Chapter Text
The group had always believed Hyunjin to be awful at keeping secrets, too easily flustered and terribly guilty. However he'd been lying to their faces for years and so far none of them had caught on. What had started as a personal shame spiralled into an eventual survival instinct.
Hyunjin jolted awake to the blaring of his alarm. 7:12? How many times had he subconsciously snoozed his alarm? Groaning, he opened one of his plethora of messages.
Jisung: R u up?
Jisung: u haven't brought ur bag down
Jisung: hyunjinnie ? we leave in like 20 mins
Jisung: jin, get uppp
He let out a deep sigh, he didn't usually sleep in. Until now apparently.
Hyunjin: I'm up i'm up
won't be long
Hyunjin dragged himself out of bed. Something didn't feel right - the minor ache in his gums, a wrongness behind his eyes -, but he had no time to think about that right now.
After throwing on a pair of khaki shorts and a white tank, he lugged his bag downstairs, stopping to grab a thick white cardigan.
As expected, the others stares bore holes into his side as he clambered down the stairs. Noone looked too thrilled to see him behind on schedule already.
"Sorry! Sorry I slept in," Hyunjin muttered sheepishly.
"No time for apologies jinnie," Chan ushered them out the door, "We've gotta go!"
Once settled in the van, a wave of utter exhaustion hit Hyunjin in the face like a gust of wind. He had no excuse to be tired - he had slept the most out of all of them - yet he felt like a zombie.
Somewhere between getting in the van and being an hour into the ride, Minho had nudged his shoulder and handed him a coffee.
Truthfully he didn't remember receiving it, nevermind drinking it. The caffeine had done nothing to lessen the exhaustion engulfing his body. He had become increasingly more aware of the dull thudding in his head that was slowly worsening with every bump and jolt the van achieved.
The next thing he recalled was Changbin prodding him repeatedly to wake him. In the moment, he wanted nothing more then to curl up and sleep for the next 15 hours but work called. Sluggishly, he stood up, stretching his legs and entering the gas station with the others.
"Jinnie do you want a pastry?" Jeongin's cheerful voice rang out, too loud for his liking.
The thought of food alone was enough to make his stomach lurch 3 steps forward.
He shook his head rapidly, opting for a bottle of water and a flustered excuse of being full from the day prior.
The thought nagged his brain, was he hungry? What for?
The realisation dawned on him suddenly, catching him by surprise. He hadn't fed himself properly for days, foregoing his usual mealtimes for practice and performing. Now he was in this situation. The need hit like a warning and he shrunk in on himself.
Now was definitely not the time for a blood thirsty craving, they had 3 days of relentless filming ahead of them. He had to stay focused or all of his hard work would crumble down faster than he or Chan could do damage control. Three days, that's all he had to get through and then he could lock himself away in his room and replenish.
Once back in the van, Hyunjin curled into a blanket and succumbed to sleep almost immediately.
After a good 30 minutes of light snoring from Hyunjin's seat, Felix speaks up, hesitation laced in his voice, "Is it just me or is Hyunjin unusually sleepy today?"
"He probably just stayed up too late, you know how jinnie is," Seungmin muttered, "it would explain him sleeping in." The statement was passive, almost a dismissal and it made Felix's gut curl in apprehension.
"Maybe..I've just never seen him so tired and to turn down food? Not really a hyunjin move." Felix murmured.
Chan spoke up suddenly, "Travel days aren't easy on any of us pixie, he'll be okay once we're there."
The smile he gave was intended to be reassuring but came out more as a grimace towards the backseat.