Back at the dorm

‘Aigo… So tired. But… WOW!’ then Yo Seob was at it again, jumping around. But this time he stopped after the first ten seconds. Dong Woon was totally exhausted. The pill’s effect had gone off two hours ago, in the midst of the interview recording. After that he had remained quiet, so as to not give away anything to his hyungs. He didn’t speak unless the interviewer asked him a direct question. They just thought he was tired, and didn’t press him. They went to shower, and went to bed. They had four schedules the next day and had to wake up at 5.30 in the morning. That leaves exactly five hours for them to sleep, and the next day will be even worse, their schedules even more packed.

Over the next two weeks, the members were all run ragged. They had only one day with two schedules out of the whole week, and that was the only day they could sleep for more than five hours. The rest of the days were all packed full with shows, programmes and interviews. It was increasingly hard trying to hide his worsening headaches from s. And the headaches had worsened. They had not only increased in the duration, the intensity had worsened too. Every time he gets them his legs turns to jelly, it was that bad. It always starts out from the base of his skull, then spread upwards to his forehead and solar plexus, before driving deep into his brain like a jackhammer. He had not dared to take any more of the pills, because he could not afford the side effects.

That first and only time he took the pills, he couldn’t wake up the next morning. He was so exhausted in the morning, and coupled with their busy schedules, just made him not feeling like waking up the next day. Doo Jun had tried very hard to shake him awake. He thought the maknae was just playing with him, and purposely didn’t want to wake up. But Dong Woon was just so tired; he can’t even sit up by himself. Doo Jun had to drag him to the bathroom, and turn on the shower head to try and wake him. That day, he dragged himself about like a zombie. He didn’t even have the appetite to eat, and that was alarming the members. They fussed around him, but Dong Woon didn’t want them to worry. He had already decided to only take the pills only in emergency. The following day, he was better and they continued their promotions smoothly. He had not touched the pills since the first day, and he hoped he didn’t have to use them anymore, but he wasn’t sure he could survive the next few weeks of promotions in his condition. He also gets an occasional nosebleed, just a little short bleeding, nothing much, but he started to worry. He still didn’t tell the other members, because he was certain they would want him to stop promotions and go to the hospital. He didn’t want that to happen before the promotions end, so he soldiered on.

It was the last week of promotions, and they had won the previous two weeks' trophy on the music shows. If this week they won again, then they will be awarded the Triple Crown. The company said if they won the Triple Crown, they will have some time off. The members hoped that the time off would include a stay at a vacation resort for a few days. The next day is Monday, the day where they had lesser schedules. That day was particularly good, they only had one schedule. It was in the morning, then after that they will be free. The managers said they will have the rest of the day to themselves provided they go practice their dance a little, and they were glad to have some time off during promotions. Dong Woon was extra glad, and why wouldn’t he be? He gets to have time alone, and time with his hyungs too, so he was really looking forward to it. However, it wasn’t meant to be.

On Monday, not surprisingly since it’s the usual now, Dong Woon woke with a headache. However, surprisingly, it was much worse than what Dong Woon was prepared for. This time, the headache was an unrelenting pounding that does not seem to stop or lessen in its intensity. He had woken up an hour ago with this headache, and one hour later it is still beating strong. Normally his headaches will be less severe after a while, and by two to three hours it will be completely gone. But not this time. They were on their way to an interview, and they had to rush, only eating their breakfast in the van. Dong Woon didn’t have the appetite, and his stomach rolled when he smelled the sandwiches his hyungs was eating. Needless to say, to the other members, this behaviour was weird for the maknae. But what they didn’t know was ever since the headaches started to worsen, Dong Woon had barely managed to finish all his portion of food at meals. He forces himself to chew and swallow, but the headaches makes everything hard to do. He resented his weakness, and he desperately needed the headaches to go away. He prayed, begged and cajoled whoever reigned the heavens for the headaches to just go away but that didn’t happen. He was just so sick of the pain, so tired of keeping it to himself. He just wanted to lie down and never have to wake up to headaches ever again. He knew he looked gaunt and he had lost some weight, but he just couldn’t do anything about it. He didn’t want to be the cause of any delays anymore. He resented the fact that he had caused a delay of their comeback, even though it’s just for a week, and he blames himself. He knew it’s irrational, but he just can’t shake the feeling of being a burden to the team. He sees himself as the weakest in their group, despite his happy face in front of the members and the ‘Son Nam Shin’ façade. He knew only his looks were the only point that can compete with the rest of the members. He wanted, no, needed, to feel like he belong. That he wasn’t the one dragging the group down. Everyone else have their other solo activities. Doo Jun and Ki Kwang have their MC-ing and acting, Yo Seob, Jun Hyung and Hyun Seung have their partnership with other artistes. Dong Woon always wanted to go on more variety shows if he had the chance, but the chance never came. To be frank, he was jealous of his hyungs. But he was also immensely proud of the achievements his hyungs had, and he was genuinely happy for them. He just wished he could have some opportunities thrown his way too.

While he was lost in his thoughts, they had reached their interview location. He realized he was still holding on to his uneaten sandwich and Yo Seob was eyeing it. He moved to hand the visual maknae the sandwich but Doo Jun caught him.

‘Dong Woon-ah, don’t indulge him. You need your breakfast too. Hurry up and finish it.’ Doo Jun said as he dragged the pouting main vocal away. Dong Woon sighed, and took a cautious bite. He managed to swallow three small bites before his stomach rebelled. He pushed the sandwich into the closest member’s hands, which happened to be Ki Kwang, before he rushed off to the toilet, covering his mouth.

[a/n: hey guys! :D hahaha yay! finally the maknae line has a vote! but DooWoon still going strong though! hehe thanks for voting, and since i cant make up my own mind, im glad u guys will make the decision for me. :P hehehe. hope u guys like this chappie! :D]