Even in the tiny room before they entered the filming space, Taemin was given as much space as possible by the other members. His mask was still on, but underneath he was ready to suffocate from the heat. If he took it off though... One of the others would kill him before he could even get sick. "Let's welcome them in!"

Together, they piled out of the room and into the more open area, a change Taemin and everyone were thankful for. The "waiting room" could barely hold one person, and the five of them were squeezed in tighter than one would have thought. Their song came on and Taemin joined in immediately with the others dancing. Yet every movement, every change of position, he could feel the eyes of everyone following him. In a shorter amount of time than normal, it was turned off and they took their seats. "It's a surprise seeing you here Taemin-ssi." Jae-suk nodded to the boy on the end of the row as he spoke and none of them needed to say why. It was all over the news and through fans by then.

"It's fun being here." He gave a smile to them all, completely sincere as he spoke. Only after did he realize none of them would see through his mask. Why am I even wearing this? It's not like I can get sick easily yet... "I haven't been able to do much recently, so it's nice to be here doing something.

"We can imagine." Bong-sun gave him a smile and he tried to show he was returning it with his eyes. "You're wearing a mask already... Has anything important happened?"

If it weren't for the warning right before filming, Taemin would have been shocked by the out-right question of him being sick when so many people shied around it. The other members all nodded for him, but it was left up to him to speak on the topic as much as he wanted. "I had my first chemotherapy treatment on Thursday. It's only because manager-hyung and these guys," it got a few laughs as he motioned down the line and the four acted completely innocent, "are being overprotecting that I have to weak a mask now."

"But you will eventually...?"

He nodded to the other lady, who he couldn't even remember the name of. "Eventually I can get sick, but they act like I will if someone sneezes in America. It's not that dangerous." There was another laugh and Taemin wanted to pat himself on the back for being on a roll, but he didn't.

"How do the four of you feel about all of this? Seeing your maknae being sick, it must make you feel something?"

Jinki was the one they all looked to first. "For me... I'm scared for him. And worried. It seems like days ago Taemin-ah was the little kid he was when we were debuting and now we are all being told he's really sick and needs to go back and forth to the hospital a lot... It's scary for me, so it must be even scarier for him. But I have a feeling we will get through this together, so I am not too worried." He gave a smile to him before looking at Jonghyun beside him, and then down the line to Kibum and Minho by the hosts. "I'm not sure how the others feel..."

Taemin sat back as he watched the hyungs talk with the hosts of the show for a while, just enjoying being there. His headache from earlier hadn't completely gone away, but just being in the mostly-quiet set had helped some and he wasn't all that tired anymore, though the dancing had definitely taken a toll on him. Maybe they were right cutting it short...

And for the longest time, at least an hour, Taemin sat with them, joking, laughing, talking, and watching it all. Yet he knew it had to end soon.

That end came too soon when his chest began to tighten and the pain started to get to him. The mask made breathing seem even harder than it already was and he ripped it off in seconds, yet no one noticed with how into the show they got. Dark spots began floating in front of his eyes in seconds and it became hard to even sit straight. A shaking hand managed to rip the microphone from the front of his shirt as he leaned onto Jinki's shoulder, giving up the fight to get through it himself. "Hyung... It hurts."

Immediately, Jinki wasn't caring about the funny stories being told or making his own jokes; his eyes were only on Taemin as the boy's head lolled on his shoulder. But before anything could be done, the first cough of many they knew were going to come ripped through Taemin's chest. Any talking on set ended in the same second and he knew the others were getting up to try and help, but Jinki waved them off as he held Taemin up as he battled against the force of the coughs. "Just get a water bottle and tissues."

The things he asked for were handed over in seconds and as Taemin turned into a sickly-pale boy in front of everyone, Jinki was there perfectly calm as he rubbed the boy's back and whispered in his ear anything to distract him from the pain. He was there with the tissues as blood came up and with the water right after as Taemin needed it to sooth his throat. And he was there when the fit ended and the set was in complete silence. "I think you're done for today, Taemin-ah. Go rest now."

But the youngest shook his head, swallowing any pain from the attack. "No. I'm fine. I said I wanted to do this and I will." He looked around with tired looking eyes, giving a smile now that his mask was gone. "I'm fine. Really."

"We can take a rest if you want for a little while." The PD looked at everyone as he said the offer, but they all knew it was for Taemin.

Yet he refused it with a shake of his head. "I'm fine. There's no need to set the filming back because of me." And he eventually won. The filming wasn't the same after though.

And as they left the set, he could hear the pitying voices of the staff and hosts. "They were saying he might not live from this..." The person that spoke was someone he didn't know, yet Taemin heard the unwanted sympathy in the voice. "He's so young too. At least we were able to let him do one of the last things he wanted to do."

"He's going to die?!" Taemin didn't stay around the dressing rooms any longer to hear anything else, taking off down the hallway and not letting up running even as his chest burned from it.

Only once he reached the outside did he sit on a bench, gasping for air that couldn't get in fast enough. Tears ran down his face as he covered it with his hands. Without his sweater or anything that he left in their room, it was cold to him, but there was no way he was returning. Not then and possibly never. "I'm going to die, aren't I? I really am... Everyone keeps saying I won't, but it's just wishful thinking. None of them saw what I saw on those x-rays... I'm really going to die." Even though he was gasping for air, he didn't stop there, in a breath deep enough before opening his mouth wide and just letting out a scream.

All of his pain and his sorrow and his fear and hope was poured into that one yell, so that maybe the heavens would hear it and think again about his fate. But Taemin doubted they would.

And inside the building, by the large wall of windows looking out at the little square Taemin was breaking down in, the other four stood with the manager. All of them saw the whole thing, watched the maknae cry and scream, but none of them knew how to react. With tears rolling down his cheeks, Kibum put his hand against window, covering the Taemin he saw. "I'll take all of your pain," he whispered as he his slid down. "Just give it all to me to carry."