Chapter Text
Juho felt like death warmed over. His head ached, his throat hurt every time he had to swallow and his stomach felt like someone was stabbing a knife in it. But hey he was totally fine... At least he tried to tell himself that when he felt the glances of his members on him. Because he is Baek Juho, a cold guy who is strong and independent even though his members would probably say otherwise. You could say it was his stupid pride that kept him from seeking comfort from one of his members or at least ask for medicine from the manager. He really should know better because Juho did not do things only halfway through.
If Juho gets sick- and he does not get sick often- then he gets so ill that he more often than not faints because he can admit that he is not the best at taking care of himself. He still remembers when it first happened. He was already in middle school because before that his mother took care of him if he showed even a little sign of sickness and maybe but just maybe this was also a reason that he was not so good at taking care of himself.
But then his mother got a new job where she worked the whole day and there was no one to make sure that Juho took medicine and stayed in bed when he was sick. So he went to school with the thought that he could get through his day just fine. He had to realize that he maybe he was not as fine as he thought he was because he woke up in the nurse´s office at school after he fainted in the middle of his math lesson. His parents were angry at him and he got scolded by his teacher. But it happened again and again and Juho was not sure why he was always the one who woke up to faces hovering over him when he fainted once again. His parents could not really do anything against this bad habit of him apart from talking to him about it but as Juho got older the scoldings and talks got less and less and when he finally moved to Seoul to audition for FNC Entertainment his parents did not really have much influence in terms of sickness on him anymore.
This brings him back to the present situation where he could feel the oncoming signs of sickness but ignored them because it was certainly just a phase which would be over soon enough. Juho really should not have thought that because the next morning he sure as hell did not feel like this was just a quick feeling which passed after he went to sleep. He felt even shittier than yesterday but he was pretty sure that it was not as bad as it felt. It could not be that bad, he reassured himself
They had a full day ahead of them with performances, interviews and fan meetings and there was neither time nor need to rest for him. He could not disappoint their fans and his members when he is not even that sick. So he started in the day with the bad feeling that he would maybe find himself on the floor at one point or another and it scared him a bit. The other members of SF9 have never seen him like that and he does not want to change that at all. He just hoped that he was strong enough to hold on until at least the interviews were over in the evening.
Juho may have overestimated his body. He felt like he could faint every second and they were not even halfway through with their schedule. Sometimes he could feel eyes on him from one of the members but he was good at pretending that nothing was wrong and gave them a smile that looked almost convincing if his face would have not been so pale and if he did not look like he was ready to keel over at any moment. Juho could almost feel the worry radiating of the other members but they did not approach him because they knew how he got when he did not want to talk about something- closed off and distant. They just hoped that their stubborn group member will come to at least one of them to seek help.
Their hopes were of no use because they just finished their fan meeting and were on their way backstage when Juho felt his surrounding go a bit dark and he slowed down without the other members noticing. His vision was blurred and all the sounds which were so loud before to his aching head became muffled. He already knew what was going to happen and did not fight it as his legs buckled under him and he fell. The last thing he heard was a scream of something that sounded suspiciously like his name before everything went black and his eyes rolled back in his head.
Youngbin was hanging a bit behind the other boys to talk about some changes of the schedule with their manager when something in front of him caught his attention. Leaning on the wall was Juho, looking ghostly pale and ready to collapse at any moment. The older knew that he was not feeling well. Heck, everyone who had two healthy eyes could see that Juho was sick. His voice was even raspier than usual and his face was pale apart from two red blotches high on his cheekbones. But he also knew that it would do no good to try to talk sense into Juho because he was so damn stubborn.
They almost reached the sick boy when his legs suddenly gave out under him and he fell to the floor. Youngbin let out a call of Juho´s name and ran toward him. The younger one was unconscious and his breathing was a bit harsh. Their manager told him that he would organise the van for them and left to call the stations to cancel the interviews for today.
Youngbin sat down next to Juho to make him feel a little more comfortable by pillowing his head on his thigh. His hands made contact with Juho´s head and he let out a gasp as he felt how hot the younger was. He gently carded his hands through the soft hair sticky with sweat and could not help but smile a bit when the younger one leaned in his touch. But then he let out a few whimpers and started to shiver. The leader did not really know what to do so he gathered the taller but light boy in his arms to walk to their dressing room. He got a few questioning glances from the staff and other people but he knew that there was no time to chat with the boy in his arms so sick.
He shouldered his way trough the door and made his way over to the couch in the dressing room where Rowoon was lying down with his long limbs stretched out. Before someone could say anything he lowered Juho on Rowoon´s lap and turned around. “He fainted. Our Manager is getting the car. And please stay calm and don´t crowd him.” he tagged on and went to gather a jacket and a cool pack he could use to cool down his friend a bit. He heard someone moving and when he turned to look who was going toward him he came face to face with their oldest member. “Is there something we can do to help?” he asks with concern obvious in his voice. Youngbin smiled a bit at him before nodding his head and answering: “Yeah if one of you could possibly ask the staff for some medicine for Juho? He has a fever...” He saw Inseong nodding at his request and going out of the room. Turning back around he felt all the members looking at him. That was one of the moments where he knew exactly what the position of the leader meant and he shot them all a reassuring smile before making his way back over next to the sick boy after collecting the items he needed.
Rowoon had manhandled the pliant body on top of him so that he was in between the longer legs and Juho was leaning on his chest. He was still out of it but his breathing was not as ragged anymore and he snuffled against Rowoon´s chest. Youngbin kneels down next to the two before he reaches out his hand one more time so that he can feel if the heat from the boy is still as bad as when he felt it the first time. Confirming that it was indeed not any better he looked at the younger boy and asked him to hold the cool pack against Juho´s head. He gave him a grateful smile when Rowoon did just that and carded his fingers through the sweaty hair the way he knew Juho liked it when he felt bad or had a nightmare.
He glanced to the door when he heard it open to see their manager give him the signal to pack their stuff up. He gave Jaeyoon a thankful smile when he saw them herding the younger ones to the first car. Youngbin gave Dawon the signal to go too because he knew that as much as the younger one wanted to help he was not very good with vomit and he did not want to repeat that accident where Taeyang was down with the flu and at the end he had two people throwing up because Dawon could not handle the stench and noises. Before the younger one can leave the room he shouts at him to call Jaeyoon back to drive with them.
With Chani, Hwiyoung, Taeyang and Dawon he sees Inseong wandering back in and he hands him the medicine he could gather and a thermometer one of the female staff had with her for whatever reason. “Thank you Inseong. Can you go home with maknaes and Dawon and make sure that they eat and don´t break something? I´m gonna update you per mobile. Maybe we have to take him to the hospital...” he continued worriedly. The older one gave him a nod and a pat on the back before turning on his heels to run to the car already waiting for him. Normally they would split up like how they live in the two dorms but Youngbin does not want the younger ones to distract the others even thought he knows that they are trying to be helpful and Dawon is in the other car for obvious reasons.
He sticks the thermometer under Juho´s tongue and instructs the other boy to make sure that the unconscious boy´s mouth does not drop open. It would probably be amusing in any other situation but the two were too worried about their group member to make jokes about the situation. The thermometer beeped and Youngbin took it in his hands to read the number. Rowoon gives him a questioning look from where he settles Juho back in his chest when he heard the light cussing of the leader kneeling in front of him. “It´s really high... I think we should take him to the hospital. His temperature is 39.7°C.”
After hearing the news their manager gestures them to finally come to the van waiting for them at the back. Before Youngbin can do something Rowoon is already standing up with Juho latched on his front like a koala and he really has to hold back a laugh because as much as their main rapper tries to show his cold side in front of the fans he often fails and makes himself look cute instead. Rowoon secures his arms around the thin boy and Youngbin and their manager take their bags. On the way out to the car they meet up with Jaeyoon. He climbs in the passenger seat and looks back to see Juho lying over Jaeyoon´s and Rowoon´s lap. He handed them the thick jacket he collected earlier and watched as they tucked Juho under it. The oldest in the car could not help but sigh. They were in for a long waiting time at the hospital and after that had to deal with the stubbornness that is Baek Juho.