Baekhyun felt as if his whole body was chained to whatever he was on. He couldn’t get up, opening his eyes seemed like an effort of the lifetime and his whole body just ached like it has never before. He realised he was conscious again because s suddenly shouted- it somehow managed to pull him back to the surface of light and not let him get pulled in deeper into the dark abyss. He wanted to let s know that he was awake but his body hurt so much, so instead of a word or two, he only managed to produce a groan that was more because of the pain he was feeling than the effort to inform s that he was okay.

Everyone heard the pained groan and all their heads flew towards the source of the said sound.

“Guys..” said Junmyeon, massaging his temples while wondering how he got very not-so-subtle members.

But no one paid attention to Junmyeon, all of their attention was towards the member on the bed who looked pale as a sheet. Baekhyun’s face was scrunched up and had a frown on it. His breathing was ragged and short. His hair was stuck to his forehead because of all the perspiration from his body.

Minseok pushed away the beagle’s bangs away from the sweaty forehead and felt it with the back of his hand.

“He’s seriously burning up, you can feel it just by hovering your hand on top of his forehead.”

Everyone looked surprised and shocked at the same time. Was it even possible to get a fever that high?

Baekhyun was slowly opening his eyes, fluttering them open. He tried to sit up but figured soon enough that his head was throbbing and his whole body felt like it was on fire but put into a freezer. He groaned again and felt hands pushing him down, not letting him sit up.

“Don’t even try to sit up, Baek,” said Yixing, looking as concerned as the rest in the room.

“How are you feeling?” asked Jongdae.

He got a few coughs as an answer.

“It’s so cold and I feel like my head is gonna explode sooner or later,” said Baekhyun in a hoarse voice, wincing at how he sounds like, closing his eyes tightly while wrapping the sheets tighter around his body. His body now shivering more than ever.

Everyone else in the room looked at the member on the bed with pure concern.

“Alright we’re bringing you to the hospital right now. Sehun, Jongin, help him to the car, everyone else move now.” instructed the worried leader.

As they were about to move-

“Guys wait, hear me out,” Kyungsoo spoke up, “Don’t you think by bringing Baek to the hospital, it’ll attract attention? I’m not worried about the EXO-Ls but we do have those sasaeng fans who’d do anything for some scoop.”

“That’s true..” said Jongin, very unsurely.

“But look at him!” Jongdae said, pointing towards Baekhyun on the bed, somewhat shouting.

Everyone looked towards the leader for an answer-

“We did say that if his condition gets worse, we’ll bring him to the hospital.”

“Yes but honestly Junmyeon, I’m also scared about what the sasaengs could do to him in his current state,” said Minseok firmly.

“G-Guys, w-why go through all the w-worry, I’m p-perfectly fine,” said Baekhyun who was trying hard to sit up but only managed to do so with Yixing’s help. Now he was sitting up on the bed, head against the headboard of the bed, breathing a little ragged and heavy, blanket tightly wrapped around his body and shivering like crazy.

“Stop talking Baek, you don’t even have a say in this right now,” said Chanyeol to the man in the bed.

“B-but–,”

“Shush Baek, focus on getting better please,” said Kyungsoo, face void of any emotion, but in heart, he’s full of worry for his friend.

And with that, Baekhyun started coughing non-stop. Minseok and Yixing could only rub his back and comfort him the best that they could in hopes that the pain Baekhyun is experiencing would end there and then.

“Hyung-,” Jongdae started,

“I know, I know,” said Junmyeon, “I guess right now, before we do anything, Kyungsoo- please call manager hyung and ask him to come here, explain the situation to him, he’ll know what to do.”

“What now hyung?” asked Sehun, who was now, along with Minseok and Yixing, helping Baek to lie down on his bed again, Yixing Baek’s hair.

“We let him rest,” the leader said sounding defeated.

“Umm yea before we do that, someone pass me the thermometer please, I think his temperature just got higher,” said Yixing who was now putting his hand on Baekhyun’s forehead, face full of concern for the latter.

Junmyeon passed him the thermometer and it went immediately into Baekhyun’s mouth, under his tongue. Chanyeol went to get another blanket for Baekhyun because his shivering was getting more and more intense and his face was scrunched up in pain. Not to mention that he was now sniffing and coughing softly into the sheets.

When Chanyeol came back with the blanket, they laid it on top of Baekhyun and at that moment the thermometer beeped, indicating that the temperature has been taken. Yixing who was closest to Baekhyun took it out and read the reading-

“What the- his temperature went up!”

“How high is it now?” asked Jongin curiously with a worried glance towards the man on the bed.

“It’s 40.3 degrees now,”

Everyone just looked at each other, eyes wide. They all turned to their leader, yet again, but just about then, Baekhyun got up with all the strength he had left and sprinted towards the bathroom. They all followed after him, of course, but they weren’t happy to hear retching sounds from the inside. Chanyeol and Jongdae, being the closest to Baekhyun, helped him in any way possible to ease the pain while the other members were trying to figure out what to do.

Just about then, the door to their dorm burst open and their manager along with someone else behind him came in.

“How is he?” their manager asked immediately, trying to find the said boy that he was worried for only to find three members missing in the current room.

“He’s in the bathroom- Chanyeol and Jongdae are with him.” Sehun said, looking lost, like he didn’t know what to do. All of them were clueless as of that moment.

“Right, follow me Doctor Kim,” the manager half walked and half ran towards the bathroom, the doctor trailing behind him.

“Thank god,” all the remaining members said together in unison. With that, all of them adjourned to the bathroom where the the doctor was heading towards and where the beagle line were at.

Baekhyun was doubled over the toilet bowl, still heaving up whatever that was left in his stomach. He was clutching the toilet bowl, holding on to dear life, shaking like a fragile leaf at that. Chanyeol and Jongdae were both next to their best friend, Chanyeol holding him up while Jongdae was rubbing his back. When they saw their manager and the doctor at the door of the bathroom, Chanyeol backed out to let the doctor do his job while Jongdae stayed to give Baekhyun comfort.

The doctor, Doctor Kim, went to Baekhyun’s side and said soft comforting words to him hoping that it’ll ease a little bit of the pain. Once Baekhyun was done heaving and gagging, he just sat there next to the toilet bowl, too exhausted to do anything by that point, Jongdae keeping a firm hold on him just in case he collapsed again.

“Right, let’s get you out of the bathroom first, okay Baekhyun?” looking towards Jongdae and the rest of the people waiting outside, “How about we bring him to the couch up front? It’ll help with his breathing,” the doctor said giving the sick boy a sympathetic smile and a pat to his back.

Being beside Baekhyun at the moment, Jongdae and Junmyeon helped Baek out to the couch. Their manager, Lee Seunghwan, got a blanket out and draped it over the sick boy. Doctor Kim did all the tests needed, checked Baek’s temperature, pulse, heartbeat and everything else needed in a basic check up while the other boys as well as their manager stood surrounding Baekhyun and the doctor.

The doctor stood up, “Well, nothing too serious, it’s just exhaustion that eventually led to a fever and the flu. I do recommend to put him under the iv drip though, just to bring his fever down a little bit faster.”

“Can he stay here and get the iv drips or does he have to go to the hospital doc?” Junmyeon spoke up. “I would honestly prefer for Baekhyun to go to the hospital and stay there for at least one night or maybe until his fever breaks, for us to monitor him of course, but really it’s up to you guys. I understand that your security and safety comes first but I can assure you that the hospital security is very much capable of doing so.”

Baekhyun on the other hand tried very hard to grasp the conversation but his temples were just throbbing too much for him to comprehend any words at that point. Breathing heavily, all he could do was press his palms to his temples hoping that the flashing lights and blinding pain could both go away and leave him to his peace. They were performing in two days after all and if he wasn’t better by then, he was still going to perform anyway even if the others try to stop him. They couldn’t let their fans down.

The members, mainly Jongdae, Chanyeol and Sehun, seeing Baekhyun press his palms to his temples, went over to him and tried to make him more comfortable by fanning him, giving him a massage and even pulling up the small table for Baekhyun to put his legs on.

“Thank you,” mumbled a small, hoarse voice.

“Don’t worry about it Baek,” Chanyeol says, still massaging him.

“Just rest Baekhyun,” Minseok chips in. Doctor Kim just smiled at the boys’ interactions and care for their friend, watching his patient intently.

While all of that was happening, Junmyeon and manager Seunghwan were in a deep discussion about what to do. Baekhyun was half asleep by the time they made their decision.

“I guess, it’s best we bring Baekhyun to the hospital,” Junmyeon told the doctor.  “Alright then, but before we head to the hospital, I have a question for you Baekhyun, have you been eating your meals lately?” questioned the doctor in worry.

Baekhyun was, by then, already delirious and only half aware of his surroundings. He did answer the doctor but in somewhat of a half-drunken state where he wasn’t even aware of most of the things he was saying. Unlike the other people in the room though, who heard everything and was left in quite a shock to say the least.

“N-not really, my stomachs b-been queasy and I f-feel nauseous a lot nowadays,” said the shivering boy.

The doctor clicked his tongue and mumbled, “So that just confirmed my thoughts,” he looked up to the other members, “Alright, let’s bring him to the hospital now.”

All the members took off in two separate cars after they got a now unconscious Baekhyun into one of them and Jongdae managed to grab a cloth and wet it under cold water to try and help lower Baekhyun’s high fever while they were on the way to the hospital. Chanyeol on the other hand, grabbed his winter coat because it was freezing outside.

The ride to the hospital itself was very much uninteresting but quite a bit concerning because Baekhyun kept on whimpering every now and then. What they didn’t expect though, was the hurricane they had to go through when they arrived at the hospital itself…