The second Jungwon woke up, he knew he was sick. He awoke completely clogged up and his throat feeling like sandpaper. He sighed as he sat up. As the leader of a rookie group, Jungwon didn't have time to be sick. He also knew that if any of his members were to find out, they'd likely force him to stay in bed until he was fully recovered. Jungwon needed to try to hide his illness from his hyungs and dongsaeng.
Jungwon stood up and could feel the mucous in his sinuses shift. He sniffled a couple times in an attempt to clear it, but wound up irritating his nose instead. He quickly brought his fist up to his nose to stifle the impending sneeze. "Hih-ngxtshh, heh-ngtshhh, hih-nxgt." He shook his head to clear out the residual effects of the fit before exiting his room.
Jungwon got to the dining room where Jay was setting the table for breakfast and sat down. Unfortunately for Jungwon, shortly after sitting down, he felt another tickle form in his sinuses. He tried his best to hold it back without looking suspicious, but ultimately did not succeed. "Hih-nxgtshhhh, heh-ngxtshhh, hepchkttnxgt."
Jungwon felt a hand being placed on his forehead and glanced up to see Jay, who was also offering him some tissues. "Wonnie, you feel a little warm to me. Heeseung hyung, can you please grab the thermometer?" The duo heard an affirmative noise and a few moments later the eldest appeared carrying the device.
He was about to ask who was sick when he saw Jungwon bury his face in the handful of tissues he was holding, sneezing three more times. Heeseung went up to the leader and stuck the thermometer in his ear. A second later it beeped and The eldest looked at the number. "99.8, You have a low fever Wonnie." Heeseung was about to say more but Jungwon, who had decided that hiding being sick would be futile, but still didn't want to be sent to bed, cut in. "Hyung, I'm fine. It's just a little cold." Before any debate could continue, the other members arrived in the dining room, sitting down for the meal.
The four members who joined after the temperature was taken, were largely unaware that their leader was sick. About halfway through breakfast, there was an audible gasp from the leader. They all turned their attention to Jungwon to see what happened. "Hih-tschhhh, heh-tshchhh, heptschhh, nxgtshh." Jungwon had practically fallen out of his chair while turning in an attempt to not sneeze on anyone or any of the food.
"Wonnie, I think you should consider staying home today. With the slight fever and all the sneezing, you should probably rest so your body can fight whatever bug you caught instead of working which could prolong the length of your cold." Jay told the second youngest.
The four that hadn't been previously present, were now all looking at Jungwon with mild concern. "What do you mean by low fever?" asked Sunghoon as he reached across the table to feel the leader's forehead. "High enough to be indicative of an illness, but not high enough to be sent home from school back home in the US." replied Jay. Heeseung then told the group the actual number.
"Guys, like I said, it's just a c-cold. I'm to-totally fine to g-go to work." Jungwon quickly grabbed his napkin and brought it up to his face. He turned to the side and sneezed three more times. "Yeah, you're not going to work today." Jake said. Everyone agreed and Jungwon sighed before finishing his breakfast.
Once breakfast had finished, Jungwon found himself sitting on the couch with a box of tissues on the coffee table and a mug of tea in his hands. Even though he didn't really have a fever, his hyungs practically forced him to go back to bed. He had to debate with them to let him be on the couch instead of his bed.
Jungwon essentially spent the entire day on the couch, only getting up to use the bathroom. While he was healthy enough to work, admittedly, they only had language lessons today, so he didn't mind too much at his hyungs' and Niki's over protectiveness. The next day, however, was a different story.
Unlike the day before, the group has a day full of dance and vocal practice. Since Jungwon had spent the previous day resting, he had decided that he was going to work today. The first thing Jungwon did when he joined the others for breakfast was grab a couple of tissues to blow his nose. When he removed the tissues, his dongsaeng was quick to place his hand on him. "Hyungs, he doesn't feel any warmer today." The older members seemingly didn't believe him, because a moment later Sunoo was taking his temperature again.
"Riki's right, Wonnie's temperature hasn't changed." Sunoo went from looking at their hyungs to looking right at Jungwon. "However, you still need rest." Everyone was quick to agree before there was a mild outburst from the sickie. "Heh-stschhh, hih-tschhhh, heh-stieshhh, heh-ngxtshhh." Jungwon grabbed a couple more tissues and blew his nose again. "Hyungs, like I said yesterday, I only have a mild cold. I am completely fine to work today." This was met with a bunch of pushback from the six other members. Jungwon internally rolled his eyes as he began eating breakfast.
When it was time to leave for their schedules, Jungwon was having an argument with the others about whether or not he's physically fit enough to go to schedules. Ultimately, Jungwon talked the others into letting him go to their schedules because he's the leader and they have a comeback just around the corner.
On the way to the company building, Jungwon noticed that his hyungs would shoot him worried glances if he did so much as sniffle. Apparently each of the other six members brought a travel pack of tissues, because he was being offered one every couple of minutes from a different person.
By the time they arrived at the building for practice, Jungwon was getting sick of the coddling. He just hoped it would tone down during practice, when they'd be able to see that he's perfectly capable of practicing.
They had only gotten through a couple of songs when Jungwon had had enough. They were in the middle of Given-Taken when he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. He held his hand a few inches from his face as his breath hitched a couple of times.
"Hih-tshhhh, heh-tschhhh, hih-tschhh, heh-stiew, hih-stieshhhh, heptshhh, histchhh." The music was immediately stopped and he felt another hand on his forehead. "You still only feel mildly warm, Wonnie. How do you feel? Maybe we should cut practice short today?" Heeseing asked.
At the prospect of having practice cancelled, Jungwon raised his voice. "HYUNGS. For the last time I am fine to work. It's just a mild cold and it'll be gone in a few days. I'm not a kid anymore and I know how to take care of myself, and if I don't then I'll ask one of you. In the meantime just stop coddling me for just a few minutes." The small outburst stunned the other members, because it wasn't like the second youngest to have to speak like that.
"Hyungs," Riki said to break the silence. "You have been a bit overbearing. His only issue is sneezing, and the worst case scenario is it interrupts whatever it is he's doing. I don't think he needs to be on bedrest."
There was a pause when he finished speaking followed by five fairly audible sighs. "You're both right, but it's hyungs' job to take care of the maknaes when they're sick. However, so long as you don't overdo it, I think we can back off a little bit." Heeseung said while giving his dongsaengs a pointed look. The others were quick to acquiesce and the subject was dropped.
The others had backed off considerably for the rest of the day, which Jungwon was thankful for. Unfortunately, Jungwon overdid it and was feeling considerably worse the following day. Which led to even more coddling from his hyungs until the cold went away.
