*sighs* I have no excuse this time. I can only try to update on time... I'm sorry ;_; But I hope you like this chapter... I realize last chapter was a bit much, so I hope this chapter will read better for you guys ^^" Please~ leave comments; I really do take feedback into account. Also, welcome welcome welcome, new subscribers! :'3 You guys give me life~

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

No One’s POV

Last night was a difficult night for the Team B boys. They were going about their day as they normally would when their manager showed up out of the blue. They were a little confused; they weren’t doing anything work related that day or anything, as far as they knew.

“Something’s happened,” the manager said when asked about the surprise visit. He seemed uneasy and quite reluctant to give further detail, but he did so anyway. “It’s the Winner guys… Taehyun-ssi is—”

He never finished his sentence—he was interrupted by the sound of the door opening and someone being tossed in, said person screaming as they went. The boys were beyond baffled at this point, but obeyed their manager when he signaled for them to subdue the man struggling on the floor, who turned out to be Taehyun. They carried him to Bobby’s room and pushed him in, quickly shutting the door behind him. They worriedly looked at each other as they held the door shut, Taehyun banging on it and screaming within.

After a few moments, the screaming died down a bit. Deciding that the man inside should probably be alone for now, everyone headed to the living room to bombard their manager with questions instead. He explained what he’d been told; that Taehyun was to live with Team B from now on and cease all contact with Seungyoon, his phone being confiscated for good measure.

“You guys can still talk to Winner,” he said, “but you absolutely may not allow Taehyun to speak to Seungyoon through your phones. Your phone records are being watched, so if you call Seungyoon-ssi, it’ll make you look suspicious—I don’t recommend contacting him at all.” The boys were stunned; what could have happened for President Yang to have made such a severe decision? And does that mean that Taehyun is no longer a member of Winner? They had many questions, but the manager left after making everyone promise to follow YG’s wishes to prevent themselves from becoming targets. Minutes later, they all receive the official text from YG to back up their hyung’s statement.

“So it isn’t a prank,” Junhoe said softly.

B.I scoffed. “Well, what did you think? There’s no way all that screaming Taehyun did was fake.”

“This is surreal,” Bobby says, shaken. “It’s so sudden… sajangnim must have found out about their relationship…” The rapper feels sick to his stomach from the whole situation. Imagine what would happen if YG found out about Seunghoon and Jinwoo? Him and Minho? What if he already knew…?

Jinhwan noticed his uneasiness and rubbed his back. “Hey, don’t worry about it,” he said gently. He sighed before speaking again. “We should probably leave Taehyun alone for a while…”

They all nodded their agreement. For the rest of the night, they all went about their business and steered clear of the room Taehyun was in. Each member was unsettled by the current state of “YG Family,” thinking about what had happened and what will happen in the future in his own way. YG staff later brought Taehyun’s belongings to the dorm, tossing them in the room he occupied and leaving without a word and no noise from Taehyun.

Soon, the lateness of the night started to catch up with everyone, and they all started getting ready for bed. Bobby was more than a little nervous at this time; he usually roomed alone, but now that Taehyun was here, he’d have to share his space. As he walked up to the door, he hesitated, unsure of what he’d find. Would Taehyun be sleeping? Is he still crying? Would he try to escape again? …What if he’d tried to…?

Bobby shook the thought from his head, chiding himself for even thinking that way. Even though it was a perfectly legitimate thought to have in regards to Taehyun, especially considering what occurred several weeks prior. Taking in a deep breath, Bobby opened the door to his room—at least, he tried to. Something was blocking the door, preventing him from opening it fully. Frowning, he pushed the door open slightly with his body. It was nearly pitch black inside, but the light from the hallway illuminated enough for him to see Taehyun lying on the ground in front of the door. Panicking a little, he squirmed his way in through the small opening from the door and rushed to turn on the light. While Taehyun hadn’t stirred from being pushed at all, the steady rise and fall of his chest indicated that he was sleeping. Bobby sighed, relieved. He stooped down to pick him up, struggling a little with his weight.

After placing him on the bed, he wondered if it would be okay for him to change his hyung out of his pajamas for him; it certainly looked like he wasn’t going to wake up anytime soon to do it for himself. Bobby decided to go searching through the garbage bags of his clothes for suitable pajamas before stripping him. As he was changing Taehyun—with cautious movements so as not to wake him—his face fell as he looked at him. Taehyun’s face was streaked with tears, red and splotchy with swollen eyes from all the crying he must have done. His hair wasn’t of its usual neatness and shine; it was sticking out in all directions and frizzy, as if it had been pulled on. It made Bobby’s heart hurt to see his hyung in such a way, looking defeated and dead to the world in his sleep.

He finished changing him and proceeded to tuck him under the covers, smoothing his hair down as he did. He originally was going to sleep on the couch in the living room, but changed his mind—he’d stay in his room and sleep, just in case Taehyun needed anything. He retrieved some blankets, pillows, and an air mattress from the closet before returning to his room for bed that night.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Day 1

Taehyun has been in bed all day.

He won’t come out.

He won’t get up.

He won’t do anything.

He just lays there, unmoving… The only indication that he’s still alive is the movement of his body as he breathed.

Jinhwan, being the eldest of the dorm, decided that he should be the one to check on him. Earlier this morning, Bobby had walked out into the living room with his face drawn, shaking his head. He’d attempted to wake Taehyun and interact with him, but to no avail. Now it was mid-afternoon, and Taehyun had yet to be seen.

Taking the initiative, Jinhwan stood up from his place on the couch. All of the members had been gathered in the living room, just sitting and watching television without really paying attention, all of their minds occupied by thoughts of their situation. “I’m going to check on him,” he announced. The others just looked at him grimly, as if to say, “Good luck.” He slowly approached Bobby’s bedroom door, knocking gently and waiting.

No response.

Sighing, he pushed the door open to see that Taehyun was exactly where he was this morning: in bed. He walked closer and leaned over the man, his eyebrows knitting together in worry. Taehyun’s eyes were open, but they weren’t really seeing… They were dead. Vacant. Empty. It frightened Jinhwan a little, but he understood. Carefully, he sat down on the edge of the bed and put a hand on his back.

“Taehyun,” he whispered, shaking him slightly. No answer. “Taehyun,” he repeated, a little louder now. Still no answer. He repeated this a few more times before he realized that he wasn’t going to get a response no matter how many times he did it.

He ran a hand through his hair before he tried something else. “Taehyun-ah. Are you hungry?” There were no signs that Taehyun planned on answering. “You don’t have to say anything. Just nod your head or something.” The younger just continued to lay there. “Taehyun-ah…” Jinhwan was going to tell him that he should get up soon, but he realized that that would have been insensitive. He had no idea what Taehyun was going through… it all had only happened yesterday. He was probably still in shock. He needs time to cope… time to grieve.

So instead, Jinhwan just pet his arm before standing up. “I’ll leave you be,” he said. “But please. Call if you need something. Anything.” He walked to the door, but turned around before exiting the room. “We’re… we’re here for you,” he added, unsure if that even meant anything to him. He’d just lost his teammates, his freedom, and the love of his life… he doubted that he and s would mean much at this point. He just hoped that, if anything, their support would be a small consolation.

Later, the boys were eating dinner with their manager, who’d come by earlier. Taehyun still had yet to emerge, and everyone was growing increasingly more worried, but understood that they needed to give him his space. Still, they knew it wasn’t good that he hadn’t had anything to eat today or the day before. The maknae decided to take a plate of their dinner to him, hoping that Taehyun would eat it since he wouldn’t have to get out of bed to do so. Junhoe left the plate on the nightstand, having to keep his gaze from lingering on the man in the bed. He looked absolutely awful, and he himself wanted to cry just from seeing his friend look that way. It looked like he’d been crying again before he came in since his cheeks were wet, probably from newly shed tears. As he left, he heard Taehyun sniffle, the sound proving that he was right. He just prayed that he wasn’t too distraught to eat, lest he get weak.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Day 2

When Bobby woke up in the morning, the food was still untouched.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Day 3

B.I had had enough. Even though he knew he was being unfair, he thought that Taehyun should have been up and moving by this point. It had been three days. Wasn’t that enough time to grieve…?

“Don’t be an ,” Yunhyeong snarled, scowling at the leader when he’d tried to tell the others how he felt. “Are you kidding me? It’s only been three days. You’re an idiot if you think the grieving process is over so soon!”

B.I sighed. “It’s just annoying… he won’t even get up and clean himself, much less eat!”

Bobby rubbed his hand down his face, getting fed up with him already. “Do you hear yourself? What happened was a pretty big ing deal. Don’t act like you’d be okay if something like that had happened to you!”

He had a point. “Sorry,” the leader grumbled. He really was just concerned about Taehyun’s welfare—he wasn’t trying to be insensitive. It was making him frustrated. “How long can he go on like this, though? I mean, I understand that we need to let him cope in his own way and on his own time, but it’s not healthy for him to not even eat, at least.”

Jinhwan shrugged, a little exasperated. “What can we do? He won’t listen to us, he barely shows any signs of life no matter what we do… I’m beginning to feel like it’s hopeless.”

“I hate feeling like that… like I’m inadequate to help out my hyung,” Donghyuk added. He and Junhoe were feeling the worst at seeing how the normally happy, lively Taehyun had deteriorated into this person that was simply being, not living.

B.I just shook his head, putting his face in his hands. He didn’t know what to do either. From the very beginning, he’d known that nothing good could come out of those intra-group relationships. He didn’t care when it was just Seunghoon and Jinwoo, although he was worried for them. He only really started to become afraid when he found out Bobby and Minho had gotten together. Bobby was his closest friend, so he was against his relationship with the Winner member because he didn’t want something like what happened to KangNam (the nickname all the boys used to refer to the couple nowadays since they were always together) to happen to him. That doesn’t mean it hurt any less for him when it ended up happening to their hyungs instead; in fact, everyone was hurt equally because Seungyoon and Taehyun’s relationship was something they all admired and felt was inspiring. They were all rooting for them, but in the end, they didn’t make it.

“Han-ah.” B.I lifts his head, snapping out of his thoughts to see that Bobby had called out to him. “I’m going over to the Winner dorm to visit them.”

“…” Of course, this makes B.I worried. He doesn’t want Bobby to get in trouble for seeing Minho or Seungyoon, given the no contact rule. “Be careful, hyung…”

“I will. I won’t bring any messages back from Seungyoon-hyung or anything…” His eyes teared up as he spoke. “God, it’s just so awful…”

“I know,” B.I said gently. “I know.”

Bobby left then, and the group went back to what they were doing before—nothing. Another day of mindless television in an attempt to forget about what was going on around them, if only for a little while. After a few more hours, B.I couldn’t take it anymore.

“I’m going,” he said to no one in particular. He stood and made his way to Bobby and Taehyun’s now shared room, not bothering to knock because he knew he’d get no response. He walked up to where Taehyun lay still, crouching down next to the bed so he could see him at eye level.

“Don’t torture him,” Jinhwan shouted halfheartedly, knowing his leader.

“Hey, Tae-hyung,” he murmured. Taehyun was looking at him… if you could call it that. It was more like he was looking through him, seeing past him.

He glanced at the nightstand. The food had been removed yesterday when it looked like Taehyun wasn’t going to make any attempt to eat it. Taehyun hasn’t eaten in three days now.

“We need to get you some food, okay?” No response. “You can’t go on like this, hyung.” Silence. “I know you’re hurting, but it does no one any good to starve yourself like this.” Silence. B.I was getting desperate now. “Do you think… Seungyoon-hyung would want you to be like this...?” At the mention of his love’s name, Taehyun’s eyes flicked over to B.I’s before quickly returning to the same spot on the wall, so fast it was almost like he hadn’t moved at all. B.I, however, rejoiced in his small victory—this was the first sign of life he’d shown since he’d gotten here!

However, the happiness was short-lived as it seemed that Taehyun wasn’t going to do anything else. “Come on,” the leader almost whined. “Get up. Please.”

It was back to no-reaction Taehyun, it seemed.

B.I sighed, frustrated again. “At least get up to take a shower, hyung.” Silence. “Do anything. Please!” More silence.

He growled to himself. “You will get up,” he said lowly. “You will. You can’t…” He trailed off, no longer wanting to talk to what seemed like a living brick wall. He was done trying to reason with him. Instead, he stood up and grabbed Taehyun’s arms, attempting to pull him up. Taehyun immediately began to fight back, refusing to even sit up.

“Hyung, come on!” B.I pulled harder, not willing to give up on him. The other man just continued to struggle until he finally managed to get his arms free.

Pushing him away finally, Taehyun sat up a little. “No,” he said, his voice hoarse from disuse and his eyes tired. Tears began to brim in his already puffy eyes and he raised a hand to wipe at them, waving his hand for the younger to get out.

B.I drooped, defeated. “Okay,” he said quietly, nodding as he turned to go. “Do you need anything? Some water? Anything…?” Taehyun merely lays back down as he muffles his sobs into the pillow. Sighing, B.I leaves the room. As he closes the door, he whispers, “Please don’t forget to take care of yourself, hyung…”

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Day 4

It’s the same afternoon that they’ve been having for the past four days; quiet and uneasy. The worry is visible on everyone’s faces as Taehyun’s condition continues to get worse. He still hasn’t left the bed at all, and he still won’t eat. They’re running out of ideas; they don’t know what to do anymore. Even the manager is at his wits end, as none of his attempts were successful, either. Something’s got to give.

Suddenly, they receive a knock on the front door. Question marks immediately appear on everyone’s faces—who could that be? A little cautious, Jinhwan gets up and answers the door.

CL stands in the hallway, her extensions gone today and her attire casual. Her bare face is still pretty, and she has the tiniest of smiles on her face as she asks, “May I come in?” Jinhwan had been standing there, mouth agape as he stared at her, but now he bows and says, “Y-Yeah, of course, noona.” He steps aside to let her in, and everyone in the living room stands up to bow and greet her as well.

Her eyes scan the room, and it’s easy to see that she’s disappointed. Taehyun is nowhere to be seen, confirming what she had been told before. “He really isn’t coming out of his room…” she murmurs to herself.

“Make yourself comfortable, noona,” Yunhyeong says, gesturing for her to sit on the couch.

She politely declines. “No thank you.” She looks around once again, feeling a little awkward since she hadn’t really interacted with Team B. “How are you guys? Are you well?”

They all say that they are, but the atmosphere in the dorm says otherwise. There was a very negative air about the room, and she could see on their faces that they were very troubled; she could imagine why. B.I decides to speak up.

“He’s not coming out of his room…” he sighs, looking very tired as he trains his gaze on the floor. “I assume that’s why you came to visit… right, noona?”

She nods, fidgeting with her hands. “Is he…?”

“No,” Junhoe answers. “He isn’t even showering, let alone eating.” She cringes, as she had been informed of this, too. “He barely shows any signs of life…”

“Can I… Can I see him?” she asks. B.I nods, and Bobby rises to show her to their room.

“Hang on,” their manager says. He looks at CL as he continues. “You aren’t carrying any messages from Seungyoon-ssi, are you?”

CL’s eyes narrow into slits, grinning bitterly as she slowly spreads her arms open. “What, do you want to search me? Check my purse? What do you want?”

He winces, looking away as his shoulders sagged. “I can’t really stop you if you are, can I…? I don’t want to be doing this either.” CL’s eyes turned understanding as she nodded, dropping her arms again. “Go ahead. I don’t care.” She turns to Bobby, and he gestures for her to follow as he takes her to their room.

“He’s in here,” he says quietly, stopping before the door. She thanks him as he goes back to the living room, turning to the door nervously. What was she going to see when she opened it? She didn’t know if she could handle seeing the state Taehyun was in after already witnessing what Seungyoon was like. But she’d wanted to come here, and she’d promised Seungyoon that she’d at least make sure he was okay. So she gathered her thoughts, took a deep breath, and knocked on the door. When there was no answer, she took that as an invitation anyway and walked in.

Taehyun was where he always was, lying on his side in the bed listlessly. She wrinkled her nose as she approached and shut the door behind her, the smell unpleasant from Taehyun’s lack of bathing. She sat down on the bed next to him anyway, peering down at his face. It was pretty much unchanged from before—his face was dirty and streaked, his eyes red and puffy; his hair was in even more disarray and looked like it was getting greasy. CL’s heart broke as she looked down at her dongsaeng; today, she wasn’t CL… she was Chaerin. So Chaerin gently ran her fingers through his hair anyway and leaned down so she was half-lying, half-sitting on the bed. She hugs him as best as she can and leans her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes and just feeling him breathe.

A smell. A smell registers in Taehyun’s brain through all the darkness and haziness surrounding his mind. It was different from the smell of the boys, but familiar all the same. Hair that he knew was too long to belong to any of the others tickled his shoulder, and the weight on the bed was lighter as well. He couldn’t help himself; he was curious. He cracks open an eye and sees a blonde head of hair lying on his shoulder, and his eyes immediately start to sting. He curses himself in his mind because he’d promised himself he’d stop crying today—he’d promised himself the same thing many times throughout the past few days, but he meant it this time… honest. But CL is here… she cares about him… she reminds him of Seungyoon.

So he cries. He cries and cries and cries, just as he’s been doing since he got here. Chaerin lets him cry, her own tears sliding silently down her face as she thinks about how wrong this entire situation is. Taehyun isn’t supposed to be here with the other boys, miserable and broken beyond belief; he was supposed to be with Winner, happy and anticipating his debut. In love. Living. What he’s doing right now isn’t living; he’s simply existing, and this brings her to tears because she knows that this isn’t how it’s supposed to be.

A long time passes before his sobs subside completely—how much, neither is sure. Chaerin slowly sits up, looking down at Taehyun as he looks back at her. Her eyes are sorrowful as she his cheek affectionately, unsure if she can do this. Taehyun gently moves her hand away, embarrassed because he knows his face is dirty. This is the first time he’s felt anything in days.

He sits up, struggling to find the words in his mind that he wants to say. She waits patiently, knowing that he’s having a hard time moving as it is. Finally, he puts the sentence together in his mind and clears his throat. “How… how is he…?” His voice is so quiet that she almost can’t hear him.

Chaerin thinks for a moment before answering. “Not well…” she says honestly. Taehyun deflates, leaning back against the headboard as he looks down at his lap. “But you’re no better,” she adds. Taehyun still doesn’t answer, and Chaerin scoots herself so that she’s sitting against the headboard with him.

“He asks about you.” Taehyun looks up at this. “All the time. He asks everyone. He’s always asking them about you. He just wants to know you’re okay.” Taehyun’s bottom lip quivers and Chaerin knows that he’s been needing to hear this all this time. She moves his hair out of his face as she continues. “So imagine how sad he was when he finally got news about you and that it was that you weren’t taking care of yourself.” That struck a chord with him. Tears started again, but this time he tried to keep calm—he really didn’t want to cry anymore... it was starting to hurt.

“But noona,” he whimpers. “It’s… it’s so hard without him…”

“I know. But it really tore him up to know that you were doing this bad.” She pats his hand. “I visited him, and he wasn’t doing great, but he was eating. He was clean. And he told me that the reason why he hasn’t shut down completely is you.” He squeezes her hand. “You’re the reason that he continues to get up every day and make an effort. So that when he sees you again… whenever that may be… you can smile and know that he didn’t give up. That he’ll be okay now that you’re there, because you’ll be all he needed. Do you see what I’m saying?” Taehyun sniffles and nods, wiping at his eyes with his free hand. “Don’t give up. No one knows when the next time you’ll meet will be. But you eventually will when there’s a YG Family event or something. He’ll be there, and he’ll see you. Do you want this,” she gestures at his current state, “to be what you show him? He told me that your love for him keeps him going. Isn’t it the same for you…?”

The fog of despair and depression that had been clouding Taehyun’s mind these past few days began to dissipate a little bit. Chaerin was making sense, and hearing what she said she’d heard from Seungyoon was a little like having Seungyoon there saying it to him himself as he could imagine how his voice would sound as he said it, the look in his eyes… Taehyun felt a little sorry that he’d done this to himself and made his love worry for him like this; made everyone worry for him like this. But he’d honestly thought there was no point if he was never going to see him again. The sadness had overwhelmed him and he couldn’t see past it. It still had a tight hold on him, but as he listened to what Chaerin was saying and digested it, he realized that there was a small hope, and that hope existed in their love.

Taehyun nodded. He wasn’t going to make any promises he couldn’t keep, but he did make a vow—someway, somehow, he’d work at getting himself back to normal… as normal as he can be without Seungyoon and with the ever-present depression. He’d do it for Seungyoon, so he didn’t have to worry. Baby steps must be taken, however.

“Will you eat today, Taehyun-ah?” Her voice was hopeful as she asked this; she was saddened when he shook his head no. “Will you at least take a bath…?” He glanced over at her before looking back down at their hands, taking a few minutes to respond. Slowly, he nodded, and Chaerin smiled and rubbed his arm, pulling him into a small hug as she murmured, “Good, good…”

She stood up and waited for Taehyun to do the same. He gets up slowly, and he’s a little unsteady on his legs as he hasn’t used them for a few days. Chaerin helps him walk to the bathroom and leaves him when he gets to the toilet and sits. Before exiting the room, she smiles at him and says, “I’m proud of you, Taehyun-ah. Seungyoon will be very pleased.” At this, Taehyun gives the tiniest of smiles—so small, one would almost think it wasn’t there. But it was, and Chaerin saw it, making her smile even more genuine.

When she makes it to the living room, everyone is staring at her with their mouths wide open in shock. “Is… is he…?!” Jinhwan whispers, speaking for everyone and their surprise that she got him to move. She nods, and everyone lets out a huge sigh of relief. She gestures for Bobby to follow, and he gets up and walks with her back into his shared room. She speaks to him as she goes through the still untouched bags of Taehyun’s things and picks out clean pajamas for the man waiting in the bathroom.

“Watch him,” she says, focused on digging through the bags.

“Eh?” Bobby asks, surprised. “Wae?”

“You know why. Just… make sure he’s okay in there. Seungyoon told me.”

His face wrinkles up even more in confusion before he suddenly understands, nodding as he remembers yesterday’s events at the Winner dorm. “Okay.”

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Day 5

Taehyun still isn’t making conversation with any of them, but he’s responsive now, and everyone is glad for that small victory. Bobby especially was glad that he showered yesterday because it was becoming uncomfortable to sleep in there with him smelling like that. They thanked CL profusely as she left, and she made them promise to keep on him about taking care of himself.

However, he still refuses food, and that’s the most important thing that he needs. He’s highly dehydrated from all of his crying and lack of getting enough water, and of course he’s weak from hunger. They don’t know what to do, and they’re panicking because they’re running out of time before Taehyun develops serious problems from his behavior. They almost wish they could call CL and get her to work her magic, but they know that won’t happen.

They’re all in the living room again, discussing what can be done about Taehyun when there’s a knock on the door. They all raise their eyebrows and wonder who that could be now. Did she really come back…?

Donghyuk answers the door this time, and his eyebrows disappear under his bangs out of shock. “N-Noona? Hello!” He bows and moves aside to let Minzy in as she greets him back and says hello to everyone inside. She’s loaded with armfuls of groceries as she walks in, and everyone rushes to help her. First CL, and now Minzy? Winner really is popular! thought Donghyuk as he walked back to his place on the couch.

After everything is placed onto the kitchen counter, she turns to the boys. “Where’s Taehyun-ah?”

“My room,” Bobby replies, pointing it out to her. She nods and smiles, thanking him as she turns around and begins preparing the food for cooking. Yunhyeong asks if she needs any help, but she politely declines and tells them to go back to whatever they were doing before she interrupted.

“It’s like I’m not even here,” she chimed, taking out a cutting board.

B.I, however, frowned a little, worried. “Noona… what are you…?”

“I’m cooking for him,” she replies, and everyone knows who she means.

“But he refuses to eat! I wouldn’t want you to waste your time making all that food for nothing.”

She sighs, looking down at the cutting board sadly. “I’ll get him to eat…” she murmurs with determination. Then she smiles up at the leader again. “He listens well to his noonas, right? And even if he doesn’t, I’ll have made enough for all of you, so it won’t be a total waste.”

“O-oh!” B.I is flustered by her kindness. “You don’t have to—”

“I know,” she interrupts, placing the vegetables on the cutting board. “But I want to.”

Seeing that there was no changing her mind, he smiled a little, relieved that so many people care about Taehyun like this. “Thank you,” he says, bowing as he excused himself and the rest of the boys as they went back to the living room. She just continued humming and cutting the vegetables.

She was glad that she got to cook for someone else like this, even though the circumstances surrounding it are unfortunate. She loves cooking, especially for others; it makes her happy seeing the pleased looks on her unnies’ faces when they eat the things she makes for them. However, she doesn’t have a boyfriend, so she doesn’t really have anyone to cook for like this often. So she was glad when CL asked her if she minded doing this because she knew this was something she could do, and she didn’t want to just stand idle when she heard what was going on. Bom had originally wanted to come as well, but she was busy filming something; this was the only activity Bom was allowed to continue.

She spent over half an hour in the kitchen preparing. Soon, she had everything on the stove cooking, and all she had to do was wait. She wiped her hands on the apron she’d been provided with and walked out. As she did, the boys complimented her. “The food smells really good, noona,” Junhoe said. “What is it?”

“Stew,” she said cheerfully. She was about to continue on her way when she paused, unsure of something. “Um, Jiwon-ah?” He looked up. “It’s this room that Taehyun-ah is in, right?” she asked, pointing at Bobby’s room. He nodded, and she moved towards the door, thanking him as she went.

She knocked, waiting. A few moments pass, and she’s about to turn around and give up when she hears a small voice say, “Come in.” She smiles to herself and turns the knob, eyes landing on Taehyun, who was sitting up in bed and looking at her. “Noona…?” he says, confused.

“Hi,” she replies, moving to sit next to him on the bed. “You look well.” She smiles at him as she takes in his clean hair and face—he’s completely different from what she’d heard before.

Taehyun just blinks at her, looking down at his lap before raising his eyes again. “Why are you here?”

Minzy sighs, deciding to get to the point. “Unnie told me you weren’t eating.”

He just looks back down at his lap. “I don’t want to eat,” he mumbles. “I’m perfectly fine.”

“You are not. Have you seen yourself?” His skin did not look good like it usually did, and his cheeks weren’t as full and rosy as they usually were. It was easy to tell that he was already starting to lose some weight, which wasn’t a good sign.

“But noona, I just…” He fists the sheets as he continues. “It’s really hard. I don’t have the motivation to do anything anymore…” It was heartbreaking to hear him speak this way, and Minzy’s kind eyes were full of empathy as she listened. “I could barely drag myself into the shower this morning… I just have no energy mentally to do anything, much less eat.”

She took his hand and held it in both of hers. “Taehyun-ah… I haven’t been a good noona.” He looked up at her, about to object, but she shook her head. “I told you I’d get closer to you, but I haven’t been, and for that, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay… I know you’ve been busy and stuff with your tour, school, and events…”

“It’s not okay. I pride myself on keeping my word, and I didn’t this time. But I want to let you know that I haven’t forgotten.” She pats his hand as she continues. “I think about you, worrying if you’re eating well and whatnot… and now, my concerns are a lot more legitimate than I ever imagined they could be, and I want to help you.” He says nothing, choosing to listen this time instead. “I’m sorry it took so long, and I’m sorry something like this had to happen first.”

“It’s not your fault, noona… I never held it against you.” He looks up at her then. “I want to be closer to you too,” he says quietly, a tiny, barely-there smile on his face.

She smiles genuinely back at him. “Good.” She stands up. “I have to go check on the food now. It’s going to be really yummy…” Taehyun avoids her gaze. “You haven’t eaten breakfast or lunch, right? Well I made a lot, so eat a bunch!”

“Noona…”

“Please.” He looks over at her to see her pleading stare. “You have to eat, Taehyun-ah. You can’t starve yourself forever. You’ll ruin your body. Seungyoon-ah is praying for your recovery, too, so if not for yourself, at least do it for him.” She stands there until he nods, promising to eat. Minzy closes the door behind her, buoyant with her victory.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Day 6

Everyone is feeling more relieved than they have in a long time. It’s almost been a week since Taehyun arrived, and he’s slowly getting better, though his despondent attitude hasn’t changed at all. He is now showering on a regular basis, and he ended up eating a lot of Minzy’s stew last night and drinking his water. The only thing he isn’t doing is leaving the room outside of using the bathroom and eating, but they won’t push their luck. They’re leaving him be for now—someone will periodically go into the room and just sit with him to keep him company, even though he just sleeps most of the time, still crying sometimes.

Well, the manager must not have gotten the memo. “Taehyun needs to get up and go outside,” he declared. No one paid him any attention. “No, really. It’ll do him some good. He’ll feel much better.”

B.I sighs, looking up from his laptop. “That may be true, but just leave him alone for now. We’re just glad he’s cleaning and feeding himself again. He doesn’t have to do anything he doesn’t want to.”

The manager just pouts. “Well, he just needs a little push. That’s what’s helped him the past few days, right? Why can’t I help him along with this?”

“Those things were important to his immediate health, hyung,” Jinhwan answered. “He won’t die if he doesn’t go outside for a while longer.”

The older man just sighs, exasperated. “All he does is mope in his room! He can at least come sit out here!”

Bobby frowned at him. “You’re making him sound like a petulant child, and that is the farthest thing from the truth. You try going through something like this and see how you act.”

He stopped then, realizing they had a point. “Yeah, yeah… I’m still gonna try anyway.” They all protested this idea, but the manager just ignored them, believing he was doing the right thing. The boys just rolled their eyes, knowing he’d come trudging out in defeat a few minutes later. However, more and more time passed without him coming back, which they thought was weird. Suddenly, they heard Taehyun raise his voice—an alarming development, considering that one could barely hear him nowadays.

They all jumped up and hurried to Bobby and Taehyun’s room to see a distressed manager grappling with a panicking Taehyun. When the manager had first asked him if he wanted to leave, he declined quietly. However, the older became increasingly more frustrated with his refusal, though Taehyun remained calm. He only began to scream when the man had marched over and harshly grabbed him, trying to make him get up. The two were quickly pulled apart, the oldest three shoving the manager out while the youngest three tried to calm Taehyun.

“What the hell, man?” Jinhwan snarled. “What the heck were you thinking??”

The manager’s shoulders sagged. “I just—”

B.I came striding out of the room, getting close to him as he scowled. “I swear, if you just set him back days of improvement, I’m gonna be pissed.” He shoved him harshly as he walked away, a chorus of “Hey!” and “Calm down!” coming from Jinhwan, Yunhyeong, and Bobby.

Jinhwan turned back to the manager. “No matter what, you can’t force someone to do anything, hyung. They have to make that choice themselves. We told you to leave him alone.” With that, he walked away with the other two.

The manager, ashamed of his actions, went back to the room to apologize. Junhoe and Donghyuk were comforting Taehyun as he tried to calm down, wiping his tears away. “Taehyun-ssi… I’m sorry…” the man said, truly regretful. “I didn’t mean to make you upset.”

While the younger two just glared at him, Taehyun looked up at him. Slowly, he just nodded, looking back down at his lap as he continued to try going back to his calm state of mind. The older man just left, feeling like the biggest jerk in the world.

After Junhoe and Donghyuk were convinced that he would be okay, they left the room. Taehyun ate that night, easing the worries that he wouldn’t keep it up. When he crawled back into bed, he decided to just go to sleep for the night, thoughts of Seungyoon filling his head like they always had for the past six days.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Aaaand there we go. Hope you guys liked it :'3