Work Text:
Minghao still remembered his first experience of being stung by a wasp. Most children didn’t, they only knew that they were scared of wasps and didn’t want to be stung. Minghao didn’t want to be stung for a completely different reason.
Most children knew that when they got stung by a wasp, it stung for a bit, and then it would go away. For Minghao, it was a bit different. It always stung for a bit, but that initial sting didn’t go away like it would for most people. Instead, the nasty rash would spread up his arm and away from the sting, then it would get hard to breathe, he would get lightheaded and dizzy and then he would pass out.
The first time, Minghao had woken in the hospital and was discharged later that day. That was when he found out he was allergic to wasp and most likely bee stings, and he was given an EpiPen for if it ever happened again.
Of course, Minghao had always been too much of an adventurous kid to avoid wasp stings, but whenever it happened again, his teachers or parents always had his EpiPen handy. As he grew up, Minghao got stung less as he started going out less, but the one or two times he was stung as a teenager, he was forced to give himself the EpiPen. Those were probably the most painful experiences of his life.
When Minghao joined SEVENTEEN, he hadn’t put any thought into the fact that he may have needed to tell his members about his allergy, in fact, at the beginning he didn’t even know the words to tell his members. He had simply left his EpiPen at the bottom of his bag and forgotten about it in the hopes that he would never need to use the dreaded needle again.
Of course, Minghao wasn’t so lucky.
———————
When the group had been told that their next going seventeen episode would be filmed in some nearby private fields and that they would be learning new skills and playing some fun games, Minghao didn’t put any thought into it other than what he was going to wear for the episode.
The next day, he put on his carefully planned outfit and grabbed breakfast. It wasn’t long before everyone headed down to the minibus that would be taking them. The drive was only around an hour, taking them out of the city and into the pretty South Korean countryside that Minghao didn’t often get to see. He was so used to the sights of the bustling city lights at night or the beautiful architecture of the buildings in the day. Thinking back, Minghao probably hadn’t spent long in the countryside at all outside of China, only really during their first few years after debut when they went on reality shows.
When they arrived at the fields and got out of the minibus, the staff were still setting everything up, getting a tent up to protect the group from the steadily rising sun.
Almost as soon as the staff were finished setting up, they were given a quick briefing of their first game before they started filming.
For the first half of the day, everything was smooth sailing. They played some fun Korean childhood games, giving Minghao a chance to learn something new, and they had all been taught how to make cool things out of twigs found in the forest next to the field.
At midday, they stopped for lunch. Minghao welcomed the chance to get out of the sun and under the tent, relishing the yummy food they had been given.
After their hour-long lunch break, filming quickly resumed with a new game, hide and seek.
The rules were simple; hide in the field or a marked off part of the forest, and don’t get caught by Seungcheol, Jeonghan or Joshua.
As soon as the game began, Minghao darted off towards the forest with Junhui, looking to hide up a tree or under a thick bush. It didn’t take long for him to find a comfortable spot up a tree, nicely hidden by the branches and leaves, and just after he was hidden, the three eldest were set off on their quest to find the others. To make sure he wasn’t caught, Minghao took the camera off of his cameraman and sent them away so they wouldn’t give away his location.
From what Minghao could hear, a few people were found within a few minutes, all heading back to the tent to admit defeat, but after the first few people - most likely Mingyu, Soonyoung and Seungkwan - were caught, nobody else was found for a while.
Just as the fourth member was found, Minghao got distracted by a quiet buzzing near his head. Irritated, he simply swiped at the air near his ear. He didn’t think anything else of it until a sharp sting started on his forearm. Minghao looked down just in time to see a wasp flying off of his arm and away from the tree.
With an angered curse, Minghao admitted defeat and climbed down from the tree, his camera turned off, already feeling his pulse quicken. Jeonghan met him at the bottom of the tree, practically squealing in excitement as he caught Minghao, grabbing him by his other arm.
“Ha, caught you. Why would you come down from the tree? That was such a good hiding place.” Jeonghan asked, knowing Minghao wasn't one to easily give in.
Minghao shook his head. “I got stung by a bee.”
Jeonghan frowned, “You poor thing. Go get something to put on it from the staff. I’m sure they’ll have something.”
Not wanting to worry Jeonghan, Minghao simply nodded and started a slow walk back to the tent and all of the staff.
By the time he reached the tent, Minghao was feeling much worse, seeing a rash already forming along most of his arm and feeling dizzier and dizzier by the moment. As Minghao had expected, Mingyu, Seungkwan and Soonyoung had been caught, as well as Wonwoo and Junhui. When he reached the staff, Minghao quietly asked them if any of them had an EpiPen with them and if anyone knew if he could use an expired EpiPen.
The general answer was that no, Minghao couldn’t use an expired EpiPen, and that only one staff member had an EpiPen on them.
Instead of taking the EpiPen when it still wasn’t quite an emergency, Minghao simply took an antihistamine, sitting down with the others under the tent to wait and see if the rash would fade and he would start feeling less dizzy.
After twenty minutes, only Vernon and Woozi were left to be caught, and Minghao had only started feeling worse. It didn’t take long for Junhui to notice the nasty hives appearing on Minghao’s arms and neck, and for everyone to notice his wheezing.
“I need an EpiPen. I’m allergic to wasps.” Minghao said, voice faint as he started losing consciousness. Maybe he had left the EpiPen injection too long. All he wanted was to avoid having to have the nasty needle in his thigh.
As the EpiPen was quickly brought over by some staff members, Junhui got Minghao lying down with Minghao’s head resting in his lap.
“I-I might pass out. It’s not the allergy, it’s just the… needle. If I pass out… give me a few minutes to come around. Just listen to my breathing and make sure I’m still alive.” Minghao tried to joke, but it just sounded like he was more serious than he was.
By the time the needle was brought out, Minghao was barely awake, gasping where he lay in Junhui’s lap as he tried to get more oxygen into his lungs through his swelling throat.
Minghao barely felt as his leg was pinned down, but then he felt pain flood through his leg as the needle shot out into his thigh. Minghao gasped, his whole body tensing up in pain before a few seconds later he fell limp, unconscious in Junhui’s arms.
Junhui was quick to assure everyone that Minghao warned him he would pass out, and an oxygen mask was brought over to keep him stable until an ambulance arrived.
When Minghao came around from his fainting spell, he wasn’t very aware, but his breathing had improved significantly. Junhui pulled him up so he was sitting more upright in his lap, gently pressing a piece of gauze from the first aid kit onto the small wound in Minghao’s thigh. It was bleeding more than it should have from when Minghao’s leg twitched, pulling a small tear from where the needle was.
Over the twenty minutes it took the ambulance to arrive, Minghao didn’t improve much. His breathing was much better, whether from the oxygen mask or the EpiPen, Junhui didn’t know. Despite everything, he wasn’t any more responsive, eyes glassy, staring off at nothing while Junhui spoke to him and Mingyu gently played with his hair in an attempt to get his attention.
When the ambulance arrived, they were quick to get Minghao onto the gurney and into the back of the ambulance, checking over his vitals and getting him a bit more responsive. As Minghao was still reacting to the sting, the paramedics gave Minghao another EpiPen in the hopes he wouldn’t have to be taken into the hospital.
Minghao didn’t enjoy having to get the second EpiPen, but it did its job and soon enough, Minghao was sitting up in the back of an ambulance and no longer needed the oxygen. They still monitored him for around twenty minutes while the rest of the group continued filming, but once Minghao was feeling back to normal they let him go back with the rest of the group, giving him an EpiPen to keep with him until he could get a new one as his own was expired.
Minghao spent the rest of the day watching his friends play games, not daring to move from under the tent in case he got stung by another wasp. He was lucky enough to have avoided a hospital visit, he didn’t need to risk being stung again.
When everyone was finished playing games Minghao joined in with the outro for the episode, although he stayed at the edge and he kept quiet.
Almost as soon as filming was finished, Junhui moved forward to wrap Minghao up in a warm hug and lead him back to the van, not letting any of the others approach Minghao. Minghao couldn’t have been more thankful that nobody spoke to him, instead staying in silence until they got to the van and waited for everyone else to gather up their things before they left.
By the time everybody else was ready to go and all sitting down in the van, Minghao was fast asleep with his head on Junhui’s shoulder, looking exhausted yet peaceful.
The journey was quiet, everyone too worried about Minghao to speak above a whisper. Once they got back to the dorms, Junhui carried Minghao out of the van, getting the smaller boy onto his back to carry him up the stairs.
Junhui didn’t let anyone else help as he changed an awake but sleepy Minghao into pyjamas and tucked him into bed, curling around Minghao’s back to make sure he was safe and warm before Junhui joined Minghao in his deep sleep.