“CHEER UP, DO YOUR BEST!
THE MORE I HEAR THEM, THE MORE DEMOTIVATED I FEEL.
I'M ALREADY TRYING MY BEST.
I'M SUPPOSED TO DO MORE THAN MY BEST?”

“He put drugs in your cigarette?”

Seokjin nodded his head as a reply to Hoseok's question.

“You didn’t feel it?”

“I did. I tasted something odd. But I didn’t really figure it out with one poof.”

After their emotional reunion in the meeting room, the members took the whole day off to spend the rest of the day with Seokjin. They assembled in Namjoon's house without his permission since his house was the closest to the company building.

He wasn't aware of the fact that his friends didn’t know the whole truth about his scandal. They were told that he was found dealing with drugs along with one of his friends. That’s all the company told them. Even Manager Yu Beom didn’t share anything with them.

So all seven of them gathered in Namjoon's living room and caught up with one another, eventually leading to the topic of the scandal. Their questions kept coming one after one.

Yoongi sipped his wine. “But I don't understand how they still managed to charge you. You were never involved in that sort of thing.”

“Lack of evidence from my side. Yes, the police didn’t find any history of drug dealing in my life but they did find some in my body. That was the proof they needed to accuse me.”

“Did they ever catch that guy?” Jimin seemed sad.

He shook his head. Every time he was reminded of that man who destroyed his life, he felt a surge of anger, wanting to put his hands around his neck.

Jungkook let out a loud sigh. “How could this happen to you, Hyung?”

He had no answer for his little brother. Indeed how could that happen to him? The incident had been like an unanticipated storm that left devastation in its wake.

“After you were sent to the military,” Namjoon began to speak, holding his glass. “The company considered terminating your contract. They had that discussion with Bang Si Hyuk Hyung but he wasn't entirely on board with the idea. We had to beg them to change their mind. Then the CEO came up with this massive plan to have all of us debut individually, release solo albums, and fulfil our military service in exchange for your eventual return to the team.  He made a deal with us that if we do what he says, he will not fire you.”

Taehyung added, "They also forbade us from contacting you. CEO Shin believed it was best for our careers if we distanced ourselves from you. What a bastard!"

“Language, Tae.” Hoseok reminded the other.

Seokjin also had no idea the company restricted them from contacting him and set up rules for them. Turned out, he wasn’t the only one suffering from the incident.

But he could no longer dwell in the past. The darkness in his mind would not erase the light he carried in his heart. Not anymore.

He looked at Jungkook and smiled mischievous. “Well, we got some good things out of everything. For example, Jungkook finally got to shoot his videos with girls.”

The others laughed lightly, except the youngest.

“Why are you only picking on me? Are we all gonna pretend Namjoon hyung didn’t have a wife and a daughter in his music video?” Jungkook retorted excellently.

Namjoon blushed. "Guys, the director thought it suited the song. No need to tease me about it."

While the others still teased him, he had to defend himself by shifting the focus to someone else. “At least I didn’t have any girls touch my body!”

Jimin looked more offended than he was supposed to. He even pointed his finger at the leader to look dramatic but ended up smiling. He could never control his smiles. “Hyung, how can you say that? I didn’t ask them to touch me. It was the choreographer's idea!”

“You enjoyed it though.” Hoseok clapped his shoulder and laughed brightly.

“I did not!” The lead vocalist whined. “Yoongi hyung, please say something. These guys are being mean to me.”

Yoongi was already half-asleep on the couch. “I think we are all forgetting the real womanizer in this room.”

Everyone automatically turned to Taehyung, who was eating a bag of chips all by himself. He stopped munching and gaped at them innocently.

“What?”

“And he doesn't even share!” Jimin complained before snatching the packet away from his friend and checking inside. “Like I expected, it's empty.”

Hoseok smirked at Taehyung. “So V-ssi, how did it feel to work with one of the most beautiful women in our country?”

Taehyung scoffed and straightened up. “You met with IU too, Hyung! Even Suga hyung worked with her. Twice!”

“But you married her.” Seokjin's comment earned a thumbs-up from Jungkook.

“It was just a music video! She requested me and so I—”

“Hey, Jimin, do you wanna act out how Tae was touching IU?”

Hoseok didn’t have to ask twice because Jimin was already on his foot. “I've been wanting to act that out. Hobi hyung, you be Tae and I'll be her.”

Taehyung gasped. “Are you two actually gonna—”

The main dancers were already wrapping their arms around each other lewdly, mimicking the wedding scene in the music video, and singing out some parts of the song playfully. The other members laughed as loud as possible.

“Oh my God Taehung Oppa, do you want to kiss me? I would die for your lips on mine.” Jimin used the best of his feminine voice.

“If you will have me, Miss IU, I shall kiss you until you are dead.” And Hoseok deepened his voice to sound like Taehyung.

Yoongi started throwing cushions at them out of cringe, Namjoon glared at the audacity of the lead rapper and put the cushions back. Jungkook was the only one cheering for them.

Taehyung was too embarrassed to speak and ended up covering his mouth to stifle his laughter.

The wonderful joy and playful energy BTS carried with them everywhere they went, being silly and happy with one another was a core feeling Seokjin had truly forgotten. Each member represented a world in him; a world that was not born until they arrived, and it was only by their meeting years ago that a new world was born.

The world of Bangtan.

Each member had their own individuality and they never expected each other to conform to any standard. Instead, they embraced their uniqueness so that they could understand each other's world a little better. They formed a bond like family in their own way and perhaps one of the significant reasons his heart had stayed broken all this time was because he was away from his family.

He didn’t realize he was laughing. Not like chuckling or laughing lightly; it was his old windshield-type laughter that echoed around the room. This was something truly magical. He thought he had lost that part of him. The truth was this part of him had always stayed among their members.

The seven of them chatted the whole night long. Sometimes, they reminisced about their special moments and teared up a little; sometimes, they laughed like animals. In the end, the seven of them placed their hands together and swore to never let anyone or anything separate them ever again. They promised to be together, no matter what the future held for them.

Namjoon decided to finish first. “Alright everyone, it's late now. You should all go back to your—”

“Actually I was thinking of staying the night, Hyung,” Taehyung interrupted him with a yawn.

The leader was about to decline but his best friend exclaimed, “Good idea, V! Why don't we all stay here tonight? It's been a long time since we had a sleepover!”

“I'm in!” Jungkook and Jimin chanted together.

Namjoon was flabbergasted by their plan. “Guys, this is not a hotel. Go back to your own apartments!”

“Hey Namjoon, I'm taking the guestroom.” Yoongi saluted everyone before navigating towards the spare bedroom.

“Hyung, what did I just say? You can't—”

“Suga hyung, I want to sleep with you!” Jungkook took a pillow and ran after him.

“No way! You snore too much. Get away from me!” Yoongi locked the door.

“Hyung, let me in! Aish, what's wrong with you?” Jungkook knocked on the door desperately.

Hoseok wrapped his arm around Namjoon's neck. “And I'm sleeping with you, my friend.”

Jimin giggled for no reason.

Namjoon sighed and rubbed his temple. “Aish, you guys are so much trouble,” he muttered. “Jeon Jungkook, stop breaking my door! This is why I don't want y'all in my house!”

Seokjin took the chance to slip away from them. He loved his members wholeheartedly but sometimes they get too chaotic. He moved to the kitchen to get him a glass of water and that's when he found himself watching his six little brothers arguing like kids. Watching them just made him happier.

He sipped the water and decided to look out through the window. The sky was dark, with ash clouds forming here and there, covering the few stars visible at night. The moon was gone entirely, making the world deeply dark. He pouted when he failed to spot his own Jin Star and Yoon Min Star in the sky, his chest abruptly emptying.

Speaking of their stars, he completely forgot about Yoon Min today. She must have been thinking about him all day.
He took out his phone and sent her a quick text. “Everything is fine. I'm with the boys now. Don't worry about me.”

She replied instantly as if she was holding her phone in her hands all day to get a message from him. The thought made him smile. She wrote, “THE BOYS?? Damn, aren't you a lucky one...”

Seokjin chuckled. He wrote then, “I'll come see you as soon as I can.”

It took her a few seconds to respond. “Thank you. Good night, Jin-ssi.”

He was about to send her another text but Namjoon stepped inside the kitchen and started complaining, “There you are, Hyung! I've been looking everywhere for you. I have managed to convince Yoongi to let JK in; Hoseok wants to sleep in my bed; Tae and Jiminie are huddling in the living room, so I'm afraid you'll have to take the couch.”

“It's fine. Thanks again.”

The leader smiled tiredly before approaching him. “Yeah, don't get me wrong; I love having you guys over, but you know how messy the maknaes are. And Hoseok is gonna keep me up all night with his gossip!”

Seokjin smiled and patted the other's back. Namjoon was the best leader their team could ever ask for. He was the backbone of BTS.

Suddenly remembering something, he turned towards the other and said, “Namjoon, there's something I wanted to tell you.”

He asked casually, “Sure, what is it, Hyung?”

Seokjin took a deep breath. “A few months ago, I saw you once. At Yeouido Park. You had your bicycle and camera with you.”

Namjoon bit the inside of his cheek. “Huh, I didn’t see you, though. Why didn't you come to me?”

“That's the point...I thought that you wouldn’t—” Seokjin couldn’t finish his sentence.

After a few seconds, the other answered on his own, “You thought I wouldn’t have been happy to see you.”

He nodded his head slowly.

“Hyung, I would never not be happy to see you. You are my big dummy brother. Things have been hectic, yes but nothing would change the fact that you're my brother. I wish you would come to see me.”

His words made him relieved. So Yoon Min was right again.

“I'm sorry I haven't contacted you all these years. But I want you to know a day didn’t go by when I didn’t miss you. We all missed you. Please don't think otherwise.” Namjoon placed his hand on his shoulder.

Seokjin nodded and smiled. “Me too.”

The leader smiled back and gestured to the living room. “You should go to sleep. Manager-nim said our preparation for the comeback starts tomorrow. We got so much to do!”

He nodded again. “Yeah, I'm coming in a minute.”

“Good night, Hyung. Welcome back.”

“Thanks. Good luck sleeping with Jhope.”

“Oh man, don't remind me,” Namjoon whined before leaving the kitchen.

Seokjin took out his phone again and sent the message he couldn’t earlier. “Sleep well, Yoon Min.”

As he drifted to sleep that night, he dreamt about being in a concert with his members and thousands of ARMYs cheering for them. In the huge crowd, he found Yoon Min's delighted face and his heart leapt out of his chest.

He couldn’t wait to see her soon.

☆THE FAULT IN OUR STARS☆

THANK YOU FOR READING
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