After Myungsoo left, Hoya glazed at Sunggyu warily before he approached and touched his shoulder, giving it a squeeze.

“Why did you do that?” Dongwoo asked, concerned for the maknae’s well-being.

Sunggyu was getting tired and his breathing was getting labored. “Just let him leave,” he replied weakly. He shrugged Hoya’s hand and directed himself towards the kitchen table.

“You shouldn’t have treated Sungjong that way,“ Woohyun said reproachfully, following his leader to the kitchen.

“And what? Let him act irresponsibly in front of the public?” he retorted. The oldest pulled out a chair and took a seat heavily. His back was hurting him, but he didn’t know why.

Hoya placed himself behind the leader and started massaging his shoulders. He could see the stress Sunggyu had been bearing for the last couple of weeks. That is why he wasn’t judging his reaction, yet he couldn’t help but feel worried for his youngest member. Sunggyu felt his back burning at his dongsaeng’s touch, but at the same time he felt it comforting.

Woohyun took a seat directly in front of Sunggyu and observed his face. Sunggyu was resting his head in his hands with his eyes closed; his breathing still labored. Woohyun reached one of his hyung’s hands tentatively and said, “Hyung, you should speak to Sungjong properly.”

The oldest glazed his dongsaeng for a second before closing his eyes again. He had no energy to argue anymore. His face was getting paler with each passing second. On top of that, he felt a headache coming.

Sungyeol, who had remained quiet the whole time, finally approached the kitchen where the rest of the members were discussing. Only Dongwoo remained behind, still upset with the treatment Sunggyu had given to their maknae, but afraid of angering him further. He was going to have a talk with him, later, when he had cooled down a bit.

Sungyeol kneeled right next to the Sunggyu. He wanted to slap some sense out of his leader but stopped himself when he saw the eldest’s condition.”Hyung?” he asked worriedly. “Are you okay?”

Gradually, the rest of the members started noticing Sunggyu’s sudden condition. “Hyung?” they asked concerned. “Are you all right?”

“I just need to sleep,” he responded before standing up. Sunggyu attempted to move towards his room but missed his step and collapsed to the floor. Hoya, who was still holding him, was taken off guard but managed to position himself below his leader before he touched the floor, lessening the fall. Watching this, the others rushed to their leader.

“Hyung! Are you all right?” Sungyeol asked wide-eyed.

“What happened?” was all Woohyun could say before the situation.

Sunggyu was having serious trouble breathing. He clutched his chest tightly and closed his eyes shut. Hoya held Sunggyu to his chest, still massaging his arms, trying to make the oldest feel better.

“What happened?” Sungyeol asked again getting desperate while looking at his fallen leader.

“Call the manager.” Woohyun said to no one in particular. Dongwoo, who was the closest to a phone obliged right away.

Meanwhile, Hoya was struggling to make Sunggyu react. He started to shake him as gently as possible; fearing that too much force would affect the leader negatively.

Sunggyu’s body was aching terribly, his back was in so much pain, and so were his head and now his chest. He couldn’t think properly. All he could feel was fear. He was terrified because he had never felt anything like what he was going through at the moment. He started shivering. He could barely breathe, let alone talk.

“It hurts… my chest,” he finally said feebly.

“Hyung...” Sungyeol said, his eyes welling up with tears. “I know it hurts, but you need to hang in there.”

“Try to breathe slowly,” Hoya interjected. He feared Sunggyu would stop breathing at any moment.

“Hyung!” Woohyun said looking at Dongwoo, “What did he say?” he asked, referring to their manager.

“He said we should call an ambulance. I already did that,” he added before his dongsaeng could say anything.

Sungyeol heard that and quickly directed his attention back at Sunggyu. “Did you hear that, hyung? Help is coming,” he said, his tears finally falling. “You’ll be fine soon.” He held one of Sunggyu’s hands; that was the only thing he could do for the leader.

Sunggyu’s breathings were getting weaker and Hoya was getting more anxious. “Hyung, please, be strong,” he pleaded, his own eyes welling in tears.

Those minutes seemed like an eternity for the present members. They could do nothing while his hyung suffered. They wished they could take some of the pain away from him but it was impossible.

After what felt like a lifetime, there was a knock on the door. Dongwoo dashed towards the door and opened it. The rest occurred in a blur.

A group of paramedics rushed to the fallen boy and started to treat him. He had finally stopped breathing so they had to start the CPR on him.

Sungjong appeared at the entrance of the dorm; Dongwoo had called Myungsoo just before the paramedics arrived. The maknae could only watch in horror how the team tried to restart his hyung’s breathing. This made him feel extremely guilty and ashamed of himself. Why had he acted the way he did?

At last, the medical team led Sunggyu to the entrance of the dorm complex and loaded him into the ambulance; Woohyun boarded it as well. The rest of the boys could only watch as the vehicle turned at the corner and wait until the sirens sounded no more. They stayed inside the complex until the manager arrived to fill the van and headed to the hospital; the uncertainty of the future eating them away.