Chapter Text
Stray Kids were very excited for their upcoming trip to say the least. They haven’t had any vacation for a long time, so this trip was supposed to help them relax and prepare for the upcoming comeback and tour. They decided that they wanted to spend time together so they chose Jeju as their trip location and planned the whole trip ahead.
Since it was their long-awaited vacation, they also dismissed the managers so both sides could rest well. With the group only having 3 drivers, Lee Know and Changbin were selected to be on driving duty: they simply wanted to allow Bang Chan to rest more since he was busy not only with schedule and producing, but also with looking after his group members as a leader. So they went with 2 groups of four: Changbin had a team of remaining 2racha and Hyunjin and Lee Know was driving the maknae-line.
However, what was definitely not part of the initial plan is Changbin getting chills the day before their departure. He was working on producing songs with 3racha when he started to shiver a little bit but wrote it off on the blasting AC. He also noticed that both Han and Bang Chan were dressed warmer than him so no wonder he felt a bit chilly. Nonetheless, he decided to get to bed a bit earlier as a precaution. Other members didn’t think much of it since they just thought he needed a bit more sleep before the long drive which was not exactly the wrong thing to assume.
According to their pre-planned schedule, they were supposed to wake up at 7 and depart at 9 so they would have a decent amount of sleep before the long trip. The next morning however came earlier than expected… At least that was the case for Changbin who woke up at 4 am.
Changbin slowly opened his eyes and blinked twice trying to focus on his watch to read the time. He noticed that he still had 3 hours till the alarm, but that was not the only thing he discovered. He was also feeling chilly despite the thick blanket on him, and his head was pounding. He tried to shake it off and go back to sleep but half an hour later he understood that it was an impossible task. So he decided to get some painkillers for his headache and maybe warm tea for his chills.
Despite having a massive muscular figure, Changbin was surprisingly quiet when he needed to be. He managed to successfully fulfil his kitchen mission without waking anyone up and got back to sleep.
***
Around 7 am the members started to gather up around the couch.
They lived in 2 dorms but all agreed that it would be better to get to 3racha+Hyunjin dorm so they could eat breakfast and do last checks before the trip together. Lee Know was already preparing breakfast for everyone when Changbin finally managed to get out of his bed to meet up with others.
He was extremely grateful that he didn’t have to help much: he definitely didn’t have enough energy for anything. Usually the good night's sleep was enough to replenish the exhausted resources but that was definitely not the usual day. Apart from that he started to realise that his chills were the first sign of coming down with a cold. The headache subsided a bit thanks to the painkillers but he also started to feel the tickles in his throat. Luckily for him, today’s breakfast consisted of omelette and pudding which were both easy to swallow and shouldn’t irritate his throat even more.
Being the man of principles he is, he decided that he will keep silent about his cold. He didn’t want to spoil the fun of the vacation and also thought that his symptoms weren’t serious enough to make others worry for nothing. He might have considered asking Bang Chan to drive, but seeing the leader still being spent from all their activities he decided against it. It wasn’t that strenuous of a task. And he wasn’t that sick anyway.
***
The drive started smoother than expected. Most members were either still half-asleep or excited for their fun, so there was nothing to worry about. Bang Chan unsurprisingly was out like a light, so Han and Hyunjin decided to keep it down to let him sleep and Changbin was grateful for the fact he didn’t have to engage in any conversation. Lee Know’s team wasn’t much different: maknaes didn’t fully wake up yet so they didn’t annoy their hyung too much.
Two hours in, Changbin started regretting his role as a driver. Of course, he didn’t have many options, but his headache returned and the throat was even more scratchy now. He tried drinking a bit of water to soothe his throat but it didn’t help much. At this point Han and Hyunjin decided to take a nap since there were still 6 more hours to go and they didn’t have much to do. Soon enough, Bang Chan finally woke up looking a lot more rested. He was glad to have a chance to sleep but the gut feeling was telling him: something is wrong. Even not completely understanding the issue, he already knew it was concerning one of his members because his leader's gut was always right.
His trail of thoughts was interrupted by Changbin: ‘Slept well, Sleeping Beauty?’ he said cheesily. He sounded a bit hoarse but that didn’t alarm the leader since Changbin had a husky voice to begin with. However he did notice his dongsaeng looking quite tired, wondering whether it was because of the driving. ‘Actually I slept better than in months, thanks. Appreciate it. By the way, Changbin… Should we switch? You look quite tired yourself, you could use some extra hours of sleep for sure.’ Bang Chan tried to not sound worried, suggesting that. ‘Nah, I think I’ll manage. Everyone is mostly asleep anyway, so it’s quiet. You should use this time to rest more. If you want to help tho – you can offer your services to Minho hyung, he was dancing till late yesterday so might still be tired.’
Changbin was surprised that he managed to say this much without coughing cause his throat felt dry as a desert. He honestly wanted to accept Chan’s help, but didn’t want to alert the leader about his sickness. He did his best to cover up all the symptoms: his pale face was covered by the ball cap and he didn’t have to speak a lot so his throat was only mildly irritated.
***
They had a short stop at the gas station to get to the restrooms and buy more snacks for the trip. Han and Felix started to feel a bit nauseous from the long trip so they stepped out of the cars to have some fresh air and bought some chips to alleviate the nausea. Seungmin and Jeongin in comparison had too much energy and were playing around enjoying the break. Hyunjin was quietly sketching the surrounding scenery and Lee Know was discussing something with Chan. Changbin took this moment to rest his eyes a bit and closed his eyes, trying to ease his pounding headache a bit.
‘Did Changbin seem off this morning?’ Bang Chan asked the second eldest. The whole idea of switching with Lee Know sounded way too forced for him, especially from Bin, who usually would accept such an offer.
‘Hm… he was pretty quiet the whole time, but probably just needed more sleep. Why?’ That made Minho think whether he should have paid more attention to the rapper, as he might have missed something.
‘No particular reason. Well, to be honest, he seemed quite tired to me so I offered to switch and drive, but he refused it and said I should suggest it to you instead.’
Minho’s expression tensed.’That does sound forced coming from Changbin. I see where your worry is coming from. However, if he’s not feeling his best, he might not want to be cornered like this. Let’s take up on his offer and I’ll keep an eye on him during the remaining hours of our drive. How does that sound?’
‘That’s actually a good idea.’ Chan agreed, thinking that Minho might be cold at times, but he still had a soft spot for Changbin, being such a considerate hyung he is.
So they decided to go with their plan, trying not to pressure the rapper too much. He probably just didn’t want to worry anyone even if he was coming down with something.
***
Coming back to the car with Minho Bang Chan found out that his concerns were not ungrounded. Changbin was napping in the driver’s seat looking exhausted. Maybe he should have insisted on the switch after all, Chan thought but he knew all too well that Changbin was a man of principles and wouldn’t just accept help if he was indeed unwell. So far he didn’t see any signs of Changbin being actually sick, so maybe he was worrying over nothing and his friend was just overly tired. That would be ideal, but his gut feeling was never wrong so he trusted it and trusted Minho to keep an eye on Changbin. The dancer was very protective of Bin, so he would surely take good care of him.
Minho only needed one glance to confirm Chan’s suspicions. He knew that look on the rapper's face and that surely didn’t look like simple exhaustion. Changbin was sick and tried to hide that fact from the rest. He couldn’t help but feel sorry for his dongsaeng: he might miss all the fun they planned for this vacation. At the same time, he knew all too well that he’d do the same.
30 minutes later they were on their way again. Lee Know switched with Bang Chan, now sitting near Changbin and eyeing the rapper. Others were a bit confused at this change, but Lee Know lied that he was sore from the training so wanted to chill a bit more. That seemed to be enough of an explanation so they continued their ride in rearranged groups. Changbin didn’t even pay too much attention to the new car mate as he was starting to feel a bit feverish and was focusing solely on the ride.
***
The rest of the ride passed in a glimpse. Changbin was driving on autopilot and to his own amazement no one complained about his driving skills. Little did he know about his friends constantly eyeing him and starting to worry when he didn’t react to their usual jokes and just drove silently. Jisung whispered to Hyunjin that their hyung didn’t seem like himself and something might be wrong with him, but Hyunjin said that it’s better to discuss this with Chan and Minho hyungs when they arrive instead of jumping to conclusions.
Jisung was getting restless so, not getting any plausible reaction from Hyunjin, he texted Minho instead: ‘Hey hyung, did you notice anything wrong with Changbin today? You’re sitting next to him so you might know more than us in the back seat’.
‘You’re actually the second one asking that question’. Minho chuckled inaudibly. It was actually quite amusing that 3racha noticed Changbin being unwell despite all his efforts to conceal it. Not wanting to lie to his beloved quokka, he replied: ‘Our dwaekki seems to be coming down with something, possibly a cold. He tries his best to hide it from everyone, but Chan also noticed his weird behaviour. Don’t think that Bin would be happy with us cornering him, so let’s just observe how it goes and subtly take care of him until he finally admits.’ ‘OK. Thank you for being honest by the way. I’d be even more restless if you’d lie about it’. ‘Hannie, you know quite well I wouldn’t lie to you, so don’t worry. We’ll take care of our dwaekki no matter what it will take’. Jisung was satisfied with this reply and quietly shared it with Hyunjin.