𝙱𝚊𝚗𝚐 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝙾𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚝𝚜

𝙵𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝙿𝚝 𝟸

TW: fire, near death experience, major character injuries

hurtfic

The hospital room is bright, natural light flooding the room, bathing everything in a soft glow. It is calm, a haven from the frantic pace of life the past few weeks.

They are lucky, so lucky to still have everyone alive in more or less one piece.

When they first arrived at the hospital with various injuries, Jisung had broken down, refusing to leave Minho's side, terrified the elder's condition would worsen and Chan would have a new roommate in the ICU.

No one had seen the elder since he had been rushed to the hospital in an ambulance, the paramedics fighting to keep the eldest's heart beating.

Chan had gone into surgery, remaining in a comatose state for several days before he woke. The sheer amount of skin grafts he needed will require years to heal.

However, he's alive. Alive and whole, more or less.

That's all that matters.

They have taken turns visiting him as the weeks progress, taking full advantage of the hiatus they were given.Today, it is Felix and Hyunjin's turn, and the dancer seems determined to be the sunshine for both of them.

Felix is aware that he's shut down since the night of the fire. How could he not? His Aussie brother, his leader, one of his best friends, nearly died. Even now, his condition is still fragile.

"Just open it already, hyung."

Felix is jolted from his reverie by Chan's hoarse chuckle, which quickly fades into a harsh cough.

"Hyung, are you alright?"

The infectious grin fades from Hyunjin's face, replaced by worry. The elder shakes his head, gesturing with his hand. Once he regains his breath, he smiles tiredly.

"It sounds worse than it actually is. They said I got ash and shit from the fire in my lungs, so it'll affect my breathing for a while."

Felix's eyes drift over the leader, the bandages that still cover his numerous burns and grafts, the smile he has plastered on over the pain in his eyes, the IV that is still feeding nutrients into his veins.

At first, they weren't sure if Chan would wake up, covered in as many serious burns as he was, as well as the concussion he sustained when a piece of the ceiling fell on him.

When he did finally wake up, the leader began recovering at a rate that could only leave the doctors astounded.

They're not out of the woods yet- Chan had a serious concussion, and was breathing in smoke and ash for so long that his lungs may be permanently affected. Both management and the doctors assigned to Chan want to keep him under surveillance to ensure everything was healing as smoothly as possible.

His burns were- are- horrible, yet Chan still keeps up his famous smile, shrugging it off with "at least I'll have some cool scars to show off at concerts."

There is an unspoken fear amongst all of them, Chan, the members, STAY. It will be months, if not years, before he is even well enough to sing again, much less perform as an idol, dancing on stage. The thought of the leader being forced out of the group due to a freak accident that had nothing to do with him is one that hurts. The one comfort is that if he steps back to being merely a producer, he is still there, with them. They're still eight.