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Seonghwa : Pneumonia

There was a quiet ringing in the air. Seonghwa held his breath if it was finally the sounds of Hongjoong coming home from the studio. It was.

Quickly, he turned over in his bed to make it look like he was asleep. Hongjoong didn't need to know how he was struggling to breathe or the way his chest was heaving every time he tried to take a deep breath. No, Hongjoong already had too much on his plate.

"Hwa, you awake?"

Seonghwa held his breath.

Within a few moments, he heard Hongjoong sigh and head into his bed. Only when he didn't hear Hongjoong anymore, did he allow himself to relax.

In the meantime, he worried about he was going to address the issue about his health.

-------

"Is everything okay, hyung?" Yunho asked. "You look really tired."

Seonghwa shot a tight-lipped smile at him. "I'm fine."

He could feel six pairs of eyes looking him up and down. It was just his luck that Yunho had decided to corner him at breakfast. Now they all had to listen to his concerns.

"You look exceptionally tired," Wooyoung said.

Seonghwa shook his head. Nothing was wrong, he was sure of it.

-------

The problem had started a couple days ago, and now it only started to worsen. At first, he just felt tired. He thought a small nap would do the trick. Then he couldn't catch his breath. Their dance practices had always been intense, but now they were practically impossible.

"Give me a second."

The others looked concerned as Seonghwa staggered off to the side, his breath coming out in gasps. Something wasn't right. He crouched down near his water bottle. He silently hoped that his heart would stop thumping so loudly. Slowly, he took a few sips of air in. Seonghwa hoped he didn't wake the sleeping dragon known as Wheezing™, in his chest.

A few gulps of water later, he stood up. Staying down for too long would worry the others.

"We can break for longer, if you want," Jongho said kindly. Seonghwa shook his head.

"We have to learn this, come on," he said.

Yunho nodded and headed to the front of the room again. He eyed Seonghwa anxiously, but started talking about the dance again.

"Remember, right arm first here..."

Seonghwa tried to follow along to the best of his ability, but he was aware of just how exhausted he felt. His skin was dripping with sweat. His knees felt weak.

But he would never let it show. He would keep going until the inevitable happened.

-------

As soon as they went back to the dorms, Seonghwa raced back into his room. His head had started throbbing and he couldn't stand it anymore. He was sure that he saw Mingi raise his eyebrow at his exhaustion, but Seonghwa didn't have the energy to care.

He buried himself into his sheets and tried to relax. His legs ached from the strenuous dance practice. His head hurt. Every now and then, he would feel his lungs wheeze.

And then, it started.

Seonghwa sat up abruptly, feeling the deep urge to cough. His body jolted as he did so. His throat burned. He was sure that he heard his ribs crack with how violent they were. Sniffling, he slumped back onto his pillow. The tickle in his throat was now permanently here to stay.