SHINee Sickfics

Minho : This Time, It's For Real

Requested by leeminhosairfryeroil

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Minho focused on putting one foot in front of the other. When he'd woken up this morning, this weird pain in his stomach had started bothering him. A few painkillers hadn't helped, but he'd hoped that praying and offering all his mortal possessions up to end the suffering would work, but it hadn't.

And now, he was facing a long day of debilitating dance practice, where he knew that this problem was only going to get worse.

Taemin was in front of the mirror.

"I want us to go from the beginning again. You see, this part?" He demonstrated the move, his arms moving too fast for Minho to see clearly. "We're not in sync. Some of us are going way too slowly. Minho, I am looking at you."

Minho shrugged. Oops.

"Wait, I have a question," Jinki said. "Does it... like start right away, or is there a pause?"

"There's no pause."

"Ohhh.... okay, that clears it up, thanks."

"Yes, so again. Let's go."

The members obediently got into position.

With every step, Minho felt sharp shocks of pain run through him. He gritted his teeth. He was aware that the room's poor ventilation was making his situation worse.

"Hyung!" Taemin yelled.

"Huh?" He mumbled.

"Can you settle down and stand in your spot?"

"Right, sorry."

The others exchanged a glance. Maybe Taemin had woken up on the wrong side of his bed today, or maybe the stress was getting to him, but he was in a bad mood today. They didn't have too much time to waste. None of them wanted to make him more angry.

Minho swallowed.

The music started.

Minho tried to remember the things Taemin had pointed out. No pause, arms up, then around, then... somewhere along the progression, he lost his momentum and forgot what he was supposed to do next. The others kept dancing while he stopped and stood still.

"Okay, what's confusing you?"

"I... I don't know."

"Is it the arms? Or the legs?"

"... both?"

Taemin frowned.

Jonghyun raised his eyebrows, clearing his throat to make the situation a little less awkward.

Taemin finally nodded and took a deep breath. "Let's go through it slowly. You have to try, you can get it. It's not that hard."

When Minho looked at his face in the mirror, he thought he looked green. There was sweat plastered on his face. When his fingers brushed his neck, thick sweat dripped onto them. He hadn't even danced that much.

"Minho, let's do it right this time," Kibum said.

"Of course."

For a moment, he felt his old resolve come back. Yeah, he was in pain, but he could overcome that for a few minutes and power through this dance, right? Totally.

He kept his eyes trained on Taemin - who was demonstrating - and tried to copy his movements as best as he could. His mouth was set in a straight line. He felt like there was a knife twisting into his side.