I always think that Taemin looks so uncomfortable in this picture so that's why I included it with this chapter...

Chapter 20

He had thought that he would be able to hide it well enough until the end of the show’s taping, but it was becoming a problem.  Never mind the pain, after enduring so much, it almost felt like he had become numb to the throbbing and searing sensations coursing along through his body – he was merely acknowledging its existence without alerting anyone else to the issue. 

However, he couldn’t seem to catch his breath.  It felt like someone had looped a belt around his chest and was tightening it every single time he inhaled and now he was on the innermost hole and there was no more room to tighten.  He had the feeling that even if he tried to scream at this point, moan, or do anything to alert anyone to his problem he wouldn’t be able to summon the breath to do so.  He found himself being honestly surprised that no one else could hear that rattling in his chest that sounded during every attempted breath, overtaking Taemin’s hearing if no one else’s. 

Attempting to breathe through his mouth, as though a bigger opening might somehow allow in more air, he could only cringe as his jaw would barely open wide enough to squeeze a potato chip through before locking harshly and painfully in place and leaving him panting, mouth frozen open, but not enough to aid matters any.  His jaw ached horribly from where his manager’s fist had landed its first assault, but Taemin had become quite adept at applying the thick stage make-up over the years – no one would be able to tell that a heavily bruised visage hid away on that innocent face.     

The dancer found himself clutching at the chair he sat on in support, trying desperately to keep himself grounded in consciousness without drawing any attention to himself.  The stage lights felt somehow hotter than ever before as the sweat slipped down his neck and onto his back, tracing a horrible line down his mid-section. 

He found himself squinting at the scene in front of him, trying frantically to bring his mind back into focus.  There!  The MC had said something, what was it?  How was he supposed to react?  Smile?  Laugh?  Frown?  Pout?  Was he supposed to do something?  Dance?  Aeygo?  He couldn’t remember the script…  The sounds around him, the over-done laughter, the MCs witty comments and leading prompts, were not making their way into his brain.  Everything sounded as though it was underwater. 

Any and all preparations for the show today fled from his mind and the sole focus became that of remaining vertical and conscious.  Part of him wanted to call out to Jonghyun, sitting only a foot or so away, to reach out to the man and ask for help, but his body did not seem to heed his request. 

It was a very odd sensation, Taemin thought detachedly, to send out an order to your body and have it refused.  Taemin’s mind was beginning to drift; he found it increasingly hard to maintain focus on any one thing.  His mind kept coming up with snippets of thoughts, but moving onto the next one before the first could even have hope of being anything close to complete.  Thoughts came and fled before he could really acknowledge their presence at all.  He had never felt anything like it in his life and more and more it seemed like he was watching himself from within his own head.  Detached from himself rather than a part of the system.  It was like watching a movie from his own eyes, but he could not be weirded out by the intensely detached feeling, he couldn’t be bothered to think through much of anything right now aside from breathing – yea, breathing was good, hard but good… 

He noticed himself leaning forward and tightened his arms and fingers trying frantically to remain upright.  But despite the bright lights directed at the stage, he saw the world before him beginning to dim.  First the edges of his vision became blurry, but that quickly evolved into an ever shrinking tunnel and he could no longer see those sitting on either side of him. 

Ironically, the world suddenly became even brighter for a moment, the bright lights seeming to stand out even more, the white shirt of the guest in front of him glaring up and searing itself across his eyes.  For a moment Taemin thought he was getting better, that he was getting a second wind of sorts and might actually be able to get through this shoot.  And as his sight became engulfed in a bright white, Taemin felt himself begin to tip forward as his fingers lost their purchase.  Unable to keep himself upright any longer, Taemin’s body fell unresponsive to the floor and his world went dark to the soundtrack of screams.   

I know that it's short - sorry, but some chapters have to be.  I want to thank you all for your concern for my friend.  Just keep following the story and you'll find out what happened to him (mostly).

I'm sorry that I'm beating up poor Taemin, but that's just how things go sometimes.  I really don't want to do it either - but there you go...