Hwiyoung had no idea how long it has been like that.

Acid lined his throat, leaving a constant throbbing, his stomach whirring with each mouth of food he take, threatening to push everything out at any moment.

The food that he used to enjoy now resulted in so much pain; he could not stomach anything down. After each meal, he would find himself in the bathroom puking out everything that he had just consumed.

After a while, he just stopped eating completely. Initially he would just come up with excuses to not have his meals with s. But overtime, the members caught on and became worried. Not wanting to worry them, Hwiyoung joined during meal times, pushing his food around his plate, eating as little as possible.

Despite the weather becoming warmer, Hwiyoung still continued wearing clothes that would cover him up completely. If anyone were to see his arms, even a child could tell that he had lost too much weight.

Hwiyoung thought that time would heal him, but he was completely wrong. As time passed, it got worse. He could not stomach anything, he constantly felt cold and dizzy. Getting out of bed may be a chore to everyone, but Hwiyoung could not even get out of bed without losing his vision momentarily.

As weak as his body was getting, exercise was the only thing that made him feel better. The adrenaline he got when he worked out was enough to overcome the pain that everything else was causing him. Dance practice made his body feel like it’s working again. But once the adrenaline wore off, Hwiyoung was as dead as ever.

It soon became a routine for him, alternating between dance practices, vocal practices and working out. Hwiyoung kept himself busy to occupy himself from the pain.

News of a comeback soon came and everyone was kept busy. Hwiyoung was thankful that s were busy enough to not realize what he was going through. Hwiyoung pretended like he was okay and it seemed to convince s well enough, maybe except for one.

Yoo Taeyang.

Hwiyoung had just spent another day in misery. The members insisting on going out to celebrate before they start their diet for the upcoming comeback, to which Hwiyoung was dragged along as well.

Despite being happy that they finally could perform on stage and meet their fans again, Hwiyoung wasn’t looking forward to the celebratory dinner. The more meals he spent with the members, someone was bound to catch on.

With the unanimous decision to have fried chicken, the members filed into the chicken joint that they all loved. Hwiyoung made sure to sit at a seat where he could easily bolt into the toilet if he needed to.

As the food arrived, everyone pranced toward the food, devouring it as if they haven’t eaten all day, with the exception of Hwiyoung. Dawon, who was sitting beside him, grabbed a wing from the centre and placed it in front of him. “Eat up. You haven’t been eating much lately. Don’t worry about gaining weight tonight cause we’re here to party~” Dawon screamed.

Hwiyoung gulped and stared at the chicken wing that was now taunting him. *One fried chicken wing, 90 calories* He sighed at picked up the wing and bit into it anyway, chewing as slowly as he could, hoping that his body would not reject the food this time.

Once he finished that wing, the feeling of acid lining his throat emerged once again. It took a lot of effort to not throw up there and then. Hwiyoung could barely focus on anything that s were talking about. Taeyang that so happened to be beside Hwiyoung, noticed the discomfort written on the younger’s face. Squeezing his knee gently, Taeyang whispered into Hwiyoung’s ear, “Are you okay? You look unwell.”

Hwiyoung, who wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings, got shocked when Taeyang whispered into his ear. He bit onto his tongue to prevent himself from puking there and then and nodded.

Taeyang frowned, unsatisfied with the answer that Hwiyoung gave, and it was obvious that he was in pain yet he refused to admit so. However, before Taeyang could probe further, Hwiyoung got up from his seat and made a beeline for the toilet.

Feeling worried, Taeyang bolted out of his seat and followed Hwiyoung’s trail.

Upon entering the bathroom, the sounds that entered Taeyang’s ears sent him into disbelief. The suspicions that he has held for a while, was finally proven right. Hwiyoung was throwing up.

For the past few months, whenever Hwiyoung was in the bathroom, Taeyang would hear sounds that made him believe that Hwiyoung was throwing up but he refused to believe so. Taeyang convinced himself that he was merely hearing things. He wanted to be wrong.

It turns out Taeyang was right this whole time.

Everything started to make sense to Taeyang now. About how Hwiyoung has not been eating much lately; how Hwiyoung spent longer than usual in the toilet; how Hwiyoung has been wearing clothes that covered up way too much; how he spent so much time working out that the members barely saw him around the dorm anymore. It all finally made sense.

How long has it been like this? What am I supposed to do? Does anyone know about this?

Many questions flooded Taeyang’s mind, majority of which, he didn’t have the answer to.

There were too many things the young male was uncertain about. However, there was one thing that he was sure of: I will save him.

Taeyang was then snapped out of his thoughts when Hwiyoung exited the cubicle and they came face to face to each other.

“Hyung...” Hwiyoung managed to mutter out despite the burning in his throat. The younger male looked so weak and fragile; tears started b in his eyes, some spilling over his cheeks.

“H-how long has it been like this?” Taeyang needed some answers, and he needed them immediately.

Hwiyoung shifted his eyes, thinking of ways to get out of the situation. “What are you talking about? I’m fine, I just ate something wrong that’s all” the younger male avoided all eye contact.

Lies. Taeyang felt betrayed by Hwiyoung. Why would he lie to me? How do I get him to tell me the truth? Taeyang started to feel dizzy with questions.

There were so many things Taeyang wanted to ask but all he could to do was to pull the younger male into a hug. Afraid to hurt him, Taeyang didn’t dare to wrap his arms around Hwiyoung too tightly. Tears started to pour then the two of them just stood there, embracing each other in silence except for the occasional sobs.

“Hwiyoung, please tell me the truth. It hurts me to see you like this” Taeyang whispered after some time, he wanted to know the story, so that he could at least attempt to help him.

Before Hwiyoung could open his mouth to speak, Youngbin walked into the toilet. “Are you guys okay? You’ve been in here for a long time.” Both of them nodded in unison, glad that the waterworks that happened earlier was long over.

“We’re fine. We’ll be out shortly.” Taeyang responded as he shooed Youngbin away, assuring that there was nothing happening.

As Youngbin left, Taeyang turned towards Hwiyoung, “We’ll talk later again tonight.” Taeyang assuring patted Hwiyoung on the back. “You’re going to be okay, I promise.” Taeyang squeezed Hwiyoung’s shoulder before heading out, joining the rest of the members.

Hwiyoung quickly washed his face and headed out, only to be bombarded with questions from the other members.

“Taeyang told us that your stomach wasn’t feeling well, did you get food poisoning or something?”  “Did you drop a bomb inside the toilet or something?” “Please don’t fall ill, our comeback is soon!” Both questions of concern and nagging were hurled towards the helpless male who only responded with the curt “I’m fine, don’t worry.”

The rest of the night went by like a blur, the members believing that Hwiyoung had a bad stomach refrained from forcing Hwiyoung from eating anymore to which he was thankful for. Taeyang has already found out his secret, he didn’t need someone else knowing too.

After the night of celebration, the members filed back into their dorm dead tired and ready to head to bed. Hwiyoung too, dragged himself to his room, his mind constantly thinking about the encounter in the toilet with Taeyang, wondering what he should actually tell him.

Speaking of the devil, Taeyang entered their shared room, taking a seat beside Hwiyoung. “Hwiyoung, I want you to tell me the truth and to tell me everything.”

Hwiyoung sat up and faced Taeyang and sighed, “Alright, I’ll talk. But can you at least tell me where to start?”

“You can start by telling me when all of this started” Taeyang maintained eye contact with Hwiyoung, not wanting the latter to run from his problems anymore.

“It started a few months back.” Hwiyoung started explaining everything that has happened so far. About how he could not stomach down any of the food he consumes, about how exercise was the only thing that made him feel better and how he’s slowly getting weaker as time passes.

“I don’t know why I’m like this. I thought I would get better overtime but it just got worse. I-I don’t know what to do anymore.” Hwiyoung whimpered and hugged his legs tighter.

Many thoughts ran through Taeyang’s head, thinking of which is the best way to help Hwiyoung. It hurt him to see Hwiyoung so weak like this; he would do anything to make him better.

“I don’t want any of the members to worry, that’s why I kept it a secret.” Hwiyoung looked up at Taeyang teary eyed, “Please don’t tell anyone about this.” The younger male begged. Taeyang felt his heart shatter and the tears he had unknowingly held in started flowing down his cheeks. Hwiyoung was in so much pain yet his main concern was to not make the other worry.

Hwiyoung was taken aback by Taeyang crying, “Hyung. Are you alright?” He warily approached the older male.

Wiping away the tears, Taeyang smiled at Hwiyoung. “Don’t worry about me. We’re here to help you. I don’t want you to suffer anymore.” Taeyang’s words were lined with sincerity. He didn’t know how he was going to do it, but he was going to save Hwiyoung from all the pain and suffering he had been going through for the past few months.

Hwiyoung deflated, “How are you going to help me when I don’t even know how to help myself.” He whispered, his words choking him up.

Taeyang grabbed onto Hwiyoung’s shoulders and looked dead into the latter’s eyes. “You’re not alone in this anymore. Just stop keeping your problems to yourself. I am here now. We’ll make it better somehow.”

Taeyang grabbed Hwiyoung’s wrist and carefully rolled up the sleeve to his sweatshirt. Surprisingly, Hwiyoung didn’t show any resistance as Taeyang slowly revealed his arm.

Hwiyoung’s arm was beyond skinny, you could almost wrap your entire hand around his forearm and there would still be space.

“Hwiyoung, exactly how much weight did you lose?” Taeyang whispered.

Hwiyoung gulped but he realized that there is no point lying anymore. “About 10kg.” He truthfully answered.

10kg!? In a matter of months? That’s terrible. How did he manage to lose so much that quickly?

Taeyang hesitantly moved towards grabbing the hem of Hwiyoung’s sweatshirt. “C-could I?” There was really no reason to feel nervous but Taeyang felt his face turning red. It’s not like you have never seen a shirtless guy before. Stop feeling flustered! He mentally scolded himself. Leading his upwards slowly, Hwiyoung sat completely still, biting down on his lip, afraid of what Taeyang was going to say next.

“Hwiyoung, I should not be able to count your ribs” Taeyang used his other hand to gently trace the outline of the younger’s rib cage that could be seen through his skin.

Swiftly pulling his sweatshirt back down, Hwiyoung whispered, “I know. I just don’t know how to control myself anymore. Everything I eat feels like acid. I haven’t been able to enjoy food anymore.”

Taeyang embraced Hwiyoung once again, feeling an aching feeling in his heart. “Hwiyoung, you have to get better. I will help you overcome this. I will save you.”

So the first chapter is finally here! Oh god I took wayyy too long on this story and my ideas are all over the place right now. I'm still working on the second chapter so I hope the story flows alright because you have no idea how long I've been working on this story. Hope that you've enjoyed it so far and do leave your thoughts in the comments section!