The hotel room is oddly silent as Jungkook dresses Taehyung for his interview the next morning.

Jungkook doesn't feel comfortable breaking the silence and Taehyung is too lost in his own head to even notice how uncomfortable it is.

    "There you go." Jungkook says when he finishes dressing the model. "Look."

Taehyung turns to the mirror hanging on the wall near the bathroom and looks himself over. "Thanks, Kook."

Jungkook nods, smiling softly. "You look nice."

    "Thank you." The pinkette says, going to the bathroom to do his makeup.

Jungkook tidies the room before sitting down on the bed and waiting.

He had gotten dressed before coming over so all he had to do was get Taehyung ready.

When Taehyung returns his hair is styled and his makeup is done, it brings the look together Jungkook thinks.

Jin knocks on the door at exactly 11:45am as he promised he would.

    "Come on, Kook." Taehyung says grabbing his phone and keycard.

Jungkook follows Taehyung out of the hotel room where Jin stands to take them down to the car.

Even the car ride is oddly silent, like everyone is afraid to say anything.

Jungkook offers Taehyung his hand and the other takes it without thought.

When they get to the location of the interview there are reporters standing around outside.

Taehyung just sighs, releasing Jungkook's hand before climbing out.

    "Taehyung!"

Jungkook flinches a little at the unnecessary aggressiveness of the reporters.

They ask the same questions they always do, except for a few that want to know about Taehyung's relationships with his crew.

Those questions almost make Jungkook want to roll his eyes but he doesn't.

When they get inside they are greeted by a few people with huge smiles and friendly attitudes.

Taehyung wears the same business smile he always wears when he doesn't want to actually smile.

    "You're being interviewed by Mrs. Kang this afternoon, Mr. Kim. If you would follow me this way." A guy says before walking off and expecting them to follow.

They are led to a set where there are two chairs surrounded by lights and a few homey touches to make the interview look more domestic.

    "Mr. Kim." A woman says approaching them with a smile. "I've heard such good things about you."

"Have you?" Taehyung asks with an obviously fake laugh as he shakes her hand.

"I've been wanting to interview you for some time now, I'm very excited." Mrs. Kang says, completely oblivious of Taehyung's facetiousness.

"Can't wait." Taehyung says, his tone still not serious.

Mrs. Kang laughs. "We'll start in five."

Taehyung nods and the woman walks off.

"You okay?" Jungkook asks, patting Taehyung's back reassuringly.

The pinkette nods, trying to smile at Jungkook but it looks forced.

"Right this way, Mr. Kim." A different guy says before leading Taehyung to his seat.

They powder Taehyung up and get the cameras in order before Mrs. Kang takes her seat and the interview begins.

Taehyung's expression is blank, not interested or uninterested, just neutral.

"We're rolling in 3, 2..."

"Good evening and welcome back to Motion Times. I'm joined here with a very special guest who agreed to do an in depth interview with me today. Not only is he the face of one of the most successful model agencies in Seoul, the top paid, and the most controversial, he is the most desirable model in the industry. Welcome, Kim Taehyung."

The camera cuts to a wider frame where Taehyung is shown sitting across from Mrs. Kang.

"Thank you." Taehyung says with a small smile.

"Thank you for being here." Kang says.

"No, thank you for having me." The pinkette says politely.

Mrs. Kang smiles at him before continuing with the interview. "Now, Taehyung. The media is absolutely obsessed with you. There's always new information about you out there almost every day. Wether it's fake news or real news people go crazy over it. Teens, young adults, and even adults like myself are always excited to hear or see what's new in the life of Kim Taehyung."

Taehyung chuckles, waiting for her to get to the point.

"But unfortunately, all the news isn't good news." She says. "Recently your ex and former stylist Jung Hoseok came out and did an interview with Glimmer on the hardships of being in a relationship with you. How'd that make you feel?"

Taehyung chuckles again, probably just a nervous tic. "Well I mean, if most of the things he said weren't lies I'd be fine."

"Are you saying he's lying?" Mrs. Kang asks.

"I'm not saying he's lying completely, I'm saying that it wasn't one sided and I don't think the blame should be placed solely on me, or even him for the relationship's toxicity. We were both equally at fault." Taehyung answers.

"What was that relationship like from your point of view?"

"It was like any other relationship but with two people who couldn't stand each other. How am I supposed to elaborate on that?" The pinkette smiles, his tone semi annoyed.

"He mentioned your alcoholism and that was also something that was related to you being cut from your former label, correct?"

"Yes." Taehyung nods.

Jungkook gets nervous after this question, he senses Taehyung's guard coming up and it worries him.

"He referred to you as an alcoholic multiple times within the article, do you think you're an alcoholic?"

Taehyung hums, thinking about the question before answering. "Now, I wouldn't. But then, when I was still in a relationship with him I was."

"But you've since gotten better?" Mrs. Kang asks.

"Yes." Taehyung chuckles again.

"I'm glad to here that." Kang smiles. "Since you mentioned that Mr. Jung wasn't completely truthful about his statements about you, may I ask which statements were untrue?"

"You may." Taehyung says, nodding for her to continue.

"Mr. Jung in the article said that you, quote, 'manipulate and control your staff.'" Kang says. "Is that statement true?"

    "Not at all." Taehyung says shaking his head. "I have a good relationship with my staff and I have no reason to manipulate them or control them."

    "So you have never pressured or forced anyone who works or you to perform acts for your benefit or pleasure?" Mrs. Kang asks.

    "No, I haven't." Taehyung answers, forcing himself to stay calm and collected.

    "In his interview Mr. Jung stated that your attitude changed when you got signed to your former label. You started drinking and~"

"That's not true." Taehyung says with a nonchalant smile. "Continue."

"Do you think you got a bit of a big head once you were signed and started to act differently towards Mr. Jung, resulting in the change in your relationship?"

"No, there was no change in our relationship." Taehyung says. "We weren't good for each other from the beginning. But we were young, both entering an industry we knew nothing about, and we were scared that things weren't going to take off. I think we found comfort in being together but we mistook that comfort for something else."

"Did you ever use your relationship to your advantage at work?"

"No." Taehyung answers. "We were better off as friends I think. But once things were "official" or whatever that's when the change occurred if there was one. But I never manipulated him or made it seem like he had to be with me. I'm not that kind of person."

"Were you in other relationships with other staff members while you were seeing Mr. Jung?" Mrs. Kang asks.

Taehyung chuckles again, his eyes rolling slightly. "No, contrary to popular belief, I never had any personal relations with anyone I worked with apart from him."

Jin sighs, nervously wiping his hands on his pants.

    "And you've never had personal relationships with any of your producers or directors I suppose?" Mrs. Kang asks.

    "I haven't." Taehyung answers, crossing one leg over with a sigh.

    "You claim to have never had personal relations with anyone other than Mr. Jung, correct?" Mrs. Kang, Taehyung nods. "Mr. Jung mentioned that you had a rather close relationship with your current stylist Jeon Jungkook. There have been pictures of you two together outside of the work setting and it makes me wonder if your relationship with Mr. Jeon is strictly business."

    "I'm a person, right?" Taehyung asks.

    "Well, yes. You are." Mrs. Kang laughs.

Taehyung nods. "Alright. I'm glad we made that clear. You're a person, right?"

    "I am."

    "As people we have our work life and our personal life. And naturally, some of the people in our work lives are also involved in our personal lives, yes?" Taehyung asks, Kang nods. "What's the difference between me having work friends and you having work friends?"

    "The difference is our pasts." Mrs. Kang says.

    "That's understandable, but I don't see why my personal life is your business, or anybody's business for that matter." Taehyung says. "With that being said, I prefer to keep my personal life private. Like any person would. And I expect that to be respected."

    "So there is no relationship between you and Jeon Jungkook?" Mrs. Kang asks.

    "Was I speaking in a different language just a second ago? Did you not understand me?" Taehyung asks, his tone light but still he gets his point across.

Mrs. Kang chuckles. "We'll move on to the next segment of questions."

    "Please, do." Taehyung chuckles.

The rest of the interview hits on small controversial issues that Taehyung was involved in before hitting on plans for the future before it comes to an end.

After the cameras stop rolling Taehyung and Mrs. Kang say their final goodbyes, both being extremely cordial.

    "Let's get the fuck out of here." Taehyung huffs walking past Jungkook and Seokjin.

    "You did a great job, Tae. You answered each question very maturely." Jin says as they follow him out.

    "The bullshit people come up with." The pinkette says shaking his head. 

When they get outside there are reporters taking pictures and asking questions but what catches Taehyung's eye is a group of teenagers standing near their car.

    "Taehyung! I'm such a huge fan, can I have your autograph?" One girl says.

Taehyung smiles as he takes her pin and the picture of him he had. "What's your name?"

    "Layla, I love you so much." She says, tears of joy in her eyes.

    "Aw, I love you too." The pinkette says handing her back her picture.

    "Taehyung, can you sign mine too?"

Taehyung takes his time signing autographs for the fans, ignoring the reporters that are still asking him questions.

    "Please stay healthy and take care of yourself." One boy says with tears in his eyes. "You're my biggest role model and I always want you to be happy."

Taehyung smiles. "I'll take care of myself if you take care of yourself."

The boy nods, bowing. "I will."

    "Promise." Taehyung says holding his pinky out.

    "I promise." The boy says, more tears filling his eyes as he links his pinky with Taehyung's.

The pinkette smiles softly before pulling away and ruffling the young boy's hair.

    "You guys take care."  Taehyung tells the group before getting in the car.

They wave goodbye to the car as it drives off, everyone teary eyed and star struck.

Not as star struck as Jungkook though.

    "You looked good out there, Tae." The younger says.

Taehyung smiles, winking at him. "Thank you."

Jin smiles softly, even after all the negative tabloids and things released about Taehyung he was still able to bring positivity and inspiration to his younger audience.

Truly, nothing can stop him.

🖤🖤🖤