Chapter Text
Hyunjin woke up and immediately regretted it. His ribs felt like they were being crushed by a corset laced far too tightly and the bones in his legs felt like they were filled with termites.
It was another bad pain day.
Lately it seemed like he was having more and more of them, making it even harder to hide his weakness from the others.
His thoughts were cut off by a knock at the door and a bright, sunny voice calling from the other side of it.
“Hyun? Are you up yet?”
Even after all these years, it still amazed him that someone could be as bright and chipper as Felix always seemed to be. Usually he found it endearing, but when he was struggling to breath with the pressure on his ribs, it felt like salt in the wound as he struggled to even get out of bed.
Maybe if I just stay quiet then he’ll just go away and I can go back to sleep, he thought to himself. Maybe they’ll forget about me and go to practice without me.
No sooner had he had the thought then guilt quashed over him. They had a comeback coming up and here he was slacking.
“I’ll be out in a minute,” he forced himself to call.
He could hear the way Changbin hesitated for a moment before he turned and walked down the hall. Hyunjin grimaced to himself.He needed to get up and fast. There was no way around it now, but his body still felt far too heavy to move.
He didn’t have time for this. He needed to get his shit together before someone came back to check on him. With that thought in mind, he shoved himself from the bed, ignoring the way the termites eating the bones of his feet seemed to double their efforts.
He’d worked through fatigue before. He had worked through pain before. This wouldn’t be any different.
He wouldn’t let it be any different.
Hyunjin picked out his closest sweat pants and softest sweater, unable to bare much else against his skin before trudging from the room. The second he slumped down at the table, Changbin frowned at him. “Are you feeling alright, Jinnie?”
He put on his most convincing half smile. “Tired,” was all he said.
He perked up ."Do you want me to grab you an energy drink?”
“Yes please,” he groaned.
One in the morning, one at lunch, and one with dinner should be enough to power through, but Hyunjin would pack a few others just to play it safe. He would just have to keep the others from seeing. The last thing he needed was a lecture on caffeine consumption.
The last time that happened, they started paying too much attention to him for Hyunjin’s comfort. By the time they made it to the studio, he was feeling half way to normal.
But then it was time to start warming up.
Hyunjin took a deep breath, doing his best to keep the pain off his face as he wrecked his usually limber body through the familiar stretch, and hoped no one would notice he wasn’t doing as much as he usually would.
When they had a water break, he shouldn’t have been surprised when Minho approached him. The fact that he was caught off guard was a testament to just how bad he was feeling.
The termites in his bones must have eaten half way through his femur by that point.
“What’s going on with you?” Minho demanded, blunt and to the point as always. “You seem off today.”
“I’m fine,” he dismissed, crossing his arms, but Minho didn’t seem to be buying it.
“If that were true, you wouldn’t have missed so many steps.”
“So I can’t just have an off day?”
“I’ve seen your off days. This isn't it. To me it seems more like you’re trying to hide an injury.”
Hyunjin almost wanted to laugh. Things would be so much easier if it were just an injury. Sure it would suck to be laid up for a couple of weeks but he would still have a career at the end of it. “No, I know better than to judge an annuity from you guys.”
“If it isn’t an injury, then what are you hiding? And don’t tell me nothing, because we both know that’s a lie. Are you looking at negative comments online again?”
“No! I- look, everything’s fine. Can you just drop it?”
“I can’t do that unless I know you’re actually going to be ookay/.”
“Let’s just go back, I promise I won't mess up as much.”
“I don’t care that you made some mistakes! I’m worried about you,” he balked.
“Well, don’t be. I’m fine.”
“Even if you won’t tell me now, you’ll have to tell us eventually. I won’t be the only one who noticed.”
Chan.
Even if by some miracle he hadn’t noticed on his own, there was no doubt Minho would go straight to him when they were done talking. His only hope was to tell Minho enough to make him drop it without giving too much away.
“I’m a bit achy. I think I might be coming down with a cold but it’ s nothing,” he tried.
Minho frowned. “It's not nothing. You need to take care of yourself. Maybe you should just go home for the day.”
He shook his head. “I can’t slack off with our comeback so close.”
“It isn’t slacking off. It’s doing what you need to to look after yourself.Think about how much worse this would be if you’re still sick when the promo period starts.
Hyunjin winced at the very thought. He knew he should take Minho up on his offer. The only problem was there was no guarantee rest would make a difference.
“Let me rephrase that,” MInho cut him off before he could try to argue. “Who do you want to take back to the dorms to look after you?”
Hyunjin paled. “There’s no need for that. I can go back on my own.”
“Either you pick someone or I’ll ask Chan to go back with you. Then he frowned. “Actrully on second thought, I’m sending Chan with you because he needs to take a break anyways.”
“And because you want him to keep an eye on me.”
“No reason I can’t kill two birds with one stone.”
“Minho,” he whined. “You can’t do this to me.”
“Do what?” Chan stepped out as if summoned. “Is everything okay?”
“Hyunjin is getting sick and still thought pushing through practice was a good idea. I was hoping you could take him back to the dorms and look after him.”
“You don’t need to do that,” Hyunjin cut in. “i’ll be able to get back just fine on my own. Really.”
“I don’t trust him to actually go home and rest,” Minho said flatly.
Chan grimaced. “No, I guess that’s a good point. Let me go tell the others then we can go.”
At that point, Hyunjin knew there was nothing he could say or do to avoid his fate
Chan returned a few minutes later, turning to him with a soft smile and a gentle voice. “Come on, Jinnie, let's get you home.”
Hyunjin was helpless to do anything but let the leader guide him from the building. In the car he turned to Chan with a sigh.
“I’m sorry to make you go home early. I know you’re busy.”
“Don’t be. I think Minho had been looking for an excuse to send me a way for a while now.” he chuckled. “But, seriously, how are you feeling?”
He shrugged. “I’ve worked through worse.”
He frowned. “I hope you realize that isn’t an answer and is a bit concerning.”
“I mean, it’s nothing really. We all push ourselves sometimes, right?”
Chan looked like he was about to argue, but Hyunjin cut him off.
"Don't worry. I’m already home now. I’ll rest and take it easy.”
The leader frowned, studying him for a moment before he nodded, frown still on his face.
Hyunjin spent the rest of the day resting