Hello hello! How is everyone? :) My school is out soon, which is exciting. I really liked the concept of this chapter, so yay. It made it easier for me to write. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it! <3

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"Make sure you guys are careful today, especially you, Namjoon." Hoseok tells everyone. They were at rehearsals for a concert in Brazil, and the atmosphere was definitely something they had to get used to. It was hot, and the stage was smaller than usual. It was day one of three in Brazil, and the boys were excited.

That was, up until Namjoon fell sick. Well, he only had a fever, and a cse of body aches. But, that was still enough to be deemed sick for the members. They hovered over him the entire time on the flight, and at the hotel someone was constantly with him. They wouldn't dare leave him alone.

"I will, hyung." Namjoon told the dancer.

"Good. We'll check up on you during intermission, okay?" Their dance instructor informed. When he first looked at the stage, he noticed how oddly the stairs were placed. "Make sure you know where you are, the stairs to get under the stage are in an odd location." He pointed to them.

"Don't back up without looking. Safety comes before the performance, always." Hoseok lectured. His beanie was slipping off his head, so he adjusted it. He turned around, looking at the stair case, hoping nothing would go wrong. He sighed just thinking about all the possibilities.

"Namjoon, if you get dizzy or light headed, signal a member. So they can watch over you, they won't let you fall." Namjoon nodded, but then his head started spinning, his hearing went all weird, almost as if he was partially deaf, so he had to settle down. "Stay hydrated before the show tonight, okay? We'll get you checked by medical staff before you go on. If you're well enough."

Namjoon's face was going red from embarrassment. Or fever. He couldn't tell. He was twenty six, he was almost completely sure he could look after himself. (almost)

"Hyung?" Jungkook waved his hand in front of the leader's face. "Are you even on Earth right now?"

"Oh- yea, I'm fine."

"Are you sure you're feeling well enough?" Yoongi asked him. Namjoon shrugged lightly.

"I'll make it out alive."

Yoongi tried protesting, in fact, everyone did, but Namjoon wasn't having it.

~~~~

Namjoon was trying to be as energetic as possible. But he couldn't help needing to stop every now and then to just stand still, regain his bearings. The crowd was hollering per usual, and the members were having a blast. As the leader, he couldn't help but notice the members underlying concern for him.

He'd gotten a couple nudges and a couple looks from his members, but other than that and the way he felt, the concert was normal. The right audios were being played, and the back up dancers were doing amazing. But for some reason, he had a slight feeling in his gut that this would end horribly.

"Make some noise!" Jimin yelled into his microphone. Namjoon would've slapped him on the face right then and there if he could've. He was so loud. His head ached, and it made him sway on his feet a little bit.

As discreetly as Jimin could be (which is not very if I do say so myself), he noticed Namjoon's instability, and hugged him from the back. It settled and grounded him a bit, and he was secured in the younger's hold. It felt quite nice. He smiled, and gave the crowd a finger heart. The fans awed.

Jimin skipped off to his next target once Namjoon was stable again, just so it wasn't too suspicious.

~~~~

The bright stage lights and strobes every now and then made him want to cry. They had only gotten through four songs, intermission was quite far away. They had changed once, and it was stressful. He was sweating, and he didn't like all the staff members crowding him. It was awkward and uncomfortable.

Everything was a long and tedious task that he did not feel like completing.

When they got back onto the stage, something felt off. The DNA choreography felt way more difficult than it should be. Sure, it was one of their most tiring and advanced choreography with all the foot movements and positions, but he never felt like he would pass out after it.

The stage felt super small. He wasn't watching where he was going. The world was fuzzy, and a great amount of pain was the last thing he experienced before everything went black.

The crowd gasped, his members looked more than just confused. They looked down the stairwell, and there Namjoon was; sprawled out across the stairs. His head was gushing blood, he wasn't moving.

Medical staff were there within seconds. Getting him on a stretcher and pressed a cool cloth against his forehead. Applying a fair amount of pressure.

"Oh shit! Is he okay? What the hell?" Jin shouted. Their ear peices had been disconnected. Jin was trying to get as close to Namjoon as possible, but he was pushed away with each attempt.

"Head injuries bleed much more than any other location, this is expected." One of them said. None of the members knew how he was so calm. "Head trauma, get him to the hospital." The mood had immediately worsened.

Namjoon had opened his eyes. "Namjoonie? Can you hear us?" Hoseok asked. He didn't get a response.

Namjoon could see his mouth moving, but he couldn't hear anything. He was in pain, and he was confused. How was the world so loud earlier, but now he couldn't hear a thing? He was too tired to think about it; he closed his eyes again. "Joon! Stay awake for us!" He couldn't hear how desperate their pleas were.

Jungkook didn't look mentally present. He was just there- staring at his role model. Gushing blood from the head, getting loaded into an ambulance. He was so lost. He hadn't even seen the incident. He was singing on stage, and the next thing he knew he was being pushed down the stairs, and then he saw.

He was absolutely terrified. But the thing was, he couldn't cry, he couldn't shake, he couldn't move over to be with Namjoon physically. All he did was sit there, and that wasn't in his control. He didn't know what was going on, but he didn't enjoy it. Not even for a second. He didn't know what to feel.

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Jin didn't really know what the doctors were doing. He just knew the bleeding had minimized, the area had been cleaned and was currently being stitched up. Namjoon would be okay. They just needed to do some brain scans to check for any sign of brain damage -which Jin could totally understand- then he could go home.

No one had dared to make a joke about Namjoon being clumsy. No one dared to even smile. No one dared to talk. The concert had been cut short, and army was spamming twitter and youtube, weverse and every platform. What had happened to Namjoon?

Their manager was trying to write a statement out to post, but to do that he had to wait until they got more information about his condition. Right now, all they had was that he had experienced head trauma.

"Is he okay?" Jungkook questioned. He hadn't known anything about the situation really, all of this was a lot for him.

"He'll be okay."

~~~~

"Namjoon, we are ready to do your brain scans. We'll do an MRI, and then if you're cleared, you can go home. Alright?" A nurse spoke to him. She made sure to keep her voice low, because his head was bound to hurt.

Namjoon didn't respond or nod, he just looked around, confused. "I cand weer yoou!" He shouted. It was clear enough to understand, but he couldn't hear the sounds he was making or how clear his pronunciation was.

"Namjoon hyung?" Jungkook was worried.

"Okay, we need to get him in for some scans." She started wheeling Namjoon out of the room. His face was scrunched up as if he was about to cry. He was so confused, and in so much pain, that he did cry. Jin wanted to hold him tightly and never let go, but they had to figure out what was going on.

"Hyung!" He called out, he didn't know where they were taking him. "Help!" He didn't know much of anything. His head was pounding, he couldn't hear anything, and he didn't know where he was or where he was going. This strange woman is trying to drag him out of his hyung's and maknae's sight. Everything was so confusing.

The nurse didn't bother explaining him what she was doing. The doctor didn't bother either. And even thorough he wouldn't be able to physically hear them, he would appreciate it. So it didn't feel like he was some sort of lab animal getting an experiment ran on them. Any sort of sound would make him feel a little less afraid. But he just couldn't hear anything.

The machine was supposed to be loud, he knew that. But when he went inside, he heard absolutely nothing. It was odd, and scary. The machine spun around him, and for a few seconds we was distracted. Because it looked so cool. But soon enough he was reminded of the reality and extent of the situation.

He had stopped crying by now, but he was still petrified, and it was quite clear. Jungkook didn't want to alarm the leader, but he went to give him a giant hug anyway. Namjoon felt safe there. In the arms of someone he trusts.

The doctors didn't know what was going on with Namjoon. There was only one reasonable answer, and even that wasn't completely satisfying. Not knowing was sometimes a blessings. And sometimes it was a nightmare.

Jin sat anxiously, waiting for the moment where he could hug Namjoon and hold him in his arms again. There were times Jin could remember quite vividly; Namjoon having things quite representative to a breakdown, where he couldn't take it any longer. He remembers holding him like he was a young child again, like he was his little brother.

Times like then were confusing. He loved being there for their leader, and being a source of comfort for him. But he never liked to see him like this. It was odd. Jin remembered how being the leader of this new group got to him. It was devastating to watch. He would hide away for as long as possible, and then when no more emotion could fit in the suitcase, all would go tumbling down.

Jin wouldn't trade their relationship for the world.

Jungkook loved his leader. He was his role model, he wanted to be just like him. If RM wasn't RM, Jungkook wouldn't be Jungkook. And that's something he couldn't lie about. Most things the leader did were truly inspiring, and his use of words -both Korean and English- really encouraged Jungkook to strive to become his best self. He liked that about them both; they could always push each other.

Namjoon was scared. Very, very scared. He didn't know what was happening to him, why his head hurt, and why he couldn't hear anything.

"We are going to conclude it as SSHL. There is nothing wrong with his scans, it could be caused by his head trauma. That's always a cause of it. As for cures, we are lucky we caught it early. We can give him corticosteroids. He'll take them through an inhaler every morning."

"What do they do?"

"This is most likely a cause of an inflammation, so this will reduce the swelling in his ears. If that's not the case, you can come back for further treatment. Check every day, because if we wait too long, his hearing is very unlikely to return." He looked at Namjoon when he spoke, even though he wouldn't be able to hear him.

A nurse went to retrieve the inhaler while he spoke.

"Thank you," The inhaler was a teal color, and looked just like one for asthma. "Do you know hoe to use one?" He aimed the question at anyone in the room. They all had medical training, and Jin just so happened to know how to use it. "Good, once every morning. Nothing more, nothing less." Jin nodded.

Namjoon didn't know what was going on. He saw an inhaler, and was very confused. Thankfully, the doctor wrote it down on a piece of paper for him.

"Oh." Namjoon said after reading it. Jungkook grabbed a sheet of paper for himself, and a pencil.

You'll be okay.

Namjoon smiled.

~~~~

When they got home, Namjoon went straight to bed. "Namjoon? Namjoon? Is he okay?" Jimin asked. All the members at home had been far past worried. They had left shortly after Namjoon was admitted to the hospital, and checked in. It was nearly midnight.

"He can't hear."

"He can't what? Why?"

"I'm not sure Jimin. They said it's possible to fix."

"And if it isn't?"

"I don't know."

~~~~

It had been a month. Namjoon had gained his hearing in his left ear, his right one was still completely deaf. He had gone to the hospital again and gotten new medication, but it wasn't working. He was going to have to accept the fact that he was partially deaf.

They were hoping for a happy ending. But unfortunately, it doesn't work like that every time. Since his hearing loss was caused due to head trauma, he couldn't have surgery to fix it. He would be partially deaf forever. There was no longer a cure.

He would get hearing aids soon, and maybe it would make him feel what some would call, 'normal'. But Namjoon knew, even with his hearing aids, he would never return to his old self again.

That incident had truly changed his life.

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I did it! I know I already said this but I really like this one. It has to be one of my favorite I've written so far. Thanks for reading it! <3

~Taehyung requests open~