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Ten couldn't remember the last time he was this tired.
It seemed like his life was just an endless stream of doing photoshoots, only to be dragged to a recording afterward, then being told there was practice after, and then getting back to the dorms only to rinse and repeat. Everyone else around him seemed tired, but at least they were better at hiding it than Ten was.
During dance practice, Baekhyun had sent him several concerned looks as Ten took longer than normal to catch his breath between songs and how he had refilled his water over five times at this point. Ten didn't say anything to him; even if he was much closer to the other members than before, it still was difficult to admit when things weren't going well for him.
When they finally took a 20-minute break halfway through, Ten dragged himself towards the wall, slouching down and leaning his head tiredly against it.
He saw Taemin appear in his peripheral vision, but he didn't say anything, just offered Ten his water bottle. Ten quietly accepted, sipping from it. Every bone in his body ached, as though he had just run a marathon without any training whatsoever. He stretched out his legs in front of him, absentmindedly rubbing his knee where it ached.
It always seemed to ache these days, Ten having to do the prescribed stretches almost every night now. He didn't like taking the painkillers, but at some point he had succumbed and gotten them from his manager, accepting them along with his knee brace. The brace wasn't something he enjoyed wearing either, it made him feel weak, and he wasn't weak. He could hold his own. But even at some point, he had to admit to his own body's limits, no matter how much he doesn't want to accept t.
It probably helped that Jongin was constantly nagging him about caring for his knee, even if the elder was busy dealing with all his own problems at the time. In fact, when Ten was promoting with WayV, more often than not he woke up with a text from Jongin asking him if he was taking care of himself. It always made Ten smile a little when he saw those messages.
"Do you want to sit out the rest of practice?" Taemin asked quietly as to not attract the others' attention, though Ten could see Baekhyun watching them from across the room.
Sitting out sounded amazing, if Ten was being honest. Even if the pain was just occasional twinges right now, Ten knew that it would just get worse the more he practiced. But at the same, he didn't want to be the weak link of the group. It didn't sit right with him, getting special treatment just because he was having a little more than pain than usual. Ten could handle it.
"No, I'm good. Just needed to stretch it out a bit more," Ten said, and Taemin nodded slowly as if he didn't entirely believe him but didn't know what to say. However, before he could say anything else, Lucas slid next to Ten on his other side, showing him the pictures of Louis that Yangyang had sent him.
When Baekhyun finally called them all back to practice, Ten wanted to groan but held himself back. Using the wall behind him to push himself up, Ten almost fell to the ground as he put pressure on his knee again. Quickly, he straightened himself out and took a few deep breaths. It was fine, he had gone through worse before.
Hearing the music come on again, he got in position, the moves coming to him like muscle memory. After practicing the dance so much, Ten wondered if he would ever forget it. When the time came for some moves with more footwork, Ten was for once grateful that he was in the back during this moment in the choreography. It gave him a quick respite before he had to keep going.
However, during the third run of the song, Ten wasn't so sure he could keep going. The pain kept increasingly steady instead of just saying at the same level as it usually did, now probably at a solid 7 if he was being honest.
Suddenly, they all did their spin move and somehow, Ten was on the floor as his knee buckled underneath him. He involuntarily gasped as the pain ran through him, much more severe than it had been before. He closed his eyes, trying to breathe through the pain even though it felt as if there was no oxygen in the room.
Vaguely, he realized someone had turned off the music that had been playing, and someone was... talking to him? Then suddenly, something brushed against his knees, and Ten gasped in pain.
"Shit, shit, I'm sorry," he heard Baekhyun say, and then the leader spoke again. "Can I move you Ten? I promise not to touch your knee?"
Ten nodded silently, bracing himself as felt someone grab his shoulders and moved his head so that he was resting on someone's lap, Ten wasn't sure who. His breath hitched as he felt someone else roll up the leg of his sweatpants. He knew they had to do it, but that didn't mean that lessened the pain any less.
He tuned out whoever was talking as they discussed his knee, trying to just focus on anything but the pain. He thought of Louis and the pictures Lucas had shown him of Louis stealing Bella's toys and how Yangyang said that Louis seemed to be acting out now that Ten was gone.
It worked well as a distraction until someone pressed lightly on the knee, and Ten's eyes flew open as he instinctively tried to push away at whoever was there. Gentle hands pushed him back down, and Ten could now see it was Taemin's lap he was resting on.
Jongin looked apologetic from where he was crouched by Ten's leg. "I have to just make sure nothing's broken, but thankfully it seems like it's just a little swollen." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I'd say get it checked out again, honestly, just to make sure."
Ten internally groaned; it was already late which meant they'd have to go the 24-hour clinic, and that was never something Ten enjoyed. They always said the same thing and told him to ice it. He much preferred the company doctors, who actually had experience with knee injuries and knew what worked for him and didn't and knew all his treatment plans, already.
Baekhyun must've spotted Ten's sour expression because he clapped his hands together, getting everyone's attention. "Well, it's pretty late so why don't we just go back home and rest tonight, and Ten can go in the morning? You said it yourself, Jongin, it's just a precaution, and I'm sure Ten would much rather be at home tonight."
Seeing Ten's nod, Jongin reluctantly sighed. "Well, it's not that bad, but you're wearing the brace when we get back," he directed Ten.
Ten wanted to groan about being forced to wear the brace since he disliked having to wear it all and tended to avoid it whenever possible, but he knew that would just get a lecture from Jongin so he just said, "Yes hyung."
"Great, then let's all grab our stuff and we can head out," Baekhyun said, and everyone in the room aside from Taemin, Jongin, and Taemin went to gather together their stuff. Ten wasn't entirely sure if he could walk out the room, but just as he was going to force himself up from Taemin's lap, Jongin was reaching down to grab one of Ten's arms and helped him up off the floor.
"I would carry you," he said as he half carried, half supported Ten as they made their way out of the practice room, "but I don't there's a way for me to do that without making your knee hurt more."
Once they were at the van, Ten was carefully helped into the back of the van in between Lucas and Taeyong.
"How's it feeling?" Taeyong asked quietly, running a hand through Ten's hair.
Ten hummed, not entirely sure if he was being honest. It didn't hurt as much as it did before, but the throbbing pain was still there and there was just an overall ache surrounding his entire body. He leaned against Taeyong, slipping his eyes closed as the elder continued to run his hand through his hair. He felt a hand grab his own, and he knew without looking that it was Lucas. Giving it a gentle squeeze, he lowered his hand as he let himself drift off.
"Come on Tennie, we're home," he heard Taeyong whisper after what felt like just minutes later, even though Ten knew the dorm was fairly far from their current practice room. Lucas slipped an arm around Ten, helping him slowly stand up, and two of them carefully hobbled out of the van.
Once they were in the dorm, Ten figured he would just head to his room and put on his knee brace before sleeping if he was being honest. He knew he should eat, but that was always an activity that could wait until the next morning, especially when everything ached like it did tonight.
However, Lucas directed him towards their living room sofa, carefully depositing in the corner of the small sectional. He helped Ten stretch out his leg and helped him settle against the cushions before promising to be right back.
Before Ten could even complain about being lonely, Baekhyun walked into the room and sat down next to him, handing him his phone. "I dropped your practice bag in your closet," he mentioned, and Ten nodded appreciatively.
"So, we're going to do a movie night, any requests?" Baekhyun asked. A movie night? They had never done one of those as a group before. As if reading Ten's mind, Baekhyun laughed and explained, "Well, I figured that we're all tired and could use a break. Plus, why should you be stuck in your room in pain when you could be here with us?" he teased, though his words were genuine.
"Ah, thank you, you didn't need to do that," he said.
Baekhyun just blinked. "Of course we did, we can't just leave you on your own, that's not right," he said firmly.
It was times like these that Ten admired how much of a leader Baekhyun was. Even though Ten wasn't always the most comfortable with voicing his opinion or asking for help, it was always Baekhyun who helped encourage him out his shell. He seemed to always know the right thing to say.
"Well, in that case, how about we watch that one film you mentioned a few days ago, what was it? Something about like animals wasn't it?" Ten asked.
"Oh I remember that one, it was a comedy film I think. I'll set it up," Baekhyun said as he picked up the TV remote and began flicking through various menus.
As they were talking, Mark and Taeyong joined them in the living room, with the blankets from their room. They spread them on the carpet in front of the sofa, plopping down comfortably.
Mark was close enough to Ten that he was able to reach up and reassuredly pat Ten's good leg. It was a nice gesture from the younger, who wasn't often as good with words.
"Alright, got your brace," Jongin said as he walked in followed by Taemin and Lucas. Lucas was carrying even more blankets from who knows where passing one to everyone and placing the rest on the floor for whoever wanted them.
Jongin carefully fastened the brace around Ten's knee, checking with him it was feeling okay as he did. Once he finished, he handed Ten one of his pain pills and some water, and Ten quickly swallowed it in hopes for some relief soon.
Jongin and Taemin soon settled at the end of Ten's feet, the two of them huddled together underneath the same blanket as someone dimmed the lights and the movie started.
Baekhyun gently pulled Ten toward him, letting him rest his head on his shoulder. He reassuringly rubbed circles onto Ten's shoulder as they both watched the screen. Soon, Ten found his eyes closing and his head falling into Baekhyun's lap as the elder tucked a blanket around him.
Even if the past month had been a complete mess and his knee was throbbing like crazy, everything felt better with everyone here with him.
Maybe tomorrow wouldn't be a good day again, but at least he would have all of them.