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“Sunoo-hyung. Hyung, can you hear me?”
Sunoo’s eyes opened silently, mind fuzzy and exhaustion floating through his body. He felt a warm liquid flow out from under his head, causing him to blink lethargically.
Where was he? How did he get here? And why did his leader look so worried?
💙
2 hours earlier
Sunoo woke up in his bed with an uncomfortable feeling flowing through his chest. He stretched in his bed silently, tiredly looking at his roommate, Ni-ki, still sleeping in his bed peacefully. He sighed to himself, slightly smiling before getting ready for their schedule.
The feeling of uncomfortableness has traveled around with Sunoo for the past couple of days. It was well known among the members and fans that a certain sasaeng has been following him for the past couple of days through all of their schedules, from the early mornings to late mornings. The members brought it to their company’s attention quickly, but the only measure they took against it was to send out a notice and threaten to take legal measures against them if it continued. That didn’t help much, as you could probably imagine. Sunoo and the members had planned to talk to their company about hiring extra bodyguards today before their practice, that’s why he was getting ready quicker than usual.
Now, here they were, driving to their company in the early hours of the morning, all huddled in their van and heat radiating between each boy. They quietly exited the van, Sunoo uncomfortably locking eyes with the “fans” outside of their company gates. He noticed the sasaeng who had been following them around for the past couple of days in the crowd of people as well, sending a chill down his spine. He quickly walked into their company, staring at the ground silently.
The threatening presence Sunoo registered in his mind when he saw the sasaeng didn’t go away once he got into the company, but he figured it was just his nerves. So, he went into the meeting confidently, deciding to push the worried feeling rising in his chest to the back of his mind.
“Sir, I’m sure you know what we’ve come here to discuss, so I’ll just get straight to the point. We would like extra bodyguards in all of our schedules outside of the company.” Jungwon got straight to the point, walking into the room holding their CEO and staff.
“Jungwon, right now the company funds need to be used for a more important purpose. I understand that you’re concerned for your group but our bodyguards are very good at what they do. If you just trust in them a little more––”
“It’s not that I don’t trust in their abilities, sir. I just think that recently there are a lot more opportunities for our group to come across dangerous opportunities and we need extra protection.” Jungwon spoke seriously, full leader mode on display.
The CEO looked at all of them seriously, each boy wearing just as serious expression on their faces. After a moment of hesitation, their CEO nodded silently, relieving each boy greatly.
“Okay, I understand. I’ll call the security company we use to order more bodyguards.”
“Thank you, sir. We appreciate this very much.” Jungwon spoke, signaling to the others to bow respectfully to their CEO. Each boy followed Jungwon’s lead, bowing respectfully and relieved that he agreed.
💙
And with that, the boys headed to their dance practice, stretching as they casually talked with one another. Sunoo felt incredibly relieved that their CEO agreed to get them extra protection, the uncomfortable feeling that had been nagging at his mind had dissipated ever so slightly.
The group went to their dance practice, earnestly practicing the choreography for their upcoming title track as they all felt relieved. Their energy was high, and there was barely any tension between the boys as they got energized, as opposed to their usual early-morning dance practices where their energy was lacking and their tension was high as they literally dragged themselves out of bed and felt exhausted no matter how much they stretched.
After about an hour or two of non-stop dancing, the boys took a fifteen minute break, backs coated with a thick layer of sweat and each boy panting loudly. Sunoo downed his water like there was no tomorrow, panting heavily even after he finished drinking. He wiped the sweat off of his forehead, relaying to his teammates that he was going to the bathroom real quick. Each member let out various grunts of agreement, causing Sunoo to smile silently before leaving the room.
He walked into the closest bathroom to their practice room, which was still a five minute walk since it was at the very end of the hall (blame Hybe’s never-ending-seeming designs in their building). He entered the bathroom, immediately taking in the sweet-smelling scent wafting through the air. He smiled, figuring the cleaning crew must have come by earlier. He finished his business, quickly about to leave when suddenly a pair of arms wrapped around his backside, immediately causing him to tense silently. He slightly turned his head, serious expression on his face as his eyes met the sasaeng that had been following him the past couple of days. Anxiety immediately flooded through his body, panic overtaking his mind as his fist clenched silently.
“Sunoo-yah~” The sasaeng whispered into his ear, immediately sending goosebumps down Sunoo’s (still somewhat sweaty) back.
“W-What?” Sunoo whispered back, hating how his voice was so shaky.
“I can take you away from here~ all you have to do is say the word and we can leave together~”
“I like my life. I don’t want to leave my group, I like it. I don’t want to go with you.” Sunoo stood his ground, face serious and voice still somewhat shaky.
“What? Come on, Sunoo-yah, you don’t have to lie to me~ I know you hate it here~ I can change that; I can make you feel better~” The sasaeng’s grip around his stomach slightly tightened, reaching up over his chest to feel Sunoo’s still rising heartbeat. Sunoo pushed himself away from the sasaeng in his best fight-or-flight response. He turned around, eyes wide and goosebumps still on his skin.
The sasaeng smiled at him unsettlingly, eyes wide as he tilted his head to the side. He walked closer to Sunoo, instinctively causing Sunoo to back away from him silently. One thought coursed through Sunoo’s mind as he saw the unsettling smile on the sasaeng’s face.
Run.
He bee-lined straight for the door, begging his legs to start pumping faster, to just get away from the person chasing him right now. A rough hand grabbed the back of his hair, pulling him back, and unintentionally causing him to slip on the floor and roughly hit his head. Sunoo yelped, pain immediately spreading through his head as his eyes unintentionally closed.
💙
Sunoo was taking a longer time in the bathroom than usual. His group noticed this fact, even if it was a whole five minute walk from their practice room, Sunoo never took longer than ten minutes to come and go to the bathroom. So when he didn’t come back after his usual ten- minute mark, his group became worried.
“Guys, you might not want to go to the bathroom for a while. Someone said it smelled sweet there but the cleaning crew wasn’t supposed to come in today. I called maintenance, they’re going to check it out in case some kind of aerosol is in there.” Their dance instructor spoke as he came back from drinking water.
“The bathroom? Sunoo went there though…” Heeseung spoke worriedly, eyebrows creasing and a nervous tone in his voice.
They all looked at each other silently, each boy expressing worry on their faces. Jungwon and Heeseung nodded to themselves, deciding to step up as the leader and oldest of the group.
“We’ll check on him. We’ll be right back, hold on.” Jungwon spoke, Heeseung already walking toward the door.
They both ran to the bathroom, worried feelings growing as they noticed a figure on the ground, stopping in their tracks as they realized it was Sunoo. They looked up to the sasaeng, venom spilling into their minds as they immediately became defensive over the boy.
“What did you do to him?! Heeseung-hyung, call the others to get security and hold him down! I’ll check on Sunoo-hyung.” Jungwon spurred the other into action, Heeseung immediately following the leaders instructions as he punched the sasaeng square in his jaw. The sasaeng fell to his back, eyes wide as Heeseung grabbed both of his hands and wrapped them around his back, casually digging his knee into his back for added effect.
“Ow! I––I didn’t do anything…he…he…ran away so I pulled his hair. I did nothing wrong, he was trying to run away from me so I just chased! I didn’t…do anything…” The sasaeng tried to defend himself, rambling on as Heeseung called Jay and the others.
Jungwon rolled his eyes silently, what was even the use of defending himself at this point? He knelt to the ground, eyebrows furrowed worriedly and nerves gnawing at his heart. He lifted the unconscious Sunoo up gently, eyes silently widening as he felt red hot liquid spill from Sunoo’s head. His eyes welled with tears, the young boy distraught over his hyung.
“Sunoo-hyung…Sunoo-hyung. Can you hear me?” Jungwon slightly whispered, voice not daring to speak any louder in fear of it shaking.
Sunoo silently opened his eyes, lightly grunting as his vision cleared. His eyes met Jungwon’s tear filled ones, causing the older boy’s heart to pang in worry.
He lifted his hand to Jungwon’s cheek, patting it carefully to show the younger boy he was fine, that there was nothing to worry about since his Sunoo-hyung was right here.
“It’s okay…Jungwonie…I’m okay. Hyungie’s okay…” Sunoo smiled gently to the younger boy, patting his cheek as his eyes unintentionally started to fall once again.
Tears fell from Jungwon’s eyes, the younger boy silently drying them and choosing not to pay attention to the warm liquid spreading across his legs.
💙
When the ambulance arrived at their company, Sunoo was whisked away quickly with their manager as the sasaeng was arrested by local authorities.
Their manager told them to wait at the company until he called them with more information about Sunoo's condition. They all hesitantly agreed, finding they couldn’t bring themselves to see Sunoo in his less than fragile state.
The boys returned back to their dorm with a sort of silent reverence for their management, handling situations like this as quickly and efficiently as they could was a skill in itself. Jungwon changed out of his gray sweatpants in his room, now coated with Sunoo’s blood Jungwon couldn’t bear to wear them anymore. He opted to throw them away (maybe even burn them). When their manager called Jay to let them know of the situation, Jay gathered the team in the living room.
“Manager-hyung just called. He said Sunoo has a concussion, but they bandaged him up and manager-hyung is going to take him home once they file for his discharge.” Jay spoke seriously, voice tender and heart worn on his sleeve.
They all nodded solemnly, some with tears in their eyes and others holding onto each other for comfort.
“They said he’s going to need a lot more rest than usual, so the company is going to put our comeback on hold and Sunoo on a hiatus until he recovers.” Jay sighed heavily, eyes starting to well with tears once more.
A dark veil loomed over the boys’ shoulders, weighing them down with the strength of a thousand pound weight. Each boy became lost in their thoughts, not one daring to speak of the situation for fear of upsetting someone else.
Then, they all heard the passcode to their door being inputted, each boy silently tensing as the door unlocked and Sunoo and their manager walked in. Jungwon went to greet them at the door, a nervous smile on his face as their manager smiled tiredly at the young leader.
“Sunoo, we’re back at your dorm now. Here, Jungwon will take you to your room.” Their manager spoke softly to the younger boy, a small smile on his face as the bags under his eyes decreased ever so slightly. Sunoo grunted in response, eyes just as tired and sour expression on his face.
“The doctor recommended regular painkillers for his headaches. Here’s the materials to re-dress his bandages with instructions; change them every day for the next week. Make sure he gets plenty of sleep and doesn’t do anything too strenuous. The doctor said he gets easily overstimulated so make sure to talk softly around him. He’s pretty confused right now and he might not remember the incident. Don’t try to make him think too hard about something, it could aggravate his condition more. Oh, and he’s sensitive to light too, so make sure his light is off in his room and the rest of the lights in the dorm are turned down to the lowest setting.” Their manager relayed the load of information on Jungwon, the boy nodding intermittently, showing he was intently listening to the older man. Jay was already by his side, holding Sunoo bridal style as the younger boy already started nodding off into Jay’s chest. Jungwon nodded silently, fixing Sunoo’s hair gently before thanking their manager and going to dim all of the lights in the dorm. Once he was done with that, Jay slowly walked the younger boy to his shared room with Ni-ki, careful so as not to wake him from his sleeping state. Once in his room, he set the boy in his bed carefully before bringing the covers up to his shoulders and kissing him as gently as he could on his forehead. Sunoo slightly grimaced, before fully falling back asleep, causing Jay to sigh silently.
“I’m sorry this happened to you, Sunoo-yah. I promise we’ll do whatever it takes to make you feel better.”
Jay smiled gently at the sleeping boy, hand hovering over the younger boy somewhat awkwardly as he didn’t know if he should pat his head. He chose to lower his hand silently, in favor of not aggravating the boy’s already unstable condition more.
He silently exited the room, exhaustion evident in his expression. When he entered the now-dim living room, he was met with his team looking just as somber as Jay. He sighed, walking over and falling down on the couch with a soft thud.
“Sunoo is asleep.” He softly told his members, eyes closed.
Everyone sighed simultaneously, some nodding in response.
“Ok guys, you know the drill. When one of us is sick or injured we all pitch in to help. Who wants to take the first shift to take care of Sunoo-hyung?” Jungwon looked at each member, with a somewhat serious expression on his face.
“I will!”
“I’ll do it––”
Heeseung and Jake spoke at the same time, each boy looking at each other with wide eyes from their spots on the couch.
“I’ve barely talked to Sunoo all day, if anyone should do it, it should be me!” Jake defended himself, looking at Heeseung seriously with a slight pout of his lips as he stood up from the couch.
“I should take care of him because I apprehended the sasaeng! I wanna comfort Sunoo!” Heeseung pouted back, standing up from the couch as well.
“I’m better at comforting him, Heeseung-hyung! I wanna take care of him!” Jake became more defensive, crossing his arms as he looked at Heeseung incredulously.
“Okay, okay. Let’s calm down. We want Sunoo-hyung to stay asleep, right? Listen, since it seems like you won’t back down from this, we’ll have Jake-hyung go first and Heeseung-hyung can research ways to help someone with a concussion. Will you two agree on that?” Jungwon intervened between the two boys, placing himself in between the two boys with his hands up to their chests.
They both nodded simultaneously, Heeseung quickly going to grab his personal computer from his room.
🩵
Sunoo’s recovery took a lot of time and effort for himself and his group alike. The first night home was the roughest for Sunoo, specifically when he woke up in a cold sweat and nausea floating around in his stomach. Jungwon had accidentally fallen asleep at Sunoo’s bedside, after he softly comforted the boy by softly rubbing his tuft of hair not covered by his bandage. Sunoo immediately covered his mouth, frantically untangling himself from his covers as he begged himself to make it to the bathroom. His head pounded like someone was hammering in a nail into his skull, but he pushed on until he reached the toilet.
Once in the safety of the closest bathroom, he heaved his insides out into the toilet loudly, frankly not caring if he woke anyone up. His throat burned, feeling like someone poured acid down it. Tears silently welled up in his eyes as he coughed into the toilet, a thick layer of sweat forming on his body. A soft hand stroked his back warmly, Sunoo flinching before turning around silently. His eyes met Jungwon’s worried ones, Sunoo immediately relaxing as his bile settled into his stomach once more. Sunoo sighed, flushing the toilet as he closed his eyes once more.
“Come on, Sunoo-hyung, let's get you back to bed.” Jungwon softly spoke, helping the older boy up from the floor and gently guiding him back to his bed.
Sunoo quickly fell asleep when they arrived back to his room, Jungwon carefully tucking the older boy into the covers before smiling softly.
“Is Sunoo-hyung okay?” Ni-ki softly whispered from his bed, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
Jungwon’s soft smile lessened, ever so slightly. He hesitated for a moment before turning around to Ni-ki and nodding.
“Nausea and vomiting are common with concussions. At least, that’s what Heeseung-hyung said after he did a deep dive on symptoms and treatments for concussions. We’ll just have to wait until he feels better.” Jungwon walked over to Ni-ki, the younger boy already falling back asleep. He tucked Ni-ki into his covers deeper as the maknae nodded, eyes already drooping.
🩵
The next few days after that night, the team took shifts taking care of Sunoo. His progress was surprisingly good for someone with a concussion, by the fourth day he was able to stay awake regularly enough and only had one nap that day as opposed to napping for the whole day and only waking up to eat or go to the bathroom. The team helped with his treatment schedule as well. At first, it was little things like watching TV when he was awake and having simple conversations with him. Then, it became slow walks through the park in pairs of two later into the evening.
Sunoo’s recovery was tough, of course it was; there was no injury in the world that came without difficulties. There were days when the pain was too much for him and he just laid in his bed and cried for hours on end. On those days, whoever heard him crying first would immediately go to comfort him, carefully wrapping their arms around him and silently comforting the crying boy. Eventually, he would tire himself out and fall asleep in their arms.
The members made it a point to openly show their love and support for him. Sunoo recognized it easily, in all of their warm smiles and careful ruffling of his tufts of hair not covered by his bandages. It made him feel warm and special inside of his chest, not used to receiving this much attention from his members. He felt truly loved; as if he was meant to be with his six best friends this way. He smiled with each moment shared with them; feeling as though he was truly loved.
Fin