The whole studio was tense. It was a very important day, but also one that already screamed disaster. Today, Jin would have to interview Taehyung and Jimin.

Live.

The two of them had gotten very popular very quickly and now other news stations wanted them for an exclusive interview. They only agreed to Namjoon's request, out of gratitude for their previous jobs. When the director had told Jin about it, the anchor locked them in a room for an hour. Nobody knew what they had done in there. Nobody really wanted to know.

For now, everything was fine. Jin and his two interviewees hadn't met yet, they prepared in different rooms, for the sake of world peace. Namjoon had tried to warn Jin to behave at every opportunity he could. And even though Jin seemed willing, there was this hint of sarcasm that the director couldn't quite accept. He sounded like he was preparing for murder.

"Please play nice", he told him in a low voice. Jin straightened his back. Namjoon was taller between them, yet he felt like his employee was looking down on him.

"Oh, believe me", Jin said in a way too cheerful voice, "I will be nice."

Then, he walked away to fix his makeup. Namjoon shivered where he stood, he had a bad feeling about this.

Now everything was ready. The interview was supposed to start in five minutes. The curtains that covered the front of the dressing booths moved, Jimin, Taehyung and Jin stepped out at the same time. Both parties stopped when they noticed each other's presence.

Tae and Jin kept a neutral expression. Nothing hinted at either their previous friendship nor Jin's current bashing mood on every bit of media he could access. This time he remembered to be anonymous. Only Jimin seemed to be nervous. Finally, Jin gave a blinding smile and continued towards the already set up stage, taking his seat

The two models followed with a slightly confused expression, sitting down on a couch across from him.

One final check and Yoongi counted down, signalling the start of the live interview.

Jin took a deep breath, turned towards the camera and once again smiled so wide Namjoon's cheeks hurt from watching.

"Good afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen. Today, I have the honour to ask a few of our viewers' questions to two rising stars in the modelling world. I present to you, Kim Taehyung and Park Jimin. It is a real pleasure to have you, thank you for coming here, even though you are very busy"

Jaws dropped, some dramatic gasps could be heard in the background. Never in all the years of Jin working as an anchor had he actually stuck to the script. Especially when he felt a personal connection to the topic. Namjoon just stared in terror. There was no way Jin would be this polite without having something dirty up his sleeves.

On the stage, Jimin seemed to be surprised but pleased. His expressions were for some reason repeatedly shown by a very enthusiastic Yoongi, who gave him plenty of screen time. Tae appeared to be more on guard. He gave a slightly tight-lipped smile and chirped back. "Oh no, it is fine. We are glad to have this opportunity."

Jin's demeanour didn't change at all, he kept his overly friendly smile.

"So glad to hear that. Can I offer you something to drink? I know you've always been very thirsty. We have water and cof...Wait, I am so sorry, we don't have coffee anymore."

His gaze flickered to Jimin, who now seemed a lot less comfortable. Taehyung took over again and Namjoon started shuffling through his signs frantically. He knew exactly which one he would need. Anger started rising in the director's chest. Why couldn't they act like professional adults just for once?

"No thank you, we had something to drink before we came here. I know how thirsty you have always been, I can imagine that remained the same. So why don't we just start with the questions?", Tae asked through gritted teeth.

"Of course we can, anything you wish. The first question is..." Jin took a look at his cards, "This one is for Taehyung. Do you miss being an anchor? You could actually voice out your opinion there instead of just having to look pretty."

Tae's smile turned icy.

"What an interesting question to ask. I wonder who picked the questions?"

The interviewer shrugged. "I don't know. But there were just so many, I am afraid the...less exciting ones got sorted out."

"Aaah too bad. Let me answer this then. Being an anchor was wonderful and I loved working with everyone in the team. That is," Taehyung leaned back in his chair, "apart from this one guy. I am quite sure you know who I am talking about."

Namjoon raised the sign he had been looking for. 'Tae, no! Don't provoke him please.' But he got ignored. Just as usual. His annoyance grew.

"The guy I mean, he was always bitchy. Very rude to everyone. Couldn't stick to the script or research the things he was supposed to. And most of all, he couldn't accept the fact that he was neither good or pretty enough to get a contract with..."

Jin had enough, he rose from his seat. "Just stop."

He turned to the camera. "Just so everyone knows, our beloved director is waving signs at us. Yes, I can see your 'calm down please', but you know what? I don't care! I will not sit here, just so an incompetent good for nothing brat insult me on my own show!"

He took a deep breath to continue his rant. Namjoon snapped, he was done. With a few brisk steps he was in front of the stage and gave a short signal to Yoongi and the audio team. "Commercial break!"

He grabbed Jin's arm and pulled him off the stage and into the seclusion of his office.

Not business as usual at BT21.

——————————————————AN: That's it for now since it's getting late here.
You can probably guess what's coming in the next chapter...