It hurts.

That was the only thing Seungyoon could think of as he woke up in the middle of the night.

Rubbing his neck as if it would soothe the pain radiating from the back of his throat, he took a weary glance at the clock.

"It's only 5am?" Seungyoon muttered to himself. "Urgh, I only had two hours of sleep."

He had been working on a song for WINNER's next album and now, his throat was hurting really badly.

Damn it. There's a live performance, an interview, and song recording later. I can't let this stupid sore throat mess up our whole schedule that's for sure.

Seungyoon furrowed his brows in both pain and worry as he slipped out of bed quietly, taking care not to wake Jinwoo up. He made his way to the kitchen to get some water, only to stop in his tracks as he recognised a familiar figure lying on the living room's couch.

He must have snuck out to visit the kids. They are preparing for debut after all.

A small smile formed on Seungyoon's face at the thought.

He approached the couch and shook the sleeping man lightly. Annoyed by the sudden disturbance, the man wrinkled his handsome features and groaned softy in response.

"Mino ah. Song Mino! Don't sleep here. You'll catch a cold. Go to your room instead."

Recognising the all-too-familiar voice, Mino ruffled his hair roughly before opening his eyes to face the owner of the voice.

"Ya, Kang Seungyoon! Do you have to nag even at such an hour?" Mino complained irritatedly as he got up from the couch.

Still in a half-asleep state, Mino questioned Seungyoon wearily, "What are you doing at 5am in the morning anyways?"

"My thr-" Seungyoon started honestly but stopped midway through his words. He cannot let the others know that he was sick. It would only increase their stress on top of all the promotional work for their debut album.

"Hmm? Your what? Hey wait, your voice sounds a little weird, doesn't it?" Mino, now fully awake, asked skeptically.

"Nah, you must have been mistaken!" Seungyoon quickly dismissed Mino's suspicions, hiding his anxiety and discomfort under the mask of his signature smile.

Just talking at his normal volume was already taking a toll on Seungyoon's throat but he was determined to hide the fact that he was sick from the others.

"I was saying that my, uhm yeah! My stomach desperately needs some food!" Seungyoon chirped in his usual dorky tone which he often used during off-work times.

Yeah he sounds normal. Must have been too sleepy just now.

Mino let out a small chuckle at his mistake before he registered what Seungyoon just said.

"Seungyoon ah, you should stop missing meals just because you're working on a song. Understand?" Mino said in a concerned tone.

Seungyoon laughed guiltily. It's true that he tend to miss out on meals when he becomes too engrossed at work. The same goes for Taehyun too. In fact, the two of them were always working together for quite a while since they became the unofficial primary composers of WINNER's songs. Maybe he truly needed some deep conversation with one of the members regarding his unhealthy lifestyle and all, but Seungyoon was not in the mood for a heart-to-heart talk with Mino at the moemnt. Not with the burning throat and a developing headache.

Desperate to stop talking and leave his throat alone, Seungyoon brandished his most effective weapon - nagging.

"Aish! Since when did you become so naggy as well? Go to your room and catch some sleep! I don't want a living zombie ruining our performance later......"

As expected, Mino cringed at what seemed like the start of Seungyoon's endless nagging and cut him off before the nagging escalated into a full-hour lecture.

"Okay, okay! I get it! I'll go to sleep now alright? Spare me from your nagging urgh."

Without waiting for Seungyoon's reply, Mino fled to his room and locked the door as fast as he could.

Seungyoon smiled in amusement as he watched the childlike man hurry into his room. As soon as the door closed with a clikc sound, the smile melted from Seungyoon's face, leaving behind a pained expression.

The sore throat was worse than Seungyoon had thought. His body was aching and his head hurts. His whole body was screaming for him to rest. However, that simply made Seungyoon all the more resolved to survive the day's schedule smoothly.

Seungyoon was the leader after all.

A leader should never break in front of s. That is the unspoken rule of all leaders, and a burden that every leader carries.