Now that he really thought about it, he supposed he really began to feel unwell a few days prior to the monthly meeting. But being the personification of a nation, his days were filled with governmental obligations and paperwork amongst other things, and hadn't the time to focus on trivial matters such as his health. His body had been weighed down with a sudden fatigue, but he couldn't find it within himself to be concerned about it. Fatigue had been a common symptom associated with 2016 and with living too long. He figured it that once the worse of the jet-lag wore off, he would forget that he felt such exhaustion beforehand.
He had arrived in Berlin five days later after a thirteen-hour flight accompanied with chills, achy joints and a constant ticking in his throat that no amount of coughing would get rid of.
The temperature in the boardroom was a lot hotter than South Korea would have deemed necessary and yet when he glanced around at the faces present at the meeting, there was not one indication of discomfort present on their expressions. Well, obviously something was wrong as he was the only one present with beads of sweat forming and running down his face. Well, as far as he could tell at least. It had been so hard to focus lately, that he just contented himself with resting his eyes on the round white table, and taking in the parts of the multilingual speeches that he could find the energy to focus on. If the language and/or the voice changed, he would glance up for a second or more to see who was speaking before dropping his eyes back to the table.
England was speaking now. He was talking about the refugee crisis again and its implications on Europe though occasionally, he would make a not-so-subtle jab at America's newly elected President. America sticking to true form, would make a loud remark about Brexit, which resulted in Canada kicking America from under the table and France hitting Britain's shoulder to prevent him from getting off-topic. And the cycle would start again. This happened at a minimum of three times before Germany finally stood and ordered England to wrap up his speech and sit down. And then Spain got up and commenced his speech.
Finally, Germany called for a fifteen-minute break. All of the nations at once, stood up, creating a cacophony of chair legs scraping against the hardwood floor. Yong Soo winced and brought a hand to his ear. As Japan pushed himself up, Yong Soo grabbed his arm. Japan turned, seemly annoyed and pulled his arm away.
"Is there something you need Yonsu-san?"
"Is it just me or is it really warm in here?"
"It's just you. There's nothing uncomfortable about the room temperature." He said shortly before resuming his course to Italy and Germany.
Of course it was only him.
He slipped out of the board room and made his way to the bathroom. The restroom contained no one so Yong Soo wasted no time in turning on the faucet on the right and allowing scooping up the water to splash onto his face. Oh how wonderful the cold water was in contrast to his burning face! He felt better already! Tearing a few paper towels from the automatic machine, he wiped his face down, confident that the heat he experienced was only a trick of the mind. As he made his way back to the boardroom however, the could feel the heat begin to settle into his cheeks once more.
Why was he feeling so damn hot? He splashed finger-numbly cold water on his face and he still felt he was sitting beside an oven. He pulled at his collar and eventually unbuttoned the first two buttons of his dress shirt.
Another hour and a half had passed. His head began to throb and his throat felt as if one of 일본's (Japan's) cats had been using it as a scratching post.
Of course, as most meetings concerning the nations of the world, it descended into arguing the many curses being issued to one another in the native tongue of those who issued them. Yong Soo, contrary usual, remained silent in his chair, too occupied with the nausea and his throbbing temple to really think about anything else. He was worried that if he got up or even opened his mouth, what would be his opinion would be replaced by dry heaves and what little breakfast he had would end up on the floor at his feet.
Germany shouted for everyone to be quiet. And it did. For maybe forty-five more minutes before another comment was made by someone else and the yelling erupted again. South Korea was struck by another wave of nausea and in fear of not being able to keep this one down, pushed himself up and in the midst of the chaos, walked — well stumbled — out of the boardroom and back into the bathroom. He threw himself into the first stall and dropped to the floor just as he heaved up the apple and water he ate for lunch. He coughed roughly and heaved once more. This time, a sickly bile came up, colouring the toilet water yellow. The next heaves were dry and resulted only in stomach pain and tears being forced from his eyes. He collapsed against the stall and took in huge gulps of air to bring down his heart rate.
Germany seemed to have gotten the room back under control, as the sounds of varying degrees of profanity had died down. A few heads turned when he entered, but turned back to the current speaker. Japan eyed South Korea sluggishly crossing to his seat and wondered if his tone when speaking him had affected him more than he originally anticipated. He was jet-lagged from his trip to Berlin and generally cranky, as most were. Hence, why the first days of these meetings were usually filled with unfriendly sarcasm and passive-aggressive remarks directed towards one another.
Japan grabbed his pen and jotted down a quick note. He crumpled up the piece of paper and flung it to where Hong-Kong was sitting. The paper ball bounced off his head, pulling Hong-Kong out of…where ever his mind was at. Hong-Kong's head turned right to left before his eyes alighted on the crumpled piece of paper near the right front leg of his chair.
Germany finally disbanded the meeting and it was obvious that many were done with socialization for the day, as many leapt from their seats and made a bolted for the door. Japan watched from afar as Hong-Kong approached South Korea who had yet to move from his seat.
"Yo. The meeting's over. Isn't it time for you to, you know, leave?"
Yong Soo's dark eyes only seemed to be focusing on the plain round table.
"Hey." Hong-Kong waved a hand in front of his face. "Earth to South Korea. Can you hear me?"
Still not response.
"The Republic of Korea!"
Hong Kong seized and shook his shoulder none too gently.
Yong Soo blinked several times before shaking his head and pressing the palm of his hand to his head.
"Oh. Sorry. I guess I was spacing out."
"We're all going out for dinner. Come on."
Yong Soo's stomach did a summersault at the mere mention of food, and he unconsciously rested his hand on it and pushed a smile.
"I think I'll pass on this one." He replied, slipping his arms into his coat.
"But 日本 (Japan) has offered to pay. It's an opportunity for us to order as much food as we want and eat until we're sick."
Yong Soo coughed and masked it as clearing his throat.
"I-I think I'll pass." He repeated, pushing himself up. "I have to go now. Tell him thanks for the offer."
"But 哥哥 (big brother)—"
"I'll see you tomorrow. Enjoy dinner at 일본's expense."
He had a specific list that was created mentally. It was as follows:
Go to hotel room without being stopped.
Take a nice hot shower.
Curl up in pyjamas and surf the internet.
Sleep (hopefully).
"Yong Soo."
Yong Soo stopped on his tracks and released an inaudible groan.
Go to hotel room without being stopped. Failed
He plastered a smile on his face and turned.
"형, what is it?"
"You are aware that we're all going out to dinner."
"Yes."
"Do you still not want to come?"
"I'm not that hungry. I ate before."
"Im Yong Soo denying food." Yao said with a chuckle. "You're not getting ill are you?"
Yao's hand playfully went to touch his forehead, but when Yong Soo intercepted it with a light brush, it occurred to Yao that something might actually be wrong with his litter brother. But loud, boisterous Yong Soo would surely complain of the symptoms he would be experiencing….right? Yao shoved the thought into that back part of your brain where you think the little thought will eventually die. If the symptoms weren't bad enough for Yong Soo to complain of then they couldn't have been that bad to begin with.
"Well, I'll see you tomorrow, I guess."