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As a kid, Minghao loved school. He got to escape his small home to run around a playground with his friends for two hours each day, make cute little finger paintings, read little stories and write his own things.
Even when Minghao moved to Korea and entered elementary and middle school, it hadn’t been that bad, learning important information that would later help him with his CSATs for all those years in the future.
It was when Minghao entered the first year of high school that he started getting headaches a few times a week. They weren’t your average vague ache behind the eyes, but so bad that Minghao on occasion thought his skull was being forced open. It got so bad to the point that Minghao was forced to take several days a week off school, lying in bed with his curtains closed, lights off and with earplugs in so nothing could make the headache worse.
No matter how hard he tried to stop it from getting worse, his head still felt like it was falling open.
It felt like his brain was trying to come out of his ears and eyes and nose, like it was swelling and swelling until there was no more room and his head would just burst and he’d die curled up and crying in bed for something to stop the relentless pain in his head. All he wanted was to stop the feeling of someone banging a hammer into his head, pieces of his skull flaking away and destroying his brain.
Eventually, Minghao’s parents had enough of their only son missing so much school after seeing his first report card during the winter holidays. All the missed days of education had dropped his grades rather significantly and earned him plenty of notes from teachers about his absences.
Minghao was taken to his doctor, who quickly diagnosed him with chronic migraines from looking at the note Minghao had set up on his phone to record the dates and symptoms of his headaches. He was glad he had set up the note, otherwise, he would have gone on for another three months to get a diagnosis.
Minghao’s doctor prescribed some anxiety meds and a triptan nasal spray for when his migraines started. The anxiety meds would hopefully ease the trigger of his migraines and the doctor told him the nasal spray would ease his symptoms within two hours so he would be able to attend school more often and get his grades back up. He was also told that buying some Bluelight glasses would be a good idea if he was looking at screens a lot and to ask to leave lessons when it got too bad.
Soon enough, Minghao got back to school with new glasses to protect himself from the blue light of his laptop, and some medication for when his migraines started.
Minghao got much better with his new medications. Whenever he felt a migraine coming on, he would give himself his nasal spray and head to either the school’s medical room or his bedroom to wait for the medication to kick in.
The plus side of having medication and preventative measures was that he quickly managed to get his grades back up and started to fit into school, making friends like Junhui and Jeonghan, and even joining the school's volleyball team.
Soon enough, Minghao was back to being top of the class for his grades and had even got himself a boyfriend in the form of one Wen Junhui. His parents were thrilled he was back to being social and getting his incredible grades, and they were glad that they had taken Minghao to a doctor to get the issues solved.
The only downside was that occasionally, his medications didn’t work.
School had only just started for the day when Minghao started feeling dizzy and seeing some flashing lights as if they were behind his eyes. Junhui clearly noticed when Minghao started tipping on his feet as they stood beside their lockers, grabbing their books for the next class.
Junhui grabbed Minghao by the shoulders. “You alright? You look really pale.”
“Can you come to the bathroom with me? I’m having an aura and I want to get my meds.” Minghao spoke quietly, almost as if he was anxious.
Junhui nodded, taking Minghao’s hand and guiding him to the nearby bathroom. There were only a few people in there, but Minghao sat down on the floor with his back against the sink and his bag beside him, digging out the box with his nasal spray. Junhui helped him, brushing back his black hair as he sprayed the medication up Minghao’s nose for him.
They simply sat in silence for a bit, the bathroom slowly clearing of people as they headed off to their first class of the day. Minghao just felt too dizzy to get up, his elbows resting on his knees and his head in his hands as he tried to breathe through it. Junhui soon ran off to grab him some water, helping him drink to clear the nasty feeling.
It didn’t help much, but eventually, Minghao decided that he couldn’t just sit on the floor forever, so he dragged himself to his feet and let Junhui help him to their first class.
Minghao barely got through the two hours of class before they got their first break. He kept his head on the desk, choosing simply to breathe through the growing pain over focusing on whatever the teacher was going on about.
At break time, things only got worse.
Minghao was still feeling dizzy, so dizzy that at one point while they were walking out to the field to fulfil their designated break time, he got too dizzy to walk. He turned to Junhui and pressed his head into Junhui’s shoulder with a groan of pain. Junhui wrapped his arms around Minghao as Jeonghan came over to see what was going on.
“You okay, love?” Junhui asked, leaning against the wall to take Minghao’s weight better.
Minghao just managed to shake his head before the pain became overwhelming and his eyes rolled back into his skull and his legs gave out, bringing both him and Junhui to the floor with Junhui protecting him.
Junhui just looked up at Jeonghan, running his hands through Minghao’s hair, holding his unconscious boyfriend in his arms as Jeonghan ran off to get the nurse.
———————
Minghao woke up feeling less dizzy than before and more nauseous. His head was aching on the right side, throbbing with that horrible pain that made him think his brain was swelling in his skull.
He opened his eyes, the bright lights overwhelming him and making him screw them shut again.
“We’re taking you to the med room.” Minghao heard Jeonghan’s sweet, soft voice from somewhere nearby. God, it just sounded so damn loud. “You passed out, Sweetie. Nurse Lee will call your parents and they can get you home so you can lie in the dark for a bit.”
Minghao groaned, feeling Junhui’s arms under his knees and back. Minghao raised his head to lean against Junhui’s chest, wanting to show he wasn’t completely weak and maintain just a bit of his dignity if he had any left at all.
Soon enough Minghao felt himself being placed down on a bed, vaguely registering the curtains getting pulled shut and his soundproof headphones being placed over his ears.
His head was still throbbing horribly, tears running down his face and messing up his makeup as Junhui sat behind him and pulled him up into his arms, the back of Minghao’s head resting on Junhui’s chest, tucked between Junhui’s legs as he cried. Junhui brushed his hands through Minghao’s hair, pressing little kisses to his head to calm him down.
Minghao didn’t feel much better over the half an hour that he sat with Junhui in the medical room, despite the fact that the room was really dark and Junhui was making sure his ears were covered so nothing could worsen the pain, but it still wasn’t going away.
After half an hour in the medical room, Minghao’s parents arrived to take him home.
As Junhui carried him out to the car, he kept his eyes screwed shut and the headphones on, not wanting to get overwhelmed by the lights and sounds. He felt his mom pressing a kiss to his forehead as Junhui helped him get in the car, and soon realised that Junhui was staying.
It took almost fifteen minutes to get home, unlike the usual half an hour it took for Minghao to get there by bus every morning, but Minghao was thankful for the shortened journey when he was feeling so awful, just wanting to get back to his pitch-black room.
Junhui helped him out of the car, taking his hand and guiding him inside so he didn’t have to open his eyes. Once Minghao was lying down in bed, he opened his eyes as Junhui pulled the blackout blinds shut and placed an ice pack on his forehead, wrapped in a towel so he didn’t freeze Minghao’s head too much.
Minghao let Junhui curl up in bed beside him, holding him close as Minghao slipped the headphones off his ears.
“Thanks, Hui,” Minghao whispered, pressing himself closer to Junhui.
Junhui smiled softly in the darkness. “No problem, baby.” He whispered quietly, making sure not to move too much.
The two quickly got settled down, the ice pack and darkness easing the pain in his head to the point where he let himself slip asleep.
———————
Minghao woke up the next morning feeling much better. The icepack had fallen off his head while he slept, and now it was lying on the floor beside the bed, warmer than it had been. Junhui was still holding him, but now Minghao was tucked close with his back against Junhui’s chest.
He had been told by Junhui before that he wriggled around a lot in his sleep. Junhui said that he found it endearing because Minghao usually just snuggled closer to him at night and often stole all the blankets.
Thankfully, the room was still dark so Minghao didn’t have to worry about the lights, and a new box of his medication was sitting on his nightstand so he could pack it in his school bag. His parents were always quick to get him some new medication when he had used some so he didn’t have to worry about rushing to get it when he felt an aura starting. His glasses were also lying on the nightstand, so Minghao grabbed them and put them on before checking the time on his phone.
Junhui writhed around until he could press his face back into Junhui’s chest, just wanting to sleep the day away.
Junhui woke up when Minghao started moving, pressing little kisses to Minghao’s forehead as he woke.
“Hiya, love. Feeling better?”
Minghao nodded. “Much. But I still want to sleep.”
Junhui chuckled, pressing another kiss to Minghao’s forehead before he closed his eyes and fell asleep, Minghao following soon after him.