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Sunghoon had been acting off the past couple and it was slightly concerning to his members. When Jungwon had asked him about it, he replied with something about pent up energy that his usual schedules weren’t helping with. The leader had had a meeting with the rest of the group minus Sunghoon, and they decided to bring him to an ice rink because the last time the skater had been skating was their en’oclock episode. None of them had missed how happy he had looked to be on the ice, so they figured that maybe his pent up energy might just be him itching to get on the ice again.
The planning hadn’t been too hard. The group had a day off in a couple of days and Jungwon knew for a fact that everyone was planning to just laze around the dorm, so he got management to do their best to rent out a rink for their day off, knowing that having a rink all to themselves might not be possible, but it would be more ideal. As soon as management had gotten back to the leader on which ice rink the group could go to, he texted the group chat that he arranged plans for their day off. He left the details kind of vague because he wanted to try to surprise his hyung with the skating trip. Jungwon had made a separate group chat that didn’t have Sunghoon in it so they could more properly prepare the surprise trip.
Sunghoon sighed as he woke up on their day off. He had been coming down with something the entire week, and he swears it is the slowest moving bug he has ever dealt with. On Monday he had a headache. On Tuesday and Wednesday he had a sore throat. It was bad enough that he had secretly gone to the clinic to get a strep test, which was negative. The doctor said he was probably just overusing his voice or coming down with a cold. On Thursday, Sunghoon was finally able to feel that his sore throat was being caused by postnasal drip and was equal parts relieved that he was sick and disappointed that he would be sick on the group’s day off.
Now it was Friday and Sunghoon had had a difficult time sleeping as the congestion had finally set in, making it hard to find a good position to be in and still breathe. It seemed that he had finally drifted off to sleep when Jungwon began waking the room up so they could all get ready for whatever secret activity he had planned. While he was in the bathroom, Sunghoon did his best to blow his nose and clear out his sinuses. Then He joined the others for breakfast. Thankfully, his cold didn’t appear to affect his appetite too much, because he was able to eat the amount he normally does. Sunghoon had thought about telling his members that he’s sick and that he wanted to stay at the dorm to rest, but everyone seemed so excited about the surprise outing that he didn’t want to be a party pooper.
When it came time to get ready to go, Jungwon told everyone to grab a jacket because it would be chilly where they’re going. While Sunghoon was getting his jacket, Heeseung had come into the maknae’s room to grab Sunghoon’s ice skating duffel. Sunghoon had passed Heeseung carrying his duffle, but his mind was too tired and foggy to realize that it was his skate duffle let alone make the connection between the duffel and being told to grab a jacket. He joined the others in the van and wound up falling asleep with his head on the window almost immediately after sitting down.
Heeseung was a little concerned. He had literally walked past Sunghoon carrying ice skates, and the younger didn’t even give him a second glance. He had been certain that Sunghoon would question him since he has no business being in possession of one of his prized items. Add that to the fact that he fell asleep right after sitting down, Heeseung was pretty sure that Sunghoon was either sick, getting sick, or just had a rough night.
Sunghoon had picked the window seat in the back of the van. Jake in the middle and Heeseung on Jake's other side. It hadn’t taken long before Jake began to hear soft snores coming from the younger member. The Aussie glanced up and saw that no one aside from Heeseung seemed to notice that Sunghoon had become dead to the world in a matter of seconds.
“Hey, hyung. Does Sunghoon seem a little off to you?” Jake whispered to Heeseung, not wanting to risk waking the sleeping member, even though the other four members were being pretty loud. Heeseung nodded his head. “Yeah, I walked right past him carrying his skates and there was no reaction.” Heeseung quickly turned to face the chair in front of him.
“Wonnie, do you know how everyone slept last night in your room?” Jungwon turned to the elder, noticing Sunghoon’s sleeping figure in the process. “I think for the most part everyone slept fine, but there was a bit of tossing and turning from Sunghoon’s bunk.” Heeseung nodded at that and let Jungwon go back to his conversation with the others.
Heeseung turned back to Jake “Let’s keep an eye on him. I’m hoping he’s just tired from not sleeping well, but he also seemed a bit too out of it for a sleepless night.” Jake agreed then the duo went to scrolling on their phones until they reached the ice rink.
Upon arriving at the ice rink, Jake made it his job to wake the younger member. Heeseung had gotten out to grab Sunghoon’s skates, while the rest of the group went to get their rentals. Jake shook Sunghoon’s shoulder and was met with the younger’s eyes fluttering open.
“Good morning Hoonie. We’re here, time to get up.” Sunghoon groaned a little as he stretched out his arms. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes before following Jake out of the van. Seeing as he had just woken up, it didn’t fully register to the figure skater that they were at the rink until he felt the much cooler air on his body.
Sunghoon’s eyes widened a bit when he saw the rink, a smile spreading across his face before turning into a frown. “What’s wrong hyung?” Sunoo asked upon noticing the elder’s down demeanor.
“I don’t have my skates.” At that the other members chuckled before Sunoo gestured to Heeseung who was carrying Sunghoon’s skates. Sunghoon’s smile returned immediately as he went over to the oldest member so he could put on his skates. Meanwhile, Heeseung's thought about Sunghoon not having realized him taking his skates was back at the forefront of his mind.
Sunghoon was elated that his members had planned a trip to the ice rink. He still felt rather terrible and he still kind of wished he could be in bed sleeping. However the thought his members put into the surprise because he had been acting off made him thoroughly happy. There was no way he was going to admit to being sick now, even if someone were to ask him. He put on his skates as quickly as he could before getting on the ice.
Everyone was thoroughly enjoying the ice rink. Some were falling more than others, but all seven members were having fun. However, Jake noticed Sunghoon either leaning against the wall or leaving the rink to sit down far more frequently than he normally does when they spend the entire day doing dance practice. During one of the breaks, Jake skated over to Sunghoon to check in.
“Hey Sung, how’re you doing?” Sunghoon seemed to startle slightly when Jake spoke. “I’m great hyung, I’m really glad to be on the ice again. There’s just something so carefree about it ya know?” Jake didn’t miss the stifled yawn that Sunghoon attempted while he was talking, nor did he miss the slight congestion lacing the younger’s voice. Jake spent the next couple of minutes chatting with Sunghoon, becoming increasingly aware that he was clearly exhausted. There was a brief moment where Sunghoon had unintentionally fallen asleep while Jake was talking. Sunghoon’s head had fallen onto Jake’s shoulder. Jake smiled softly and ran his hand through the younger’s hair, frowning a little at the warmth he felt.
Jake shook Sunghoon awake. “You sure you’re feeling okay? You just fell asleep on my shoulder.” Sunghoon shook his head in negation. “I’m fine. I just need another couple of minutes.” Jake nodded before going back into the rink.
Jake skated over to Heeseung as quickly as he could without falling. “Hyung, Sunghoon has a fever and fell asleep on my shoulder. He says he’s fine, but he’s clearly not. I think we should bring him home so he can rest.” Heeseung nodded his head in response. The duo spent a minute brainstorming how to convince Sunghoon to agree to go home, since he clearly didn’t want to ruin their day off.
Ultimately they knew that since the skating trip was more to lift Sunghoon’s spirits than anything else, they wouldn’t mind if they all went home. They decided on just telling everyone what was going on and go from there. The duo rounded everyone up where Sunghoon was still sitting.
“Guys, I know we’ve only been here for a couple of hours, but it’s time to go.” Heeseung said, earning confused looks from everyone but Jake. “Sunghoon is sick.” Jake said before looking over to Sunghoon. “Don’t try to deny it, I felt your fever when you fell asleep on me.” Sunghoon looked a bit sheepish at that. “I didn’t know I had a fever, but hyung’s right, I've been sick for a couple of days. It wasn’t anything too noticeable until this morning though.” The other four members were quick to agree to head back to the dorm, so they packed up their things.
The group arrived at the dorm and quickly got settled. Jay went to the kitchen to make lunch for everyone and Riki pulled out Cards Against Humanity after making sure that everyone would be okay playing it. Sunoo and Jungwon helped Jay bring the food out for everyone. They all quickly ate lunch before moving on to the card game.
Sunghoon was falling asleep before all the cards could be dealt out. He didn’t feel like retiring to his room to sleep, so he took over the couch. That way he could watch the chaos or fall asleep, whichever his body prefers. The group did their best to play the game as quietly as possible, but it can be difficult for six men to stifle laughter.
For a bit, the group had forgotten that Jake had said that Sunghoon had a fever until Riki accidentally brushed his hand against his forehead. “Hyungs, we should probably check his temp. He doesn’t feel too hot, but should make sure.” Jungwon got up to grab the thermometer. He came back and scanned his hyung’s forehead. It came back as a mild fever, and everyone was glad to hear it.
Sunghoon spent the next half hour dozing on and off as he listened to his members playing. He eventually sat up and decided to join in on the game. As the game wore on, it became more and more apparent that Sunghoon’s main issue aside from fatigue and a fever, was congestion. Jay got up and grabbed Sunghoon a box of tissues.
“Thanks guys, for today. I really did enjoy going to the ice rink again, even though I didn’t really have the energy for it.” Sunghoon said after he blew his nose.
“It was no problem, hyung. You were acting a little off, and we thought getting to skate might make you feel better. Had we known that you were getting sick, we would have planned this outing for later.” Jungwon said. The group went back to playing their game after the short conversation.
The group only had the one day off, but Jungwon did make sure to tell their manager about Sunghoon’s fever so that he could have a couple more days off to rest. The group also had staggered solo schedules for the next few days, so it was easy to make sure that at least one member was able to keep Sunghoon company.