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fairyniceyeah · 7 months ago

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🧭🐶I’m afraid, I’m in pain, I’m okay

Title from Leave (Stray Kids)

Summary: After all the concerts and travels Seungmin gets an ear infection: He can either stay behind in America or attempt the painful plane travel with his members…

CW: emeto, medics, IVs

Sickie: Seungmin Caretaker(s): Hyung-line

It was the last concert of their America tour. Seungmin knew he should give his best, sing his heart out and dance like there was no tomorrow for STAY.

And he wanted to. If only he was feeling better. Normally he was the last person to admit to it but he was so done. There was nothing he wanted more than to crawl into bed and sleep for days. Sadly that was not to be part of his near future.

They still had about half of their concert left.

Seungmin was sure he was not the only member that was so tired. Changbin, his room mate for the past week, had been snoring the moment his head hit his pillow the last nights. Therefore Seungmin didn’t think he had any right to complain.

The tiredness and muscle aches were easily explained by weeks of shows nearly every evening. But Seungmin was also uncomfortably hot under the stage lights and there was a faint sense of dizziness hazing his vision. Or maybe that was the drops of sweat falling into his eyes. It certainly didn’t help that he hadn’t felt like eating the past two days – instead opting to sleep more. Not that it had helped apparently.

The whole feeling of unwellness was accompanied by an unwelcome, unhappy sensation in his stomach. Probably hunger, since he hadn’t eaten since lunch and his reduced appetite must have left his stomach achingly empty. That must be it.

But that still didn’t explain the strange feeling in his right ear. It wasn’t necessarily painful, just tender when touched. He hadn’t even realized until he had put in his in-ears earlier that evening. He had used the same in-ears for the whole tour so it couldn’t be that the right one didn’t fit. Maybe something had happened to it? He did have problems hearing the backtrack and the live-singing.

Well, he could deal with it. No need to involve the technicians during the last concert and no need to let STAY down.

🧭

It was around the last songs of the evening that Seungmin realized that he completely relied on the hearing in his left ear. The sound coming from the right in-ear was extremely muffled. It was hard to keep the beat and dance in sync with the others so he tried to catch Bang Chan’s eyes. The members had stopped for a talking break and Seungmin decided to use the opportunity to get his in-ear checked out after all. He didn’t want to let the members or, even worse, STAY down.

As Chan looked into his direction, Seungmin tapped his ear and pointed backstage. The leader nodded and the vocalist hurried off-stage. He needed to be back in time for the next song.

“What’s going on, Seungmin-ah?”, his manager asked, rushing around the corner to greet him.

“I’m having problems with my in-ear”, Seungmin replied, frowning a bit. Even after taking out the offending earpiece his own voice still sounded muffled.

“Okay, let’s hurry”, the manager agreed and frantically waved a technician over. The woman fumbled around with the device and handed it back to Seungmin. He put it in and gave her access to the mic pac.

“I don’t see a problem”, she said, looking a bit confused, “it should be working fine. Obviously, I believe that you are having trouble but I don’t see what could be wrong.”

“Do we have a spare in-ear?”, Seungmin asked.

The technician shook her head. “I’m really sorry, I was looking for it earlier since I noticed it missing but it must have gotten lost between the cities.”

“Is there anything else we can do?”, the manager questioned, looking at his wrist watch.

“I can do it like this”, Seungmin said, sounding more confident than he felt, “I can rely on the left in-ear. It’s only a few songs. Thank you, noona. Hyung.” He bowed a bit.

“Alright, take care”, the manager called at him as Seungmin already jogged back up to the stage.

🧭

The concert was over. Finally. Not something Seungmin had ever believed he would think. But he really had struggled to keep up in the end. He hoped STAY hadn’t noticed. Or his members.

While the others, full of energy and adrenaline, were jumping around the dressing room and celebrating the finished tour, Seungmin just fell down onto one of the sofas. He relished in being off his feet, at last not having to hold himself up anymore. The sooner they got to the hotel, the sooner he got to sleep. But that would mean he would have to move, get changed, walk to the car, survive the drive, get up to the room and shower. That sounded like so much effort.

Seungmin had no strength to pretend he was fine and he wasn’t sure he really wanted to. His head was pounding and everything ached. He was nauseous too - not “I’m about to puke”-bad but also not just a slight feeling of unwellness. Not having to fight this on his own actually sounded nice. Maybe he wouldn’t mind for once if his members did notice.

It was as if his mind had been read. The sofa dipped next to him and as he blinked his eyes open he found Chan looking down at his slumped figure with worry in his face.

“What’s up, mate?”, the leader asked without preamble. Probably hoping to surprise Seungmin and catch him off guard enough that he would let slip that something was going on. He needn’t have tried. Seungmin was ready to admit something was off. Chan’s voice had sounded far away and his ear was hurting even after taking out the ear piece. Seungmin was too tired to figure out what that might mean.

“Don’t feel good, hyung”, the younger whispered, pulling his left knee up to his chest to rest his head on it.

Chan was taken aback, so much was clear. He hadn’t expected honesty from his stubborn main vocalist. Seungmin didn’t have enough strength to feel bad about making him worry.

“Is that why you went off-stage during the talk?”, Chan asked. By now the other members seemed to have noticed that something was up, as the dressing room was suddenly awfully quiet. Sadly, it didn’t even help Seungmin’s headache much.

“No.” He shook his head in a tiny motion. “In-ear wasn’t working.”

“What’s going on with you?”, Lee Know asked, coming over to squat down in front of the sofa to study Seungmin.

“I’ve felt better.”

A soft, cold hand landed on his forehead. Seungmin sighed. It felt good. The hand moved away and he whined, trying to follow it with his head. Somebody chuckled and the hand was placed back.

“You’re running a fever, I think”, Chan exclaimed. Oh, so it was his hand. Seungmin shrugged.

“Can we just go back to the hotel?”, the vocalist pleaded.

His hair was brushed from his forehead and somebody affirmed his question.

🧭

Consciousness returned slowly to the young vocalist.

Seungmin didn’t remember getting changed out of his stage outfit, removing the make-up or the drive to the hotel. Somebody must have put him to bed.

He groaned, wondering why he was awake in the middle of the night. It was dark in the room, so it must be night, right? He had been so exhausted, why didn’t have his body mercy and let him sleep?

That’s when he felt it.

He scrambled out of bed, his legs nearly tangling themselves in the bed covers and they fell to the ground with him. He kicked them away and raced to the bathroom, one hand over his mouth.

Seungmin collapsed to his knees in front of the toilet bowl and heaved. Immediately his stomach started to expel its contents, retches taking over his senses. He clutched at the toilet seat, desperate to keep upright amongst the disorienting vertigo.

He felt terrible. The vomiting kept his breath from him and no matter how hard he tried he just couldn’t stop. The bile in his mouth and nose tasted bad and burned worse. His ear was burning and pulsing in beat with his heart. Everything was spinning.

Seungmin was sure he had never felt so sick in his entire life.

His strength waning every second, he was convinced he would die in there, a small hotel in an American city he had forgotten the name of. Either choking on his stomach contents or hitting his head on the bowl from dizziness, pathetic either way. He didn’t even know when he had started to cry but the sobs were wrecking his whole body.

He was shaking and, just as he thought falling down would be the way he would go out, a comforting hand landed on his shoulder. “Help”, Seungmin gasped, trying to clutch at the other person for stability.

Soon a hand found his and he held on tight, his lifeline in a sea of nausea and waves and tears.

“Min-ah, try to calm down”, a familiar voice whispered. His Changbinnie-hyung. “I got you, puppy, you’re going to be fine.”

Seungmin didn’t care just how childlike he sounded when he whined: “I want it to…” He broke off to throw up again, only a bit of bile splashing into the disgustingness beneath him. “… I want it to stop now.”

“Shh, I know. You’re doing so good. Hyung has got you.”

Who was Seungmin to doubt his strong Changbinnie-hyung?

He found it was much easier to breathe with the older man at his side. Slowly Seungmin was able to stop gagging every few seconds and Changbin guided him away from the bowl to lean against the elder’s chest. Tears were still falling down Seungmin’s face and he felt the disgusting snot on his face.

“Hey, baby”, Changbin mumbled, brushing Seungmin’s hair out of his face. “Are you feeling better now that you got that out?”

Seungmin wasn’t sure. He still felt so sick. Everything was lost to a feverish daze, drowned out by the pain in his head, ear and stomach. Even his skin seemed to hurt.

“Hurts”, he whispered, burying his face against Changbin’s shoulder. The rapper sighed and gently dislodged Seungmin from himself. Seungmin didn’t want to let him go.

“Seungmin-ah, I just need to flush the toilet, okay? And I think you need some medication. You’re burning.”

“Sleep”, Seungmin begged.

“Soon”, Changbin promised, “let me up a sec.”

It was as if Seungmin had only blinked, then Changbin was kneeling in front of him again, asking him to open his mouth. Seungmin gagged against the thermometer, pressing a panicked hand to his mouth.

“Deep breaths”, Changbin advised, rubbing his arm.

It didn’t help. Without any more warning more vomit spilled from his lips onto his sleepshirt. Seungmin could only cry harder.

“Oh, baby, you’re really sick.” Changbin sighed and wiped Seungmin’s mouth with a damp washcloth, then his shirt. Wherever he had gotten that from Seungmin wasn’t sure.

“Can we try again?”, Changbin asked, “I know you don’t want to but I’m really worried.” Seungmin couldn’t help but keep crying. He didn’t want to try again, he just wanted to sleep. But he knew Changbin would not give up.

“Can you hold my hand?”, the vocalist mumbled, blinking up at the elder.

“Of course, Min-ah”, Changbin replied at once, taking his hand in a gentle grasp. With the other he lifted the thermometer to Seungmin’s lips. Reluctantly Seungmin opened his mouth, fighting against the urge to gag. With his hyung’s hand in his hand it was bearable.

“38,9°C”, Changbin read, “no wonder you are feeling so icky.”

Icky wasn’t the word Seungmin would have used but he agreed it fit.

“I have some fever reducers here. Do you think you can try to drink a bit and take them? Then I’ll put you to bed asap.”

The magic word bed definitely helped. Anything for that. So Seungmin let the water bottle be tipped against his lips and he managed to swallow the pill that was placed on his tongue without any major issues.

“Bed?”, he asked hopefully.

“Yeah, let’s get you into clean clothes and then horizontal”, Changbin agreed and lifted Seungmin into his arms without preamble. The vocalist, while normally not happy about being carried, was for once glad. He wasn’t sure if he would have been able to get up, let alone walk, on his own.

🧭

“It’s Seungmin. Yeah, he’s really sick. Was running a fever and threw up tonight, hyung. Can you send a medic?”

Seungmin woke up to Changbin’s voice talking, apparently to Chan, on the phone. He blinked his eyes open and took stock of his body. The high fever from the night seemed to have gone down. He didn’t feel good but he didn’t feel as bad as he had before.

With shame he remembered crying and begging.

Thankfully Changbin was a kind person. He would never make fun of Seungmin for being sick and he certainly wouldn’t tell anybody just how pathetic he had been.

While his fever was not as present, the headache and the nausea were still there. All of it was triumphed by the pain in his ear, however. It hurt. Confused, Seungmin reached up to feel and had to bite back a cry of pain as he came into contact. It really hurt.

Changbin must have heard him as suddenly he was sitting beside Seungmin’s on the bed, smiling down at him.

“Good morning, puppy. How are you feeling? Chan, manager-nim and a medic are on their way here to check on you”, he explained.

“Better, I think”, Seungmin said slowly. Then, deciding he couldn’t and shouldn’t hide it anyway, he added: “My ear really hurts.”

“Your ear?”, Changbin asked. Seungmin nodded and turned his head.

“Oh shit, Min!” Changbin was staring at him with wide eyes. “Yeah, I’d say it hurts. It’s flaming red and … urgh, is that puss?”

Seungmin was about to reply when an urgent-sounding knock came from the door. Changbin stood up and practically raced to the door to open it, inviting their leader, their manager and the medic in.

“Hi, Min-ah”, Chan said with a lopsided smile. He sat down on Changbin’s vacated seat next to Seungmin. “I heard you had a bad night?”

“Well, except for the puking I slept well”, Seungmin mumbled, embarrassed by so many people seeing him first thing.

Changbin and the manager stood back, while the medic approached Seungmin and Chan. “Hello, Seungmin-ssi”, he greeted, “I’m sorry you are not feeling well. Can you tell me what is going on?”

Seungmin nodded and tried to push himself up to be at least sitting up, not lying down. But tried was the operative word. As soon as he managed to lift himself up a few centimeters his vision began to swim and tilt. He dropped back down, closing his eyes as he was beginning to feel like he was seasick.

“Seungmin”, Chan shouted in worry, causing the vocalist to flinch at the loud sound. The leader apologized immediately and took the vocalist's hand.

“Dizzy”, Seungmin gasped, grasping onto his hyung for stability. Oh, this really wasn’t nice.

While Seungmin tried to recuperate from the vertigo, Chan started to talk. “He admitted to not feeling good yesterday after the concert. He didn’t say what was wrong but he definitely had a fever. He was basically knocked out before we even managed to change him into comfortable clothing. Slept through the drive and everything. He was really exhausted.”

“I woke up in the middle of the night because I heard him being sick. He was throwing up for a good twenty minutes and seemed dizzy. Had a fever of 38,9°C and he was really emotional. I gave him some fever reducers and got him something to drink. He was knocked out until this morning”, Changbin added, “He said his ear was hurting. Look, it’s really red and there seemed to be puss coming out of it.” There was still a bit of disgust in his voice.

“I see”, the medic replied, “do you have anything to add, Seungmin-ssi?”

The vocalist shook his head, suddenly feeling small under all the worried glances. “Okay, can I look at your ear?”, the medic then asked.

Despite wanting anything but that, Seungmin nodded.

The medic put on some gloves and turned his head very gently, shining a flashlight into his ear. It didn’t hurt as much as he had feared, since he didn’t even try to touch it.

“That’s an ear infection alright”, the medic concluded quickly, “I want to take your temperature again but this is definitely infected. We can try to treat it with over the counter meds and ear drops. If that doesn’t help he should get antibiotics prescribed at the hospital.”

“An ear infection?” Chan grimaced. Seungmin hadn’t expected anything else yet he was devastated by the news. He didn’t want to be sick and he didn’t want to hurt. “Is he contagious?”

“No. Ear infections themselves aren’t contagious. Did you have a cold recently, Seungmin-ssi? That might be the cause of the infection and could be contagious.” The medic grabbed a few of his instruments. “Also, I want to make sure your heart rate and pulse are okay.”

Seungmin gave him access to his arm, then said quietly: “I didn’t have a cold or anything. Lixie-hyung was coughing a bit but I never was sick. Sure, run down and tired but that’s normal.”

Chan gave him an unimpressed glance but didn’t say anything about it. Instead he asked about a different cause of the infection.

“Well, you’ve been wearing your in-ears for the concerts a lot and if they didn’t get cleaned properly that could cause an ear infection. Or honestly, just wearing stuff in your ear constantly.”

Oh. Seungmin had been wearing his earphones a lot during the flights and the bus travels and sightseeing. At night he had been using earplugs due to Changbin’s snoring (which the rapper still denied). Combined with the earpieces for the concerts…

“That makes sense”, he muttered. Great. Now it was even his own fault.

Sometimes it was like the leader could read his members’ thoughts. “Min-ah, that could have happened to anybody. Don’t beat yourself up about it”, Chan said, “you will be fine in a few days, don’t worry.”

“Speaking of: Is he okay to fly today?”, the manager asked. Shit. Right. Seungmin had completely forgotten they were traveling home that day. Flying for thirteen hours on a regular day was terrible. With how he was feeling that would be torture. But staying in America alone? That was worse. Hopefully he glanced up at the medic.

He looked torn. “I really wouldn’t recommend it. The altitude and the pressure is already not good for the ears. Flying with an ear infection is not the greatest idea.”

Seungmin felt tears burn in his eyes. He didn’t want to stay here alone. He wanted to be home.

“Please”, he begged, tears he wasn’t able to stop flowing down his cheeks, “please, I want to go home with the members.” He didn’t care that he was begging again. Chan looked crestfallen, face full of worry. He gently wiped Seungmin’s tears with his thumbs.

“Is there anything we can do so he can make it home?”, Chan asked, “I mean, if he can’t fly today, I won’t allow it. I can stay here with him. But I know that Seungmin really would feel better at home.”

“Please”, Seungmin whispered, “please, I … I don’t want to stay here.”

The medic looked reluctant. The manager too.

“Please.”

“If your fever is and stays under 38,5°C until we fly and you can keep down a bit of food and water, we can try that. But Seungmin-ssi, you have to know it will be really painful. Once we’re in the air, you can’t just opt out, you will have to endure and it will hurt a lot if you are unlucky”, the medic explained.

Seungmin really didn’t care. “I want to be with my members.”

“Okay”, his manager said, “okay, Seungmin-ah. Follow whatever the medic says is best and the moment you feel like you can’t fly you tell somebody. We will find an arrangement for a member to stay back with you. Don’t be a hero, I know you too well.”

Seungmin nodded, relieved.

“I will get you some fever reducers and ear drops. Let your hyungs take your temperature”, the medic advised.

🧭

Three hours later they were at the airport. Seungmin’s fever had been at 38,6°C since the morning but he had argued and groveled enough that the medic had given up.

Lots of Stays were waiting for them to say goodbye. The vocalist was already dreading the noise level the screaming would cause. He had one of Chan’s beanies pulled over his ear to hide it from prying eyes – it rubbed against the fabric and Seungmin wanted to take the hat off. He obviously couldn't, so he tried to bear it. He wished for something to dampen the sound but that was the reason for the problem in the first place. What a hellish circle.

Changbin and Chan were walking at his sides, in fact all of the members had created a barrier around him to protect him. Lee Know and I.N. were walking in the front with Hyunjin, Felix and Han taking the back. It was very sweet of them and, despite knowing that Stay would worry about him due to it, he was very grateful.

The moment they reached the private area, Seungmin pulled off the beanie and sunk onto the couch. His head was ringing from the noise and he was feeling slightly nauseous again. But if anybody found out he was done for. So he kept quiet.

“How are you feeling, baby?”, Hyunjin asked, sitting down close to Seungmin. The younger one melted against him and sighed.

“I’ve been better, hyung. But I really can fly, I promise”, he said simply.

“Okay, I’m glad. Do you want to lay down and rest a bit before boarding?” Hyunjin patted his lap and, yeah, Seungmin had to admit that sounded comfy. So he laid down on his left side, his face buried in the elder’s stomach. Soft hands smoothed down his hair. Within seconds Seungmin was asleep.

🧭

Never before (maybe except that time Minho-hyung had gotten food poisoning and kept puking the whole flight) had Seungmin been so happy that, with all their staff, Stray Kids had the first class for themselves. No spying eyes, no cameras. Just peace and quiet.

Seungmin was sitting in a middle row seat next to Changbin. On Seungmin’s left was Lee Know in a lone seat at the window and on Changbin’s side was a manager. Behind them sat Felix and Han together with Jeongin enjoying a single seat. Bang Chan and Hyunjin were surrounded by two managers in front of them. The medic was a few rows behind them.

They had to wait quite some time until all passengers had boarded and then they still had to wait. Seungmin was starting to get nervous. He always had had problems with the pressure in airplanes. He was pretty scared how bad it could be now with an infected ear.

Changbin, as if sensing his fear, reached his hand over the waist-high wall dividing them and offered it, palms up. Seungmin didn’t hesitate to take it. He was feeling quite nauseous again and he wasn’t confident it was just nerves.

“Once we’re in the air you can sleep the whole flight, Min-ah”, Minho said from his other side, giving the two a small smile. “We’ll be home before you know it.”

🧭

The plane was gaining speed at a rapid rate and they were on the way home. It was barely two minutes in the air and Seungmin was regretting ever boarding the plane. His ear pain from the night and this morning was not even close to comparable. He squeezed Changbin’s hand tightly, pressing his eyes shut.

“Are you sure you don’t want chewing gum?”, Minho asked with a frown. Seungmin had refused his previous offer before take-off, knowing from breakfast that morning that chewing was also painful.

“Gimme”, he said, ignoring how short and rude he was. Minho didn’t seem to mind and handed him one of the small rectangles over the aisle. Seungmin put it in his mouth and chewed. It certainly wasn’t a good feeling but it helped the pain a bit.

But he soon found that the pain wasn’t even the worst thing. Just as the medic had explained earlier as his last try to stop Seungmin, the change of pressure had his previous issues reaching new heights. The slight dizziness was turning into full-blown vertigo, causing Seungmin to press his head against the headrest in an attempt to ground himself. It didn’t help the uncomfortable feeling of being a weightless bag tossed around at will.

Then the nausea hit.

Seungmin gagged, ripping his hand from Changbin’s grasp to press both hands to his mouth. It was as if his body was forced forward by the nausea, leaving him helpless in its grasp. Leaning forward, however, made the vertigo even worse and for a moment all Seungmin could see was static.

Then a retch tore up his throat and he was sick … into the plastic bag Changbin held under his mouth, uncaring of the seatbelts signs that were still on. Seungmin had a second to think to himself how glad he was that he wasn’t throwing up on himself before every control below his tongue was taken from him.

Waves of vomit came up and all that held him up was his Minho-hyung who was stabilizing his shoulder from the other side of the aisle. Seungmin was sure that he passed out a few times for just a second or two.

It felt like an eternity later when he managed to stop turning himself inside out. Minho was now kneeling beside him on the aisle floor, holding his hand. Changbin was tying off the sick bag. Chan, the manager, the medic and a stewardess were crowding his seat.

“We can still turn around for a medical emergency”, the stewardess offered, sounding worried, “we will have no opportunity to land somewhere unplanned once we’re over the ocean.”

As Seungmin lifted his head he saw Chan and the manager looking like they were about to agree. The medic was nodding already.

“No”, Seungmin rasped, “no, I want to go on.”

“What? Min-ah, you’re really sick and we’re on a thirteen hour flight. You’ll feel much better on the ground”, Chan said worriedly, running a hand through his hair.

Seungmin shook his head, nearly sending himself into a dizzy spiral again.

“I just wanna be home, hyung”, he whispered, “please. I’ll be uncomfortable wherever I am and I’d rather be in Korea.”

“I hate to agree”, the manager said, “but I do. I promise you’ll get a one way ticket to the hospital once in Korea if you aren’t much better when we land, but I do prefer Korean hospitals.”

Chan sighed and crouched down next to Minho. “Baby, are you sure?”

“Yes.” Seungmin was sure, “it will be better now when we are at the same altitude all the time.” He hoped.

“Alright, let’s get you some ginger ale and then you can try to sleep, hm?”, Minho suggested. Seungmin nodded tiredly and tried to sip a bit on the drink he was handed. His second-oldest hyung helped stabilize his hand as it shook.

“Do you want to lie down?”, Changbin asked and Seungmin nodded. His hyungs helped him unfold his seat into a bed so he could lie down fully.

“We’ll wake you when you are due for the next round of medication”, Chan said and toyed with Seungmin’s hair, “feel better soon.”

🧭

Seungmin woke up disoriented. He blinked. Everything hurt. His ear ached badly and he felt really nauseous again. And there was a distinct feeling in his bladder that only meant one thing: He would have to get up to use the bathroom. He knew it would suck. Tears gathered in his eyes and he couldn’t stop them from rolling down his cheeks.

“Baby, why are you crying?”, Changbin asked worriedly. His ever-attentive hyung was looking up from his phone on the other side of the wall that was supposed to give them privacy but now felt more like a barrier than anything. On his other side Minho was asleep.

Seungmin just continued sobbing. His bladder felt awfully full and he really needed to get up and relieve himself. But he knew he was too weak and too feverish to do so on his own. What was he supposed to say? He was an adult and it was more than embarrassing asking his hyung to help him to the bathroom. Besides, he didn’t think that he would even be able to move about in the cabin alone, so somebody would have to go inside with him.

He really didn’t want that.

But what choice did he have?

“I need to pee”, he whispered, feeling his cheeks heat up even more with shame.

“Oh, I was really worried. That’s not a problem. Let me help you walk there, hm?”, Changbin said, comforting him. He was already halfway out of his seat to round the aisle to be by Seungmin’s side, when the younger stopped him.

“No, hyung”, Seungmin whispered, his head pounding from the crying. “I … I don’t think … I … I need help. I’m so dizzy. I’m scared.”

“Oh baby”, Changbin mumbled, running his fingers through his hair. “Don’t be embarrassed. Everything will be fine, you’ll see. Give me a minute.”

It was as if Seungmin had only blinked, then Changbin was standing by his side and gently placed a hand on his arm. “Let’s get you up, okay?” Seungmin nodded and clutched at the smaller man when everything started to spin again. He gagged into his hand and Changbin’s eyes widened nearly comically. Nothing came up, however, or maybe he was too empty. Either way both of them were thankful to avoid a mess.

“What’s going on?”, Chan asked, appearing from somewhere. He was frowning again and he mustered them with worry. “Just going to the bathroom, hyung, don’t worry”, Changbin said and he must have been convincing enough that Chan backed off. Seungmin did love Chan with all his heart but his leader could be overwhelming at times. Right now having just one member knowing of his situation was bad enough.

“Slow steps”, Changbin advised and together they shuffled to the bathroom, Seungmin just trying to stay upright on weak, shaky legs. The fever was really hitting him hard, as was the vertigo. Oh, how he wanted to be home. But he’d need to endure a bit more.

Seungmin nearly burst into tears again when Changbin stepped into the cubicle with him but at this point he was just desperate enough to not care enough. Changbin did his best to help and give him his space at the same time, so while it was still embarrassing it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.

Walking the few meters had been exhausting though and so Seungmin was grateful when he was able to sit back down in his seat. All he wanted to do was sleep but instead of letting him lie back down, Changbin knelt down next to him and Minho, who had woken up from his nap, was holding out a bottle of ginger ale again.

“I think you are due for some more medication”, the second oldest remarked. Oh there were the bottles of medication the medic had given him on Lee Know’s table.

Seungmin whined. He didn’t want medication. He would have to swallow, which would hurt, and he was already feeling close to getting sick again. He wanted to sleep above all things.

“Come on, puppy, just a few sips and the meds”, Changbin encouraged. Seungmin shook his head, tears pooling in his eyes.

“Just wanna sleep”, he whispered, “please, I’m so tired.”

“I know, baby”, Minho tried, “I promise, once you take the meds we will let you sleep for the rest of the flight.”

That did sound good but it would still mean he would have to take meds. He didn’t want that. Seungmin was so tired and suddenly the tears dripped down his face. Crying wasn’t making anything better, if so they made everything worse. The headache, the nausea, the pain. He pulled his knees to his chest and hugged himself close. Seungmin didn’t know how long he sat there like this, crying and feeling sorry for himself. Maybe he should have just stayed back in America. Too late for regrets.

“Can … can Jinnie-hyung cuddle with me?”, the vocalists asked finally, without looking up and biting his lip.

“Of course I will”, Hyunjin replied. Seungmin hadn’t even noticed he was there but soon he was wrapped in a warm embrace.

The older had sat down next to Seungmin on the makeshift bed, close enough for Seungmin to feel his body heat. He hadn’t even noticed how cold he was until he wasn’t anymore. Defeated, Seungmin let himself fall against his chest, cradled like a baby. Hyunjin was rocking them from side to side until the upset had vanished, leaving only a bone-deep exhaustion behind. He closed his eyes and drifted off against Hyunjin’s shoulder.

When the dancer nudged him slightly, he slowly opened his eyes again, not happy with the action but also not about to cry anymore. He hated how fevers made him so emotional.

“Hey, puppy”, Hyunjin said, a soft hand coming up to play with Seungmin’s hair, “how about you try to take the medication and then I’ll cuddle you the rest of the flight, hm?”

Who was Seungmin to say no to an offer like that?

He nodded and looked around. Minho had sat back down in his own seat but still had the ginger ale and the meds at the ready. He couldn’t see Changbin and assumed he had returned to his own seat.

“Here you go”, Minho said and slowly Seungmin took a sip of the drink to wash down the first pill. Once he had all of them down, surprised it hadn’t hurt as badly as he had feared, he cuddled back up to Hyunjin. The dancer helped him to finally settle back down into a lying position.

Seungmin was already half asleep when something warm and wet touched his ear. He startled a bit, accidentally kicking Hyunjin a bit.

“Shh, it’s only a warm cloth, it’s supposed to help. Lixie googled it”, Changbin murmured and pulled the blanket up so that it covered Seungmin’s shoulder again, “sleep.”

Masterlist links: Fairy's Full Masterlist Fairy's Masterlist - Stray Kids

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