The Pitch || EXO

Chapter 7

Every single person in the warehouse is in a good mood, and everyone seems to be walking with a spring in their step. After getting dressed and having breakfast, all nine boys rush out to the van to drive home, in which one of the officers sits in the front (the president assumed that none of them had powers, so put somebody who did in front so that they could drive a van). A large van follows them with the guard's twin brother, who obviously have the same power. The trip takes almost an hour, but they are all chatting happily to each other as well as the guard, who's name is Sangwoo. Once stepping into the house, they are all hit by a strong feeling of nostalgia, the memories of Jongin and Sehun fighting over who got to play on the Xbox, Jongdae's secret stash of candy beneath his bed that he thought nobody knew about, everybody gathered round the dinner table while eating homemade kimchi spaghetti. They sigh happily and some tears form in Junmyeon's eyes, who is quick to wipe them away before anybody sees. They begin packing things that they'd like to take with them, Yixing and Baekhyun pick up the large black leather couch but find that it is much heavier than it looks, so they have to have Chanyeol and Jongin to help. Kyungsoo and Minseok take framed pictures of them all together carefully of the wall and place them in a neat pile on the floor. Sehun, Junmyeon and Jongdae all trail up the stairs to pack away clothes and dismantle the beds, making sure to place all of the parts along with the tools into separate plastic bags (which they had somehow managed to fill an entire cupboard with due to going to the supermarket often to refill the fridge, freezer and cupboards). It took a good five hours to do the beds and to fill nine separate plastic shopping bags with the parts, however, the three of them together did it, even if Sehun and Jongdae had a disagreement over who got to use the screwdriver - they didn't have an electric drill, otherwise Jongdae would have used it. Now it seems as if the house is teeming with people - the nine boys plus Sangwoo and his twin brother Sangjil all scurry about, lifting furniture and bed parts before trailing outside and putting them neatly in the van as ordered by Minseok, who due to his OCD, had to check everything a couple times over ones everything was packed. He notices Kyungsoo leaning against the doorframe, head lowered and panting softly. He wets his dry lips before making his way over to him, tapping his shoulder to tell him of his presence, but regrets it when he accidentally scares him.
"You've been really ill for the past few days, when we get back, I'll go to the health clinic with you." Minseok suggests. Kyungsoo lifts his head slightly, dark eye bags hang beneath his eyes and his face is paler than usual. Minseok is suddenly speechless and a little bit shocked at just how sick his friend really is.
"I'm fine, it'll go away in a few days time. It's no biggie." Kyungsoo says rather slowly. Minseok frowns a little but shakes it off.
"You said that a couple of weeks ago. I care for you, all of you, and I don't want to see any of you suffering. So we are going to that clinic when we get back. Understand?" Minseok says in a rather demanding tone, to get his point across. However, his expression soon softens again.
"Min, I'm tired."
"I know, Soo."
"And-and my knees and shoulders are sore. I think I have the flu." Minseok nods.
"When I was younger and I had the flu, my knees got really sore too. So sore that I had to take painkillers. Do you want me to go and find some for you?"
"Yeah please. I'll come with you."
"Ok." Comes Minseok's short reply. The two trail into the kitchen and begin to look inside of the medicine cabinet for ibuprofen or paracetamol. After finding the small packet of pills, they clamber into the van, Kyungsoo immediately leaning is head on Jongin's shoulder.

"What took you guys so long?" Chanyeol jokes.
"We were just getting some painkillers." Minseok replies. The others nod their heads but Sehun, of course, asks why.
"Because Kyung isn't feeling well." He speaks softly. The others nod or say "oh" in remembrance or realisation. After over half an hour of travelling, Jongin gently nudges Kyungsoo's face with his shoulder after feeling something wet drip onto the sleeve of his right arm.
"That better not be snot, Soo." He laughs, before making an 'ew' sound. Yixing laughs as well, leaning forward to offer a tissue from his pocket which Kyungsoo takes reaching his arm backwards, muttering a quiet thank you. He carefully wipes his nose, being careful so that nobody else could see. However, his plan fails when Jongin notices his odd behaviour and moves slightly back from the smaller, causing Kyungsoo to look up at him. He has both hands pressed to his face and now the laughter of their friends and the guard fade into the background, as Jongin slowly removes the small hands, peeling them away. He gasps and his eyes widen at the sight of a dull red liquid, trickling down from Kyungsoo's nose at a steady pace. It slides down his sickly pale face and glides over his upper lip, before running over the bottom.
"Oh no." Jongin mutters. "Yixing? Can we have more tissues? Kyungsoo's got a n-" He is cut off as a hand flies up to cover his mouth, preventing him from speaking. Yixing passes the small pocket-sized packet of tissues forward.
"He has a what?" He asks curiously. The others continue their conversation loudly. Jongin pushes Kyngsoo's hand away from his face, glaring a little.
"A nosebleed." Jongin finishes. Large eyes widen in fear and disbelief, slowly shaking his head at his best friend before salty tears blur his vision. His bottom lip quivers and Jongin cocks his head to the side, not understanding what's going on.
"He has a . . . Nosebleed?" Yixing asks, his voice, laden with petrification. All is silent and not a single person except Junmyeon dares to speak. He sighs deeply, pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger while closing his eyes. Sehun also doesn't get the severity of the situation, asking Jongdae and Chanyeol who are sitting on either side of him about it.
"When were you going to tell us, hm?" He asks, voice irritated. Jongin feels extremely guilty as his small best friend sits beside him, sniffling to pull back his tears but only causing more blood to gush. Every person listens to the leader of their group, and Jongin hangs his head in shame.
"Were you just going to hide it from all of us? Pretend it is just the 'common cold'? I-I I don't know what to say. I honestly don't. What happened to the years of trust that we have all built up? Did you have any idea that you might have the disease? Did you? Or were you too scared to check? To ask? A-and what about all of us? They don't know if it's contagious or not, or if it's spread through contact or air. Did you even think about us? Did you think about our safety? Or are you that self-centred that you just forgot that we existed? I don't know what we're going to do about this, but what you're going to do, is go to the clinic as soon as we get back." The sobbing becomes louder and every person in the van feels the heart-wrenching sadness that their friend feels.