Fluffy SKZ oneshots🧸

Unlikely Caregiver🍼🩹

Sickie/Little: Felix

Caregivers: Wooyoung (Ateez), Changbin

No one's POV.:
Felix had been subjected to much criticism concerning his dancing lately. People didn't seem to like his style of dancing, claiming he should be more like his hyungs Minho and Hyunjin. Somehow, they didn't seem to get that all three members of the dance-racha had their individual style and each of them was unique, that didn't change anything about the quality of their dancing though. Starting to doubt his skill, Felix spent hours watching fancams of his hyungs as he tried to analyze them. When he was certain he had memorized every detail of the others' dance styles, he started heading to the practice room more often. Practicing by himself so nobody would be there to distract him, the Aussie danced till late into the night, hours after their official schedule was already over. He had considered asking his hyungs to teach him but felt too humiliated to do so. Learning it by himself would take a lot longer but Felix was willing to practice for as long as he would need to make the improvement Stay expected of him.

His intense dance practice had another benefit that the Aussie only noticed a few weeks into it. Dancing so much longer than usual, he drastically lost weight, even faster because he started skipping meals in order to have more time he could spend practicing. Not many of his members noticed because he always wore baggy practice clothes when they saw him, the only two keeping a close eye on their dongsaeng were Chan and Changbin. They were his roommates and therefore well aware of how late he returned to the dorm. Chan noticed the dancer spending much more time at the company building than he had before and was worried the younger was overworking himself. He tried to monitor Felix' schedule more closely, determined to step in if it got too much. Changbin was Felix' caregiver, so he always kept a close eye on his dongsaeng. Before, the Aussie had always come to him during their off days, asking if he could spend a few hours in his headspace. Now, Felix already left for the practice room before the rest of the members even woke up. After a few weeks of witnessing the dancer neglect his littlespace, Changbin decided to confront him. Felix however was evasive, claiming he found a new coping mechanism and that dancing helped him let go of the stress too. It was a blatant lie because dancing had lately become a new stressor to the Aussie. When he was younger it had helped him relieve stress but now after all those rude comments, it was something he had become very self-conscious about. Changbin however bought the lie since Minho and Hyunjin often said the same about dancing. When they were in a bad mood, they'd head to the practice room, so why should it be different for Felix?

Those weeks of hard work had taken a toll on Felix. He had lost a lot of sleep either watching performance videos or dancing the night away till he could barely feel his legs anymore. During the rest of their schedule, he kept spacing out, too exhausted to pay attention to what was happening around him. The dancer often got dizzy from moving too fast and sometimes stumbled for a few seconds after standing up. His members shot him concerned glances but the Aussie was quick to laugh it off. The neglect of his headspace left Felix in a constant state of stress, feeling on edge and often snapping at his friends, who then avoided talking to him for the fear of being subjected to his unpredictable moods. Though he lived with seven other people, the dancer felt increasingly lonely. A dull ache in his head had become his only companion, a testimony of how many nights he had skipped and how long he hadn't regressed anymore. Yet, Felix wasn't ready to change anything about his routine. Parting ways with his members after an entire day of only dance practice, the Aussie pretended to head to a studio. He pretended to work on something else as he waited for the rest of the group to leave to the dorm. When he was certain they were all gone, he went back to the practice room and continued where he had left off.

His practice had become less fun every day. It had gone from a hobby he had enjoyed since he was young to a cruel torture he brought onto himself day and day again. Managing only a few run-throughs before finding black spots clouding his vision, Felix sat down against the wall and uncapped his water bottle. Maybe he should have eaten something first. After drinking a few sips, he put the bottle away and massaged his temples. This headache was certainly starting to bother him. Closing his eyes and willing the fogginess in his brain away, Felix couldn't help wonder when he had last gotten a hug. He had always been a touchy person but lately he just hadn't been himself, distancing himself from his friends more and more. Oh, how good a hug would feel right now...