They arrived at the hospital after about twenty minutes from the time they left their dormitory to be greeted by tons of reporters and fans in front of the hospital’s main doors. How in the world did they know they were going to be there? They have no idea either.

“Umm, hyung, how do we get Baekhyun inside? We can’t even drive the car to the front of the main doors,” Junmyeon passed a glance to their manager and then to the sick member at the back seat of the car who was breathing raggedly in his unconscious state. “Wait a second,” answered back their manager. Seunghwan got out of the car, wanting to ask the reporters and fans politely to clear the way but instead, he got swarmed by the many questions of the reporters and the screams of the fans.

“We heard that EXO’s Baekhyun is sick, how did he manage to contract the sickness?”

“And what kind of sickness is it?”

“Will EXO still be performing at the MAMA Awards with Baekhyun in this condition?”

“Baekhyun Oppa!”

“Oppa get well soon!”

“Oppa I love you!”

One voice stood out from the rest-

“Everyone please, this is a hospital and I am kindly asking you to be quiet. We have a patient in that car and I beg you to please make a path for the car to come through so that the hospital can immediately treat him, thank you,” Dr. Kim says in a ‘as gentle as possible’ tone but still stern and slightly agitated.

During all the ruckus, Baekhyun came back into the world of consciousness with a groan, worrying Chanyeol, Jongdae and Junmyeon who were still in the car as of that moment. The rest of the members were in the other car. The cold wet cloth that was on his forehead fell onto his lap.

“W-where are we?” seemingly more conscious of his surroundings now, “W-why are we in the c-car? Why are t-there reporters and f-f-fans?” Baekhyun said in a hoarse voice.

“We’re at the hospital Baek, you’re gonna be here for the next few days until you get better,” explained Junmyeon.

“B-but what about the MAMA awards?”

“Don’t worry about the performance Baek, we can cover for you. If you’re worried about the receiving awards part, don’t worry, we’ll explain to the fans and everyone there okay?” said Jongdae in a soft tone.

“B-but-,”

Their manager came back into the car and drove them toward the hospital entrance. “A wheelchair will be there waiting at the entrance with a few nurses. You guys go in and get settled first.” A few mumbled ‘okay’s and ‘alright’s were heard.

True enough that there were a few nurses waiting beside their car with a wheelchair in hand. Junmyeon got out of the car first and helped support Baekhyun with the help of Jongdae to get into the wheelchair and into the hospital, followed by Chanyeol and the other members from the other car. A nurse pushed him towards the main doors and into the hospital.

Getting into the main doors were even more of a challenge. The moment they got out of the car, the reporters and fans didn’t bother about whatever Dr. Kim had said and rushed back towards the EXO members, pushing and pulling, to get a glimpse of the sick member. All the eight remaining members as well as the few nurses tried their very best to cover a shivering Baekhyun that has a blanket around him in the wheelchair. The hospital’s security guards tried to control the crowd when they saw what was happening but nothing was working anymore. Until the other two beagles, closest to Baekhyun, have had enough-

“STOP! Stop, please stop,” shouted a deep voice.

The crowd fell silent-

“All of you want him to get better, say that you pray for him to get better, but NONE of you are actually letting him to get the treatment to get better by doing this,” said another loud voice over the crowd.

“Can’t you see him shivering here? It’s winter right now for God’s sake and being out here for a long time isn’t helping him at all.”

“So please, let us through, whatever information you want about the situation, you can get it later once Baekhyun is in bed.”

They finish it off together, “Thank you!”

And with that, they finally managed to get through to the main doors and into the hospital, passing by a few mumbled ‘sorry’s along the way. The nurse pushed Baekhyun into one of the private rooms and transferred him to the bed in the room. Dr. Kim came in and together with a few nurses, they hooked him up to the iv drip filled with the fluids he needed on his left hand and to another unknown drip on his right hand.

“They’re nutrients,” Dr. Kim said when he saw all the other eyes in the room eyeing the extra iv line connected to their friend’s hand. “He did say he hasn’t been eating, this will quicken his recovery process.”

The other members in the room only manage to nod at the new information and stand behind the doctor and nurses, waiting for them to finish hooking Baekhyun up.

Baekhyun himself on the other hand still had a splitting headache and he was still shivering like crazy, not to mention the thin layer of perspiration that he was wearing even in this kind of cold weather. He felt very embarrassed about what happened in front of the hospital, knowing very well that the story of him being sick will be all over the news by now, but he could care less about that at the moment. He was though, very thankful to the other members, mainly the other beagles, for somewhat protecting him. He was in deep thought, so he didn’t even realise the doctor taking his temperature, pulse and other necessities for a basic check-up. Until one of the nurses started rubbing his forearm with a wet piece of cotton wool.

“This is just going to sting a little,” she said calmly, already pushing the needle into his arm and pulling the syringe up to get some blood. Once she was done, she took out the syringe, labelled the collected blood and stood behind the doctor.

Doctor Kim started, “We’ll take his blood in for testing, just in case it’s something more than the common flu.”

Doctor Kim was about to leave the room when manager Seunghwan, who came just about a few minutes before, asked, “Doc, will he be able to perform in two days? Because the upper authorities would not allow him to be absent and not perform.”

“What! Hyung they can’t ask him to do this,” cut in a pissed off Kyungsoo.

“I know, I tried to negotiate but they wouldn’t budge,” their manager was distressed, they could tell, because no one could do anything when it came to the words of the upper authorities.

Everyone looked to the doctor for an answer. However, right before the doctor could say anything, a small hoarse voice was faster-

“It’s f-fine, I’ll p-perform. Screw this f-fever, seriously.”

“Baekhyun!” shouted almost everyone in the room except for the doctor, nurse and their manager. Before any arguments could happen, which their manager was sure it was about to happen, he cut in-

“Doctor?”

“Well, we’ll just have to see his condition in the next two days then. Now if you’ll excuse me, I will go and test his blood and I’ll come back with the results as soon as possible. If you need anything, just press the call button and this nurse will come to help with your needs, her name is Nana by the way,” he and Nana left with a bow.

Thus, they were alone in the hospital room, just the nine EXO members and their manager, Baekhyun on the bed, Chanyeol, Jongdae and Kyungsoo sat on the edges of the bed, either at the sides or at the foot of the bed, Minseok, Junmyeon and Seunghwan on the couch and Jongin, Sehun and Yixing at any place that they deemed comfortable enough to sit.

Baekhyun was going in and out of consciousness, the medicine from the iv drips clearly kicking in. They were all in a comfortable silence, almost all of them using their phones except for the three that were on the bed. They were having a quiet conversation of their own, trying not to disturb the member that was actually in the bed who was trying to fight against being into the world of unconsciousness.

Then, everything happened so fast. Baekhyun sat up quickly just when Nana came back into the room, earning a few worried glances towards the man in the bed.

“I t-think I’m going to b-be sick,” he said with his eyes wide open and everyone could see his slightly green complexion.

Nana grabbed a bucket from the toilet and ran towards the bed and passed it to Kyungsoo who was the closest to Baekhyun at that moment. The bucket was under Baekhyun’s chin in record time and the moment it got there, retching sounds could be heard filling the room. Kyungsoo rubbed his back and Jongdae kept combing his fingers through Baekhyun’s hair, in hopes that it would tell him that they were all there for him.

Once he was done throwing his guts up, he collapsed on the bed, breathing heavily and clearly tired, but unable to fully fall asleep, worried about their performance. Jongdae kept on combing his fingers through his hair while Nana took the bucket away but before she left, she looked towards the couch.

“Umm, the reporters downstairs really don’t want to leave until they get a word or two from anyone in this room about the situation, that’s what the security guards told me at least.” She was rubbing her nape as well, not knowing what to do and wanting to yell at those reporters and fans for being so absurd.

“They’re so annoying,” mumbled Jongin.

Seunghwan was in deep thought and looking at his phone until a beep was heard, surprising everyone in the room.

“Okay then, if that’s what they want then we’ll give it to them. We’ll allow only one reporter and their one cameraman in this room for a very short interview and shot then they will leave immediately,” he looked up towards Nana and she left with a nod, understanding his statement clearly.

All the EXO members, including Baekhyun, looked towards their manager as if he grew another head, not really grasping his words to the fullest yet.

Upon seeing the rounded eyes in the room, their manager responded, “The upper authorities just texted me to do so.”

They were all still dumbfounded but had to go with whatever their manager said anyway. Upper authorities’ say must always be followed. Baekhyun spoke up though-

“I’m pretty sure they just want to know if I’ll be performing or not during the awards.” His voice was still hoarse but at least he wasn’t shivering anymore.

“Yea I bet they don’t even care about your health, they just want the scoop, that’s all they always want,” said a very annoyed Minseok.

All of them agreed to the statement and Baekhyun was about to protest that he was okay, eventhough he was the one on the hospital bed at that very moment, when the door opened. Nana came in with a few bouquets of flowers in her hands followed by the reporter and the cameraman who were behind her.

“Baekhyun, these are from the fans downstairs, I’ll just put them on this table here,” She placed the flowers on the bedside table, looked towards the reporter behind her and said sternly, “You only get to ask three questions and I’ll you out after. I’ll be in here the whole time to make sure everything is okay,” she ended with a sweet smile. The reporter only manages a nod.

“Damn I like this nurse, she knows what she’s doing,” whispered Chanyeol to Jongdae, Kyungsoo and Baekhyun.

The reporter asks the EXO members to surround Baekhyun making sure that they don’t cover him so that the cameraman can get a few photos and a recording of the interview without having to turn the camera around. They do so, fixing their hair in the process. The reporter was about to start with the questions when Junmyeon spoke first-

“He has a sore throat so we will be the ones answering your questions for him,” he looked towards Baekhyun, who was currently very tense because he has to be in the shot even when he’s in a freaking hospital bed.  “Just relax Baekhyun hyung, you need to relax and rest,” Jongin whispered while patting his leg.

“Better yet, sleep,” Yixing chips in.

All the other members give him and encouraging smile and Baekhyun gives them a small smile in return as a sign of thanks and leaned into the bed, closing his eyes. The headache was still there, only left with dull throbs. The medicine must be working a lot, he thought. He was out the moment the reporter said ‘start’ to her cameraman.

“Oh he fell asleep, please wake him up, we need him to at least be awake,” said the reporter, not realising the glares she got from everyone in the room.

Before any member could say anything, Nana beat them to it first, “Excuse me, he is not feeling well and he deserves to sleep whenever he wants to because he needs the rest. You people are heartless to ask them to wake him up just because they are idols, in a hospital nonetheless. They are humans too and you better be nice or else you’re not getting this short interview,” she said glaring at the reporter.

As if finally realising that she was wrong and should have respected their privacy, the reporter squeaks out in the end saying that she’ll only be asking one question, which gave everyone in the room satisfied smiles, some even adoring Nana for her boldness.

“So, are you guys performing during the MAMA Awards with or without Baekhyun?”

“That depends,” Junmyeon answered.

“That was very short but okay nevertheless, I will respect your privacy.” She stood to leave, “We wish him a speedy recovery,” she left quickly with a bow.

Everyone was silent after, going back to their original spots, leaving Baekhyun to his rest. They knew they had to worry about the performance but that can wait, the health of their fellow member was more important than anything. They knew Baekhyun would be stubborn and still want to perform even in this state, he’s done it many times before, all of them have, but something tells them that they’re in for a ride in the mere future, they just can’t pinpoint on it.

The same night all of this happened, the article came out, a picture of all of them around a sleeping Baekhyun at the top of the page with the headline ‘Baekhyun of EXO sick in the hospital, EXO members to go to MAMA Awards or not?’

When they saw the article, the members were thankful that it was kept short and there were no lies in it. They slept that night in the hospital room peacefully, sounds of the heart monitor and drips from the iv line filling the room, hoping that Baekhyun will get well as soon as possible.