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The streaks of moonlight shone through the translucent curtains of Shotaro and Sungchans dorm room. Shotaro shifted uncomfortably under his blanket. He pulled him blanket up to his nose and curled up into a ball. He softly whimpered as his body wracked with chills. He wanted to scream but he felt too weak to let out a sound.
The last few weeks have been nothing but stressful and packed. He hasn’t had a proper meal in a few days. His sleeping times have been irregular. Sometimes he would still be in the practice room perfecting his moves at 2 am. He couldn’t understand how the others were still holding on.
BUZZ. BUZZ. The alarm rang from the other room, waking up the whole dorm. He heard the familiar groaning and shouting of the members. Usually, Shotaro wouldn’t have made a fuss out of this but today he just felt so bad he couldn’t leave the bed. He heard the creaking of the metal bed frame, signaling that Sungchan had awoken from his slumber.
Shotaro squeezed his eyes shut as he hid deeper into his blanket. Surprisingly, no one had came to wake him up. However, that was quickly disrupted by an episode of aggressive shaking. Shotaro peeled open his eyes and saw Taeyong hovering over him. “Taro, wake up! We’re gonna be later.” Taeyong said impatiently as he pulled Shotaro out of bed. As he stepped into the toilet, a horrible sensation washed over him. He shuddered. He looked into the mirror to be greeted by a pale and exhausted looking figure. He looked so bad. He threw on a hoodie and some pants before brushing his teeth and leaving the toilet. The living room was bustling with members looking for stuff and lots of yelling. The sound of the members made his head pound. He didn’t feel good at all. A slight ache had began to build up in his stomach.
He went over to Yuta who was standing by the counter sipping on some coffee. He gentry tugged on Yuta’s sleeve to get his attention. Yuta looked over and joyfully said, “good morning taro!”
However, Shotaro just stared blankly at Yuta. “Shotaro, are you ok?” Shotaro timidly said, “Hyung, I don’t feel good.” Unexpectedly, Yuta brushed it off, “we’re all tired. Take some Tylenol and you should be good.”
It wasn’t one of those morning sicknesses that Tylenol could fix but he just shoved two pills down his throat and headed out. The whole practice had passed quickly. Today he just felt off. Despite the two pills he took, he still felt like he was about to pass out. He stumbled around when a loud angry voice sounded, “Shotaro! Stop fooling around. We’re all busy and tired. It’s no excuse for you to be slacking.” Wow. That hit hard. He was trying. That why he decided to pour his heart and soul into dancing. By the end of practice, he felt horrible. He sat on the floor, barely catching a breath before everyone was hurrying to the next venue. He just popped another few pills into his mouth and went for vocal practice.
Vocal practice was decent. He didn’t have to move much. He didn’t feel as nauseous. By the time their schedule ended, it was around 7 pm. Instead of eating dinner with the others, he went straight to the toilet to take a well deserved bath. After that, he rolled into bed, smiling at the fact that the next day was a free day. However, what the members said still made him feel bad. He is under the sheets and before he knew it, he was drifting into restless slumber. He woke up in the middle of the night feeling absolutely miserable. His stomach was cramping up and he felt so nauseous. Why did it have to be me? He thought as he rolled onto his side and tears welled up in his eyes. Was it because of how many pills he had taken the previous day? He didn’t even bother to count.
Sungchan who had been awake on his phone despite it being the late hour had suspected that something was wrong. Shotaro had never went to bed so early. He looked quite pale when he entered the room. He peeked down to the bottom bunk and saw Shotaro sleeping soundly. Unbeknownst, he was shivering uncontrollably under the thick blanket. He brushed it off and went back to looking at his phone.
The next morning, most members had gotten up already, either lazing around or eating breakfast. Taeyong woke up with a slight headache and went to the medicine cabinet but couldn’t find the pill bottle. He asked around but the pill bottle was no where to be seen. He shrugged it off and entered shotaro and sungchans room. “Sungchan, taro, have y’all seen the Tylenol.” Sungchan popped his head out of the top bunk and looked down. “No. I think Taro had it yesterday,” taeyong looked at the pile of blankets and gently shook Shotaro. “Taro, where’s the pill bottle.” With no response, Taeyong searched in Shotaros bag which he took to practice. He found the pill bottle. He shook the bottle to find it way lighter than the previous day. He opened the bottle to find only 5 pills left. “I could have sworn this was a fairly new bottle. How many pills did Taro take?” He mumbled under his breath. He shook Shotaro again. This time slightly worried, “Shotaro, are you ok?” He flipped Shotaro over and he just groaned. Taeyong felt the warmth radiating from his face. Taeyong placed the back of his hand on Shotaros forehead. “He’s running a fever”, Taeyong said. sungchan got down from his bed and touched shotaros neck and flinch from the heat.
“Taro, are you feeling ok?” Taeyong said quietly as he pushed back Shotaros hair. “Sungchan, go get Yuta Hyung.” Shotaro merely coughed and whimpered. Yuta came running in a few seconds later.
“He has a fever and I think he took too many tylenol.” Taeyong said worriedly.
“How many?” Yuta said shaking the bottle.
“7 to 8”
“WHAT”
Yuta crouched beside shotaro and stroked his warm cheek. “Taro, baby, do you feel sick?”” Shotaro groaned and whispered, “Hyung, my stomach hurts.”
“Oh dear, how many Tylenols did you take?” Shotaro wriggled and turned to the other side.
Just then, Sungchan came in with a thermometer and gently placed it under Shotaros tongue. “39.2. That’s quite high.” Taeyong said. Just then, Shotaro started coughing. He curled up even more and clutched his stomach. “Hyung..” he whined. Suddenly, Shotaros body convulsed and he released all his stomach contents onto his bed, soaking his bedsheet and pillow. Tears rolled down his face. Undigested food and the 7 blue capsules splattered all over his bed. The other members who heard the commotion had gathered around Shotaro. Taeyong swiftly scooped Shotaro up from the bed trying to avoid the puke and carried him to the sofa. Amidst the crying, Shotaro and coughed out some vomit onto his own shirt.
As Taeyong laid him down on the sofa, he slowly peeled off the shirt and changed him into a new set of clothes. “Jungwoo, can you get his sweater,” taeyong asked, pointing to shotaros jacket that was draped over the chair. Shotaro was still shaking from the ordeal, tears trickling down his swollen face. Taeyong heart ached for him. He had never seen Shotaro in such a vulnerable and pathetic situation before. Taeyong stroked shotaros cheeks and wiped his tears. “Sorry hyung.” Shotaro choked up. “it’s ok. You didn’t mean it. Everyone will get sick sometime. Does your stomach still hurt?” Shotaro nodded while lightly massaging his belly. After they had finished changing the sheets, Shotaro had already fallen into deep sleep. Taeyong carried Shotaro up and put him on the bed, covering him with two blankets and placing a fever patch on his forehead. Sungchan sat beside Shotaro, gently patting his stomach to ease soem discomfort.
Given time to rest, Shotaro got better really quickly, now knowing that he shouldn’t eat that much Tylenol at one shot.