After school on a Friday afternoon, Eric gets to hang out at the playground with his best friend, Felix. They are currently playing tag while their leaders watch them in the distance. 

"Tag! You're it." Eric says, tapping Felix before running away. 

Felix chases Eric for a couple minutes before getting exhausted and giving up. 

"You're too fast, Eric. I give up, let's play on the swings instead." Felix suggests. 

"Okay." Eric agrees. 

Eric and Felix go on the swings and end up going really high after a few minutes. Felix gradually slows to a stop, while Eric jumps off the swing instead. Unfortunately, Eric ends up landing on his knees rather than his feet.... and it really hurts. Eric tries as hard as possible to hold back a scream so that Sangyeon won't know that something is wrong. 

"Eric, are you alright?" Felix asks, running over to Eric and helping him stand back up. 

"Yeah, just got a little hit. Owww."

"Maybe we should tell your hyung." Felix says. 

"Why? It's not that big of a deal, I'm fine. Let's just keep playing." 

"If you say so. Let's play at the sandtable, that shouldn't hurt your knees." 

As they are building stuff at the sandtable, they get called over by their leaders. 

"Okay boys, it's time to go home."

"Eric, don't you have something to tell your hyung?" Felix says, turning to his best friend. 

"Yes. I love you hyung." Eric responds, hugging Sangyeon. 

Eric gives Felix a look from behind Sangyeon's back that says to keep the secret. 

"I love you too, Eric."

Eric and Sangyeon say bye to Felix and Bang Chan before walking back home. 

Later that day, Eric looks at his knees before bed and sees that they are bruised and a little swollen. They don't hurt too much since he hasn't been really active today, but tomorrow they have dance practice. All Eric can do is hope that his knees are better tomorrow. 

When Eric wakes up the next day, his knees are still bruised and a little more painful than before. However, he can still manage to walk, just a little slower than usual. Thankfully, nobody notices his decreased speed as he walks to the breakfast table. Eric sits down and his breakfast is given to him.

As Sangyeon is going over the schedule for the day, Eric dreads hearing the words dance practice. The dance that the boys are currently doing is very intense and there is also a part where they have to be on their knees. It is going to be a long day, but Eric is up for it. He doesn't want to tell anyone about his situation because they will just scold him and say he shouldn't be jumping off stuff, he also doesn't want to have to sit out and hold everyone back. 

"Eric, are you okay?" Sunwoo asks, snapping Eric out of his thoughts. 

"Yeah. Why?"

"It seemed like you were spacing out." Haknyeon points out. 

"Oh. Well, I'm all good." Eric smiles. 

At practice, Eric can't it anymore. They are going over the routine for the third time when Eric is overtaken by the pain in his knees. The part where they fall to their knees comes up and Eric grabs his knees while falling to the side. The members rush over to him and ask what is wrong.

"My knees, they hurt really badly." Eric admits. 

"Let me see them." Jacob says, pulling Eric's pant legs up to see his knees. 

Everyone can now see Eric's badly bruised knees. 

"How did this happen?" Sangyeon questions. 

"When we went to the playground yesterday, I jumped off the swing and landed on my knees." Eric explains, with tears in his eyes. 

"Why didn't you tell us about this right after it happened? You should be resting so that your knees don't get worse." 

"I'm sorry." Eric responds, now crying due to guilt and pain. 

"Gummy bear, why are you crying?" Chanhee asks, wiping away Eric's tears. 

"Because I made you guys mad and I let the team down by getting hurt." Eric explains. 

"We're not mad at you, Eric. We're just a little upset that you didn't tell us about this sooner. It is important that we all know when one of us gets hurt, so that they can take a break and get better as soon as possible." Jaehyun says. 

"Yeah, we don't want you to suffer alone. We always want to take care of you." Changmin adds. 

"Now, we're going to send you home now so you can rest." Jacob states, kissing Eric's forehead. 

Eric gets sent back to the dorm and lays in bed with ice packs on his knees. He is also not allowed to do any physical activity until he heals. Next time, he will make sure to admit when he gets hurt.