Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Hi everyone! Welcome to the fic! I like writing whump so if you have any requests please comment. I'm open to ships between members but I won't be writing sm*t. However I'm not comfortable doing fics with idols/readers or OCs. I'll do idol interaction fics cause there aren't enough crossover fics! PLEASE POST ANY REQUESTS YOU HAVE ON THE COMMENTS IN THIS CHAPTER! IT'LL MAKE IT SO MUCH EASIER FOR ME TO FIND AND WRITE IT!

Please enjoy!

Chapter Text

Practice had been tough and TXT was exhausted. Their day had started at 6:00 in the morning when they got up to get ready for an interview about their new song 'Blue Hour'. The interview had gone longer than expected and the five boys had to rush to their next event, a photo shoot for new PCs. By the time that was through they were already late to dance practice. And so, without a break for lunch, TXT went over their choreography again and again until 6 pm when the unbelievable occurred.

"Pass me my water" moaned Kai from the practice room floor, chest heaving from exertion. Beomgyu grunted in reply and rolled the maknae's water bottle across the ground from where he was slumped against the wall. "Thanks" murmured Kai gratefully propping himself up on one elbow to drink greedily. "Where's my water bottle?" asked Soobin peering around the room through his sweat soaked bangs, "Right there hyung, under your bag." replied Taehyun glancing up from his phone where he was checking Weverse. "Ah right, I remember now." Soobin walked over to the wall that all their bags were leaned up against and smiling triumphantly when he spotted the missing water bottle. "Yeonjun-hyung take a break, you've been dancing the most and you're already the best at the choreo" Taehyun said worriedly, watching the oldest exhaust himself. Yeonjun waved off his comment and, watching himself in the floor length mirrors as he went through their dance once more.

A knock suddenly sounded at the door and all five men looked up, surprised at the disturbance. "Who is that?" wondered Soobin aloud as he went to open the door, "Maybe it's BTS hyungs?" questioned Kai sitting up from his spot on the floor. After many interactions in between the two groups under BigHit had grown closer and even exchanged numbers to the joy of TXT. "Hello?" Soobin opened the door and the others all got to their feet in case it was their hyungs. Six men all dressed in black stood there with masks and cameras, "TXT?" asked the one in the front. "Yes?" Soobin replied confused. "We're here to film a quick prank video for your fans." the camera man explained. "Oh. We were unaware that we were filming today...." Soobin said hesitantly glancing over his shoulder at his sweaty, sticky group members. "Ah really?" the mans eyebrows drew together and he continued, "Perhaps your manager didn't tell you so that you would be surprised and act more natural for the camera?" "Maybe..." Soobin trailed off, a weird feeling in his stomach which he quickly dismissed as hunger. "Well then please come in and tell us what you need us to do." the leader said graciously.

TXT were standing in a line in front of the camera men awaiting instructions as the men set up. "This is a prank video where we will pretend to kidnap you and take you to a park where you will complete a few missions for the fans." explained the man who seemed in charge. TXT nodded in agreement but were all a little put off by the odd concept. "How do you want us to act?" Beomgyu asked. "We are going to tie you up and you are going to act petrified and frozen in fear." Again TXT nodded their agreement and the men began to move towards them with zipties. "Aren't you going to turn on the cameras?" Taehyun asked as one of the men tightened the plastic band around his wrists. He was ignored and Yeonjun scooted backwards as one of the other men came towards him with a zip tie. "I don't think the cameras are on" he said tersely, "Stay still, this is part of the video." the man answered gruffly. "Why aren't the cameras rolling then?" asked Kai frightened as he tugged on the ties on his wrist.

"What are you doing?!" Soobin yelled as the man who Yeonjun had been moving away from sprung forward and grabbing the idol roughly around the wrist yanked him forward. "Hey!!" cried the eldest member as the man shoved his wrists together and with a hard tug tightened the plastic ties around Yeonjun's wrists. By now the others had realized something was seriously wrong. The only member not tied up was Soobin and he was scrambling frantically with his cell phone, trying to call either 119 or their manager. "Get him" instructed the man who had greeted them at the door. Soobin dodged the men the best he could but two of them soon had him pinned to the ground, arm twisted behind him painfully. "Hyung!" yelled Taehyun trying to run to help but being yanked back by the man guarding him. "Stay still or your leader will get a broken arm" snarled the man who was clearly in charge of this whole mess.

The four other boys froze in horror as the man holding Soobin down twisted his arm further eliciting a cry of pain from their bunny leader. Soobin was jerked to his feet and zip tied just like the others. "Here's what's going to happen." the man in charge stated. "You all are going to follow me down to the back parking lot with out making any noise or attracting attention or...." he trailed of lifting the hem of his t-shirt to revel the top of a gun. TXT were frozen in terror, "why?" whispered Beomgyu huddling closer to Kai in a desperate attempt to reassure the shaking maknae. The man glared at the idol with pure hatred in his gaze, a hatred that had the young man flinching backwards. "You stole my girlfriend" he growled in reply. "What?" Taehyun asked shocked. "My girlfriend has been stanning you since your debut and everyday she grows less satisfied with me and more addicted to you." the man said voice tense and angry. "I'm sure she loves you-" Soobin begun but the man spun to face him, "Did I say you could talk?!" Soobin snapped his mouth shut and hunched his shoulders to appear smaller.

The man whos girlfriend's love for TXT has caused this event turned to the men with him, "Lets get them to the vans." he said. The idols were arranged in a line with Soobin at the back, the leader of the kidnapping had his gun pointed through his pocket directly towards Soobin's back so the other members would cooperate. The other men had their cameras up to make it seem like a show to anyone they passed. The members were barely able to stand and were a deathly pale. "Go ahead" the evil man said and Taehyun, who lead the little caravan of terror was pushed through the door. They remained silent and terrified passing only a few staff members on the way who barely sent them a second glance. Yeonjun was going to pass out, his best friend and their leader was being held at gunpoint while the rest of his group were being lead to their certain death at the hands of a jealous, insane man. Beomgyu stumbled ahead of him and the oldest murmured encouragements to the panicking 'middle child'. The last thing they needed was for the kidnappers to get angry.

"Hey!" a familiar voice called from the hallway in front of them. TXT looked up and nearly sobbed in relief. Their BTS hyungs stood there beaming at their juniors. "Hello!" TXT smiled and bowed shakily trying to act normally. "Did we interrupt a video?" asked Namjoon guiltily glancing at the cameras. "Oh, um, y-yeah but that's okay we w-were just doing a r-run through." Soobin smiled weakly and BTS frowned at the young leaders skin color. "Are you feeling alright?" Jin asked motherly instincts surfacing. Soobin nodded vigorously, "Just not, uh actually it's..makeup! Makeup to make us look more scared." he lifted his tied wrists and shook them with a smile. "You guys are good actors...." Yoongi hummed impressed. The younger men gave bows and mumbled thanks. "We, uh better g-get going" Soobin said flashing another unconvincing bunny smile dimples showing. BTS nodded and stood aside to let their dosaengs by, confused at the terror in the younger boys eyes.

As the little caravan disappeared down the hall Jungkook turned to his hyungs, "That was weird...the cameras weren't even on." Jimin nodded in agreement, "And either they're really good actors or they were actually scared." Namjoon whipped out his phone and hurriedly scrolling through his contacts found TXT's managers number. "Let's follow them" he instructed as the phone began to ring. Tae was first, nearly running down the hall, very worried for his dosaengs. "Hello?" the manager answered the phone, "Hello Manager-nim this is Namjoon from BTS-" "Oh! Hello what can I help you with?" the man on the other end of the line sounded flustered. "I was just wondering if TXT were scheduled to shoot any videos today" "No...just the interview this morning and a photo shoot." replied the manager a little confused with the question. Namjoon looked over at Hoseok frantically, "Call the police! Tell them there's an attempting kidnapping going on at BigHit." "WHAT!?" TXT's manager yelled through the phone. "We just saw the boys pass us zip tied and looking scared while being filmed by men who's cameras weren't even on." Namjoon explained.

Hoseok had already made the call to the police asking them to come as quickly as possible and BTS were now going at a full on sprint trying to catch up to their Juniors and their kidnappers. "Did you see TXT go by?" asked Jin frantically to a confused staff member. "Yes I-" "Thank you!" shouted the idol before sprinting off, the others following him. After asking staff members if they saw TXT BTS finally got to the exit for the back parking lot. They crashed through the door and across the parking lot the kidnappers and TXT spun around.

Taehyun was going to cry in relief, their hyungs had realized something was wrong and were going to save them! "Their in the parking lot behind BigHit!" Hoseok yelled into his phone, "Please hurry!" he cried desperately. BTS were now standing 10 feet away from the kidnappers and TXT who were all sobbing in fear and relief. Jungkook started forward ready to fight for his dosaengs but Yeonjun screamed, "No! Stay back!" Jungkook froze confused, "They have a gun!" Taehyun explained voice choked with sobs, "They'll kill Soobinnie-hyung!" BTS were all still and horrified as the man closest to Soobin pulled a gun out of his jacket pocket and trained it towards the bunny leaders back. Soobin was shaking like a leaf but no tears fell down his cheeks and he gave a shaky smile at his members and hyungs. The idols and the kidnappers could hear police sirens in the distance and the man with the gun yelled at his crew to load the members into the van. The other kidnappers hesitated as Namjoon cried out, "Don't listen to him, the police are almost here and you don't want to be charged for kidnapping!" "Don't listen to him!" screeched the leader brandishing his gun.

Soobin flinched as it swung dangerously close to his head. The sirens grew loader and the other kidnappers were frozen in indecision. "NOW!!" the man screamed frantically. The gun was cocked and with a puff of gunpowder the loud crack of a gun shot exploded into the air. Utter chaos reigned. TXT threw themselves onto the cement, Soobin lay still on the ground and the other men involved in the kidnapping sprinted away as fast as they could as the police burst into the parking lot leaving only one kidnapper and the man in charge behind. BTS leapt forward and each grabbed a TXT member dragging them to safety as the police surrounded the mad man. The TXT members were hysterical, screaming Soobin's name as their leader lay limp in Jin's arms. "It's okay, it's okay!" yelled Jin, "He wasn't shot, he just collapsed!" the younger idols calmed down a little but were still all very shaken and couldn't stop sobbing, huddling into their respective savior.

"Shh shh" soothed Jimin as Beomgyu wailed into his shirt, body shaking and breath coming out in pants. Namjoon cradled Yeonjun in his arms as the oldest of TXT struggled to catch his breath, eyes blown open and fingernails digging into his palms. Jungkook and Tae attempted to calm Kai as the maknae clutched their hands in death grips tears streaming down his cheeks as he hiccuped. Hoseok and Yoongi sat with Taehyun who rocked back and forth, teeth digging into his bottom lip as tears slid silently down his pale cheeks. Jin ran his hand through the unconscious boy's hair, tears falling down his own cheeks as he observed their terrified juniors. "I'm never letting them out of my site." he announced loudly roughly wiping his cheeks dry. The other BTS members nodded in agreement, "WE are never letting them out of our site." Namjoon corrected.

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Can you please do a seventeen fic where Vernon has an accident on stage while performing.

Using this request I'm going to write a fic about when Vernon hurt his leg during the June 29th 2018 concert and what happened after behind stage, etc.

It was their last stage, the concert had gone incredibly well so far. No one had made any mistakes, their Carats were screaming and chanting, obviously enjoying Seventeen's performance. Then why did everything have to go wrong? Vernon moved in sync with his members, a fierce grin on his face as his members once again went through another song flawlessly and full of passion. There was no warning when it happened, just a sharp stab of pain in his ankle as his left foot slipped and he staggered slightly to regain his balance. The pain was sharp as he schooled his face into a blank slate and continued to dance relying on muscle memory as his head grew clouded with pain.

Scoups could clearly see something was wrong with their American HipHop member. He was favoring his left leg and when they moved into another transition his face clenched in discomfort. Before Scoups could worry more he was distracted by DK and Hoshi fooling around a little with their choreo, instead of giving off the sexy aura of the song they were shooting finger hearts at the Carats who cheered and chanted the fan chant, light sticks waving frantically. Scoups couldn't keep the fond smile off his face at the funny actions of his group members and the love he felt from the Carats. 'He was so lucky to have fans like theirs,' he thought proudly as the idol group stuck their last move. The screams from the audience grew in volume as the members waved and yelled greetings into their mics.

"CARAAAAAAATS!!!" yelled Seungkwan, "SARANGHAEEEE!" the other members laughed and cheered at his obvious excitement. It was always exhilarating to have completed a performance well. To feel the love from the fans and despite being sad that their stage here was coming to a close they all felt that warm feeling of gratification of a job well done.

Joshua noticed that something was up with his fellow Korean American after their last song. Vernon was paler than usual and leaning heavily on his right leg, left leg almost fully raised off the ground. The third oldest moved over towards second youngest concern hidden behind a smile as he causally threw an arm over his dosaengs shoulders. Moving his mic away from his face he whispered through his teeth, "Are you okay man?" he asked in English. "Yeah" Vernon replied tightly waving at the fans, obviously not okay. "Vernon-ah" Joshua's tone was stern even as he sent finger hearts into the crowd. Vernon slumped a little at his hyungs tone and muttered, "Just messed up my ankle a little, nothing major."

"Carats! Do you want to hear something really cool?!" yelled Jun into his mic. "YES!" the crowd roared in reply. Jun spun towards the two Korean Americans grin flattering a little as he saw Vernon's pale, drawn face and the way Joshua was basically holding him up. He was going to have Vernon say something sexy in English but there was obviously something not quite right with the rapper and Jun didn't want to attract attention to that fact. So he quickly spun the other way, eyes darting around the stage looking for someone to call out. "DK!" he cheered eyes landing on his prey who beamed innocently, excited he was picked. "Show us your seal noises!" Jun blurted out and his group members all broke into laughter at DK's expression of horror. But the singer took it in stride, "Only if you do your cat impression!" he responded wriggling his eyebrows.

It was clear to the other members what had just transpired. Jun had been about to call on Vernon or Joshua but because of the obvious discomfort Vernon was in, had quickly picked another person to put in the spotlight. As DK sacrificed his image, clapping his hands and barking like a seal while flapping around on the ground Wonwoo quickly made his way over to the two Korean Americans. "What's going on?" he whispered while clapping Joshua on the back, pretending to cover his eyes to avoid seeing DK's performance. "Nothi-" Vernon began, "Vernon hurt his left ankle" interrupted the eldest of the three. "How bad?" Wonwoo questioned, "Not-" "Pretty bad, he's putting all his weight on his right leg" answered Joshua interrupting Vernon again who huffed out a terse, "I'm right here." He was ignored again as Wonwoo murmured, "We probably only have five more minutes before we can leave the stage." "Unless Hoshi and Jeonghan decide to get everyone to dance 'Very Nice'." Joshua whispered back grimly.

Vernon couldn't help but shudder at the thought of dancing right now, especially 'Very Nice'. His two hyungs glanced at him worriedly and he avoided their eyes. "We're acting to suspicious." the injured man muttered, "Wonwoo-hyung you should join the others again and Shua-hyung could you, ah, help-me-get-closer-to-the-others" the last part of the sentence was mumbled at a quick speed as Vernon's ears heated up. Both men agreed and Wonwoo went to go stand with Mingyu who was trying to get Woozi to do a sexy pose. Joshua helped Vernon limp/hop closer to the others and grew more worried at the amount of weight his dosaeng put on his arm.

Five minutes couldn't have gone slower for Vernon. His ankle throbbed with heat and every time weight was placed on his left foot sharp tendrils of pain shot up his calve. Scoups, The8, Jeonghan and Seungkwan all had come over for a bit to ask what was wrong and each time Joshua told them what happened because Vernon was tight lipped and determined to ignore his hyungs concern. When they finally wrapped up the performance and taken a group bow Joshua and Scoups were quick to support Vernon towards the stage exit. Dino hovered anxiously right behind them and the other members sort of formed a wall to block fans view so they wouldn't worry. Vernon pulled away from his hyungs at the narrow stairs and lowered himself down them on his butt raising more concern from his members.

(Ik this is from after he got a cast but this is how he got down https:// /gentlemanshushu/status/1113956368073912325 just copy and paste that if you want to see a visual)

Staff members quickly took control of the situation, supporting and leading the second youngest to a quiet room to receive medical attention. Scoups and Seungkwan followed ans stood near by as a staff member began the painful affair of removing Vernon's shoe. The young man was pale as a sheet and his eyes squeezed shut, a grunt of pain falling from his lips as the staff member carefully pulled off his shoe and rolled up his pant leg. Seungkwan hissed in sympathy and Scoups bit his lip anxiously as Vernon's ankle came into view. It was swollen and a discolored mix of yellow and light purple with hot red streaks branching from his Achilles Tendon. The staff examining him shook her head worriedly, "Unfortunately we're going to have to take you to the hospital. It looks like a possible sprain." Vernon paled more which hadn't seemed possible until it happened. "But the performance tomorrow..." he whispered twisting his fingers nervously.

Scoups squatted down next to Vernon's chair and placing a calming hand on the younger's shoulder said, "It's okay Vern, let's just go get you checked out, we'll figure everything out later." Seungkwan nodded in agreement and added,"Don't worry, it'll work out." Vernon gave them a shaky smile and muttered, "Thanks hyungs." he then turned to the staff, "Okay, how are we going to get there?"

Seventeen were all sitting and laying sprawled across the two beds and each other waiting anxiously for news about their dosaeng and Dinos's hyung. When Scoup's phone started ringing the leader was lunging for it and accepting the call he blurted out, "Where is he? Is he okay?" their manager gave a tired laugh on the other line and replied calmly, "Vernon-ah's condition is stable and we are on the way to the hotel." "Was it a sprain?" questioned Scoup's and everyone else in the room leaned forward desperate to hear the response. The manager sighed, "He's in a cast but it wasn't anything super serious. "Cast!?" Scoups exclaimed and the other idols in the room gasped or groaned in horror. That was not good news, it meant their second youngest couldn't perform. Scoups finished the call and looked at everyone grimly. "He's on his way up the elevator." the leader announced and pretty much everyone scrambled for the door just as it swung open revealing a downcast Vernon standing there, left leg encased in a white cast.

"Hey." he murmured sadly shoulders creeping towards his ears as he felt everyone staring at him. "Vernon" Mingyu broke the silence, "How are you feeling? Does it hurt badly?" Vernon hopped his way into the room with help from The8 and Jeonghan and replied with a shrug, "It isn't that bad, I'm defiantly going on stage tomorrow." his tone was nothing but determination and his stance dared anyone to contradict his statement. There was a short silence before Scoups said, "Only if the doctor is okay with it and you stay seated." Vernon opened his mouth to argue but realized that was probably as good as it was going to get and nodded in agreement.

The rest of that night everyone doted on Vernon, bringing him water and snacks, comforting him when he grew upset with himself and his mess up and Vernon ended up falling asleep surrounded by his loving members, a tired smile on his face. They'd always figure everything out, together.

Chapter Text

TXT couldn't stop moving. Soobin was gnawing his bottom lip, eyes trained on the door. Yeonjun was bouncing his knee and scrolling through his phone to distract himself. Kai and Beomgyu were talking with hushed voices, arguing over whether or not Kai would be the best at starting a campfire. "I was in the boy scouts.'' The youngest insisted, Beomgyu rolled his eyes, "For what, a month?" he hissed annoyed at the maknaes' claims. Kai frowned and replied snappily, "More than you that's how long." "Both of you calm down and be quiet." Yeonjun instructed and the two young men settled into subdued silence. Taehyun snorted at his dosaeng and hyung's petty argument. All five of them were very high strung at the moment. Their company had decided as a treat for both Moas and ARMYs the two groups would shoot a vlog video of them going camping together and TXT were very nervous as this would be the first time they spent so much time with their Sunbaenims. They were even going to sleep in the same cabins!!

So naturally the 5 young men were a little short tempered and anxious. Taehyun himself was trying to relax while listening to some relaxing meditation music. The door swung open and the TXT members all sprung to their feet as BTS sunbaenims straggled through the door, grinning and waving at their shocked dosaengs. Soobin quickly gathered everyone into a rushed line and they all bowed together. "Annyeong Haseyo!" they blurted out. "Stop it" Hoseok waved off their formal greeting, "We're to close for that." added Namjoon kindly. TXT flushed and mumbled a choras of thank yous. Once everyone was seated BTS and TXT's managers came into the room. "Hello everyone!'' They greeted the excited idols. "We are going to give you the details about the next few days.". All eyes were fixed on the two managers, everyone was excited.

"You will be separated into two vans of six. The seating arrangement will be determined by pulling straws." explained BTS's manager to the two idol groups and the rolling camera. He received nods of understanding and a staff member produced a cup with 12 popsicle sticks. After they picked their sticks they rearranged their seating to be with their assigned van partners. On one side of the room sat Soobin, Jin, Hoseok, Beomgyu, Jimin and Kai. On the other side sat Namjoon, Yeonjun, Tae, Taehyun, Yoongi and Jungkook. Everyone was pleased with their 'team'. Especially Soobin who was bursting with excitement at being able to sit with his idol and role model since pre-debut.

The schedule was explained, the luggage was put in the vans, and they were off!

It was adorable how flustered Soobin got if Jin even looked at him. The eldest couldn't keep a fond smile off his face as the younger leader stammered out a thank you as Jin passed back some water. They were in their third hour driving and it was getting obvious that as the roads grew windier Soobin was getting a little nauseous. "Do you want to pull over so you can sit in front?" Jin offered but shook his head, "N-no Jin-sunbaenim, it's-I I'm fine." Kai and Jimin were giggling at the bunny leaders starstruck behavior. "Call me hyung." Jin insisted and Soobin looked like he was going to faint. "Y-yes Sunbae-H-hyung." he corrected himself cursing his awkwardness. Beomgyu was sleeping, head resting on Hoseok's shoulder as the senior idol scrolled through his phone.

In the other van silence reigned as Yoongi, Yeonjun, Tae and Jungkook slept soundly. Namjoon was bobbing his head along to music and Taehyun was gazing out the window. The leader of BTS glanced back and watched as the younger yawned sleepily, scrubbing at his eyes. "You tired?" asked Namjoon quietly as to not wake the others. Taehyun looked over at his Hyung and gave a small nod, "Yeah, but I can't fall asleep." he admitted dismally. Namjoon pulled his air pods out and offered them to the younger, "This might help." "Oh no! I can't- those are yours, I don't want to-" Namjoon reached back and dropped the air pods into Taehyun's lap. "I'm offering, you look like you could use some sleep." he said firmly. Taehyun blushed and carefully fitted the air pods into his ears, "Thank you hyung." At the beginning of the drive the BTS members had already established that the two TXT members should call them hyung. Taehyun's eyes slid shut and Namjoon grinned triumphantly as the younger's breaths slowed.

"-Hyun,Taehyunnie!" the young man stirred with a groan. "go 'way" he slurred. "Yah! Get up, we're here!" Yeonjun's voice raised in excitement. Taehyun shot up into a sitting position, air pods falling into his lap. He scrubbed the sleep from his eyes and looked around eagerly. The van was parked in a clearing in front of a big two story log cabin. Trees surrounded them, shooting up into the sky like green skyscrapers. "Wahhhh" Taehyun exclaimed as he scrambled out of the van. The others had already arrived and he was the last one out of the second van. With a thankful smile Taehyun gave his Hyung the air pods back. "HYUNNIE!!!" screeched Kai sprinting towards him, eyes blown wide in excitement. "We're here! Look!" he jabbed a finger at a formation of birds flying above them. "Who gave you sugar." Taehyun grumbled good naturedly.

Hoseok grinned apologetically at his junior. "That would be me" "Oh!" Taehyun flushed and sent his hyung a quick smile. "Everyone!" called TXT's manager. The 12 men focused their attention on the man. "Get your bags to your rooms, there are two bedrooms with two queen beds and one bedroom with a bunk bed and two singles." It was instant chaos. Both groups sprinted towards the cabin, burst through the door and ran to try and claim their room/bed. As everyone got settled the roommates were as follows. In the first bedroom with two queens were Beomgyu and Kai in one bed and Jungkook and Tae in the other bed. The second bedroom with two queen beds had Jimin and Hoseok in one bed and Yeonjun and Soobin in the other bed. The third bedroom had Taehyun on the top bunk, Namjoon on the bottom bunk, Yoongi on a single and Jin on the other single.

TXT had to reassure the nervous Taehyun as he was sharing with the hyung line by himself. Once rooms were decided the fun finally began. “Our first activity is a short hike to wake us up!” Tae read from a piece of paper given to him by staff. The idols cheered and each taking a gopro went to go get dressed and ready for the walk. A quick five minutes later everyone was gathered at the front door. “Alright ARMY and Moa~” Jimin sang at his gopro, “The time is 5:45 and we are about to embark on a quick walk before it gets dark!” he exclaimed in a newscaster voice and TXT all laughed, not accustomed to their hyungs sense of humor. The two groups flooded out of the cabin door, Jungkook and Kai taking the lead.

“This way!” cried Yoongi pointing down a small path that looked like it led back to the original path. It had been an hour and they had gotten lost. Darkness was falling and storm clouds had suddenly appeared on the horizon approaching the idols fast. “Are you sure?” Namjoon called back, “Yeah! I can see our footprints.” Yoongi replied in affirmative. A weary cheer echoed up the trail and everyone turned back to catch up with Yoongi. As they rushed up the original trail back towards the cabin thunder rumbled over their heads. “Hurry, hurry!” Jin held the door open ushering everyone in as the clouds broke and rain fell down in torrents. “Thank god” Soobin sighed in relief, flashing his bunny smile at his GoPro. “That was close, we almost got caught in the storm!” The young men all started to peel off their outer layers and kick off their shoes. “The staff didn’t warn us of a storm.” Tae mused and a few voices chimed in in agreement. “Are there any staff left here?” Yeonjun asked peering into the living room. As the two idol groups had left for their walk they had been told that most of the staff would have left for the night to go down the mountain to spend the night at a hotel. “Hello?” Jungkook yelled. “Looks like it” Beomgyu said when there was no reply. Namjoon’s phone started ringing and seconds later Soobin’s phone also began to ring. Both leaders looked at each other surprised before digging into their pockets and picking up the calls. “Manager-nim?” Soobin leaned into the phone, forehead furrowing. “Hello?” Namjoon said into the receiver.

The other members were silent as the two leaders listened to what their managers were saying. Once the calls were finished they both turned to their groups, all squished together in the entryway. Soobin glanced at Namjoon who motioned for him to talk first. The young leader cleared his throat and started, “That was Manager-nim, he has been trying to call us for around a half an hour to warn us of a freak storm but apparently there was no signal out in the woods.” Namjoon nodded in agreement, “That’s why our manager called too”. “God it’s really pouring out there.” whistled Yeonjun as the two groups made their way to the living room. “The only one out of us that doesn’t like storms is Taehyun, right Hyunnie?” Soobin said. There was no reply, “Hyunnie?” the leader's voice cracked as he spun around doing a headcount. “No.” the bunny leader whispered horrified, there were only eleven people in the room. “Taehyun!??!!” Yeonjun yelled running back to the entryway. He came back pale and distraught, “His shoes aren’t in the entryway, he hasn’t come in yet!!” Everyone looked at each other in terror. “Shit” Yoongi breathed and as if that word was a switch everyone sprung into action, pulling out cell phones, running to put on their shoes.

A knock at the door had everyone freezing before Kai wrenched the door open and Taehyun fell in sopping wet and shuddering. If possible it got more chaotic after that. The second youngest was bundled into around 15 towels and huddled into a chair right in front of the gas fire. He hadn't even had a chance to open his mouth yet. "I'm so sorry Hyunnie this is all my fault I should have done a headcount, damn it I screwed up so bad I'm sorry Taehyunnie are you okay, are you cold are you hurt can I-" Soobin rambled frantically wringing his hands and adjusting the towels on Taehyun's feet. "Hyung." Taehyun interrupted voice a little raspy, "It's okay Binnie-hyung, I'm fine, j-just a little w-wet." his voice shook near the end of the sentence as a tremor ran through his body. "A hot shower!" cried Jin, "A hot shower will warm you up." Everyone nodded in agreement and before Taehyun could even think of getting up Jungkook had swept him up into his arms bridal style. Taehyun squawked and flailed a little as BTS's maknae marched him to the bathroom. The other ten men trailed after them. "Do you need help Hyunnie?" Yeonjun asked and the young man shook his head, "I'm good hyung, t-thanks." Jungkook set him down and Taehyun started to shake off all the towels. Before glancing up at the other eleven guys who were all watching him, "Ummmm" he gave them a small smile and promptly shut the door in their faces.

That shook them out of what ever trance they were in and under Jin's instructions everyone started getting everything ready for when Taehyun got out of the shower. Jin and Yeonjun started working on a quick, hot meal with the help of Jimin and Beomgyu. Namjoon was talking with Soobin who was busy beating himself up over 'forgetting' one of his brothers. Jungkook, Tae and Yoongi were making a pillow and blanket pile so Taehyun could be as warm as possible and Hoseok and Kai were picking out a change of clothes for Taehyun which they left on the bathroom counter. Everything was ready and the eleven men were all seated around the living room, talking or checking there phones. Taehyun announced his presence with a stifled sneeze that had everyone looking over in concern. "Are you cold?" Soobin worried hurrying to wrap a blanket over his little brother's shoulders. "A little" Taehyun muttered, "But that's better." he gave Soobin a tired smile and his leader lead him to the couch to snuggle in between Jungkook and Yeonjun. Jin came over and placed the back of his hand on Taehyun's forehead, "You don't have a fever but how do you feel?" "Okay, my throats a little sore and I have a runny nose" Taehyun replied, adding "But that's probably because of the steam in the bathroom" after seeing Jin frown.

The rest of the night passed calmly. Taehyun explained how he had thought he saw the path but didn't want to make the others walk farther in case it was wrong so he had ran to check it out himself but had slipped down a slope and couldn't get back. So he had tried to find another way up to where the others were but he got lost until he finally saw lights through the trees and then he had knocked on the cabin door and they knew the rest. Everyone apologized to Taehyun's embarrassment and then they settled in to eat the stew Jin and Yeonjun (with help from Jimin and Beomgyu of course) made. And then they sat down to watch a movie Taehyun picked out even though the exhausted man had fallen asleep less than thirty minutes in, resting on Jungkook's shoulder congested breaths slipping through his mouth as he huddled into BTS's maknae's side craving his warmth. Jungkook ended up carrying the younger man to one of the Queen beds, switching with Yeonjun so Soobin could keep an eye on him and simultaneously keep him warm.

Their family vacation may have started out on the wrong foot but the love and care in the air was palpable. Tomorrow was a new day and they were all ready to tackle it together.

Chapter Text

Hyungwon knew today was going to be a bad day as soon as he woke up. The light streaming through the blinds made his eyes burn and when he swallowed his throat felt raw. He coughed softly as to not disturb his roommate (I don't know who his roommate is so I'm just going to put Jooheon as his roommate). "Wonnie-hyung?" grumbled the dimpled rapper blinking at the lanky man from across the room. "Hmm?" Hyungwon hummed in reply, not trusting his voice until he had a least one glass of water. "You know when I said you woke up every morning coughing?" the amusement clear in his voice,(if you know you know >v<). Hyungwon sent a weak glare at his dosaeng and swinging his legs out of his bed threw a pillow on top of the rappers face. It did nothing to muffle the second youngest's giggles. The tall man walked lethargically towards the bathroom, thankfully not running into anyone on the way.

'I'll feel better after a shower' he thought, pulling off his pajamas and easing under the hot water. Time passed to quickly and soon Hyungwon heard Shownu knocking at the door, "Hyungwon, hurry up, I have to pee!" their leader called out. "It's-" Hyungwon's voice broke and he cleared it forcefully before calling out, "It's open!" The door swung open and Shownu hurried to relieve himself. This situation in itself wasn't that unusual. With a group of six young guys with busy schedules and one bathroom it was a rule to keep the door unlocked when you were in the shower, the curtain gave both people in the room privacy and things were sped up a little. The bathroom was quiet only sounds being running water and Shownu's humming as he washed his hands. Hyungwon stiffened in the shower as a strong itch grew in his nose, 'not now!' he cursed silently as he desperately tried to convince his nose to at least wait until Shownu was gone. They were in the middle of promotions and he really didn't have the time to get sick. His breath hitched and he pinched his nose shut frantically.

"Won?" Shownu stopped humming, hearing the soft gasp his teammate had made. "Are you okay?" Hyungwon had a problem. If he tried to answer he would surely sneeze but if he didn't Shownu would get really worried and wouldn't stop asking if he was okay. In the end his nose decided for him and covering his mouth he muffled a harsh sneeze into his wet elbow. "Oh!" Shownu huffed out a laugh, "Bless you." "Thanks" Hyungwon muttered relieved that his leader didn't think anything of his sneeze or get suspicious. He finished his shower as quickly as possible and scurried out of the bathroom, brushing past Minhyuck who called out a greeting he didn't respond to. Breakfast that morning was a rushed affair, they were scheduled for an interview promoting 'Love Killa'. Kihyun had just rustled up some eggs with fried rice that Hyungwon forced down his sore throat. "Let's go! Let's go!" Shownu hurried the five other boys out of the door, "Masks on" Kihyun reminded everyone seriously. Everyone complied and rushed down the stairs to their van.

"We're going on air in 5 minutes!" called the director, "Thank you 5" Monsta X called back (my inner theater kid popped out). Hyungwon was sitting in a corner trying to avoid his members who were way to loud and hyper for 9 in the morning. He couldn't help but feel a little hurt that none of his members had asked if he was alright yet. The lanky man shook his head in frustration. That was a ridiculous thought, he was usually quiet and more reserved anyway and besides, wasn't he trying to go unnoticed as to not screw up their busy schedule?! He gave his head another shake, frowning when the dull ache behind his eyes that had been present all morning throbbed painfully. Maybe he should see if he could grab some Ibuprofen before the interview- "One minute! Places please" the director instructed, 'never mind' he thought pulling himself to his feet and swaying slightly. "You good?" IM asked as he walked next to the taller man, "Yeah. Just got up to fast." Hyungwon lied smoothly. Their maknae nodded and gave him a strong pat on his back that had him stumbling before jogging to snag the seat next to Minhyuk.

Hyungwon was seated at the very end of the line, next to Jooheon who was already getting excited and blabbering loudly with Kihyun. "We're on!" the director said and the interview began. Time passed oddly for Hyungwon. From the introductions where his voice had, thankfully, remained steady to the lie detector that was currently being set in front of him it had felt like an hour when it had only been 5 minutes. "Ready Woonie?" Kihyun grinned at their quiet member who blinked slowly at the lie detector. "As ready as I'll ever be" was the answer and Hyungwon fit his large hand in the machine. "Who want's to ask the first question?" IM asked. "I will!" Jooheon's hand shot into the air and Hyungwon stiffened as the rappers voice pierced into his head. "Go ahead Honney" Shownu motioned at Hyungwon who looked apprehensive. "Do you like me as a roommate?" Jooheon asked. The others leaned forward genuinely curious as the singer furrowed his bed in thought. "No." was the short answer that had everyone laughing and Jooheon pouting while Hyungwon smirked satisfied.

"BZZzTTtZtT!!" "Yah!" Hyungwon ripped his hand from the lie detector as Jooheon cheered, "You lied! I'm the best roommate!" Hyungwon scowled and playfully shoved Jooheon, mainly to try and get the screeching man away from his ringing ears. "I mean, I guess your okay, but I'd much rather have IM as a roommate." Hyungwon said grinning at IM's triumphant expression. "But he games all night!" Jooheon complained and Minhyuk nodded in agreement. Hyungwon shrugged, "I'll just wear ear buds and a sleeping mask." he said. After that time went all weird again. Hyungwon vaguely recalled reacting appropriately as the other members were asked questions and clapping when Jooheon performed some aeygo and laughing along when Shownu danced to Fancy (If you know you know). When the interview was over he felt like nails were being pounded into his eye sockets, his nose was running and he was desperate for some water. Silently excusing himself from the dressing room he hurried to find a bathroom so he could blow his nose. When he finally found one to duck into he sighed in relief. Ripping a few pieces of toilet paper off the roll he buried his pink nose into them and blew. He frowned in disgust at the amount of mucus on the paper and at the utterly gross feeling that weighed down his body.

Swallowing hard he glanced in the mirror, frown deepening at what he saw. His nose was pink and irritated, the bags under his eyes were winning the battle against his concealer and his face had an unhealthy pallor. "Shit" he breathed out, he looked like crap and he doubted the others wouldn't notice. Giving his nose another wipe and shoving a handful of toilet paper in his pocket he hurried out of the bathroom. "Hyungwon! There you are" Shownu gripped his shoulder and pulled back at the unusual heat issuing from the younger's skin. Hyungwon ducked away, "Hyung, please don't touch me, this outfit is way to hot." the younger said nervously waiting for the shoe to drop. "Ah, okay, well get changed if you aren't comfortable." Shownu said moving away. Hyungwon nodded and cleared his throat. Why was he disappointed that Shownu hadn't noticed his plight? He wanted no one to notice! 'I must have a small fever'. Hyungwon thought, 'there's no way I would be so upset that hyung didn't coddle me if I didn't have a fever'!

"Boys!" their manager jogged into the room, "It's time to go, you're going to film a dance practice video for Monbebe today." There were cheers from the other idols but Hyungwon barely swallowed down a groan and muffled a cough into his elbow. He was not looking forward to the rest of the day.

He was seconds away from passing out or, perhaps death. His head pounded, no longer feeling like nails but rather railroad spikes. His nose ran constantly and he hardly bothered to wipe it, choosing to just pull his mask over his pink appendage. The loud music, while a terrible thing for his headache helped cover the sound of his increasingly wetter coughs. Every move had him clenching his teeth as the room spun around him. "Pause the recording" IM called out. Minhyuk who was closest pressed pause and everyone turned to the maknae. Hyungwon rested his hands on his knees, chest heaving for breath. "Hyungwon-hyung." IM began voice sharp. "Why are you dancing so poorly today?" It hit him harder than it should and the sick man pushed himself upright slowly, eyes burning. "Why do you care." he snapped back desperately trying to regain his composure. IM reared back surprised at the venom in his hyung's voice. "Yah! Hyungwon don't talk to IM like that." Kihyun scolded. Hyungwon snorted a gurgling sound forgotten by everyone as he said, "If he's going to be a rude brat to his hyungs I can ask him why he is."

"He's not wrong." Jooheon said growing angry at Hyungwon's attitude towards his only younger brother. Shownu attempted to calm the situation down, "We're all tired and hot, let's just talk maturely". IM frowned, "I didn't mean to sound so rude but you're slowing us down and it's not my fault you're being to sensitive." the maknae shot out. Hyungwon's shoulders stiffened. "I'm not being sensitive!" he yelled voice cracking near the end and eyes suspiciously damp. Everyone froze in shock as the most reserved out of the entire group turned away from them and swiped at his eyes angrily. "Hyunwon, are you crying!?" Kihyun asked disbelieving. "No!" Hyungwon yelled voice breaking again and his shoulders shook, still facing away from everyone. IM was horrified, "Hyung I didn't mean to make you cry!" he said rushing forward to put a careful hand on Hyungwon's back. The tall singer pulled away and turned to leave the room, face buried into his elbow.

Shownu grabbed his arm as he passed and Hyungwon stumbled back, basically collapsing into the leaders arms. With his arm not covering his face the coughs weren't muffled and they tore through his thin frame. "He's not crying" IM sighed in relief. "Yes he is." Shownu said grimly lowering the coughing man to the ground. Hyungwon's mask was still up but what they could see of his face was flushed and streaked with tears. Kihyun reached to pull of his mask as Jooheon hovered next to him a water bottle gripped in his hand. Hyungwon tried to pull away, croaking out a "No" in between rasping coughs. Kihyun ignored him and tugged the mask of Hyungwon's face. Kihyun's own face fell when he saw the mess Hyungwon was in and the taller let out a broken sob turning to hide his face in his arms. "Can you get me some tissues?" Kihyun asked and Minhyuk hurried to go get some for their eldest hyung. Hyungwon had stopped coughing but now his thin body shook with sobs. Shownu was awkwardly trying to comfort the distraught idol.

"Here hyung!" Minhyuk thrust a handful of tissues in Kihyun's hand and the oldest member of Monsta X rubbed Hyungwon's shoulder comfortingly. "Hey, Wonnie you need to show me your face." he said softly. "NO!" the sick man croaked voice nearly gone. Everyone flinched at the roughness and Kihyun sighed before motioning at the two rappers Jooheon and IM to pull his arms away. It was ridiculously easy, Hyungwon wasn't the strongest man when he was in his prime and he currently was no where near good condition. The others averted their eyes to give him privacy as Kihyun cleaned up his face. Jooheon and IM each held one hand steady and Shownu held him around the waist as he struggled yelling, "Stop Hyung! Don't- Nooo" he eventually fell limp against Shownu's chest and hiccuped weakly. "There we go." Kihyun ran a hand through the sick man's hair, face scrunching at the sweat and heat pouring of him. "Better huh?" Hyungwon's breath hitched and with eyes wide in panic he yanked his hand from Jooheon's grip and buried three harsh sneezing into his upper arm, waist folding before falling back against Shownu again with a groan. "S-sorry" he whispered.

"Bless you." the others all said, lowering their voices as Hyungwon flinched at the noise level. He closed his eyes, obviously exhausted and sniffed weakly. Shownu pressed his cheek to the top of Hyungwon's head and looking worried said, "He has a pretty high fever." "No kidding?!" IM said to loudly causing Hyungwon to curl into Shownu tighter. "shh" Minhyuk hissed and IM continued quieter. "If he's acting like this," he gestured at the normally reserved man who was curled up on Shownu's lap, sniffling softly as tears slipped from under his closed eyelids. "-then he's probably got a 103 degree fever or is dying!" There was a whine from the sick man but he didn't move, to sick and comfortable to care about his carefully cultivated tsundere image. "We're done for today." Shownu decided. "Let's get him home." The others nodded in agreement and with help from IM, Shownu got Hyungwon to his feet and was supporting him. Hyungwon was basically a dead weight, pouting in obvious annoyance at the disruption in his comfortable position. "Cute~" Minhyuk cooed as the taller man's head flopped down on Shownu's shoulder.

It was adorable but so unlike Hyungwon that everyone was freaking out. When they finally arrived at their dorms, Hyungwon was carried up the stairs by Shownu and placed immediately in bed. His temperature was taken, 102.7 and Kihyun was making some broth for him as Jooheon got the sick man changed into comfortable, not sweaty clothing. It might be a while till Hyungwon got better and by that time it was almost guaranteed that at least one other member would catch his illness but they were family and family is there for each other no matter how sick or gross they felt. For now Monsta X would just take care of Hyungwon and enjoy the trust he put in them to help him get better. Because that's what family does.

Chapter Text

It started with a small headache pulsing behind his eyes as soon as he woke up. Nothing major, Yeonjun had stayed up late last night so, in all honesty it was expected. He had made his members breakfast that morning before they had headed to the BigHit building for a meeting with their managers and the company. There was talk about a new reality show and all five of the boys were absolutely ecstatic at the possibility to give their fans more content. "Just chime in if you boys have any ideas." their manager said giving them an encouraging smile. "Yes hyung!" TXT nodded eagerly, excited about this new opportunity.

Yeonjun didn't know what was wrong with him. It had only been an hour and the other four members all seemed to be holding up fine but for some reason his body felt like it weighed a ton and he was having a hard time keeping track of what was going on. "Right hyung?" Kai's voice pierced through the fog filling his mind. "Yeah?" Yeonjun blinked over at him owlishly. Face flushing as he realized Kai must have asked him a question and that everyone was looking at him expecting an answer. "Er, sorry Kai-ah I lost focus for a second, could you repeat the question?" the eldest of TXT grit out avoiding eye contact with everyone. "Of course hyung! I was just asking if you had liked the idea of doing a cook off or baking thing." "Yeah!" Yeonjun said, trying to appear excited and shake off the weird feeling sitting heavy in his throat. "That sounds like a good idea, especially if we had a cool theme or something". The other members, their managers and other staff in the room seemed satisfied with that response and Yeonjun relaxed as soon as everyone's eyes left him. 'I shouldn't have stayed up so late' he scolded himself, determined to pay close attention for the rest of the meeting.

He was so exhausted. It had been three hours, not that long especially for a meeting like this, the idol life was never easy. His headache had grown by the tenfold and his throat felt dry and scratchy. But Yeonjun refused to even entertain the idea that he was sick. He had stayed up late which was the cause for the headache and his sore throat was because he had finished his water bottle an hour ago. “I think that’ll be all boys.” Yeonjun pulled himself out of his thoughts and stood with the others dismayed at the dizzy spell that occurred as soon as he stood. ‘It’s cause I stood up too fast after sitting for so long’. He excused in his mind as he bowed to the staff. “Thank you” Soobin was being the ever gracious leader, dimples on full display as the five boys left the room, “Another show!” Beomgyu squealed and Yeonjun frowned at the realisation that he didn’t know what had been finalized during the meeting. Had they decided on a concept? “You okay hyung?” Taehyun asked, coming to walk by his side. “Yeah” the older replied ruefully, “Just stayed up way too late last night.” Taehyun nodded understanding where his hyung was coming from. Soobin fell back to join them, eyebrows raising in a silent question. “I’m fine, just didn’t get enough sleep.” Yeonjun reassured the leader with a small smile, happy that they cared for him and glad he wasn’t sick. Because this headache and sore throat and slight chills were all from going to bed too late.

"Practice is next, but we have half an hour to get some food and drinks." Soobin said, scrolling through their schedule on his phone. Kai and Beomgyu cheered and within seconds were zooming down the hall heading for the vending machines. "I'll go with them" Yeonjun offered knowing it would be harder to convince Taehyun and Soobin that he was up to practice then the other two. Taehyun saluted and announced that he was going to go take a nap on the practice room couch. Soobin just gave a hum in response absorbed in texting with his manager. And so Yeonjun headed the way the maknae and the middle child had gone, fervently hoping he wouldn't run into them. 'I'll just splash my face with some water really quickly...' the pink haired man thought as he turned into the bathroom. That was the reason, he was totally not trying to avoid Kai and Beomgyu. As Yeonjun leaned over the sink he couldn't help but cough freely, trying to clear the heavy feeling in the back of his throat.

It didn't solve anything and just made his throat hurt even more. "Damn" he cursed softly swallowing his saliva which had become thick and sticky. "I need a drink" he muttered observing his pale face in the mirror. Stumbling slightly on his way out of the door he made his way over to the water fountain to fill up his bottle. "HYuNg!!" a dolphin screech echoed through the hallway and Yeonjun flinched as he turned slowly to face TXT's maknae. "Hey Kai'' he said, the other frowned at his hoarse voice, "You good hyung?" "yeah. just need a drink" Yeonjun gave his water bottle a little shake before turning to fill it up. "Ah! Okay!'' The maknae's worries quickly were pushed aside and he launched into a detailed account of how he had just ran into their sunbaenim Jimin. Yeonjun tried to pay attention but he was distracted by the pain that plagued his throat every time he took a sip of water. "Isn't that cool!?" Kai asked eagerly and Yeonjun flashed him a smile, "Yeah, I can't believe you ran into him!" Kai nodded and linking his arm with Yeonjun pulled him towards their practice room, a never ending string of words slipping through his lips and stabbing into Yeonjun's ears.

"One more time" Yeonjun called ignoring that sharp stab of pain in his upper abdomen. As the main dancer he was in charge of running their dance practices and he was barely holding on. His throat was raw and burned every time he spoke or breathed through his mouth which he was forced to do often as his nose was stuffed. His head pounded with the music and every time they did a move that involved spinning, bending down and standing up or jumping he had to fight down a swell of nausea. He had long ruled out that this was all caused by not getting enough sleep but he had hope that he’d at least get through the rest of the day before the illness struck him down. So far the other members didn’t seem to notice anything and for Yeonjun, who was determined to never be a burden, that was a blessing. They were doing a run through of 'Can't You See Me' when the nausea spiked and the contents of his stomach churned angrily. He staggered to a stop and clapped a hand over his mouth praying that the urge to throw up would pass. Of course the others noticed and Soobin approached him concerned. "Hyung are you-" Yeonjun interrupted him and answered his question as he gagged wetly, sprinting for the trash can in the corner of the room. The others were frozen in surprise as their eldest member emptied his stomach into the trash pail. Snapping into action as Yeonjun let out a choked up sob, Soobin and Taehyun rushed to his side.

"It's okay hyung, just breath." Taehyun instructed rubbing his hand up and down Yeonjun's back ignoring the sweat that stuck the sick man's shirt to his back. Yeonjun let out a feeble groan and lurched forward to vomit more. At this point he had gotten everything he had eaten that day out of his stomach and the only thing left to throw up was water and stomach acid. Kai and Beomgyu hung back, Kai was way to squeamish about any type of gross body functions and Beomgyu was trying to find some wet wipes in his backpack. Soobin and Taehyun continued to rub the gagging man's back whispering words of encouragement. "B-Binne'' Yeonjun groaned, voice raw and scratchy, "I don't feel g-good" Soobin smiled exasperatedly, "Yeah hyung I can tell." "Don't make fun of meee" Yeonjun whined eyes welling with tears. Soobin's smile dropped and he quickly cupped the olders face in his hands, "No Junnie-hyung I wasn't making fun of you!" he promised, swiping away the tears that fell down Yeonjun's flushed cheeks. "Here hyung." Beomgyu handed Soobin a wet wipe and with a muttered thanks Soobin set to work softly wiping Yeonjun's face as the man hiccuped sadly.

"Do you still feel like you're going to be sick?" Taehyun asked, pushing Yeonjun's hair back to check his temperature. "do 'm okay dow" Yeonjun rasped and Soobin quickly placed a tissue over his nose and said, "Blow." Yeonjun blushed and tried to pull away but Soobin was insistent. "He has a fever" Taehyun mouthed to Soobin over Yeonjun's head and the leader nodded grimly. "Come on Junnie-hyung just blow." Soobin ordered softly. Yeonjun was too exhausted to protest any longer and blew his nose harshly, ears reddening at the sound and squirming uncomfortably as his ears popped at the pressure. "Good job" Soobin hummed, tossing the tissue into the trash can that Taehyun was in the process of trying to remove.

After Taehyun had disposed of the trashcan and Soobin had changed Yeonjun out of his sweaty shirt into a clean sweatshirt TXT made their way to the van waiting outside. "Sorry for messing up practice," Yeonjun said, shoulders hunched as they drove to their dorms. "Don't say that hyung!" Kai scolded, "We were basically done anyway." the others nodded in agreement. "Thanks" Yeonjun shot them all a tired but grateful smile. "No problem hyung!" Kai cheered and Yeonjun flinched at his volume. "Shh" Beomgyu hushed their maknae and Soobin ran his fingers through Yeonjun's pink hair murmuring, "Hyung, close your eyes, relax." Yeonjun did as he was told and by the time they got to the dorms Soobin and Kai had to carry him in. The sick man woke up when they placed him on the couch and immediately broke into a coughing fit that had his eyes watering. Beomgyu hurried to get him a glass of water and Taehyun ran to the bathroom to get a cool washcloth for his fever and a trashcan just in case. The rest of the evening passed reasonably quietly. Yeonjun was snuggled in between Beomgyu and Soobin, head resting on the leader's shoulder as he massaged his scalp and played with his hair. Taehyun and Kai had managed to make some soup without burning anything and they were all watching a Disney movie Yeonjun was obsessed with.

Despite feeling like crap; runny nose, sore throat, random coughing fits, an upset tummy, chills, feverish; Yeonjun's heart was full. His members were taking care of him so well and it felt nice, especially since he was the oldest, to be pampered and cared for so sweetly. Soobin was playing with his hair and would whip out a tissue from God knows where whenever it even looked like Yeonjun was going to sneeze or if his nose was too runny. Kai leaned against his legs, a glass of water in his hands in case Yeonjun started coughing. Beomgyu had insisted that he hand feed the eldest member, blowing on every spoonful to make sure it wasn't too hot and occasionally, jokingly making airplane noises. Taehyun leaned against the couch behind Yeonjun and massaged his shoulders, giving him his favorite blanket and a few stuffed animals to cuddle. 'All in all being sick wasn't so bad.' he thought, to soon as with a sudden lurch the contents of his stomach crawled up his throat and the process started all over with more tears this time as the fever had hit it's breaking point. But the others didn't mind, Yeonjun was always there for them and they were glad to be able to be there for him when he needed them.

Chapter Text

Kai couldn't help but to grimace as he lightly rested a hand on Beomgyu's shoulder and drew out the muscle pain the older was experiencing. A soft exhale was the only indication Beomgyu had felt any change as said man shifted in his bed, face relaxing. "Kai?" a voice hissed from the other side of the room and the maknae struggled to swallow a scream, "Hyung! Don't do that! You scared me.." the youngest pouted even though his hyung couldn't see him in the darkness. "What were you doing? Why aren't you asleep?" Yeonjun whispered. "I-uh...I was checking if Gyu-hyung had fallen asleep yet" Kai explained anxiously hoping Yeonjun-hyung would believe him. "Mmm go to bed." was the response and Kai felt his shoulders drop in relief and he slunk out of the room to go back to his own. 'That was close' he thought as he snuggled under the covers, 'he was going to have to be more careful, this was the third time one of his members had caught him sneaking around at night'. A hiss of pain slipped through his body as Beomgyu's muscle pain twinged and dug it's claws into his own body. Thankfully it would be gone by morning, that was the blessing of Healing at night, he could sleep it off.

Kai had underestimated the seriousness of Beomgyu's stiffness, getting out of bed that morning had been a struggle, Soobin ended up needing to help him sit up. The leader of course had been terribly worried about their maknae but Kai insisted that he had just slept wrong and would be fine if he stretched out. Beomgyu on the other hand was happily bouncing around crowing about the miracles of Aloe Vera cream. Kai couldn't help but smile, his hyung thought the Aloe Vera cream had healed him! Despite the worries of his members the pain Kai was experiencing did indeed fade by the time practice began in earnest much to the boy's relief. Practice went wonderfully and everyone went home to the dorms happy and proud with the improvements they had made that day. Kai was put in high alert when he noticed his leader favoring his right leg. "You okay Hyungie?" he asked. Soobin started in surprise, "Oh! Kai-ah! Yeah, I'm okay just stubbed my toe." Kai nodded and went to play some games with Taehyun in the living room.

It was clearly more than a stubbed toe Kai noticed in dismay. Soobin was still favoring his leg and when Yeonjun had bumped into it as the eldest plopped down to sit next to the taller Soobin had flinched in pain. Kai shook his head and focused on the game. He had been plagued with Beomgyu's muscle pain the entire morning and really didn't want to deal with Soobin's pain now, not when he was playing games and having a fun time. The maknae frowned at his selfish thoughts but were they really selfish? Didn't he deserve a break? He constantly took the members pain away, from sore throats to sprained wrists Kai absorbed it all. Sure it didn't last as long and the pain he felt wasn't actually damaging to his body. He just felt what ever the person he Healed would feel and the person who he Healed symptoms and pain would subside. So why shouldn't he Heal Soobin? 'But- there's no good excuse not to!' he told himself 'I was given this gift so I should use it!'

"I won!" Taehyun whooped and Kai threw down his controller groaning good-naturally and pulling himself off the floor to go Heal Soobin who was currently struggling under a clingy octopus named Yeonjun who seemed determined to stick his finger through their leader's dimple. Kai sat down next to them with a huff and leaned against his Gum who sent him a expression pleading for help. Kai laughed even as his ankle throbbed, Soobin's pain transferring to him in sharp waves. "You're on your own Hyung!" he said forcing cheerfulness that luckily no one saw through. Despite not being noticed being a good thing for the 18 year old he couldn't help feeling a little hurt his hyungs didn't worry about him. This was a common feeling for someone like him who did so much for others but was never appreciated or even recognized. It was even harder because if he was found out then he'd probably be sent of to some lab to be poked and prodded with needles as some kind of freak. 'I am a freak' he thought biting his lip as his ankle ached, 'definitely NOT a stubbed toe' he mused peeking over at his hyung who looked more relaxed and was still struggling to remove Yeonjun's index finger from his dimple.

A smile pulled at the corners of Kai's mouth, he could deal with the pain and the lack of acknowledgment if it benefited his members, his hyungs, his family. The smile slipped when his ankle protested loudly, 'why had Soobin hide such a bad injury?'. A movie was turned on and everyone curled up on their couch, pressed together like sardines. The love and warmth that filled the air eased Kai's pain and he laughed along as the characters joked around on the TV. Some days were hard and that would be true for the rest of his life but this was his reward, his compensation for all the pain he went through. A family of five loud, goofy, passionate, loving dorks that meant the world to him.

"ai! Kai!" he blinked his eyes open squinting in the sunlight. "Nnnghh 'yung?" he groaned face partially mushed into his pillow- 'his pillow?!'. Kai sat up confused, "Did I-?" "You fell asleep on the couch so Soobin carried you to bed" Taehyun answered, "Now hurry up we have a Music Show to go to tonight!!" That was right! It had been a while since the whole of TXT went together to a music show, Soobin had been MCing so often that they hardly ever arrived together. (imagine Covid19 didn't happen). Kai sprung out of bed, well he tried to, a searing pain in his ankle had him collapsing on the floor and garbled scream bursting from his chapped lips. "Kai!!" Taehyun yelled falling to his knees next to the Maknae. "What happened?!" Yeonjun asked bursting into the room, "Kai!" Soobin and Beomgyu cried in unison as they rushed in after Yeonjun. Kai forced himself to give a sheepish smile and sat up, "Sorry for making you guys worry, my foot was just asleep and I was being dramatic". His members sighed in frustration. "Now's not the time to joke around Kai." Soobin said sounding disappointed and Kai couldn't help but curl into himself, "Sorry Hyung, it won't happen again." he said apologetically. "Breakfasts ready" Yeonjun said shortly leaving the room followed by Soobin and Beomgyu who looked exasperatedly at Kai. Taehyun stood up and looked down at the Maknae who sat in a small, (as small as he could being 6 ft) huddle, bony shoulders pulled to his ears. "Now's not the day Kai-ah" he said much softer than Soobin but he also looked disappointed and it drove another wedge in Kai's fragile heart.

"Sorry" he mumbled not meeting Taehyun's eyes, "Whatever, breakfasts ready, hurry up." Taehyun instructed leaving the room. Kai bit his lip hard, trying to will away the tears that filled his eyes. It wasn't fair, he was in pain and his hyungs weren't helping. 'Why would they?' he asked himself coldly, 'they can't help if they don't know'. It was true. He was alone in this, he was different, he would never be able to fully fit in as long as he kept this secret. And if he did they'd probably hate him or be freaked out. Kai cursed under his breath as salty tears slid down his cheeks. His ankle hurt, his hyungs were mad at him and he was a freak.

~Time Skip Because The Author Didn't Know How To Write More Emotional Whump Without Crying~

Kai was on his absolutely best behavior. He had been since this morning, determined not to disappoint his members again. They were at the music show along with a few other groups awaiting their turn to have an interview and showcase their dance for viewers at home. There was A.C.E who TXT greeted warmly, the vocal unit of Seventeen who they chatted with for awhile about being a new 'family', Weeekly was there, as well as Treasure and Stray Kids. Call it his intuition or Healing vibes but Kai couldn't stop observing a specific member of Stray Kids who didn't look very good. He watched as the member excused himself and hurried towards the bathroom. Maybe it was his need to Heal but almost in a daze Kai rushed after him. With him being so eager to not disappoint his hyungs this was a wrong move. Not only did Kai not tell anyone where he was going but TXT was due on stage in six minutes. To busy getting everything ready his members didn't notice as he ran after the Stray Kids member.

TW!!!! Anxiety is mentioned from here to the end!!! TW!!!! I HAVE JISUNG FROM STRAY KIDS EXPERIENCING ANXIETY. I AM AWARE HE SUFFERS FROM THIS IN REAL LIFE AND IN NO WAY AM MOCKING HIM OR TRYING TO DRAW ATTENTION TO HIS MENTAL STATE> HE IS JUST THE STRAY KIDS MEMBER I FELT WOULD FIT THE BEST!!

Kai slowly pushed open the bathroom door, "Hello is-" he was cut off by horrible retching coming from the last stall. 'stomach bug or food poisoning' he reasoned moving further into the bathroom and towards the last stall. The door wasn't closed and Kai could clearly make out the figure hunched over the toilet. "Jisung-sunbaenim?" he said softly and the man in the stall jumped and spun to face Kai eyes blown open in fear. "I-I argh" Jisung buried his head in his hands ears burning red at the humiliation of being seen by such a well known junior emptying his stomach contents into the toilet. Kai placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, "It's okay Sunbaeni-" his voice caught in his throat as the waves of anxiety and fear rolled into him, tying his stomach into knots within seconds. 'NOT a stomach bug or food poisoning' he thought trying to pull himself together. "you okay?" Jisung's voice broke through the fog and fear in his mind. Jisung himself looked much better, the color had returned to his face and his eyes were much clearer.

"I-" Kai's voice cracked and he suppressed a shiver, "Yeah, yeah I'm fine, how about you sunbaenim?" Jisung gave him a concerned look but smiled, "Much better actually! I think you must have a magical healing touch!" Kai stiffened thoughts running wild, 'Did he know?! Would he tell people? They were going to think he is a freak!! He was going to be taken away from his hyung and be dissected to study! Or put in the military to heal wounded soldiers for the rest of his life!!' "Kai!" a voice broke through his destructive thoughts but it wasn't Jisungs, it was....his managers? Kai turned and was met with the sight of his manager bursting into the bathroom. "There you are! You're supposed to be on stage!!" he yelled frantically. Kai stumbled back, breath speeding up, "W-what!?" He was supposed to be on stage? NO! He definitely disappointed his hyungs! "Kai" Jisung's voice was calm, "You need to stay calm and strong for your hyungs, can you do that?" the rapper asked, Kai nodded shakily and Jisung gave him a warm smile, "I believe in you! You helped me, you can help yourself, you're strong, now go!" Kai nodded and was off like a shot running past the manager and towards the stage.

He hurried on stage, bowing low in apology. "There you are Kai!" Soobin's voice sounded cheerful but Kai could here the anger underneath (guys Soobin isn't being mean, Kai missed an important timing and it is understandable, as a leader Soobin would be angry). "hehe" Kai laughed rubbing his neck sheepishly, "Sorry about that I-" "Had a wardrobe malfunction" Yeonjun interrupted, "Yeah, I'm really sorry" Kai said going with the flow. The rest of the interview went horribly. Kai was trying frantically to act normal but his anxiety 'no! not his, Jisung-sunbaenims!' he told himself trying to will the bad thoughts away. His members were definitely not helping. It wasn't obvious to anyone but the members but Soobin and Taehyun were clearly pissed and Yeonjun and Beomgyu pretty much ignored him. There was no affectionate hair ruffles or cheek pinches that he usually got as the maknae and while the others all cooed at his aegyo it was clearly, to Kai at least, fake and forced. Or was that Jisung's anxiety talking?

Kai didn't know if he was relieved or terrified that their interview and performance was over. At least he didn't have to worry about emptying his rolling, cramping stomach all over the MCs but now he had to worry about being scolded by his angry and disappointed members. And after he had disappointed them this morning too!!! Kai swallowed his saliva and tried to calm himself in preparation of the dressing down he would receive as soon as the dressing room door closed. "Click" why did a door closing have to sound so ominous?! Kai bemoaned glaring at the floor shoulders draw to his ears. "Kai." Soobin's voice is hard and Kai can't help the trembling of his hands. Their leader never yelled or swore but in all honestly Kai would have rather have that then the leaders disappointed Dad voice that always made them feel so guilty. Taehyun on the other hand had no problem cussing, "What the fuck was that Kai?!" the second youngest asked angrily. "Hyun" Yeonjun warned, "Let Soobin scold him". "Kai" Soobin said again, "look at me". Kai couldn't move, his eyes prickled for the second time that day and his throat and lungs felt tight. 'It's not my feelings. It's not my feelings. It's not my feelings.' he repeated over and over in his mind. "Huening Kai!" Soobin's voice was a tad bit louder and Kai flinched, 'full name and raised voice Hyung must be so angry at me' he thought fearfully. A few tears escaped his eyes and he found he still couldn't move.

His stomach was churning and the flood gates had opened. He was lucky he was looking down so the others couldn't see his face. His luck ran out soon as Soobin took his chin and pulled his head up so Kai would look into his eyes. The leader froze in shock at the tears that dripped down the maknaes cheeks and onto the floor. "Kai?" Beomgyu gasped, "Baby are you okay?" Soobin's voice held no more anger only worry and Kai broke with that earnest question. He let his legs slid out from under him and sat on the ground in a curled up ball sobs wracking his body. His four members were by his side immediately, asking what was wrong and assuring him they weren't that mad. Kai was an absolute mess. He blabbed too fast for the others to understand but they picked out, "Too hard" "SorrySorrysorrysorrysorry" "Too much" "I didn't want to disappoint you" "Hurts" "I don't want to be like this" " cuddles" "I'm bad" and "why can't I be normal". The others were distraught at their youngests turmoil and he was enveloped into a massive group hug as everyone murmured assurances, praise, apologies and showered him with kisses and hair ruffles. As Kai slowly calmed down he remained silent in his members arms. 'It may not have started out as my feelings but it sure as heck showed me that I feel a lot of this too' he mused struggling to keep his eyes open. 'It was hard being a-what was he? A Healer? A superhuman? An angel? It doesn't matter' Kai concluded, 'I know who I really am. I'm a maknae. I'm a little brother. I'm an idol. I'm Huening Kai. That's what matters' he thought as the world slipped into calm, quiet blackness, sleep claiming him.

Tomorrow TXT would have to have a talk but for now they would just take there sleeping Maknae home and make sure he knows just how much he was loved. As TXT made their way down the hall with Kai passed out on Soobin's shoulders they passed Stray Kids and Jisung called out after them, "When Kai wakes up, please tell him thank you! He really helped me!" before the four young men could ask how Jisung and his members were gone. "I wonder what Kai did?" Taehyun wondered, Soobin shrugged, "Probably something awesome and helpful." The others nodded gazing at the sleeping maknae fondly. "He's our little angel." Yeonjun said quietly. Beomgyu snorted, "You're right Eomma". Yeonjun pouted and turned his puppy eyes towards Soobin, "Did you hear that nampyeon!!?" Soobin flushed and TXT headed out the door as Beomgyu and Taehyun cackled at their leaders red face.

nampyeon=hubby in korean
eomma=mom in korean

Chapter Text

“Babe! Babe” Seonghwa groaned and rolled over to bury his face into the warm pillow under his head. A low chuckle filled the room and the omega felt the bed dip as his boyfriend sat next to him. “Baby~” Mingi cooed, “It’s our free day today, I thought you wanted to go on a date” he said. Seonghwa just muttered something unintelligible and pulled the blanket over his head. “Fine. I guess you don’t want to go on a date with your handsome, loving boyfriend.” Mingi said faking a muffled sob as he stood to walk out of the room. “Nnnnghh” Seonghwa heaved himself up into an upright position and made grabby hands towards his boyfriend. “Awww you do love me!” Mingi cheered bounding over to the omega and scooping him out of bed and into his arms with hardly any effort. Seonghwa bit back a squeak of surprise at the alpha’s strength and opted to nuzzle his nose into the junction between Mingi’s neck and shoulder. “Hey hyungs” Jongho greeted them unfazed at Mingi carrying Seonghwa like a baby. “Hey Jongie!” Mingi smiled at the youngest alpha. “Did San make breakfast?” “Mm” the maknae nodded as Mingi plopped Seonghwa onto the couch unceremoniously. The eldest sent him a half-hearted glare that the tall man ignored in favor of grabbing breakfast for the two of them.

“Are you guys going somewhere today?” Hongjoong asked as Mingi loaded two plates with fruit salad and pancakes. “Yeah” Mingi peeked over towards the living room and lowering his voice replied, “I’m going to take Seonghwa to go to the amusement park, then take him on a picnic by the Han River and then bring him to the theater to watch that new Dragon Rider movie.” The leader hummed, “He’ll like that”, “Mingi!” Seonghwa called from the couch. “Yeah Hon?” Mingi made his way back to his boyfriend. “Gross” Yeosang muttered while walking past the rapper and Mingi raised an eyebrow at him, “Jealous Sangie?” the quiet man snorted, “In your dreams” he replied. Mingi handed Seonghwa his plate of food which the eldest thanked him for quietly. “Baby are you okay?” the alpha was getting kinda worried about his boyfriend. “ I’m okay, just still waking up” Seonghwa reassured him.
“You guys have fun!!” San yelled from his spot curled up with Wooyoung on the sofa. “Are you guys going anywhere?” Mingi asked the other six members from the doorway. “I’m heading off to the studio” Hongjoong said. “San and I are going shopping.” Wooyoung replied kissing his boyfriend on the cheek with a wet smack. “Me and Yeosang-hyung are gonna go find something to eat.” Yunho called from the hallway. “Jongho?” Mingi looked at the younger, “Think I’ll meet up with some school friends.” the youngest answered with a shrug. “Okay well, you’re not going to have as much fun as we are!” Mingi claimed smugly before pulling his boyfriend out the door. The tall alpha was ecstatic as they entered the cab heading towards the carnival. “We’re gonna have so much fun Hwa.” the rapper promised. Seonghwa sent his boyfriend an excited grin, finding his puppy like eagerness adorable.

Seonghwa was not feeling good. At all. His stomach was aching and heat built behind his eyes. “Gi?” he whispered leaning towards his whooping boyfriend as they rode a double seater go-kart. “Hmm?” Mingi hummed questioning. “Gi, I don’t feel real well, I- um I think my heat’s coming.” His boyfriend immediately lost all interest in the go-kart and pulling to the side of the track, turned to observe Seonghwa. “Babe why didn’t you say so earlier!” he cried worriedly. “I didn’t want to ruin our day…” the omega said guiltily. “Oh Hon, the day won’t be ruined. We can go home and cuddle and watch Dragon Rider and even have lunch in bed!” Mingi was clearly warming up to this idea and Seonghwa sent him a fond smile, “Thanks Gi”. The couple got off the track and headed towards the taxi loop. Just as they exited the park Mingi yelled, “Wait! I forgot something!” he spun towards Seonghwa, “Babe, stay here I’ll be right back!” the younger man sprinted back and Seonghwa flagged down a cab. “Hello, I’m just going to wait for my friend” he motioned back at the carnival with a weak smile, “He shouldn’t be long.” A few minutes later Mingi was running back carrying a plastic bag in his hands. “Sorry ba-Seonghwa-hyung” he gasped out breathlessly, “Sorry Ajosi” he ducked his head at the cab driver and the couple started out for home. Once they had arrived at their dorm, Mingi helped Seonghwa out of the cab and up the old stairs. "Hello?" the man called as they walked into the dorms. Silence. "Perfect! No one's home" Mingi immediately set out to make his baby as comfortable as possible. As Seonghwa went to change into comfortable clothes Mingi set up his room for the perfect movie/picnic in bed ever. He hung a blanket over the sides of the bunk bed to create a dark cave on the bottom bunk. He quickly taped up some fairy lights, unpacked the sandwiches, salad, cookies and drinks and placed the contents of the mystery plastic bag next to the pile of fluffy pillows.

"Babe?" Seonghwa entered the room, "In here!" Mingi called from the little nest. Seonghwa gave a surprised laughas he peeked in. "Is that why you went back?" he asked crawling in beside his lover. "Yup" was the reply as Mingi clicked play on his laptop and pulled Seonghwa to his side. "Thank you Gi" Seonghwa said earnestly. "No problem love" the alpha nuzzled his neck and lightly scented the omega to calm his pheromones. Dragon Rider began to play and Seonghwa cuddled up closer to his soulmate, his new stuffed Toothless clutched to his chest.

Chapter Text

It all started after the 2020 MAMAs performance. The performance had gone perfectly, no one had dropped their spears or swords/shields and they were all happy with a job well done. Exhausted the eight men muttered their thanks as their manager dropped them off at the dorms. "Come on guys," Chan urged herding his members (kids) up the elevator and into their dorm. "I'm sore" Hyunjin whined flopping onto the couch with a hand thrown dramaticly across his forehead. "We all are" IN replied sitting next to him and rolling his shoulders. "What's for eating?" Felix asked and Chan shrugged turning to Seungmin, "It's your turn to pick what we have Seungminnie". The singer bit his lip in thought, "Thai take out?" he suggested and was met with cheers and no complaints so he headed to the kitchen to place an order, "What do you guys want?" "Just get a little of everything!" Jisung called after him before slipping into the bathroom to claim the first shower. "Damn it!" huffed Changbin, he had been planning on taking the first shower so he could relax his muscles with hot water that, with eight men was rare to come by if you weren't in the first four showers.

"Yah! Wait for me!" Minho ran after the rapper but the door was slammed in his face. "Don't think I forgot what happen last time shower stealer!" Jisung called from the bathroom. "Shit" the dancer scowled and trudged back into the living room. "He didn't fall for it?" Hyunjin asked, "No." Minho groused, "I still can't believe you managed to distract him with cat pictures and then steal the shower" Chan laughed and Felix added with a grin, "When he realized what happened he was this close," the rapper held his fingers half an inch apart, "this close to deleting the pictures." "He wouldn't dare" Minho said confidently. IN snorted from his place on the couch, "I don't know hyung...he was pretty betrayed". "Orders in!" Seungmin called joining the others in the living room and sitting to the right on Hyunjin who situated himself so his head rested on the puppy like mans lap. "It should be here in 40 minutes." Changbin claimed the second shower and proceeded to turn on the TV to watch some Kdramas.

Jisung came out six minutes later hair still wet and grinning, "Did you guys look at twitter yet?" when met with shaking heads and nos his smile grew wider, "Stays are going crazy over our performance, especially the part when we spun our spears and Chan and Felix's deep parts." The other men all pulled out there phones to check twitter and couldn't help but have their hearts warmed at their fan's kind words. Changbin went to take his shower and Jisung took his spot next to Minho and Felix. "What are we watching?" the young rapper asked ruffling his hair to try and dry it out. "Lonely Enough to Love" IN replied. (AN- have any of you guys watched this drama?). "Ahh" Jisung hummed in understanding and quickly became transfixed with the screen. After Changbin finished his shower there was a quick scuffle over who would go next and after a passionate round of rock paper scissors Chan waltzed out of the room smugly. The other five who hadn't showered all complained but resigned themselves to scrolling through fan cafes (Minho, IN, and Seungmin), watching their performance (Jisung and Changbin) watching the drama, (Hyunjin) and watching tiktoks (Felix, of course). When Chan finished Minho went next and he took a quick shower so only IN, Seungmin and Hyunjin were left. They all took quick showers and as IN walked into the living room the doorbell rang. "Food!" Felix cheered rushing to the door. A few minutes later and everyone was seated at their table with the food spread out in front of them. "Here Sungie, try this". Felix plopped a spoonful of salad on Jisung's plate, "Thanks Lix!" The man smiled at his September twin and shoveled the salad into his mouth. "Well?" Felix waited for his verdict. "Mmmmm" Jisung have him a thumbs up. "Tastes good, what is it?" He asked. Felix shrugged, "a steamed kale salad with cranberries and some other stuff". Jisung nodded and went back to inhaling his rice noodles. "Aren't you going to give me some?" Minho pouted at the young Australian. Felix rolled his eyes but scooped a spoonful onto his hyung's plate. Jisung cleared his throat and reached for his water. His throat felt itchy and tight. He coughed into his fist and the others sent him a quick glance of concern. "You okay Sungie?" Minho asked. "Yeah I-". Jisung stopped surprised at his raspy, breathless voice. He took a swing of water that didn't seem to want to go down his throat and ended up making him sputter and gurgle as the water rebelliously tried to climb back up his throat. "Yeah, sorry i think I have a piece of kale stuck to the back of my throat." he lied. The others nodded unconvinced and went back to their conversations. Jisung didn't know what was wrong with him. He clamped his lips shut to hold back the coughs that threatened to bubble out. They were in the middle of a pandemic. He didn't want his members to think he has covid, then they'd avoid him and he really didn't want that. Of course if he actually thought he had covid he would immediately social distance. But his only problem was his throat. It was getting worse and he was struggling to breath or swallow. Did he really have something stuck in his throat? His eyes were starting to water and his face felt way to hot. He tugged on Chan's sleeve dazedly notice that his hand were flushed and slightly puffy. "What's up Jis- Aah!" Chan jumped in his seat when he turned to face his dosaeng. The younger's face was swollen and tears leaked out of inflamed eyes and down his red cheeks. His lips were puffy and hung open as wheezing, gurgling exhales burst from his lips. "Jisung!" The leader yelled, "what's wrong with him?!" IN cried jumping to his feet as Jisung gasped for air. "Walnuts!" Changbin screamed, "did he eat anything with walnuts?!" "I think Felix's salad had walnuts!" Minho exclaimed. "Get the epipen!" Chan ordered and the rapper was shooting from the table immediately. Chan was trying to calm Jisung down while the other six were busy freaking out. "Jisung's allergic to walnuts?" Hyunjin asked incredulously, "why didn't we know?" "I poisoned Sungie" Felix whispered struggling to hold back tears. "Is-is he going to be okay?" Seungmin asked. "I'm sorry! I have him my salad, I- I didn't know! Oh god oh god oh god oh god ohgodohgodohgod!" Felix was freaking out. "Felix-hyung!" IN tied to calm the freckled man down. "Got it!" Changbin raced over to Chan and Jisung who was in a bad way. Breath hitching and chest having as he coughed and gagged, fighting against his closing throat. Without hesitation Changbin stabbed the epipen into the younger rappers upper thigh. Jisung was relocated to the couch and after a few minutes he was back to normal. (Sorry if this is not very accurate, and I'm not going to have him go to the hospital). "So, you're allergic to walnuts" Minho said quietly. The dance had been the most quiet and hasn't said a word since his deduction about Felix's salad. Jisung meant a lot to him and he had been terrified as he watched the younger struggle to breath. "Yeah..." Jisung's voice was hoarse and IN handed him a glass of water. After taking a sip he continued, "sorry for not telling you guys. It's been years since my last reaction. It was back when it was just 3Racha," he explained. "I didn't think I needed to tell you guys. I almost forgot about it." He finished meekly. "Sungie, I'm so sorry, I-" Felix started but his September twin interrupted. "You didn't know lix, it's my fault for not telling you guys." There was a small silence then Minho broke it, wrapping an arm around Jisung's shoulder. "Guess you're our quokka now, your squirrel privileges have been suspended." The members laughed at Jisung's pout. "I'm still a squirrel! I just can't have walnuts." "Okay. Quokka." Hyunjin said smugly. "Yah!" Jisung reached over Minho to smack the older man and this time everyone, himself included burst into laughter. Some things changed around the dorm and in general. There was an epipen in the living room, in the practice room, in their studio and in everyone's bag. They weren't talking any chances with the saftey of one of their members, one of their brothers.

Chapter Text

HELLO EVERYONE!

SORRY THIS IS NOT AN UPDATE, IT'S BEEN CRAZY AT MY HOUSE, COLLEGE CLASSES, HIGHSCHOOL, AND NOW IT LOOKS LIKE MY TWIN MAY HAVE COVID.

I'VE LITERALLY BEEN HIDING ON THE SOFA IN A BLANKET TENT NOT COMING OUT WITHOUT A MASK AND ONLY TO USE THE BATHROOM FOR THE PAST TWO DAYS. MY MEALS ARE PRETZELS AS I'M NOT GOING TO EAT ANYTHING ANYONE ELSE PREPARES.

Why was that all in caps?! Stupid voice to text. Anyway, everyone please stay safe and wash your hands. Covid isn't over yet. Thank you all for reading this fic, I'll try to update as soon as possible (maybe next week?)
Stay safe!!

Chapter Text

It all started during that meeting in the stupid room fifty degrees too cold. TXT had just been confirmed to debut in the next few months and everything was still pretty tense, no tense is not the right word.... everything or rather everyone, was tentative especially Soobin who had been chosen as the rookie groups leader. The five young men were in a meeting with their managers and Soobin was cursing his decision to wear just a T-shirt and thin sweatpants. The others all had sweatshirts and were clearly unaffected by the frigid room. Actually maybe it all started earlier when the young leader didn't sleep last night or skipped breakfast this morning because his nerves made him nauseous, either way it brings us back to the stupid, cold meeting room.

He was trying to pay excellent attention and contribute good ideas because he was the leader, Soobin the leader....he could never really believe it but it was true and he needed to be the best leader he could possibly be. He needed to be strong, smart and work harder than anyone else. With that mindset Soobin tackled the difficult practices, meetings, MV filming, vocal practices and he was doing well. The only thing that he lacked was the ability to act like a leader with his new members. Not that they were difficult of anything like that! It was just hard for him, he's a pretty shy person and wasn't very good at taking command or giving other people orders/criticism. Especially his hyung Yeonjun who had been there for over five years and was an incredible dancer, dinner and person in general. 'He would have been better for the leader position' Soobin thought to himself often.

"Is that clear with everyone?" the manager asked them and everyone nodded, "And how are you guys getting along together?"he continued, there was silence, "Soobin?" The manager turned to the task boy who was nibbling on his bottom lip anxiously, "I-I think we are doing alright, we've been very busy so we haven't had a lot of time to get close quite yet but....." He trailed off with a hard swallow, the cold air was drying his throat and a dull throb filled his head. The manager didn't look very impressed, "well, as the leader you need to make sure your group gets to know each other and has good chemistry on stage and on camera." Soobin nodded, eyes fixed on the table, the other members remained silent their hearts aching a little at the scolding their leader was getting.

Once the meeting was finished the five men headed back to their new dorms. On the way Soobin cleared his throat and said (more like asked), "is it okay with everyone if we talk a little tonight and g-get to know each other more...?" "Of course hyung!" Kai squealed excited that they were finally getting some where. He and Taehyun had already gotten quite close and he had talked a lot with Beomgyu and Hyunjin but he hasn't really talked to Soobin at all. It was the same for the other three members, they had gotten to know each other but had yet to even figure out Soobin's favorite color. As soon as they got home Soobin hurried to pull on a sweatshirt and a pair of thick socks. His nose had started to run a little so he pocketed some tissues just in case. Jogging back to the living room he froze in the door way. Beomgyu and Taehyun were sitting together and laughing while Kai showed them something on his phone and Yeonjun-hyung did a little shimmy thing with his shoulders against Taehyun's legs.(he was sitting on the floor leaning on the second youngest).

Soobin's heart stopped. How had he been so stupid? Why had he thought just cause he hadn't talked to anyone or made friends with his members that they also hadn't. A leader for less than a week and he had already messed up. Swallowing down his disappointment he walked in nervously before plopping down on the floor across from everyone. 'Why had he done that!? Why across from them? Did he want to look distant or 'special'. Would the others think he didn't want to sit next to them?' "So um....." Taehyun started and Soobin shook himself out of his thoughts, "How about we just go around the circle with the basics?" Yeonjun offered and they all nodded. "I'll go first!" Kai said, "My name is Kai, I'm ------" the rest of what the members said flowed in one and out of the other. When it was his turn Soobin mumbled out his favorite color, number, animal and his favorite season. His head ached and he was struggling to stop from sniffing or coughing. They called it a night and the real leader heaved his dreary body off the floor and collapsed onto his bed.

The next morning he felt like hell warmed over. His nose was completely stuffed, his throat and lips were dry and painful, his head pounded, and chills wracked his sweaty body. Glancing at the clock he groaned at the time, 5:43 am, he didn't have to be awake for another hour.

THIS IS PART ONE! SORRY, IM WRITING ON MY OLD PHONE PLEASE BE PATIENT!

Chapter Text

The next morning he felt like hell warmed over. His
nose was completely stuffed, his throat and lips were dry and painful, his head pounded, and chills wracked his sweaty body. Glancing at the clock he groaned at the time, 5:43 am, he didn't have to be awake for another hour.

Deciding to just sit on the couch until 6 the bunny leader lowered his sore body onto the cushions. "Hyung! Hyung we have to go!" Soobin blinked into awareness swallowing back a whimper when the bright light stabbed into his eyes. "Wha?" He croaked swallowing hard to try and clear his throat. Beomgyu stood in front of him a little frown on his adorable face, "hyung you have to hurry up, we're gonna be late." He said cautiously. "Oh. Oh! Damn it!" Soobin shot upright and with black spots filling his vision staggered to his room to finish getting ready. As he tugged off his sweaty shirt he cursed himself for his stupidity and awful leadership. A leader shouldn't be the one making his team late, he thought miserably as he pulled his pants up. "Ow" he whimpered as a sharp pain filled his throat. Tugging on a thick sweatshirt he hurried from the room and nearly bumped into his only hyung by the door. "The others are at the van already" Yeonjun told him, eyebrows creasing in concern as Soobin struggled to put on his shoes without falling over. "Are you okay Soobin-ah?" he asked. The leader nodded(which was a mistake and made his headache 10 times worse). "My foot's just asleep hyung."

Yeonjun was sure the was something wrong with their leader. He was usually quiet but that was because he was always so focused on doing his best not because he looked three second away from passing out. "Hyung," Taehyun whispered to him, "Does Soobin-hyung look off to you?" The older nodded, "he looks sick" Kai added and Beomgyu hummed in agreement. It was a break time and while the others had say together by the air-con Soobin had practically collapsed where he was panting and chugging water. The other four watched as he winced when swallowing his water. "Sore throat maybe?" Yeonjun mused. "Yeah..." Beomgyu said, "he looked pretty out of it this morning".

Soobin was having trouble keeping his tears from overflowing. He want the type of guy to cry easily so he was kinda mad that this was making him cry. This being his for members sitting together staring at him and whispering. He couldn't imagine what they were talking about. Actually he could, they were probably talking about what a horrible leader he was. A whimper slipped through his lips before he could hold it back and his shoulders stiffened when the four others went silent. A single tear slipped down his cheek and he swallowed hard nearly crying out in pain when his throat burned in protest. "Soobin-ah?" His heart nearly jumped out of his chest, Yeonjun was suddenly next to him.

"Hyung." He croaked voice cracking, "do you need anything? Can I help you?" Yeonjun knelt next to him and in a voice unfairly soothing said, "Soobin, do YOU need anything?". "N-no". The leader answered, it was obviously a lie as another tear slid down his cheek. "Hyung you really don't look good" Kai fretted and that broke the dam as Soobin started to sob quietly, "Mm sorry I-i don't, I'm not a g-good leader, 'm not good. sorrysorrysorry" he hiccuped. "No Binnie-" Soobin sobbed louder at the nickname and threw himself into Yeonjun's lap. The eldest rubbed his back soothingly and continued, "Binnie you're a fine leader, you have to give yourself time. It hasn't even been three weeks since you became a leader!" "He's right hyung" Beomgyu and Taehyun chorused. "Please don't cry hyung, you're making me sad." Kai said with a pout. Soobin lifted his head, "Y-you guys like me?" the other four were shocked into silence at the question which caused Soobin's eyes to start welling up again but Yeonjun quickly wiped them away. "Of course we like you silly!" he scolded gently.

"But you guys already a-are friends and and 'm just a-alone." their leader said in a broken voice that had their hearts cracking. "Hyung we didn't mean to make you feel like that!" Beomgyu said, "Yeah," Taehyun continued, "You would hardly talk to us so we thought you were always busy and we didn't want to be bothersome." Soobin frowned at that, "I'm sorry, didn't mean to not talk to you...I just didn't know what to say because I didn't want to seem like I was being a controlling leader or something..." he trailed off when he realized how stupid it sounded out loud, "That's sounds stupid sorry" he stared at his shaking hands. "What you think isn't stupid Soobin-ah" Yeonjun said, "What you just said shows just what a good, humble leader you will become." The others nodded in agreement and Soobin smiled at them thankfully before the itch in his troat had him crunching into his elbow body shaking with coughs. "Are you sick hyung?" Kai asked worriedly when Soobin stopped hacking. "Y-yeah? Maybe..a little.." the bunny leader replied with watery eyes. "Aww" Yeonjun cooed and poked his soft cheek, "I've always wanted to do that" he confirmed with a grin. "Me too!" whined Kai, "Hyungie looks like he has the squishiest cheeks ever."

Soobin flushed at the attention, "You can um touch them if you want..." he said softly. Kai got closer and carefully poked Soobin's right cheek. The maknae then let out a dolphin screech that had the leader slamming his hands over his ears as his head rang in pain. "Oh-" Kai covered his mouth apologetically, "Headache" Soobin grunted burying his face into the crook of Yeonjun's shoulder. "Let's get you home Binnie-ah." Yeonjun said quietly and the leader gave a hum of agreement. They ended up having to lead the tall man to the waiting van and by the time they arrived home Soobin was snoring softly in the back seat, head resting on Yeonjun's shoulder. He was hardly awake when they dragged him up the stairs and into the dorm, choosing to put him in Kai and Beomgyu's room because it was closest to the bathroom in case their leader's stomach became upset. As they all tucked him in Soobin muttered, "Thank you for takin' care of me, I'll be better from now on." "We all will Soobin-ah and we'll become the best 4th gen kpop group there ever was" Yeonjun promised and the other three cheered quietly, "Yup!" Taehyun said determinedly, "And we'll be super close and have the best chemistry on stage, on camera and all the time!"

Chapter Text

Okay but I just realized so many of my fics are about TXT which is fine by me because I absolutely adore them but I hope ya'll don't mind if I start writing some requests about other groups!

Chapter Text

San muffled his cough in his elbow grimacing at the harshness. He hadn't been feeling well for two days now. At first it had just been a headache, then a lose of appetite and now a hacking cough that had his stomach churning and his meager lunch threatening to climb up his throat. They had practice today and everyone was hella stressed and he was standing in for Mingi again. He wasn't sure what the company saw in him but he was determined not to let anyone down. Which brings him to his current situation, locked into KQ entertainments bathroom coughing and trying not to throw up during their fifteen minute break.

A knock on the door has his breath catching and he swallowed back bile, "y-Yes?" He called hoping whoever was out there hadn't heard anything. "It's Woo, practice is starting again!" San groaned softly before replying, "Okay I'm coming!". With one last glance at the mirror San forced a smile on his face and strode out of the bathroom cheerfully chatting with his friend as they rushed back to the practice room.

"San wrong foot!" Hongjoong cried out moving to stop the music once again. "Sorry hyung" the dancer bit his lip and his brows furrowed. He was disappointing his members, again. A thought to just tell them he wasn't feeling well popped into his head but he quickly dismissed it. If they were disappointed with him for missing a step how disappointed would they be if he missed an entire practice!? The rationale part of his brain saying that they wouldn't care and would make sure he was comfortable was drowned out by the other part of his brain that was determined to prove himself worthy of being an Ateez member. Which was absolutely ridiculous because of course he was! But San's mindset just couldn't let go of that fear.

"SAN!" He started back out of his thoughts to Seonghwa's yell and looking up saw everyone staring at him. "Sorry what?" Hongjoong heaved a sigh, "Listen San-ah I know you're tired, we all are but you need to try okay?" ....he was trying....."Okay, sorry hyung" San replied with a small duck of his head. As they got back into positions Yunho sent him an encouraging smile and Yeosang who stood next to him gave him a tiny thumbs up. He had to work harder he told himself, if the others can do it why can't I? That was his mindset until darkness claimed his vision and he hit the floor with a heavy thud.

Jongho was worried there was something wrong with his San-hyung. The maknae was very observant and to be honest San looked a little off. His face was too pale and he was constantly gulping along with messing up AND spacing out! No something was definitely wrong with San. Maybe that's why Jongho saw what was going to happen first as San's eyes rolled back into his head and he crashed to the ground. "SAN!" Wooyoung screeched and sprinted to his close friend's side. Yunho rushed to turn off the music as everyone huddled next to San's still body.

Yeosang looked close to tears as San refused to be woken up. "We might have to call 999" Hongjoong said grimly as he watched the eldest shake San's shoulders. "He's waking up!" Wooyoung shouted and Jongho sushed him as San's eyes fluttered open. The dancer coughed wetly and slapped a hand over his mouth eyes widening in horror. Thankfully Seonghwa knew what was happening and sprinting for the trash can in the corner managed to grab it and shove it under San's chin before he started to gag.

It never seemed to end and by the time San was done throwing up Hongjoong had gotten Jongho and Yeosang pack up everything and Yunho and Wooyoung go get water for San and call their manager. Seonghwa and the leader has stayed with San, rubbing his back and holding his hair back as he heaved and cried in pain. "It's okay Sannie, you're okay" Seonghwa comforted the sobbing dancer as Hongjoong disposed of the trash cans contents down the toilet.

Within twenty minutes they were home and had bundled the sickie onto the couch with a bucket and a bowl of apple sauce that was eagerly hand feed to him by Wooyoung. San ended up choosing to watch Black Panther and even though he fell asleep thirty minutes in the others continued to watch quietly and enjoy each others presence, they had even face timed Mingi so he could watch with them.

Eight makes one team!

Chapter Text

It had been a while since the 97 line had slipped and it was quite obvious. The three of them had been getting exceedingly testy and a little more sensitive/easily frustrated. Everything came to a breaking point when Minghao fell during practice.

It had been an ordinary practice so far. As ordinary as a Seventeen practice session could go...... at least no one had ended up stuck behind the speakers this time! But that was all about to change when Seokmin and Mingyu decided to mess with their fellow 97 liner. The Chinese man was sitting alone on the couch, determinedly avoiding Jun's eyes as the older tried to get his attention. Minghao always got like this when he was suppressing his headspace, he tended to avoid all his caregivers as to not trigger his little side or as a way to 'prove he didn't need help'. He especially avoided his fellow Chinese member who was his main caregiver.

Back to the other twos evil plot, they huddled next to the water dispenser and began formatting a plan. "Okay Gyu so what we do first is distract him and then put the tape on his shoes!" Seokmin grinned in excitement, it was clear he was feeling little as he bounced a little with anticipation. Mingyu nodded in understanding and added, "we can't forget to put the writing the right way!". The two 97 liners plan was quite interesting. They had used chalk to write 'kick me' on two pieces of duck tape which they planned to stick on the soles of Minghao's shoes so when he walked the chalk would imprint the message on the floor. Paint had been an option but Mingyu had the sense to realize that it would make the others very mad at them.

"I'll put on the tape" Seokmin volunteered but his partner in crime shook his head, "I don't think you'd be good at that Minnie you should do the distraction." With a pout the other agreed and the plan was set into motion. Seokmin moved over to sit by Jun hoping that Minghao would become jealous and look over. As Mingyu slunk over towards the Chinese dancer Seokmin threw himself in Jun's lap with a sigh, "I'm so tired hyung" he whined as the elder looked down at him in surprise. "Are you feeling small Minn-". Seokmin scowled and sat up, announcing in frustration, "what I can't talk to you unless I'm feeling small?!" At this point everyone was looking over so Mingyu's job was a thousand times easier and he quickly stuck the duck tape on the soles of Minghao's shoes.

Meanwhile Hoshi had hurried over to Seokmin and Jun's side, being the little's main caregiver and all. "Minnie-" "Seokmin not Minnie!" snapped the vocalist. Scoups raised his voice to be heard throughout the practice room. "I know everyone's stressed and tired but let's run through the dance two more times and then call it a day, okay?" Everyone agreed and Seokmin hurried over to Mingyu as they both watched Minghao eagerly. The Chinese boy didn't seem to notice anything different as he got in position for his small solo at the beginning of the song. As the music began to play that's when it all went wrong.

Minghao leapt into the air and attempted to land in his usual stance, attempted is the key word here. As he landed the tape on the bottom of his shoes offered no grip and he went crashing to the ground. There was immediate chaos in the practice room as everyone rushed to the dancers side. Minghao was obviously trying to hold back tears and rein in his little side when he happened to look down and see the pieces of tape with the chalk spelling out Kick Me on his shoes. It was too much, the thought that someone had done that to him plus the pain from the fall had him dropping into headspace as sobs wracked his body.

Seokmin and Mingyu were horrified, their friend had gotten hurt because of them! As Jun comforted the sobbing little, Woozi turned to face the others with murder in his eyes. "Okay who's funny idea was it to put tape on HaoHao's shoes?" His voice was deadly cold and immediately Seokmin blurted out, "I'm so sorry hyung we just wanted to fool around!" The vocalist was close to tears as he observed his little brother finally settling down in Jun's arms. "Does 'we' mean you too Mingyu?" Wonwoo asked sternly and as the younger nodded he frowned in disappointment.

The other two 97 liners took a look around the room at all the disappointed and angry faces and slipped immediately, one after the other. Seokmin burst into tears and ran to hide behind the couch and Mingyu bowed his head and started to cry quietly. Scoups heaved a sigh as Hoshi hurried over to try and get Seokmin out from behind the couch and Wonwoo moved to tug Mingyu into a comforting hug. Woozi stood there looking a little guilty and Minghao started to cry again. "Alright everyone, practice is over. Let's get these little munchkins home." The leader called and those who weren't comforting a crying little started to pack everything up.

Once they were in the vans on the way home did things finally start to calm down. Minghao had fallen asleep to Jun's humming, Mingyu had stopped sniffling and Seokmin had stopped apologizing over and over again but he still hadn't stopped crying. When asked by their caregivers the three little's were at the ages, two for Minghao, four for Seokmin and six for Mingyu. The van with Minghao, Jun, Jeonghan, Chan, Joshua and Vernon arrived first so they decided to put on Moana , Minghao's favorite Disney movie for when the others came home.

The rest of the day went smoothly, Seokmin and Mingyu apologized to their baby brother,who had already forgiven them and then the three little enjoyed the rest of the day playing with their caregivers and hyungs. That night the three went to bed happy and carefree after a good evening spent with their family. And Seokmin and Mingyu were never going to tease Minghao again. Probably.

Chapter Text

"Guys...were's Yuta?" Taeyong asked , eyebrows furrowed as he finished his head count with only 21 members accounted for (excluding himself). "Is he not here?" Johnny stood on his toes to see over everyone even more. "He's probably just in the bathroom hyung." Haechan reassured the worried leader. "You're probably right..." Taeyong muttered, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. If only he knew how much trouble his member really was in...

NCT were doing a photo shoot at a farm, the theme was 'relaxed and warm country feel' or that's what their manager said. Yuta had been one of the first to take pictures, some by himself and some with Shotaro, as the only other Japanese member. Everything was going fine until Taeil's time slot and then Yuta noticed the two women. They were hanging out by the edge of the work space casually watching with their hands buried into their jacket pockets and masks pulled up almost over their eyes. The first thing that made him think something was wrong was the lack of badges however, maybe they had just lost them, after all they didn't seem like sasaengs. They weren't taking pictures or screaming to get the members attention, they weren't doing anything suspicious at all so Yuta shook off the weird feeling in his stomach and continued to watch the photo shoot. A few moments later the Japanese man looked back over to where the women had been and was relieved to not see them anymore, staff or not they gave him a creepy vibe.

This whole disaster came to head when one of the camera men approached Yuta and giving a small bow whispered, "Yuta-ssi staff request you by the water towers, they want to see if the lighting there goes well with your outfit." A little confused but compliant Yuta hurried around to the back of the barn, dismissing the voice in his head nagging at him to tell one of the members where he was going. When he arrived at the water towers (idk what they're called sorry) he stopped looking around and nearly jumping out of his skin when he came face to face with those two creepy women. They both held cellphones and squealed excitedly as he made eye contact. "Hey you're not-" he began but the one on the right cut him off, "Yuta-oppa~ you're on live stream can you say Anne I love you~?". Yuta froze, this was really not good, it would have been bad enough if they were just filming but that footage could be deleted. If they were live streaming he couldn't do anything to protect himself if necessary without angering people and his company. (stupid SM not taking care of their idols.)

"Sorry girls I have to get back to filming." he gave them a little nod and tried to turn around but one of the women grabbed his arms and he had to do everything in his power not to yank his arm away. Adopting a firm tone that somehow didn't betray the fear he felt he said, "Please let go of my arm, I need to get back to the photo shoot." The girl was to busy freaking out and shoving her phone in his face squealing, "Oh my god I'm literally touching him! Can everyone see this? I'm touching Yuta-oppa~!!!" Yuta tried to jerk away but her hand was like a claw gripping his arm in a death hold. "I-I really have to go" he cursed himself for stuttering but this was really starting to freak him out.

"Have any of you seen Yuta?" Taeyong asked scanning the work site with a furrowed brow. "He's probably in the bathroom hyung," Haechan said, "if you're really worried you can call him?". "Right" the leader pulled out his phone and hurriedly dialed Yuta's number. There was a ring coming from the chair by the large camera and Taeil picked it up, "looks like he left his phone." The eldest said. Taeyong turned to a staff member, "excuse me, have you seen Yuta?" The staff shook their head and apologizing, moved away. Taeyong asked loudly, "has anyone seen Yuta recently?" There were no yes's until a stylist Nonna raised her hand, "I saw him going around back towards the barn." "Thank you!" Taeyong started towards the back. "Hyung, what's going on?" Mark asked as he and the other Dreamies walked over, having just finished their group shoot.

"Yuta's missing and I have a bad feeling." Taeyong said grimly. "Yuta-hyung is missing?" A soft voice asked nervously and the leader turned to see a worried Shotaro with Sungchan right behind him. "Hyung's missing?" Ten jogged over to the growing group with Kun and Lucas right behind him. "Yeah, Taeyong hyung is freaking out" Chenle said. Taeyong moved though the clump of his children and speed walked towards the back of the barn. Exchanging glances the others followed.

"Please, I'm asking you one more time, let me go!" A voice yelled from the back and everyone started to sprint, bursting around the corner to see Yuta struggling as two girls clung onto him and tried to tug his clothing off. "Hey! Get off him now!" Taeyong yelled, "call security!" Johnny shouted and the two girls pulled back, before deciding to take the safe bet and turning to run away. The shoot ended up being cancelled for now and the members all headed off to their respective dorms. Except NCT127 who, pulling Yuta with them, congregated in a SM practice room. "What's going on?" The Japanese member looked around in confusion. "Shh hyung, just let it happen." Doyoung gently pressed his shoulders so Yuta would sit on the couch and the others had a brief struggle over who got to sit next to him before Johnny and Jungwoo won.

"I'm gonna order chicken okay?" Jaehyun asked to loud agreement, "guys what's-" Yuta began still confused. "Shh hyung, we're doing movie night and none of the dorm couches are big enough." Taeil answered him. Yuta couldn't help but smile, "this is cause of what happen today right?" Before the others could respond he continued, "I told you I'm fine, it's nothing, we're idols." Jungwoo scowled, "it's not 'nothing' hyung, it's horrible and disgusting!" (Don't be sasaengs y'all it's abhorrent). "Now shush and let us cuddle you" Taeyong demanded seating himself on the floor so he could lean against the Japanese man's legs. The movie started playing and as the members all gathered around Yuta and they passed around the bucket of chicken he said quietly but heartfelt, "thank you guys." There were answering hums and Johnny the an arm over his shoulder as Taeyong squeezed his knee and gave him a sweet smile. "We love you hyung." whispered Mark and all the others echoed the statement. "I love you too, all of you."

Chapter Text

Shotaro was slowly but surely adjusting to life as an idol. Of course there were some things he definitely needed to work on....for example his confidence. The young Japanese boy never understood how Sungchan, who was also new could be so confident and comfortable when filming. Shotaro, personally despised doing any filming that wasn't the MV shoot. He knew he wouldn't mess up that because he had practiced for hundreds of hours. No he was okay when he was dancing, but the NCT2020 Vlive? Hell. Hell on earth. The entire time he was on the verge of a panic attack and he had messed up, not putting the mic close enough to his face. He still agonized over that weeks later.

It was hard to work up the courage to open the door to his dorm room and walk out into the world were the chances of him messing up where very high, especially with him not knowing Korean well. Sungchan was the only one aware about Shotaro's issues with situations like these and, like the good friend he is, ended up doing a bunch of research and carefully approaching Shotaro with the possibility that what the Japanese man had thought was just nerves could be something called agoraphobia. Agoraphobia, the fear of places and situations that might cause panic, helplessness, or embarrassment. The definition rang in his mind and Shotaro tried to pretend it didn't fit his symptoms but they both knew it did. Agoraphobia, the word itself seemed ugly. Shotaro had no plans for this to harm his career, he had a plan that was working so far and he'd continue to follow it. Sure it was sometimes sickening to even leave his room, the intense fear of something happening that he couldn't control constantly lingered in his mind like a burr. But the worst that had ever happened before was having to hide in the bathroom before a Mnet showcase and practically slap himself out of a panic attack. He decided to never tell anyone but Sungchan about this because he was fine. He was. There would never be a need for the others to know. He was fine.

Shotaro was not fine. He had woken up with a heavy, knotted sensation in the pit of his stomach and he had to check four times just to see if he had his shirt on right before heading to the bathroom to get ready for the day. The shower was hell too and he struggled to place a name to the anxiousness he was feeling. There was no performance today, no interview or Vlive so why was he so worked up? A sentence from an article popped into his mind, "Sometimes there's no concrete reason for the fear, just the possibility of a reason is enough-" Shotaro quickly dismissed that thought and determined to get over himself ignored the swirling of his stomach and headed to go eat with some of the other members.

He needed open the door. Why couldn't he open the door? It was right in front of him, his hands worked fine, he had his phone, wallet, earphones and ID(he had checked many times) so why couldn't he just leave? Pulling his phone out of his pocket he quickly pulled up the weather forecast, 17% chance of rain...maybe he should get an umbrella he didn't want to get stuck in the rain. 'You're just delaying' a voice in his head told him. Pulled from his thoughts the door burst open, "Taro!" it was Jaemin, beaming at him from behind a mask, "Let's go!" before Shotaro could come up with an excuse to stay home he was being pulled from the apartment. Jaemin didn't seem to notice anything as they rode down the elevator, absorbed in his phone. Shotaro's chest was tight and it was hard to take a full breath. He seemed to forgotten how to breath without actively thinking about it and his head swam. 'This feels like the start of a panic attack' he thought terrified, 'I can't have a panic attack over riding in an elevator with Jaemin-hyung! Nothing's wrong, why-no I'm not having a panic attack, it's fine.' The door dinged open and Shotaro forced himself to breath, 'in and out in and out, I need to calm down I can't have a panic attack.' "Are you coming Shotaro?" Jaemin was waiting for him, a little worried at the paleness of his dosaeng. 'I could just let the doors close and stay in the elevator' the thought shot across Shotaro's mind but he was already forcing his stiff body after his hyung.

"We're here!" Jaemin announced as they walked into the practice room. A random assortment of members sat around with bags of food and they all looked up at the two's entrance. Shotaro's stomach was rolling and his entire body tingled. With so many people here, some that he didn't know so well it wouldn't be surprising if he had a panic attack. That thought only made things worse as he sat down next to Taeyong, working completely on autopilot. The members present were Haechan, Renjun, Doyoung, Lucas, Taeyong and Jaemin, obviously. "How are you?" Taeyong asked perhaps sensing something was off. But Shotaro's confused mind couldn't translate the question and he just stared in horror. 'He's gonna think I'm ignoring him!' Shotaro worried. Fortunately Taeyong, being the incredible leader he is understood something was up and repeated himself in Japanese. Relieved Shotaro tried to answer normaly, "F-fine hyung. okay you?" he flinched at the grammar error and glared at his fingers like they were at fault. "Are you sure?" Haechan mused looking him up and down, "You look kinda shaky." that was not the right thing to say -not that Haechan knew it would affect the Japanese boy that much- Shotaro hunched into himself and tried to breath normally, the feeling of dread rising into his throat. They knew he wasn't okay and he was probably gonna have a panic attack. Shotaro was not fine.

"-ro! Shotaro!" he jerked his head up and made eye contact with a worried Doyoung. "Ye-eah?" he said, the word seemingly expelled from his body as he dimly realized he hadn't taken a breath in a while. "You need to breath! In and out, come on kid" that was Lucas, at least he thought it was, his tall Chinese hyung's voice was pretty recognizable. "Mm okay" he blurted out frowning at the swirling in his stomach and the ache in his chest. "Of course you are but you'd feel better if you took a few deep breaths." Taeyong urged, Shotaro curled into himself even more, "Sungchan, where's Sungchan?" he muttered taking a choppy inhale. "I have his number!" Renjun practically shouted, "I'll call him!" The Dream member hurried to his bag and phoned Sungchan. Meanwhile the other five were trying to get Shotaro to take a deep breath. "It's okay Taro, you're just having a panic-" Jaemin began but Shotaro cut him off with a choked out cry, "No! 'm not!" but he was and he knew it. Panic filled his head and he struggled to his feet, desperate to escape back to his room, back to safety. "Shotaro!" they called his name but he was already at the door, yanking it open and slamming right into Sungchan's torso. The younger immediately wrapped his arms around Shotaro in a warm, tight hug and the Japanese man struggled frantically. "nononono I have to- I gotta nonono" he was hyperventilating and everything was way to blurry.

The six other members watched worridly as Sungchan calmed down the flailing man and carefully lead him to the couch before tugging him closer to his chest. "You're okay here, it's safe Taro" he didn't use hyung and that seemed to relax Shotaro a little and he slumped back into his younger brother, breathing steadying as he listened to Sungchan's heartbeat he let himself slip into a restless unconsciousness. After a minute of silence Haechan spoke up, "Is he okay?" Sungchan nodded, "Now he is, yeah." Taeyong moved a little closer and pushed Shotaro's bangs out of his eyes, "What was that?" Sungchan glanced away, "Umm I" Taeyong gave him a look, "Sungchannie, I need to know, he's my responsibility, one of my kids. I need to know so if there's a next time I can deal with it." The second youngest sighed, "We haven't received an actual diagnosis but both of us are pretty sure Taro-hyung has agoraphobia." Renjun looked confused, "Isn't that the fear of open spaces?" Sungchan shook his head, "It can be, but it's a lot more, it's basically the fear of being in a situation with no control, or the fear of having a panic attack, along those lines." "But-" began Doyoung but Taeyong cut him off, "Let's not bombard Sungchan with questions, you can look it up or maybe ask Shotaro later." the others nodded in agreement and Lucas, followed by everyone minus Taeyong, Shotaro and Sungchan began quietly cleaning up breakfast.

The group then headed home, Shotaro on Lucas's back with Sungchan holding his hand. The Japanese boy was still asleep and looked quite peaceful. "We're here now Taro," whispered Jaemin, "You're safe with us." All of the group knew they would protect and be there for the small man whenever he needed them. He was a NCT member, he was now family. Whatever it took to help him and make him more comfortable they'd do it.

Chapter Text

Yugyeom was exhausted. He had just finished a lengthy meeting with his new company and it ended up running late so there he was climbing into the back of his uber at a quarter after midnight. Of course Jinyoung-hyung had already texted asking him where he was but the maknae decided to not text his hyung back quite yet and maybe surprise him back at the dorm. The car pulled to a stop at a red light and Yugyeom found himself leaning against the window gazing out at the blurry brake lights and headlights illuminating the rainy night. A couple caught his eye and he watched with a sort of detached longing as the woman ran ahead with an umbrella laughing at her boyfriend struggling to get out of the rain. His eyes drifted over to a group of young men huddled under an awning beers clutched in their hands. They were laughing and shoving each other around. How he longed for that normalcy, that ability to just get drunk in public without having to worry about his pictures splashed across headlines and articles, "Innocent Maknae Shows His True Colors as Fans Catch Him Puking His Guts Out Completely Pissed Out of His Mind". He can't help but snort at the absurdity and tears his eyes away pulling out his phone to distract himself.

Scrolling through Twitter he found his spirits lifting as he was reminded of their fans love and appreciation. The car started forward and Geom leaned back into the headrest body relaxing as the anticipation of his comfy bed filled his mind. A blaring honk pulled him out of his day dream and a yelp tore out of his lips as the driver yanked the steering wheel to the left sharply, a curse leaving their lips. The out of control car whizzed by and Yugyeom held a hand to his heart a sigh of relief easing the tension in his shoulders. The relief was short lived as a jarring impact from the left had him throw forward head smashing into the headrest in front of him and collar bone protesting at the sharp tug of the seat belt. What happened next was a blur of shock. Police arrived and both the driver and Geom were taken to the hospital for a quick check up. Yugyeom was fine except for a small bump on his head and a bruise on his shoulder/collar/chest from his seat belt. He waved off any suggestion of calling someone and as soon as he could he got into a cab headed for his dorm. He was working on autopilot shock still heavy in his mind. A glance at the clock showed it was almost 2, 'hyung will be worried' the maknae thought blearily, 'I should text him' and yet his arm felt to heavy to pull his phone from his back pocket and he let himself stare blankly out of the window.

Moving in autopilot Yugyeom trudged up the stairs and fumbling with his key let himself into their dorm. He was immediately pounced on by Jackson and blinking around the entry way showed the entire group crowded around him. And they all looked pissed. Great. "What the hell?" snapped Jaebum angrily, "Where were you? Why didn't you answer Jinyoung's texts or our calls?". "Calls?" Yugyeom echoed dumbly, he hadn't heard any calls. BamBam slapped his shoulder, "We were worried about you man!" Yugyeom couldn't help but hiss in pain as his friends hand pushed into the bruise on his shoulder. "Geom?" Mark questioned worriedly.

"It's nothing" Yugyeom muttered cursing his shaking voice. "Geomie. Tell hyung what's wrong" Jinyoung said softly. A shaky exhale escaped from Yugyeom's lips. "I got in an accident. .. " "WHAT!??!! " yelled his hyungs in horror. As he was led gently to the living room and the members asked him concerned questions he could not help the tears that started to run down his cheeks. He began sobbing in earnest when Jackson pulled him into a cautious hug. The night or morning was filled with his hyungs pampering him and giving him all the comfort the young man needed. And if the manager found them cuddled up with puffy eyes the next morning, well who cares.

Chapter Text

Tensions were high in the Seventeen training room and the members were keeping their mouths shut and cautiously shooting glances at the leader line. Woozi, Hoshi and Scoups had been stuck in a meeting till 11pm last night and as soon as the door had slammed shut behind them Hoshi and Woozi were at each others throats. Scoups with the help of Mingyu had separated them and everyone had gone to bed with questions running through their minds. And now that same suffocating atmosphere hung over the practice room. Hoshi who was leading the dance practice, alongside Dino, kept singling out Woozi, criticizing every little thing he did and when Scoups called him out on it Hoshi started doing it to the leader too.

"Step back a little more Hyung!!" the dancer ordered, "Your feet should be exactly 2 feet apart!". Scoups pushed out a sharp sigh but did as asked with no retort. Jeonghan bit his lip wondering if he should intervene but before he had the chance Woozi snapped, "You need to grow the fuck up." Everyone instinctively scooted away from the composer as Hoshi strode forward. "What?!" he asked voice scarily level. "Just cause you're pissed at us doesn't mean you need to be unprofessional and let it affect how we work." Woozi replied, "Leave your personal life out of this." It was a valid point but Hoshi was to mad to admit it, "As the lead dancer trust me when I say you need the corrections I'm giving you plus some!" he snarled. Scoups took a step forward, "Guys-" both of them spun towards him and scarily in unison yelled, "Shut up hyung!" the leader scowled and the watching men gasped. Seungkwan slapped his hand over his mouth and murmured, "Omo!" Vernon beside him nodded in agreement, this was NOT looking good.....

Jeonghan took Scoups rapidly reddening face as a sign to step in, "Alright everyone lets calm down, take a water break and come back with a fresh new attitude!" he was blatantly ignored as Woozi continued, "Scoups hyung you have no place to say anything!" the angry man spun to face the other members before blurting out, "Scoups agreed to do an interview on the one free day we have this entire month!!" no one mentioned the dropped honorifics as they all whirled to face their leader with betrayed expressions. "You what!??" yelped Joshua and Jun looking like someone had killed their dog. The maknae line all let out groans and Wonwoo scowled as Mingyu stomped the ground angrily. The8 just sighed and crossed his arms, clearly upset. Jeonghan spun to face Scoups, "Is he telling the truth?" DK furrowed his brow and stood closer to his Jeonghan hyung waiting to see what their leader would say before getting upset. Scoups sighed, "It's not like that, I just thought it would be really good for our publicity and-" Woozi interrupted, "Yeah well a break would be really good for us not going insane." there were loud agreements to his statement and Scoups ran a hand down his face.

"I'm sorry you are all upset about this but it's kinda too late and-" once again he was cut of, this time by Joshua, "What the hell Coups? You just decided to give away our one free day without talking to us about it?!" "Yeah!" yelled Mingyu "Jun and I had a plan already!!". "Guys-" Scoups tried but he wasn't able to get a word out as his members all yelled and clamored about their ruined plans and his "misguided decision making" ~Wonwoo. He clapped loudly to get all their attention and in the two seconds of quiet shouted, "Practice is over, everyone's upset and you all need to cool down, I'll talk to you tonight." before striding to the door and slamming it shut sealing off the yells of indignation. He rubbed a hand across his eyes and jogged towards the elevators. He could hear his members behind him and he really wasn't feeling standing around with them in the elevator. Quickly pressing all the buttons he fidgeted anxiously. Ding~ with a sigh of relief he dashed into the opening doors and practically jammed his finger stabbing the 'close doors' button as hard as possible.

Just in time to as the doors were almost closed a pack of sweaty men rounded the corner and all of them look pissed. Because of him. He groaned and leaned his head against the cold metal, that had not gone as planned. He cursed as he realized he had jumped into the slow elevator, his members would already be in the parking garage, he had hoped to avoid them...oh well. Gazing up at the sign he watched as the letter P ran across the screen and with a slow ping the doors slid open. And Scoups stepped into a situation straight from a fiction novel. All his members were crowded by their van hands raised and trembling as three men with guns yelled at them to stay still. No one had noticed him yet and he quickly dialed the police mind whirling with what he could do. "Hello you have reached emergency services what-" "Hybe building!" he hissed, "This is Suengcheol from Seventeen, there are three men holding my members at gunpoint!" "Yes sir, we are sending men down right away---" the rest of what she said faded away as the men started to move closer to his members. The phone fell from his hand and he charged forward, "HEY! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING WITH MY BROTHERS!!"

Everyone's eyes snapped towards him as he charged the three attackers with a roar of fury. Unfortunately three men with guns had the advantage over the leader, no matter how pissed and protective he was. Hearing the sirens in the distance the three criminals did what they could in the shortest amount of time. One kept his gun aimed at the other members while the other two ran to grab Scoups, the second eldest put up a fight but in the end to the yells of fear from his members Scoups hung unconscious from their arms. At this point everyone was crying and screaming for help but it was to late. Scoups, their leader the man they had yelled at and pushed away was dragged into a dark sedan and the three men fled the scene. The police pulled up seconds to late. "THAT WAY!!" the members screamed jabbing their fingers at the back exit. A police car pealed away from the others and pulled to a park next to the distraught idols. What happened next was fuzzy for everyone. They were escorted into security vans and driven to a secure location, later on Mingyu told the others the police had given them fruit juice and shock blankets. Security footage was pulled up and police were dispatched all over the city. The members were reassured over and over again that their leader would be found.

"We were so mean" Wonwoo whispered brokenly, "I was so mean." Hoshi interjected eyes swollen and red. "We all screwed up horribly and now he's gone" sobbed DK burying his face into his hands. The8 was quick to comfort him whispering comforting words shaky and unconvincing as he ran through all the worst possible scenarios in his mind. Everyone was curled up on various chairs and sofas, pressed together as closely as possible. They were all trying to comfort each other but it wasn't working, their leader was stolen from them, probably because of them. "It was all my fault" Woozi said blankly staring at the ceiling from his position on the floor. He was the only one not cuddled up, clearly determined to punish himself for his 'crimes'. "Don't be ridiculous hyung" Vernon muttered, "We all fucked up." "Yeah but I was the one who made everyone pissed at Scoups hyung." Woozi's voice was strained as he tried to swallow back tears, "And because of that he called off practice and-" his voice cracked and he curled up sobbing. Joshua was quick to console him as the others dissolved into their own tears.

Suddenly a phone began to ring and nearly every member lunged for it, Jeonghan managed to snatch it up and answering it he gasped out breathlessly, "Yes?!". All the men crowded around the eldest as his expression crumbled with relief, "Okay, yes, okay I'll tell them." He hung up and whirled towards the others, "They found him!!" everyone collapsed with relief, hugging each other and jumping with joy. Their hyung was safe! "How is he? Is he okay?" asked Seungkwan anxiously. "He's fine," Jeonghan laughed, "That protective idiot threw a massive hissy fit and threatened to go back to the kidnappers or jump out of the police car unless they brought him to us." The members laughed fondly at their leader being so like him. Just then the door burst open and Scoups practically sprinted down the hall towards them. Eyes scanning them for injuries as he ran. The others did the same, running to meet him as they looked over his injuries. There was blood on his lower lip and his left eye was swollen but the grin that split his face was 100% unaffected by that. The man crashed into the group, enveloped in a tight hug as everyone tried to get him into their arms.

"Hyung hyung I'm so-sorry" wailed Hoshi clinging onto the leaders waist. Scoups laughed and yanked him to his chest, "Don't be dramatic HosHos you did nothing wrong" he comforted the wailing idol not bothered by the tears and snot soaking into his T-shirt. He hugged each member tightly assuring them he wasn't hurt or mad. Woozi was last, the composer held back eyes full of guilt and shoulders raised and tense. "C'm here" Scoups held his arms open and his best friend threw himself into them. Woozi gripped Scoups shirt tightly and buried his face into his shoulder, "You're a fucking asshole" he grumbled, "Next time don't charge three kidnappers who have guns brandishing a hydro-flask moron." Scoups laughed and nodded in agreement, "If it happens again I'll try to find a more suitable weapon." When a few members opened their mouths to tell him he'd better never do that again he held a hand up to shut them up, "Don't even bother, I'd do it again in a heart beat even if my weapon was a paper clip." his voice was final and serious. The members all fell into a group hug all thinking of how lucky they were to have such an incredible leader.

"Oh! That's right, we have next week off cause I agreed to do the interview that day, sorry about that by the way..." "HYUNG!!!!!"

Chapter Text

Jun never had to worry about being alone. That was the benefit of having 12 members. His friends from school, his parents and even interviewers were always stuck on the question, "isn't it to much? No privacy no quiet, must be troublesome". They didn't get it, they didn't get the way he Needed that lack of privacy, that constant noise. They didn't know that if he didn't have that his heart would start pounding, his hands would shake and his ears strained for any noise to reassure him he wasn't alone. They didn't know his eyes would blur and his stomach would twist into knots as the empty feeling consumed any rational thought he had. And so he responded with a laugh and said, "I got used to it".

Maybe he got to used to it. To used to the constant companionship, to used to not having to worry about his fear. He never had to tell anyone before, naively thought no one would ever need to know. The members knew he liked company but they never knew the extent, that he needed it not just wanted it.

"Hey Jun-hyung" Vernon stuck his head into the Chinese man's room. Jun tugged out one ear bud as Vernon continued, "I'm heading out to get some snacks, you want anything?" "Oh, Pocky?" Jun asked before going back to his game. Vernon snorted at his hyungs casualness and tugged the door shut behind him.

It took a while before the two cans of coke had made there presence know but Jun was steadfast in ignoring it to continue gaming. Eventually though he had to rush across the hall muttering curses under his breath. As he finished up and stood washing his hands the silence hit him. There was no noise but the sound of running water and his own breathing. He shut off the water and with a creeping sense of dread shuffled out of the bathroom. "Hello?" He called, taking a shuddering breath when his voice seemed to echo hollowly in the suffocating silence.

He called out again and when there was no reply he began searching the dorm with an increasing sense of urgency. Every door was thrown open, every dark room was searched, every bed was patted as if perhaps someone had hidden themselves under the covers. His breathing was picking up, he knew it because he could hear it wheezing and gasping into the thick atmosphere. It felt as though the air grew thinner, as if it left along with his members. 'They had left him', supplied his mind. 'they had left him and would never come back'. It was ridiculous, he knew that, the rational part of his brain told him to just go back to his games and stop being overdramatic, his members would be back.

'and what if they aren't? What if they never come back?' the irrational part yelled as the Chinese idol found himself stumbling into the living room. The air was thinner here where the most life in the dorm is- 'was' his mind said, 'where the most life in the dorm WAS, there's no life here'. And it was right, Jun's eyes blurred and with shaking hands he reached for Jihoon's sweatshirt that lay abandoned on the couch, there was no life here. Just him. Alone. All alone.

The desperation grew and grew inside him until it seemed to snap and flow out of his trembling body like ripples in a pond. The gasping breaths turned to hitching sobs and he sunk to his knees burying his face into the sweatshirt, greedily inhaling Jihoon's scent. The sweatshirt was to small, that didn't matter to him, he needed it closer to him, closer than just holding it. As his grasping and yanking hands pulled it over his head a loud snap seemed to bounce of the impenetrable bubble of silence and Jun's body froze.

He had broken a seem. It was broken, Jihoonies sweatshirt was ripped. The silence was overwhelming, his body was still, stiff with pure dread as his mind raced to supply him with horrible thoughts. 'you destroyed the last thing keeping you connected to them' 'even if they come back they'll just leave again when they see how pitiful you are' he shook and trembled on the hard floor, bile burning the back of his throat as his stomach clenched painfully. 'they. are. never. coming. back.' "noo" he whimpered and shoved his forehead into the ground as if the pain would stop his thinking.

Breathing was getting harder, his hands loosened on the torn sweatshirt, and he could taste the ramen he had had for lunch. Tears and mucus covered his flushed face and his ears rung. He couldn't see, he couldn't hear. He was alone.

Chapter Text

As his grasping and yanking hands pulled it over his head a loud snap seemed to bounce of the impenetrable bubble of silence and Jun's body froze.

He had broken a seem. It was broken, Jihoonies sweatshirt was ripped. The silence was overwhelming, his body was still, stiff with pure dread as his mind raced to supply him with horrible thoughts. 'you destroyed the last thing keeping you connected to them' 'even if they come back they'll just leave again when they see how pitiful you are' he shook and trembled on the hard floor, bile burning the back of his throat as his stomach clenched painfully. 'they. are. never. coming. back.' "noo" he whimpered and shoved his forehead into the ground as if the pain would stop his thinking.

Breathing was getting harder, his hands loosened on the torn sweatshirt, and he could taste the ramen he had had for lunch. Tears and mucus covered his flushed face and his ears rung. He couldn't see, he couldn't hear. He was alone.
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Jun couldn't move, he couldn't move as his stomach twisted and the overwhelming anxiety and despair forced him to throw up all over the living room rug. He couldn't move as his breathing grew thinner and his vision grew darker. He couldn't move when 15 minutes later the dorm door opened and his 12 members spilled in cheerfully. He couldn't hear the yells as they found him curled on the floor, a puddle of sick next to him and his ashen face a mess of tears and mucus. For the Chinese man it was as if all his senses had left him, there was nothing but his mind and that too, was dark and silent. He was partially aware of being lifted and placed on a soft object but it didn't matter anymore, his mind could not summon enough energy to realize what was going on. Maybe this was a good thing for he was no longer panicking, just floating. But as the haze started to lift and the black turned to gray and his fingers shook as the muscles relaxed he began to cry.

But this time there were people to dry his tears and he could hear them cooing his name and running their hands through his hair. A pitiful whimper broke through his cracked lips and he tried to press his head into the hand massaging his scalp, desperate for contact. Whoever was with him seemed to realize what he needed as more hands were on him. Someone was holding his hand, 'Mingyu' his brain supplied as the hand dwarfed his. Another person was stroking his cheeks, wiping away the tears and humming softly, it was Seungcheol. Someone had their hand on his calf and there were hands in his hair and on his stomach and a warm body laying right next to him and he was safe. He wasn't alone. A sob left him as he mustered up the strength to open his eyes, 'so that's why he couldn't see'. And he couldn't help but smile as he saw all of his members surrounding his bed.

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Minghao's pov.

He felt off. He didn't know why but it was hard to laugh along with the members as Dokyeom cracked a very bad joke that had everyone groaning in half annoyance and half fondness. The feeling of unease grew as the members went up in the elevator, jammed tightly together as they chatted about their days. Scoups seemed to notice as he leaned towards the younger man, "you okay haohao?" He nodded and shifted uncomfortably, "yeah hyung, I just feel off... "

He didn't know why his hands shook as he punched in the door code or why some sub conscious urge pushed him to rush into the living room before even taking his shoes off, ignoring the protests of his members. He screeched to a stop and it felt like his heart stopped to. Jun, his Jun was curled onto the floor next to a puddle of vomit. His breathing was fast and shallow and his shoulders shook with sobs as he clutched a sweatshirt to his chest. "Jun!" Minghao couldn't move, he was frozen as his members ran by squatting next to his Gege his Junnie and he still couldn't move even though he wanted to. He watched in silence as Mingyu picked Jun up and carried him towards the bedrooms as Jeonghan went to go get paper towels to clean up. The others followed behind Mingyu and the trembling man in his arms.

He didn't know how long he stood there, the image of Jun curled on the floor burned into his mind. He only knew it had been a long time, too long. Vernon was holding his arm and peering at him with worried eyes, "hyung, he's awake come on.." Minghao let himself be led to Jun's bedroom and hovered in the doorway as he observed the members surrounding Jun on every side. He seemed restless and kept clutching at everyone as if to reassure himself that they were there. Minghao felt his heart break because he knew, he knew Jun was big on being with people, he knew how he liked being surrounded by his family and friends and he had left him. Because he had not known enough, because Jun had not felt like he could trust him. The salty taste on his lips alerted him to the saltine tears sliding down his cheeks. "Junnie" he called and the older Chinese man met his eyes with a look of relief, "haohao! " his voice was filled with an exhausted joy and Minghao felt himself stumbling over to throw himself onto Jun. "I won't leave, I promise, never never. " sobbed Minghao as the two clung to each other like they could never be close enough.

That night was filled with cuddles and soft touches and reassurances as Jun reluctantly told them about his fear and everyone made a cow to never leave and to stay together forever. "Say the name Seventeen!"

Chapter Text

Chan knew something was wrong as soon as he peeled his eyelids open. His throat felt like it was on fire and his sheets stuck to his body. The leader closed his eyes in annoyance, he had caught a cold. great. No matter he told himself heaving his body out of his bed and wobblying to the bathroom to get ready for a busy day of schedules. His hope that a warm shower would ease his symptoms was crushed as his head begun to pound and the steam made his nose run. Resigned to a shitty day Chan forced a smile onto his face and strode out of the bathroom ready to face his members.

He was going to die. Scratch that-he was already dead and his corpse was repeating the same damn dance over and over and over again. The articfical light stabbed into his eyes like knives, his head felt like it was stuffed with cotton, his muscles ached like he had been run over by a bus and his nose had started to run again. Stray Kids were in the middle of dance practice before they went onto their personal schedules and Minho was trying to make sure they got this dance down solid. Which was exhausting for everyone but Chan was affected the most. Brushing off any concern he determinedly ignored his pain and chugged water like the issue was dehydration.

"Alright" Minho glanced at his phone, "Time for individual schedules".

If Chan had been feeling bad earlier this was on a whole other level. He had been hunched over his computer for nearly three hours now and all he had gotten from it was an ever growing pile of overused tissues, watery eyes and a dry throat that forced him to swallow every few seconds despite the pain. There was a hazy film over his mind and everything was being processed seconds behind. So when his phone rang from the sofa, tucked into his jacket pocket the leader just peered over and attempting to push himself out of the desk chair before giving up quite quickly. A sneeze caught him by surprise and with a low groan he grabbed a tissue to clean up the mess dripping from his abused nostrils before turning to glare blearily at the music on his screen.

Meanwhile back at the dorms the other members were getting worried, they had made a plan earlier to meet after individual practice to go to the new korean bbq that had opened recently and Chan was already 15 minutes late and wasn't answering his phone. "Okay" Minho sprang up, "Who's gonna go drag his ass home? " "Let me try one more time... " Seungmin redialed their missing leader and frowned as it rang with no response. "Well, I guess I'll go" muttered Changbin marching towards the door and Felix rushed to catch up to him. As the two left the rest sat in muted silence. It had been a while since Chan had ignored plans to favor work and they had hoped he had gotten rid of that destructive habit so this was quite a set back. "He'll probably offer to pay" scoffed I.N. with a mix of exasperation and fondness coloring his voice, "feel guilty for being late" continued Han and Hyunjin nodded in agreement.

"Hyung? Hyung! We know you're in there! " the two had knocked twice already and despite the light creeping out from under the door there had been no response.
Chan was going to cry. The pounding in his head had increased, 'oh wait... that was knocking' his fuzzy mind provided as Changbin's voice pierced his ear drums. Staggering to his feet proved to be a huge mistake. His legs were numb and tingly, the congestion in his head shifted, filling his nose and cascading down the back of his throat, his vision flickered and his shirt stuck to his back in a way that made it feel two sizes too small. The door seemed impossibly far away and he had to force himself not to cry.

Felix pulled his fist back to knock again when the door swung open, "Finally hyun-" Changbin and Felix froze at the sight that greeted them. There was a beat of silence before Chan was pitching forward with a cluster of wet sneezes, "ihh’Ksshu! hehhtSChhu....hihh’...iihtSSHH!!" The leader slammed a hand over his nose and mouth and flushed bright red muttered a rough apology, voice cracking miserably. "Oh hyung" Felix rushed to his side, hand placed on the sick man's forehead, "you're sick" Chan quirked an eyebrow "really?" He mumbled, vaguely sarcastic and somewhat bemused due to his foggy mind. Changbin had pulled out his phone to alert the other to the situation as Felix fought with the other Aussie to remove his hand from his face so he could clean up.

"Noo" the older man clamped another hand over his face, "Issa mess" he groaned ears flushed with embarrassment. "Hyung, where are your tissues?" Felix asked "I won't look but that can't be comfortable" "All gone" pouted Chan eyes welling with the small inconvenience as his fever made it's self known. "Hyungggg" cooed Changbin, "don't be upset! Here!" The younger rapper had ducked into Chan's studio and re-emerged with a T-shirt that Chan had for emergency coffee spills before meetings incidents. The leader groaned again but couldn't deny that he needed to clean up and that the soft shirt would feel better than a paper towel.

The members back at the dorm watched questioning as Minho's phone dinged, the second oldest read the message with a frown before looking up at the others, "Chan hyung is sick" "ooooohhh, he was looking a little off during practice" mused Hyunjin and Seungmin pouted, "We should have realized... " Another message, this time to the group chat from Felix, 'it's pretty bad, he's got a fever and is really congested' the members hummed in concern for their sick leader and it only grew when Felix sent a picture of the Australian sitting in the back of the car with ruddy cheeks and glassy eyes, shoulders curled inwards and one hand fisted around the seat belt across his chest.

By the time the sickie and the other two struggled through the door the lights were dimmed, water was boiling on the stove for tea and a stack of tissue boxes joined by a trash can sat next to Chan's bed. The second Chan stumbled his way into the living room where the other members waited he tried to straighten up. " 'm sorry for ruiding-uh(ruining) our ouning(outing) " he spoke, voice thick with congestion. I.N. was the first to reach him, wrapping an arm around the sick man's waist to help support him. "You're fine hyung, I just wish you told us you weren't feeling good" he comforted the leader. The other members chimed in in agreement assuring him that no one was upset and they just wanted him to feel better.

Soon he was ushered into bed after sluggishly changing into not sweaty clothes, he was to exhausted for a shower. "How bad was it hyung?" Seungmin asked Changbin, the rapper shrugged and dropped onto the couch next to the singer, "Bad, the poor guy was a mess as soon as he opened the door and almost cried when he realized he didn't have tissues" "Awwww" Minho stared down the hallway towards their sick hyungs room, on alert in case he needed anything. All was quiet and they had set up a film, playing on mute to keep their ears open for Chan calling when an hour later his door swung open. A human burrito plodded in and everyone watched, waiting to jump forward of he needed help as Chan, swaddled in his blanket swayed on the spot before taking the few steps necessary to plop himself in between Hyunjin and Minho, letting his head fall with a thunk onto the red haired dancers shoulder.

Hyunjin bit his lip at the heat radiating from the head shoved into the junction between his head and shoulder and mouthed, "his fever is worse". Minho ran a hand through Chan's sweaty hair and murmured, " how you feeling hyungie?" Chan grunted in response, shoving his face further into Hyunjin's neck. "Hyung, we need to check your temperature" Felix said, crouching down to the sick man's level, thermometer already in hand. With a low whine Chan pulled away from Hyunjin and opened his mouth for the thermometer. Minho continued his ministrations with Chan's hair and the ill man leaned back onto the dancers shoulder. The silence was pretty tense, everyone waiting for the beep of the thermometer which is why the members seemed to know what was going to happen before the sickie himself.

A harsh inhale and the leaders eyes we're snapping open, body wiggling as he tried to escape from the blanket cocoon before giving up and ducking into his shoulder, which happened to be right next to Minho's arm.... "ISSHhu! h-HptSCHh!” . A moment of silence and then the thermometer beeped and Chan burst into tears. Chaos, immediately, absolute chaos. Minho was using a tissue to clean up his arm and the bottom half of his hyungs face, cooing reassurances as the man hiccuped with sobs. Still unable to cover his face due to his entanglement. Felix and I.N. were trying to stop him from crying, Hyunjin was holding the sobbing man in a side hug and Changbin and Hand were frantically running around trying to grab things that might help.

In the chaos Felix called out, " his fever is 103.2!" Which went ignored as everyone was busy fawning over the now sniffling leader, freed from his blanket prison and pressing a handful of tissues to his face. So Felix took it upon himself to go get a cold pack and some fever reducers. By the time the younger Australian got back Chan was tucked into Minho's lap, the dancer claiming since he was the second oldest he was the closest to Chan's hyung and gets to coddle him more. The leader seemed to have calmed down after his apologies were met with forgiveness and assurances. The cold pack was applied, the medicine swallowed with a whine and the blanket rewrapped around him Chan was quick to fall into a restless sleep.

The next morning was greeted with a embarrassed but much healthier Chan, a bunch of giggling doseangs and a foreboding sign of a delay in rehearsals... "ha-hinttkzz" I.N. scrunched his nose, "Bless me".

Chapter Text

Soobin squeezed his eyes shut and inhaled shakily. The leader had woken up with a fuzzy feeling in his head that tempted him to just stay in bed with his stuffies but comeback era was approaching far to rapidly and the leader knew he couldn't afford to slip. Dance practice had been going about as dismally as he had expected and it was the third time he had messed up. "Soobin" the dance instructors stern tone had him snapping his eyes open and ducking his head in a bow, "Is there something distracting you?" her words were kind but her tone made it clear that there should be no distractions, just dance. "Ah I'm sorry I didn't get a lot of sleep last night" the young man murmured bobbing into another bow. "Alright well try to get through this dance" the instructor sighed and pressed play once again. "You okay Binnie?" Yeonjun whispered as he got into position next to the leader. Soobin gave a jerky nod, "Yeah hyung, just tired" "Okay.." the eldest didn't sound convinced but the music started and he didn't have the chance to ask anything else.

Luckily Soobin had managed to make it through the last run through without any mistakes to the relief of everybody. "Finallyyyy" crowed Beomgyu hurrying over to grab his water bottle, "I know right??" Kai threw himself onto the sofa with a sigh, "That took forever" he put an arm over his eyes. Soobin knew they were just tired, he knew they weren't mad, just happy to be done. So why were tears burning his eyes? He scrubbed his towel vigourusly over his face and when that did nothing to ease the lump in his throat he strode out the door with a choked up "Bathroom!". The man rushed without any destination in mind, he just had to get away as he felt the first tear slip down his cheek. He was slipping and fast, the halls seemed to get longer and his breath shook with suppressed sobs. The further he ran the younger he slipt and soon he found himself stumbling to a stop and sinking down to his knees as he broke into loud wails. Any regard towards getting caught fled his mind as the empty silence crashed down onto the regressed man's shoulders.

He sobbed furiously, all the emotions that had been piling up and being pushed away spilling out as his filter disappeared and his emotions were heightened in his young mindset. What had been an off hand comment was now his hyungs hating him, what had been a few small mistakes was now him being an awful dancer. "Hello?!" a voice rang from around the corner and hurried footsteps rushed towards where the little leader lay. If Soobin had been in a slightly older headspace he would've rushed to hide but by now his mental age was around 2 and the thought of trying to even get up was more daunting then being found. "Soobin-ah?? Are you okay?" the voice had rounded the corner and Soobin whimpered as he looked into the concerned eyes of Namjoon. He knew he should respond but all he could do was cry even harder and cover his face with his hands. Namjoon was already crouched by his side, hands fluttering above the other as he scanned for any visible injuries. "Are you hurt?" he asked frantically and Soobin shook his head, opening his mouth to try to explain, too little to care that his sunbaenim would know he age regressed. "I lil" he hiccuped and frowned at his voice, "I little" he corrected himself determine to not act like a baby for his sunbaenim.

"You're... little?" Namjoon asked glancing at the extremely tall man in front of him. Soobin whined and poked his head, "n here" he muttered. The look of confusion didn't leave the other man's face, "Are you saying you aren't smart? Soobin that's-" Soobin interrupted "binbin and im two" the silence after had the regressed leader curling into himself and slipping a thumb into his mouth. A look of tentative understanding light up the other leaders eyes and he said, "Hi BinBin so, uh, you're two years old?" Soobin nodded and was rewarded with a grin and an outstretched hand, "Okay, why don't we go see the other hyungs and figure out what to do with you? Buddy" Namjoon tacked onto the end. With a lot of help from the older man the little was upright and toddling next to him with a firm grip on his elbow. Namjoon tried not to laugh at the irony of the situation, the mentally two year old that towered over him and yet Namjoon felt like it was perfectly fitting as the man oozed a youthful innocence that could only come from a headspace.

"Hey Joon what was-" Hoseok cut himself off as he noticed the leader of TXT clinging to his leaders arm with tear streaks running down his cheeks. The other members turned to see what was going on and Jin was the one that spoke first, "What's going on Joon?". Their leader looked at the man next to him and then facing his members said, "Hey everyone please say hi to BinBin, he's two years old." Soobin did his best to hide behind the older with a whimper. Eyes squeezed shut to avoid any judgemental stares. He only opened them when Yoongi spoke out, "Hey BinBin, I'm Yoongi-hyung" Soobin blinked at him owlishly, "i know you Gi-sunbaenim" he whispered and flushed when a collective coo echoed through the room at his slurred speech. "Where are your..hyungs?" Jungkook questioned and Soobin's eyes welled up at the reminder that his members were mad at him. "Jungkook!" scolded Taehyung "You made him cry!". "I'm sorry I didn't-" the maknae tried to explain himself but was ignored in the bustle to comfort the weeping regressor. Soon he was bundled onto the couch with Jin stroking his back on one side and Jimin poking his cheek in an attempt to get him to giggle on the other.

Jungkook was quick to apologize but the regressed man didn't seem to hear as he gazed with shiny eyes and parted lips at the piercings dangling from the maknaes ears. Jimin laughed "Looks like the baby likes your earring Kookie". Jungkook grinned and shook his head sending the earrings swinging and clinking to the absolute delight of Soobin who giggled hysterically and reached for them with a clumsy hand. He had slipped younger from the tender comfort and was easily amused. As the others played with the younger man Namjoon pulled Yoongi aside, "We have to contact his members, they're probably worried" the leader said, Yoongi nodded already pulling out his phone, "I have Taehyun's number, I'll text him" the other rapper responded. A text was sent 'Hello, this is Yoongi-hyung, we have your leader with us, he seems to be in a headspace?'. Not even 3 seconds later the response came, 'is he okay?!' Yoongi sent 'all good, having fun with the members but I think he is upset about something, we are in practice room 18' Taehyun; 'thank you, we are on the way'.

Three minutes later the door burst open and TXT fell in chests heaving with exertion. Soobin startled and immediately started bawling as his members surrounded him. The little leader was overwhelmed by the concern and love as his members pressed soft kisses into his hair and cooed as he slowly calmed down, eyelids fluttering in exhaustion. "Hyungies 'ad?" he murmured eyelashes clumped together, the picture of adorableness with rosy cheeks and shimmering eyes. "Noooo!" they choursed, "Hyung's were just stressed baby, we could never be actually mad at our baby". Yeonjun reassured him to the loud agreement of the others. With that Soobin let himself fall asleep with a little smile peeking out behind his thumb. The TXT members carefully put him on Kai's back and with whispered thanks they were on the way home to spoil their big baby. The BTS members were left behind disappointed and hoping to meet little BinBin again.

Chapter Text

The dorm was unusually quiet that morning, the soft rustling of blankets and the faint sound of footsteps being the only audible noises. Seonghwa padded into the living area, blinking sleep from his eyes as he looked around. What caught his attention was the sight of Jongho hunched over the kitchen counter, nursing a mug of tea.

"Hey," Seonghwa called, concern lacing his voice. "What's going on? You're up early." The eldest leaned against the island, glancing at the jar of honey sitting beside the maknaes cup.

Jongho looked up, his face carefully devoid of emotion . "Couldn't sleep," he replied, his voice slightly hoarse. "Thought some tea might help." He made an attempt at a little grin and raised the mug to his lips with a thick sniff.

Seonghwa raised an eyebrow in disbelief and moved closer to place a hand on Jongho's forehead. The younger man immediately pushed his arm away with an indignant "Hyung!" Seonghwa huffed, "Let me check your temperature" "What why?" Jongho set his mug down and took a few steps back, "I'm just tired hyung, maybe a little cold but it's nothing." "Then let me check!" Seonghwa cried "If it's not a fever why are you worried!?" Jongho scowled and side stepping around his hyung he stormed into the hall snapping over his shoulder, "I'm not a fucking child 'mom' don't coddle me." He brushed past Yunho and slammed his door shut behind him.

"woahhhh" Yunho looked between the door and Seonghwa, "What was that?". The man just groaned and placed Jongho's mug into the sink, "He's got a cold and won't let me check his temp." "You know how he gets Hwa" Hongjoong said moving by Yunho with a murmered good morning. "He doesn't like to be vunerable" the leader swung himself onto the bar stool and began nibbling at an apple. "Who are we talking about?" Mingi asked as he entered the kitchen, "Definitely not you!" Wooyoung teased as he and San pushed each other to be first to the couch, Yeosang right behind them. "Jongho" Yunho answered Mingi, "He's sick and wouldn't let Seonghwa-hyung check his temperature." The giggles from the three on the couch quieted down and San popped his head into the kitchen, "Did he look like he had a fever?" he asked Seonghwa face furrowed in concern. "You know he always gets sweaty when he has a fever" Yeosang called from the sofa.

Seonghwa sighed, "He didn't look sweaty but still I don't see why me checking his temperature is such a big deal". Yunho patted their eldest member on the back, "It's just how our baby bear is" he said with a rueful smile, "Determined not to worry us or make us view him as anything but strong and capable." the dorm descended into quiet as everyone got ready, all of them concerned for their younger brother. 5 minutes before the van came to pick them up Jongho strode into the common area with a tight smile and a mask on his chin. "Hey hyung I'm really sorry for snapping earlier" he bobbed his head in a little bow towards Seonghwa, "But I checked my temperature and it's not a fever, just a head cold". As Seonghwa hurriedly assured Jongho there was no hard feelings the other members eyed the maknae up and down. "No signs of a fever yet" Wooyoung hissed to Mingi and San "Yeah but he looks like that reindeer with the red nose" San hissed back "YOU DON'T KNOW RUDOLPHS NAME?!" Mingi shouted dramatically and Wooyoung joined him with an offended gasp "Wowwwww San-ah clearly you don't like Christmas".

The other members choose to ignore the dramatics but Jongho discreetly tugged his mask up to cover his nose. The car ride was hell for the sick member. Yeah he might not have a fever yet but god why the fuck was his nose running so much??! Just when he thought it couldn't get worse as he swiped his last tissue under his mask to wipe the steady drip of mucus a tickle so sharp he audibly gasped tore it's way through his sinuses. "You okay bud?" Hongjoong leaned around Mingi with a worried frown. "Yeah" Jongho forced out turning towards the window to knuckle at his nose fiercely. "Mkay" the leader replied doubtfully. To Jongho's pure humiliation the next few minutes of quiet was intermittently broken by his hitching breaths as the tickle plagued his nose. Finally from behind the maknae Seonghwa dropped a handful of fast food napkins over the seat with a quiet, "Blow your nose Jongie it'll help".

The maknae grumbled something unintelligible but lowered his mask to softly blow his nose. Bad idea. At least in Jongho's opinion, yes it got rid of the tickle but only cause now there was no way he wasn't going to sneeze. He curled into himself and pressed up against the window before shuddering into his elbow, "HII-itscheeww! IiiTCHEW!" the van resounded with bless yous and Mingi rubbed his thigh comfortingly. Jongho didn't remove his face from his elbow, ears burning a bright red as he frantically sniffed back the mess that had rushed to the front of his nostrils. "Scuse me" he croaked out clearing his throat and avoiding the members worried glances. "God" he thought "I can't wait to get out of this van."

Two hours into practice the maknae was practically dreaming for the soft seats of the van. The past few hours had been grueling hell for the sick man. His nose had continued to run and after heading to the bathroom to clean up and change his mask four times he had given up and pointedly ignored the fact that his mask was visibly wet by just layering another one over it. However, that did nothing to help his cough as his air quality was greatly diminished. The members had agreed to let him come to them when he needed help during one of his bathroom runs but this was getting too bad.

“HAITSSCHH! IHHTSSCHHhhew!" Jongho snapped forward in the middle of a run and this time he didn't straighten back up to jump into position. The young man coughed desperately trying to dislodge the post nasal drip sliding down the back of his throat and when the fit was over he allowed a furious Seonghwa to lead him to the chairs. "I'm done with this" the eldest snapped at the others, "If he would rather keel over then ask for help I don't care if he thinks it makes him look weak I'm going to fucking take care of him!" "No one's arguing with that hyung" Yeosang said calmly, and everyone pointedly stared at the maknae who just let his head hang. "I think I have a fever now" he whispered with a wet snort. "No shit" Wooyoung murmered even as he hurried to the first aid kit to grab a thermometer.

When he came back with it he found the members sitting on one side of the room acting like they weren't paying attention while Seonghwa and Jongho seemed to be playing tug of war with the stack of masks on Jongho's face. "I got the thermometer what's happening?" the dancer asked. "Hongjoong-hyung suggested just one of us take care of Jongie so he doesn't get as embarrassed but now he won't even take of his masks cause it 'gross' " Yunho let his head thud into the wall behind him with exasperation. Wooyoung turned back the their youngest and eldest and marching over he hooked a finger through the mask straps, tugged them out of Jongho's hand and waved the thermometer in his face going "Say AHHH". It was a mess no doubt, Jongho's septum and upper lip glistened with mucus that Wooyoung ignored as he nudged the thermometer against a dumbfounded Jongho's mouth. "What the fuck hyung?!" the maknae croaked frantically swiping a sleeve under his nose with a disgusted expression.

"Jongho no one thinks of you any differently when you're sick." Seonghwa cut in, "It doesn't make you weak or, or lame or whatever you're worried about". "We love you Jongie" Mingi's voice was over brimming with determination, the man determined to make Jongho realize that they wouldn't think less of him, "Please just let us take care of you". The others chimed their agreement and then all lurched forward in horror as Jongho buried his face into his hands shoulders shaking. "Aegi!" "Are you crying???" "hyungie just wanted to check your temperature!" "Jongho don't cry!"

"hehhkhschh! Ihhxxsch! HA-IHHTSSCHHhheww!"

There was a beat of silence and then everyone burst into relieved laughter as Jongho gave a sheepish grin from behind his hands. He took the offered tissue and scrubbed at his nose, "Okay " he said softly, opening his mouth as Wooyoung gave a triumphant shout before laying the thermometer under the maknae's tongue. Everyone waited with bated breath and Jongho scrunched his face, twisting his mouth back and forth to try and subdue the tickle working it's way through his twitching nose. "Hmm!" the maknae gestured at his nose desperately clearly fighting the urge to sneeze. "Just a little longer Jong!" Hongjoong reassured, Jongho shook his head back and forth frantically. His eyes were welling with tears that could be because of the burning itch but were more likely the fever that had settled into him over the past two hours, his cheeks were rosy and sweat beaded on his brow. "I gotchu aegi, I gotchu" Seonghwa pressed a tissue firmly under Jongho's nostrils and the maknaes heaving chest settled just in time for the thermometer to beep. Wooyoung pulled it out and announced, "101.4 time to go home". Hongjoong gave a nod and the group turned to start packing their bags. "No!" Jongho cried out surging to his feet "W-whh- we still hab a hour Imb fi- ihhh-ihhTISCHEWW! ATttCHIIEW! Itsccccheww!" A beat and then "Yeah no sit down I'll grab your bag" "We're going home end of story" "You can't even finish a sentence yet alone dance" "Just let us take care of you Jongho!" and so before he even really knew what was going on Jongho was being buckled into the car, squished between a hovering Seonghwa and a fiercely protective Wooyoung yelling at everyone to be quiet even though he was the only one making noise. . It didn't take long before the sick man was passed out on Seonghwa's shoulder rasping snores muffled into his hyungs neck. "Omg take a video this is so cute" Seonghwa whispered, the members needed no encouragement and soon Wooyoung was filming the adorable scene. "iitcchewwah hittchhuu guh" "I GOT THAT ON VIDEO!!"

Chapter Text

Hey everyone! Wow, idk where to start... its been a longggg time, I don't know if any of you are are still checking in on this work but if you are or if you're a new reader attracted by the recently updated notification welcome!

You know those crazy author notes? Where they're like "so sorry I was hit by a car and in a coma for the past few months". Here goes mine;
Mom had three types of cancer and I was her caregiver(she's doing better now), and after a lot of health issues over the past years, my Grandma passed 4 days ago. But I can't blame either of those events for my hiatus the truth is I just haven't had the desire/energy but this summer I'm bored and determined to write again!

So...PLEASE LEAVE A REQUEST BELOW AND I WILL DO MY BEST TO DELIVER!!!