Sorry for the scientific chapters. Now we'll come back to emotions.

><

Jimin focus

It was the last day before the next fitness test (a Sanday how their V liked to call it), and Hoseok was draining them. Everyone was wheezing, and the floor was covered in drops of sweat. Not that the crew did not look hot with the thin black shirts that were glued to their trained bodies, it just was extraordinarily exhausting. And the sight did not make it any better.

The music was blasting from the speakers and Hoseok made them do a choreography of fighting moves to get the non-combat part of the crew used to it, but in a pace that even the soldiers had problems following. The captain called it Tae Bo. Jimin called hit torture. His muscles were burning, and he did not know how to breath properly. He was either too fast and close to hyperventilation, or too slow and feeling like he would black out every second. Either way he had stars dancing in front of his eyes.

"HOW MANY TIMES?" Hoseok shouted over the much too fast music with 160 beats per minute.

Oh yeah, there was this counting thing that annoyed the hell out of everyone. The captain would make them count backwards from eight to one, apparently to motivate them, but on most of them it had the reversed effect. Yoongi as an example looked like he wanted to punch the brunette in the face. If his arms would not burn like hell, that was.

"YOONGI! HOW MANY?" Hoseok shouted at the white-haired. The Switcher denied counting. "COME ON! EIGHT! SEVEN-"

"SHUT UP!" Yoongi snapped at the captain, "Just shut your fucking mouth!"

Shocked silence overpowered the loud music while everyone just stared at the picture of the captain and the pilot standing in front of each other, looking like they were about to rip each other's throat. But though Hoseok's posture was that of a taut bow, he looked more like he did not understand what was happening.

From the corner of his eyes, Jimin saw Taehyung tapping against the wall to open the menu for the gym so he could dim down the music without talking to Bang. This seemed serious when even the V tried to make no sound. Jimin pulled his gaze away from the trained body of the pilot to concentrate on the two opponents on the other side of the room.

"Have you ever given the idea that this program could be unhealthy one little thought?" Yoongi asked and his voice sounded like his throat was sore. "What you expect us to do is a training that only soldiers can complete. If you had just any knowledge of how the body works, you would know that this is doing no good. And if anyone of you-" he looked around the room, "-had read the trainings plan completely, you would have noticed that Bang knew this. But of course, no-one reads the footnotes! And apparently Bang has no algorithm that makes him point out such facts, but maybe that's just because this is a damn military ship, and soldiers just love to overdo it." The pale man was raging. "I'm done!" His voice cracked. "I tried for the sake of the team and myself, but I can't do this any longer. Not like this."

And with that the pilot turned around and headed for the exit. Everyone looked after him with stunned faces. Was he not supposed to stay calm as a Switcher? Well, apparently, even the calmest person gets annoyed after some time.

"What the fuck happened?" Jimin asked into the room, after the white-haired had disappeared. He looked towards Taehyung. Maybe the V knew more about this, after all, he was very close to the co-pilot. But the man just shrugged and looked worried. Jimin turned towards Hoseok again who still stood at the same spot, arms crossed in front of his chest and eyebrows furrowed.

"I understand why you're doing this," he said calmingly. Hoseok had been pushed from the role of the captain on a diplomatic mission into the role of a military officer on a giant battlefield. He feared for his soldiers.

The brunette looked at him with steady eyes, but the way he bit down on his inner cheeks was an obvious sign of how much this little speech had affected him.

"I guess we should end the lesson and grant everyone a break before tomorrow's test," Jin suggested.

Hoseok just nodded and left the gym without a word.

The rest looked at each other unsure of how to act. Situations like this had to come with seven people living on this little space and with a training this draining. But knowing this did not make it less uncomfortable and the unpleasant tension any more bearable.

"Let's go shower," Jin suggested and the others followed him.

><

Jimin tapped the bell sign. When Hoseok's door opened for him, he found a confused brunette on the other side.

"I want to dance with you," he just said and the captain blinked in surprise, "Meet me in the gym in five."

Then he left to get ready himself. He had made this decision after discussing a new plan with Bang for an hour, taking everyone's problems and inconveniences into consideration. Now, Hoseok was the only one who needed to be persuaded to change his soldier training. But the man was reasonable, so Jimin saw no problem in that. The problem he saw was that the captain and he had no bond that would make them talk in a pleasant atmosphere of tolerance and acceptance. He still was just the passenger, though the brunette did his best to not make him feel that way.

But he would change that this evening even with every muscle hurting in his body. It was for the sake of the crew, and especially for Jungkook. He should have done this much earlier to prevent the raven from taking a pill every evening after their work-out. He had checked on the youngest from time to time to monitor if he took the pills, but apart from that he had been a coward and did not talk to Hoseok, though he had seen how his friend was suffering.

When he entered the gym, Hoseok was already there and music was playing. The captain was warming up in front of the mirror.

"I didn't know you were dancing, too," the brunette said and looked at Jimin through the mirror.

"I haven't done it for a while," he replied. "But when I saw you dance I felt the urge to dance with you." He smiled.

This was still awkward, and Hoseok's face showed him that the other felt the same, but Jimin was sure they could break the ice.

"Did you dance street style, too?" the captain asked.

"Just a little bit. I did ballet and contemporary most of the time," he answered and gained a surprised look from the older.

"Impressive."

Jimin smiled. "Let's see what's left from back then," he just commented and joined in warming up.

Fifteen minutes later, he tried his first moves. It had been a long time since he had last danced, but with such an intense training like he had had back in his teenage days, there was no way to forget what his body had learned.

From his peripheral vision he could see Hoseok looking at him attentively while doing some of his own moves.

"Show me what you got," he said playfully when he felt warmed-up and grinned at the older.

><

https://youtu.be/zvpdQxtBhPM

https://youtu.be/3hnQNZcaoWk

><

Exhausted but happy they slumped down on the wooden floor and stared at the ceiling.

"This was great," Jimin laughed and brushed the sweaty hair out of his forehead.

"Agreed," Hoseok replied and let out a long sigh. "When did you start dancing?"

"When I was four, I think. My mom made me go to ballet lessons because she thought that grace was essential for being a good diplomat." He knew his voice sounded a little bitter, but he could not change that. His mother always evoked a sickening feeling in his stomach.

"Your mom wanted you to be a diplomat from the beginning?" the captain asked.

"Yeah. She was one, and most Charmers were, so she made me become one too, though I always was much more interested in studying artificial intelligence," he answered.

"I'm sorry," the brunette suddenly said and turned towards him, "I was an asshole towards you."

Jimin snorted amused. "Yes, indeed."

Hoseok chuckled. "I guess I deserve that rude reply."

"I'm willing to forgive you, if you lend me an attentive ear," Jimin said lightly. He finally had made a connection to the brunette.

"Of course. What's bothering you?" Hoseok asked and sat up.

Jimin copied him and gathered his thoughts. "Yoongi's outburst made me think about our program again, and I talked with Bang about possible changes in the training to help Yoongi as well as Jungkook."

"Jungkook?" the captain asked with raised eyebrows.

"He's taking pills against inflammation every evening to calm his injured lung," Jimin explained and saw Hoseok pale. He was sorry for bringing it to the man so bluntly.

"I didn't know," the older said shocked.

"I found out by coincidence as well," Jimin explained, "I'm sure he wouldn't have told anyone."

Hoseok nodded knowingly and lowered his eyes to the floor.

"However," the younger continued, "Bang and I thought that an interval training would be optimal."

After some seconds of silence, Hoseok understood that it was his turn to talk. "What exactly do you have in mind?" he asked.

"Something like switching between the functional training or Tae Bo and muscle training. Like warm-up is fifteen minutes Tae Bo, then a round of muscle training for the legs, then back to half an hour Tae Bo, after that another round of muscle training for the arms and upper body, and functional training on another day. This gives Jungkook's lung some time to calm down in-between two sessions, and everyone else would appreciate that, too, I guess. Moreover, it simulates a battle much better than a two-hours-power-work-out," Jimin summed up his plan.

"That doesn't sound bad," Hoseok agreed, "But you forgot the combat training." The brunette looked at him as if he expected a solution for that.

"No problem," Jimin said, "Then we'll do combat and functional training on the other day. I'd say we do a one-day break between the training days. Normally, two days are suitable for a break for people without a regular training background, but I guess we don't have time to waste."

Hoseok thought for a moment. "No, we can do the two-day break for the next three weeks and then process with the one-day version."

Jimin was surprised. He would not have guessed that the captain would agree that easily, but, apparently, he had a wrong idea of the man.

"So, it's settled," the captain said and stood up, "Bang, change our training plans like we discussed. Thank you Jimin." The brunette smiled sincerely.

"No problem," Jimin replied and smiled back.

"Ah, one more thing. Well, two," Hoseok said and stopped in turning around to leave, "How can I make it up to Yoongi?"

Jimin chuckled, "Just tell him the truth. He'll understand."

Hoseok nodded seemingly in thought.

"What's the second thing?" he asked the captain.

"We should dance together more often." Hoseok grinned widely. "Good night, Jimin."

>><<