Hyunwoo got a bit of a scolding from their manager for walking out be he didn't get in too much trouble, probably because he'd looked very contrite and they got through their opening concert without too many problems. And Hyunwoo’s mood did pick up for a while. He apologised to everyone individually, starting with Kihyun who'd done some apologising himself and going forwards he'd made a concentrated effort to stay positive.

But then the cycle started all over again. It started with Hyunwoo becoming quiet. And then he became withdrawn. This time there was no yelling or snapping but Changkyun noticed the change nonetheless. And he could see that while Hyunwoo was obviously trying hard to focus he was still the one making the most mistakes. There were times when his performance was flawless but there were also times when he was all over the place, when Changkyun could tell his mind was drifting. And it was happening more and more often.

“You’re doing it again.” Jooheon told him, stopping his own mind from drifting. They were standing in the foyer of their hotel waiting for their manager to finish checking them all in. Hyunwoo had been incredibly quiet all the way there, that's what had started him thinking.

“Doing what?” he asked, confused. He hadn’t been doing anything, he’d been standing there minding his own business.

“Staring.” Jooheon clarified for him, nodding in Hyunwoo’s direction.

“I wasn’t staring. I’m just…” Changkyun started to say but Jooheon cut him off.

“Worried.” Jooheon finished for him. “I know.”

“I think I’m going to ask if I can switch with whoever ends up sharing a room with him.” He decided. “That way I can talk to him properly.” It would be easier that way, he wouldn’t have to worry about people interrupting them or overhearing them.

“Oh.” Jooheon said.

“Oh?” Changkyun echoed, not knowing why he sounded so disappointed.

“I was hoping we’d up sharing a room, that’s all.” Jooheon told him with a shrug. “We haven’t spent any time together in forever.”

They’d spent what felt like every waking hour together over the last few weeks but Changkyun knew what he meant. Time spent together working wasn’t quite the same as time spent together as friends, he’d missed hanging out with him too. But there would be other chances for them to for them to catch up. Talking to Hyunwoo about whatever was bothering him was more important. “I know. But if someone doesn’t get him to open up about what's bothering him soon I think he’s in real danger of having some sort of mental breakdown.” He reasoned.

“Don’t exaggerate.”

“I’m not exaggerating.” Hyunwoo hadn’t just become quiet, he’d been acting jittery too, looking startled whenever someone spoke to him. It was weird. “And you know as well as I do that if Hyunwoo hyung thought one of us was struggling with something he’d be the first person who'd offer to help.” He added, because it was true. Hyunwoo always did his best to look out for them.

“Yeah, I guess.” Jooheon said, sighing in defeat.

“We’ll do something together soon though.” Changkyun added. He still looked kind of disappointed and Changkyun couldn't help feeling a little guilty.

“Okay.” Jooheon agreed, not sounding much happier. “But if you do get him to talk let me know, okay?” he said, his gaze travelling over to Hyunwoo who was standing off to the side, staring into space. Staring into space was something he'd been doing a lot of recently. “To be honest he’s started to worry me a bit too.”

“I will.” Changkyun promised. He just hoped it wouldn’t be too difficult to convince whoever ended up sharing with a room with Hyunwoo to switch roommates.

~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~

It turned out that Changkyun didn’t have to convince anyone to swap rooms with him. “Room 575.” His manager had said to him as he’d handed him his room key. And then he’d turned to Hyunwoo and said the same thing.

Actually getting to talk to him looked like it was going to be harder than he’d thought though. After putting his things away Hyunwoo had immediately grabbed a change of clothes and had informed he'd be back soon.

Changkyun had frowned at his back as he’d turned to leave, cursing the fact that every hotel they checked into had a gym. It just provided Hyunwoo a place to run away to when he wanted to avoid them. It was getting kind of frustrating. But it was fine, he could wait. He picked up the TV remote and hopped onto his bed. He hadn’t a chance to watch TV in a really long time. He’d see what was on and talk to Hyunwoo when he got back.

Only watching TV was apparently something he couldn’t do at the moment without falling asleep halfway through what he was watching because he found himself blinking his eyes open some time later to find the room was dark. The TV was off, the lights were out and someone, most probably Hyunwoo, had thrown a blanket over him. So much for staying up to talk to him he thought with a sigh, rolling over and finding his pillow. Oh well, hopefully he’d get a chance to speak to him in the morning before they had to leave.

And then he heard Hyunwoo groan and roll over in his own bed and he realised he was still awake. Still awake and tossing and turning. He didn’t know how long he'd been lying there struggling to sleep but it wouldn’t surprise him if it had been a while. If he’d been having trouble sleeping lately that would go some way to explaining why he’d been finding it hard to focus during performances. Maybe he should talk to him now he thought as he listened to Hyunwoo continue to toss and turn. But no… it wouldn’t be fair to keep him awake when he was already struggling to sleep. If he talked to him now it would just make things worse. He could wait.

And then to Changkyun’s surprise Hyunwoo was the one talking. “Are you awake?” he whispered.

Changkyun froze. He opened his mouth to reply but then hesitated. He didn’t know if he was imagining things or not but he got the feeling Hyunwoo was hoping he wouldn’t answer.

And sure enough, a moment later, he heard Hyunwoo sigh in relief. Then he was throwing his covers back and getting out of bed. Changkyun listened as he padded across the carpet and slipped into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

Changkyun wondered why he was suddenly acting shy about going to the bathroom. He lived in a dorm with six other people, not including their managers, there was no privacy there, so it was a little bit late if he was.

And then he heard the faint sound of retching coming from the bathroom. He sat up. He was throwing up he realised, that’s why he’d checked to see if he was sleeping. He didn’t want him to overhear and worry.

He’d known this would happen Changkyun thought with sigh. He’d known the stress and the overwork and the lack of sleep would end up making him ill. Shaking his head, he got up and made his way across the room. He should check on him, see if he was okay.

When he made it to the bathroom door it had stopped, Hyunwoo had apparently finished throwing up. He rapped on it with his knuckles. There was no reply. Hyunwoo was probably ignoring him in the hope that he’d give up and go away. But he wasn’t going to give up. Hyunwoo needed to start letting people help him before this all spiralled out of control. Feeling determined Changkyun pushed down on the door handle hoping that since he’d thought he was asleep Hyunwoo wouldn’t have bothered to lock it.

And he hadn’t, the door swung open with a creak. And Changkyun was met by the sight of Hyunwoo sitting on the bathroom floor, his legs were drawn up to his chest, he had his arms wrapped around them and he had his head resting on his knees. When he heard the door open he looked up, startled. Maybe he hadn’t been ignoring him Changkyun thought as he took in the slightly panicked expression on his face. Maybe he’d just been so out of it that he hadn’t heard him knock.

“Are you done?” Changkyun asked him once he had his attention. The room was so small and enclosed that the smell of vomit permeated it completely. If Hyunwoo was still feeling queasy then that wasn't going to help.

Hyunwoo, still looking shocked, simply nodded.

Changkyun responded with a nod of his own and stepped further into the bathroom, leaning over to flush the toilet. Then he made his way to the sink and took a glass from the shelf above it. He filled the glass with cold water and held it out to Hyunwoo who was still sitting on the floor.

Hyunwoo scrambled to his feet and took the offered glass gratefully. His hand was shaking Changkyun noticed as he watched him raise the glass to his mouth and take a sip. He waited as Hyunwoo rinsed his mouth out, spitting the water into the sink. Then he took the glass from him, put it back on the shelf and took his elbow, guiding him out of the bathroom and back into the bedroom. When they reached Hyunwoo’s bed he pushed down firmly on both of his shoulders, making him sit.

“Must have been something I ate.” Hyunwoo said once he was sitting. They were the first words he’d said since Changkyun had found him sitting on the bathroom floor and like his hands had been when he’d accepted the water his voice was shaking.

Changkyun nodded slightly as he sat down beside him. “Could be.” He said. Then there was a beat of silence as he thought about what he could say to move the conversation on. He didn’t want to upset Hyunwoo by immediately starting to interrogate him, not when he was already rattled by what had happened. “Only you’ve not really been eating anything, have you?” he pointed out, hoping that it didn’t sound like an accusation. The last thing he needed was for Hyunwoo to think he was calling him a liar and get defensive.

“I’ve been eating.” Hyunwoo protested but there wasn’t much conviction in his voice. “I ate with you back at the service station.”

“Yes…” Changkyun said slowly, because yes, technically he had. “…but you didn’t eat a lot did you?” He’d spent more time picking his food up with his chopsticks and dropping it back into his bowl than he’d spent actually eating it.

“I wasn’t hungry.” Hyunwoo said, trying to brush it off.

“You’re never hungry.” Changkyun argued. “And to be honest it’s starting to worry me.” He admitted. “You need to eat if you want to keep your energy up.”

“I’m fine.” Hyunwoo tried to assure him but his voice still sounded shaky. Throwing up had obviously affected him more than he was willing to let on.

“You’re not though.” He wished Hyunwoo would do them both a favour and just admit he was struggling. Things weren’t going to get better if he refused to let people help him.

This time the only response he got was a shrug.

“You know…” Changkyun said quietly, breaking another slightly too long silence, “…when I said you could talk to me I meant it. I wasn’t just saying it to be polite.”

“I know.” Hyunwoo told him, his voice equally quiet. “I know. I just…” and for a second Changkyun thought he was finally going to admit that something was bothering him, “…I’m okay.” He finished and Changkyun bit back a groan of frustration. “Really I am.” Hyunwoo added, taking in the disbelieving look on his face, “I’ve got some stomach bug or something so I’ve not got much appetite, that’s all. It’s nothing for you to worry about.”

“This has been going on for weeks.” Changkyun reminded him, trying not to let his frustration show. Getting annoyed wasn’t going to get him anywhere. He was pretty sure he didn’t have a stomach bug or if he did it was a new development and it had nothing to do with how he’d been acting for the last month or so. Stomach bugs didn’t last for more than a day or two for a start. “And I'm not the only one worried. Jooheon is as well, and Minhyuk. And if it goes on much longer other people are going to start noticing too.”

“Sorry.” Hyunwoo mumbled even an apology wasn’t what he wanted. “I’ve just been tired. I’ll try harder not to let it show.”

Changkyun sighed. Getting the truth out of him was like pulling teeth. “I don’t want you to ignore it.” He told him. “Pretending you're okay when you aren't isn’t going to help.” He should just go for it he decided, admit to what he knew. It was probably his best chance at getting him to talk. And if he got yelled at for sticking his nose in where it wasn’t wanted then so be it, if Hyunwoo felt better at the end of it all getting yelled at would be worth it. “I know about you and Jaebum hyung.” He said and he braced himself for Hyunwoo’s reaction.

But there was none of the yelling he’d been expecting, just a look of wide-eyed surprise.  “You know about…” Hyunwoo started to say and he trailed off. “… you… but we... wait... what do you know?” he finsished, pulling himself together slightly.

Hyunwoo definitely sounded more scared than he did angry and Changkyun wondered what to make of that. He and Jaebum were no longer dating so it wasn’t as if he had to be worried about him telling people. Not that he would. “I know you were seeing him for a while.” He answered, confused by his response. “I know you were meeting him in secret. And I know that you broke up a while ago and you got really down about it. And then you seemed to get better. But now you’re tired all the time, you’re not eating properly, you’re feeling ill and…”

“Stop.” Hyunwoo demanded before he could go any further. “Please, stop.”

“But…” Changkyun protested but he didn’t get very far because Hyunwoo was immediately asking him to stop again.

“Don’t.” he added when he opened his mouth to argue a second time. He seemed flustered Changkyun noted. “Don’t… I know what you're going to ask.. and I’m not… I can’t…” he stuttered.

Changkyun put a hand on his arm, trying to calm him but Hyunwoo pushed it off.

“Don’t give me that look.” Hyunwoo told him.

Changkyun had no idea what he was talking about or what he meant and he was about to say so but what Hyunwoo had to say next was enough to shock him into silence.

“I’m not pregnant so you can stop looking at me like you feel sorry for me.”

Changkyun heard Hynwoo’s voice crack at the end, he took in the slightly anxious look on his face, but it took him a while to process what he’d actually said. The possibility that Hyunwoo might be pregnant hadn’t even crossed his mind. But now Hyunwoo had said the words… well all he could think was ‘’, because it all made perfect sense. If they weren’t signs of depression he’d been noticing, then they could be pregnancy symptoms. And if Hyunwoo felt the need to deny it then that obviously meant it was a real possibilty, or else why would he have mentioned it at all?

“Okay, so I’ve not had a lot of energy recently.” Hyunwoo admitted when he didn’t respond right away. “And sometimes I don’t really feel like eating. And yeah, I’ve been sick a couple of times. But that doesn’t mean anything.” Changkyun got the feeling this was one of those times where he was talking to him but in reality trying to convince himself that what he was saying was true. It seemed to be a habit of his. “We’re all tired. We’re all feeling a bit run down. It’s nothing.”

Changkyun knew Hyunwoo well enough to know that he was almost definitely trying to downplay things. When he said he’d been sick ‘a couple of times’  he was sure what he actually meant was ‘a lot’. And if he didn’t have food poisoning and he wasn’t suffering from a stomach bug either, and if he had slept with Jaebum like Changkyun was starting to suspect he had, well then it could be morning sickness he was suffering from. But he didn’t think saying so was going to help, not when Hyunwoo was so obviously in denial. “I’m not saying you are pregnant.” He said, trying to keep his voice level. If he pushed too hard Hyunwoo was just going to throw a wall up and he couldn’t have that. He needed to talk some sense into him and he couldn’t do that if Hyunwoo decided to be stubborn about it and ignore him.

“Good.” Hyunwoo said, his voice still wavering slightly. “Because I’m not.”

“You’re right, it’s probably just something you ate.” Changkyun agreed, trying to calm his nerves a little, and Hyunwoo nodded, relaxing slightly. “But…” he added, as gently as he could, “…if there’s the slightest chance you might be pregnant, wouldn’t it be better to check? Just to put your mind at rest if nothing else.”

Hyunwoo seemed to consider this for a second but then the thoughtful expression on his face faded and was replaced with one of resolve. “I don’t need to check.” He told him. “Like I said, I’m not pregnant.”

“If you’re so sure you’re not then it’s not going to hurt.” Changkyun countered. “And it might make you feel better, stop you getting paranoid every time you feel a bit tired or a bit ill.”

“No.” Hyunwoo repeated. “I don’t need to check. And even if I wanted to check, which I don’t, how would I?” He reasoned, and Changkyun could sense his resolve slipping slightly. “I’d need to take a test and how am I supposed to get my hands on one of those? I can’t just go out and buy one. What if I’m spotted?” he asked, the words coming quicker and quicker the more he spoke. “What if it gets out? If I get caught buying a pregnancy test it won’t matter if I’m pregnant or not, people are still going to hear about it. They’ll know there was a point where I thought I might be pregnant and they won’t be happy about it. They’ll know I wasn’t careful. They’ll be angry and disappointed. And my parents, they’ll find out too and…”

“Hey!” Changkyun said, stopping him before he could get too carried away. Even though the only light in the room was coming from the still open bathroom door it was enough for him to notice how pale Hyunwoo had gone and that his eyes were starting to water. The last thing he wanted was for him to start crying. He’d never been good at dealing with tears. Not knowing quite what to do he took Hyunwoo’s hand in his and was surprised when he didn’t immediately pull away. “It’s okay.” He said giving his hand a squeeze. “If you want to take a test I can always get one for you.” He wasn’t quite as well known to the public as Hyunwoo was. If he was careful he was sure he could manage to get hold of one without being recognised.

Hyunwoo sniffed, doing his best to hold himself together. “I couldn’t ask you to do that.” He said with another shake of his head.

With the amount of head shaking he’d being doing Changkyun was surprised he hadn’t pulled something in his neck already. “You’re not asking, I’m offering.” He pointed out. There was a difference.

“What if someone sees you?” Hyunwoo asked, his voice sounding a lot steadier now. “I’m not going to risk you getting into trouble when it’s probably nothing. Like you said, it’s just paranoia. I’m not pregnant. I’m tired and I’m stressed and it’s making me feel ill. That’s all.”

Changkyun wasn’t so sure but Hyunwoo was already pulling his hand out of his and standing up.

“Thank you, for trying to help.” The older man continued, wiping at his eyes with the back of his hand. “But I’m okay. I’m tired and it’s messing with my head. Everything I’ve just said, you can ignore it.”

Changkyun didn’t want to ignore it and he tried to say so but Hyunwoo cut him off.

“I need to cool down, get some air.” He told him next. “You get some sleep.”

He obviously wasn’t in the mood to be argued with Changkyun realised, so he didn’t waste his energy. “Okay.” He said instead. “But only if you promise to get some sleep when you get back.”

“Promise.” Hyunwoo said, forcing a smile. And then he was gone, the door closing behind him with a click.

Hyunwoo was clearly in denial Changkyun thought as he made his way back to his bed, and it looked like he was going to be in denial for a good while longer yet, so there was no point in pushing it. Hyunwoo would only get defensive and shut him out completely and he didn’t want that. He’d just have to think of another way to make him see sense. Because the more he thought about it the more convinced he was that he was right. Hyunwoo had not long broken up with his boyfriend and now he was feeling moody and tired and sick. It might just be the stress of doing his job while working through a break-up that was making him ill but it was equally as likely he was pregnant and the sooner they found out if he was or not the better it was going to be for everyone involved.

~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~

A/N: Hi guys! And welcome new readers. Here's a new chapter. Enjoy!