3000 Stars

Fever

Taehyung sat up, rubbing his eyes. His mouth was dry and fuzzy, and his head was pounding even worse than before. His body ached. He rubbed his forehead, staring at the ground, then turned slowly, looking for the source of the voice. He saw no one. Was he hallucinating?

"Taehyung!"

No, he couldn't be hallucinating. But it was hard to believe anyone would know where to come looking for him, after he had isolated himself from all of them. Did he have any friends anymore? He didn't know. A text message never said enough, and FaceUpp messages said even less. Yoongi didn't know him long enough to be his friend. Zen and Dreyk didn't know where he went even when they were close friends. Hoseok didn't know about Seokjin. Namjoon and Jimin probably didn't even care.

"Kim Taehyung!"

That was a different voice. Taehyung swallowed, blinking in the dim light, but he still couldn't see anything. His body felt uncomfortably hot, like the sunlight from all day had been stored inside him. He rubbed his throat, coughing, but it didn't change the painful prickling beginning to rise inside it. He sighed, looking around one last time, and decided to lie down again. He was too tired to make himself walk all the way to the train station. Surely it couldn't be that cold overnight. He would go home in the morning, when he felt better.

"Taehyung!"

Footsteps, coming closer. Surely he was hallucinating. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, curling further into his jacket. It wasn't the most comfortable place to sleep, but it was better than braving the train ride again. He didn't want to throw up twice.

"Taehyung! Oh my--"

"You found him?"

"He's over here!" someone called, right over Taehyung's head.

"Oh my god."

"Taehyung? Tae? Wake up."

It was Hoseok-- no, Yoongi. Yoongi knelt over him, pushing the hair off his face and trying to make him sit up. Taehyung groaned and curled into a ball, wrapping his arms around his head.

"You can't sleep here," Yoongi said. "You're already sick. C'mon. Your parents are worried."

Taehyung grunted, turning his face toward the ground. Yoongi sighed.

"Dreyk! A little help?"

"Tae," Dreyk said from behind Taehyung. "Come on. Let's get you home."

Taehyung whined, shaking his head. He didn't want to move. His body hurt. He didn't want to ride the train back home. If he got up he was sure his stomach would eject what little was left of what he had eaten earlier in the morning. Dreyk sighed and wrapped his arms around him, sitting him up.

"I'm sorry," he said. "You can't sleep here."

Taehyung sighed, blinking. Now that he was sitting up, he felt more lucid, more awake. Yoongi sat in front of him, watching him cautiously as if waiting for him to blow up. Taehyung hated that look. Everyone gave it to him once they found out. Maybe it was all his fault. Maybe if he just quit and moved to another city no one would miss him.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled.

"For what?" Yoongi asked.

"Dxmn right you are," Dreyk snapped. "You better apologize to your parents, too. This is getting out of hand."

Taehyung laughed weakly. "Do I have to quit again?"

"I don't see why you would," Dreyk said, standing and pulling Taehyung up with him. Taehyung swayed, looked down at his feet, and threw up on his shoes. Dreyk cursed, holding him at arm's length. Taehyung laughed again.

"I'm a fxcking mess."

"No kidding," Dreyk muttered. "Why did you come out here again?"

Taehyung coughed, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. "Didn't want to stay in the house."

"And you didn't take your phone?"

"...the hxll do I need my phone for?" Taehyung asked, squinting at him.

"Let's get him home," Yoongi said hurriedly as Dreyk opened his mouth to respond. "We can debate this once you get better."

"No," Taehyung said, swaying and trying to step away from Dreyk. "Let's debate this now." he tipped back and Yoongi caught him, stumbling.

Dreyk shook his head. "I'm not going to argue with you about this again," he said. "Come on. We need to get you home so you can clean up."

Taehyung nodded, stumbling away from Yoongi and coughing again. He wasn't thinking anything. His mind was blank. The words had fallen out of his mouth, but now they were gone again, totally inaccessible. He didn't know what he was supposed to do. Was he supposed to fight and scream? Laugh? Cry? Faint? He stumbled between Yoongi and Dreyk back to Zen, who was leaning out of a car Taehyung had never seen before. Dreyk and Yoongi were talking to him, but the world was fuzzing out again. Taehyung sat down on the ground, staring blankly at the gravel in the fading light, and let the world wink out again.