Archive of Our Own

It’s more common than not for Chan to go and work out, even after a long day of having already done plenty of work. Their concert yesterday was amazing, and he’s been riding the high from it since they left. Their trip from the concert venue to their hotel ended up being hours long, because somehow they’d ended up having their hotel booked in Pittsburgh instead of Philadelphia.

So, that was a long road trip, one where most of them slept on the way. The rest of the following day, which was the same day they’d gotten to the hotel, basically, was rough despite their time spent resting.

As the day rolls into the afternoon and evening, Chan grows restless. He has to do something with his body, and making music doesn’t seem to be helping him calm down. The hotel gym is empty when he goes down to work out, and he spends a few hours going over his routine by himself. By the end of it, his body is pleasantly sore—except for his chest.

Chan does his best to breathe properly—three seconds in through the nose, three seconds out. The elevator carries him all the way up to the 8th floor, where he finds the room he’s sharing with Minho with ease. He swipes his card, opens the door, and shuffles in.

Minho is already curled up in his bed, eyes closed, so Chan is quiet as he gets himself ready to sleep.

The only problem is his chest still aches, and breathing seems to be getting harder and harder. He’s started to breathe through his mouth, attempting to do breathing exercises to keep them steady. But none of it seems to help, even as the minutes slowly tick by.

“Chan?” Minho finally murmurs, rolling over in his bed and squinting in the darkness towards him. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Chan says—wheezes, really—and he gives Minho a small smile. “Just… trying out some new anxiety practices.”

Minho squints further, sitting up in his bed. “No, you sound fucking awful. What’s going on?”

Chan frowns to himself as he lays in the bed, face scrunched up in pain and anxiety. He lifts his hand to his chest, pressing down gently into his sternum. “It, uh… it’s just hard for me to breath right now, that’s all.”

“That’s all?” Minho says, though it sounds more like an accusation. He immediately stands up from his bed and goes over to Chan’s.

But as he gets closer, he hears it—the strange way Chan is breathing, and the deep rattling of his chest. Minho frowns deeper and turns to grab his phone from the nightstand, unlocking it as he begins to tap rapidly on his keyboard.

“What are you… doing?” Chan manages to ask, his head starting to feel light and heavy at the same time.

“Getting an Uber,” Minho says, fingers still rapidly moving. “And calling you an ambulance.”

Chan tries to argue against it, but he knows there’s no use, either way—Minho will do whatever he wants, despite what Chan will try to do against it. And he doesn’t want to bother the managers with it, which he mumbles from between his wheezing breaths. Minho rushes around the room as he gathers what they need—wallets and passports, important documents that they’ll surely need—before he goes right back to Chan’s side.

“Come on,” Minho says, though his voice is gentler than before as he reaches out to Chan and begins pulling him up. “Felix is getting you the ambulance, they’re meeting us—”

A knock on their hotel door interrupts Minho’s sentence, and Chan can just barely hear the muffled sounds of his members from outside of it. His head is floaty as Minho carries him to the door. Minho pushes it open, revealing the rest of their members gathered in front of it.

Changbin reaches out to help Minho carry Chan, the two of them working together to get him to the elevator. Felix is on his phone, though Chan can’t make out exactly what he’s saying because he’s feeling—everywhere. His head is heavy, yet his brain is foggy. His lungs are burning, his chest and throat both tight as he struggles to breath.

“What’s wrong with Chan-hyung?” Jisung asks, and Minho shakes his head some.

“He’s breathing weird. He came back from the hotel gym like this.”

“Breathing problems?” Felix says, and Minho nods. Felix repeats it back to the operator on the line, right as their group makes it to the lobby and out to the front of the hotel. “The ambulance will be here any minute now,” he says to the rest of the group.

Minho gestures to Hyunjin, who takes his place in holding Chan up with Changbin, and he reaches into his pocket for his phone. “And the Uber will be here in ten minutes or so. We’ll have to catch up with you two.”

“You two?” Felix echoes, finally putting his phone down.

“You’re the only other one who can speak English fluently,” Minho says, and most of the other members nod in agreement. “You need to be able to tell them what’s wrong with Chan and give them information.”

Felix doesn’t have time to argue as the ambulance arrives, screeching to a halt in front of the hotel. The EMTs hop out of the ambulance, and Changbin and Hyunjin pass Chan off to them. Anxiety can already be felt throughout the entire group as they watch Chan being laid on a gurney and loaded into the ambulance.

“We’ll see you at the hospital, okay?” Felix says to them, squeezing Jeongin’s hand and pressing a kiss to his head, before he climbs into the ambulance beside Chan and the EMTs. The doors slam shut, the sirens start blaring, and the ambulance takes off.

“Fuck,” Changbin says, scrubbing his hands down his face.

“It’ll be okay,” Minho murmurs, trying to make sure he sounds steady and like he’s not freaking out. “Come on, our Uber is going to be here any second now.”

About three minutes later, the dark SUV pulls up in front of the hotel and the rest of the group climbs inside. Thankfully, there’s enough room for the six of them—Minho had made sure to pay extra for it—and Minho makes sure to tell the driver to go to the nearest hospital, where Chan is being taken.

Chan fades in and out during the ambulance ride, an oxygen mask planted over his face and his chest rising and falling hard. Felix holds his hand the entire time, talking to the EMTs about his situation and making sure to talk to Chan softly, even if Chan can’t entirely register what he’s saying. When they’re a few minutes out from the hospital, the female EMT in the back takes the oxygen mask off of Chan and hands him a device that Felix doesn’t recognize.

“It’s a nebulizer,” she tells him, offering him a small smile. “It turns the medicine into mist so it can be inhaled. Hopefully it’s going to help your friend’s breathing.”

When they arrive at the hospital, Felix makes himself let go of Chan’s hand so the EMTs can bring him out of the ambulance and usher him in through the automatic doors. Felix messages their Kakao chat that they’ve arrived, before he hurriedly follows the EMTs and gurney into the ED.

“Christopher Bang, male, 28 years old—said he’s been struggling to breathe for the past hour. Has a history of exercise induced asthma, gave him oxygen and put him on a nebulizer, but his breathing has only improved a little.” The female EMT explains, as the gurney Chan is on is handed over to several nurses and doctors.

Felix is left standing a bit aimlessly as they take him to a trauma room, gripping his phone in his hand. There are so many people surrounding him, and he doesn’t know what the hell to do.

“Hey,” someone calls to him gently, and Felix turns to a male nurse—he catches the name on his ID badge, reading Mateo. “Are you with him?”

“Yeah,” Felix says, nodding a bit quickly. “He’s, um—he’s my best friend.”

“You want to sit with him?” Mateo asks, gently placing a hand between Felix’s shoulders. “If he ends up needing any surgery, you’ll have to leave, but—”

“That’s okay,” Felix nods, letting Mateo lead him into the trauma room.

There are doctors and nurses standing on either side of Chan on the hospital bed, and Felix’s eyes don’t know where to look. He scans the entire room, before he finds Chan’s face and feels his chest squeeze at the look of pain and fear on his face.

“Mister Bang,” one of the doctors starts, leaning over Chan’s right side as he carefully examines his chest.

Chan pulls the nebulizer away, breathing in deeply as he does. “Just Chris,” he says weakly, managing a small smile. “Please.”

The handsome doctor—older, grey curls, somewhat freckled skin—smiles back down at him. “Chris. I’m Dr. Abbot, I’ll be here for your case. Can you tell me what happened?” Dr. Abbot looks from Chan to Felix, who has to shake himself out of his stupor to answer his question.

“Um, it’s his—he sometimes has exercise induced asthma. Our… our bandmate said he came back from the hotel gym and that he was breathing weird, so he told me to call an ambulance so we could get him help. Chris said it had been going on since he ended his work out.”

“Does he have any inhalers or medicine for these episodes of asthma?” Abbot asks, and Felix nods.

“He usually does, I think. I know we’re supposed to pack him an inhaler, especially when we travel, but I—I don’t know if we did this time.”

“Did you have your inhaler with you, Chris?” Abbot turns to Chan, raising an eyebrow.

Chan slowly shakes his head, pulling the nebulizer away to speak again. “I haven’t needed to use it in a while, and I’ve been trying to keep the medicines we take with us low. It… it can be a hassle with—with our job.”

“Okay,” Abbot says with a nod, leaning back. “We’ll go ahead and order you a CT of your chest, make sure that there’s nothing wrong with your lungs. How are you feeling right now?”

Chan swallows a bit roughly, grimacing. “I can actually talk, but my chest still feels tight.”

“That’s pretty normal,” Abbot says, a near chuckle in his voice. “It’s good that you’re breathing better. We’ll take you up for your CT soon, and then you’ll be given a room down here while we wait for your results.”

“Am I gonna get another one of these?” Chan asks, holding up the nebulizer before bringing it back to his mouth.

“Probably not until you’re done with your CT.” Abbot pats the side of Chan’s hospital bed as the nurses pull up the sides of it. “And it depends on how much better or worse your breathing is. Don’t worry, you’ll be in good hands.”

Abbot looks up at Felix then, gesturing with his hand. “Did you want to go with him?”

Chan and Felix look at each other, practically having a silent conversation, before Felix shakes his head.

“No, uh—I need to make sure our bandmates know what’s going on. They’re supposed to be here by now, they took an Uber.”

“They’re probably out in Chairs,” Mateo says from over Felix’s shoulder. “Come on, I’ll take you there.”

Felix hesitates for a brief second, before he nods and follows Mateo out. He only makes it past the ED’s central desk before he suddenly winces with pain, gasping as his hand comes up to his back. With all the adrenaline from Chan being brought in, he hadn’t noticed his back becoming aggravated.

“Whoa there! You okay?” Mateo asks, his hands hovering around Felix.

Felix grits his teeth, hand pressing to his lower back, his other gripping onto the counter of the desk. He shakes his head a bit, breathing in deeply through his nose and letting it out slowly.

“I have a, uh… I’ve got some back problems—a herniated disc. Didn’t realize that I tweaked it in trying to make sure Chris got the help he needed.” Felix grimaces as he stands up straight, trying not to groan in pain as he does.

“Careful now,” Mateo warns, using his hand to wave Bridget over. “Hey, get me a wheelchair, please?”

Bridget brings one over half a minute later, and Mateo helps Felix lower himself into it.

“We’re gonna have to get you a room now, too,” Mateo says, starting to push Felix in a different direction. “Hey, Shen! You got room for another patient?”

“Always,” Shen replies, walking around the central desk and over to meet Mateo and Felix. “What you got?”

“Herniated disc.” Mateo answers first, before gesturing to Felix after.

“Oh, um. Felix. Felix Lee.”

“Is it new?”

“No,” Felix says, looking up at the new doctor in front of him. “I’ve had it for some years now. It got worse a few years ago, but I’ve been better—I think it got aggravated while I was helping Chris, and then getting in and out of the ambulance.”

“How’s your pain so far?” Shen asks, taking the wheel chair from Mateo and steering him towards the South rooms.

“The noticing pain was… about an eight, maybe? But right now it’s just a three. Maybe a four.”

“Alright. We’ll order you an X-ray, make sure there’s nothing wrong with the disc itself, and a CT, just in case. Gotta check all the boxes, right?”

Shen helps Felix transfer from the wheelchair to the hospital bed, and Felix winces as he moves. The pain only spikes when he lifts his legs up and down, and there’s just the slightest bit of tingling in his toes. He tells Shen so as he leans back in the bed, pulling his phone out from his pocket.

“Can I make a call, before we do all that?” He asks, and Shen nods.

“Go ahead,” Shen says, standing at the computer in the corner. “We’re not as crowded as we usually are tonight, but there’s still a wait time for both. You’ll probably go to CT after your buddy.”

Felix sighs heavily as he leans back, tapping on Minho’s number and pressing Call immediately.

“Felix?” comes Minho’s voice, worry evident in it.

“Hey,” Felix replies, and he notices the glance he gets from Shen because of his use of Korean. “Chan-hyung is going up for a scan, he got a nebulizer and he started breathing better when he got here. But, uh—”

“What about you?”

“Yeah, I aggravated my disc. They put me in a bed and they’re gonna scan me, too. I’m sorry.”

“Why are you saying sorry? Don’t do that. Just let them do what they need. We’re out in the waiting room. There’s too many of us, so we can’t all come back. But I was going to send Jisung and Jeongin back with you two.”

“Okay, that’d probably be nice. I can call you again when I’m back from my X-ray.” Felix is quiet for a minute, his chest tight from anxiety as he swallows softly. “Love you, hyung. Tell the others, too, okay?”

“Of course. Love you, too, Yongbok. Just listen to the doctors.”

Felix hangs up and sets his phone down, pushing it into his pocket. He looks up at Shen, and gives a half smile. “Our—our friends are out in the waiting room. There’s a lot of them, but they were going to send two back for me and Chris. Is… is that okay?”

Shen nods, wrapping his stethoscope around his neck. “Sure. What’re their names?”

“Jisung and Jeongin. We’re…”

“Korean, right?” Shen guesses, and Felix laughs.

“You noticed?”

“Sounded familiar,” Shen admits with a nod.

“Yeah. We’re all Korean. Chris and I are from Australia, though—so we’ve got English first names.”

“Well, I’ll let our charge nurse know they’re free to come back for you guys.” Shen smiles at him, before he backs up to the door and pushes his way out. “We got you guys.”

The clock on Minho’s phone sticks at 2:47AM, and his head aches. He’s exhausted, and so is everyone else. Hyunjin is asleep on Jeongin’s shoulder, curled up in the waiting chair. Minho sits at the right end of the row of chairs, his phone clutched in his hand. Jisung is next to him, and between him and Hyunjin’s sleeping form are Changbin and Seungmin.

They’re worried to the bones about Chan and Felix, especially because of the fact that they both need to be scanned. What’s worse is they can’t truly rest, but Minho is just glad that this waiting room isn’t fully bursting at the seams with other people around them.

They can’t exactly hide out at an emergency room, so there’s no telling if people will see them and know who they are—if people even care about that right now. They’ll hopefully be too occupied in trying to get their own medical attention.

Minho closes his eyes, trying to keep calm. His brain feels fried, too worked up with nerves and the exhaustion seeping through his veins. They’re supposed to catch a flight in four hours, too, but there’s absolutely no way they’ll make it.

The managers have been blowing up his, and Chan’s, phones about where they are and what’s happening. Minho’s done them a kindness by not cursing anyone out, explaining to them that they’re at the ER and waiting for their fellow members to be examined. He could not care less about how angry and upset their managers are at this very moment.

Movement and scuffling noises catch Minho’s attention, making him open his eyes just as he hears Changbin’s and Seungmin’s murmuring voices. Minho sits up and forward, leaning around Jisung to watch as Seungmin and Changbin horse around in their seats together.

It’s not really uncommon—they’re a very playful group, and especially these two together. Add on the fact that they haven’t slept very long? It’s a mess.

Seungmin has this grin on his face, the sleep deprived kind that Minho has seen on him several times before. The type of grin that spells mischief.

They’re basically tangled up with each other, pushing at one another over the arms of their chairs. Seungmin laughs at something said between them, before he twists around to lean around Jisung’s chair to look at Minho.

“Hyung, I’m a bit hungry. Can I get something?”

Minho’s mouth twists and he looks around, before he shrugs a shoulder. “I don’t know where there’s any food. You’ll have to go ask the clerk.”

“Why can’t you?”

“Your English is better, Seungmin-ah.”

Seungmin sighs like it’s a hassle, but he moves to get up from his chair. He steps into the small line in front of the desk and waits about ten minutes or so, before he’s back up at the window and leaning down a bit.

“Hi, ma’am—um, is there anywhere I can get some food?”

Behind the window, Lupe smiles at Seungmin and nods. “There are some vending machines down the hallway into the hospital, and we have a cafeteria you’re welcome to go to. Just follow the signs.”

“Okay, thank you, ma’am.” Seungmin smiles at her and bows his head, before he turns and heads back to Minho. “Do you have any money? Dollars, not won.”

Minho stares at him, eyes narrowing. He heaves a deep, heavy sigh before he reaches into his pocket to get change. He’s not even sure he has any. Seungmin steps over to be in front of his chair, going back to his playful antics. Changbin swats at his arm, making Seungmin laugh, but also making him step back, stumbling into the line of people waiting to check in.

“Yah!” Minho hisses at the two of them, shutting his wallet and reaching out to grab Changbin’s arm. “Will you two knock it off? We’re in a hospital waiting room!”

Minho’s grip is tight, though, squeezing around Changbin’s wrist. Changbin hisses out in pain and yanks his arm back, pulling the rest of his weight away. Minho’s stomach drops, regret and guilt pooling inside of him, but he doesn’t have time to react to that because suddenly Hyunjin is crying out in pain loud enough to draw attention from even the clerks at the desk.

Apparently, when Changbin twisted away from Minho, his arm flew back and his elbow landed right in Hyunjin’s face—right against his nose. Hyunjin had shifted from sleeping on Jeongin’s shoulder, facing away from Changbin, to curl up in the same direction as Changbin instead. As a result, there’s blood dripping from Hyunjin’s nose and Changbin is holding his somewhat bloody elbow.

The clerk behind the window yells for someone’s attention, and suddenly there are doctors surrounding Hyunjin and Changbin and urging them to get up and follow them.

Minho’s heart is thumping in his chest, his head spinning a bit rapidly. He’s watching everything happen with them when he notices Seungmin on the ground, clutching at his foot with his face scrunched up in pain.

“Seungmin!”

One of the nurses seems to notice him, as well, coming over to crouch down and help him stand up. “Are you okay? What happened?”

“Tripped in all the chaos,” Seungmin answers honestly, and Minho is grateful for that. “This is a bad ankle.” He puts his foot down on the floor and tries to stand without the nurse’s help, only to hiss loudly in pain, his knees buckling a bit.

“Okay, hobble with me to the back. We’ll put you in a wheelchair,” the nurse says, beginning to carry Seungmin towards the back.

“Can, um—” Seungmin gestures towards the last three remaining, biting his lip. “Can they come with us? We’re all—”

“That’s fine, they can sit with each of you separately as visitors.” The nurse smiles at the three of them, jerking her head in the direction of the back.

Minho stands up and motions for Jisung and Jeongin to follow him, and they make their way back behind the doors into the back. Minho stands awkwardly, hovering, before he settles himself next to Seungmin as he’s sat in a wheelchair. Jisung and Jeongin split off, standing next to Changbin and Hyunjin respectively. All three of them are sat in a semi-circle formation, just a bit of space between them for the medical devices.

“Okay—we’re Doctors Ellis and Crus, and we’re gonna help take care of you guys. These are nurses Vivi and Olive, and they’ll also get you anything you need.”

Dr. Ellis begins her exam on Hyunjin first as Nurse Vivi cleans up his face, and Hyunjin groans in pain when Ellis presses right against the bridge of his nose. He holds up a bunched up gauze to his nose, which is still pretty much leaking blood.

“There’s tenderness around the nasal bone, so let’s order a head CT just to make sure there’s no fracture or anything else going wrong.”

While she does that, Dr. Crus examines Changbin, making him move his arm and flex his wrist. Changbin winces when he does, mumbling out the level of pain as Crus asks for it. “This one doesn’t look as serious, probably just a pretty bad sprain, but we can take a look with some ultrasound just to make sure.”

He shifts over, rolling over to be in front of Seungmin as he gestures for him to lift his left leg. Seungmin does so, grimacing as he does and squeezing his eyes shut in pain as Dr. Crus twists and turns his ankle. “This one’s the same. We’ll check with an ultrasound, make sure there’s no broken bones or pulled muscles between you two.”

Seungmin leans forward in his wheelchair, explaining the situation to Hyunjin and Changbin in Korean, before he turns to Ellis and Crus and gives them a grateful smile. “Thank you. Sorry, there’s a bit of a language barrier—we have people who speak English better, but they’re already back here.”

“You’re with the asthma and the herniated disc guys?” Crus asks, and Minho nods. Crus lets out a low whistle. “You guys are practically a whole sports team.”

That makes Jisung and Hyunjin laugh, though Hyunjin groans with pain afterwards.

“Well, come back and we’ll get you all settled. A room for you,” Ellis says as she points to Hyunjin, “But you two—” She points two fingers at Seungmin and Changbin, “—will likely just sit in the hall between the rooms.”

“Tell them to put us by Chan-hyung and Felix-ah.” Minho says to Seungmin, and he does so.

“Sure,” Crus says easily, smiling in Minho’s direction. “We’ll keep you all close.”

For once, Minho lets himself speak up, quietly in English, “Thank you.”

Crus smiles at him and winks, and Minho swears he sees Jisung blushing. He almost wants to roll his eyes, but he gets why. Dr. Crus is attractive, Minho’s not blind. And he’s really Jisung’s type.

The doctors and nurses lead them back to their rooms, sitting Changbin in a chair in the hall and wheeling Seungmin to sit beside him. Jisung stands, hovering for a minute, before he gently taps on Vivi’s shoulder to get her attention.

“Yes?”

Jisung pauses for a minute, most likely translating in his head, before he manages to ask, “Where is the… bathroom?”

Vivi smiles at him and nods her head. “It’s just over there. Here, I’ll take you.”

“Thank you,” Jisung says, smiling, turning to follow her.

But he’s tired, and the more tired he is the clumsier he gets and he’s not exactly paying the most attention. He rounds a corner as he follows Vivi, but he doesn’t nail it. His foot catches on the edge of another patient’s gurney and he goes down. Pretty hard.

“Jisung!” Both Minho and Seungmin call out, and Minho starts for him before he sees Vivi and another nurse tending to him and helping him up from the floor.

There’s no blood at the moment, but they can all see the bruising starting already on his head. Minho winces himself at the sight of it. Jisung stands up, unsteady, even with the help of the nurses.

“Got a header!” Vivi calls out to the doctors, only for a third doctor to swoop in.

“Easy there, champ,” Abbot says, holding his hand out in front of Jisung. “Okay, let’s get him to—”

“They want to stay together,” Vivi tells Abbot, nodding towards Minho and the rest of the members. “They’re a group.”

Abbot looks over between them, his eyes squinting for a moment before he nods his head to the side and gestures for Vivi to hand Jisung off to him. “Alright. South 17 it is, then.”

Minho waits outside of the room’s space as Abbot examines Jisung, and he’s also going to end up in line for a CT and an X-ray. He heaves a sigh as he runs a hand through his hair, squeezing his eyes shut. Jeongin watches him closely from Chan’s bedside, before he approaches Minho carefully.

He leans his head in and nudges Minho’s cheek with his nose, wrapping an arm around his waist and squeezing a bit. “It’s okay, hyung. Everyone will be okay.”

Minho breathes in deeply, turning his head in some towards Jeongin and letting himself slowly nod. These doctors know what they’re doing, and he should trust them. He just has problems with that—trusting other people with his loved ones.

Chan’s lungs don’t seem to cooperate with the medicine in the nebulizer he was given on the way in, but his breathing doesn’t worsen from what it was before. He’s sent up for his scan after an hour and a half, and by the time he’s settled back the room of the ED, Dr. Abbot is by his bedside and talking to him.

“We’ll likely get your results back in about an hour, but we’ll hope for sooner. While we wait, we’re gonna go ahead and give you some steroids to see if we can lessen the swelling of your lungs. See if that will help you any.” He tilts his head slightly towards Chan, smiling as he does. “Think you can swallow a pill?”

Chan shakes his head a bit, breathing in carefully through the tightness of his chest. “Probably not. Already hurts to swallow air.”

“That’s alright. We’ll give them to you through your IV,” Abbot says as he nods to Mateo, who’s already got the needle and is working with the IV. “If anything gets worse, let us know.”

“Okay,” Chan murmurs softly, smiling back at Abbot. “Um—Felix, my friend, he’s in line for the scans next, right?” Abbot nods, and Chan shifts a bit in his bed. “Can he be put next to me? It’s just—we’re kind of… it’s hard to explain, we’re like coworkers, too, y’know?”

Abbot shakes his head a bit in understanding. “I get it, kid. If the room near you remains open, we’ll put him in.”

“Thank you, Dr. Abbot,” Chan says, smiling a bit wider.

Abbot flashes him another smile before he leaves the room, gently pulling the curtain halfway shut. Chan watches after him, reaching his hands up to scrub over his face. Dammit, his doctor is so hot. What the hell. Chan almost feels cursed, sitting here and having to be looked at by a hot older man.

He’s left alone for a bit longer, staring up at the ceiling as he feels his lungs slowly starting to cooperate with him better. Whatever steroids they gave him are definitely working, even if it’s slow.

There’s some commotion coming from the hallway that leads to the waiting room, near where Chan is stationed in the South. It’s only when he hears familiar voices does he perk up, and relief floods through his system at the sight of his members. They can’t quite see him at first, until he leans in his bed, around the curtain to look out.

Hyunjin has some bloody tissues or something held to his nose, Seungmin is in a wheel chair, and Changbin is nursing his right wrist. Chan furrows his eyebrows, looking towards Minho, Jeongin, and Jisung.

“What the hell happened?” He mutters, and that causes Jeongin to look up in his direction.

“Chan-hyung!” Jeongin pushes the curtain open more, coming up to Chan’s bedside and gripping the side of it a bit.

“Jeongin-ah, what happened?”

Jeongin looks out to the mess and sighs, shaking his head a bit. “Changbin-hyung was playing with Seungmin-hyung. Minho-hyung grabbed his wrist, Changbin-hyung pulled back and elbowed Hyunjin-hyung in the face, and Seungmin-hyung tripped and fell. Hyunjin-hyung got a bad nose bleed, and the other two hyungs might have sprained their wrist and ankle.”

Chan’s eyebrows furrow, before he groans and raises his hands, rubbing them over his face. “Fuck. We’re a damn mess.” He laughs to himself, incredulous and a bit exhausted.

Jeongin reaches a hand out to him and Chan takes it, squeezing it gently. Chan squeezes it right back, sighing a bit heavily. His chest hurts whenever it expands, but it’s starting to happen less and less—which means the medicine is definitely working.

He watches the doctors and nurses set up his members in the rooms down from him, the wall curving slightly. There’s a wall between Chan and the other two rooms, and a wall separating those two from the fourth room.

“You’re okay?” He asks Jeongin, looking up at him.

Jeongin nods, and he opens his mouth to say something, but they’re both startled by the sound of Minho and Seungmin calling out for Jisung. When Chan looks up, he sees the reason why, a giant bruise forming on Jisung’s temple that makes Chan wince just seeing it.

“Okay, well. Only you and Minho are the safe ones, huh?”

“I think you mean ‘sane’, Chan-hyung.”

“That, too.”

Chan watches Dr. Abbot help Jisung to one of the other rooms, grimacing some as he does. He’s about to speak up and apologize, but Abbot catches his eye on his return walk and gives him a brief smile, and Chan decides he’ll just apologize later.

Minho checks the clock on his phone. It reads 5:56AM right back to him, and his head throbs. There’s truly no way they’re making any flights today, and the managers are going to have to deal with that themselves.

He and Jeongin have separated into the two main rooms with Chan and Felix—Jeongin with Chan, and Minho with Felix—while Jisung and Hyunjin are in their own rooms.

Right outside their rooms are Changbin and Seungmin, where they can all readily see each other and talk. Really, the “rooms” they’re in are just a large space separated by curtains and thin walls—but the curtains remain open, also for easier access to one another. They’re like ducks in a row—South 17, 18, 19, and 20, all occupied by members of Stray Kids.

They’ve been at the ER for hours, waiting to go one by one upstairs for their CT scans and X-rays. The only ones who didn’t need to go up were Changbin and Seungmin, who had their ultrasounds done down in the ED by Dr. Crus.

Their attending doctors are fine. As in attractive. But so is just about everyone else in this hospital. Chan is starting to wonder if it’s just a requirement.

Now, most of them are just waiting on the results of their scans, and Chan is being observed for the rest of his asthma. His scan had came back fine, aside from the obvious inflammation of his lungs and airways. They gave him an inhaler to use, in case he starts wheezing again, even though the steroids they gave him worked fairly well.

Around 6AM, Dr. Shen comes into Felix’s room and Minho straightens a little, staring the man down. Felix smacks his arm lightly, mumbling a “hyung” that he brushes off.

“Good news about your back—it shifted just slightly, but it’s nothing that requires any kind of surgery. If you refrain from any strenuous activity for about two weeks, it should heal itself properly.”

“That’s going to go well with the company,” Minho says, frowning.

“Thank you, Dr. Shen,” Felix says with a small smile, “Tonight has definitely been…”

“Wild?”

“You could say that.”

“I’ve been meaning to ask,” Dr. Crus saddles up to Shen’s side, looking between Felix and Minho. “Are you guys, like… famous?”

Minho glances at Felix, and Felix cranes his neck a bit to peer at Chan, who’s sitting in the hospital bed next to him. Chan looks up at the word famous, and lets out a bit of a laugh as he shrugs a shoulder.

“Yeah? I mean, yeah. We’re pretty big,” he says, and Crus grins as he snaps his fingers.

“I knew you guys seemed familiar.”

From around the corner of the wall, Jisung’s head pops up. He’s somewhat drawn in by the conversation, but his eyes are solely fixed on Dr. Crus. Felix chuckles quietly to himself when he notices, shaking his head a bit.

Seungmin snorts to himself as he wheels himself over to be right beside Jisung, playfully pinching his side. “Jisungie’s got a crush, huh?”

Jisung flushes as he swats at Seungmin’s hand, practically hissing as he says, “Shut up!”

The exchange makes Crus peer back at them over his shoulder, giving Jisung a smile when their eyes meet, and Jisung immediately pulls himself back into his room as he chides Seungmin once more, only for Seungmin to laugh at him.

Shen nods, agreeing with Crus’s assessment. “I didn’t want to assume anything because you guys are Korean, but I thought some of your names and faces were familiar, too. Let me guess—a K-pop group?” He points between Chan and Felix, but it’s Minho who ends up talking for them, surprising them.

“Yes, we are a K-pop group.” He smiles in Shen’s direction, head tilted just so, and Felix almost groans beside him.

“Seriously, Minho?” Chan mutters in Korean, and Minho just waves a hand at him.

“You want to hear?” Minho asks, reaching into his pocket for his phone.

“Yah, Minho-hyung!” Changbin calls from the hallway, turned around in his chair to peer into Felix’s room. “Stop flirting with the doctor!”

“Chan’s been flirting with his this whole time.”

Chan sputters, heat rising up his neck. “This isn’t about me! Stop that!”

“His doctor is really hot, though,” Jeongin murmurs, and Chan flushes further as he lightly smacks his wrist, hushing him as well.

“I’ll look you up later,” Shen says with a laugh, patting the end of Felix’s hospital bed before he turns to head back into the ED. Minho watches him go with a sigh, shaking his head some.

Over the next hour or so, the results of everyone come back, and thankfully none of them are seriously injured. Changbin’s wrist is in a splint to help it settle over the next two weeks. Seungmin’s foot and ankle have been wrapped up in the proper tape and put in a boot, curtesy of Mateo. Who causes Seungmin’s ears to turn pink as he informs him to keep those on for two weeks, as well. Hyunjin and Jisung are both fracture and concussion free, though Hyunjin’s nose is swollen and he has a black eye and Jisung has a knot on his temple.

Come 7AM, new nurses and doctors begin to replace the ones that have been with them the entire night. Their shift rotation, and with that rotation comes the introduction of new faces.

Dr. Abbot stops at the edge of Chan’s room, arms crossed and surrounded by an entire group of new people—he kind of feels like a new kind of celebrity, in a way. Jeongin gets a kick out of the face of recognition they all see on one woman’s face, her eyes wide and her mouth dropped open. Chan’s thinking she knows exactly who they are.

“Most of our South wing here is taken up by our VIPs,” Abbot says, gesturing towards Chan and the rest of the members. “Here we have—”

“Oh my God,” Javadi suddenly cuts him off, her hands gripping at the edges of her jacket’s zipper. “It’s Stray Kids.”

Abbot blinks at her, his eyebrows furrowing. “Who?”

Javadi waves her hands, her eyes going even wider as she stares up at Abbot. “It’s them! You don’t—well, no, right. You probably wouldn’t know who they are. Um, they’re a K-pop group—like a band, but, like, totally different. In some ways.”

Her rambling explanation of their group makes most of the members laugh, but especially Chan. Thankfully, most of his exercise induced asthma has cleared up, so he’s not coughing when he does.

“What she said,” Felix speaks up, holding up a hand in a wave.

“That would explain the colourful hair and the haircuts,” says the doctor next to Abbot, a chuckle leaving him. His badge reads Doctor, and his name, but he introduces himself as, “I’m Dr. Michael Robinavitch, but you can call me Dr. Robby.”

By now, Changbin has congregated into Felix’s room alongside Minho, and Hyunjin has migrated into Chan’s. Seungmin is still in the hallway in his wheelchair—too big for him to fit alongside anyone else’s bed—but he’s kept himself right outside of Jisung’s room.

Changbin elbows Felix’s hip, a grin spreading onto his face as he nods towards Robby.

“New hot doctor, huh?”

“I am going to kill you as soon as we’re back in Korea.”

Changbin cackles, leaning back in his chair. Abbot goes over the state of the group, their names and what they’re here for—observation for a few more hours for Chan, Felix, and Jisung, while the others have been cleared for their injuries already.

“We’ll go ahead and split them up, then. Whitaker, go ahead and take Mister Felix. Langdon, you’ll be with Mister Jisung, and since you,” Robby points at Chan, “were Abbot’s patient, I’ll go ahead and take you. We’ll be back in a bit to check on you after our rounds.”

When the group of new doctors and nurses leave, headed back to debrief the rest of their patients, the combination of Chan’s and Felix’s rooms turns into a damn group meeting.

“I’m going into Jisung’s room,” Hyunjin says, and that makes Minho snort. “His doctor is hot! I want to look at him!”

“Felix-hyung is definitely jealous Dr. Robby is looking after you,” Jeongin says to Chan, and Felix turns a glare on him.

Chan sighs softly, shaking his head. “If it helps, I’m disappointed I won’t see more of Dr. Abbot…”

“And I won’t get to see Dr. Crus anymore,” Jisung laments, sighing dramatically as he leans himself against Seungmin’s wheelchair.

“I’m just surprised Seungmin didn’t start following that nurse around like a puppy,” Minho says, mostly to tease. It earns him a playful, half-hearted kick from Seungmin’s good leg.

“Better than your death stares at Felix-hyung’s first doctor!”

“I think he liked my staring.”

Their conversation draws a few prying eyes and ears, but unless anyone else around them knows Korean, they’ll have no idea what they’re talking about. It’s easy for them to think they’re in the clear, until Princess starts to pass their rooms.

“If you guys are only going to be in town for another night or two, you should definitely try and go for them.” Her Korean is near fluent, and she’s smiling at them in the same mischievous way that Seungmin and Jeongin grin before something happens. “Most of them could use getting laid. Or just wooed on a date.”

Chan’s eyes go wide and he sputters as he tries to think of something to say, but nothing comes. Both Felix and Seungmin laugh loudly, though Felix’s face is pretty pink.

“You know Korean,” Seungmin says, less a question and more a statement.

Princess smiles at him, holding onto her stethoscope around her neck. “Fluent in six languages.”

“That’s cool,” Hyunjin says from Chan’s bedside, snickering himself.

She nods to them again in greeting before she walks off, and the group is left to their own devices once more. Chan buries his face in his hands, groaning into them.

“This might actually be the most embarrassing day of my entire life.”

It doesn’t take much longer for their doctors to get back to them.

Felix sits still as Dr. Whitaker checks him over, and has him do a few stretches to make sure the pain isn’t too serious.

Whitaker gives him a gentle smile, motioning to the floor with his hand. “If you don’t mind getting off the bed, I’d just like to see how you walk.”

Felix goes to get off the bed himself, but Changbin stands as soon as he throws his legs over the side of the bed. He’s smiling, but not really at Felix, and that’s when he realizes there’s shenanigans happening. Changbin holds a hand out to him, and up this close, it’s very obvious that he’s flexing. Felix rolls his eyes fondly as he takes Changbin’s hand and stands, shooing him away after.

He wants to look dependable and hot in front of Felix’s new doctor. At least he’s not wishing a 50-something year old doctor was the one doing his check-up instead.

Felix manages to walk back and forth in front of the South wing rooms without too much trouble, but there’s still an aching in his lower back. He’s happy to sit down again when he’s done, but not before his feet don’t work the way he wants them to. He stumbles, arms flailing a bit, right into Robby’s chest.

“Whoa! Careful there,” Robby says softly, hands gently grabbing Felix’s shoulders to steady him.

His entire face flushes, and he hears the rest of his members snickering from their ivory towers. Felix glares at them, right as Hyunjin gives a low whistle.

Felix clears his throat as he steps back carefully, looking up at him. He’s so much taller than him—it’s actually a little embarrassing. “Sorry, Dr. Robby—guess my balance is still a little off.”

“Happens with back injuries,” Robby says softly, his hands falling away from his shoulders. “Just glad you didn’t fall and have to prolong your stay any longer.”

“You’d love that though, Felix-hyung,” Seungmin says, making Jeongin and Jisung laugh.

Felix flips him off behind his back, giving Robby a smile as he nods. “Right. Um, thank you for helping me—sorry again.”

He pads back over to his room, where Changbin and Whitaker have started talking through Felix’s whole dilemma with Robby. He glances over at Chan, who’s obviously trying to not laugh at him, and Felix just sighs as he climbs back onto the hospital bed.

A few minutes after Whitaker leaves for his other patients, Jisung’s new doctor, Langdon, arrives at his room, pulling up a wheeling stool to sit down in front of his bed.

“How’s your head doing?” Langdon asks, reaching up to brush Jisung’s hair away from the knot.

“Better,” Jisung says, though he grimaces when Langdon presses down on it carefully. “Still hurts, but not bad?”

“Not as bad,” Chan says for him, and Jisung nods.

“It seems the swelling has gone down some,” Langdon says, sitting back on the stool. “We’ll get you some more ice to put on it while you’re waiting for your friends to be freed from observation.”

Jisung smiles, nodding again as he presses his current, mostly melted ice pack back against the knot. “Thank you.”

Langdon swirls around a bit, and comes face-to-face with Hyunjin by Jisung’s bed. He sucks in a breath through his teeth, reaching his own hand up to touch his face. “Looks like you got knocked around a bit too, huh?”

Hyunjin touches the side of his face, near his black eye, and laughs a little with a shrug. “I’ve probably had worse,” he mumbles in Korean, making Jisung snort.

He looks directly up at Langdon from his seat, and says in English. “You are really handsome.”

There’s a brief moment where Langdon seems taken aback, before he laughs lightly, shaking his head a bit. “Uh,” he seems to glance around them for a second, before his gaze goes back to Hyunjin. “Thanks. You, uh… you, too.”

Hyunjin beams as Langdon gets up from the stool and heads off, Jisung leaning over into him and playfully pinching Hyunjin’s arm.

“Now Hyunjinnie is flirting with doctors,” Felix says with a soft laugh.

“We need to leave this hospital,” Chan mutters to himself, rubbing his hands over his face. “I am going to die here. Because we’re all embarrassments.”

“At least let me kiss the cute doctor first,” Jisung whines, only making Chan look up at him with a playful glare. Jisung sticks his tongue out at him.

Mateo comes around to Jisung’s room some minutes later, holding a fresh ice pack for him. He takes the lukewarm one back with a grin, nodding.

“All set. Hopefully the swelling goes down further for you. It was nice meeting you all,” he says, turning to look at the rest of the members. “Javadi and Mel have been telling us all about you guys.”

“All good things?” Seungmin asks from the hall, making Mateo laugh.

He’s smiling big as Mateo comes around to his wheelchair, grabbing the handles and dipping the chair back a bit to make Seungmin laugh.

“All good things, promise.” Mateo chuckles as he sets the wheelchair back down, patting the back of it gently. “And I like the music. I’ll have to listen more.”

The look on Seungmin’s face is dopey when Mateo walks away, and Hyunjin laughs as he throws himself over the back of Seungmin’s chair. He pinches his cheek gently, Seungmin scrunching up his face and pushing him away with a noise.

A new nurse comes to check on Chan’s stats and examine his lungs, his name tag reading Jesse, and making Chan’s ears just as pink as Dr. Abbot has been making them all night.

Jeongin snickers softly beside him, and Chan narrows his eyes at their youngest member to keep quiet.

Jesse doesn’t seem to mind the silliness happening around him, leaning in close to Chan as he presses the stethoscope to Chan’s chest to listen to him breathe. When he pulls away, Chan leans back in his hospital bed and manages a small, awkward smile.

“Sorry about the… noise,” he murmurs, glancing over at Jeongin then towards Seungmin in the hall. “Or mess. Whichever is better.”

“Don’t worry,” Jesse says, shaking his head some. “This place is always noisy and always a mess. I think you guys have been more like a breath of fresh air.”

That makes both Jeongin and Chan laugh, and it helps Chan feel just a little bit lighter about the situation.

“If you don’t mind,” Felix speaks up softly, making Jesse look up at him. “Could we get some water? Whenever you’re able.”

“Of course, I’ll bring some over to you guys soon.” Jesse offers them all a smile before he leaves Chan’s room.

Chan presses a hand to his face and groans again, only making Jeongin snicker more, and Minho mumbles, “And he’s getting on us for being embarrassing…” to himself.

“So you know those guys?” Crus asks Javadi, as most of the doctors and nurses gather around the Central desk.

“I mean, not personally,” Javadi says quickly, shaking her head. “Like, I know of them. They’re a group—a band? There’s no instruments, though. They sing and dance.”

“So like a musical,” Langdon offers, but Javadi gives him a look that says he’s offended her.

“I guess a musical is one way to look at it,” Mel speaks up, adjusting her glasses a bit. “But much more intense. And repeated. They hold concerts that are over two hours long, sometimes three.”

“Wait,” Whitaker shakes his head some, turning to look at Mel with a confused look. “You know them, too?”

Mel looks at Whitaker, just as confused, before she nods. “Yeah. Yeah—I’m not a huge K-pop fan or anything, but I started listening after hearing a collaboration song between a group and one of my favourite artists. Though, honestly, I prefer the groups and songs from second and third generations more than I do the newer ones.”

Javadi stares at Mel like she’s grown a second head, though not entirely judgemental. She inches her way closer to Mel’s side, leaning in slightly. “You like Stray Kids.”

Mel smiles at her and nods again, gripping her hands together in front of her some. “I do! Did you know that they actually have quite a few songs you can use when doing CPR?”

“I… think I did, but I never really thought about using a song of theirs for CPR…” Javadi clears her throat quietly, wringing her hands in front of herself now as she leans a bit further in. “Do you, um… do you have a bias?”

“What in the world is that?” Robby cuts in, apparently paying attention to their conversation.

Mel looks towards Robby then, adjusting her glasses again as she stumbles a bit through her explanation. “A ‘bias’ for K-pop groups is the one you deem your favourite overall. People sometimes have more than one, or none at all. I don’t really have any biases, but I suppose if I had to pick a bias, it would likely be Han.”

She turns to Javadi then, tilting her head forward slightly as she asks, “What about you?”

Javadi glances over at all the prying eyes, laughing awkwardly, mostly to herself, as she brushes a hand over her ponytail. “Um. It’s… well, I guess my biases are Felix and Hyunjin.”

“So you’re an actual STAY?”

“I totally should not be having this conversation at work,” Javadi says, holding her hands up over either side of her face.

“I don’t know, this is pretty interesting,” Abbot says with a grin, leaning against the Central desk. Dana snorts at his statement, nearly rolling her eyes as she pushes her glasses up onto her head. “Feels like I’m learning about what’s new and hip with all the kids these days.”

“Oh my God,” Javadi whispers to herself, covering her face fully.

“They’re a lively bunch, that’s for sure,” Shen says around the straw of his drink, humming a bit. “I knew I recognized them in a way when they first came in. They told me and Crus they were kind of famous, guessed they were a K-pop group. So what exactly does their music sound like?”

“Oh, well, it depends, honestly. They’re known for having done a lot of different genres, but people online tend to call their stuff, um… ‘noise’ music, I guess.” Mel looks between several of their doctors, before an idea comes to her. “Oh! Um, do you guys want to hear one of my favourite songs by them?”

Robby and Abbot look at each other, having a bit of a silent exchange, before they both shrug. “Sure, why the hell not.”

Mel is quick to pull her phone out of her pocket and load up her audio files, scrolling through them briefly before tapping her file for Side Effects. The song starts slow, and she hums along to it, before the melody picks up and she’s starting to bob her head along.

It only plays until it gets to the chorus the first time, before Mel presses the Pause button and lowers the volume, pushing her phone back into her pocket. She looks up at everyone, eyes flicking between their faces.

“They sound pretty cool to me,” Crus muses, earning a few nods of agreement from the other doctors and nurses. “You’ve convinced me.”

Mel lets out a bit of a laugh as she claps her hands together once in front of her, practically beaming. “They have a really good variety of songs! And they have songs from each member specifically, so—”

“As lovely as all this information has been,” Dana cuts in, gently sliding a hand over Mel’s shoulder. “We’ve got new patients to look after, and a trauma coming in ten minutes.”

“Right!” Mel says, nodding firmly.

Javadi pulls herself together, trying to forget about the embarrassment of this entire conversation. She grabs her chart’s clipboard and heads off to take care of her patients as everyone else disperses, as well.

With most of the other members curled up and sleeping in their chairs, aside from Changbin who’s refusing to sleep just yet, Jeongin makes his way out of Chan’s room and looks around.

He reaches out just as Dana passes him, catching her attention without actually touching her. He smiles, awkward and a little shy, bowing his head to her a bit.

“Can I help ya, hon?” Dana asks, and Jeongin nods.

Jeongin knows English well enough, but he’s not as fluent as Seungmin is, and he still struggles to translate the words in his head. “Is there… coffee?”

“You want some coffee?” Dana chuckles softly and nods, placing a hand under Jeongin’s elbow as she starts to lead him away from the South wing. “Of course, hon. Let’s go get you a cup.”

Dana does so, leading Jeongin away to a little drinks station further into the ED. She helps him get a cup, and he thanks her quietly before she heads off to help with another patient. When he’s on his way back to Chan’s room, he sees Dr. Abbot walking out of another hallway, a bag slung over his shoulder.

He’s not always the most extroverted person, particularly by himself, but he feels a little compelled. He tries to not make it too obvious that he’s following Abbot’s movements, but it’s impossible to fully hide it. Jeongin approaches Abbot carefully to the big Central desk, and he only reaches out when he’s sure that Abbot can actually see his hand reaching out.

Dr. Abbot looks up at him, lips half curled into a smile. “How can I help, kid?”

Jeongin thinks through his words—Korean to English processing in his mind—before he bows his head some to Abbot. “Thank you,” he says softly, setting the coffee cup down on the desk’s counter. “For caring for my hyungs.”

He feels more awkward than he usually does, but he didn’t want to ask Chan or Felix to have to come up here with him. That’d be worse. “My English is not best, but I wanted to… say thank you.”

Abbot hasn’t stopped looking at him, keeping his eyes fixed on Jeongin as he speaks, and Jeongin feels just a little small under his gaze, even though he’s pretty sure he’s a little taller than the doctor, either way.

“You don’t need to thank me, kid,” Abbot tells him gently, head shaking just slightly. “It’s my job. Just glad you and all your friends ended up alright.”

“Still, thank you, Doctor. They are important.” Jeongin hesitates for a moment, before he reaches out and hugs Abbot, quick and brief, before pulling away. “Bye, Doctor. Have a good day!”

Jeongin quickly grabs his cup of coffee and turns, practically running away back to Chan’s room. He leaves Abbot standing there at the Central desk, blinking after him.

Dana peers at Abbot from over the rim of her glasses, and he has to resist the urge to flip her off. Her mouth twists as she tries to not smile too wide, turning her gaze back to her clipboard.

“Between you and Robby—” She starts, only for Abbot to huff and shake his head.

“Don’t start,” Abbot warns, though there’s no real heat in his voice.

“Just some observations,” Dana says with a laugh, finally grinning now as Abbot shrugs his bag over his shoulder again and heads off towards the ED exit.

He throws a hand up as he leaves. “Bye, Dana!”

“Don’t cause any more trouble!” She calls out after him.

As the clock ticks closer to 8AM, most of the members have found their way into Chan’s and Felix’s rooms, curled up in chairs and sleeping. The only ones still awake are Chan, Felix, and Jeongin—Jisung was awake, but he’d snuck his way into Felix’s bed and began snoozing after Dr. Langdon said he was free of his own room.

Changbin’s leaning on his good hand, head bobbing up and down a bit as he sleeps, and Hyunjin and Minho are in chairs next to each other, between Chan’s and Felix’s beds. Seungmin is partially in the hall, partially in Chan’s room, head leaning against the wall as he snoozes.

Chan rubs his eyes with the back of his hand, breathing in deeply and letting it out in a sigh.

As if sensing Chan’s desperation, or simply knowing when he’s wanted, Dr. Robby appears just outside of their rooms, knocking lightly on the wall to Felix’s room.

“You guys are clear to go,” Robby tells them, and Chan can’t stop the relieved noise that escapes him. It only makes Robby chuckle, a smile present on his face. “We’ve got instructions written up for all of you about aftercare and what to do to make sure nothing else gets worse. Listen to the doctor’s orders and all will go fine, alright?”

“Got it, Dr. Robby,” Felix says from his bed, smiling and giving him a small salute.

“Oh, and…” Robby pauses before he turns to leave, his eyes going over each member individually for a brief moment before they settle back on Chan and Felix, shifting between them. “Mel told us more about you guys. Pretty interesting stuff. Might just convince me to start listening.”

He leaves with a brief wave of his hand, and as soon as he’s gone, Felix turns, grabs one of the hospital pillows that Jisung isn’t sleeping on, presses his face into it and screams. Jeongin laughs into the back of his hand, trying not to wheeze.

“I lied,” Chan says now, mouth twitching and shoulders shaking as he tries to not laugh like Jeongin. “Maybe this is actually the best day of my life.”

“I’m going to steal your inhaler the next time you suffer from an attack, Christopher.”

Barely half a minute later, Mel passes their rooms and offers them a small bow at the waist. She smiles, genuinely friendly and waving her hand a bit. “Hi. Um, I’m not one of your doctors, but I just wanted to say I love Side Effects. Really great song! I hope you guys heal up nicely, don’t rush it.”

She gives them another small bow then leaves, and her sincerity manages to overcome the embarrassment from Robby, and Chan smiles softly. Even in a place like this, they’re able to meet fans of all walks of life—and even somehow turn even more people into fans along the way.

Chan pulls out his phone, ignoring the strain of messages from their managers as he taps on Uber to book them two different cars back to the hotel. As he’s filling out what’s needed of him, Princess stops by their rooms and hands Chan a small stack of stapled papers.

He thanks her softly with a smile and Princess just smiles back, waving her hand nonchalantly.

“Oh, don’t worry. You’ll want to thank me later, sweetie.”

Chan furrows his eyebrows as he takes the papers, but before he can ask why, Princess is already walking away. He looks through the papers one by one, skimming the instructions, before he gets to the very last page—white paper with several different phone numbers scribbled out on it, with names written right next to them.

“Did she really just give us their phone numbers?” Jeongin asks, sounding just as surprised as Chan feels.

“We are never coming back to Pittsburgh,” Chan mumbles, quickly dropping the papers and shaking his head.

He keeps the papers close to him as he begins waking up the rest of the group, gently scolding them into action so that they can get up and ready to leave the hospital.

When they’re in their Ubers back to the hotel, and Minho is on the phone with one of their managers, Chan stares out the window, gently rolling his new inhaler between his hands, and wonders just how badly the aftermath of this will be.