Chapter Text
Hongjoong was exhausted.
They were close to the end of their comeback, and schedules were constantly packed, filled with photoshoots, dance practices, video filming ect. And on top of that, Hongjoong promised Eden to finish a new song by the end of the week, and he hadn’t even started. Recently he just hasn’t had any inspiration or motivation, and already hours were wasted with him just sitting in front the computer, staring mindlessly into the bright screen. A small part of his brain rationally told him the reason he couldn’t come up with anything good was because he has slept for less than four hours a day for a few weeks now. He decided to ignore that. So there he was, sitting in front of his computer, lips bitten raw and arms slightly shaking, three cups of finished coffee on the mess his desk was. His head was throbbing and his skin was burning, but he made a promise to finish the song and a little flu is not going to keep him from fulfilling it. His group depended on him — he was their Captain, and he had to stay strong.
The next few hours passed in a flourish. He managed to come up with a few beats and even wrote a short rap, however, his vision was becoming blurry and after promising himself he will wake up early tomorrow to continue on the song, he staggered to his bed, curled under the blankets, and fell asleep the second his head hit the pillow.
———
The morning sun shined through the window in the kitchen where Seonghwa was making breakfast while Mingi and Wooyoung were slumped on the chairs, eyes still half closed.
———
“Hongjoong. Joongie. Wake up,” Seonghwa softly murmured while he gently carded his fingers through the sleeping man’s hair.
Hongjoong groaned and burrowed himself deeper in the blankets to shield his eyes from the invading sun. He felt like shit, clothes sticking on his sweaty skin, yet he was still cold and even moving his finger felt like having to lift an elephant.
“Don’t wanna”
“I know love, but we’re gonna be late if you don’t.”
It took Hongjoong a few seconds to register what Seonghwa said and he shot up, hitting his head on the railing above with a harsh thud.
Seonghwa winced as he saw Hongjoong’s head bounce from the impact, “Aish, Joongie, you okay?”
Hongjoong nodded, though his ears were ringing and his head felt as though something was splitting it open, “Yeah, uh, what time it is?”
Seonghwa didn’t look convinced but let it slide,
“7:30 darling, we have to be at the building in half an hour.”
Oh, fuck.
He overslept, again. He only had two days left and the song was still not finished, if just he would take his work seriously one time and his body wouldn’t betray him like it always did.
“Well, Ill let you get ready, Ok,” Seonghwa gently squezed Hongjoong’s shoulder and made his way to the door, “come in the kitchen when you’re done okay, there’s breakfast waiting for you.”
Hingjoong slowly got out of bed and staggered to the bathroom, looking at the mirror, which told him he looks exactly the way he feels. Like shit. He quickly brushed his teeth to get rid of the awkward taste of vomit in his mouth and applied a bit of makeup to make himself look presentable and keep his members worry at bay for a while.
———
The car ride to practice was uneventful, with Mingi and Wooyoung having a heated discussion about a new bl which just dropped.
“Joongie, you okay?”
“I'm fine, Sangie, just a little headache, nothing a few painkillers can’t fix,” Hongjoong attempted to smile at Yeosang, who still seemed unconvinced, but fortunately let it slide.
Practice started out good, with Hongjoong thinking he could maybe overcome this hour with little to no difficulty, but of course, fate is a bitch, and after a couple of songs the headache returned and his feet started feeling like jelly. When their instructor finally allowed them a short break, he staggered to the wall and slumped to the floor, clutching the cold water battle in his hands like a lifeline, while trying to calm his racing heart. His vision was blurry, and breathing ragged, and he was quite sure that he will not survive another song.
“Hyung, Hyung. Hyung!”
After some effort his eyes managed to focus enough to decipher a worried Jongho crouching in front of him, and he managed to transform his mouth into something similar enough of a smile.
“Yeah baby bear, what are you shouting for?”
“Are you okay hyung, it took you quite a lot of time to figure out I was talking to you. You look kinda pale, your eyebags are horrible, and you’ve been dancing with way less energy than usual.”
“Jeez Jjongie, what a way to boost my morale,” Hongjoong laughed then immediately winced as his throat was itching horribly.
“Sorry Hyung, I’m just really worried,” said Jongho, concern evident in his eyes.
Hongjoong felt his eyes soften, and a smile ghosted his lips, “Don’t’ worry maknae, I’m fine. Now let’s go and join the others okay, it’s just a couple of minutes left.”
Jongho reluctantly nodded and Hongjoong gratefully took his outstretched hand to pull himself up, even though the motion made his head spin. Together they joined the others who were already in formation for the next song they are going to go through and the torture for Hongjoong’s exhausted and sick body started again.
As soon as the next song ended, Hongjoong excused himself and hurried to the bathroom, where he dropped next to the toiled and violently emptied his stomach into the bowl. Seonghwa, who had been worried for about a week now about Hongjoong’s deteriorating health, had decided to follow the sick member after he’d rushed out of the room. Entering the bathroom, Seonghwa slowly approached the only closed stall and quietly called for his lover.
“Honjoong, hey, you okay?”
Hongjoong startled a bit at the sudden sound piercing the silence, but quickly calmed down once he realized it was Seonghwa. Leaning back against the cold tiles on the wall of the stall he managed to get out a small “Fine” from his dry and chapped lips.
He doubted Seonghwa believed him and his suspicions were proven true when he opened the door and saw the pointed look on Seonghwa’s face.
“You don’t look fine, practice is over, we’re going home,” firmly said the elder, taking the others hand and starting to drag him back towards the practice room. Hongjoong, too exhausted to argue, just let himself be pulled into the practice room, half glad Seonghwa decided he needed to rest though the guilt of being the reason practice was cut short right when they needed it, was eating him alive. That was then quickly pushed to the side as immense pain started to pulse inside his head and his vision started getting blurry, his legs got weaker and weaker until by the time they reached the practice he was sure the only thing keeping him sanding was Seonghwa’s grip on his arm. While Hongjoong was experiencing his emotional and painful turmoil Seonghwa’s has already told the other that they are going to be heading home a bit sooner and they were already grabbing their stuff leaving Hongjoong standing in the middle of the room, until his vision blackened out and he could feel himself falling, distantly aware of someone screaming his name and multiple people running towards him as he hit the ground with a thud.