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The day has finally arrived.
They had been practicing for the SMTOWN Concert for the past month or so and the pressure was running high. Especially Wonbin was staying up way past the dance practices to perfect his dance. He didn’t want to disappoint Briize and also not make a fool out of himself in front of their seniors.
The effects of this relentless schedule started showing three days before the actual concert. Wonbin felt how scratchy his throat felt and the way his nose started to clog up. He was sniffling every here and there, so it didn’t go unnoticed by the members.
“Wonbin, are you okay? You look quite exhausted and sound like you are sick?” Eunseok mentioned during their water break after 2 hours of dance practice.
“Oh… yeah, I’m fine. My nose is just a tiny bit runny because of allergies. Nothing to worry about.” he tried to give them a small smile to prove his point but it rather felt like a grimace.
“Right, being sick would come at the worst time now. I’m glad it is nothing serious.” Sungchan added.
“Yeah, exactly”
That was why Wonbin was determined to not show his cold to anyone. At least, he could try.
The following days were like a big blurry nightmare for Wonbin.
His head started hurting quite intensely after that dance practice. He took some medicine so that he could continue on with his day. It did help in the first couple of days, but unfortunately on the day of the concert, he forgot to bring the cold medicine. His limbs started to feel very heavy and a cough was rattling through his fragile body. He was constantly cold and yet there was sweat forming on his forehead every so often.
He hoped - no, prayed - that his body would be able to carry him through these concert days without causing his other members to worry.
Oh, how wrong he was. He started to feel the effects of this delusion way too quickly for his liking. It started off while they were on stage for the sound-check. His head felt like it was stuffed with cotton, making him momentarily confused.
He was currently at that part of Talk Saxy where he was squatting on the ground. The problem was that he didn’t get up in time, which caused Shotaro to crash into him from behind, making them both fall.
While Shotaro was already sitting up, Wonbin was still lying on the ground.
The music turned off immediately and the members came rushing towards them. Shotaro was tapping Wonbin’s cheeks because the younger had his eyes closed. After what felt like minutes, he finally opened his eyes and was met by five pairs of eyes looking worriedly at him.
He saw them talking, but nothing came through. He was so tired and didn’t want to get up.
Wait, this didn’t look like his bedroom at all.
“Where am I? What happened?” he whispered barely audible.
All conversation died down immediately.
“What was that?” Shotaro asked worriedly while he bent down to hear him more clearly.
“W-Where am I? Wh…at ha…ppe…ned?” he repeated tiredly in a whisper.
“We are currently on stage practicing Talk Saxy for the concert and we somehow collided together” Shotaro explained “Did you hit your head? How are you d- hey Wonbin, keep your eyes open!”
Oh, the concert. He totally forgot about that for a moment. This cold definitely has taken its toll on his exhausted body.
Hopefully this will be over soon.
After what felt like hours, they finally convinced Wonbin to sit out the rehearsal, so he could rest. He didn’t hit his head or hurt himself during the fall. They still wanted to make sure he didn’t overdo it. Health comes first, although their entertainment company thinks otherwise. If all the members don’t stick together and help each other, then no one will. They are family and thankfully they were able to convince their managers to let Wonbin sit out for now. It wasn’t ideal - they would rather take him home to rest properly - but management doesn’t allow it.
Thankfully by the time the concert came around, Wonbin seemed a bit more lively and not ready to faint - but maybe that was the amazing work of their make-up artists that concealed even the worst eye-bags one could ever think of.
“Hey, how are you holding up?” Eunseok gently asks Wonbin.
“For now, I feel okay. I was able to rest for a bit thanks to you guys. I will rest more after the concert is done. I think that I caught a nasty cold a few days ago.” Wonbin was too tired to lie.
“We are on in five minutes, guys. Let’s go” Shotaro called out to them.
Together, they made their way towards the stage - hoping that everything would turn out well.
The adrenaline rushing through their veins was insane when they saw the sheer amount of people in front of them.
Just as they got into position, Talk Saxy started playing and they immediately started performing.
It was crazy how the cheers of the fans gave them so much power. They were feeding off each other’s energy and everyone was having fun. Slowly Talk Saxy was ending and it was transitioning into Siren.
Thankfully they made it through Siren without a hitch and as they were starting to leave the stage, Shotaro felt someone putting their arm around his waist.
He smiled when he saw Wonbin grinning at him.
That smile quickly fell when he noticed how the younger was drenched in sweat and very pale. Wonbin was also starting to rely on Shotaro way too much for walking.
Shotaro started speeding up while trying to keep smiling for the fans.
Of course, this didn’t go unnoticed by the members.
They also got off the stage quickly and were searching for Shotaro when they saw how Wonbin collapsed in Shotaro’s arms.
“Quick, let’s get him to our dressing room. Put him on my back.” Eunseok told Shotaro.
With the help of the others, they got Wonbin on Eunseok’s back and went to their dressing room - their managers right behind them.
“He seems quite out of it, guys” Sungchan concluded.
“We are very aware, thank you very much” Eunseok replied nervously “I’m sorry, I am just worried about him. He seemed so distant the past couple of days. I should’ve checked in with him when I first noticed the symptoms. Now, he is lying here, unconscious and we have to wait for this concert to be over with, so we can take him back to the hotel and let him rest properly.”
“You are not at fault, Eunseok. Nobody is - not even Wonbin. You know how he is - he works relentlessly and doesn’t stop that easily. Let’s just nurse him back to health properly when we get back to Seoul. There is only so much we can do here.” Shotaro explained.
A whimper brought their attention to their sick member on the couch.
“What happened?" he whispered.
“You fainted. Don’t worry though, the medic said that you don’t need a hospital. If it gets worse though, we should immediately get you help. Once we are back in Seoul, you will not leave your bed until you’re healthy again. And never do that again please. You scared all of us quite intensely” Sohee supplied.
All of a sudden, they heard a sob and it was coming from none other than Wonbin himself.
“I’m so sorry, guys. I didn’t mean to scare you. I thought I could handle this cold by myself. Turns out it hit me harder than expected. But what about tomorrow’s performances?”
“We still have to talk with the managers about that, but I would honestly feel better if you would stay at the hotel to rest.” Shotaro answered “I could imagine that they would make you perform tomorrow as well, because it would look weird if you were all fine today and couldn’t attend tomorrow all of a sudden.”
“Let that be a problem for tomorrow. Rest for now. You did good out there. We are all very proud of you, Wonbin.” Eunseok gently patted his head - indicating he should take a nap now.
With that reassurance, Wonbin started to fall asleep.
It took him another week to fully get better and a month to be completely healthy.
With his members’ unconditional support and care, he could rest assured.
He loves these boys so much.