Work Text:
Wooyoung's POV~
comeback season is always hard, too many dance practices to perfect the choreography, too many vocal practices to make sure our voices won't crack during high notes, and too many fitting sessions to make sure our outfits are perfect and ready for the comeback and it doesn't stop there, there're also comeback shows and talk shows to promote the song and so many endless things so when I woke up feeling like I was hit by a truck and my body was drenched in a cold sweat, I wasn't shocked. when one spends hours dancing and singing with little to no break, it is bound to happen at some point. when I looked at the digital clock, it showed that it was 7:30 which meant time to get up if I wanted to have enough time to eat. when I tried to get up I was hit with a heavy dizzy spell that I almost fell back on the bed but instead, I closed my eyes and tried to even my breathing. eventually, the dizziness vanished leaving behind a dull headache behind my eyes. it took me a while to get out of bed but eventually, I managed to sit uptight on the edge of the bed. I groaned when I felt the sharp ache in my bones as my body moved to get up. when I finally managed to stand up, my legs felt wobbly and before I knew it, I was on the ground hitting my head on the hard floor which made the dull ache behind my eyes way worse than before.
"ahh, shit" I cursed, trying to get but my arms and legs refused to cooperate. my headache was starting to be a migraine and my body felt like it was held down by rocks. When I was about to just give up and stay where I was, I heard footsteps outside my door before the familiar voice of Hongjoong blasted through the hallway.
'Wooyoung-ah, get up. We can't be late today, we have to finalize the choreography with our BBT Hyungs. I am telling you now, if we got scolded cause we were late because of you, you will be visiting my room" he shouted from outside my door which made me wince I held my hand up to press against my forehead hoping to ease the pain a bit.
"Wooyoung-ah, if you don't get up right now, I will come inside and drag you outside myself," He said again but this time he knocked on my door. I took a deep breath trying to make my voice as normal as possible.
"I'm up, hyung. I will be out s-soon" I said with the loudest voice I could master with my current condition.
"You better be," he said before I heard his footsteps walk away. He sounded frustrated and stressed but it wasn't anything new as he tends to be like this before comebacks.
I closed my eyes for a few seconds before taking a deep breath and forcing my body to move. It took me a while to stand up straight again but when I did, I didn't waste any more time before taking my towel and making my way towards the bathroom. My body groaned and cracked as I moved but I forced myself to keep walking, I had no idea how I would dance like this but I had to. I can't mess up today's practice just because of some light fever and body ache, not when everyone is tired yet still dances without complaining and it's already hard enough with 7 members so I can't add to their already filled plate. When I reached the bathroom, I decided a hot shower would help with the body and muscle ache so with that plan in mind, I brushed my teeth and took a quick hot shower which did help with the muscle pain but it didn't help with the fever as by the time I finished and dressed up, I felt my body overheating like it was on fire. I pulled the sweeter's neck down and tried to fan my face with my hand but instead of feeling better, I felt goosebumps rise along my neck. I was debating about what should I do when I heard my name being called from the kitchen so I simply washed my face with cold water before exiting the bathroom and walking towards the kitchen. Jongho was already dressed and eating a Samgyetang soup.
"You okay?" I asked, pointing at the soup
"Oh yeah, I'm fine, I just used my vocals a lot yesterday so my throat is a little strained so I asked Seonghwa hyung to make me some samgyetang soup to keep my throat warm," He said.
I nodded before fixing myself some cereal as I felt too nauseous to eat any real food but the moment I brought the spoon to my mouth and tasted the artificial fruity taste, I felt my stomach tighten and make wild flips but despised that I continued to eat until I finished my food. When I was done, I walked to the sink to wash the dish before popping two pills in my mouth before Jongho could see.
"Where is Hongjoong hyung?" I asked once I swallowed the pills, looking at the living room and trying to see where he was.
"In his room, Eden hyung called earlier and told him that a power outage happened at the company yesterday and now some files are missing so Hongjoong hyung is looking to see if he has any backups on his laptop but has had no luck till now" He replied.
"When do we need to go? "
"In like 15 minutes, manager hyung said he would be a bit late but let me go and check that hyung is ready," he said before getting up and walking down the dim hallway. It wasn't long before I saw Hongjoong hyung complaining and getting dragged by a blank-faced Jongho.
"Yah, you brat, I am your hyung. You can do this to me" he shouted trying to get free but we both knew he stood no chance, especially against Jongho who had a grip of steel.
"I can and I did. The laptop won't go anywhere and Eden hyung said you have till the end of the week so no need to stress yourself about it from now. You will get wrinkles" Jongho said, pinching one of Hongjoong's cheeks before running away with a smirk.
"Yah, you little shit, come back here" he shouted but all he got was a loud 'no' from Jongho's room.
"Awww, Hyung's cheeks are so cute, even our baby bear can't resist them. Can I pinch your cheek too? " I teased, stretching my hand forward and pretending to be about to pitch his cheeks.
He let out a squeak before running away into the living room. I giggled as I walked back to the table but before I could reach it, I was hit with a sudden dizziness that almost made me topple on the floor by some miracle, I managed to land heavily on the chair. I felt my stomach clench and the urge to vomit was getting a lot but I knew if I vomited, I wouldn't be able to eat anything else so I started to breathe through my nose until the dizziness disappeared. when I felt the dizziness fade away and the wave of nausea passed, I slowly lowered my head to rest on the table and closed my eyes. My forehead was covered in sweat and the sweater was damp and disgustingly clinging to my body but I had no time to take another shower to change so I guess I needed to endure it the best I could. I managed to drift off for some time before being awake by a hand running throw my hair. The movement felt very calming and relaxing so I leaned in to the touch and made a content sound. The other person giggled before pulling away. I made a disagreeing noise and tried to find the hand again.
"Come on, Young-ah. Manager-hyung is here and Hongjoong hyung said you were sleeping so I went up to wake you up, "
Now that I was more awake, I recognized Yeosang's deep voice. I nodded before sitting up and stretching my body. I groaned as I felt my back crake and my neck feeling so stiff but at least the headache was gone. when I was done, I was hesitant to get up in case I felt dizzy but I didn't want Yeosang to be suspicious of anything so I closed my eyes for a second and took a deep breath before getting up. When I opened my eyes, nothing was spinning and there was no trace of dizziness, my body was also no longer feeling hot, my forehead was sticky with dried sweat but it didn't feel too hot to touch.
'Maybe the nap helped and the medicine finally kicked in' I thought mentally before shrugging and following Yeosang to the door. We put on our shoes before I took my bag and exited the dorm. The elevator ride was very short but all the way down, I could feel Yeosang's gaze on the back of my neck but I made no move to ask him about it in case he was suspicious of anything so I just kept quiet until we finally exited the elevator and reached the van. As Yeosang said, the others were already there and I could hear Mingi and Yunho arguing about which character in Marvel is better. Beside me, Yeosang laughed, opening the van's door before pulling me to sit beside him.
"Morning Young-ah," Seonghwa said, Ruffling my hair the best he could from his position in the front seat before going back to whatever he was reading on his phone.
"They have been like this since yesterday, Yunho stayed the night at our dorm and wanted to watch a movie with us, and Mingi wanted to watch an Avengers movie so we agreed to watch it with him but halfway into the movie they started to argue about which marvel character is better, we thought it ended when they fell asleep but when they woke up they continued again" San whispered from the back seat. I giggled but before I could reply, Hongjoong's voice blated through the van.
"YAH, stop arguing like little children, if you have so much energy, save it for practice instead of wasting it on a dump discussion" He shouted before sighing and massaging his temples.
"Yah, Kim Hongjoong, apologize right now, Don't take your anger on them," Seonghwa said with an irritated yet stern look.
"If they didn't fight like little children maybe I wouldn't be angry, Seonghwa" Hongjoong said with a fuming tone.
Seonghwa was about to reply but before he could, he was interrupted by our manager's voice.
"GUYS, We arrived, Stop fighting and taking your anger on each other, If you have a problem, talk it out instead of shouting at each other's faces, got it" He said looking at Hongjoong and Seonghwa.
"Yes, hyung," Hongjoong said before opening the door and exiting the van followed by the rest of us. When we reached our practice room, Hongjoong was already warming up in the corner of the room alone with traces of anger all over his face so we just left our bags in the corner of the room before starting to warm up. The atmosphere was tense and Awkward. Yunho, Jongho, and San were talking but it wasn't enough to erase the tension completely. By the time we finished warming up, I was completely drenched in sweat, the shirt was wet and sticking to my skin in the most disgusting way ever. When I left my hand to wipe the sweat on my forehead, I sighed at the feeling of coldness against my overheating skin. I didn't wanna look suspicious to anyone so with a heavy heart, I let my hand drop by my side. It didn't take long for our BBT hyungs to arrive along with our dance instructor.
"Wooyoung-ah, can you play the music, please?"The dance instructor said.
"Sure" I replied before jogging towards the speakers and turning them on. The moment The music blasted through the room, I felt my head throb and the dull pain behind my eyes came back in full force, my vision faded for a few seconds before getting clear again. When I felt that I wasn't gonna fall over the minute I moved, I quickly jogged back to the middle of the room before standing in my position. We ran through the choreo twice without a mistake but by the third run-through, I was completely out of breath and felt my body overheating under the sweater. When we reached the middle of the choreo, My sense of balance was completely off, I kept swaying left and right and even almost crashed into Seonghwa but managed to save myself by some miracle but I knew it looked sloppy and we would be forced to go again. When the music finally stopped, I wasted no time to drop down the floor as my jello legs couldn't carry my own weight anymore. I was breathing heavily, almost hypervating and my body was starting to noticeably shake but I closed my eyes and started to focus on my breathing. I was still trying to catch my breath when a hand suddenly collided with my back. I flinched for a second but relaxed fast when I heard San's voice.
"Are you okay? You usually don't get tired that fast" He said with a worried expression, His once-still hand started to rub my back in a smooth and calming manner which helped me slow my breathing.
"I'm fine, Just tired. I danced so hard yesterday so I am getting tired fast today" I replied, opening my eyes but closing them right away when I saw that everything was spinning.
"You sure you are okay? You look pale and Your skin feels hot, Are you sick?"
I felt my body flinch when I heard the word 'sick' but I tried to save myself fast by sitting straighter and opening my eyes to look at him. I blinked hard trying to get my vision to focus on San's face but no matter how fast blinked, San's face kept being blurry and unclear. I was about to reply with a playful remark but was saved when the choreographer called us back. When I stood up, I felt the world spinning rapidly for a second but I forced myself to stand still. I was about to walk back to my position but a hand suddenly got wrapped around my arm before San pulled me into a hug. It wasn't strange or uncommon for us to hug and usually, I would cling back to him right away but this time I couldn't bring myself to hug him back, afraid that he was gonna see through me right away.
"Don't lie to me, Young-ah. You're pale and shaking and your skin is way too hot to be normal and you looked like you were about to faint" He stated, holding me tighter when I felt one of my knees gave up for a moment. I sighed frustratingly before giving up and wrapping my arms around his neck. It was a little too hot and a bit suffocating but I was craving the soft touch of his so I just buried my face at the crook of his neck.
"Okay, okay, I may be feeling a little bit sick but don't worry, I took some medicine before coming so I am good till the practice ends," I admitted.
"I'm not sure about that. I am not sure if you noticed but the only thing that's keeping you standing right now is me so I am not really sure you will be able to dance for another hour" He said.
"Don't worry, I can. If it gets too much, I will tell you" I said, Pulling out from the hug before San had a chance to say anything else.
When I returned to my position, The dizziness and the shaking were almost gone but the moment the music turned back on, My vision blurred dramatically and I felt like my head was gonna split into half but I had no time to dwell on it as everyone started to dance. Along the choreo, I kept missing a few beats and my moves were sloppy and uncoordinated. I felt that my legs were about to give up anytime now yet I kept dancing like my life depended on it. When the choreo finally came to an end, I was swaying dangerously and there were black spots everywhere I looked but I shook my head and forced my vision to focus back. The choreographer corrected some postures and made a few changes before asking us to try again. We did it 3 more times and every time I kept getting worse and worse. I kept missing beats and forgetting moves and crashing into the others whenever we changed our positions. We were in the middle of the choreo when the music suddenly stopped and a fuming Hongjoong appeared in front of me.
"YAH, JUNG WOOYOUNG, if you don't take this seriously then get the hell out. some of us are actually working hard and tired and wanting to go home so stop messing around and take this seriously" He spat with so much venom and anger that I felt myself tear up. I didn't wanna look at the disappointed face of my captain so I just looked down and stared at the floor.
"HEY! Stop that, Wooyoung is working just as hard as you, or maybe even more so how dare you say that he's not taking this seriously?" I heard Seonghwa's shouting from behind me but I made no move to look up and see what was happening.
"Because he's not. He kept messing up the steps and almost crashed into me 2 times so obviously, He's not taking this seriously" Hongjoong growled back.
Seonghwa was about to talk back but before he could, the instructor stepped in.
"Guys, stop fighting and shouting. Shouting at each other won't solve anything, Why don't we just wrap it up today and everyone goes home and take a long rest and then talk it out together, Okay?" He said, urging us to pack our bags and go.
"I'll stay and practice some more," I said as everyone was about to exit the room.
"Wooyoung, maybe you-"
"No! I wanna stay and practice, I won't take long, I promise." I said already making my way over to the large speakers before connecting my phone and playing the music at a medium volume.
As I started to dance, I heard the others starting to leave but I didn't turn around to them and just kept dancing. When the song ended, I was startled by the presence of San who was standing beside the door watching something on his phone.
"What are you still doing here?" I asked, patting my chest to calm my heart.
"Waiting for you" He simply said before looking back at his phone.
"Why? Just go, I will go home soon. I promise" I said, opening the door and trying to push him out.
"You have a fever or did you forget?"
"I'm fine, I swear. I will only take an hour, I promise" I said, trying to close the door but he held the door open.
"You better go back soon or I will come and drag you there by myself, I will call Jongho-yah to check" San hissed before exiting the room and closing the door behind him.
I took a deep breath before I started to dance. I don't know how much time passed but by the time I stopped. I was completely drenched in sweat and I was breathing so hard that It almost felt like I couldn't breathe at all. the once subtle dizziness came back in full force it forced me to drop to the floor in a kneeling position. I closed my eyes trying to chase the dizziness away but no matter what I did, the world continued to spin. I tried to get up to go and get my phone but I didn't make even 2 steps before falling back to the floor on my right side. My vision was starting to go black and my breathing was getting more rapid, I tried to move again but my body refused to cooperate with me. I tried to even my breath but no matter what breathing exercise I did, I kept feeling like I was about to suffocate. With the sudden realization that I was gonna pass out here on my own, I felt my eyes water and tears started to roll down my cheeks uncontrollably. I tried to move towards my phone again but I barely moved forward before falling back down. My breathing was almost non-existent and the sobbing didn't help and soon enough I felt the world around me shift into darkness. I tried to cling with all my might to the light but I was too tired and soon enough I fell into an endless pitch of black unwillingly.
******
When I regained consciousness, I first felt a soft hand petting my hair and another holding my right hand. I wanted to wake up but I was too tired to when I was about to fall back into the darkness, I heard something that got my immediate attention. A sob, A very quiet yet familiar sob. I felt my right hand getting lifted off the bed before it made contact with something wet yet very soft. 'A cheek' my braid supplied.
"Wooyoung-ah, hyung is so sorry for taking his anger on you. I swear I didn't mean what I said, I promise. You work so hard that sometimes I get worried about you with how hard you practice. When you wake up, I promise I will shower you with compliments and cuddle with you every day, and tell you how much I am proud of you but please wake up" the voice 'Hongjoong's' I recognized said before releasing a very loud and sad sob followed by many other more.
'No, no, please don't cry hyung' I tried to say yet I couldn't open my mouth to say anything. I tried to open my eyes but they were shut like being stuck with glue together, I tried to move or show any reaction that I was awake but not a single muscle moved. 'No~ I need to wake up' I whined, trying to move my hand and apparently, it managed to hyung's attention cause he suddenly stopped crying.
"Wooyoung? Come on, open your eyes, please" He begged, holding my hand tighter and more firmer.
It took a few failed tries but after a while, I finally peeled my eyes open. The first thing I saw was the white lights that blinded me for a few seconds but after blinking, I could keep my eyes open without feeling them hurt or burn. When I finally looked around, I saw the unmistakable view of a hospital room. On my left Yeosang and San were sleeping on the small sofa in the corner of the room, They were holding each other hands and cuddling together and I was having a hard time subtitling to coo over them as it was a very rare sight to see. When I finally got to my right side, I finally saw Hongjoong who was trying to wipe his face and hide the tear stains but it was as useless as they kept falling down his face.
"No~, Why are you crying?" I whined, Hating the sight of my captain crying. He let out a wet laugh before wiping his face again.
"Ahh, You're the one who is sick yet still trying to comfort me, Our typical caring Wooyoung," He said ruffling my hair before pressing a small, soft kiss on my forehead which shocked me as it was very rare that Hongjoong would be the first to interact a hug let alone a kiss.
"Aish, don't look too shocked, You look dumb" He teased, pinching my cheek playfully.
"I am not besides, can you blame me? you never hug us first let alone give us kisses willingly" I said, pouting.
"Well, I will shower you in kisses and hugs until you get bored of me," He said, smiling gently before pulling me into a warm hug. I hummed before wrapping my arms around his waist. It was very uncomment to be hugged by Hongjoong so I just savored the feeling without questioning the gesture. We were both silent for a few minutes before he started to speak again.
"So, When were you planning on telling me you were sick?" He said with a gentle tone but It still made me flinch against his chest which resulted in him tightening his arms around me.
"I would say I am not mad but unfortunately, I am. Do you have any idea how terrified I was when I saw you lying motionless on the ground, looking pale and lifeless? I was so afraid that I felt like my heart was gonna stop" He said.
"I'm sorry," I whispered, feeling my eyes start to water upon hearing the sad tone of Hongjoong.
"No, no, I don't want you to apologize, I just want to know why you didn't tell me, I'm so sorry that I snapped at you at practice, I swear I didn't mean to but I was so stressed and irritated with myself and took it out on you. That wasn't right and I swear I won't do it again but if you can't forgive me then I understand, but just know that I'm very soo-"
"Hyung, stop apologizing, I already forgave you, I understand, Everyone is so stressed about this comeback so I can only imagine your stress as our captain," I said before reaching out and holding his hand tightly in mine.
"Then why you didn't tell me you were sick? I would have talked with our CEO to give you a rest"
"Everyone is already stressed and tired and I didn't wanna worry anyone and add to their stress besides, just like you said this morning, Today's practice was very important, it wouldn't have worked out if you were 6, It's already hard without Jongho dancing with us so there was no way I could sit it out today" I admitted.
"But I was gonna tell you tonight, I promise," I quickly added.
"What if I hadn't come? What if you were left there for god knows how long? You were lucky that it was something serious but what if you hit your head and bleed there alone? What if you broke something or even worse?"
By the time he finished talking, I was staring down at hour joint hands, not daring to look him in the eyes and see how disappointed he was in me.
"I'm not telling you that to feel guilty, I tell you that so you could understand how dangerous that was If I didn't find you then it would have ended up a lot worse than this" He continued
"I'm sorry, I promise I won't do that again" I replied.
"Please don't, If you are not feeling well, physically or emotionally, just tell me and I will deal with it, you are more important to me than anything else, okay?" He said with a hopeful look.
"Okay," I agreed before pulling him forward into a hug. I heard him giggle before he returned the hug.
"right hyung, What were you still doing at the company? I thought Seonghwa hyung sent you all to your dorms when you left" I said.
"Ah, well, He did send everyone home but me and him, and after they left he may or may not have scolded me and given me a lesson about not lashing out at people without a reason. He also told Jongho to not let me in until I apologize to you," He said sheepishly with a light embarrassed blush on his cheeks
"Ah~ you got scolded by our mum," I teased him before giggling when I imagined it.
He was about to reply but quiet down when he heard movement at the other side of the room. We I looked, I saw San and Yeosang were starting to wake up. San was the first to wake up and the moment he saw that I was awake, His face lighted up for a moment before he jogged to the bed and threw his arms around me. I groaned at the added weight on my body but I returned the hug regardless.
"Wooyoung-ah, I was so worried. Don't ever do that again or I am gonna kill you myself," Yeosang threatened but his face melted into a soft look a moment later.
"Alright, alright. That's enough. San, get off of him, you're gonna crush him" Hongjoong said, pulling at San until he let me go and climbed out of the bed.
A few moments later, There was a knock on the door before it was opened, and a female doctor came in with a nurse behind her.
"Ah~ Wooyoung-ssi, I am glad to see you awake." She said before making her way beside me. She checked my pulse and my breathing before she put a thermometer in my mouth. When it bibed, she took it and pulled away with a gentle smile.
"Your fever is almost gone and everything seems normal, you had an IV in before you woke up so if you felt your arm stiff, it's normal. It would go away in an hour at most and for the fever, I prescribed you some pills. Since everything else seems normal, You can go home, I will get you the discharging papers, Please wait a moment" She said before exiting the room.
A few minutes later, I was good to go. The walk from the hospital to the car was not as bad as I thought it would be, sure I stumbled a few times but every time I was caught by gentle hands. When we reached the van, I was surprised to know that everyone was in one dorm.
"Seoghwa texted and told me that he wanted to have a sleepover so everyone is at your dorm," Hongjoong said, gesturing for the driver that we were ready to go. On the way to the dorm, the van was filled with laughter and teasing especially when we teased Hongjoong about getting scolded by Seonghwa, His reaction was priceless. When we finally reached the dorm, It didn't take a long time before going up and getting inside. There was chatter and laughing from the living room so It was easy to find everyone. When they saw me, I was pulled into a group hug by everyone before everyone settled on the sofa and the floor. We couldn't decide on a movie so we just watched the first movie we saw which was an action movie.
"Young-ah, Come sit beside me," Seonghwa said as came out of the kitchen before sitting on the sofa and pulling me next to him. I giggled a bit before relaxing my body against him.
"Are you Okay? You got me so worried when Joong-ah called me saying something is wrong with you" He whispered once everyone was paying attention to the movie.
"I'm fine, hyung. I will take the medicine and wake up fine tomorrow" I said, looking at the TV without paying attention before yawing.
"Are you tired?"
"Yeah, It's been a long day," I said before yawing once again.
"Alright then, have some soup and take your medicine, and then go to bed. Everyone will spend the night here so don't be surprised when you wake up to loud chatter"
I nodded before getting up and making my way to the kitchen, I ate some soup before taking my medicine and making my way back to the living room.
"Guys, I am so tired so I will head to bed early, goodnight," I said. I was met up with a few 'goodnights' and even some got up and hugged me. I giggled before making my way to my bedroom. It didn't take me long to change and before I knew it, I was already under my warm blanket but before I could fall asleep, My mind drifted back to what happened during the day. Now thinking about it, I realize it was rather a very stupid move, Hongjoong was right, If he hadn't come then it would have turned out a lot worse.
'Never again' I thought and before long, I drifted off into a peaceful slumber, feeling safe to have all my members together again.