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Soobin groaned as he woke up and attempted to clear his throat. He almost immediately broke into a coughing fit and shoved his face into his pillow to muffle the outburst. Soobin knew he’d been coming down with something, as the day before his throat was a little bit sore and he’d spent a good chunk of the day clearing it of mucus as it congregated near his uvula.
Soobin sighed as he sat up, immediately feeling the irritation on his throat. He took a couple sips of water in a fruitless attempt to soothe his throat, which he knows will be raw by the end of the day. He grabbed his phone and a mask before leaving his room.
Soobin saw Taehyun in the kitchen getting breakfast started. He would normally help, but he knew that he’d be more of a hindrance than help. Besides, if he cooked, he could potentially get the others sick, and he would prefer to keep his cold to himself as long as possible.
Taehyun saw Soobin enter the room in his periphery. His attention was pretty firmly on not burning breakfast, so he didn’t turn to face the elder. “Morning hyung. If you want to get star-” Taehyun was abruptly cut off by the leader launching into a painful sounding coughing fit. Taehyun furrowed his brows in concern before grabbing the kettle and filling it with water before putting it on a free burner.
“That did not sound good, hyung.” The second said as he went back to cooking breakfast. “It didn’t feel good either.” The duo then fell into a relative silence. The only sounds to be heard were the cooking food and occasional coughs from Soobin. Once he finished making breakfast, Taehyun went to make sure the others were awake. He also grabbed the thermometer and cough medicine while he was at it.
Beomgyu and Kai tiredly walked into the dining room, not noticing anything amiss. Yeonjun on the other hand, had seen Taehyun grab the thermometer and medicine, and he instantly became concerned. Yeonjun, who hadn’t yet heard or seen Soobin, cornered Taehyun in the hallway and placed his hand on the younger’s forehead.
Taehyun quickly brushed Yeonjun’s hand off of him and chuckled a little at his concern. “Hyung, I’m not sick. Soobin is.” Yeonjun looked a little confused, until he heard a deep chesty coughing fit coming from the dining room. Taehyun brushed past Yeonjun with the thermometer and medicine and Yeonjun was quick to follow.
The coughing fit had woken up Beomgyu and Kai, as when Taehyun and Yeonjun reached the dining room, one was looking at the leader concernedly and the other was making a mug of tea using the now hot water that Taehyun had started. Taehyun scanned Soobin’s forehead and frowned at the number. He then placed the cold medicine on the table in front of Soobin, who gladly took it.
“We don’t have anything going on today, do we?” Beomgyu asked as he began to set the table for breakfast. Soobin sighed as he tried and failed to clear his throat. “We have dance practice today then after that Taehyun and Kai have vocal lessons.” Soobin coughed into his fist before drinking some of his tea.
Over the course of breakfast and while the group was getting ready to leave, it had become very apparent that Soobin wasn’t in any real condition to dance. It wasn’t so much that he was coughing a lot, but the intensity of each fit caused the members to wince in sympathy. Everyone was certain that with how hard the leader was coughing, it wouldn’t be very long before he lost his voice.
The group arrived at the dance studio and Soobin was in the midst of a coughing fit when the instructor walked in. The instructor instantly put Soobin on the sidelines, which the leader was silently grateful for. He honestly wasn’t sure he would have been able to make it through practice with how intense his coughing fits were. Soobin sat on the sofa in the room and watched the practice while checking and answering emails from company higher ups.
When dance practice ended, Kai and Taehyun packed up their things and went to vocal lessons, while Yeonjun and Beomgyu decided to accompany Soobin back to the dorm. Soobin had been rather glad when practice ended. Even though he was made to sit out, he was left exhausted by the end just from the harsh coughing fits he kept having. He listlessly grabbed his bag and followed Yeonjun and Beomgyu out of the building.
Upon entering the dorm, Soobin made an exhausted huff as he threw himself onto the couch. A move which he regretted, as the jerk of the landing triggered yet another coughing fit. “This sucks.” Soobin said as soon as he finished.
Yeonjun smiled in sympathy as he sat down next to the younger with a mug of tea in his hands. “I’m sure it does suck. Those coughs sound like they hurt. On the plus side, instructor-nim deemed you too sick to partake in practice, so you’re guaranteed a couple days rest.” Soobin nodded and accepted the offered tea, making a contented sigh as the hot beverage made its way down his throat.
Once Soobin finished the tea, his eyes began to droop. Yeonjun, of course, noticed this. “Come on Binnie, let’s get you to bed.” Soobin nodded as he placed the mug on the table and stood up. He walked to his room and saw Beomgyu exiting it before he could enter. “Hyung, I set up the humidifier to help with any congestion you might have.” Beomgyu said with a smile. Soobin muttered a thank you before crawling into his bed. He fell asleep a couple moments later.
Soobin woke up two hours later to the sound of Kai and Taehyun returning from their lessons. He got out of bed and went to open his door, only to be bent at the waist with yet another coughing fit. He groaned internally and left his room. When he left his room he could smell food being cooked, so he made his way to the dining room.
“Morning sleepyhead.” Yeonjun said as Soobin sat down. Soobin’s sleep addled brain was still out of it, just enough to slightly panic and grab his phone to check the time. He glared at the older, who chuckled in response. “Not funny hyung.” Soobin’s voice was raspier than normal and cracked part way through. The leader placed his head on the table in frustration.
“Relax Bin, it’s just an expression. And since you’ve been coughing so much and so hard today that you’ve lost your voice, I think it’s safe to say that you definitely won’t be doing vocal lessons until after you’re better.” All Soobin could do was nod in response. A few moments later, Beomgyu entered the dining room carrying a pot of stew. He placed it on the table then hollered for Kai and Taehyun to join them for dinner.
Dinner had been quieter and less chaotic than it normally is. All the members knew that Soobin wasn’t feeling well, add in the fact that he lost his voice, and it removed the fun of being overly chaotic at meal times. It was only fun if all members at the table were willing to partake in the shenanigans.
When the five men finished dinner, they decided to watch a movie. Beomgyu had somehow found a British film about a poor boy who decides to become a chef in part due to his poor upbringing and in part because of his love of toast. Yeonjun initially scoffed at the plot, but everyone stayed to watch as it had Freddie Highmore and Helena Bonham Carter in the cast. They all wound up enjoying the movie and a couple of tears were shed. The five members went to bed after the movie ended.
The following morning, Soobin was very much still sick. His voice had recovered a little bit during the night thanks to the fact that it’s impossible to cough when you’re dead asleep. However it disappeared again half way through breakfast. As much as Soobin wanted to go with the members to at the very least watch dance practice, Yeonjun however, convinced him that staying home and getting as much rest as possible would be the better option.
This went on for the next few days. Soobin’s voice slowly returning as the coughing diminished. As it happens when people live and work in close quarters with eachother, the other members had caught Soobin’s cold. However, to Soobin’s annoyance, it was practically a case of the sniffles with an irritated throat. None of them were sidelined during practice, and none of them lost their voices. Needless to say, Soobin was a little mad at something he had no control over. But he was also relieved that his members weren’t nearly as miserable as he was when he was sick.