you, only you || Josh Cullen x OC

three | where did you get those lovely eyes

Win Your Heart – SB19

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Josh woke up under blinding lights.

'Huh? Ganito ba kaliwanag sa kuwarto ko?' he thought, medyo confused, as he slowly lifted himself up from the bed to look around. The first thing he noticed besides the light was the smell. It smelt sterile, like how their studio felt every time they arrived in the morning after intensive cleaning during the height of the pandemic. The next thing he noticed was how starchy his blanket was.

'Ang kati,' he thought with a frown, removing the blanket from his body.

"Good. Gising ka na."

He froze in his perusal and slowly looked at the only person occupying the chair beside his bed.

Pablo looked mad. As in real, real mad. Josh knew Pablo gets irritated the easiest in the group, and nasanay na rin naman sila because they've been together for years. Usually, his annoyance was directed at the rowdiest of the group—Ken surely at the number 1 spot, Stell not too far behind.

But for Pablo's anger to be directed at him... jusko, di sanay si Josh.

"Pagagalitan mo ba ako?" he bluntly asked, already slowly shrinking underneath his itchy blanket para lang i-shield and sarili sa sasabog na bulkan.

To his surprise, Pablo slowly deflated. All that was left was exhaustion and maybe disappointment. The anger he saw in his eyes a while ago was gone. "Pasalamat ka may sakit ka," Pablo sighed. "Kung hindi, kinutusan na kita."

"Luh," Josh replied, still shielded from Pablo with his hospital blanket to protect himself. "What did I do?"

Their Pinuno sighed once more and shook his head. "You should have told us you weren't feeling well," he said, his frown deepening. "Dapat hindi na umabot sa point na dinala ka na sa ospital."

'Ah, so I'm in the hospital,' Josh thought, clarity now in his mind as he placed two and two together. "It was that bad?" he asked, surprised.

"Very bad, apparently," Pablo said, glancing at the IV hooked to his vein. "The doctors said dehydrated ka raw. I think low ang electrolytes. That's why you fainted."

Josh didn't answer anything back, knowing this was his fault for not taking care of himself properly even though he knew they'd be busy for the coming days. In the end, he murmured a soft "Sorry" and tried to look as apologetic and guilty as possible.

Thankfully, Pablo's anger did not make another appearance. "I know you're working very hard for us, for our fans, pero alagaan mo pa rin ang sarili mo, Josh. Walang SB19 kung wala ka."

He felt guiltier and solemnly nodded his head. "I know. Sorry ulit," he repeated.

"Magpahinga ka muna ng dalawa pang araw," Pablo said.

Josh was surprised. He hadn't rested for that long in the past. "Sabi nino?"

"Sabi ko," Pablo replied, like it was the most obvious thing to do. "Don't worry muna about our TV guesting and other shows. We'll handle it for now."

"Without me?" It didn't sit right with Josh.

"Magpagaling ka muna bago ka sumama ulit sa amin," was Pablo's warning.

Josh sighed and slumped back on his bed. "May magagawa ba ako?" he grumbled. "Fine, if wala na talaga akong choice."

"Wala na talaga," Pablo reiterated, as he now slowly stood up from his seat. "Rest, Josh. Jusko. Parang kailangan na nga ng grupo eh."