Chapter Text
“Okay, so what was the problem?”
Seungcheol had framed the question to the rest of the members, all congregating in their practice room. After Jun had taken the sick Minghao back home, they had all decided to meet there during their break for lunch, hurrying to finish all their required work; of course, that included their recordings, although Jihoon looked slightly more off than before, but if they were being honest, all of them had turned grave in regards to the news.
United in the large room, they brought out all their meals, although the amount that would be saved for a future lunch strongly outweighed the rest.
“We can go in order of the day. I mean, it started this morning. At least, I think it started this morning.” The statement coming from Chan loomed over their heads. Minghao had been known to keep what he’s feeling to himself before, even to the brink of permanent damage to his health, whether it be physical or emotional. But they weren’t done yet. “It was when hyung didn’t wake up for our performance meeting.”
“Yeah, and he still seemed out of it, even when I finally woke him up.” Seungcheol responded quickly. “He didn’t do too much out of the ordinary, at least that we noticed, until we had gotten out of the car though, right?”
Then Vernon spoke. “He stumbled out of the car, as if he was walking without thinking.”
Mingyu added. “That’s when you noticed his voice. I could’ve sworn it sounded off when he greeted me earlier this morning, but that moment solidified it.”
Seungcheol continued. “Ok, and then?”
“When Jeonghan hyung was recording, he seemed so dazed . Like we all get impressed with the members, but this was just empty. Seungkwan and I saw it.” Seokmin chimed, followed by the other. “We were really paying attention to him, instead of playing our game.”
“And then we had, well, our late revelation.” Jihoon commented, finishing their timeline up to when the frog-like boy was taken by Jun.
But what had happened, not in their stupid timeline, but what had Minghao been going through?
That was all the remaining eleven could think of. And they thought. And thought. And thought. And thought. And then–
“Was it Seungkwan and Seokmin’s stomach bug?” Soonyoung chimed in. “That’s the only sickness we’d had recently.”
And it was plausible. That was, until Jeonghan spoke:
“But they got that bug a week ago, directly after they ate from that weird “authentic” Chinese food place. How could they have gotten it from-”
“Wait.” And the room went silent, all turning to Joshua.
“Crap. That Chinese place? Minghao said he wanted some, so Seungkwan gave some to me to give to him. But that day, I couldn’t find him, so I just stuck it in the mini fridge in his practice studio. We’d eaten with him everyday except yesterday, which is the most likely time when he got it.”
The room let out a breath. They had found a reason for Minghao’s terrible illness. But, something still felt off.
“Maybe, but even when Seungkwan and Seokmin got sick, they never got this sick and feverish.” Jihoon had added that comment.
“ Maybe its worse. ” was all Wonwoo said, and it was all he needed to say to both get their attention and begin to make them all tense up. “Think about it: Combine this stomach bug and the colder temperatures now. And of course, you have to know that Minghao’s been seeming more off then usual, probably due to the comeback, and stress is a big factor for fevers at times. If you mix it all together, you’d get the heavy sickness Minghao has.”
The members all let a breath out again, but this time, it carried more weight, as they had to carry some of the weight now. It was weight they knew they could carry, but it was weight they didn’t carry, and now, one of their own is suffering because of it.
Mingyu, surprisingly enough, was the only one who could break through the tension with a note of resolve in his tone.
“Guys, calm down. I know we all realize we messed up in not noticing how bad Minghao’s stress, but now it’s our job to make up for it. We need to get back to him, as soon as possible.”
Seungcheol joined in the resolve. “I’ll work something out with the managers. We are leaving as soon as possible.”
Thus, they began to clean all the food that they set out but had left untouched, returning it to their bags, preparing to leave the building. When they said as soon as possible, they meant it.
ーO8Oー
The only thing Minghao realizes as he wakes up is warmth. A lot of it. His eyes were absolutely not going to open themselves any time soon. But now, it wasn’t the weight of his sickness controlling it, as it was now just the remnants of sleepiness that remain just after you wake up. Thankfully, his left arm, resting over him in his side sleeping position, was strong enough to move and ascertain his situation. Firstly, there was one person in front of him, and judging by their breathing, he could tell it was his other Chinese member.
Slowly, he opened his eye to take in Jun up close, realizing he was sleeping, but was grateful for his presence. What he didn’t expect was to spin in his bed to be greeted with the faces of his members, some leaning on the bed, while others sat back, watching regardless. Eyes widening, the closest members (consisting of Vernon, Mingyu, Chan, and Seokmin) immediately jumped on the boy, crying out their worries. The mix of the noise and the extra weight on his body had ruined any sense of calm he felt before, but in his mind, which had become clearer than before, when had any calm he felt not been replaced with craze?
Thd older members pulled the hopping members back, saying “not to overwhelm him you idiots.” The uproar even caused Jun to twist like Minghao, wrapping his arms around his waist. Jeonghan walked in with Joshua in response to the clamor, holding a plate of fruits for the feeding of Minghao primarily, although he knew it wouldn’t remain just for the Chinese boy for long.
Wonwoo pulled him upright, slowly as to not further hurt him, and the plate was placed in his lap. He managed to eat a couple pieces, truly content with the food after not eating his breakfast. The members never stopped watching though, showering him with soft smiles and bright eyes. As he slowly stopped eating, partly due to his stomach still feeling kind of off, and due to the spotlight he was under.
Jihoon spoke first. “You know, MInghao, when you’re sick, you can just tell us. We will make sure you have no work to do, so that you can just recover.”
And Minghao felt the need to run away, to not confront this debate. He felt somewhat in the wrong, but with his most trusted people by his side, he was willing to tell them the truth.
“I know, but Seokmin and Seungkwan didn’t have to stay home with their sickness, so why should I?”
“Cause what you got was ten times worse!” Seokmin spoke up. “This is way worse than what we got.”
“But, we had work to do, and Mingyu and Joshua and Wonwoo wanted to go to that restaurant.”
“And? We can always go another day, don’t worry.”
“But-”
“Minghao, stop.” That was Jun. “This isn’t your fault. If anything, it’s ours for not helping when you were stressed, which only contributed to this all. But we’re here to help now, so please let us.”
And Minghao felt perturbed by it. It couldn’t be their fault. Not when he was the one who was sick. But maybe it was the sickness returning to his head, or maybe it was the voice of reason that came in his moments of need, but something about this felt, right. And so:
“O-okay. Thank you. Thank you so much, all of you.”
“Anytime. Now go back to napping, we’ll wake you up to eat dinner, and then we’ll sleep for the rest of the night. Does that sound good?”
Minghao simply hummed in reply, lowering himself back onto the bed, as the rest of his members slowly walked out, obviously not wanting to leave. But even the simple action made the corners of his mouth turn up. And as he closed his eyes again, he felt secure. He knew he’d get through this, but not alone. WIth the rest of them.
Although, he knew Jun was going to wake up with a fever tomorrow morning. But that would be okay. Because they would help him through it.