How to save someone from themselves

Naamloos deel 11

Guess who's back from death! So sorry to keep you all waiting, so instead of ranting on, here's the next chapter~

Jihoon looked at the younger male, rubbing his back while he sobbed over the bin.

"It's alright, I shouldn't have forced you to eat so much at once, I'm sorry."

Minghao calmed down slightly, at least now he knew that Jihoon would not yet tell the others.

After Minghao had calmed down enough Jihoon went to the kitchen and placed the dirty bowls in the sink, ignoring all the gazes and questions thrown at him. He just continued walking to his room, grabbed a little note book and went back to Minghao's room.

Once he entered, he could see the younger still sitting in the same position as when he left. He felt his heart slightly breaking. Minghao's eyes looked plain dead. Like all hope and energy had left him.

"Minghao?"

The boy looked up at his hyung.

"One more thing, and then you can go sleep, is that alright?" The younger nodded in reply.

"How often do you weigh yourself?" the question left Jihoon's lips while he walked over to the desk to grab a pen. Having his back turned he missed the look on Minghao's face but he was pretty sure that the younger looked dumbfounded.

"I won't judge, I need to know this if I want to help you"

"... three" the whisper hung in the air, while it was silent, the meaning behind it was heavy.

"Three what?" a perfectly styled eyebrow was raised in question.

"Three times a day ... sometimes four"

Jihoon wanted to sigh, but didn't. Why was this happening to Minghao? Why him of all people?

Jihoon noted down the number. "This is what we'll do. We will bring this number to a stable 3, no more fours, and after a few days we will diminish the number to a two, and continue until it is only once a week. And I want to be there every time you weigh yourselves. No exceptions. I'm sorry but for a while, I will hang around you a lot. This may seem overwhelming, but I'm doing this because I care."

Minghao opened his mouth to complain but knowing that if he didn't follow Jihoon's orders, the older member would tell the others, and Minghao may be able to sneakily force in a purging or weighing moment, one member was easier to avoid. If Jihoon was busy, he could act as if he ate. But if Jihoon told the others, there would be almost no way to escape this, and then he'd go back to being fat and ugly.

"Let's go." Jihoon abruptly stood up. Minghao furrowed his brows in confusion.

"Where to?"

"The bathroom. First weighing session is now. Normally you're only supposed to weigh yourself in the morning since then your stomach is completely empty and won't add extra weight but since your stomach is empty now, we might as well do it this instant."

Both boys enterred the bathroom together, one determined to help the other while the other was nervous for the reaction of the first one.

"Clothes out."

"W-what?" Minghao blinked, did he hear that right?

"Clothes add weight, I want an as accurate number as possible." Jihoon said, rolling his eyes.

Minghao hesitated, if he were to take of his clothes, Jihoon would see the state his body was in, but even worse, Jihoon would see the scars and fresh wounds.

"I know you're conscious about your body, so if you want, you can keep your boxers on, just please, don't make this any harder than necessary. I promise you, you're not fat, far from it." Jihoon spoke those words confidently, he was almost certain that was the reason that Minghao was hesitating. He raised the notebook and wrote down "Make sure to give lots of compliments". It may seem stupid but compliments fueled a person's self-esteem, and that was what Minghao needed at the moment.

Minghao slowly took off his hoodie and looked away while removing everything but his boxers. He was glad that they were long enough to cover his scars but he was still self-conscious. Once he removed all but his boxers, he folded his arms around himself as a sort of protective shell.

Jihoon activated the scale and waited for it to be ready to weigh, once it was ready he directed Minghao towards the scale, trying to ignore how he could see and count all of Minghao's vertebra.

With pain in the heart both boys looked at the number. 35,2 kg.

A collective gasp was taken. And two different thoughts were running through their minds.

'How could I have let this happen? I gained 0,2kg! He lost so much weight!'

Woozi quickly did the math 178 cm and 35,2 kg came to a BMI of 11,0. Really severe cases had a BMI of 12,0 or under, and with really severe they mean the body retrieving necessities from other parts like organs and muscles. An important muscle? The heart.

People with really severe cases were immediately admitted to the hospital and once again, the idea of calling a hospital or at least a doctor came to Jihoon's mind, but he promised not to, and Jihoon was not one to break another's trust unless necessary.