9th member of Stray Kids // y/n

Chapter 4~ vulnerable mind

As we get off the motorway and onto the main city streets, he has to roll the windows back up so no one recognises us, and soon enough, we are approaching the hospital. As we enter the parking lot, we see a bunch of news reporters and paparazzi by the entrance with their cameras.

"Omg, seriously, how does everyone know? Just drop me off here. You coming will just raise even more unwanted attention. Thank you soooo much for tonight. I owe you one." He ushers you out, and you quickly open the door and run out. Trying to cover your face with your phone, as you attempt to get into the hospital entrance, the paparazzi immediately recognise you and start swarming around, asking questions that you don't even know the answer to. Starting to feel overwhelmed, tears falling down your face, and you are almost knocked down to the ground. You try to push your way through, but it's no use. Someone grabs your arm and you look up to see one of our bodyguards whom you recognise, he pulls you out of the crowd and you almost stumble over a journalist, but he catches you just in time as we get through the doors where the reporters are not allowed.

"Are you okay? Do you need medical attention Y/N-ssi?"

"No, no, I'm fine. I just need to get to the other kids. Do you know where they are?"

"8th floor emergency ward on the left down the corridor. Would you like me to escort you?"

"I'm fine, thank you, I'll go myself."
You run up to reception and ask where the lift is, the receptionist points to the right and smiles, and you just sprint in that direction. Once you get to the lift, you press the button repeatedly in desperation. When the doors finally open, you get in, pressing 8 and close the doors repeatedly until you finally start going up. As you are moving, you look at your phone to see a notification from Soobin.

"Hey, did you get in? I saw the paparazzi. Hope everyone's okay xoxo."
You smile as the lift chimes and the doors finally open, and you run left to see a big waiting room and surely enough, the emergency ward. You look around the chairs to see the members all in the corner, and you run over to them. Chan sees you and immediately pulls you into a big hug. It's comforting, and you begin to feel slightly better. Placing your arms around his neck, you mutter whilst sniffling.

"Is he okay? How bad is it?"
Chan takes his hand and places it on the back of your head and starts stroking your hair almost as if to comfort you and himself.

"The nurse just came and told us he has woken up. We will be able to visit him in an hour."
After hearing those words, you loosen up straight away, but you don't think you can let go of his embrace.

"Do you wanna sit down? It will be more comfortable for you."
You nod, and he lifts you onto his lap after he sits down, and you keep your arms around him. Snuggling into the crook of his neck, you fall asleep in his arms until the nurse comes an hour later, informing everyone that we can go meet Changbin. Chan lightly taps your shoulder, and you jolt awake. Seeing the nurse causes your heart to start to pump fast, he notices and reassures you.

"Everything's fine. He just woke up. We can go meet Changbin."
You relax and get up from his lap, and the nurse escorts everyone into the ward. Lee Know catches up to you and puts his hand over your shoulder.

"It'll be okay, don't worry,"
You look up to him and smile.

"I'm the one usually saying that to you."
The nurse stops and slides open the door to a room, and surely enough, Changbin is lying down on the bed with an IV through his arm and an oximeter on his finger. His older sister and parents are sitting on chairs next to him. When we come in, they stand up, and Jaehee warmly welcomes everyone.

"I imagine all of you have been super stressed about my brother. I'll leave you guys together for a while."
Changbin's father helps his wife, and the three walk out. The rest of us smile and bow as they walk past us. We crowd around Changbin's bed, and I can't help but tear up again.

"Oh my god, y'all are so dramatic. Staring at me like I'm some sort of crippled alien specimen."

"We thought you fucking died."
You gently hit his shoulder and sniff as he laughs at everyone's sad faces.

"What can I say, Changbin never dies."
He chuckles, and everyone smiles through the tears at his ridiculous humour.

"Hey, that's my line."
Felix sits on the bed next to him.

"But seriously, what happened? All we knew was that you collapsed at the gym."

"Yeah, I forgot my protein shake at home, so I brought one in the cafe, and it tasted a bit weird, so I thought it was some different type of protein. After half an hour, my knees went numb, my throat started to close up, and it went dark. Then I woke up next to my disappointed sister, very distressed mother and unimpressed father."
He sighs.

"You don't think the drink was poisoned?"

"Nah, that can be possible."

"Bro, that's got to be an allergic reaction."

"Maybe you have asthma."

"He probably overworked himself."

"No way it got to b-."

"GUYS, please."
We all turn to look at him forgetting that he had even been in the room.

"The nurse will be back soon. We will find out. Until then, we just need to wait."
We nod and agree. Hyunjin sighs and leans his hands on the railing in front of Changbin's feet.

"But on a serious note, if it was that barista, we may need to go on hiatus to ensure the safety of all of us. We can just never know these days."
Jeongin pats his back reassuringly and everyone nods in agreement.

"I know you can't go through another hiatus, but if it is what it is, then we will work through it together."
Minho starts to tear up, still on your shoulder. You lean your head onto his and rub his back in circles because you know that it comforts him. Soon enough, visiting hours are over, and we are ushered out by the nurse who came to discuss the results of the tests with him. All of us walk down the corridor of the hospital. Lee Know has his fingers intertwined with yours, holding it with a death grip as if he were to let go you would slip away.

"Wanna cuddle tonight? We can talk about it if you want."
He nods his head silently. When we get home, he is still holding your hand, but you really need to take a shower. You look down at his hand and then to his face.

"Minnie, you need to let go. I need to wash up and dress up."
He looks down at the floor.

"If I let go, I might start crying, and right now, I don't want to."
You sigh, hating to see him like this. He was always slightly introverted and didn't like others seeing him in a vulnerable state, but rarely had you seen him at his lowest.

"Would you like to wash up together?"

"Please."
He mumbles in a small voice. You get two towels and lead him to the bathroom. As soon as you lock the door behind you, he slowly lets go of your hand. You smile softly, turn on the water and then begin to take off your tank top. We both start undressing until we are left in our underwear. We both turn around and you unclasp your bra and we take our pants off at the same time, leaving them on the floor, and he takes your hand again, making sure to never look down and step into the shower together. The warm water feels too good, running down your body, unwinding the tight knots in your back and you close your eyes. You eventually open them to check on Minho to see that he is zoned out, looking into space in front of us. You put a hand on his face and turn it to face yours. He stares into your eyes, for a few seconds.

"Minho-ya, Changbin is going to be fine and if you are worried about the hiatus, we will work it out. We always do."
He nods and lets go of your hand, crossing his arms around his chest. You lift your arm, wrapping it around his shoulder. After 5 minutes, you turn off the shower, deciding to properly wash your hair tomorrow. You get out, brush your teeth, and dress up in warm pyjamas. Getting up into your bed, he spoons you from the back, and as you are drifting into slumber, he whispers in your ear.

"You have nice tits by the way."
You roll your eyes and kick him with the last amount of energy you have and chuckle before falling asleep in his warm embrace.

A/n- I rewrote this chapter 20252501 because I wasn't feeling it (does not affect the plot)