Chapter Text
Lucas was feeling...sick, to say the least, actually, no, he was feeling absolutely awful. He had woken up drowsy, shaking and with a slight headache. Nothing he couldn’t handle, he thought to himself. He would take a shower, eat breakfast and take some meds for the pain and by the time they were heading out, he would feel just like new, right?.
Wrong.
There was a slight change of plans. A minor inconvenience were you to ask Xuxi.
He did take the shower, ate breakfast, and took pain meds, and by the time they were heading out, he was throwing up everything he had eaten, including meds.
There were two options, Xuxi decided, he could ask for help, inconvenience his members and ruin the day. Or he could suck it up and not throw all the hard work his members had put into the filming of this MV.
The decision was clear.
Keeping that in mind, he was currently sitting in the van with the rest of the members trying to focus on anything but his now pounding headache or the extreme dizziness he was feeling, or perhaps his churning stomach and rolling insides. And Xuxi would never admit it out loud- because he wasn't weak like that - but the idea of keeping his food down, or his smile up was starting to sound like too much of a big task.
He suspected hiding his sickness for much longer wouldn't be necessary anyway, if the side glances the other members were throwing him were anything to go by.
It was pretty obvious there was something wrong, if any of the members were asked. There was, of course, the fact that Xuxi was wearing a hoodie when it was like 40°C outside, and the fact that his skin colour most days was most definitely not paper sheet white. But it was also about the fact that he hadn't said anything the whole trip, and sure, he wasn't exactly the chattiest member of their group but even then, he would've at least laughed at one of Yanyang's jokes by now.
It was almost at the end of their trip to the filming location that problems started to arise. Xuxi started feeling nauseous, and his stomach felt like it was being torn apart inside out. The pain bubbled inside his stomach and rose like a flaming fire covering his intestine, and again, there were two options: he could panic or he could...forget it, he was panicking already.
When bile started to climb up his throat he knew he was done for. Might as well start preparing himself for the absolute humiliation he was about to suffer - his brain unhelpfully supplied.
The mere thought of throwing up had his insides rolling, but throwing up in front of his members? No way. He could wait, he had to wait.
It's only five more minutes- he repeated in his head- five more minutes and then you can come fucking undone. Just not here.
When the van came to a stop, he ran as fast as he could to the nearest bathroom, rubbish bin, bag, anything, anything but the floor.
___
Kun had noticed the sudden discomfort in the youngest and that is why, when Lucas practically flew out of the van when they arrived at their destination, Kun decided he had to follow him. He left the others with Ten and WinWin (questionable decision but it’s ok) and ran behind Lucas. He made it past staff, managers, and every each one of them looked at him like he was some kind of maniac on the loose, and then he saw Lucas’s tall figure entering the bathroom. It didn’t take much searching inside because once he entered the bathroom he has hit by the sound of retching and he immediately knew where the younger was.
___
Lucas had arrived at the bathroom just on time and the second he entered the first stall, he dropped to his knees and threw up everything he had left from this morning’s ordeal. Suddenly the door opened and he heard his name being called by a familiar voice, Kun, he could recognise.
Even though just a few moments ago he was trying to hide it from the members, right now, he just wanted his ge’s comforting presence and words. The problem was, he couldn’t make a word out so he just whined miserably.
Kun rapidly made his way to the stall the sound had come from, there he found a crying Xuxi, on the floor, with his head ducked in the toilet and shaking. The scent of vomit filled his nostrils and that’s when he came out of his trance, he lowered himself to Lucas’s level and started rubbing soothing circles on his back, he could feel the tension in the other’s shoulders, he could feel his whole body shaking and how heat radiated out of Xuxi’s body.
“Yukhei,” Kun said with the most calming tone he could manage at the moment.
And shit- Xuxi thought. If we're on a Cantonese name basis then it must be bad. Pehaps he looked as bad as he felt. Maybe worse if the beads of sweat he could feel dripping down his neck were anything to go by.
Kun's question went unanswered, the other boy too busy trying to breathe through rounds of vomit, and the tremors running through his body.
The older tried to calm him as his body started to shake even harder.
“Hurts” was the only thing he could manage before another wave of liquid came rushing down his throat.
The only thing Kun could do was hold him tighter and whisper sweet nothings to Xuxi’s ear. Once the poor boy finished he pulled him deeper into his embrace, Lucas’s shaking body was now in his arms and all Kun could do right now was assure Xuxi that everything was going to be ok, he could reprimand him for not telling them later, right now, he had to worry about getting the boy home.
“Baby, can you tell me exactly where it hurts please?” Kun asked while trying to look at the younger’s face. He noticed Xuxi’s hand moving, afraid of opening his mouth just in case his body decided that he had rested enough, he moved his hand to his stomach, to his head, then dropped it. “Ok baby, I’m going to call Winwin, let him know what’s going on and we’ll head home ok?” the answer he received was a weak nod from the other.
Kun did as promised and in no time they were heading out of the building, Xuxi had to be carried by one of the managers and the rest of the members didn’t waste any time bombarding Kun with questions. Once in the safety of the van, Xuxi rested his head on Xiaojun’s lap, his feet on Hendery’s and that’s how they parted.
Every now and then Kun would turn around to check on him, and every time he did, he noticed how Xuxi’s skin got paler, sicker. Kun started to worry, they still had maybe half an hour left to go and the pain in Xuxi’s face was beginning to become noticeable. Kun prayed to every entity that Xuxi could make it home safely and without incident but as time went by, he could see that his fantasy was going to stay like that, a fantasy.