#tw appendicitis

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Namjoon pulls the thermometer out of his mouth. He looks down at the digital reading- 37.8. It’s not a terrible fever, but he wants a second opinion before making any decisions for the day. He carries the thermometer to his hyungs' room and knocks on the door. 

Seokjin answers, toothbrush sticking out of his mouth. He looks quizzically at Namjoon, looking the younger member up and down for any sign of distress. When he eyes the thermometer in hand, he forgoes any greeting and just invites Namjoon inside. Yoongi is nowhere to be seen. He must have already been downstairs with the others. “Hyung, I have a fever.” He shows Seokjin the thermometer, but the device has since turned off. He curses slightly under his breath and sticks the thermometer back under his tongue.

Seokjin rolls his eyes with a fond chuckle. He rushes to the bathroom to spit out the toothpaste in his mouth while Namjoon fidgets with the buttons. When Seokjin returns, Namjoon’s taken a seat on the edge of his bed with the thermometer sticking out of his mouth. Seokjin takes in Namjoon’s appearance. He doesn’t look sick. Maybe he looks a little tired and worn out. But don't they all. But it’s odd. He knows Namjoon’s also not one to complain. So he assumes it must be serious. He places a hand on Namjoon’s forehead while they wait for the thermometer to beep. It's a little warm, but Seokjin’s not concerned. It could easily just be the leftover warmth from being tucked into bed.

The thermometer beeps and Namjoon pulls it out. 37.9. Again, a pretty low grade fever. Namjoon looks at the number dejected. Seokjin clicks his tongue, “I guess you do have a little bit of a fever, Joonie. Is anything else bothering you?” He doesn’t want to minimize Namjoon’s feelings. The leader came to him after all, presumably for help.

“Mmm, my stomach aches, a little, I think?” He clutches his stomach while he speaks. It really feels like minor complaints. But he can feel it in his gut. His intuition is telling him something's not right.

“Like you’re going to throw up?” Seokjin asks for clarification. He’s starting to assume Namjoon caught a stomach bug in the early stages. Arguably the best time to catch it.

Namjoon shakes his head, “More like cramps. It hurts, like aching.” There’s a whine in the leader’s voice that is categorically not Namjoon. “I’m just not feeling very good today, hyung.”

Seokjin’s torn. Namjoon’s not exhibiting any symptoms that would justify a day off. He’s pretty sure his parents have sent him to school with higher fevers in his youth. And they always have cramps and muscle aches from the choreography rehearsals. But Namjoon never over exaggerates. Namjoon has never overplayed symptoms to get a day off. He usually doesn’t even recognize his body might be trying to tell him something until it’s too late. Seokjin doesn’t know what he should do. “Namjoon-ah, do you want to stay back today?” He asks, realizing Namjoon never actually made any kind of request. Maybe Seokjin's got the leader’s objective all wrong.

“Of course not.” Namjoon admits vehemently, like the very idea offends him. He softens a bit before he continues. “But I don’t want to hold the group back. And if I'm sick, I might make trouble for you guys." 

“I’ll keep an eye on you, then.” Seokjin promises with a wide smile, “Just let me know if you start to feel any worse. I’ll make sure nothing happens to you.” Namjoon nods, returning the smile graciously. They both finish getting ready and leave with the rest of the group. 

The day starts off with a grueling 6 hour rehearsal. And it's not even the slow step-by-step breakdown rehearsal. It is a back-to-back full run through of all the songs in their set list rehearsal. The worst kind. But with concerts coming up, they need to be solid on all of their movements. They need to have every transition down. They need to have the positioning, posing, and posture all perfect. And if they don't, they'll run it through from the top. 

It's only been an hour and Namjoon's struggling to keep up. He's sweating more than he usually does during a full choreo run through. More than he does during a concert, even. He blames the fever. Of course it's intense choreo, it's hot in the studio, and he's wearing all black. But he knows the fever is to blame. Because despite everything, there's a faint chill deep in his bones. 

And the cramp-like feeling he acknowledged earlier is more intense. He wonders if he pulled a muscle or bruised himself. There's an ache deep in his lower belly that makes it impossible to stand up straight without yelping out in pain. He's really only moving his arms anymore. And taking baby steps from side to side. And even that little bit takes everything out of him. 

In one misstep, he manages to take out Taehyung and Yoongi in the formation. The song stops abruptly. Jimin and Hoseok help Taehyung and Yoongi off the floor and check for injuries. Thankfully there aren't any. Seokjin rushes to Namjoon's side, having witnessed the incident in the mirror. 

"Sorry, Tae. Sorry, Hyung." Namjoon apologizes, still hunched over and very much out of breath. "My fault." 

Taehyung's quick to brush it off with a swift “no harm done" and gets back into formation. Yoongi goes back to formation as well, ready to start the song over. But he eyes Namjoon suspiciously as he does. Whatever's going on, it seems Seokjin's in on it. 

Seokjin pulls Namjoon off to the side of the studio. He puts a hand on Namjoon's forehead and finds that he's burning up. His fever is way higher than it was back at the dorms. He's surprised it had spiked so much so quickly. "Namjoon-ah, you need to sit down." The older man strongly suggests. 

Namjoon takes a step but winces in pain. He presses his hands over the lower right side of his abdomen. Eventually, he finds his breath, the pain quelled for the time being. "I told you I didn't want to make trouble.” He complains, inching closer to the formation.

Seokjin’s ready to put his foot down about the situation. He’s ready to call a medic and have Namjoon escorted to the dorms, or the clinic if Namjoon’s really not feeling that well. “I really think you should-”

Namjoon cuts him off. “I'll be okay. I can manage." the leader replies through a clenched jaw. 

Seokjin doesn't believe it, not even for a second. They still have hours left of rehearsal. But Namjoon’s old enough to make his own decisions. And he’s wise enough to lead the members to the forefront of the global stage. Clearly, he must know what he’s doing. Seokjin bites his tongue. He does second guess his decision from that morning. Maybe he should have forced Namjoon to stay back at the first sign of illness. What was he thinking?

He comes to the resolution that Namjoon will wear himself out. He’s nearing his limit, then he’d be able to rest peacefully knowing he pushed himself as hard as he could. Seokjin wordlessly vows to pay closer attention to the leader as he hangs on to the last of his energy. To start, he doesn't let Namjoon rejoin the formation until he drinks at least half a bottle of water. He's sweating bullets from the fever. The last thing they need is for him to be dehydrated. 

No one asks any questions when Namjoon rejoins the formation. They can all see he's not at 100%, he’s barely pushing 50%. But Seokjin took care of it, whatever it is. So they unanimously and silently decide to go easy on him. They're all more mindful of their own positioning around Namjoon, making sure there's no further collisions when the leader doesn't move like he's supposed to. 

They're midway through the 15th song when Namjoon bends at the waist and heaves a puddle of water onto the floor. Again, the music stops abruptly but this time the members don't brush it off. Seokjin rushes to Namjoon, easing him to the floor as he continues to vomit heavily onto the polished hardwood. At first it’s just the water he drank. But it soon becomes everything he’s eaten in the last two days. 

"Alright, hyung. What's going on?" Yoongi seethes. He's clearly worried and it's manifesting into anger. "What are you not telling us?" 

Seokjin's rubbing circles into Namjoon's back. The puddle is growing larger by the second. And Namjoon's not showing any signs of slowing down anytime soon. Between heaves, Namjoon’s screeching out in pain, begging for help and relief. Jungkook swoops in with the studio trash bin and puts it under Namjoon's mouth in time for the next heave. He takes over holding onto Namjoon so Seokjin can address the frantic members. 

"He wasn't feeling too well this morning-" Seokjin starts.

"-And you told him to come to rehearsal?" Jimin interrupts, sounding absolutely horrified. It's a very un-Seokjin thing to do. Usually, Seokjin's all about doting on his dongsaengs and making sure they take care of themselves. "You knew he was sick and didn't make him stay back." 

"Jimin-ah, guys, I swear." Seokjin's quick to defend himself, "he didn't seem that sick. His fever was low. And he said he just felt cramps. I assumed it was just morning fatigue and he'd get over it." Seokjin feels the blame of the members, like skewers piercing through his heart 6 times over. He has disappointed his dongsaengs. He let Namjoon down. He crumbles under the weight of his own shame, collapsing onto his knees. He should have been a better hyung. "I didn't know he'd get so sick so fast." He sobs, "I'm sorry. I should have paid better attention." Tears pour freely from his eyes. "I'm so so sorry." 

No one offers Seokjin any sympathy. They all rush to tend to Namjoon. Yoongi noticies the positioning of Namjoon’s hands on his stomach and it triggers flashbacks for him. His mind wanders to their early debut days. He remembers the stomach pains, the fever spikes, and the rolling nausea. He wouldn’t wish that on his worst enemy, and his heart aches thinking it’s happening to his best friend. “He needs to go to the hospital. Right now. I think his appendix burst.” 

Jimin cringes at the mention, also having some residual traumatic feelings around Yoongi’s diagnosis and the pain Namjoon’s experiencing. But Jimin was never this bad. Thankfully, they caught his appendicitis early and were able to remove it before it ruptured. 

Taehyung runs to find a manager and explains the situation. In a matter of minutes, Namjoon is rushed to the hospital. EMTs come to the same conclusion that Yoongi drew and he was rushed to an emergency surgical procedure as soon as the ambulance skids to a stop at the trauma bay. 

Namjoon wakes up an indiscriminate time later in an unfamiliar room. He can’t remember anything after drinking water with Seokjin at practice. There’s clearly some pieces missing. He shifts to take in his surroundings and winces at a fresh pain in his side. When he takes a look, he sees the incision site and six neatly wound stitches holding two pieces of his skin together. Looking at it makes his skin crawl. 

“Hyung, don’t look at it.” Taehyung’s small voice fills the room, drowning out the beeping of the vitals monitor for a short while. Namjoon hadn’t even known the rest of them were in the room. He cranes his neck to look at them, trying to do everything he can to keep his torso still. 

“Welcome back, Joonie-hyung.” Jungkook greets with his wide bunny smile. They’re all huddled in the corner holding balloons, stuffed toys, get well cards, and a treats basket. For after he’s recovered, of course. “How are you feeling?” 

“Hurts,” Namjoon groans, “What happened?”

“Your appendix nearly ruptured.” Yoongi explains, “You had to have surgery to remove it.” 

“Surgery?” Namjoon slurs, glancing back at the scar above his hip. “Was everything okay?” 

Hoseok chuckles fondly, stepping closer to Namjoon. “Everything went fine. You’ll be good as new in a few weeks. You’re pretty lucky, Joonie. You could have really hurt yourself today.” He holds onto one of Namjoon’s hands. “You need to tell someone when you really aren’t feeling well.” 

Namjoon glances in Seokjin’s direction. The older man looks down, avoiding any kind of eye contact. “I did tell someone.” He remarks. The air in the stuffy hospital room fills with tension. 

Jimin feels the tension like an elephant sitting on his shoulders. He corrals the members, Seokjin excluded. “Come on, we should give them some space.” He whispers to the members. But out loud he announces they are going to the cafeteria. He says he’ll pick something up for Seokjin and recalls that this hospital has the best rice pudding for Namjoon. 

Seokjin and Namjoon are left alone in the room. They can both feel the awkward air between them. It’s a few minutes before either of them breaks the silence. 

“Namjoon, I-” 

“Hyung, wha-” 

They both try to speak at the same time. “Sorry, you first.” Seokjin recedes immediately. 

“I told you I didn’t feel good today.” Namjoon scolds, “I told you I didn’t want to make trouble for the group.”

Seokjin bites his tongue. It’s not often that Namjoon speaks to him in a scolding manner. Even though he’s the leader, he’s usually gentler toward the hyungs. Yoongi excluded, those two can go at each other’s throats. He wants to bite back that Namjoon also told him he didn’t want to skip rehearsal. And that he said he’d be fine to continue. But Seokjin knows he’s in the wrong. Everything Namjoon had said to him was muddled with fever and pain. He never should have listened to him. “You’re right, Joonie. I should have taken you to the doctor as soon as you told me you didn’t feel good. This is my mistake.” He admits, daring to move closer. He wants Namjoon’s comfort, though he isn’t sure he deserves it. 

“You said you’d take care of me.” Namjoon’s breath hitches as he continues, wiping at his eyes. He doesn’t cry, but he wants to. Deep down he knows it’s not Seokjin’s fault. Since it was his appendix, he knows he would have ended up in the hospital regardless. Resting for the day wouldn’t have solved anything. But he still hurts. He trusted his hyung to guide him, to take care of him. 

Seokjin doesn’t hesitate anymore, he rushes right in and consoles Namjoon. He rubs the younger’s shoulder gently. “Oh, Namjoon-ah.” He shushes, “I will always take care of you.” Namjoon leans into his hyung’s touch. He shouldn’t take it out on Seokjin. He can never stay mad at his hyung for too long. “I’ll do better. I’ll be with you while you recover, until you’re all better. Promise.” 

Namjoon likes the sound of that, “Hyung, I’m tired.” 

“Then sleep,” Seokjin squeezes himself onto the edge of the hospital bed. He doesn’t jostle Namjoon’s body but manages to wrap an arm around the leader’s shoulders. Namjoon rests his head against Seokjin’s shoulder and falls asleep before the other members return with food.

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