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fairyniceyeah · 8 days ago

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⌛🧸You are my Starlight

Title from Light (ATEEZ)

Summary: Wooyoung's emetophobia flares up when Jongho is sick.

CW: emeto

Sickie: Jongho Whumpee: Wooyoung Caretakers: Seonghwa + Hongjoong + Yeosang + San

“If you don’t play you lose. Kawibawibo!”, Wooyoung shouted in excitement which was swiftly turned into disappointment as he and Seonghwa both ended up losing out on first shower privileges. San giggled in joy and danced around happily, having won the game and therefore able to shower first. They had just returned to the dorms after a long dance practice and all of them were hoping to wash off the sweat as soon as possible. As San tried to get closer to Seonghwa, who looked less than impressed, the oldest shoved him off gently.

“Sannie”, he groaned, “just go take your shower.”

“Yes, hyung”, San replied, still grinning and sticking his tongue out at him as he was out of reach. He even walked backwards to make sure his oldest hyung saw it.

Teasing Seonghwa was fun. As he made his way to the bathroom San heard him complain to Hongjoong who was less than sympathetic, having wanted to go back to the studio as well.

“I wanted to take a short shower and sleep”, the oldest muttered, but it seemed like he had resigned himself to his fate. “As if you have ever taken a short shower in your entire life”, Hongjoong teased.

Once done with his shower and feeling much refreshed, San stuck his head in the room he shared with Yunho, informing him that it was now his turn. His hyung thanked him and gathered his stuff up from the bed leaving quickly. Not quite knowing what to do with his free time, San wandered into the kitchen, where he found Wooyoung preparing dinner.

“Need any help?”, he asked. Wooyoung turned around and mustered him up and down. “Sure. You’re not Yunho”, he jabbed. San grinned and took the knife he was given.

Sometimes he wondered why anybody in ATEEZ allowed Wooyoung of all people to hold sharp objects but at least Wooyoung wasn’t a hazard in the kitchen unlike San’s roommate.

San had always been a deep sleeper, never really waking up in the night and it was difficult to get him to wake up in the morning. He always told his members that the only reason was the comfort his plushies provided and how would he abandon his warm bed and Shiber for a cold morning? The members always teased him for it but for some reason if anybody ended up sharing San’s bed with him they never wanted to get up too.

Well, back to Yunho’s kitchen adventure. San had woken up from deep slumber a not so long time ago to the sound of the fire alarm blaring, Mingi’s panicked yelling and Hongjoong’s angry yelling. From what he had gathered in his sleepy daze Yunho had tried to make himself and Mingi late night ramen and for some obscure reason the pot had caught on fire. San had pitied his captain who had just returned from a late producing session to find the dorm nearly burning down. But in the end Hongjoong had helped them hide the damage before Seonghwa had returned from visiting his parents in the morning. Even Hongjoong was afraid of what Seonghwa would do to them if he found out what had happened. Now Seonghwa still couldn’t solve the mystery of where his favourite pot had gone. Since everybody faked innocence he till now hadn’t found out but not for lack of trying.

Slowly the meal took form and it was Wooyoung’s turn to shower, leaving San with strict instructions.

Hongjoong joined San to keep him company. Though he soon regretted it when Wooyoung returned dripping wet and shaking his wet hair over poor Hongjoong who just got dry, all the while cackling loudly. Hongjoong rolled his eyes in annoyance. “Wooyoung, why don’t you wake up Jongho-yah? It’s his turn to shower after you. He fell asleep on the couch and we all know he always needs a little time to wake up.”

“Sir, yes, sir”, Wooyoung replied, offering a two finger military salute, and crossed into the living room to wake up the older man.

San rolled his eyes as he heard Wooyoung sing “Get up” by Na Sangdo on top of his lungs. He had just gotten that song unstuck from his head after performing it with Yunho during the Salary Lupin episode.

What he didn’t expect was the sudden scream from Wooyoung and then silence. Hongjoong also turned around from the stove at the sound and they both looked at each other in confusion before Hongjoong turned off the stove and they both ran to the living room.

⌛

Nothing could have prepared San for the view he was greeted with. Wooyoung was standing frozen in the middle of the living room, mouth open in shock and whole body shaking. Jongho was still lying on the couch, though hanging his head over the edge and there was a disgusting, chunky, yellowish puddle of vomit coating the floor. And Wooyoung’s socks and lower pants.

Shit. This was not ideal.

“Jongho-yah, you could have told us that you felt sick before”, Hongjoong said weakly, probably mentally trying to prepare himself for the next hours. His voice dripped with sympathy for their youngest, clearly worried.

“Wooyoungie?”, San whispered, reaching out to his best friend. He felt bad about leaving the sick youngest to Hongjoong alone but he needed to get Wooyoung out of the situation ASAP.

“Wooyoungie?”, San tried again as he got no answer. Cautiously he stepped forward, turned Wooyoung away from looking at Jongho and knelt down next to his friend, trying to assess the damage. He definitely didn’t want to touch their makneas’s puke with his bare hands, so he slipped off his own socks to use them as a barrier.

He helped Wooyoung stay steady as he gently pulled down his right sock and helped Wooyoung balance as he got the shaken but obedient man to lift his foot. Then his left sock was off and San tossed them as well as his own to the side. He got up and said: “Your trousers?”

Wooyoung showed no reaction, silent tears flowing down his cheeks. San heard a whimper behind them, not sure if that meant Jongho was about to be sick again but wanting to avoid that in Wooyoung’s presence. He grabbed Wooyoung’s hands and pulled him to the door.

Miraculously - and very unhelpfully - none of the other members had been alerted by the commotion.

“Hongjoong-hyung, I’m taking Wooyoungie to the bathroom”, he called out to his captain-hyung, getting a nod in approval. Hongjoong was talking quietly to Jongho who was still really pale and swallowing visibly, having pulled a trash can close. San ignored them in favour of yelling for Yeosang, knowing he needed the other man to help with the shaken youngest of their trio.

Yeosang stuck his head out of the door of his room and gasped. Immediately Seonghwa appeared behind him, both of them looking like comic characters with just their heads showing at different heights. San would have laughed if the situation wasn’t so dire. Wooyoung was clutching his hand with all his might, eyes clenched shut and still trembling like he was going to fall apart.

“Wooyoungie is sick?”, Yeosang asked and ran over to check on their friend. San shuddered – that would be a nightmare. It had happened once that Wooyoung got the stomach flu despite all their precautions and none of them really wanted to remember how much he had suffered under the illness and the constant panic. He shook his head as they led Wooyoung into the bathroom. “Jjongie is sick.”

“Oh”, Yeosang frowned, then turned his attention to Wooyoung. He didn’t even spare a glance at Seonghwa now, who told them he was going to check on Jongho. “Let’s sit you down on the toilet seat, okay? We can take off your trousers and then we can take a shower, okay?”

Wooyoung showed no reaction, so Yeosang just unbuttoned his pants and slid them down, before helping their unsteady friend to sit. Carefully they tucked the soiled garments over his feet and as San continued to hold Wooyoung’s hand, Yeosang started to strip out of his own clothes. There was no way they would let Wooyoung shower alone right now.

Carefully Yeosang and Wooyoung stepped into the shower, their youngest compliant in their hands until San tried to pull away. Panickily he clutched San’s hand tighter, not wanting to give up the little comfort it provided. San shushed the little whimpers he let out. It was the first sound Wooyoung had made since the scream and it broke their hearts to see their always happy friend reduced to tears due to his phobia.

Yeosang started the shower; the new, comforting input was enough to calm Wooyoung down so that San could step away to throw the clothes into the trash can to dispose of them later. There was no way Wooyoung would ever want to wear them again.

San took off his own shirt, not wanting it to get wet when he helped Wooyoung in the shower. But before that he quickly washed his hands, knowing he hadn’t touched the dirty parts of the clothes but wanting to give Wooyoung (and himself) a little relief. Maybe it was more for his own benefit - he wasn’t sure if Wooyoung was even aware enough of his movements. Still, he wanted to return to Wooyoung’s side as soon as possible.

⌛

Once the water had washed off all traces of sickness Yeosang and San helped Wooyoung sit down on the shower floor. Yeosang took out his own precious body wash, pushing out a generous amount and started to lather Wooyoung’s body in bubbles. San stayed close, one hand holding Wooyoung’s ankle to ground him.

They stayed in the water for as long as Wooyoung needed to feel clean again, knowing that while it wasn’t rational and he was already clean, it helped him to calm down to stay for longer. They wouldn’t take it away from him.

“I wanna sleep”, Wooyoung mumbled, nearly fifteen minutes later. He had rested his head against Yeosang’s shoulder and the tension in his body had slowly subsided.

“Alright”, San whispered and while Yeosang shut off the water he got a fluffy towel to make a Wooyoung-burrito. As he said it aloud, encouraging Wooyoung to step out into the real world again, the younger one even giggled a bit. It was far from his normal laugh that everybody loved but it was a start. San hugged Wooyoung close all the while rubbing him dry, as Yeosang got himself dried up.

“What do we do?”, Yeosang asked quietly. “We can’t have them share the dorm like this. The walls aren’t really soundproof - if Jjongie … well, we’ll all be able to hear. Wooyoungie can’t handle that.”

“What if we take him to the managers’ dorm?”, San suggested. While most of their managers had family, there were always at least one or two managers staying the night in the apartment across from theirs to be available to the group. It had been quite useful in the past.

Yeosang tilted his head in contemplation. “Yeah, that might work. Will you call Hyunseok-hyung?”

San nodded, already pulling his phone out to call their manager who was scheduled to stay the night. Yeosang turned back to comfort Wooyoung, while San stepped out into the hall.

“Hi, Sannie. What can I do for you?”, Manager Hyunseok asked as the call went through.

“Jongho threw up”, San said, sparing no time for formalities, “we were wondering if we could take Wooyoung to your apartment so we can keep him separated from Jongho? He already had a panic attack once.”

“Yes, yes of course”, the manager agreed. They all knew about Wooyoung’s phobia - it wasn’t the first time a member was sick after all. “Do you need anything? Should I come over to help with something?”

“No, it’s okay, thank you. We’ll be over soon,” San said before hanging up hurriedly. They needed to get Wooyoung to safety and free the bathroom for their sick youngest swiftly.

So San stepped back into the bathroom and lifted the exhausted Wooyoung, still wrapped in the towel, into his arms. Wooyoung gave a content sigh and cuddled closely, resting his head on San’s shoulder. Yeosang wrapped his own towel around his waist and peaked outside the bathroom, giving a thumbs up. San, holding on tightly, followed him to the room the other two shared and set down Wooyoung on Yeosang’s lower bunk.

“Let’s get you into comfy clothes”, San suggested and moved around to find him a new set of pyjamas to wear, as well as a new shirt for himself as he had abandoned his old one in the bathroom. Wooyoung whined a bit at the loss of contact but as it was the norm for him so San wasn’t as worried as before. Yeosang meanwhile also changed into pajamas so they could go over to the manager’s dorm quickly.

Once Hyunseok let them in, they spread out on the big couch in the living room, cuddling close to each other. Yeosang would probably fall off the couch in the middle of the night, not quite as fast as San to claim the backrest side. Well, that would be Yeosang’s problem - for now they could rest.

⌛

Seonghwa rushed to the living room as soon as he heard that their youngest was sick. He was a bit confused about what had transpired but the state of Wooyoung was enough evidence that he knew something bad was up. He found Hongjoong kneeling on the floor at one end of the sofa, one of the older blankets they had meant to donate sooner or later thrown over an obvious puddle of sick on the floor. Jongho was lying on the couch, a trash bin by his head and he looked positively awful. Pale, sweaty and incredibly nauseous.

Seonghwa took a moment to observe Hongjoong and Jongho without being noticed, smiling to himself at how far they both had come. Hongjoong was brushing back Jongho’s red hair in obvious worry, gently shushing the now mostly silently crying maknae. Listening closely he could make out the phrases ‘I’m sorry’ and ‘Wooyoungie-hyung’. Seonghwa felt bad for the poor maknae, always trying to be so strong and who had now very unintentionally without being at fault at all hurt his beloved hyung in one of the worst possible ways.

The oldest watched the tender moment between captain and youngest play out before stepping forward.

“Wooyoungie is going to be fine, makdoongie”, Seonghwa said, knowing that he was in good hands with Yeosang and San. “Sannie and Yeosangie are taking care of him.”

Jongho didn’t reply, still shaking, but from the way some tension left his shoulders he seemed to have heard him.

“What happened?”, Seonghwa asked, curious but also wanting to understand. “Have you been feeling sick for longer, baby?”

“When Jjongie woke up from his nap he immediately got sick”, Hongjoong explained in Jongho’s stead, not mentioning Wooyoung at all to keep the maknae calm. Seonghwa could put the pieces together anyways.

“Do you know what is wrong?”, he instead asked. Hongjoong opened his mouth to answer but was shoved aside as Jongho lunged for the bucket.

The maknae’s face had a slight green hue to it and he was gagging dryly, the sound of it terrible. He coughed and then another wave of stomach contents fell from his mouth, landing in the receptacle with a disgusting splat. Hongjoong sighed and rubbed the maknae’s back. From the fullness of the bucket Seonghwa guessed it wasn’t the first time that Jongho had been sick after the disaster on the floor.

“I have no idea”, Hongjoong said with another sigh, “he just can’t stop throwing up. I was hoping it had stopped for now but… I … could you get some cleaning supplies and maybe his bed covers? A thermometer? Anything to make him more comfortable?”

Seonghwa nodded and walked into the kitchen to grab some cleaning stuff. But before he could make it to the cabinet, Mingi and Yunho appeared in the doorway with the same looks of confusion.

“Shouldn’t dinner…?”, Mingi started, but Seonghwainterrupted him. “Maknae threw up. On Wooyoungie. Dinner is cancelled unless you make it yourself.”

Yunho grimaced at the explanation. “Shit. Okay. What’s the plan?”

“I’m gonna get some cleaning supplies and a fresh bucket. Could you go and find the thermometer and medications and bring his comforter and pillow?”, Seonghwa asked. Both nodded and left.

With a sigh, Seonghwa took out the cleaning supplies and a new bucket - the actual designated puke bucket, not the living room trash bin that was now a casualty of war. With gloved hands he returned to the living room where Hongjoong was softly talking to Jongho, a soft hand on his upset stomach. Jongho had his face buried in his captain��s shoulder, clearly still not feeling great.

Seonghwa replaced the disgustingly full bucket, puke sloshing around and handed it to the very unhappy Yunho who had returned with Jongho’s blanket at just the right - or in Yunho’s case the wrong moment. Hongjoong spread out the comforter over their maknae, patting his back.

With his thumb and index finger Seonghwa lifted the towel from the floor and, wincing, stuffed it into a trash bag, setting it aside to be thrown away later. Then he went over to mopping the floor and disinfecting it.

Meanwhile Mingi had returned with medications and the thermometer, giving both to Hongjoong. “You’ve got a bit of a fever, Jjongie”, Seonghwa heard Hongjoong mumble. “Do you want to take … no? Okay, just rest for now.”

⌛

Once everything was cleaned, Seonghwa joined Hongjoong in sitting on the floor by Jongho’s side. The maknae had his eyes closed now, head resting on the pillow. He looked incredibly young that way, much younger than he actually was.

“Hyungs? I feel awful”, the maknae whispered, his voice rough from all the vomiting.

“I know, baby”, Seonghwa mumbled, tucking a stray strand of hair behind Jongho’s ear and kissing his forehead. “I know. But we’ll be here with you, okay? Even if it’s all night. Even if it’s tomorrow too. Even if it’s forever, hm? We’ll take care of you.”

And so they rested. Until the sound of the fire alarm broke the silence...

Notes: This is a rewrite + finally finishing one of my first ATEEZ fanfics from over a year ago. I think it shines through in the writing style but I still hope you like it!

Masterlist links: Fairy's Full Masterlist Fairy's Masterlist - ATEEZ

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