The comeback was lit af so here's some more fluff to read while streaming Boy With Luv and listening to Mikrokosmos because HONESTLY

(Sea)

The main room was a mess. Taehyung and Jungkook were fighting for a seat on the couch, even though they could easily sit next to each other. Hoseok was trying to drag them apart but got caught up in the squabble and all three ended up laughing on the floor. Yoongi was reading with headphones on but occasionally looked up and smiled at the scene in front of him. Seokjin was just sitting down and talking to Namjoon, both of them ignoring the situation in the hopes that it would go away.

Then someone knocked over a glass. A muffled clink was heard and everyone fell utterly silent as they watched a cupful of red liquid sink into the carpet. After the initial shock had passed, Taehyung started blaming it on Jungkook and Jungkook apologised profusely before blaming it on Taehyung, starting another fight. Seokjin was yelling at both of them to be more careful while Namjoon was trying to calm him down and Hoseok was dying with laughter. Yoongi continued reading.

When Jimin walked into the chaos of a room, the incident had barely been resolved following a flurry of slaps from Seokjin. Jimin asked,

"Why is everyone laughing?" Hoseok dried his eyes and tried to explain,

"Taehyung took Jungkook's seat on the couch so they…Jimin, are you okay?" he noticed that Jimin looked pale and tired, a look that they had all seen on him before and hoped they would never see again. "What's wrong?" He stared back at them blankly and Yoongi took off his headphones.

"You shouldn't be laughing. We've got so much to do. Don't you understand we're on tour? We need to be learning English or practising choreography or improving our voices. We have so much work to do and we're already behind. Namjoon, please teach Taehyung how to speak basic English and Jungkook, I don't ever want to hear your voice crack like that again. I'm going to the practice room." And he walked out the door. Everyone was left in silence, the frivolity of just seconds before obliterated.

Jimin was right. Aside from Namjoon, their English was still shaky. Their synchronisation could be improved and it was true that Jungkook's voice had cracked badly in practice, but it hadn't been a big deal. Jimin wasn't always like this. He used to be such a perfectionist and so incredibly harsh on himself but he was better now. Well, apparently not. Hoseok was worried. It wasn't a good sign that Jimin had reverted back to his obsessive detail-orientation since that meant he wouldn't sleep or eat until he got everything exactly right. Hoseok needed to talk to him but knew that Jimin wouldn't let him. He did know a way he could try.

"Do what he said," he ordered, flicking everyone out of their thoughts, "Do something, anything productive but stay up here, okay? I'm going with him." No-one looked thrilled with the command but they understood and quietly wished him good luck. Hoseok slid into his room, grabbed his bag and left his five friends in the main room to study or practise.

It wasn't freezing outside and the practice room was only a few blocks away but Hoseok still wished he'd brought a jacket. Jimin hadn't shown any of his usual signs of slipping into his old ways again but that's what worried Hoseok the most: it was sudden and fast and he might keep falling if he didn't get help soon. Otherwise, he would become anorexic, insomnious, existential and far too overworked. Hoseok just prayed he hadn't dropped that far already.

He opened the door to the practice room and music was already playing loudly. Jimin was dancing with an amount of energy that seemed impossible to keep up and Hoseok knew that he couldn't last. He turned off the speaker and Jimin kept dancing until the end of the non-existent verse. He eyed Hoseok, out of breath.

"I need to practice. I don't want to talk." Hoseok looked back at him.

"Me neither," he lied, "I just wanted to clarify some parts. Can you run that bit through again, slowly?" Jimin looked at him suspiciously but moved back into position. Hoseok only let him get through a few bars before stopping him. "Jimin, when was the last time you ate? As in a full meal?" Jimin rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"I said I didn't want to talk."

"I know, Jimin, but you can't dance properly if you don't eat properly. Now answer me. When did you last eat?" Hoseok didn't like being serious or assertive; it made him uncomfortable. But it was necessary. Jimin folded his arms and shifted from foot to foot. He mumbled something. "Louder, please."

"I said 'yesterday morning,' god," Hoseok didn't want to touch on the fact that Jimin was acting like a sullen teenager. He wanted to touch on the fact that the last thing Jimin ate had been over 36 hours ago. As much as Hoseok hated that, he had to admit that Jimin was strong.

"Jimin, you can't- " but Jimin was already moving to walk out of the room. "Jimin!" He ignored Hoseok again. Jimin was almost out of the door when Hoseok caught him by his arm. He turned around and in his eyes, Hoseok saw a tumultuous medley of emotions – anger, confusion, pleading, tiredness, frustration. "Are you sure you don't want to talk?" All of the signals in Jimin's eyes were suddenly drowned by forming tears.

"Let me go," he choked and Hoseok could feel the desperation in his voice. He didn't let him go. Instead, he pulled Jimin towards him and hugged him tightly. The younger grasped his shirt and sobbed into his shoulder. Hoseok stroked the back of Jimin's neck, relieved that he had gotten through to him. They stayed there for a full minute and a half before Jimin gently pulled back. He sniffled and looked up at Hoseok with red, wet eyes.

"Please…I'm really hungry," he whispered and Hoseok smiled and kissed the top of his head.

"Let's go home and get you some food then, hm?" He held Jimin's hand and the boy clung to his arm all the way back to the dorm. They opened the door and the others looked up at them, significantly more subdued than before. They looked at Jimin and then at Hoseok, who held up three fingers. A signal.

They had created their system years back when Taehyung went through a particularly vulnerable phase. It had been Yoongi's idea and he had taught them all the various codes and signals ranging from the little finger straight – the subject is safe but shaken, more or less okay so don't panic – to the index finger bent – the subject is prone to aggressive outburst and precautionary measures should be taken. Three fingers up meant vulnerable and in need, but everything is under control, keep everything calm. The signals was given in secret whenever Taehyung entered a room, but he caught on and the signals began to apply to everyone.

Hoseok took Jimin to his room and tucked him in bed before running to the kitchen to grab a sandwich he had made earlier from the fridge and a bowl of leftover noodles from that lunchtime. He sat next to Jimin's bed and neither of them spoke until all the food was gone which, with Jimin's condition, didn't take long. Jimin still looked on the verge of tears as he lay on his side to face Hoseok and hugged his knees close to his chest.

"Thank you," he muttered softly and Hoseok gently stroked his hair.

"Jimin, did you sleep last night?" he asked quietly and Jimin answered by yawning and shaking his head slightly. "Get some rest, okay? You'll feel better tomorrow." Hoseok stood up to leave but felt Jimin's hand brush against his. He turned around to see Jimin's pale face illuminated by moonlight and gazing up at him.

"Can you stay, Hobi? I don't want to sleep by myself." Hoseok wouldn't say no for a thousand dollars. He slid under the covers with Jimin and embraced him with warmth and love until they both fell asleep.

The sun rose in the morning and Hoseok was awake – he had fallen asleep at eight in the evening. He was just watching Jimin sleep, listening to his breathing, feeling his chest rise and fall. He was so beautiful. His eyes cracked open and Hoseok smiled.

"H-Hoseok? What are you doing here?" he croaked and Hoseok let him have a little bit more space.

"Last night you asked me to stay. So I did." Jimin rubbed his eyes, trying to remember. He groaned and rolled onto his back.

"Please tell me I didn't actually have an existential crisis and then break down in the practice room." Hoseok subconsciously played with Jimin's hair and replied,

"No-one knows what happened to you, Jimin. You stopped eating and you know you need to tell one of us when something like that happens. Why didn't you?" Jimin rolled back over to face Hoseok and sighed,

"I didn't have time. It happened really fast and by the time I was in trouble, I thought I was fine again. It doesn't feel bad or wrong unless I've got someone to tell me it's wrong. A few nights ago, I had a bit of a crisis thinking about how unprepared I am for this tour and how no matter how much I practise I'll never be good enough. Then after I ate breakfast I didn't want to eat because I didn't feel like I deserved it. I didn't want to sleep because I had so much to do. Then last night I guess I just sort of snapped and I wasn't thinking straight. I got really angry at you for some reason but you saved me in the end, I guess."

Hoseok listened with genuine care and concern. He admired this person so much for his strength and ability to sort out everything in his head. Jimin had the determination to get through periods like these and even helped everyone else at the same time. It was incredible. Despite this, Hoseok still didn't know what part of his brain pushed him to do what he did next.

He shifted closer to Jimin and looked deeply into his eyes. He leaned forward and kissed Jimin lightly on the lips. He pulled back immediately once he realised what he had done.

"Um, I-I'm sorry, I don't know what I was thinking…" Jimin looked a little bit shocked but smiled,

"N-no, it's fine, it was…nice." Hoseok was confused and his confusion didn't go away when Jimin kissed him back. He pulled away and they stared at each other, suddenly wanting this more and more.

Their lips crashed together and Jimin pushed his body against Hoseok's, craving the warmth and comfort of the night before. But a knock at the door threw Jimin away from Hoseok and the two just stared at the door in shock, trying to process what just happened. They looked at each other and immediately knew what to do. Jimin flipped himself over and smothered his head in his pillow, pretending to be asleep, while Hoseok got up and answered the door. It was Jungkook. The maknae was about to speak before Hoseok held a finger to his lips and tiptoed out of the room, pretending to be careful not to wake the 'sleeping' Jimin.

"He's fine now but he had a little bit of a breakdown last night," Hoseok explained to the worried-looking Jungkook.

"Are you sure? Because he looked really ill and I really want to make sure he's okay. Did you sleep there? We were waiting for you to come back and explain but you didn't so we went to bed. But you're going to explain later, right?" Jungkook was always such a worrier and it was kind of cute.

"Yes, Jungkook, he's fine, he's just stressed with the tour and everything," Hoseok reassured him and Jungkook relaxed slightly.

"Okay. I'll get Seokjin-hyung to make him some breakfast," Jungkook said, skipping off to fetch their eldest.

"Nothing too heavy, he hasn't been eating much," Hoseok called before turning to go back into Jimin's room.

He shut the door behind him and climbed back into bed with Jimin, who had actually fallen asleep again. Hoseok didn't really care. He wrapped his arms around Jimin's waist and just lay there with Jimin beside him and the sun rising beyond the trees outside their window.