Fluffy ATEEZ Oneshots🧸

Know your limits🌡️

Sickie: Jongho

Caregivers: Ateez

No one's POV.:

Despite being a perfectionist and always hard on himself, Jongho really loved vocal practices. Well, usually he did but today he was glad when it finally ended. It had started with a faint ache in his throat at the beginning of his practice but the longer he kept going, the more it hurt. Jongho tried to sip on his water frequently but it only did so much. By the time he was done, his throat was on fire and he had already decided to keep the talking to a minimum for the rest of the day. He had probably strained his voice as it grew quieter and quieter as the practice continued. Knowing that pain is never a good sign, Jongho was well aware that he should've stopped but he didn't want to be lazy, so he continued for hours. He downed the last few sips of his water, wincing as swallowing had become a struggle. Then he shoved the bottle into his bag and headed back to the dorm. The group had had a dance practice in the morning and individual schedules in the afternoon, so Jongho had been singing ever since he had finished lunch.

He was exhausted, though he didn't really know why. It had only been half a day of dancing but he felt more exhausted than he did when they had a full day of only dance practice. Stepping out into the cool evening air, Jongho gave a small cough but regretted it instantly. How could it hurt so much? He had sung for much longer before and never experienced anything like this, so what had he done wrong today? As he trudged back to their dorm, he started to breathe through his mouth instead of his nose. He knew he shouldn't do that, as it could hurt his throat worse but the cool air felt soothing and at least numbed the pain a little. The only problem was that it tickled his throat and made him cough again. Yeah, now it definitely hurt worse. Jongho pulled out his phone as he approached their dorm building. He didn't want to upset his hyungs by not answering when they talked to him, so he sent a message to their group chat, explaining that he may have overdone it a little and would avoid talking. At least for the rest of the evening he would and then he'd see how his throat would feel in the morning. If it didn't get better, he'd avoid talking the next day too.

A few members were home already and Seonghwa frowned when he read their youngest's message. He made his way to the kitchen and filled the kettle, preparing a large pot of hot tea for his dongsaeng. The oldest knew that Jongho was self-critical but he had thought the boy would know his limits and stop before hurting himself. It seemed like he had been wrong. When the maknae stepped foot into their dorm, Seonghwa couldn't help but notice how drained he looked. He hadn't seemed that tired when they had parted ways after lunch and the oldest was surprised how a vocal practice could've taken that much out of his dongsaeng. Jongho was an incredibly vocalist, so what had he been singing this afternoon to end up like that? "Hey, you doing okay?", Seonghwa asked the younger, who gave him a tired nod before pulling out his phone. After a moment of typing he held it up for his hyung to see. 'Just really tired and my throat hurts.' - "Mhm, you look drained", Seonghwa agreed, "Why don't you get changed and I'll bring you some tea in a minute. Figured it might soothe your throat some." Jongho nodded and mouthed 'thanks' before trudging to his room.

Seonghwa had phrased it right, drained fit his current condition better than just tired. Jongho's body ached as he lifted his arms over his head to change his shirt. He really shouldn't have gone all out with his dancing this morning. Sighing as he sat down on his bed, the vocalist massaged his throat and winced, which didn't go unnoticed by Seonghwa who joined him right at that moment. "How bad is it? Like, end of tour bad or...?", the oldest frowned. Jongho only shrugged at first, thinking back to their last tour. Eventually, he decided there was no use in lying. It was certainly as bad as it had been at the end of tour, if not worse, so he gave a hesitant nod. The older gave him a sympathetic smile as he handed him the tea cup, placing the pot onto the nightstand, humming: "You still have your throat spray?" Holding up a hand to signal his hyung to wait, Jongho rummaged through his bag. When his searched turned up nothing, he searched his nightstand drawer but had to accept, that he didn't have it anymore. It had probably been empty so he threw it out. Looking up at Seonghwa, he shook his hand before blowing on his tea to cool it faster.