TW: Vomit
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Namjoon opened his eyes and was met with a severe pounding in the back of his skull. Ugh. He instantly closed his eyes again. The sunlight coming in through the window only made his head hurt even more. When someone's fist started banging against his door he took his pillow and buried his face in it. He felt like shit.

"Namjoonie-ah! Let's go! We're going to be late! You've slept in long enough!" Jimin screamed from outside the door. Namjoon ignored him as he groaned into his pillow.

"Namjoonie-ah!!!" Jimin screamed again.

The rapper shot up in his bed, annoyed. "Alright! I'm coming! Just give me a minute!" he screamed. After speaking he realized not only was his head pounding but his throat ached. He tried to swallow and it felt like a clump of sharp knives formed a giant lump in his throat.

"Taehyungie and Hobi hyung made breakfast! Grab some on the way out!" Jimin informed before finally departing from the door.

Namjoon forced himself to get out of bed and when he got to his feet he felt a bit dizzy, wobbling and having to catch himself on his bed post before falling over. No. This can't be happening to me right now. We have so many schedules coming up.

More loud knocking. "Hyungie! We have to go!" Jungkook screamed. The leader didn't understand why everyone seemed to be so much louder than they usually were. It was like every knock and voice had been amplified by a trillion and one. He rushed to get dressed and met the others at the front door.

"About damn time man," Yoongi looked at his watch, "We're going to be late!"

"Sorry," Namjoon replied. That was all he could say at this point. Hobi ran over and shoved some of the breakfast he helped cook in his leaders face. "Here you go Joonie!"

"No thank you, I'm not hungry," Namjoon replied. He started clearing his throat, trying to get the feeling of that razor sharp lump out.

"Not hungry?" Taehyung frowned, "Or do you just not like our cooking?"

"Taehyung.." Namjoon sighed. He was in no mood for anyone's nonsense at the moment. His head and throat hurt too much and that was his main concern at the moment.

Jin took the food out of Taehyung's hand and placed it back on the counter. "We have no time for bickering. Get in the car," he commanded. Everyone followed Jin to the car and Namjoon thought his head was actually going to explode during the car ride. With Jungkook's karaoke and Jin continuously trying to crack bad dad jokes to Yoongi, the leader was quite literally losing his mind. Yet he didn't want to mention it to anyone. They had a lot of work coming up and he knew if he said he wasn't feeling well nobody would be able to focus on practicing because they'd be all concerned about him. He didn't want anyone to be concerned but to simply carry on with everything that needed to be done. As the leader he felt it was his responsibility to make sure everyone did what they needed to do.

Dance practice was torture for Namjoon. Hobi had the music way too loud. Every dance step sent pain shooting through the back of his head. In the middle of practice he began to get nauseous. During a water break he couldn't even continue sipping his because it was hurting his throat and stomach too much. He took a seat and leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes in a desperate attempt at the smallest amount of rest.

Unfortunately his members were chaotic and unruly during dance practice and kept running over to talk to or bother him. Any other given day he would have loved the attention and loved to have fun and be chaotic with everyone else, but not today. Jin noticed Namjoon seemed a bit more mellow than usual so he went over and asked if he was feeling okay.

"Me? Oh..yeah..I'm fine. Just a bit exhausted is all." Namjoon tried discreetly clutching his stomach as he felt another wave of nausea hit.

"Exhausted?! You got more sleep than all of us!" Jin lightheartedly teased.

Namjoon shrugged. He didn't want to tell Jin what the real problem was. "I must have had bad dreams that I can't remember or something. I have to go to the bathroom." He shot up to his feet when he realized something in his stomach was stirring.

"Well hurry up, we're getting back to practice soon," Jin said.

Namjoon ran to the nearest bathroom and threw himself onto the floor in front of the toilet. He heaved into it until vomit came straight up and out of him. No. Not now. Not here. There's too much work to do.  He felt absolutely miserable both physically and mentally. He wiped the sweat off his forehead that seemed to seep out of his skin from nowhere. He continued to throw up until someone came banging on the bathroom door.

"Joonie let's go!" Yoongi shouted.

He doubled over onto the floor and held his head in his hands. What he wouldn't give to go home and sleep himself into oblivion until the pain was over but he knew that wasn't an option. He swallowed down the bile he felt creeping back up his throat and picked himself up. He walked over to the sink and splashed his face with cool water. Looking in the mirror he saw how flushed his face had turned. He started to worry about how well he'd be able to hide his sickness.

Once everyone was gathered back in the studio to practice, Hobi was in the zone when it came to being the dance leader. Unfortunately he was extremely aware of Namjoon constantly fumbling the steps and messing up. He'd keep stopping the music to ask what the problem was.

"Do you need me to go over it again?" Hobi kept asking.

"No, no. I'm sorry. I've got it," Namjoon replied.

"Joon seriously I can go over the steps again if you're forgetting them," Hobi offered.

"I said it's fine, okay?! I can do it!" Namjoon snapped at his hyung. He wanted practice to be over with since he was in absolutely no mood to be there. He knew if Hobi took time to go over the steps again it'd only prolong practice.

"What's your issue today hyung?" Jungkook frowned. "You seem a bit off today. Is everything okay?" The youngest was always observing his hyungs and he always spotted the slightest difference in body language and tone when it came to their moods.

"I bet it's cause he didn't eat breakfast," Taehyung replied, "Which Hobi and I made with love yet he didn't want any!" Taehyung wasn't offended that Namjoon didn't eat, he just liked teasing him.

Namjoon felt himself start to sweat more not only from sickness but from anxiety. He didn't like that his members were catching on that he wasn't feeling well. He swore again that he was fine but as he continued to dance his body was hit with a wave of severe exhaustion. Every movement he made also sent the vomit he needed to release swirling around in his stomach. While everyone else was in perfect sync with eachother during the dance moves, he completely froze. The room was spinning. It was too hot. Everything was too loud. He couldn't hold it in anymore. He could see in the wall mirror his face turning colors again.

"Hey, earth to Namjoon! It's not break time yet!" Jimin yelled. Everyone stopped when they realized Namjoon wasn't moving or answering Jimin.

"Namjoon?" Yoongi asked.

Suddenly Namjoon projectile vomited onto the floor as he dropped to his knees. Once on his knees his upper body was too exhausted to hold himself up and he passed out, landing harshly against the wood beneath him.

Everyone panicked.

"Joonie hyung!" Jungkook screamed as he ran to his leader.

"What the hell?!" Hobi screamed. The rest of the members ran and surrounded him, careful to not step in the vomit he just spewed all over the floor.

"Hyungie?!" Taehyung screamed as he tried shaking Namjoon awake. Thankfully the leader opened his eyes again rather quickly, his body having been taken over by a moment of pure exhaustion that it couldn't handle anymore. Jimin tried fanning Namjoon with his hands and wiped the sweat off him with his shirt sleeves to try and cool him down. Yoongi ran over and grabbed water but his dongsaeng really couldn't stomach any at the moment.

"What the hell happened?!" Jin asked in a panic. He took his sweater off, balling it up and placing it under Namjoon's head so he had a little pillow.

"Ugh..." Namjoon groaned, squinting because the lights were too bright. He was furious at himself for what happened as he realized he couldn't hide it anymore. He had to tell them he was sick. "I'm not feeling too good," he finally admitted.

"Yeah, no shit." Yoongi gestured to the vomit on the floor. "Why didn't you tell us you weren't feeling well? You should have said something."

"I..I didn't want anyone to worry. We have schedules to attend and I wanted everyone to be able to focus on that." Namjoon clutched his stomach and curled up into a ball, thinking he might destroy the floor again any moment. Jungkook ran over and grabbed the trash can out of the corner, placing it by his hyungs head.

"Oh hyungie," Jungkook started, sadness and worry filling his voice, "Schedules or not you should tell us these things so we can help you! I'd hate to see you suffering alone and it kills me knowing you have been."

"Yeah Joon, if this is why you were struggling with practice you should have said something!" Hobi said.

"Ugh.." Namjoon tried to shake the fuzziness from his head. "Sorry..." It hurt to talk. He was afraid if he talked, more liquid would come up his throat.

Taehyung grabbed Namjoon's arm and gently helped him up. "Let's get you home."

"We...have to practice.." Namjoon groaned.

"Forget practice! Look how sick you are!" Jimin placed his hand on Namjoon's forehead. "You're burning up!"

"Fiiiire--" Yoongi jokingly sang. His members gave him a dirty look. "Sorry," Yoongi said realizing their unamused faces. "Not the time?" He didn't like seeing anyone in the group sick so sometimes he'd tried to use humor to hide his anxiety.

The others rolled their eyes. Taehyung looked at Hobi with desperation as he continued to hold onto Namjoon. "Can we please cancel practice?"

"Of course." Hobi agreed that Namjoon needed to get home and rest. They cleaned up the floor and headed out.

Namjoon wobbled straight to his bed while clutching his stomach as soon as he got inside. Curling up in his bed brought a sweet sense of relief. Hobi ran and grabbed a trash can, putting it on the floor right next his dongsaengs head. The members came in and huddled around him.

"How are you feeling? Can we get you anything?" Yoongi asked.

"No," Namjoon groaned.

"You need to try to drink water or eat something," Jimin said. He was really worried about the fact that his leader never ate breakfast and didn't drink much during practice. "You'll get dehydrated if you don't."

"It hurts," Namjoon complained. Every slight movement made the nausea worse. Jin asked him what his symptoms were and they all concluded that the boy had developed the flu.

"Oh poor hyung," Jungkook frowned. "Do you want some medicine? We have some nausea medicine in the bathroom."

Namjoon nodded. He'd love some. Unfortunately the medicine came right back up as quickly as it had gone down. Jin helped hold the trashcan to Namjoon's face as he expelled it.

"What do we do about our schedules? We will have to cancel them," Jin said.

Namjoon shot up in his bed. "No!" he yelled. Jimin put his hand in Namjoon's chest and gently guided him to lay back down.

"Hyung we can't do the interviews and performances without you." Jimin agreed with Jin. They'd have to cancel.

"Yes you can!" Namjoon was panicking. He didn't want anything to be cancelled. He didn't want to disappoint ARMY. He felt like he was going to disappoint them enough by giving bad performances while sick, cancelling everything would have been so much worse. "I will just perform while sick!"

"No way! You are in no position to perform!" Jungkook lightly scolded. "You're a mess and the only way to get better is to rest! We can cancel, or at least postpone some schedules until you're better."

When Namjoon took notice of how exhausted and defeated his entire body felt he realized he wouldn't able to put on any kind of show, but he told the others not to cancel but to simply do the interviews and performances without him.

"Without you?" Yoongi asked, "Why would we do anything without you?"

"It's seven or nothing!" Taehyung yelled.

"You guys can do it without me!" Namjoon was frustrated. Every fiber of his being did not want to cancel.

Jimin crossed his arms. "We need you though, Joonie. You're our leader. With interviews and things we always follow your lead. It's always follow the leader. We really can't do it without you."

Namjoon kept saying that he had full faith that they'd be just fine on their own. Yoongi stepped next to Jimin. "You know what? I'm sure you're right. I'm sure we probably could handle things alright on our own but it's not a matter of if we can. It's a matter of if we want to. I think I can speak for all of us when I say that we don't want to do the schedules without you. I agree with Taehyung-ah. It's 7 or nothing."

Namjoon started crying. Not because he knew no matter what he said their schedules would be cancelled, but because he was overfilled with emotion knowing his members cared about him that much. That they cared about him being there with them through everything and weren't willing to leave him behind even if he was the one who told them to.

"Okay." Namjoon finally agreed to reschedule or cancel some events. "But I'm not going to be the one to tell ARMY."

"You worry too much," Jin laughed. "You should know by now how understanding they are. If anything they'll understand and hope you get better."

Jin had the company release a statement that some of BTS's schedules wouldn't be taking place due to Namjoon being sick and just as Jin predicted, it was nothing but well wishes from ARMY. The members were glad to now focus on helping their brother and leader get better.

They tended to Namjoon's every need. He had become so sick that he was bed ridden. Hobi and Taehyung would bring him hot soup to try and ease his throat and stomach but he'd keep throwing it up. Yoongi tried to get him to take small sips of water but he couldn't keep that down either. Jungkook took it into his own hands to call a doctor to come check up on his hyung. He had to get a couple of IV's to help with dehydration and some malnourishment from not eating much.

Namjoon's head continued to throb and pound, sometimes hurting so badly that he'd burst into tears wishing for it to stop. Crying only made it worse but he couldn't help himself. Jimin would sit with him and rub his back to try and help him through the pain. He would also replace cold washcloths and ice packs to put on Namjoon's forehead so he wouldn't sweat to death from his fever that wouldn't break.

"I'm sorry you're feeling so bad, Namjoon hyung," Jimin frowned, "I wonder how you caught this."

"Aish..I don't know Jimin-ah. I just want it to be over." Namjoon groaned without opening his eyes. Having his eyes open added to his woozy stomach. "If you don't mind I'd like to sleep."

"Of course, hyung." Jimin got up and kissed Namjoon's sweaty forehead before heading out of the room to let his hyung rest. He met up with everyone else and they all had the same sad, worried expression. It was tough to see their leader down for the count like this. He was always so stoic and in charge, seeing him hurting and sick absolutely broke them. They felt helpless that nothing they tried to do to comfort him was working. His fever wasn't going away. He kept vomiting. He kept sweating. His head kept pounding.

Jungkook walked over to the kitchen table and put his head down, starting to cry. "I don't want him to be sick. I hate it!"

Taehyung ran over and hugged Jungkook. "It's okay Jungkookie. Joonie-hyung will be okay. He just needs a few days and he'll be good as new."

"I wish I could help him. I hate not being able to help him," Jungkook cried.

"Yah..Jungkook-ah...we all feel that way but there's really nothing more we can do. The flu has to pass on its own. Don't get too worked up kiddo, like Tae said he'll be alright in a few days." Jin tried to reassure the youngest.

"It still hurts," Jungkook replied. Jin hugged him tightly. "I know, Koo. I know." Jin knew all too well how much it hurt because even though he was the oldest he felt absolutely helpless without Namjoon. He couldn't have asked for a better brother or leader in the entire universe. Being the leader meant Namjoon helped Jin carry a lot of burdens, something he'd never take foregranted.

As the next few days went by the members still continued to take care of Namjoon with all the care in the world. If they weren't all huddled around him at the same time they would circulate through his room one at a time to check on him. He was asleep most of the time and nobody dared to wake him up.

When he was awake it was always more ice packs and washcloths, more sips of water, more soup, etc. Around the 5th day when Namjoon woke up he realized his head didn't hurt nearly as much as it had previously. His skin didn't feel so hot. He actually felt a bit of hunger for the first time since getting sick. He realized he was starting to get better. The exhaustion wasn't letting up though and he found himself still unable to get out of bed. When the members came to check on him after waking up he told them how he was feeling and they were ecstatic to see him recovering. He was able to drink some water and have some soup without throwing up. Jin took his temperature and it had finally gone down.

"Yes!" Jin screamed happily. "Namjoonie is finally on the mend!" Everyone sat around their leader on his bed to hang out. They were happy he was finally capable of staying awake for longer periods of time. They had all felt a sense of missing him while he was sick so everyone was feeling a bit clingy.

To everyone's surprise, Namjoon suddenly started crying again. Hobi immediately grabbed the trash can. "Uh oh. Oh no. Do you have to throw up again?" he asked concerned.

Namjoon was wiping the tears off his cheeks that were now pouring out. "No..it's not that." He honestly didn't know how to express the fact that his heart was swelling, practically exploding, with gratitude and love for his members. He couldn't fathom how he'd survive anything without them. He also didn't admit it but he felt so much love from them when they refused to work without him. It made him feel important to the team.

"I just love you guys so much," Namjoon sniffled.

"Awwww!" Jungkook started, "We love you so much too hyung!" Jungkook pulled Namjoon into a tight hug and kissed his cheek.

"I mean it guys." Namjoon was a sobbing mess at this point. "I don't know what I would do without you. Thank you for taking care of me."

"Well of course," Yoongi replied. "You dedicate your entire life to taking care of us. What else would you expect? We love you so much too and seeing you sick was killing us."

"Yeah hyung, of course we'd do anything to help you. Always know that," Taehyung smiled.

The members pulled Namjoon into a big group hug when he couldn't speak anymore because he was crying so hard. Jin warned him to take deep breaths so he didn't throw up again.

Namjoon couldn't have asked for a better group. A better family. The best doctors in the world. Although he couldn't stomach the actual medicine he kept trying to take, he knew the real medicine that helped heal him was the love of his six favorite people in the entire world.

[The End]