BTS Sickfics [Volume 1]

Jungkook: Asthma

Requested by IanPhyo :)

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Eyeing the inhaler that was sitting on his desk, Jungkook sighed. Almost instantly, a migraine got to him and he felt as if he was carrying everything by himself on his shoulders. But to him, that thought was utterly stupid. He was sure that a lot of people around the world had asthma too, so he wasn't the only one to have some really rare disease. However, though this thought was unknown to him, he had that unexplainable feeling simply because he couldn't complain about it to his hyungs, who didn't even know a single thing about it.

Jungkook grabbed the inhaler, staring at it. Deep inside, he felt as if it was mocking him. Look at you, relying on me like your life depends on me. Obviously it does. Without me, how would you even live? Mixed emotions rose inside him as he slammed the inhaler down on his desk and kept repeating the action. He couldn't help it. Often, he felt furious simply because of it. His anger also made him feel childish, and because of this cycle, Jungkook had always felt grumpy when he saw the inhaler.

Today, they were going for dance practice. The previous time, Jungkook didn't bring his inhaler out of frustration. He had had an asthma attack and was almost caught by his bandmates, therefore warned by his manager by the consequences that could've happened. This time, Jungkook had to reluctantly pack his inhaler, stuffing it at the very bottom of his bag to hide it from everyone that might find it. He furrowed his eyebrows as he grabbed his duffel bag, hung it over his shoulder, and dragged his tired body downstairs to follow his hyungs to practice.

"Finally you're here," Jungkook could see that Taehyung was slightly annoyed at him. He quickly scanned the living room and noticed that all his hyungs were already ready, probably a lot earlier than him. "Sorry, hyung," Jungkook mumbled timidly. "I-I'll be faster next time." He sounded really awkward, but to be honest, what was he supposed to say? That he'd do better on running down the stairs next time? He let out a grumpy huff and joined the others as they piled into their van.

"So today, we'll be working on the dance routine of the comeback again. We all know that it's quite challenging from last time, compared to the previous comeback, so everyone," Namjoon said as the van set off, "please pay 110 % effort because of course, we want nothing but perfection. That only. I really don't hope to spend sleepless nights at dance, okay?" The leader attempted to sound cheerful and lighthearted but in vain. Everyone, instead, felt extremely pressured, especially for Jungkook. He had a sore throat today, which probably signalled an asthma attack that was going to happen soon, but the maknae tried to ignore the weird and uncomfortable feeling that he had never got used to, despite the six years since he had been diagnosed with asthma.

"We're here!" Hoseok was quick to announce the obvious as their van halted to a stop. He had always had a special passion for dancing and excelled at it. Whenever they had dance practice, he would be in the type of giggly mood where you just laugh randomly even if someone just looks at you. Jungkook, on the other hand, was not feeling so excited. Usually, he enjoyed dancing too, but his headache and bad feeling in his guts said otherwise. He wanted to complain, to whine, to pout, but it seemed babyish, and he recently was trying to prove it to his hyungs that he absolutely wasn't.

"Let's get to work, I guess," Namjoon shrugged as he started the speakers, the music blaring through them loudly. The music excited Jungkook slightly, but he was still feeling grumpy as he did some warm-ups and began dancing with his hyungs. "Should we sing along too?" Jimin suggested. "That would be a lot better as it would give a chance to practice performing." The others nodded in agreement.

And so they started singing along to the music. Suddenly, when they reached the middle of the song, Jungkook's throat started itching — actually, it had been itching for the whole day. As Jungkook made a slight mistake, missing a count, attention was immediately averted to him — the maknae had practiced this song for a long time, so if anyone was making a mistake, it definitely wouldn't be him. However, everyone made mistakes, and Jungkook wasn't perfect either, so they let it go and continued practicing.

After about twenty seconds, his throat felt like it was swelling and something inside his throat was blocking his throat, feeling like it was pressing down, making him unable to breath properly. He cleared his throat slightly, missing another high note, his usual sweet voice coming out as a hoarse and sore tone. The others glanced worriedly at him for a moment, but they were focusing on their dance and vocals, so they turned away their attention soon.

When the lack of high notes became more and more frequent towards the end of the song, Jungkook's hyungs couldn't help but glance at him again. Having worked on his vocals the most, Jungkook shouldn't be making such minor and careless mistakes -- or so they thought.

There was only thirty seconds left of the song, but Jungkook's discomfort had worsened. It was an asthma attack. The maknae gulped when he realized his current condition. He wanted to grab his inhaler and use it so badly, but he didn't want his hyungs to know and worry about his illness, so he told himself that he could tough it out and wrap up the whole thing properly without causing any concern.

Fifteen seconds later, Jungkook's body gave up.

With a weak wheeze, Jungkook's legs gave in and he collapsed onto the dance floor, rapidly letting out wheezing noises, signaling that he was struggling to breath. Taking one glance at Jungkook, Namjoon, who had received first-aid training before, immediately recognized the symptoms as an asthma attack. His mind was racing about why their maknae was having an asthma attack, and why didn't he tell them that he had this condition, but the leader tried to keep calm and rushed over towards Jungkook.

"Jungkook, can you tell me if you have an inhaler somewhere?" Namjoon asked straightforwardly. Though Jungkook was still struggling to breath, he tried his best to show that the answer was positive by bobbing his head up and down. Namjoon understood by the weak movement of Jungkook's head and expression, so he rushed towards where Jungkook had put his duffel bag, reached in, and successfully fished out the inhaler.

"Move out of the way, everyone!" Namjoon shouted to his bandmates, who were crowding around the youngest anxiously. Then, after a minute, Bangtan watched as the albuterol did its effect and Jungkook stopped wheezing. His lips, which were tinted blue earlier, had returned to its usual color; the maknae's cheeks were tinted pink instead of an unhealthy pale color.

"Jungkookie," cooed Seokjin, stroking the maknae's hair gently when Namjoon gave the signal that Jungkook was probably alright. "Hyung?" Jungkook coughed slightly as he tried to get up, his body weak and fragile. He felt as if the asthma attack left him no strength, not even enough to stand up.

"So who's strong enough to give him a piggyback ride?"

***

Namjoon grunted as he plopped Jungkook down on the sofa.

"Thank God that you're alright," Jimin couldn't hide his concern for the youngest. "Should we get lots and lots of blankets? And cuddle, and watch Iron Man? Also, should we have lamb skewers-"

"Jimin-ah, that's a lot," chuckled Yoongi. "A lot." Jimin rolled his eyes. "I know you love lamb skewers. In fact, all of us do, am I right?" A chorus of cheers then erupted. "See," Jimin said smugly. "Alright, we're ordering takeaway and cancelling dance practice for today. How does that sound?" Seokjin announced.

"Yay!"

Sorry to be saying this, but I'll be skipping a week of updating as I really want to catch up with the other books I'm writing (the books that I write for fun and haven't published). That means the next time I'll be updating will be next, next Sunday. I apologise for any inconvenience caused and hope nobody minds :)