Onew felt tired and sick. He ate a bit in order not to worry his mates but when the supper ended he stood up, bowed and said:

-Please do the washing up without me, I'm very tired, I'm sorry.

Nobody stopped him, everybody had noticed his pale face and the dark circles under his eyes.

-What's his problem? asked Taemin

-The promotion for "Romeo" will start soon, he is stressed. Key said

-Oh.....hope he'll be fine.

They washed the dishes and went to their room to sleep early, they had a lot of work the next day.

The following morning, after being ruthlessly woken up by their manager since they took too long to leave their bed, they met in the kitchen but Onew was missing.

-Where is hyung ? I know that he is hard to wake up but he is seldom late! Taemin noticed

-I'll check that. Minho suggested

He opened their room's door. Onew was half awake, half asleep, his comforter messily spread on his body.

-Hey, hyung, are you alright?

-No..not really. I'm hot, I'm tired, I feel weak, I'm not sure if I can stand on my feet.

He sat on his bed and tried to stand up. He didn't fall but he walked step by step, slowly. He went to the kitchen, supported by Minho.

-Jinki, how do you feel? Manager asked

-As you can see, not really well.

-Are you hungry? Taemin asked

He sat on a barstool, shook his head to answer "no" to Taemin's question. He looked like a ghost.

-Are you going to dance the new choreography ? Minho asked

-I'm sorry but I think I won't be able to dance. I can barely stand on my feet.

-Ok, I'll take the guys to SM and then I'll take you to the hospital. Manager suggested

Jinki nodded, feeling weary.

They got changed and their manager drove them to SM building. They greeted the choreographer and began the rehearsals. Minho, Key, Jonghyun and Onew sat in a corner of the room and Taemin began the choreography with the choreographer.

Then they all stood up and danced together except for Onew who sat on a bench, looking tiredly at the four other boys. His eyes couldn't follow the motions, he felt feverish and hot so he took his jumper off and threw it on the floor.

Minho, Jonghyun and Key were still training, trying to memorize all the steps. But the choreographer was a harsh teacher and was always asking them to do some precise steps, again and again, every time they made mistakes.

-No, no, no! Not like this Jonghyun !

Jonghyun pouted, it was the third time that he wasn't satisfied with his work. Minho was just happy that he wasn't the one messing up this time.

-I show you, watch carefully ok?

Jonghyun nodded and pushed the "play" button of the CD player. Even if he was upset, he had to admit that the choreographer did it better than him. They started again together. Taemin was fully concentrated. Even if he hadn't a lot of lines in the songs, dancing was his forte, he was so concentrated on the choreography, he didn't see Onew's jumper on the floor, inevitably, he stepped on it and slipped. His fall seemed to happen in slow motion until Taemin's body knocked the floor. He didn't open his eyes, he didn't stand up.

It took some seconds for his bandmates to realized what had happened. They immediately stopped dancing and surrounded the unconscious boy. they were joined by the dance teacher, Jinki and their manager.

-Yah Taemin! Key squealed, refusing to believe there was a problem with Taemin.

-Taemin! Taemin are you okay? asked Jonghyun anxiously.

Minho couldn't talk. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't move, he could only stare in horror.

Their manager patted his cheeks, checked if he was breathing, if he wasn't injured anywhere.

-Wake up please! Please... Minho finally opened his mouth, unable to hold back, as if asking would make Taemin obey.

Surprisingly, at the same moment, Taemin groaned, moved his head and slowly sat up, holding the sides of his head. Everybody sighed with relief. Minho helped him up and briefly hugged him.

-Do you know you seriously worried me? He muttered in his ear while he had Taemin in his arms.

The youngest felt his cheeks heating up, but he hadn't time to think of what Minho told him because he was tightly hugged by Key who whined that he was worried for him.

-Thank you hyung to worry for me, but I feel fine....almost. By the way what happened to me?

Onew shook his head and explained quickly about his carelessness but Taemin didn't resent him for it.

-Since Onew and Taemin are K.O for today, Iet's go back to your flat. their manager sighed

They all agreed and they went back home except for Onew and Taemin who went to the hospital to get checked. The three others busied themselves with random activities to distract their mind from their anxiety. When the two of them came back, they immediately went to check on them. Both of them were okay but needed rest. Minho noticed Taemin had a bandage around his ankle. 

-Do you need help to walk? Minho asked Taemin

-Y..yes, why not. I twisted it when I fell., th..thank you.

Minho supported Taemin until they arrived in front of the bedroom door.

-Ugh...my head hurts... 

-I'll bring you some painkillers.

Taemin nodded and sat on his bed, waiting for Minho. While he was gone, his thoughts were flowing so quickly, he didn't realize he was mumbling to himself. 

-We were so close, I should have said something to him, said what I thought about him, just said that I love him, but why now? In such a situation... all I can do is tell him 'sorry' and 'thank you'...

But Taemin didn't realize he was talking louder than he thought and he didn't know that Minho was behind the door, ready to knock it to bring him painkillers.

~~~~~~ Author time ~~~~~~

Here is the end of the chapter 7 ! I hope you liked it! You can leave comments but of course it's optional, I just like receiving comments uhuh!

Woohoo awesome cliffhanger! X) Tomorrow I come back in high school so I can't promise you a new update really soon!

sorry if there are mistakes (again), I try to correct them when I find some but sometimes I don't notice every one! ^^