A group of girls passes by SEVENTEEN, bowing and giving warm "hello"s. Dokyeom immediately smiles, craning his neck a bit to look for Yuju. He was excited. It's rehearsals, that's why GFRIEND is going towards the stage. And he finally got to do a duet with Yuju, something he's been asking her for a long long time. They've had fun practicing for the past 2 weeks together.

He finally sees her, standing at the back of the group, but his happy smile turned into a frown when his eyes land on an oddly pale Yuju. She didn't notice him, keeping her head down low as she walks along to go up the stage, her legs looking a bit wobbly. Right after she passes him, she suddenly falls to the ground, alarming Dokyeom who immediately reached out to grab her from the back, bumping into Mingyu and Seungkwan a little with his sudden actions.

"Yuna! Are you okay?" Dokyeom exclaims, calling her by her real name as he keeps a firm grip on her arm. He moves over a little to help her up as her member, SinB, helps her from the other side. Yuju is still looking on the floor but she managed to glance up to see who the guy it is. She's familiar with his voice but wasn't entirely sure if the guy is really him. He sees her give him a weak smile before muttering "I'm okay, thank you". SinB gives him a thankful nod before rushing along, holding tightly onto Yuju. Dokyeom frowns, watching them leave.

They weren't very close when they were still classmates. Their relationship was somewhere between acquaintances and friends back then. Admittedly, they only got closer after they graduated and now they are definitely friends. Slightly awkward sometimes but generally they are comfortable with each other. They are somewhat close friends. At least, close enough for him to so openly whisper charmingly to the camera "Yuna, Congratulations" as he left the Show Champion stage while GFRIEND was doing their winning encore stage for 'Navillera'. And also close enough for Yuju to say "My friend's group - SEVENTEEN" when asked who her favourite male idol is and then referring to him as "Dokyeommie". Yup, definitely somewhat close.

Yuju braved through whatever pain/illness she was having and finished 'Navillera' to her best of her ability, delivering her high notes as usual. The concerned frown on Dokyeom's face never left as he watches with worry. The girl didn't look good at all. She's deathly pale and threatens to collapse multiple times, seeming so dizzy from time to time that she misses the choreography steps. "Is she okay?" Jeonghan asks, looking slightly bothered. Dokyeom shrugs. "I'm not sure. She didn't say anything." He replies, eyes not leaving the GFRIEND main vocalist.

The girls delivered two more songs 'Rough' and 'Mermaid', in which Yuju actually collapsed during 'Mermaid', frightening both the GFRIEND girls and all the other idols watching them rehearse by their respective tables. The girl missed her high note but somehow stood back up on her two feet, mustering one last smile before she lowers her head while grimacing a little and finishes the remaining small ad-libs.

They pass by the boys again while returning to their seats and Dokyeom swears she looks even worse now, needing the support of her two other members to walk. She's not greeting anyone at this point in time while the others are greeting the other idols with forced smiles. The moment they got back to their table, Yuju immediately sits down and puts her head on the table. A few staff members are with the girls, speaking to the leader Sowon. Yerin is seen fanning her with a magazine as Eunha and Sinb crouch down beside Yuju, trying to take a look at her face to see how she is. Umji puts a chocolate bar in Yuju's palm but the girl doesn't even have the strength to respond. She's lead away from the performance hall moments later by the staff, accompanied with Sowon.

Dokyeom didn't see Yuju reappearing for a good thirty minutes. SEVENTEEN did their rehearsals already and she's still not back. He frowns, glancing at their table as he chugs down half a bottle of water. No sign of Yuju. She finally showed up again about twenty moments later, looking more like a human being. There was more life in her steps and expressions but she is still no doubt struggling. She made it back to the table, smiling at her members. Seungkwan caught Dokyeom staring at her (like as if it's something new because it most certainly is not). "Oh she's back?" He remarks, stating the obvious, and Dokyeom hums a "mhm" in reply.

The staff came over to the boys with food. It's not even lunch time but they never had proper meal times anyway. There's a packed meal and this other salad thing in a sealed container. Dokyeom eyes the container, inspecting the contents. There's cherry tomatoes inside and chicken bits and tons of lettuce. Yuju likes cherry tomatoes... He opens up his backpack and reaches for his vitamin water. He always carries one around with him but hasn't open it today to drink yet. "I'll be back." He tells his leader S.Coups and gets up from his seat, the container of salad in his hand and the vitamin water in the other, walking towards Yuju. She's slouching in her seat, resting her head on the table again. Though her back is facing him, she looks undeniably tired.

"Hey..." Dokyeom opens his mouth to speak, holding the drink and food in one hand and putting his other hand on Yuju's back when he got to their table. He gives small nods and smiles at her members who look surprised to see him just as Yuju turns to face him. "What are you doing here?" She asks as she starts to stand up. The hand that was on her back travels to her shoulder to make her sit down. "It's okay. Sit." He says and Yuju smiles at him.

She always feels oddly safe around him. She thought it was perhaps due to his height (he's 180cm). But then again, maybe it's also because of his broad shoulders (that she lowkey swoons over), his biceps (oh goodness those arm muscles), or that good-looking face (though how has this got to do with feeling safe, Yuju?). In general, he really gives off that manly vibe that she likes in a guy. That aura that he has just standing was something ideal for her, and that perhaps is the reason why she feels safe and likes being around him.  

"Eat." He tells her, moving his hand away from her shoulder to put the container of salad and that bottle of vitamin water on the table right before her. "What's this...?" She asks, confused as she looks at the food and back at him. "Food." He says and then laughs, his eye-smile absolutely beautiful. Her members seated around the table with her look at them intently. Yuju opens to speak but she cuts her off, saying, "You don't look too good. Eat so you'll gain energy."

Yuju smiles at him again. A more natural smile. Finally. "Thanks. I'll eat well then... But is this your lunch?" She thanks him happily but frowns immediately when she realises he could be skipping his meals entirely for her. He shakes her head with a kind smile. His eye-smile is something many talked about and the other GFRIEND girls admit it's super attractive. "Sort of but not really. I have another packed meal with rice and all. Thought I should give something to you to eat though." He replies as she relaxes, knowing that he's still eating. "Ahh okay, good to know. Thanks a lot again!" She says, lifting up the container and the bottle, shaking them both cutely (not intended, but to him it's super duper cute). He grins, patting her on the shoulder before walking back to his table when twelve hungry boys are busy wolfing down their food.

Some time later, after they are done eating and a few more groups have gone up for rehearsals, a staff walks up to Dokyeom. "Dokyeom-ssi? Yes, your duet rehearsal is after this. Can you get ready?" The staff tells him and he nods, immediately getting out of his seat. He takes a few more sip of water to soothe his throat as the staff walks over to Yuju to tell her the same thing. The two walk together to backstage, with Dokyeom checking on her if she's feeling better. Between the both of them, he's older so he's always the one taking care of her. Perhaps that's why Yuju feels safe with him too.

But for some reason, their rehearsal got delayed. Technical difficulties in the current group's rehearsal was the first delay. The music was wrong and apparently the remix version of it went missing as well. Dokyeom requested a chair for Yuju to sit and rest backstage because she was still really weak. She couldn't stand properly either but didn't want to bother Dokyeom by clinging onto him and so has been slouching against the wall for the past few minutes. She's starting to breathe heavily again and that got Dokyeom worried. "I'm fine, I'm fine." She says but he ignored her. The staff brought two chairs in the end so they got to sit together back stage, watching as the crew rush around. They sat in silence for a while and he finally speaks up. "What happened to you, by the way?" He asks her, glancing at her. Her eyes were closed shut as she leans on the back of her chair, looking a little weird again. No reply from her got him panicking again. She sensed it and opened her eyes, looking at him with a tired, heart-fluttering gaze.

"Fatigue. Low blood pressure... I got brought to a nearby clinic and was given a jab. Took some meds too so I'm a little drowsy, I'm sorry." She apologizes for being such a poor company.

He shakes his head quickly. "Rest, rest now. I'll tell you when it's our turn to go up, okay?"

It's her turn to shake her head now. She insists, "No, Seokmin, it's okay, I'm fine, really. Don't worry."

"You look horrible now, just rest and don't think too much." He says and then turns his head away, looking forward.

Biting her lips a little, Yuju slips her hands around his left arm, holding it as she carefully leans her head against him. The sudden skinship startled Dokyeom who immediately tilted his head down to look at her. Her shoulders are tensed as she snuggles - a little awkwardly - against his arm, still biting her lips. He gulps, both of them feeling electricity at where their bodies are touching. She feels his rock hard muscles that tense up beneath her fingers at her touch. The place suddenly got hot and he wondered if it had always been difficult to breathe here backstage. Yuju shuts her eyes quickly, trying to rest and push all these weird feelings she's having out. Soon enough, the girl really fell asleep. Her body feels less tensed now but she's still holding onto his arm tightly.

Their rehearsal got delayed even more because there is now audio issues with their own piece so they are waiting too. EXO is coming backstage to get ready for rehearsal as they have no issues. Half of the EXO members are at the side of the stage where Dokyeom and Yuju are both at. Baekhyun walks by and notices them, eyeing them playfully and wiggling his eyebrows. "Are you guys toget