STRAY KIDS: THE 9TH MEMBER

Chapter 19

*Chan POV*
I groaned when I woke up, the light shining into my eyes and almost blinding me. Last thing I remembered was that we were finished with training and I was walking out of the room and then-
Black.
I tried my best to sit up, but I felt so weak. I could tell I was in a hospital room, which I had mostly deducted from the IV tube that was in my arm and also the fact that the air smelt strong of air refresher. There was a button next to me, one to call a nurse, and so I pressed it. A nurse rushed in, looking a little worried.
"Oh, you're awake!" She sighed in what sounded like relief.
I smiled weakly. "Yeah."
"How're you feeling?"
"Awful. I can barely move." I confessed.
"Do you think you can eat?"
"Uhhh...yeah I think." I replied.
The nurse nodded and went outside to get a tray of food.
"Here. I know it's not the best food, but it should be enough to get you back on your feet." She smiled sweetly, placing the tray aside and putting a lap table on my lap.
"Thank you." I took the tray gingerly and put it on the table thing.
"You also have your friends to see you. Do you think you have enough energy?" The nurse asked.
"Oh, yeah. They're probably really worried." I scratched my head. "Umm, wait but do you know happened to me?"
The nurse nodded. "You were malnourished. I heard you're a trainee, so I wasn't very surprised. But you do need to take care of yourself."
"I know. I usually eat at least a meal and some snacks throughout the day because I'm so busy, but I must've forgotten."
"It was for two days. That's dangerous. Any longer and you may have never woken up." She warned and I gulped.
"You're very lucky, and you will make full recovery, but you do need to take care of yourself more. Now eat. I'll send your friends in."
I nodded and did as she said.

*Jeongin POV*
I was about to walk inside to see Chan when Aera dashed in.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?!" She said to Minho, obviously upset.
"It doesn't matter now, just go in with Jeongin." He replied.
Aera frowned but turned to me and tried to smile but I assured her that it was fine. I was upset too. But not in the way I thought.
"Channie Hyung." My face fell when I saw Chan sitting up, paler than ever. He was quietly eating and looked up at us when he heard the door.
"Hey." He smiled weakly. "What's up."
I felt tears tug the corners of my eyes as I looked at the awful state he was in.
"Why?" Was all Aera said.
"I didn't mean to-"
"Chan you have to take care of yourself, you're a leader of a group now."
Aera's words were the harsh truth, and Chan knew that, we could tell.
"I know." He whispered. "And I didn't mean to do that, I was caught up with trying to make sure everything was perfect."
While Chan and Aera argued, I was feeling really odd. And not like sick or something, more like something emotional. Towards Chan.
I was so scared, I suddenly ran out of the room, past everyone else, just running until I got out of the hospital. I ran to the nearest bus station and saw Jisung running behind me, making me speed up. I didn't want to talk to anyone. Without a second thought, I boarded the first bus that came, Jisung not too far behind me, but far enough that I managed to get on the bus just before it departed. He stared at me from the window, and I could see the look of confusion on his face. But it was nothing compared to how confused I felt towards my own feelings.
And that's when I realized.
"Holy shit, I like Chan!" I basically yelled, forgetting that I was in public. I clamped a hand on my mouth, and put my hood over my head to avoid the disgusted looks and glares aimed at me.

*Hyunjin POV*
I watched as Jisung sprinted after Jeongin, who looked like a blur, running through us.
"What-" Seungmin started, squeezing my hand in worry. The door to Chan's room opened and Aera came out with a teary face. She sat down quietly, fiddling with her fingers. I wanted to comfort her, but Seungmin told me to leave her alone. Jisung came back and told us that he had boarded a bus. He couldn't catch up. That worried me.
"Which bus?" I asked.
"Not sure. But it definitely wasn't going to the JYP building." Jisung replied, still panting slightly.
"He's too young to be running around like that...what if he went home?" Minho suggested, hopeful.
"I doubt it. He's from Busan, and the trip from here to there is really long if he's going by bus. He'll get kicked out of the company if he doesn't turn up to training...maybe he just boarded a random bus because he wanted to be alone..." Seungmin said.
"But why do that-" I started but Minho cut me off.
"Just try to contact him while me and Jisung go and see Chan."
Seungmin and I nodded, allowing the two to walk over to Chan.
"It's gonna be okay, don't worry." Seungmin reassured me.
I smiled and looked around.
"Wait! Where are Changbin and Felix?!"

*Changbin POV*
"Hyung, we should probably get back now." Felix said. We were sitting at the cafeteria table, having a coffee.
"Yeah, we should. C'mon." I took his hand and I noticed him blush a little, but I brushed it off.
We got up and walked back to the waiting room in front of Chan's room and everything seemed to be in chaos. Aera was crying, Jeongin was nowhere to be seen and Seungmin seemed to be giving Hyunjin a massage. That left Jisung and Minho, who I assumed were in Chan's room.
"Oh there you are!" Hyunjin exclaimed.
"Yeah, we told you." I said. "We just went down to the cafeteria."
"You did?" Hyunjin asked.
"I did." Felix said in a small voice. "Guess you didn't hear me."
I hugged him sympathetically as he pouted.
"Let's go sit, Lixxie." I told him and he nodded, taking a seat in the waiting room chairs.
Jisung suddenly stormed out of Chan's room, angry tears pouring. Aera shot up and quickly gave him a hug and told us that she was going to go talk to him. We all nodded, confused, but glad that she would deal with the situation. But I just kept thinking one thing.
What was going on with everyone? It's like Chan is a trigger to everyone if he gets hurt-
Oh. Oh no. This can't be good. We need Chan. We need him to recover properly.
I began to panic a little, scared that Chan might do something stupid and not allow himself to fully recover before going back to training.
"Lix." I said. Felix turned to face me.
"Yes Hyungie?"
"We should go talk to the instructors and trainers in charge of the showcase and ask them to delay it because Chan is unwell." I suggested.
"Okay...you'll have to do all the talking though..."
"That's fine. We'll go after seeing Channie."
Felix nodded tiredly and put his head on my shoulder, slowly drifting off to sleep. I smiled. He was so cute.