Requested by - LinaMarieScholten

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It had been three days since a dull pain in Taehyung's side started. He was keeping his pain a secret because the members had been practicing for their upcoming concert and everyone was stressed out enough, he didn't want to add to the anxiety. When it had first started he tried brushing it off as maybe gas bubbles or having eaten something bad, but by day two he ruled out both of those factors. Especially because the pain was getting a bit worse.

A stomach bug? The flu maybe?

He had googled his symptoms trying to explore every option so he could find some medicine to help and treat himself without anyone else having to find out he was sick. He was way more concerned about the concert. He figured there was no time to go to the doctor with the way their practice schedule was set up so he had to simply endure the pain and hope it would go away.

Dance practice was hard, certain steps sent a sharper pain coursing all around his abdomen. When he was resting it was a dull ache, but any movement suddenly made it feel as though he was being stabbed with knives. He had to take more frequent water breaks than usual and while doing so Hobi came over to ask him if he was feeling okay.

"I noticed you're struggling a bit with some of the steps. I don't expect you to give it your all during practice but a little more effort would be nice to help build up your endurance for the concert."

Taehyung stared at Hobi, unsure of how to respond. He paused and then nodded. "Got it, sorry. Just tired is all."

Namjoon overheard the conversation and walked over, ruffling Taehyung's hair. "Everything okay?" He knew Taehyung was tired, they all were, but he still wanted to check on the boy.

Taehyung nodded, but he clutched his stomach automatically as another ache waved through his side and around his stomach.

Namjoon flinched at Taehyung's sudden movement, grabbing his dongsaengs arm. Both him and Hobi furrowed their brows with worry. "Tae? What's wrong?" Namjoon asked.

"Nothing, just a cramp or something," Taehyung lied.

The rest of the members flew over when they overheard Namjoon ask Taehyung what was wrong.

"Is hyungie okay?" Jungkook asked, staring at Taehyung. Taehyung didn't like the sudden attention, he knew there was too much work to be done and they shouldn't get so distracted.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine," the second youngest replied. He brushed off his pain in hopes of easing everyone's sudden worry. "We..we should get back to practice though, big concert coming up!"

The others asked if he was sure he was okay one last time and he really was feeling a bit better after the small intermission, so nodded and got back into position.

Things were okay the day before the concert. The pain came and went and it didn't bother him all too much. He figured maybe he was finally getting over whatever sickness he was dealing with. Plenty of water and rest seemed to be doing the trick. Practice for the day went well, but once they got home for the night things started to take a turn for the worst.

Jin, Yoongi, and Jimin had made a giant dinner as a celebration for the concert tomorrow, and surprisingly Taehyung found himself not hungry at all even though he thought the food smelled delicious. They were sitting there chatting and eating when Jimin noticed Taehyung hadn't even touched his plate. He reached over and squeezed Taehyung's shoulder. "Hey, you alright?"

Taehyung was trying to hide the fact he was clutching his stomach under the table. "Y..yeah...I guess..just...anxious about tomorrow."

The members didn't quite believe him because Taehyung was never one to get nervous about performances. He'd never, since the day they'd met, turned down a delicious meal before a show. Namjoon stared at Taehyung and tilted his head, full of curiosity as he noticed the color of his dongsaengs face seemed duller.

"You look a bit flushed, Taehyung-ah," Namjoon mentioned.

Everyone was now looking at him.

"Come to think of it, you do look a bit off," Yoongi added. Jin stood up and made his way over to Taehyung. He placed the back of his hands on Taehyung's cheeks. "Oh, you're a bit warm."

The attention was making Taehyung nervous. He was so scared that if he told everyone he wasn't feeling well that they'd not let him perform in the concert due to health and safety concerns and he would have felt absolutely terrible about doing that to his fans. He pulled away from Jin's touch. "I'm...fine.." he whispered.

"Taehyungie, it's okay to tell us if you're not feeling well." Jungkook stared at his hyung with wide, nervous eyes. He felt bad, he could only hope Taehyung wasn't sick.

Jin ignored Taehyung's attempts at escaping his touch as he put the back of his hand to Taehyung's forehead. "Jeez, Tae you're really burning up! Have you been feeling sick?!"

Everyone noticed that he was clutching his stomach, and their worry grew. He tried playing it off that he was fine but if he was being honest with himself he felt like absolute garbage. His body felt hot and cold at the same time, his abdomen was on fire, he felt woozy and couldn't eat, and seemed to have a never ending thirst that couldn't be quenched. The feelings of being sick and the overwhelming attention from all of his members made him break down and cry. He knew his secret was out, he couldn't hide the fact he wasn't feeling well.

Tears spilled down his cheeks. "I'm sorry everyone. I haven't been feeling the greatest but I really don't want it to affect the concert tomorrow. I'm...I'm sure I will be alright."

"Oh, Tae," Namjoon said warmly, "Why didn't you tell us you weren't feeling well?"

Jimin leaned over and wiped the tears off Taehyung's cheeks. "Maybe we could have helped you, TaeTae."

"I'm sorry," was all Taehyung could say.

Hobi stood up, "Here. Why don't you go lay down in bed for a bit, hm? Obviously we aren't going to force you to sit here and eat."

"Thank you." Taehyung didn't waste any time getting up and running to his room. He was desperate to lay down and rest his head on his pillow, curling up under his blankets. The members in the kitchen expressed their worry about his health and the concert tomorrow. They abandoned their dinner to gather up some medicine and cold wash cloths to go help Taehyung out. When they entered into his room he was curled up under his blankets crying.

"Aw, my poor Tae," Jimin sulked. He sat on the bed and rubbed his best friends back. Yoongi pulled the blanket off Taehyung's face and offered up the medicine. They hung out around him asking about more of his symptoms which was when he admitted how incredibly terrible he'd been feeling for days now.

"Days?" Namjoon asked. "Taehyung-ah if it's been days you should have said something and seen a doctor."

"We've been so busy," Taehyung frowned. He felt as though being busy was as good of an excuse as any other. "And I just wanted to wait it out and not bother anyone."

"You wouldn't be bothering us," Yoongi replied. He asked Taehyung where his stomach was hurting and his dongsaeng pointed to his side. "Let me look at you," the rapper demanded. Taehyung pulled his blanket off and Yoongi gently lifted the singers shirt, he put his hand against Taehyung's stomach and started gently pressing down around it. "Tell me if it starts to hurt."

"Ow," Taehyung groaned when Yoongi was closer to his side.

"Here?" Yoongi pressed again.

"Yeah but also everywhere. It hurts everywhere." Taehyung started crying again. Jin shoved a thermometer in Taehyung's mouth and he had a pretty high fever of 103F. Yoongi mentioned maybe he had some kind of stomach flu.

"Damn.." Jin whispered. The oldest turned to the others. "What do we do about tomorrow?"

"He needs to see a doctor before he can perf-" Namjoon started, but Taehyung shot up in bed when he knew where Namjoon was going with that. "No! I'm fine! I can do the concert I swear!" His heart started racing with the fear of not being able to perform. As terrible as he truly felt, he knew he'd feel so much worse not being allowed to get on that stage. Just endure it for a few hours, you'll be fine!

"Taehyung you can't perform if you're this sick," Hobi stated. He could tell Taehyung had been off at practice these last few days but really thought the boy was just trying to conserve his energy. If he had known about the sickness, he too would have told Taehyung to go to the doctor.

It turned into a small bit of bickering. The members wanted Taehyung to see a doctor right away and get clearance to perform, but Taehyung refused. He tried downplaying his pain. "I've actually been starting to feel better," he lied, "So I'm sure by tomorrow it won't be a problem." He put up quite a fight about it until his members gave up. Jungkook took the medicine and told Taehyung he needed to take some more if it just incase. He rubbed his hyungs chest. "I don't like seeing hyungie sick."

"None of us like seeing each other sick," Namjoon stared at Taehyung dead in the eyes, "So I guess I can just say get as much rest as you can and we will see how you feel in the morning."

"Okay." Taehyung curled back up under his blanket, covering his face. The others gently wrapped their arms around him to hug his snuggled up body and told him they hope he feels better. Jungkook ran out and back in with a few cold bottles of water in case his hyung needed it. They all went back to dinner and discussed how terrible they felt, and already began coming up with a plan for if Taehyung was too sick to perform tomorrow.

The first thing Taehyung did when he woke up the next morning was run to the bathroom and throw up. Thankfully it was before anyone else was awake, so he was able to hide the fact it even happened. It was the day of the concert and he needed to participate in that performance. In the bathroom he clutched his stomach as another sharp pain coursed through him. He bent over the sink, wincing and whimpering in pain. He grabbed onto the edge of the counter and squeezed it. "Aish..." he groaned. Once the initial sharp pain subsided a bit he splashed his face with cold water. He could feel his face and body still burning up.

He wasn't in the mood for breakfast, but pretended to chew and eat whenever the members would look at him. He knew very well they were keeping an extra close eye on him. They had constantly asked if he was feeling better, to which he lied and said he was feeling great. Jin tried taking his temperature again just to double check but Taehyung wacked his hand away. "I said I feel fine, okay?" This made Jin back off a bit, realizing he didn't want to bother or annoy Taehyung before the concert even if he was still a bit worried.

Namjoon mentioned the doctor again but Taehyung shut it down. "I'm feeling better, no need for me to go any more. My body seems to be healing itself!" This was all a lie, but Namjoon didn't need to know that.

The members shrugged it off, figuring Taehyung knew his body best and if he said he was feeling better all they could do was believe him. They quickly got to stage rehearsals at the venue their concert was at. They practiced their positions, sounds, and choreography. Taehyung was doing his best to keep up but it was getting harder as the day progressed. Unknown to the others, every bathroom break he took was to actually go get sick into the toilet. He was grateful that nobody would follow him or had walked in on him during the process. He was constantly splashing cold water in his face every time he was in there. It wasn't much, but it was a quick and subtle relief, if even for a moment.

He was nervous for the concert. Especially with how badly his stomach was hurting. He was worried about falling behind or getting sick on stage, but tried giving himself little pep talks. It's only a few hours. You can do it! You've got this! You can be as sick as you want afterwards, but just hold off until then! Don't let this team down!

Before he knew it, he was standing on stage in front of ARMY. The members were happy and smiling seeing Taehyung alongside them, they figured he clearly had to be feeling much better. Namjoon was still a bit worried, but he knew right now wasn't the time for it. They began their intro and each of them had full energy.

Taehyung managed his way through multiple songs and wardrobe changes. However, towards the later end of the concert everything was really starting to hit him. He was sweating more than he usually did. He knew this was because of the fever he was fighting. He could actually feel his fever getting worse while the performance went on. His entire body suddenly felt extremely drained, like he didn't have much more energy to give. Thankfully they were nearing the last songs and they weren't ones that needed dancing, but ones where they were free to do what they wanted and walk around the stage.

While walking around during the performance, it happened so quickly Taehyung couldn't control it. The sharpest pain he'd ever felt in his entire life daggered through his side and he clutched his stomach, collapsing onto his knees in the middle of the song. Ahhh! No! Oww!

The members kept singing, but rushed towards him with silent panic. Jungkook tried to hold back his tears after he saw what happened, he was so extremely worried and he knew right now there was nothing he could do about it. Namjoon was the first to get to him. He bent down next to Taehyung and whispered to him asking if he was okay.

"Fine, fine," Taehyung whispered back. He was the furthest thing from feeling fine but he needed to get through these last songs. He continued to clutch his stomach while Namjoon helped him up. He gave an 'I'm okay!' gesture to the audience who he knew would be worried, and played it off as though he had simply tripped on stage or something minuscule like that.

The song ended and the members went backstage for their last costume change. The members were in a complete frenzy asking Taehyung what happened and if he was okay. He swore he was fine, he needed to be fine or else they wouldn't allow him to continue performing.

Namjoon pulled Taehyung into a hug. "Fine or not, Taehyung. Please promise me you will go to the hospital and see a doctor. You need to be seen."

"Namjoon-ah really, I'm f-"

"Taehyung! Promise me you will go to the hospital!" Namjoon wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"Okay. I promise." The members were happy to hear Taehyung finally agree. They were scared for him.

To everyone's surprise, Taehyung did manage to make it through the remaining songs even though it was absolutely dreadful for him. He spent most of the time trying to talk himself out of not passing out right on stage. His entire body felt like it was on fire. Explosions of pain shooting through his entire torso.

They finished their setlist and made their way backstage again. While walking, Taehyung was clearly in agony as he kept wincing and groaning and clutching his stomach while they made their way back. The members surrounded him.

"Hospital. Now," Namjoon demanded.

"Right now?!" Taehyung screamed. The scream made him collapse in pain again, and the members dove to the floor around him. Jimin grabbed Taehyung's head and pulled it into his chest. "Can someone get an ambulance please?!" he screamed.

Taehyung didn't bother fighting it. Knowing he'd at least survived the concert, and having promised Namjoon he'd go, he knew it was his fate at this point. Jungkook and Yoongi both whispered soft reassurances to Taehyung as they waited for an ambulance to come get him. They would have brought him themselves but they knew an ambulance would be faster and they wanted him to get help immediately. Taehyung got scared and started crying from sickness and anxiety. Jin was running his fingers through his dongsaengs hair. "Please don't cry. It kills hyung. We will be right behind you, okay?" he kissed Taehyung's head. "And once they figure out what's wrong, they'll have you feeling all brand new."

Hobi was sitting there crying too, he was scared and felt absolutely terrible witnessing all of this. He hated seeing anyone sick and he couldn't imagine the pain Taehyung was in after performing like that knowing he had lied about feeling better.

When the ambulance showed up, Taehyung was hesitant to go because he didn't want to be separated from anyone. Yoongi offered to ride with him while the others followed. He held Taehyung's hand the entire ambulance ride and was continuously wiping Taehyung's tears away for him. The rapper was also crying, seeing Taehyung like this destroyed him.

When they got to the hospital he was taken from Yoongi into the ER. Yoongi waited in a small room and was happy when the others showed up not too long afterwards. He informed them Taehyung was currently in the ER but he didn't have any answers yet.

Taehyung had started getting sick pretty badly while in the hospital room, and the doctors had to immediately set up IV's and oxygen. He started crying and screaming loudly as the pain in his side grew and continued to explode. "Help," he begged the doctors through tears, "P-please do something. Please help me." The pain was so unbearable he was starting to see dark spots in his vision as his head went fuzzy. He was given pain meds and sedatives while the doctors continued to perform various tests on him to see what was wrong, and when they found out, they had to go into action immediately.

The members had been waiting for about an hour when a doctor came in to let them know Taehyung had to go into an emergency surgery. The members shot to their feet with terror and ran to the doctor, bombarding him with questions.

"Emergency surgery?!" Namjoon screamed. "For what?!"

The doctor informed them that he was dealing with appendicitis, and made it just in time as his appendix had just burst but they were able to catch it before toxins spread.

"Oh...oh....my god..." Jin cupped his hand over his mouth in utter disbelief. "Our Taehyung..." his tears fell. His worry had just multiplied by a million.

"Will he be okay?!" Jungkook screamed.

"Is he going to die?!" Hobi screamed along with the maknae.

"No, no. As I said, he made it just in time," the doctor smiled. "Taehyung will be just fine."

Namjoon couldn't help but also start crying, he felt guilty that he didn't force Taehyung to go to the doctor sooner. He felt as though he should have picked the boy up and dragged him to the doctors himself. He should have never performed.

Yoongi and Jimin noticed the sorrow and look of guilt on Namjoon's face, they could read him well, and hugged him. "He's going to be okay," Jimin said softly. His heart was hurting terribly, but he was happy it was good news instead of something worse.

"I'm an idiot!" Yoongi started yelling, "A damn idiot! I should have realized it was his appendix when I was asking him where it hurt! How can I be so dumb?! How could I not put two and two together?!" Yoongi felt terrible for not realizing. "I shrugged it off and suggested a stomach flu?! I'm a damn moron!"

"Hey," Hobi put his hand on Yoongi's shoulder. "It's okay. You're not a medical expert and it was overlooked by all of us, please don't blame yourself."

Yoongi sighed, falling silent. Expert or not, he still felt like an absolute idiot over it and extremely guilty.

The members sat around sulking and leaning on each other while they waited for an update. A few hours passed when the doctor came back and said the surgery went very well and Taehyung was awake and in recovery. They asked if they could see him and once the doctor said yes they ran to him as fast as they could. When they ran in they were glad to see Taehyung's eyes open, him being awake and alert.

"My hyungie!" Jungkook screamed as he ran to him, grabbing his hand and caressing the back of it.

"Hey, bud," Yoongi said. "How you feeling?"

Taehyung groaned, still a bit exhausted and out of it. "Better."

The members laughed at the way Taehyung said it because if anything, the sedation and meds made him sound a hell of a lot worse.

"So your appendix burst," Namjoon informed him.

Taehyung gently felt where the pain had been and he could feel the bandage and stitches. "Oh, I didn't notice."

The members laughed again, but Namjoon lightly scolded him. "I'm glad you can joke at a time like this! You had us worried half to death! Taehyung something like that could have killed you!"

Taehyung didn't say anything, the whole ordeal had scared him pretty badly. He would have never expected this.

"Yahhh, Taehyung-ah, you should have told us sooner when you weren't feeling well," Hobi said.

"And gone to the doctor sooner!" Jimin also lightly scolded.

"I'm sorry," Taehyung replied. He didn't quite know what else to say. Yoongi calmed the room down when he told everyone now wasn't the time to discuss what Taehyung had done wrong, but they needed to be comforting him instead. "We can scold him at home," Yoongi chuckled. This also got a small laugh out of Taehyung. He was tired and didn't want to talk much, so he listened as the members expressed how insanely scared they were when they heard the news. Jungkook and Jimin were both shedding tears. "We could have lost you hyungie. I don't know what I would have done," whispered Jungkook.

"Never scare us like that again!" Hobi pointed at Taehyung. "Hyung can't handle this kind of worry! I'll have gray hairs before I'm 30!"

Taehyung smiled with his eyes closed and it was clear to them he needed rest. They offered to let him be for a while but he preferred them to stay, he was still feeling anxious about everything that happened and wanted their company, so they hung around the room while he slept.

He was able to go home the next day but had to limit physical movement while his stitches healed. He was also given some cream and medicine he had to use while recovering at home. The doctor said with the proper treatment Taehyung would heal right up as if it never even happened. 

The first thing Yoongi did when they got Taehyung home was command the boy to lay in bed while he got his medicine ready. Namjoon was already helping out putting the cream on Taehyung's stitches. Now that he was feeling less sick, Taehyung offered to do all of that himself but his hyungs insisted.

Everyone was so incredibly glad to have Taehyung home, even though knowing he was in pain and had been so sick still hurt their hearts. Namjoon sat down with Taehyung and explained the importance of being honest about health, "And this is exactly why. Like Jungkook already said, none of us would have any idea how to go on if something worse had happened to you."

Taehyung admitted why he had lied and Namjoon told him he shouldn't worry about things like disappointing others. "Sometimes you have to put yourself first, even if the outcome bothers other people."

Taehyung understood what his hyung was trying to say. Once again, before he knew it, his members were all surrounding his bed again. He thought it was a bit comical how insanely overprotective and clingy everyone was being but he appreciated them more than anything. They constantly asked if he needed anything, stating that he wasn't allowed to get out of bed because they were insanely worried about him hurting his stitches.

He told them he was all set for now and that he'd like to rest, he knew he needed to get as much as he could in order to heal. The members told him to just yell for them if he needed anything and he said he would. Namjoon watched everyone leave as he was sitting on the edge of Taehyung's bed.

The younger boy saw his hyung in tears. "What's wrong, Joonie?"

"You really scared the hell out of us."

"I know. I'm sorry."

Namjoon stared down at Taehyung. "Please promise me, promise me with your whole heart you will tell at least one of us if you're ever feeling sick again, okay? Sore throat, headache, I don't care. Please just promise me."

"I promise," Taehyung replied. Namjoon stared at him silently, unsure if Taehyung was being honest or not.

Taehyung stared in his hyungs eyes and then grabbed his hand, squeezing it.

"Really, Joonie hyung. I promise."

And he meant it.

[The End]