Chapter Text
Busy. they were always busy, 3racha even more so, and this comeback was no exception. If anything, they were actually busier now than they had ever been. Which was to be expected.
They debuted a year ago, were releasing another mini album, recording a reality show, flying around the country – around the world, some of them were even given solo projects to partake in. Radio shows, hosting, variety, the works. Even Jisung was going to be on a show.
The King of Mask Singer!
The reality show he used to pretend he was on since he’d first watched; with a paper bag over his head and a remote control microphone. The same show he had always known he wouldn’t ever participate on. Woojin? Definitely. Seungmin? Surely. Jeongin? Without a doubt. Chan would have been a good choice. Felix would have endeared himself into the hearts of everyone. Minho would have shined brightly. Hyunjin too, being adorable as always. Even Changbin’s raspy talents would have easily worked with the show. But Jisung?
Jisung knew he had enough training, enough skill, knew he was ‘good enough’ to be on the show. But he was still terrified. He had to be the best he could be.
Busy. Jisung was extremely busy.
The group was set to release videos for nearly every song. Including ‘his’ song – anxiety abound. They had intricate powerful dances that they needed to perfect. Jisung had his performance to make perfect.
Needed to practice. Wanted to practice. Was mildly obsessed with practicing. Jisung needed to represent Stray Kids – for himself, for the others, for Chan.
The increase in activity was causing other problems though. ‘I AM You’ had gone on without too many issues. There were a few instances where Jisung caught himself – realized that his jitters might be more than general nerves. He’d gotten good at going to Felix – as he’d promised – whenever he was feeling off. The others had also gotten very good at recognizing that things were declining.
It was funny really, the other eight had become far better at recognizing that his hypoglycemia was giving him a problem than Jisung was. The doctor had speculated that that was in part due to Jisung coping with it for so long unregulated. The old man had probably been right, but it still bothered Jisung a bit. He’d rather handle it all alone and not cause worry or interrupt their busy schedules. However, this comeback was making that challenging.
Even knowing what was causing the problem, even drinking juice, and sports drinks, even snaking and resting, wasn’t making this comeback any less hard. It was like nothing he did fixed the lingering effects.
He hadn’t outright told the others, but they clearly saw he was struggling.
Seungmin and Hyunjin had moved the juice stash into Jisung’s new room before the 3racha maknae even moved his pillow.
Jeongin took being a roommate seriously. The young vocalist made sure Jisung was feeling good before turning off the lights each night, made sure the juice and emergency candy stashes were always full, and was persistent in making Jisung eat breakfast each morning before they left the dorm; regardless of how early that might be.
All the members kept a close eye on Jisung during practice – Chan was quick to call breaks if needed.
It was nice, but it was also heavy at times; Jisung felt the added pressure. He needed to be perfect, his singing, his rapping, his dancing. But his body struggled more when he tried. If that happened, his members' focus would be disrupted.
At the moment it felt like a lose, lose situation.
But Jisung couldn’t afford to think about those problems right now. Right now, he needed to hurry up and finish his final practice for the Masked Singer. Then he had to go straight to filming.
He huffed a whimper – filled with nerves – and restarted the music again.
The last week had been a struggle. His nerves kept hunger at bay and his mind occupied, if not for his members Jisung was sure he’d of collapsed again. And that was the last thing he wanted. Though he had managed to convince Felix to open up about how traumatic everything had been, Jisung had not been able to get through to everyone. Couldn’t reassure everyone.
Thankfully, his practice and hard work was paying off. The pieces he planned on performing were solid, and assuming he kept his nerves back, he’d nail the show.
The final run through was clean and Jisung had a couple minutes to relish the accomplishment before their manager appeared to whisk him off to film.
Despite his absolute utter terror, filming went well. People enjoyed his performances – complimented him even. Said he was representing Stray Kids well. And even though Jisung had been incapable of preventing the constant tremors running through his body, he hadn’t failed. Though, he still worried whether or not his members were going to agree with that.
“Alright, Jisungie~ Let’s get you to the others! I’m buying you all dinner tonight to celebrate – you did so well. They’re going to be so proud,” their manager had been sending updates to the others throughout the day while he excitedly watched, “I’ll drop you off at the studio and then message Channie once I’ve gotten the food in an hour or so to bring whoever is still there back to the dorms. Everyone.” the last word left no room for argument and Jisung chuckled.
“Of course Hyung.”
“You really did a great job today,” the older man repeated again as they pulled to the curb. “I’ll make sure it is a feast.”
“Thank you, Hyung.” Jisung laughed gently hurrying off. He didn’t remember whether he was just meeting up with Chan and Changbin or if they were planning a dance practice.
3racha’s studio was closer. And Jisung was pleased to see the lights pouring through the small slanted window.
He knocked once and pushed the door open clumsily, “I’m back Hyung!”
“Our Sung returns,” Changbin jokingly called out, eyes not leaving the screen in front of him, but hand raising in a fist waiting to be bumped.
“How’d it go Sungie? Did you have fun?”
Jisung jumped into his story, oblivious to Changbin’s waiting fist or Chan’s growing frown, “Yeah. I think I did alright… I was so nervous Hyung. One of you would have been a better choice, but I did my best – the crew seemed to like my performance. I wish we could tell Stays, I feel bad for making them wait and -” he paused in confusion. Changbin had stood and looped his arm loosely around him – guiding him to a chair, “What?”
“Drink,” Chan placed a bottle into Jisung’s hand, “You’re spiraling Ji. Just drink.”
“Oh,” the younger reached up to open the bottle, noticing only after his hand brushed against the lip that the top had already been opened; had he really not noticed? Jisung slowly drank the cold liquid, careful not to spill or jerk or anything else that would increase the others’ worry. He’d been careful today, hadn’t he? Ate breakfast, snacked between run-throughs… He thought he’d been taking care of it.
“Need more Sung?” Changbin patted his shoulder lightly, only now returning to his own seat beside Jisung, “We’ve got more if you do.”
“I don’t think so,” he responded, finishing off the bottle. He used to be so good at this. What had changed? Or maybe he’d never been ‘good’ at it. Maybe that’s the real problem – he’d learned to cope not manage.
Chan hesitated beside him for a few more seconds, before following suit and sitting down as well, “I can’t wait to see the broadcast Sungie.” He tried to bring the mood back up, “I’m sure you’ll blow me away with all that talent.”
“Yeah…” Jisung swallowed thickly, “Uh, our manager is getting us food by the way – said he’ll call when he gets here to take us home.”
“Sounds good. With our comeback starting up we don’t need to worry too much about new stuff just now,” Changbin muttered, “Plus food sounds amazing.”
“Yeah…” Jisung repeated quietly; they could always use more songs.
“Sung?”
“Hmm?” he glanced up as he hummed.
“It’s alright, you know?” Chan spoke slowly, calmly, “I’ve told you before. It’s not your fault, it’s not hurting us – watching out for you is not hurting us, we aren’t ‘suffering.’ Alright?”
“Yeah, alright,” Jisung responded, somewhat begrudgingly.
Changbin said nothing and Chan seemed to sigh, but the three started working soon after and fell into their normal productive rhythm.
Jisung knew they meant it – but that didn’t stop it from bothering him, didn't stop him from wanting to do something to prevent their concern.
True to his word, their manager returned one hour and twenty minutes later. 3racha left without a fight, silently relieved at having no choice but to relax and turn in early.
Neither Chan nor Changbin made any comments about Jisung’s earlier issues – for which he was grateful. Especially, since the others seemed so happy and proud. Jisung wanted to relish that, rather than watch fear grow; again.
He even decided not to mention it to Felix. The Aussie hadn’t mentioned having nightmares recently, but there were days Jisung could feel eyes on him; throughout practice, during filming. Nothing he did seemed to settle Felix’s mind.
Feeling guilty once again, Jisung shoved another piece of chicken into his mouth and leaned back against Hyunjin – who’d decided to sit behind him.
Hyunjin had latched onto Jisung soon after the 3racha member returned home, claiming he missed his former roommate. “Say ‘aw’ Mr. Masked Singer,” He nudged Jisung playfully, offering another piece of spiced chicken, “Hero’s must eat meat.”
“You’re ridiculous,” Jisung chuckled but opened his mouth anyway.
“I’m excited to see the episode,” Changbin sang out for the nth time that evening.
“Me too!” Woojin agreed, dumping more snacks into the empty bowl.
“Don’t get too excited,” Jisung muttered around the lumpy piece of chicken, “I’d rather you guys have low expectations, then end up being disappointed.”
“No one will be disappointed,” Felix sputtered, mouth stuffed with noodles.
“Unless you curled up in a ball and bawled on stage hysterically,” Minho chimed in playfully, easily dodging the small pillow Jisung threw at him. The dancer laughed brightly at the younger’s pout.
“I’m sure you did great Sungie,” Hyunjin’s arms tightened pulling Jisung even closer.
The festivities continued for a few more hours before the prospect of the next day’s busy schedule forced them to retire.
*~*~*~*~*
Practice the next day was brutal. The choreographer had drilled Miroh and Victory Song eight times each before giving a tentative seal of approval. They’d finished barely ten minutes before a scheduled interview – thankfully it wasn’t filmed and was in the JYP building.
The nine members, sweaty and exhausted, didn’t even have time to grab towels or water before rushing off to the conference room. Though staff members offered water as they entered.
The four older members sat on the four stools near the interviewer, who immediately greeted them and apologized for preventing them from showering, and the younger members stood behind the stools and bowed their greetings in return.
Jisung stumbled over the cord, clinging onto Seungmin momentarily to prevent himself from falling, and took his place in the back corner. The air conditioning was blasting through the vents, chilling him to his core. The others were shivering too, Hyunjin even rocking slightly to keep his blood moving. Despite being chilled himself, Jisung quickly removed his sweatshirt – which wasn’t damp luckily, he’d only pulled it on after practice – and offered it to Hyunjin.
“Thanks,” the dancer muttered quickly pulling it over his head, he paused briefly and smiled, then turned back to the interviewers.
“Thank you so much for meeting with us. I know your schedule must be extremely full,” the primary interviewer started, beside him was another man hastily typing, “We’d like to focus on the album first; its construction, inspiration, etc. Then branch off into discussing the awards you have received, wish to receive, goals for the future and so on. I know we only have an hour.”
The questions seemed to draw on and on, the two men had clearly done their research. Commenting on Chan’s long training period and the group’s success in detail.
Jisung thought he was paying attention and was thankful that Hyunjin’s slight bump didn’t make him jump or embarrass himself, “What was that, I’m sorry I didn’t catch the question,” he held his breath hoping to come off genuine.
“Quite alright, I was just asking if you could give a bit of information about ‘19’? From what I understand, you played a very large role in its creation,”
Jisung appeared invested and contemplative on the outside – careful and sincere – though he was actually panicking mildly. ‘19,’ he shouldn’t have to think – he wrote the song. “I wanted to express,” his mouth was slightly dry, the only momentary comfort was his ability to improvise, “the shift from childhood to adulthood. Especially, since the majority of us were born in or after 2000.” he flashed a look towards Seungmin and Jeongin in hopes one might add or continue for him.
He wasn’t forgetful, unless you count the times he’d forget lyrics at fan events or dance movies – or that one time he forgot to grab his bag when they were leaving New York; Seungmin deserved a medal for saving Jisung that time.
“I really wanted to speak about that shift and hopefully, do so in a somber yet hope-filled way,” Jisung added after a moment’s pause when neither picked up on his silent request.
The man nodded along and asked another more broad question, which Changbin answered.
A wave of relief washed over Jisung as he shifted his weight from foot to foot, eternally grateful for Changbin – even if the older had no idea. A warm hand lightly patted his still slicked back pulling Jisung out of his head once again.
Felix had reached behind Hyunjin, trying to get Jisung’s attention. The young Aussie tapped once more and opened his slightly closed hand fully.
It took one more tap before Jisung realized the other sunshine boy was giving him a piece of hard candy, and another few seconds to process the implications. Despite wanting to argue – he was fine, tired yes, but nothing more than that – he took the already unwrapped piece of sugar and stealthily popped in into his mouth. As he did, Jisung felt another spike of fear.
Clearly, Felix felt that Jisung was struggling, but did the others? Did the interviewers think something was wrong with him? Would they report about that? Would he have to make a statement? How would -
Hyunjin slapped Jisung’s thigh, bending forward with a loud giggly laugh. And Jisung followed suit – played the part.
Once the laughter died down, Jisung tried to refocus and give the interview his full attention.
“Where do you see your group in five or ten years Chan, you worked hard to form it – do you think it will still be as strong then?”
Chan responded, but Jisung’s mind had already lost its grasp again. He was no stranger to losing focus, but this was alarming even for him. He must be more exhausted than he thought – it must ‘seem’ like his hypoglycemia was acting up to the others. Except he refused to believe that might be the case.
Jisung had virtually no problems during I NEED You; none. He’d listened to the doctor and changed his eating schedule, he’d listened to his members and accepted help whenever they felt something was off. He’d survived almost nineteen years without even knowing there was a problem. So why was he struggling so much now?
He bowed and thanked the reporters robotically as everyone else did so, smiling and laughing as best he could when they made cracks about showers. It wasn't until Chan loosely tossed his arm over Jisung’s shoulder, that the younger boy fully pushed aside his concerns.
He was overthinking it. Again. “A shower is gonna feel great,” Jisung leaned into Chan’s side playfully.
“Sure is – but I’m going to skip it,” Chan laughed at Jisung’s look of revulsion, “You can’t give me that look, you are far worse. Plus we have more dance practice this afternoon, why shower now and have to shower later.”
“I guess you got a point there,” Changbin, who’d been walking beside the two, chimed in, “What other stuff do we have today? Vlive tonight.”
“As a group? I don’t think so, there was a possible second interview, but I haven’t heard. Hyunjin has a radio show and our Masked Singer here has the interview inserts for the show.” Chan paused as they got into the elevator, Felix and Hyunjin having joined them, “There was also mentions of a pre-pre recording and maybe a secondary photo shoot, but probably not today. Why?”
Jisung had completely forgotten about the inserts.
“No reason~,” Changbin said rather playfully causing Hyunjin to chuckle.
“What are you scheming?”
“Hyung, when do I need to film?” Jisung had asked simultaneously.
“Yesterday’s excitement messing with your memory?” Changbin chided playfully.
“In an hour and a half. They’re filming all the interview shots here on a set, so no need to worry too much.”
Felix was eyeing Jisung warily, but the slightly older boy didn’t acknowledge he noticed, “Right! I knew that!” he leaned into Chan more, “I’m going to grab lunch first though.” he flashed a quick look at Felix while adding, “I need it,” he added with a laugh.
If the others noticed the admission, they didn’t show it. But Jisung watched Felix relax marginally, “Me too! Why don’t we go grab something downstairs?”
“‘Lix and I are going to work on some dance moves later, food first sounds great,” Hyunjin added.
The three millennial members got off on the next floor, bidding the bickering 2racha behind.
Hyunjin darted off when they entered the cafeteria, after spotting Jinyoung; likely to gush over the Got7 member’s acting skills.
“Maybe we won’t have to watch the first episode a third time now,” Felix joked pulling Jisung over to the food. “I love Jinyoung-hyung as much as anyone, and he’s a great actor, but I can’t watch that episode another time.” he laid into the dramatics, grabbing one of the big plates obviously intent on sharing, “Was I right?”
Even without context, Jisung knew what was being asked, “I don’t know,” he answered honestly, “Maybe – probably. I really don’t know.”
“You seemed confused,” Felix muttered in English as he piled onto the plate, “You were shaky too.”
“It was chilly in there and Hyunjin has my sweater,” his English had improved immensely thanks to Felix, but Jisung was still mildly uncomfortable; the topic wasn’t helping either. “Was it that obvious?” he added after a beat of trying to play it off with laughter.
“No.” Felix spared a quick glance, “but it could have been if I wasn’t paying attention.” that was the truth and Jisung couldn’t deny it – even if earlier had been a product of forgetfulness and not illness. Felix always noticed when something was wrong.
There had been a few times in the past few months where Jisung believed he’d have ended up unconscious on the floor again if it hadn’t have been for Felix, “Yeah…”
“He was really happy I loved the show!” Hyunjin smile was so bright neither September boy wanted to spoil it, dropping their conversation.
“Of course he was Hyunjinnie,”
“You’re such a good fan,” Felix teased playfully.
*~*~*~*~*
Pre-recording was a challenge. Stray Kids had only officially been debuted a year, but they’d had plenty of early morning recordings already. Their first stage this comeback was no exception. They were to film at four-thirty, meaning alarms started blaring at three.
Even with the excitement, none of the members were quick to leave the comfort of their beds. Jisung was even tempted to ignore the alarm altogether and push his luck.
“Sung-hyung,” Jeongin’s voice sounded as heavy and tired as Jisung felt, “Time to -” the sentence was broken by a yawn, “get up. We need breakfast…”
“We need sleep,”
“We need to film,”
“We need to,” Jisung opened his eyes and stared into the darkness. He and Jeongin often played this game, “live.” Eventually, one of them would either wait too long to answer or someone would bang on their door; loser carries the winner's bag.
“We need to leave,” Jeongin grinned and threw the blankets off with a flourish.
“We need to love,” he chuckled at Jeongin’s snort.
“That’s too corny! You can’t be that cheesy this early, it’s cheating. You cheated.”
“We never had a ‘no corn’ rule.” Jisung air quoted as he sat up.
“Oh yeah?” the glint in Jeongin’s eye was ominous.
“Yeah…” he watched the younger carefully, “What are you doing? Jeo-”
Jeongin lunged, smile bright and cunning, at Jisung.
“No – hey – no stop!” Jisung’s shouts transitioned into laughter as Jeongin took his revenge by tickling – another common occurrence.
“Never! Cheaters must be punished!”
“At least I know you two are awake,” Woojin commented gruffly as the door swung open. “How are you two so loud so early? Neither of you were like this before we changed rooms.”
Jeongin had been distracted long enough for Jisung to pull him into a hug, rolling so that the maknae was curled in blankets below him, “I’ve always been loud Hyung,” Jisung spoke once he’d trapped Jeongin.
“Sure, sure,” Woojin smiled, “hurry up. We need food before we leave.”
“Will do Hyung!” both roommates yelled in unison, waiting until the eldest had left before briefly resuming their fight.
Jeongin quickly overtook Jisung, laughing breathlessly, “truce,” he panted, “you feeling better today?” the maknae questioned after a beat or two, “I know you’ve been struggling a bit…”
“I’ve been fine Jeonginie. Nothing to worry about.”
“You promise?”
“Promise,” Jisung responded quickly, though thoughts of his mother and lessons about the importance of keeping promises fluttered about.
“If you say so. Let’s hurry up before we get in trouble,”
“You’re the one still on the bed,” Jisung stood and stuck his tongue out childishly.
The quick breakfast and short drive rushed by without much thought, and the nine-piece group warmly greeted a few dozen fans who’d braved the early morning to catch a glimpse of the boys before they entered the venue.
Everything after that was a complete blur. Partial hair and makeup, instructions, audio check, finish hair and makeup, greeting their seniors and juniors, vocal warm-up, and then it was time for pre-recording practice. Victory Song went well, three near-flawless run-throughs and no major problems. Just a couple mic errors and a near wardrobe malfunction for Minho.
Jisung started to feel his body drag during their second time running Miroh. The early morning caught up with him quickly and painfully. The almost piercing spike of fatigue and weakness surged through his body with force.
By the time Miroh started for the third time, Jisung was panting and sweating, almost struggling to keep up with the dance. And he put all of his energy into keeping form.
“Jisung?”
He couldn’t seem to catch his breath and the pounding in his neck was aggravating.
“Jisung!”
Hands were on him then and Jisung felt his head lift – when had he sat down – he blinked twice, vision swimming, “Minho-hyung?”
“I think that’s enough for our practice, sir.” Chan’s voice was somewhere behind Jisung, “We’ll be ready for our filming when we’re up.”
“Jisung?” Minho repeated again, “Stay with us for a minute, yeah? Let’s just get you back to the waiting room.”
Jisung felt his body shake against Minho, as the older helped to steady him, “What?”
“You’re alright Sungie,”
The others followed closely, some more blatant in their concern, others somewhat oblivious. Jisung was lost in a fog.
His mind lagged behind, trapped somewhere between Miroh’s opening and the second chorus, while his body clung clumsily to Minho, who led him briskly into the open room and set him on the couch.
Jisung could hear, over the thick bubble, Changbin’s raspy voice beside him and Felix’s stressed pitch on the other side. But focusing was near impossible, “What?” he questioned again – thick and distorted.
“Here you go Ji,” Changbin placed a straw into the younger’s mouth, patiently, “drink up.” He added as Jisung’s mouth fumbled around the plastic object, “That’s is.”
“How’s he doing?” Chan’s voice seemed less distorted than Jisung’s own had been.
“I don’t know yet,” Minho was still crouched in front of Jisung, “Keep drinking Sung.”
The liquid felt thick and sweet, oddly coating his tongue and slowly dripping down his throat. The first straw was replaced with a second before Jisung’s mind caught up. His head pounded and his heart stung, but his mind started running again. He slowly grabbed the container Changbin had been holding, embarrassed that he hadn’t done so earlier and glanced around the room. The other eight were still there, watching him quietly, “Sorry…” he muttered around the straw lowering his eyes. Even without watching, he could feel the tension dwindle.
“Just drink,” Felix responded softly.
“When do we record?” Jisung heard a sigh from his left and the sound of rustling fabric in front of him, though he still kept his eyes down.
“Twenty,” Chan responded, “We’ll do that, eat, go back out for the ending, and then we’ll be going to the doctor Ji.”
There wasn’t much room for arguments, not that Jisung was certain he should at all. Nothing had changed, he was sure of it, yet his body didn’t agree. But he didn’t want to go get his blood taken, again and again, to have the others worry, to have to tell the media and their Stays; ever. He nodded, slowly, still sucking on the drink.
Some of the normal activity returned to the room; Jeongin laughed at something Woojin said, Minho moved back and slung an arm around Seungmin. However, neither Changbin or Felix moved and Chan kept sending glances. Even Hyunjin seemed incapable of moving past the small event.
“You should eat this too,” Felix muttered offering an apple, his whole body seemed anxious, “Fruits are good. They take longer to digest or something.” he placed it into Jisung’s open hand, “Sorry I didn’t notice this time.”
“No one noticed ‘lix,” Changbin interjected softly, “That’s why he’s going to the doctor.”
“But still, I should -”
Jisung interrupted the nervous ramblings by biting down loudly on the green apple, “Not your fault ‘lixie. Thanks for the apple.” he tried to sound relaxed and unbothered, but it was obvious not coming through fully.
“Alright Ji, you and I will head to the doctor as soon as the stage ends while the others go straight to the radio show. Management is going to have 3racha miss out on the radio show entirely. Sorry, Binne~ looks like you get a few free hours,” Chan pulled down his phone as he spoke, smiling shyly at Changbin.
“No complaints from me man,” Changbin relaxed into the sofa and playfully shoved Jisung, “As long as this one gets a clean bill of health.”
Jisung felt his chest warm again in embarrassment and gratitude, he swallowed another bite of apple, “I don’t have dirty health,” he muttered in mock aggravation, sounding cheeky.
Changbin snorted and shoved Jisung again, “Sure~”
In his peripheral vision, Jisung could see Hyunjin relax some, and felt himself relax at the sight. Taking another large bite of the apple, Jisung leaned back more – disgusted by the damp feeling of his back pressed against his clothes. The clock on the far wall caught his attention.
If he could barely go a few hours without having trouble, then what was the future going to be like? How was he going to perform for a long concert? Would he even be able to? Was he just bringing down the group at this point? But the most nagging thought was ‘why now’ was what burned in his head. He’d managed it, or at least worked around it for years – and now, suddenly, it was disrupting everything.
“It’ll be fine Ji,” Felix mumbled lowly, “The doctor will figure something out – checking more, eating more, maybe medicine. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
Jisung nodded and tried to believe Felix, but there was still that nagging fear building just under the skin.
There wasn’t much time to dwell on it though. Changbin forced another apple on him, and by the time Jisung had finished eating it they had to record. The recording went smoothly – one take, screaming fans, no confusion or fumbles.
Despite his lack of appetite, Jisung ate the food Stays had sent them without complaint. He was very aware of the sixteen eyes that flashed towards him and lingered.
The show ended smoothly as well; MCs, votes, announcements, music, exit.
The air in the dressing room felt far thicker upon their return, everyone seemed high strung and uncomfortable. Awkward. Standing rather than moving, quiet rather than talking.
Chan broke the spell with ease, “Okay,” he started clapping his hands together, “Changbin, Ji, and I are going to be dropped off at the doctor's on the way to the radio show. Binnie, you can grab a taxi from there to the studio or dorms if you’d like. Then tonight we’ll have our usual dance practice. Depending on the verdict, Ji you might be sitting out – I know you don’t like that, but I’m not giving you an option,” Chan cut Jisung off with ease, “If staying home feels too wrong, then you can write at the studio or watch practice. Tonight after practice, we’ll discuss whatever Jisung and I learn at the doctor and how we’ll work with that information. Okay?”
“Yes,”
“Sure Hyung,”
And a number of other conformation circled around Jisung. His own agreement was silent, though not unwilling. He just hoped whatever they had to share didn’t involve leaving the group or stepping down in some other fashion. Hopefully, it was a random accident that would correct itself without changing anything.
“Come on Ji,” Chan lightly pushed Jisung forward, “Get out of those clothes.”
“Right,” he felt stiff, but moved and did as he was asked. Most of the others had already shed their performance attire, each looking momentarily out of place with their heavy stage makeup and casual clothes.
He recognized the building nerves, but Jisung tried to push that aside.