It was the middle of Autumn, Winter was just around the corner, and the members of TXT had all just recovered from a fairly nasty cold. They had all just gotten to the point where they could now sleep through the night completely without waking up as if they hadn't slept a wink. Well, all except Taehyun.
Taehyun had woken up feeling like absolute crap. He was no longer stuffed up to oblivion, but his head was pounding and his limbs were feeling heavy. He also felt like he had barely slept a wink, even though he fell asleep before the others and was out like a light all night.
Taehyun groaned when he looked at his clock and saw that he had actually slept thirty minutes longer than he normally does. He desperately wanted to just go back to sleep, but they had schedules today. Taehyun got dressed at a slower pace than normal, then opened the door to his room.
As Taehyun stepped into the hall, he could smell that someone was making bacon. Taehyun immediately felt his stomach churn and he gagged into his fist. He quickly made a beeline for the bathroom and propped the toilet open after closing the door. He stood over the toilet for a solid minute before deciding that he wasn't going to puke. He went to the sink to wash his hands and saw the thermometer that had been sitting on the counter for the past week. He quickly washed his hands and was a bit disappointed that his temp was currently normal albeit slightly elevated. He left the bathroom and went to join the others for breakfast.
As soon as Taehyun opened the bathroom door, his stomach began to churn at the scent of the cooking bacon. It was obvious to him that he was sick and that he should stay home. He walked into the kitchen and sat down on a stool at the island, instantly regretting it due to how close he was to the nauseating smell of bacon.
"Hyung, I don't feel good." Taehyun complained to no one in particular. Yeonjun looked up from where he was making breakfast and shot the youngest a sympathetic look. Soobin, who was getting something from the fridge, responded. "Tae, we all just recovered from that cold. It might take a few days before we're feeling one hundred percent again."
"But hyung, my stomach doesn't feel good." Soobin shook his head as he took the plate Yeonjun had prepped and placed it in front of Taehyun. "You're probably just hungry, eat some food." In all honesty the food that Yeonjun had prepared looked absolutely revolting to Taehyun, even though on any other day he'd probably scarf it down in a heartbeat. The only thing that looked even remotely like something his stomach would tolerate was the single piece of toast. However he didn't want to offend his hyung, and there was a small chance that Soobin was right that he was still in recovery mode, so he did his best to eat at least a few bites of everything on his plate. Although the majority of it still wound up in the trash.
Once breakfast was over the five members began heading out the door to the van. Taehyun's stomach was not happy with breakfast so he quickly excused himself to the bathroom. Taehyun knelt over the toilet for a few minutes waiting for something to come up, but his stomach was not ready to expel anything yet. He washed his hands and opened the door only to be met with his only dongsaeng, Kai.
"Hyunnie, are you okay? You were in there for a while." Kai said, mild concern lacing his voice. "I'm fine Kai, just some minor indigestion." Taehyun badly wanted to repeat that he felt terrible, but was slightly concerned that he was going to get brushed off again, so he decided on a half truth.
Taehyun passed out shortly after sitting down in the van, and somehow felt infinitely worse when he was awoken fifteen minutes later upon arrival at the company building.
"Taehyun-ah, it's time to wake up, we're here." Taehyun groaned as he opened his eyes, Beomgyu shaking him awake." "Don't feel good. Wanna sleep." Taehyun said, clearly not fully awake. Beomgyu looked at Taehyun sympathetically. "It would be nice if we could have had the day off to recuperate a bit more, but such is life." Beomgyu told the younger as he pulled him out of the vehicle.
Taehyun groaned again as he realised that today was dance practice day and not vocal or foreign language. Taehyun thought about voicing his discomfort, but before he had a chance to speak, Soobin started talking. "Okay guys, I know that we're all mostly recovered from our colds and that we're all still a bit tired and maybe a little achy, but practice is just going to be a couple hours today, then we can separate for our individual schedules." Taehyun groaned internally as he remembered that he was going to help Yeonjun run through more choreography after dance practice.
The five members got into position and the music started. Taehyun knew he was not going to make it through practice as soon as he heard the first beat of the song they were running through first. He was doing his best, but at one point he had to stop dancing entirely to focus on his breathing so as not to hurl all over. Unfortunately, his attempt at deep breathing only caused him to trigger his gag reflex, which was the final straw for his stomach.
Taehyun didn't even have time to think about stepping away before he bent over and began to throw up. He stood there puking for a solid minute then sat down next to the pile of sick, having lost any and all energy he had previously had.
The other four members just watched it happen and didn't start moving until after Taehyun had sat down looking like he was on the brink of falling asleep. "Kai go get a mop or let the janitorial staff know the room needs cleaning. Yeonjun, help me bring Taehyun to the couch. Beomgyu, grab the trash can please?"
They all sprung into action as soon as they had something to do. Soobin and Yeonjun brought Taehyun to the couch and Beomgyu handed Yeonjun the trash can, who immediately held it underneath Taehyun as he began gagging again.
After Taehyun emptied his stomach a second time, he allowed himself to slump against the couch. He felt something cool rest against his forehead and leaned into the touch. "Tae-yah, you have a fever, let's get you home." Taehyun was pretty sure that was Soobin, but he didn't have enough energy to open his eyes, so he just hummed in response before falling asleep.
Taehyun woke up while he was being carried into the dorm. He stirred enough to alert whoever was carrying him that he was awake and he got placed on the couch. The others ran around the dorm for a few minutes gathering necessary supplies, then they all sat down in the living room.
"Taehyun-ah, why didn't you tell anybody you were feeling so sick?" Soobin asked. Taehyun looked down, feeling guilty when he didn't need to, and gripped the bucket that had been placed at his side.
"He told me he wasn't feeling good when I was getting him out of the van." Said Beomgyu. Kai nodded in agreement. "He told me he had indigestion when we were leaving the dorm." "And don't forget Soobinnie, at breakfast he did try telling you that he felt nauseous, but you brushed it off as him needing to eat something."
"Well now I feel stupid." Soobin groaned before kneeling in front of Taehyun. "Tae, I'm sorry I didn't listen to you this morning." Soobin was going to say more, but Taehyun leaned his head into the bucket and began to puke again. Soobin pat the younger's back until he finished. "Do you think you can stomach some soup and/or crackers?" Taehyun nodded and Yeonjun went to get the food.
Taehyun ate a few bites of soup and nibbled on a couple crackers. "Hyung, I"m sorry for ruining dance practice." The others immediately shook their heads and reassured him that he didn't ruin anything.
"I talked with our manager on the ride back, and I've rearranged your schedule so that you have the next week to get over whatever bug you've caught. He also lightened the rest of our schedules to lessen our individual stress and so that we can care for you until you're better." Taehyun nodded, thankful that he won't need to worry about going to work for the next few days.
"So, do you want to get some more sleep, or do you want to watch a movie right now?" questioned Beomgyu. "Let's watch a movie. Although I make no promises on staying awake." They all got comfortable as a movie got started, and they were all very attentive to their sick member.
Taehyun spent the majority of the ensuing week confined to either his bed or the couch. He really didn't have a whole lot of energy beyond eating and going to the bathroom. What little extra energy he did have, wound up getting used the next time he needed to puke. Thankfully, by the end of the week, Taehyun had stopped puking and was able to slowly resume schedules. It was also pretty remarkable that none of the others had caught the bug. But no one was going to complain.
