Hyunwoo awakens to Kihyun whimpering in his arms. He sleepily pulls Kihyun closer to himself in order to silently comfort the younger. The older looks around for his phone, and grabs it off his bedside shelf. He has to stifle a groan at seeing it’s only three in the morning, and turns back on his side to go back to sleep.

“Hyunwoo…”

The man freezes at the faint whisper of his name. He glances at his love’s face, and his heart pauses mid-beat at the pained expression on his sweat-streaked face. Hyunwoo his lips thoughtfully, and moves away from the bed in search for the thermometer. He returns only a moment later, padding around on bare feet as quietly as possible so as not to awaken his roommates.

“Kihyunnie,” he whispers in the younger’s ear, petting his hair consolingly. “I need to take your temperature, okay?” Kihyun’s eyes peek open slightly, and the hesitation in them is obvious. He seems so conflicted, so in pain, that it makes Hyunwoo’s chest hurt. Eventually, though, the younger complies, and he opens his mouth ever so slightly to allow the thermometer to be stuck under his tongue.

When it beeps to announce it’s finished its job, Hyunwoo thinks it’s wrong at first. He goes to disinfect it, and then returns to check Kihyun’s temperature once more. His mouth goes dry as the 106.9 flashes up at him once more.

“I’ll be right back,” he tells the younger, and he goes over to Hoseok’s bed. The last thing he wants is to pull Hoseok even more into… whatever this is, but Hyungwon always takes too long to awaken, and he needs immediate help.

He kneels to shake Hoseok awake, which only takes a moment.

“I need you to watch Kihyunnie,” he tells his same-age friend, doing his best not to panic. He feels as if his entire body is shaking with adrenaline. “I need to call our manager… or an ambulance… Wait, which one do I call…?” His mind isn’t working right, isn’t keeping up with all he needs to do. He knows he should call one before the other, but is it against their contract to go directly to the hospital and bypass the managers, or is it the other way around?”

“What…?” Hoseok asks confusedly, frowning up at his leader. He glances over at Kihyun, then back to Hyunwoo, then back to Kihyun. His eyes suddenly shoot open as wide as physically as possible, and he practically falls out of his bed. “I’ll call the managers,” he tells Hyunwoo, fumbling around for his phone. “You go call the ambulance.” Hyunwoo nods, and goes to the living room to do so.

Hoseok crawls over to where Kihyun lies, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth. Kihyun’s begun to shake, his small body trembling beneath the sweat-soaked sheets. His face is contorted in the most excruciating of expressions Hoseok has ever seen.

“Hyung… ” Kihyun mutters, his once-strong voice cracking.

“Hyunwoo went to get a doctor,” Hoseok explains, reaching over to set a hand atop his dongsaeng’s. “He’ll be back soon.”

“You can’t… let him,” Kihyun tells him, his head flopping onto its side so he can stare into Hoseok’s eyes. “The doctors… they won’t understand. I… I just have to… I have to go home. My eomma will know… She’ll know what I need.”

“Kihyunnie, please,” Hoseok says, practically begging with the younger. “Just let us take you to the hospital. We’ll call your eomma when we get there, I swear. Besides, you never know. Maybe the doctors can help…”

“We both know they can’t.”

Hoseok bites so hard on his inner-cheek he draws blood. He wants so badly to argue, to say that modern medicine has made a lot of advances… but he knows there’s no point. He knows Kihyun’s right.

He knows there’s nothing they can do now.

The managers and ambulance arrive in record time. All the boys are up by the time they arrive, and hovering as one unit in the living room. They watch as the EMTs take Kihyun out on a stretcher, practically clinging to each other in fear. None of them had realized things had gotten this bad with their main vocalist, their dorm-mother, of sorts, but they feel as if they should have.

They follow the ambulance back to the hospital in one of the company vans with one manager, while the other and Hyunwoo ride with the EMTs in the lead. All hearts are heavy as they rush to the nearest facility, only two in the group knowing, and even able to fathom, what’s happening.

The boys wait in the living room as tests are being performed on their cherished Kihyun. Hoseok tells Hyunwoo that Kihyun had asked earlier for his mother, and Hyunwoo immediately pulls out his phone to call her. Minhyuk and Jooheon go off in search of snacks, saying they’ve got to do something instead of just sitting around.

Hyungwon watches everyone pace the waiting room with panicked expressions, his gaze unreadable as it follows mostly Hoseok. Changkyun shifts in his seat, pressing his lips together anxiously. He’s seen that look on his hyung’s face before, and it isn’t one he particularly likes.

“I’m sure Kihyun-hyung will be okay, hyung,” the maknae offers lamely, unsure of what else to say. Hyungwon hums, and stands suddenly. He grabs Hoseok by his sleeve and drags him off down the hall, leaving a dumbfounded Changkyun in his wake.

The maknae scooches down in his seat, pulling his knees up to his chest. He rests his chin atop his knees and closes his eyes, and begins to do the only thing he feels he can do right now. He prays that Kihyun, his most favorite hyung, survive through the night.