Tags/warnings: slight angst, canon-ish?, idol life, friendship, hurt

A/n: Thank you user icekon for requesting this plot :) this one-shot is still subject to revisions!

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The boys were doing their preps for the upcoming performance. Some were stretching or marking the dance steps, others were adjusting their mics or getting last minute touch-ups for their hair and makeup. People flew around backstage, shouting into headsets in their attempts to be heard over the roar of the audience. 

The pitch-blackness of the stage fueled the apprehension of the 11 artists and the thousands watching. The cheers shook everything as the huge screens lit up to reveal Luhan's thin figure running towards the stage hand-in-hand with a lady. Kyungsoo's in-ears thankfully drowned out the background noise as the starting beats echoed the his own pulse. He sat on his chair on the second level platform and waited for the cue. 

Dnggggg (a/n: yes, my ty attempt at imitating the low piano note)

6 heads snapped up in unison. The practised extensions of their arms mesmerised the audience and no one could tear their eyes off the stage. The 6 men stood up while the other 5 men took their cue to follow up with their version of the dance. The camera swept to the right and Kyungsoo's body followed the background music with practiced ease. He stood up on the high table at the same time as the other 10 suited men. They rehearsed back at the studio tons of times already, so he was sure that he wouldn't mess it up. The only thing that worried him was maintaning his stamina on stage and not voicecracking in front of the huge audience. 

They semi tutted as the intro drew to a close. Ok, now jump off the platform and get to position. Kyungsoo did just that, prepared to follow up with the dramatic drumming part and move on to the main choreo.

But without warning, his foot slipped under him and his right knee buckled along with the sudden weight shift. His round eyes widened almost comically at the sudden pull around his ankle. But somehow Kyungsoo's arms continued the banging motions on autopilot perfectly to the beats.

. Did i sprain my leg or something? Kyungsoo's heart sped up from the adrenaline pumping in his veins. He slightly staggered towards his spot behind the camera and tried to hold back his wince (which was too easily caught by the fancams but that was besides the point). His breaths came up shorter than usual and beads of sweat formed around his hairline as he tried to keep up with the fast-paced performance.

"Yo. Ok" The singing started and luckily for Kyungsoo, the focus was on Baekhyun and the others temporarily like in the Growl MV. Kyungsoo took his chance to calm himself over the initial shock.

The camera eventually panned over to his half of the stage where Kyungsoo showed off the perfectly rehearsed gestures and facial expressions as he sang along to the backing track flawlessly. Suho sprang out from his right to follow up with his own lines. But...

Oh . They had to hop on alternate legs across half of the stage with Kyungsoo smack in the middle of the shot. Hopefully being in the background means no one will look at him? Well that was the most Kyungsoo could wish for as he tried to do the smallest of jumps on his right leg but gave up immediately as a weird ache sprang up. He switched over to his left foot the rest of the way to be on the safe side. Amazingly, he wasn't too far offbeat and the freestyle grooving portion of the dance gave him more buffer time to compose himself.

Right after that, they continued with jumps for a few more paces, where Kyungsoo bit the insides of his cheek and carried on with a small stumble. Kyungsoo almost let out a sigh of relief before he remembered that his mic was on - the next part was easier to cover up as they mostly had only small weight shifts. The best part was that he just had to stand and hit the high notes while glaring at the camera to save himself from having to crouch down on the floor.

Kyungsoo found himself right in front of the camera again soon but managed to follow the dance well, just cutting out the quick mini jumps. 

Before he turned back with Lay, Chanyeol, and Suho, he grimaced as his right ankle started throbbing. Not good. He limped backwards, luckily blocked from view by Kris and Luhan who took the spotlight. The excitement amongst the crowd helped to hide Kyungsoo's minor mistakes and he had a few more moments to mentally prepare himself for the next part. After Kai's center portion, the camera whipped over and the practiced expressions masked his worry. 

Lady luck must have been watching over him because after he hid in the back centre, his parts were mostly done with. Now just blend in and don't break a leg. It's a wonder how he still managed to crack jokes in that state. 

After that, Kai and Luhan captivated everyone with their dance duel while the members huddled around backstage. Suho glanced over knowingly and massaged Kyungsoo's neck as if to tell him to be careful out there. Their mics were still on though, so he mouthed an "I'm ok" in an attempt to quell his worries. It was obvious that the elder man wanted to stop him from performing the rest of the item, but with such short notice they couldn't make any changes, so all 12 members gathered again as a