Chapter Text
It began as something small. Literally. Jongin and Sehun had been practicing all day for an upcoming music show, the mirrors of their practice room foggy from the heat. After probably the 50th run-through of the song, the younger slumped to the floor and groaned, kicking his legs like a child. Jongin smiled fondly and turned the music off.
“C’mon Sehunnie,” he cooed in a teasing manner, skipping over to the sitting maknae and massaging his neck. His playful expression fell as his brow furrowed slightly.
“Jesus Hun-ah, I told you to stretch before.” He pressed against Sehun’s jugular lightly with gentle fingers. “Your neck’s all swollen, it feels like you’re storing rocks under there!”
Sehun lightly swatted at Jongin’s hands. “Whatever,” he grumbled lightly. Absently, he reached up and rubbed his neck, fingering the swelling gently. It was small, but didn’t feel like muscle. It was softer than that. He went to the mirror, trying to look at the mystery tissue, but was interrupted by the deep baseline of the song. He scrambled to his position, and forgot all about the bumps on his throat.
The next time he became aware of them was about a week later. They’d all gone to Junmyeon’s house to eat, to celebrate Kyungsoo’s departure from the military. Sehun had been excited all week to eat and drink with his favourite hyungs, but as he woke up for the fourth night in a row drenched in sweat, he suddenly felt drained. A quick glance at his alarm clock revealed it was around 3:00 PM, which was alarming enough because he never really slept in that late. A heavy weight settled in his stomach which oozed dread into the rest of his body. Something wasn’t right. He cast his mind back to the swelling in his throat and reached up to probe at the area, gasping quietly when he discovered it had nearly doubled in size. “What the..?” He grumbled to himself. Scratching the skin at his neck, which had also become increasingly itchy over the past week, he headed to the bathroom. Looking up in the mirror, he was met with a distorted version of himself: his hair, sodden with sweat, stuck to his face which looked sunken. He hissed as his reflection tenderly touched his neck, red and covered in scratches where he’d torn the itchy skin. Catching sight of his hands made him step back slightly; they were near-skeletal.
Sehun was confused. He didn’t really feel sick, or ill. His body, however told a different story. He stood there for a long time, poking and prodding at his inflamed skin and the swelling around his throat, trying to avoid the cold gaze of the man staring before him. Was he sick? He started to think his mirror was playing tricks on him when his phone vibrated. He glanced at it, not really caring about who it was, but he caught sight of the time. He had been stood there for nearly and hour and a half, and he had to meet up with his hyungs in half an hour.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” he hissed under his breath, quickly flicking on the shower and shedding his clothes. He peeked at himself in the mirror, huffing at his hipbones which seemed to jut through the mirror in a 3D-like fashion. Realising he was staring again, he raised an eyebrow at his reflection, who unsurprisingly mimicked the action. He stuck his tongue out childishly, but soon realised he was running out of time. He jumped into the shower, and pushed it to the back of his mind.
It was easy to forget everything with his hyungs. Jongdae and Baekhyun were being loud as always, Chanyeol encouraging them but acting innocent when Junmyeon tried to settle them. Jongin had drank too much soju (still much less than everyone else, although he’d never admit it), and as a result his cheeks glowed a rosy pink. He giggled along to the group’s antics, although Sehun didn’t think he really knew what was going on. They had brought with them a framed picture of Minseok and had facetimed Yixing for a little while. And the guest of honour? Well, Kyungsoo sat quietly, smiling softly at his members, at his family. Sehun eyed his hyung, and they made eye contact. Kyungsoo held his shot up to Sehun, and they cheer’sed each other from across the table. Sehun drank the soju, enjoying the warm feeling it left in his stomach, but frowned slightly when it caused a pain in his neck, where the swelling is. He had donned a turtleneck to hide the scratches, not wanting his hyungs to worry, and so he couldn’t touch his neck, but he knew that it hurt. Absently he rubbed his neck uncomfortably. All the scary thoughts from before and the image of his now-scrawny figure came rushing back, and he stood up quickly, excusing himself and hurrying to the bathroom. Kyungsoo frowned and went to follow the youngest, and Chanyeol’s eyes followed Sehun keenly. However suddenly Jongin laughed loudly about, “Ah-! Our Hunnie’s had too much to-to drink!” He banged the table with his fist, unable to control himself. Junmyeon quickly tried to grab his arm, cursing to himself. “Do you have to go?” He moaned to Kyungsoo. The whole table dissolved in laughter and any concern was forgotten.
In the bathroom, Sehun stared at himself in the mirror. Tears began to burn his eyes as he took in his reflection. Gently, he tugged down the collar of his turtleneck, hissing as the fabric irritated the skin. His whole throat was clearly swollen now. He ran his hand through his hair and tugged lightly at the strands in frustration. Looking back at the mirror, he let his hands fall, but they felt weird; ticklish almost. He looked at his palms and couldn’t help the sob that escaped his throat at the clumps of his inky hair between pale and shaking fingers. Quickly he turned the tap on, trying to wash the hair away. It stuck uncomfortably to the sweat that soaked his hands, so he turned the water on hot and watched as his skin turned red. The scalding sensation on his fingers distracted him slightly and he spaced out, until he heard Jongin shouting again. He quickly shook his head, mumbling to himself that everything was fine and turned the water off, leaving the bathroom and heading back to his hyungs.
Jongdae was telling a story loudly and enthusiastically; one that they had heard many times before. Chanyeol and Baekhyun kept making fun of him, saying things before the elder could get there and ruining the story. Jongin seemed to have deflated slightly, eyes closed as he rested his head on Baekhyun’s shoulder. Junmyeon was laughing quietly along to the story and trying to sneakily take Jongin’s drink away: all of them looked significantly more flushed then before and he noticed a while new empty bottle of soju on the table. Due to this, Sehun was able to sit down unnoticed and so didn’t have to answer any questions. He was thankful his hyungs were all alcoholics. However, as he looked up from his red hands, he caught Kyungsoo’s concerned gaze, and realising where it lay, he hid his hands under the table. As Jondgae wrapped up his story, Junmyeon yawned and so did Chanyeol. They decided to call it a night, since Jongin was pretty much catatonic at this point, and started to say their goodbyes. Sehun got up quickly, saying goodbye to all of his hyungs. He hugged Kyungsoo quickly and tried to pull away but the elder kept hold. “Sehunnie...” He began, and the maknae grew nervous. He pulled back to look Kyungsoo in the eye and his hyung opened his mouth to speak again but suddenly there was a huge crash as Jongin fell off his chair. The intoxicated boy laughed from his place on the floor and the rest of the members looked at Kyungsoo, who sighed and went to peel Jongin from the floor. “I can’t believe I’m enlisting tomorrow and you’re still making me look after him.” The members laughed and said goodbye to the pair. Sehun couldn’t help but wonder if that would be the last time he would see Kyungsoo.