“Oh, sure.” Changbin, without another question, turns over so that his back is to Seungmins.
“Thanks,”
“No problem.”
“And um, yeah, I’m feeling a bit better. I’m sorry I sorta freaked out.” Seungmin admits.
“No need to be sorry, did something happen?” Changbin asks. Seungmin shook his head and let out a small hum,
“Not anything in specific.” He can feel his throat tighten again. “It just– tour is hard, and I’m just not used to the quick changes yet.”
“Tour is hard,” Changbin affirms. It’s true, and Changbin knows that Seungmin is someone who needs quality sleep, and the constant changing of schedules, time zone changes, and packing and unpacking puts extra stress on him. He can hear Seungmin quietly whimpering and sniffling.
“I miss my bed and the convenience stores back home,” Seungmin sighs. He shifts in his bed a bit.
“I know. Me too.” Changbin nods, “But I’m also really excited. It won't be easy, none of our tours have been, but I know you’re more than capable.”
“I am excited for the shows. I’ve missed performing.” Seungmin smiles, thinking about it. “I’m tired.” His eyes were closing, and he felt his brain getting slow. “Do you think Hyunjin’s okay?”
Changbin thinks for a second, trying to imagine what is going on in the other hotel room currently. He stops for a few seconds once he realizes it’s not helping him figure out a good answer to Seungmin’s question. “I think he feels like shit right now, but he’ll start to feel better soon. I think everyone’s exhausted.”
“Yeah,” Seungmin’s breathing was evening out, and he felt himself losing a few seconds. “M tired, hyung, I think I’m gonna go to sleep.”
Changbin smiles and gets up. “I think that's a good idea. Night Min.”
“Night.” Seungmin mumbles, barely audible. Changbin starts to grab his phone and keycard and heads out of the cool eucalyptus-scented room and back to Chan’s hotel room.