Kpop Sickfics & Hurtfics

Silence in Music (Hanjin)

Hanjin woke up to the sound of faint birdsong filtering through the window, the early morning sun casting a warm glow across his room. Blinking sleep from his eyes, he stretched and rolled over, groggily reaching for his phone. As he shifted, a strange sensation tugged at his awareness—his hearing felt muffled. Like he was listening through water or with cotton stuffed into his ear.

He frowned, sitting up as he instinctively massaged his left ear, trying to pop it. "Must be ear congestion," he muttered to himself, yawning. It was nothing to worry about—just one of those things that happens when you sleep funny or have a cold. He shook his head a little, expecting the muffled sensation to go away. But it didn't.

Shrugging it off, Hanjin slid out of bed and padded toward the bathroom. A quick shower and some breakfast, and he'd be fine. After all, there was no time to focus on little annoyances—practice was in a couple of hours, and he had to be at his best. TWS had a packed schedule this week, and he couldn't afford to fall behind.

But as the water pounded against his skin in the shower, the muffled sound in his ear persisted. Worse, it was beginning to feel like something more than simple congestion. Hanjin frowned, rubbing his ear again. Maybe it would clear up in a day or two.

He couldn't let the others know about it—if this was something serious, it could affect his role in the group. His chest tightened at the thought. He was one of the main composers; his ears were essential. Losing his hearing? He didn't even want to consider the possibility.

Three days passed, and the muffled sensation in Hanjin's ear hadn't improved—it had gotten worse. By now, it felt like there was barely any sound coming through his left ear at all. Whenever he tried to focus, it was as if the world tilted to one side, his hearing unbalanced. His right ear worked fine, but his left felt like a vacuum, absorbing all the sound.

He didn't want to admit it to himself, but something was wrong.

"Maybe it'll go away soon," he muttered, standing in front of the bathroom mirror. His eyes were dark with fatigue—sleep hadn't come easy the last couple of nights, not with the growing anxiety gnawing at him. Hanjin had started avoiding loud conversations, relying more on nodding than engaging fully, but it was becoming harder to pretend.

During practice, the music blared, but it all sounded... off. The rhythm didn't sit the way it should, and the melodies didn't reach him the same. His head pounded after each rehearsal, the strain of trying to keep up with choreography while his hearing slipped further was wearing on him.

"You okay, Hanjin?" Shinyu, the leader, asked one afternoon, catching him leaning against the wall during a break. "You've been pretty quiet lately."

Hanjin snapped to attention, pasting on a quick smile. "Yeah, just tired, you know? Long week."

Shinyu gave him a curious look, clearly not convinced but didn't press further. "Well, make sure you're taking care of yourself. We need you at your best."

Hanjin nodded, guilt rising in his throat. He wanted to say something, tell Shinyu about the strange muffling in his ear, but every time the thought crossed his mind, the fear of what it could mean for his career stopped him.

A week had passed, and by now, Hanjin's hearing in his left ear was almost completely gone. Panic clawed at his chest every morning when he woke, straining to hear the world around him, hoping for a miracle. But each day, the silence grew deeper.

Pushing through practice had become a nightmare. His body was sluggish, his head throbbed constantly, and the music... it was all wrong. He couldn't hear the balance, the way the sounds used to flow seamlessly. Recording sessions felt like torture, and every time they played back a track, Hanjin was terrified that something was off, something he couldn't catch because his left ear was failing him.