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Switch was surely one of the more challenging amongst the rest. It incorporated a lot of vigorous moves and lot of high notes. Even in his best condition, taerae already felt drained and exhausted after each practice. It wouldn’t be any better if he was not feeling well.
The performance showcase was in 2 days. His team had been lagging behind after many session of no progress. They had decided to drill themselves harder these few days, perfecting their moves. It was the last performance before the last elimination round. The performance had to be perfect.
That morning, taerae woke up feeling sick. His head hurt slightly. He didn’t think much of it: he didn’t feel good but not bad enough to make a fuss out of it and skip practice, plus, knowing how hanbin and jongwoo would freak out knowing they were one member short made his decision to keep his sickness a secret stronger. He got change and went for practice. During practice, he was quiet. Not too unusual for practices early in the morning. He sat at the side quietly picking at his nails as the team leaders brushed up on the formations and line distribution. That day, the star creators were also going to evaluate them.
“Let’s start from the beginning, where we left of yesterday!” Park hanbin yelled.
Everyone quickly got into formation. As the music started, Taerae dance according to what he could remember. His headache had worsened slightly. He didn’t feel well but seeing the anxiousness on Hanbins face, he decided to keep his mouth shut despite the sheer discomfort he was feeling. After the music stopped, everyone sat on the floor in exhaustion. So did taerae. He stared at the floor in a daze when he felt an arm on his shoulder. “Taerae-yah, are you ok?” The voice said gently. Taerae nodded weakly. It was hanbin his best friends. Hanbin nodded, patting his shoulder.
Just then the door opened, it was the star creators. Seeing them sitting on the floor in low spirits, one of them said “y’all must have been practicing hard. I can’t wait to see your performance!”
This caused more anxiety to them, especially taerae. He wasn’t sure if he could push through. His head had started to hurt more and a slight twinge of nausea had settled in his abdomen. The music started. His body immediately started moving. After the whole song ended, he panted. At least he hadn’t vomited all over the floor midway through the song. He sure felt like he was about to though.
The start creators judged them intently as they scribbled words on their clipboard.
“Jongwoo’s so cool”
“Hanbin did well”
“Keita’s rap is amazing”
“Shuai bo looks so good in those extensions”
“Kamden improved!”
“Taerae… you’re lacking expressions”
Tears welled up in his eyes. He was trying.
“Overall good but taerae, don’t drag your team down.” Tears threatened to flow out of his eyes. *sniff* “taerae are you ok?” Jongwoo asked. Taerae just nodded. “They can be very judgmental, you did so well!” Hanbin added.
That night, as taerae lay in bed, he thought about how he pulled down the whole team. Burden weighed down on his shoulder as he fell into a deep restless sleep.
He felt like an popsicle. He shivered as he hid under his thick duvet. The room wasn’t even that cold. His forehead was plastered with a thick layer of sweat. He felt awful. He whimpered softly as he tried to fall asleep which was easier than expected.
Morning fell, he woke up feeling worse than ever. His whole body ached so badly. He got up to see two empty beds. He was about to be late. He knew he wouldn’t be able to push through today if he had tried to hide it so he approached his best friend, hanbin.
“Hyung…”
“Taerae! How are you?” Energetic as always.
“I have a slight headache.” ‘Slight’ was an understatement. His head was pounding.
“Aigoo… take it easy today” hanbin said before telling the other members to not be so harsh on taerae today.
Taerae was grateful to have such a friend. Hanbin was patient but knowing his highly expecting nature, taerae pushed himself to not make any mistakes.
He did it. It was miraculous. He even got praised by his group mates. He really tried. Of that wasn’t good enough. He didn’t know what was.
That night, taerae zipped up his jacket and huddled under his blanket. He didn’t feel any better in fact worse but he was just happy to be back in bed. However, like the previous day, he woke up in the middle of the night, shivering badly but today he felt really sick. His head pounded and he felt like he was about to throw up that little bit of dinner he had managed to keep down. He turned toward his roommates to see an empty bed and Keita at the end of the room, sleeping soundly. He really didn’t want to wake up his Hyung, more like he didn’t want to walk to the other end of the room but he knew he had to. He groaned as he stepped out of bed slowly walking toward his Hyung.
“Hyung”taerae said softly as he shook Keita.
Keita peeled open his eyes to see taerae standing beside his bed.
“Taerae-yah, what’s wrong?” Keita asked in concerned seeing how pale taerae was.
“I don’t feel good…”taerae whimpered as he held his stomach.
Keita stood up and supported his younger brother to his bed and tucked him into his bed before scurrying to the nearest bathroom to dampen a towel so placed on taerae’s forehead. Seeing how the coolness of the towel had relieved some discomfort and him sigh in relief. Just then, the door opened to their room. It was Jongwoo. He looked confused. “What happened?”
Keita shushed him. “Taerae’s feeling really sick. I think he’s running a pretty high fever.”
Jongwoo walked towards them and placed the back to his hand on Taerae’s sweaty cheek.
By then, taerae had fallen asleep so they both went to sleep too. In the morning, things weren’t any better. The other trainees were getting their hair and makeup done while taerae slept on Keita’s lap after vomiting the whole morning when breakfast didn’t settle well in his tummy. He needed a lot of help changing and moving around as his weak body just dangled around like a rag doll. Even the star creators were worried after hearing about taerae. Finally it was their turn to perform. “Don’t push yourself too hard. If you can’t just lipsinc” Hanbin reminded him. Everyone watched taerae intently as the music started. The performance was flawless. It was amazing. As the lights dimmed, the whole team made it back stage. Hanbin supported taerae back stage to sit down where the scores were being shown on the screen. Surprisingly, taerae had placed first and he didn’t even care. He couldn’t comprehend what the others were saying as he head just rested on kamden’s shoulder to tired to even support itself.
After the trainees were all dismisses, the members of the Switch team immediately sprang into action to take care of him. They rushed to his side, ensuring he was comfortable and provided him with plenty of water. Recognizing the seriousness of the situation, they took him to the hospital where the doctor said that taerae was suffering from a severe stomach infection. Throughout his recovery, the members always made it a point to make sure Taerae was ok and whenever he portrayed any form of discomfort, they would help him. He eventually got better after lots of rest and he was determined to make a stronger comeback in the next performance.