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Hyuck woke up tired and disoriented. When was the last time he'd eaten? Probably a little after 10. He felt like he was glued to his bed by the copious amount of sweat he was producing.
“Hyung.” He groaned desperately hoping that Johnny was awake with some sort of sugary drink ready.
He felt jittery and everything was so fuzzy.
“I'm here Hyuck, have some juice, yeah?” He felt a hand stroking his hair and a straw pushed up against his lips.
He took a few sips feeling the sugary liquid slide down his throat before relaxing into his pillow.
“No, come on Hyuck just a little bit more.” Johnny pressed, shaking him a bit.
“‘s okay hyung, just gonna get some breakfast now.” He waved off Johnny before sitting up slightly and heading to the bathroom
He shuffled downstairs to the kitchen to be greeted by his hyungs.
“Good morning Haechannie,” Taeyong greeted as he plated Mark’s food. “You have practice today to make sure you eat a lot and pack some snacks.” He smiled.
Hyuck internally rolled his eyes, of course, Johnny and probably told Jaehyun about this morning, then he would've told Doyoung who'd told Taeyong. It wasn't even that big of a deal, he'd just woken up feeling a bit low.
“Yeah.” He nodded, sitting down to eat the unnecessary portion he was given.
He looked down at the yoghurt, cereal and fruits filling his plate, suddenly he didn't feel very hungry. It sounded quite stupid to have a light appetite when you’re metabolism is so fast, but he just couldn’t stand the feeling of being full.
He picked up a couple of blueberries and strawberries onto his fork before guiding them to his mouth feeling uncomfortable that so many eyes were on him. He took another spoonful before clearing his throat and looking up causing everyone to divert their gaze.
He sighed before speaking “Hyung, do we have any Up & Gos left?” Johnny nodded walking over to the fridge.
“You should have some yoghurt Hyuck.” Taeyong smiled. Yes, yes he’d heard it 100 times, yoghurt was high in sugar and still healthy. He took two spoonfuls just to please Taeyong before Johnny came back with his drink.
☾
Hyuck bounced into the practice room feeling energetic after having so much sugar.
“Who missed me?!” He screamed posing dramatically then flopping down on a chair to be greeted by Chenle giving him a big hug. Renjun sighed rubbing his temples.
“Slow down Hyuck you’ll burn through all the energy you’ll need for practice.” Haechan groaned slumping further into the chair making faces and mocking Renjun before sitting up straight as the vocal trainer came in.
Vocal training was a breeze, Hyuck always felt comfortable and confident while singing, usually, they had no more than 4 or 5 criticisms unless he was sick of course. Today wasn’t his best day but it was certainly considered above average.
Chenle, Renjun and Haechan were out in less than an hour just having time for a bathroom break before booking it to practice. Haechan regretted using that time to goof around in the mirror instead of snacking.
“S-sorry hah- for being late, we were at vocal practice.” Renjun puffed avoiding the choreographer’s tough gaze. Haechan and Chenle quickly repeating his words equally as puffed out.
He choreographer shook his head mumbling something about talking to management about schedules. “Alright! Chenle, Renjun, Haechan see me after practice, now let’s get to it.”
He went on about how ‘Quiet Down’ had become more popular than anticipated and how their performance of the dance was shocking so instead of today being easy they were gonna revise the dance for the next 3 hours.
God, Hyuck had only brought enough juice to last him an hour dance practice.
“I’ll just have to ration it, fuck.” He mumbled throwing his bag down and joining everyone in stretching.
☾
Half an hour into dance practice he felt a little shaky and jumpy and he was constantly messing up the ending. “You alright Hyuck? You seem a bit pale and your tic is back, are you low?” Jeno asked gently placing his hand on the boy’s shoulder.
Hyuck was irritated he was sick of people asking if he was ok, he was fine! He shook Jeno off letting out a grunt of annoyance before turning to face him.
“Jeez, I’m fine! Just peachy, let’s just get this over and done with.” He yelled ignoring any sort of respect or honorifics, he just felt like shit and wanted to get this damn dance practice over.
He took a swig of his juice before rejoining the group trying extra hard to complete the dance.
An hour into practice he was sweating like a mad man, at first he’d thought it was because he was dancing so he’d taken his jumper off but after another 2 runs of the dance he felt the need to take off his shirt and dose himself with water. Fuck, he really hoped it would end soon.
☾
Half an hour later was when it really got bad right after the dance instructor had left, his vision was starting to blur and he felt lethargic like his whole body was full of bricks. He couldn’t even be bothered to lipsync.
He felt himself sway and Jaemin trying to get a grip onto his upper arm before he plummeted to the ground, his knees making an awful sound as they connected with the practice floor.
“Hyuck? Can you hear me?” Renjun asked rushing over to the boy patting his cheeks gently. Hyuck hadn’t fainted in over 5 months and none of the Dreamies were prepared to look after him again.
“Mmm, tired...slep-sleepy.” He mumbled tears welling up in his eyes. “I-I’m so frustrated...jus’ wanna sleep…” He trailed off slumping into Jaemin. Renjun and Jaemin both panicked trying to stop him from falling asleep.
“No. I swear to god if I have to slap you awake I will.” Renjun muttered. “Jeno, call Taeyong he’ll have a better idea of what to do. Jisung, Chenle, get some food from the snack machines. Jaemin, help me with Hyuck.” He ordered.
He shook Donghyuck gently getting a small moan in response, it wasn’t exactly a positive response but it was a response none the less.
“Jaemin get his juice. Hyuckie, we’re gonna get you some juice and then hyung’s coming to pick you up.” He evened out his voice stroking his hair, he was trying his best to calm his anxiety.
Jaemin bolted back to them the half-empty bottle in hand. Renjun snatched it off him tilting Haechan’s head back slightly to get him to swallow the juice.
“Hyung!” Jisung skidded into the practice room followed by a concerned Chenle waving around a pack of cookies. Renjun smiled taking the cookies off of the boys before ripping it open and putting it in Hyuck’s lap.
Haechan slowly picked up the pieces bringing them to his lips and chewing slowly. He still felt fuzzy yet anxious at the same time but he was now able to do simple tasks.
“We’re here!” Johnny yelled out as he and Taeyong entered the practice room rushing to Hyuck picking him up to take them home.
☾
“What happened Hyuck?” Mark asked carefully as they sat on his bed watching anime together. Hyuck sighed leaning his head on Mark’s chest sliding his hand into his hyung’s bigger one.
“I’m just stressed, don’ have time.” Mark nodded empathetically understanding the stress the boy was under yet he was still angry. Why couldn’t SM just give him time off or something? He thread his fingers through the younger boys hair before speaking.
“I know, but you really gotta stop when you need to. I don’t care if the managers yell at you or threaten to take your lines away just because you need to take a break. I’ll fight them before they do anyway.” Hyuck laughed lightly pecking Mark on the cheek.
“You’re a dork, I’m really ok Markie-poo~” He teased back to his old self. Mark smiled. As long as he was there to watch over Hyuck he’d be ok.