Chapter Text
It was another gruelling round of promotions for BTOB, add to the fact that it was too hot for it to be normal, it was only time before someone faltered and fell behind. Unfortunately, this time it happened to be the ever smiling Hyunsik.
They were preparing for a concert appearance with double the amount of practices being crammed into their regular schedules. They needed to get it right, so Hyunsik had opted to put in extra practice sessions with Ilhoon, despite his body (and Eunkwang for that matter) telling him to slow down.
“One more time,” he would tell Ilhoon at every session and Ilhoon always obliged, fingers replaying the song over. It was another three rounds of replaying the song that Ilhoon stepped in.
“Alright, I think that’s enough today hyung,” he smiled at Hyunsik and got his signature eye smiles in return.
“Let’s head back,” he said, leading the way out the door, intent on washing up and sleeping the day off. The water had helped relax all of Hyunsik’s muscles and when he finally got into bed, he immediately melted and drained in his comforters, falling asleep straight away.
This had become his routine for the following week that led up to the concert date. His practice session had become longer and his break time shorter. Sungjae –the mostly oblivious maknae- had noticed this change in his schedules, so he made it his mission to keep his hyung well fed and had enough water. But the thing was…Sungjae gets easily distracted.
It was the day before the concert and BTOB were onstage doing rehearsals in the stadium. The sun today was shining extra bright, almost scorching anything and everything it touched. Staff members made it a point to have as much water bottles around as possible, hydrating everyone in this heat their priority. Everything was blinding for Hyunsik, he couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of him, but he did his best to keep up with their routine. They were going through their set for the second (or was it the third?) time that day when Hyunsik felt the oncoming symptoms of a headache. It had formed just behind his left eye, slowly creeping it’s way to his forehead. With a deep breath and a swallow of his saliva, he kept going, dancing his way through their song and hitting his notes just the way he’s supposed to, despite the ever growing headache, which was slowly rendering him useless.
“Hyung, are you ok?” Ilhoon had asked at their next break, eyes trained on him because he knew something wasn’t right, especially when he looked paler than he usually is. Hyunsik smiled and waved him off.
“I think it’s just the heat,” he casually replied and Ilhoon was quick to hand him a bottle.
“Here, drink this,” even under Ilhoon’s watchful stare he could only manage a few sips. Ilhoon didn’t like that one bit.
“Are we taking a lunch break soon hyung?” Ilhoon had asked Eunkwang. He wanted Hyunsik hyung to get more rest and drink some more to keep from dehydrating, but he couldn’t ask or talk about it out loud because Hyunsik will outright shut them down.
“Are you asking for a break already Ilhoonie? You must be super hungry today,” Minhyuk joked with him and Ilhoon laughed it off. He knew this was going to be a long fight.
As the day wore on, the sun kept warming up, hitting its peak when they were only a third through their first dress rehearsal. It hadn’t been long since their official lunch break and even with the insistence of most members; Hyunsik had gone past their words and only ate a mouthful of food before he went back to practicing.
“Do you think we should keep an eye on him?” Minhyuk asked Eunkwang when Hyunsik was out of earshot. The leader was about to wave the idea off but Ilhoon cut him off.
“He hasn’t had a proper break in awhile, let alone drink enough water,” he absentmindedly told them. Both Eunkwang and Minhyuk looked at him worriedly but they couldn’t read his expression.
“I tried to keep him hydrated but I got distracted,” Sungjae mumbled and Minhyuk gave him a comforting part on his back.
When they were all ushered back on stage, the sun seemed hotter than it had when they left for break. In the middle of the stage stood Hyunsik, who from the looks of it was catching his breath, and in the blink of an eye, he was back to practicing. Minhyuk shared a concerned look with Eunkwang while Ilhoon and the rest of the maknae line went straight for Hyunsik.
Earlier, when Hyunsik left the break room, he knew that the others were going to talk about him. He knew they were just worried but he was fine, honest. He stepped out into the scorching sun, his headache from earlier having multiplied since it began. Hyunsik contemplated on going back in but he knew that it wouldn’t do any good if he faltered any of the moves, so after a few moments of swaying on the spot, contemplating, he forced himself to move forward and do more practicing. He kept practicing the moves over and over until at one point he had to take a quick breather. That’s when the others came out and he knew he had to get back to work. With a deep breath, he straightened up and went right back to it.
“Hyung, stop please!”