Work Text:
Lino, a deep sleeper, woke up at 2 AM, which was strange. He tried to fall back asleep but faked sleeping for about 9 minutes until he heard faint crying from another room. He couldn’t tell who it was; it couldn’t be Chan, who had passed out on the couch from working. Jisung and Changbin were also asleep, and Felix and Jeongin were watching a movie for their usual “Friday movie nights,” which were quite “manitory.” So, he was left with… Seungmin?
Lino quietly got out of bed and went to Seungmin’s room. He found Seungmin sitting on the floor, on the edge of his bed, crying and hyperventilating.
“Seungmin?!” Lino quickly sat in front of him, trying to calm him down or at least stop him from hyperventilating.
Seungmin didn’t respond. It was as if he was clinging to a thread or he was a piece of ice that had finally cracked, and there was nothing stopping him from crying at that moment.
Lino quickly thought of the person closest to Seungmin and remembered Jeongin and Changbin. But Jeongin had finally fallen asleep after watching movies, so Lino went with Changbin.
Lino rushed to Changbin’s room and called out, “Changbin! Changbin! Get up! Now!”
Changbin was barely awake and asked, “Hmm? Lino-hyung? What is it?”
“It’s Seungmin! Please hurry up and help me.” Lino got Changbin out of bed and urged him to hurry to Seungmin.
“Oh… My gosh, Seungmin, calm down!” Changbin rushed over to him and held his arms so that Seungmin wouldn’t pull his hair.
Changbin gently but firmly held Seungmin’s arms, keeping him from hurting himself, and spoke in a soft but steady voice.
“Hey, hey, Seungmin, look at me. It’s okay. I’m here,” he said, leaning close so Seungmin could focus on his voice. “Breathe with me, okay? In… and out. Nice and slow.”
Seungmin’s breaths were shaky, catching on the way out, but Changbin kept motioning with his hands inhale, exhale. Lino knelt beside them, his own hand tentatively rubbing Seungmin’s shoulder, murmuring reassuring words.
“That’s it… just like that,” Changbin encouraged, nodding with each little improvement. “You’re not alone, Minnie. Whatever’s scaring you, we can handle it together.”
Slowly, Seungmin’s hyperventilating began to ease. His hands trembled, and he let out a choked sob, leaning slightly into Changbin’s grip. Lino retrieved a glass of water from the nightstand and carefully offered it, while Changbin kept up the soft rhythm of his voice, grounding him in the moment.
“You’re doing so well,” he said. “Just keep breathing. We’ve got you.”
That next morning, Changbin and Lino only informed Chan about what happened that night. They attempted to talk with Seungmin about his behavior the previous night over the next few days, but his responses consistently changed (he was evidently concocting a new lie each day), as if he were concealing something.
3RACHA have been going through old demos for their new album, and one day they needed to record everyone's lines.
First up Felix
He did great
Jeongin?
Few english slip ups but did amazing
Everyone in 3RACHA?
Did well!
Hyunjin
Made the microphone smell weird but he sounded amazing
Lee know
He did wonderful!
Seungmin?
He was struggling to sing that day.. He tried his best, but his vocals weren't coming out right, so after a while, he took a break for lunch and decided to try again later.
"Hey guys... Are you busy? We need to talk," asked Lee, known to 3RACHA.
"Oh, yeah. We're not that busy. What's up?" - Chan
"Well, uh, I'm sure you already know. Not sure if Han-ah does, but basically, he had some sort of panic or anxiety attack a couple of nights ago, and he's been lying about it and acting weird since then. I'm getting more concerned by the day." - Lino
"Should we tell staff?" - Han
"Maybe they could get him on a break?" - Changbin
"Let's try to talk with him first." - Chan
They packed their stuff and headed down to where Seungmin always ate his lunch every day.
"Seungmo~ we're going to sit here with you." - Lino
"Oh, let me move so y'all have room."
Seungmin shifts so they have room to sit.
"Hey Seungmin, can we talk about something?"
"It's about the other night, isn't it? I told you I'm fine I just had a bad day that day!" Seungmin said with anger and annoyance in his tone.
Then he grabs his food and storms out the JYP ent cafeteria.
"Wait seungmin-" Minho said but seungmin already stormed out not wanting to talk