Work Text:
Jungsu felt a dizziness in his head.
Since this morning he had actually felt a painful dizziness, but with his habit of thinking 'maybe the pain will go away' he didn't really care anymore. As usual, he entered the empty band practice room. He walked into the silent room and placed his belongings at the edge of the room. The other members were still buying drinks at the cafeteria, some were still going to the bathroom or just talking to the staff they met on the way.
Jungsu sat up slowly, the short sleep he had taken earlier had not managed to reduce the dizziness in his head. Even now the pain was slowly getting worse. A bad habit, but he would unconsciously bang his aching head, as if 'scolding' it to stop hurting.
The sound of the room's doorknob opening stopped Jungsu from hitting himself. He pretended to take something from his bag. Apparently the figure who came into the room was Jiseok and his manager.
"Here, I ran out of orange juice, it's okay if I buy you melon juice, right?"
Jiseok handed Jungsu a glass with a faded green liquid. He just nodded once while giving him a sign of gratitude. It was a bad choice to drink cold juice when the pain in his head hadn't subsided. But to avoid questioning Jiseok who had kindly bought him a drink on this hot day, Jungsu drank it as usual.
Today's practice was more difficult than usual for Jungsu. He thought focusing on training would distract him from the pain he was feeling. But with the number of corrections from their mentor, it made Jungsu feel even worse.
The days of practice where he would always smile and encourage the other members to keep their spirits up were not today.
He seemed too focused on his keyboard. When their mentor gave corrections, other members would say sorry once and repeat the emphasized part again. But in contrast to Jungsu who apologized too much, Hyeongjun often heard him blaming himself in a small tone, hoping only himself was listening.
"Jungsu, I told you, right, that part is too hard. You should press it softly so that it doesn't dominate the other voices too much,"
The small room was actually cold, with the air conditioner showing number 21 of course the cold should be felt. But sweat continued to pour down Jungsu's temples. Hyeongjun looked worriedly at Jungsu from behind, he then looked deeply at Jiseok.
"Sorry, Ssaem, I'm sorry, I'll try again, sorry again, just a moment,"
Jungsu tried to calm himself down. He realized how his hands were shaking and starting to get wet.
Jiseok turned to their mentor, saying a few words silently until his mentor understood.
"No need, Jungsu. We'll finish our training today, I have an urgent matter. You guys use this free time to rest. See you the day after tomorrow. You've all worked hard today."
Jungsu's shoulders were gently rubbed by his mentor until he finally left the room. The room felt crowded even after their mentor left. Jiseok put down his guitar and was about to approach Jungsu before he dodged out of the way.
"Hyung, guys, I'm sorry I had to go to the bathroom first."
"Jung-,"
Before Gunil could finish his call, Jungsu had exited the room and left the door open before it closed on its own. Jiseok wanted to go after him, but his hand was held back by Hyeongjun. He looked back, seeing one by one his friends looking confused and worried at him. Jiseok let out his breath softly. Gunil put down his drumsticks, stood up and approached Jiseok.
"He... told you something?"
"No..."
"He also got in the car and tried to sleep until we got to the building."
Jooyeon said, turning to Hyeongjun. "That's right, I wanted to chat with Jungsu hyung earlier, but he looked tired."
"I actually accidentally saw him holding his head while grimacing this morning before leaving for practice, but I was still talking to Seungmin,"
Seungmin tapped him on the shoulder and gave the code to the door, as if telling him to go after Jungsu. Jiseok looked at the other members and the others nodded with a gentle smile. Unbeknownst to the public, Jiseok and Jungsu had a special relationship that was more than just friends, boyfriends, and all the members supported them when Jiseok shamelessly expressed his feelings for Jungsu in front of them while watching a movie together in the living room.
"You might be able to calm him down, even though you're just starting your relationship, I know you'll understand each other,"
Jiseok smiled softly. "I'll go first."
Jungsu looked at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. He looked pathetic, he thought. He should have been stronger, his headache shouldn't have been a hindrance, today's practice should have gone as smoothly as usual, he shouldn't have made his members worry, he shouldn't have made Jiseok feel bad-
"Hyung? Jungsu hyung?"
Jungsu hurriedly washed his face as Jiseok entered the bathroom. Jiseok waited for Jungsu to finish his business, to start talking to him.
"Don't wipe your face too hard, it'll hurt."
Jungsu turned off the water faucet. Jiseok grabbed some tissues intending to wipe his lover's wet face but Jungsu quickly took the tissues in Jiseok's hand.
"I'm okay,"
Jungsu said as he closed his eyes, wiping his face. When he didn't hear any protests or replies from Jiseok, he opened his eyes, turning to him. Jiseok was looking at him softly, smiling slightly. Jungsu felt his heart heavy at the sight of his boyfriend's smile.
"Why... are you smiling like that?"
Without saying a word Jiseok took Jungsu's hand and led him out of the bathroom. Jungsu, who appreciated his boyfriend's efforts, who certainly couldn't lie that he wasn't okay, finally resigned himself to being taken wherever Jiseok took him.
Jungsu is very grateful that he is in a relationship with Jiseok.
Jiseok took him to the top floor of the building, where it was a good place to rest. He directed Jungsu to sit in one of the chairs, and he sat in front of him. He took Jungsu's hand back, which had begun to calm down, and stroked it gently.
"I'm sorry,"
Jiseok frowned.
"Why are you apologizing?"
Jiseok looked into his lover's cute eyes, which always blinked repeatedly when they accidentally locked eyes with each other. Jiseok knew Jungsu was nervous about saying what he felt, but he was willing and able to wait until the time came.
"I... messed everything up. I messed up practice today, I made the others worry, I made you worry,"
Jiseok smiled softly, he knew his adorable boyfriend loved overthinking but this was like Jungsu's daily bread, so he had to stop it slowly. He moved his hand to touch Jungsu's soft cheek, stroking it lightly before giving it a small pinch.
"Aw! It hurts..."
"You have to realize that thinking like that is hurting yourself, just like I pinched your cheek just now. Doesn't it hurt?"
Jungsu pouted while nodding slowly twice. Jiseok chuckled softly.
"That one hurt physically, but if you let your mind beat yourself up all the time, it makes your heart and mind hurt, but you don't realize it."
Jungsu was still looking down while occasionally gazing into his lover's beautiful eyes that he had not tired of looking into all day.
"Don't blame yourself, okay? You're like this because you're not feeling well since this morning too, right?"
Jungsu quickly raised his head, his lips parted in an O. So he had been caught hiding his headache from this morning?
"How did you know?"
"I'm a witch, I know what's going on with you."
Jiseok smiled mischievously as he pinched his boyfriend's cheeks once again. Jungsu gently pushed Jiseok's body away while pouting. Why was his boyfriend always like this when he asked serious questions anyway?
Jiseok moved his body back, close to Jungsu. He looked into his boyfriend's eyes intently. So beautiful, his boyfriend is so beautiful. He could see how his pupils didn't flutter as much as they had in the training room. His hand reached for the top of Jungsu's head, rubbing it with a saying.
"Also, if your head hurts, don't hit it, it will hurt more. If it hurts, stroke it, like this."
Jungsu gave another small nod as he said, "I want to be patted on the head by Jiseok. May I?"
Jiseok smiled widely, pulling the boy in front of him who was a year older than him into his arms as he continued to stroke his head. Jungsu hugged tightly, burying his head in the crook of Jiseok's neck.
"It's okay, I can stroke it until my hand falls off."
"That's not what it means!"
Isn't it true what Jungsu thinks? His headache would definitely go away.