Shadowside

It can't be canceled now and you don't want to disappoint your fans," says a man around fifty years old sharply. "Yes, but he..." Jae starts again, but Kinn stops him from saying anything else. "Let it go Jae, Minho will be fine, I'm sure of it," he says, his undertone clearly one of concern. The fact that Minho is really not at all well is only made clear when he throws up to the side and Kim can just barely back away. And if Sehun hadn't pulled down his oxygen mask, it would have ended even worse for Minho. "I think it's better if we slowly make our way to the hotel," Sehun says. Everyone present nods. Minho's bodyguard lifts him up. "I'll take him to the bus first, would one of you bring Mr. Leer's things later?". "I'll do that, just bring him to the car whole please," Kim says, running a worried hand through her dark blue hair. Sehun nods and leaves the backstage area with Minho in his arms. The musician leans his head on the shoulder of the younger one, exhausted. He feels more comfortable with him at the moment, although he knows that he shouldn't be. Arriving at the hotel, he takes him to his room and lowers him onto the bed. But when Minho makes no effort to get rid of his stage outfit, Sehun sighs and squats in front of him. The musician lets his good friend undress him, he wouldn't be able to at the moment anyway. Sehun, on the other hand, seems to be a bit embarrassed, as a distinct redness steals into his face, while he tries to keep his expression as normal as possible. After freeing him from his clothes and putting him down properly, he wants to leave, but Minho holds him. "Sehun?". "Yes?". "Please stay here tonight, I don't want to be alone this time", he says softly. Sehun hesitates because this is strictly forbidden for him. "Please." With a heavy sigh he gives in and frees himself from his suit and shoes before lying down in bed next to Minho.

Exhausted, the Korean with the red-black hair floats in the middle of the pool of their property. Every fiber of his body hurts him, because despite his two collapses during their last concerts, he was not given a break. But not only he is completely exhausted, but also Jae, because he also collapsed backstage during their last concert, the others were just before. Since then, Sehun hasn't let him out of his sight for a second, and Minho can't quite deny that he enjoyed the presence of the two years younger. "Min, are you coming out? The others are already waiting for you with the food," says a voice from the edge of the pool. Minho doesn't need to lift his head to know who it is. Sehun is the only one who calls him that. However, he also knows that contradiction is useless with the bodyguard, so he swims to the edge and climbs out. Sehun squints his eyes while giving him the towel to dry off. The older man refrains from commenting on this and goes to change, but he clearly feels Sehun's gaze at his back.

Twenty minutes later, he sits down at the table with Kinn, Jae, Kim, Hyunjin, and Taen. The others don't look too good either. Jae is still pale around the nose, Hyunjin's hair is messily sticking out in all directions, and Taen looks like he's going to fall asleep at any moment. While the others eat in silence, Minho pokes around listlessly in his food, since he threw up all over himself at the last concert and because of the additional stress on his stomach, his appetite is limited. Without saying anything he gets up and goes upstairs to his room, where he takes out a bottle of whiskey from the minibar under the TV and feels the contents in a glass and empties it immediately. Just as he is about to open the second bottle, it is taken out of his hand and placed on the closet in such a way that he can no longer reach it. "Minho, I think that's enough, you've drunk more than enough," says Sehun. The older one obviously disagrees. "Give me back the bottle and then get lost again Sehun," he says sourly. His bodyguard, however, doesn't even think of leaving him alone with the alcohol. "Minho you can't drown yourself in alcohol every time. I know this whole thing is hard, but..." he doesn't get any further because Minho interrupts him. "You know nothing, absolutely nothing! You can't even imagine how hard all this is. No outsider can, who doesn't have to go through the whole thing himself day and night! You don't have to be present 24/7 in public so that none of the fans misses anything. Not to be able to have a break so that the fans can be almost always live with every little thing, no matter what you do! You still have free time, you can do things with your family!", he says and gets louder from word to word. Sehun wants to start talking, but is again prevented from doing so by Minho.