Eunkwang didn’t think much of the sharp pain he felt at the back of his head when he slipped and threw his head against the hardwood floor during their concert. It was just part of the job, merely a occupational hazard. He saw stars for a second after hitting the ground and it took him a moment to really remember where he even was. However, once he was able to regain his wits, Eunkwang laughed nervously and shrugged it off, playing it off as a joke to reassure their fans. With the adrenaline pumping through his body, he didn’t even notice that the back of his head was aching. The main vocalist was grinning from ear to ear as they bowed towards the audience. ‘3,4 Born To Beat! Thanks everyone for coming. We love you!"

The 7 of them went back stage and were howling with cheers. Honestly, the excitement of being on stage never went away. It was always just as amazing and exciting as the first time they went on stage when they first debuted.

“That was so amazing, guys!” Sungjae exclaimed as he danced dorkily, flailing his limbs around, hitting Changsub in the face.

“Aish… you’re so annoying” Changsub said as he pushed Sungjae away ‘But I have to agree… It was pretty damn awesome.”

Sungjae giggled and ran over to Eunkwang, grabbing him and swinging their small leader around. The sudden motion made him dizzy and there was some weird pounding in the back of his head that he chose to ignore because, hey, they just performed to their biggest audience yet!

Sungjae set him down and continued to jump around. Eunkwang stumbled for a moment.

“Hey, Kwangie, you okay?” Minhyuk asked, a worried frown cast over his face.

“Y-yeah! Totally fine!’ Eunkwang answered with a huge grin on his face. He rests his head on Minhyuk’s shoulder and wrapped his arms around his waist. ‘Because guess what, Minnie? We just performed another AMAZING concert to our biggest crowd yet and we are badass! WOOHOO!”

“You’re such a dork” Minhyuk snorted as he ruffled the blonde’s hair.

After their few moments of celebration, the boys decided it was time to pack up and get back to their dorm for some well deserved rest. The ride back to the dorms would be long and they needed to get moving if they wanted to get back before it got too late.

Eunkwang rubbed the back of his head and got into the driver’s seat and closed his eyes.

“It’s just another minor headache...All I need is some sleep’

 

---

The boys arrived back at the dorm later that night. Now, Eunkwang was pretty good at talking himself into not being sick. It was something he liked to pride himself on. When he felt sick, he simply told himself ‘nope’ and that would be the end of that. He honestly couldn’t remember the last time he was actually sick. Eunkwang had a good immune system and he was thankful for that because otherwise it would be hard to get work done if he was constantly catching a cold or developing some type of influenza. He was healthy as a child and healthy as an adult.

So why did he all of a sudden feel like he needed to run to the bathroom and throw up when he got out of the car seat a little bit too fast?

Hyunsik had begun to order takeout. Ilhoon had collapsed on one of the couches and Minhyuk was laying on his bed playing a phone game. Music played softly in the background and Peniel hummed along to it as he read another chapter of a book on his ipad. Eunkwang was watching tv, but found himself unable to concentrate.

Okay, time to throw up.

Casually and not causing a scene, the blonde walked to the bathroom and closed the door behind him. He sat himself down on the floor and leaned over the toilet as he voided everything in his stomach. When he was done, Eunkwang sat back up and leaned against the wall. Everything was so dizzy and the pounding in his head was back. Okay, cool, so he had some sort of stomach flu. His good luck was sure to run out quickly and it seemed like it was finally happening. No worries. Eunkwang would simply lay off the takeout for tonight and try and get some sleep. He couldn’t feel a fever or anything, so he was sure he’d feel better in the morning.

When he returned from the bathroom, Minhyuk was giving him a look.

“You alright?” Minhyuk asked him.

“What, can’t a dude pee in peace?” Eunkwang cheekily asked.

“Of course you can.” Minhyuk responded, rolling his eyes. “It’s just that you were in there for a while and you didn’t look too good on the trip back”

“You know what else people do in the bathroom, Minnie?” Eunkwang asked with a slight smirk and Minhyuk knew what was coming.

“Don’t say it…”

“Mastur-”

“NOPE! I’M LEAVING!” Minhyuk yelled as he covered his ears. “Forget I asked. Go back to your...whatever you were doing.”

Eunkwang let out a obnoxious laugh and in turn, Minhyuk let out a groan of frustration.

God, Minhyuk was so cute when he got all annoyed like that. waitwhat.

---

The food arrived not long after that and everyone besides the leader began to dig in.

“Hyung, you gotta eat,” Changsub told him. “We were out performing all day and you’re bound to have low blood sugar. Eat something.”

Eunkwang shook his head. “Nah, I’m not all that hungry right now. I’ll save it for later.” He walked to put his food in the fridge and Ilhoon made a comment about how Eunkwang probably lost his appetite after seeing Changsub’s face which resulted in Changsub tackling him to the ground.

Eunkwang smiled and shook his head at his ‘Kid’s’ antics.

No one seemed to notice when their leader stumbled as he walked back to his bed

A day passed and Eunkwang wasn’t feeling any better. The headache persisted and he still felt like he wanted to throw up. Not to mention everything in the room was constantly spinning and sleep did not come easily for him. Making the attempt at concentrating on his vocal practice was hard and he found himself missing too many dance moves during dance practice, unlike how he usually was flawless in his dance steps. His legs felt weak and this sluggish feeling only made him more annoyed and angry so he decided to go back to the dorm. He hated being sick and he was going to kill whoever gave him this flu.

Most of the lights in their living room were turned off except for a lamp near the couch he sat at. The light made the headache worse. The music that was usually playing was turned off too. Eunkwang opted for complete silence in hopes the headache would start to go away.

When suddenly the lights were , he groaned and let his head fall into his hands.

“Sorry,” Minhyuk apologized. “I didn’t even know you were in here.”

“It’s okay,” Eunkwang told him. “I’m just resting.”

Minhyuk kept the lights on and Eunkwang squinted to adjust to it. The redhead sat down at the opposite end of the couch and began to read. Silence fell over the two for a while.

“Hey,” Minhyuk began. “Have you been feeling okay? I’ve noticed you haven’t really been eating and I think you’ve been up for, what, almost twenty-four hours now?”

Why did it sound like Minhyuk was underwater as he was talking? His blonde head slowly turned to look at Minhyuk. He had asked him a question but… what was the question?

“What?” Eunkwang asked.

“Kwangie, i’m starting to get worried now. Are you feeling okay?”

Eunkwang took a deep breath. He could tell him that, no, he wasn’t feeling all that great but he was sure this was no big deal. Plus, he didn’t need the other members freaking out and demanding he get into bed and not go for their promotions. Well, okay, as nice as it would be for his crush to take care of him, he was the leader and he wasn’t going to sit around. Eunkwang was fine.

“Yeah,” he replied finally. “I’m feeling great. You know me! I...I’m just excited! Yeah! With our upcoming promotions. I’m excited.” Tired eyes cast down as he laughed a nervous laugh, trying to shrug it off.

“I know,” Minhyuk said. “But that’s not healthy. You should really take a break and lay down and have something to eat.”

“S’fine, Minhyuk-ah,” Eunkwang reassured him and gave a charming smile and he thought he saw the faintest blush on Minhyuk’s cheeks…

Must be my mind playing tricks on me….Aish...This stupid headache!

Minhyuk wanted to protest, but decided against it. The leader was stubborn when it came to his work. The rapper wasn’t going to be able to get him to stop, so he shut himself up and went back to reading his book.

The living room was once again quiet until their manager came in.

“Guys, remember we have a schedule in an hour!” she said, “Get ready soon, why are you still lazing around? Did you forget?”

It took the blonde a moment to process what their manager was saying. Minhyuk began changing and Eunkwang tried to keep up, but once again everything was spinning and he had to walk slow so he wouldn’t trip over his own feet.

“Eunkwang-ah!” Minhyuk yelled. “Stop messing around and hurry up!”

Eunkwang stopped for a moment as he watched Minhyuk pace around too quickly, grabbing his stuff. Maybe he needed to throw up one more time to feel better. No, okay, no time for that. It was time to go.

---

"I’ll drive!" Eunkwang said.

The nauseous feeling wouldn’t go away and the dizziness was bad enough to make him question his ability to drive. Eunkwang recently started to drive more. Hell, most of the time he was insisting that he drove. The others would think it weird if he suddenly gave the keys to someone else.

“Hyung!” Peniel said, snapping his fingers in the blonde’s face. “Hyung, where’d you go?”

“Huh?” he asked. “Oh. Sorry. What’s up?”

“You’re just standing there starin’ off into space,” Peniel told him. “We gotta get going.”

Eunkwang nodded his head and was about to head for the driver’s seat, but their manager put a hand on his shoulder.

“Nu-uh,” she said. “I’m driving. Don’t need you spacing out while driving. Have you even eaten today? Aish, Leader-nim, what am I always telling you?”

Eunkwang nodded his head. “I know, I’m sorry. I’ll eat more and sleep more.”

Their Manager gave him a concerned look but finally gave up and went to the driver’s seat. Everyone took their usual seat in the car and Eunkwang sat next to Minhyuk in the back.

---

Minhyuk was no doctor in the medical field, but he still was able to tell that something was going on with Eunkwang. Their leader was usually energetic while practising. He always put on his A-game and his best effort. Yet, after their last performance, Eunkwang was fumbling over dance steps and every time he sang, he would wince. In just twenty-four hours, Eunkwang had managed to go off-key and miss dance moves more than he ever did in his entire life. However, their leader played it off like it was fine. Minhyuk could not be fooled, however, and as they sat in the back of the car together, he took the time to give the blonde a quick look-over. He looked tired and as if he was trying not to be sick as their manager quickly weaved in and out of cars and took sharp turns to avoid being late.

As he was about to open his mouth to once again ask if he was okay, the car was parked and their manager announced that they had arrived. Minhyuk took a deep breath and opened up the door.

They arrived to the building and went to their waiting room. The boys being their usual noisy self were fooling around. However, Eunkwang just sat in a corner, staring off into space, letting out and occasional whimper when the boys were being a little too loud.

“Okay guys, you’re on in 5 minutes. Let’s go.” The PD announced.

As they were walking to the stage where the concert was to be held, Eunkwang stopped in his tracks and seemed to start swaying. “Mi-Minhyuk...” he mumbled. “I don’t feel so…”

Minhyuk watched in horror as the blonde suddenly fell to his side. In an instant, Minhyuk  was collapsed to his knees next to him. Okay, so he wasn’t wrong. Something definitely was wrong with their usually boisterous leader.

“Eunkwang! Oh no, oh no! SOMEBODY GET HELP!” Minhyuk said, frantically placing a hand on his shoulder and trying to shake him awake. “Hey, you’re okay. Wake up. You gotta get up.”

There was no response from the man and Minhyuk was starting to get panicked.

“Take his jacket off! He’s sweating so much.” Ilhoon said, worry etched in his features.

Quickly, Minhyuk moved to pull the heavy leather jacket of Eunkwang’s back. His hand moved to the man’s waist and his other hand placed itself on his cheek. Gently, he began to tap his cheek, but the blonde still was not responding. Minhyuk began to go through in his head all the reasons as to why Eunkwang passed out. He immediately began to think it was due to low blood sugar and lack of sleep. Minhyuk knew he should have pushed the leader to take a break. He should have pulled him away by his ear and threw him into a bed (and maybe join him in that bed waitwhat) and force him to sleep. Minhyuk should have shoved last night's takeout down the man’s throat so he wouldn’t be working on an empty stomach for so long.

But, Minhyuk did none of that and now Eunkwang was passed out on the floor and his heart was beating rapidly and his hands were shaking.

“Minhyuk, lay him on the couch.” their manager said, trying her best to be calm.

Minhyuk gently laid him on the couch and watched over him. The other members had gone to perform at least a few songs without Minhyuk and Eunkwang. The show must go on and Minhyuk, being the ever protective friend demanded to stay with Eunkwang in case he woke up. Eunkwang’s eyes finally began to slowly open and Minhyuk was able to let out a breath of relief. Okay, good, he was still alive but Minhyuk still couldn’t stop shaking and for some reason the red-head found it necessary to lean down and press his lips to Eunkwang’s.

“Oh my god, Eunkwang,” Minhyuk breathed shakily when he pulled away. “What happened? What’s wrong?”

The blonde groaned. “I-I’m fine. Where are we? ...Wait...Did you just kiss me?”

Minhyuk removed his hand from Eunkwang’s cheek and his cheeks became very warm. “I, uh, might have. But you are not okay! Don’t say you’re okay because you’re most definitely not okay! You just passed out and you seriously have no idea where you are?”

Eunkwang groaned again. “Okay, okay. Aish...” The blonde went to sit up but Minhyuk pushed him back down gently. The man was quiet for a moment, mouth opening to say something before he closed it again and sighed.

“I hit my head.”

“Just now?” Minhyuk asked, eyes widening.

“No. I hit my head yesterday when I fell during our performance, remember? It didn’t hurt at first, but now…”

Ah, it all made sense now

“You have a concussion!” Minhyuk told him, irritated that Eunkwang hid the injury from him. “And you’re only making it worse by staying up and trying to work. Why didn’t you tell any of us? We should have taken you to a hospital right away! This is so dangerous, Eunkwang-ah!”

Eunkwang gave a charming smile.

“Hospitals are for the weak.”

However, when he saw Minhyuk’s concerned look, with tears shining in his eyes, Eunkwang’s heart softened and he sighed, regretting ever making his crush worried. “I didn’t really think anything of it, I guess. I thought I was just getting sick. I’m sorry, Minhyuk-ah...I didn’t mean to make everyone worry...Especially you.”

Minhyuk hung his head for a second. “We gotta get you home. Screw the concert. You gotta get home and rest up. And when you’re better, I’m gonna kick your into the next century for hiding this from me.”

One of Eunkwang’s hands reached up to wrap around Minhyuk’s wrist. “I’m sorry. But hey, don’t freak out. Just… get me out of here and I’ll let you play doctor on me.” The wink that Eunkwang sent Minhyuk’s way let him know that he was going to be okay. “Do I get to take my clothes off so you can give me a physical examination?”

Minhyuk removed his hands from the blonde. “Aish...” he said as his cheeks grew warm. “You’re IMPOSSIBLE.”

“My head is actually aggressively pounding right now and I see two of you,” Eunkwang said nonchalantly. “Also, you kissed me.”

Yeah.

He definitely did.

Dammit.

 

---

The other members had barged into the waiting room not long after the concert, worried for their leader.

"I’m fine, guys. Don’t worry about me. And...I’m sorry. I'm your leader and I let you guys down. I'm sorry I couldn't be there and perform with you. Aish...I'm such a burden" Eunkwang said with a sigh, wincing a bit.

“You really scared us, hyung! Your health is more important than the concert. Without you, there’s no BTOB.” Sungjae said. And the other members nodded in agreement.

Soon after,  Minhyuk and Hyunsik helped Eunkwang to the car and sat him in the backseat. They then went and packed up and drove back to their dorm. Before even thinking about anything else, they practically dragged Eunkwang to his bed despite his protests that he could walk perfectly fine (He couldn’t) Eunkwang was put into a bed and Minhyuk went to get him an ice pack.

Minhyuk returned with the ice pack and placed it under Eunkwang’s head. “Twenty minutes on, twenty minutes off.”

“We called a doctor,” he told him as he sat down on the edge of the bed. “Told him your symptoms and he said you have a mild concussion. It should be safe for you to sleep, but we’re gonna have to wake you up every couple hours to check on you. If your symptoms don’t go away, we’ll have to take you to the hospital.”

Eunkwang gave a thumbs up. “Thank you, Dr. Lee.”

“I brought you some saltine crackers too,” Minhyuk said. “Easy on the stomach. And some water.” He set the glass of water down on the bedside table and watched as Eunkwang took the box of crackers and held them to his chest like a teddy bear. “Get some rest, okay?” Minhyuk was about to get up to leave, but Eunkwang grabbed his wrist.

“You’re mad at me.”

“Well, yeah,” Minhyuk said, looking away.

"Is it because you couldn't perform today? I know you were really looking forward to your solo... and I'm so-'

“No! I'm not angry because of that. You didn’t tell me that you got hurt and you could have gotten seriously injured, Eunkwang-ah. Head injuries are serious. I-You scared me...”

The blonde pursed his lips into an adorable pout. “I’m sorry. I thought I was okay. Don’t be mad.”

The red-head sighed, heart melting at Eunkwang’s pouty face and patted his shoulder. “I lov- I mean... I care about you and I like to know that you’re okay. So, for future reference, don’t hide head injuries or any other injuries from me or any of us, for that matter.”

A thumbs-up came from Eunkwang. “You got it!” His hand then shot up to grab Minhyuk as the red-head tried to leave again. “You said you have to monitor me, right?” Minhyuk nodded. “Well… instead of having check up on me every hour, why not just hang out up here with me?”

“You want me to…”

“Y-yea. Stay? Please?”

Minhyuk didn’t have much time to answer, for Eunkwang already was grabbing the man and pulling him down next to him in the bed. He didn’t really know what to do at first (it had been awhile since he cuddled with someone besides his soft toys, okay?) and simply laid there for a moment until he finally caught his breath again. Slowly and very carefully, he moved to lie on his side and wrapped an arm around the concussed main vocalist’s stomach. Eunkwang’s arm draped itself over his shoulders and he sighed happily.

“You kissed me.”

“Yeah, I did,” Minhyuk replied quietly.

“Why?”

“Because I thought you were going to die and I was freaking out and then you woke up and I just… had the urge to kiss you. So I did.”

“We should do that more often.”

Minhyuk smiled. “Yeah, we should. Now go to sleep.”

"Mmm. Thank you, Minnie...'

As Eunkwang drifted off to blissful sleep, he heard a faint mumble from his cuddle-buddy.

I love you...