"Alright, good work everyone. That's it for tonight. Have a great night and I'll see you all tomorrow." The choreography instructor finally released them from the redundancy of class and Tae promptly fell to the floor, settling uncomfortably on his back. It was mid-February now and, despite settling into the routine of school then practice then bed, repeat, he was still struggling with the energy it took to keep up with everything.

His dancing was getting slightly better. If you count improvement as just not falling as often as before. Muscle memory helped, but he was consistently told to relax into the moves more, something he clearly was not comfortable doing. Especially when… he was in the room. He consistently felt the eyes of an older boy, a certain attractive producer, following him throughout his practices. It was hard to concentrate, hard to make his movements feel natural when each twinge of muscle felt ridiculous. So he tried to ignore the audience and often kept his own eyes trained on himself in the mirror or his shoes as they skuffed across the floor; neither of which were good performance techniques as he was scolded by the instructor each time.

But now class was over and he could relax a moment before trekking through the streets in a comatose state behind the the other equally tired trainees. Taehyung had his eyes squeezed tightly shut in an attempt to block out the unnatural brightness of the fluorescent lights. But suddenly he felt as though he wasn't alone; there was definitely a presence above him. He reluctantly opened his eyes and Doyun was there, a grin spread across his face and his long fingers outstretched to help Tae to his feet. The eighteen year old accepted with a blush, dropping the older man's hand as soon as he was standing.

This was not something he had settled into. His interactions with Doyun had become… strange and uncomfortable in the last few weeks. Not necessarily in a bad way; he just felt an aching tightness in his chest when the older boy was around. And the moment Doyun would look in his direction, a flurry of butterflies would begin beating around in his torso like they were aiming to escape. That's probably what made the dancing so impossible.

And in moments like this, when the older boy was standing only inches away and his eyes were boring into Taehyung's, those butterflies really became desperate for a jail break. And then it was there, between them, the dreaded words that Taehyung had been waiting to hear for the last few days. "Hey, can we talk?"

They were familiar words. Familiar in their meaning and the way they produced a hot ball of dread which dropped into Tae's lower stomach. He was familiar with the apprehension, but not with the other feeling that rushed through him. Excitement, perhaps? But that was ridiculous. He didn't want this. Particularly not from Doyun.

He kept telling himself this, even as his body stilled and he waited patiently for whatever talk Doyun was referring to. But if he was honest with himself, he knew the talk that would be sure to follow. Because as mundane as the last month had been on the surface, he had experienced first hand the shifts in the way Doyun acted around him and he could almost see the expected confession perched on Doyun's lips.

It had all started with a car ride to the studio. During that first week of school, on a day that Jungkook had been in one of his moods and had refused to walk to practice with Taehyung. The eighteen year old had been walking down the busy sidewalks toward BigHit, earbuds tightly secured in his ears, when he heard a car horn blaring and saw frantic waving out of the corner of his eye.

It was Doyun, hanging out the window of his surprisingly fancy car, screaming for Taehyung to pay attention to him. Luckily, traffic was bad and the entire street had come to a standstill, so Tae felt comfortable jogging over to the car to see what the older boy wanted. "Hey, hyung. What's up?"

"Well I was going to ask if you wanted a ride to the studio to save time, but at this point you might get there before I do." Doyun laughed, looking around sheepishly at the people in other cars watching the two boys interact.

"Oh, well," Taehyung pulled his phone out to look at the time. 3:42 pm. He needed to be at the studio by four, and there was no way Doyun was going to make it out of this traffic in that amount of time. Tae bit his lip and glanced up at the older boy only to find himself being penetrated by a wary gaze. He wasn't sure what spurred him on to get into the car with an older guy that he barely knew; logically he knew it was the odd situation they were all in that made a week in the city and only a few meetings with someone seem like they were actually acquaintances, if not friends. He felt the same comfort with his fellow members, despite really only getting to know them for a few days. "I guess, you'll just have to vouch for me with the other producers so I don't get in too much trouble."

With that he rounded the front of the car and slid into the passenger seat, trying to ignore the feelings that erupted inside of him when he saw Doyun's face break into a pleased smile. He quickly realized how he hadn't thought about the fact that the two of them hadn't really been alone together fully for more than a few minutes before. And they didn't know very much about each other that would make conversation flow easily. So they just didn't say much of anything, instead both pulling out their phones to pass time while they waited for the traffic to scoot forward.

The car was warm, which was good considering the sky outside was ominous and threatening to blanket them once again in snow. There was a sweet yet masculine scent in the air, something that smelled like wood and a sophisticated type of alcohol. It was the same scent that usually followed Doyun around; Tae realized it must be his cologne and found himself inhaling deeply before he caught himself doing it and felt a flush creep up his cheeks. He hoped to god the other boy hadn't seen or heard him literally sniff his car. But Doyun said nothing and seemed engrossed in his phone so Taehyung returned to his own.

Eventually, the silence was broken by Doyun clearing his throat. "Do you mind if I turn on some music?" Doyun asked sheepishly, but his hand was already on the buttons of his stereo so asking was clearly just a formality. Tae nodded all the same and continued the text he had been sending to Eunjun. She had been constantly bugging him about his new life in Seoul, despite his continuous explanations of how boring and routine it really was. And as often as she peppered in questions about his homework and classes, he knew she was also being used as a conduit for his mom to check up on him without him feeling like she was hovering.

He must have smiled to himself as another exasperated text came through, asking about the other members. Eunjun was very clearly edging to get some information about Yoongi, who she was still vibrantly obsessed with. Doyun chuckled to himself quietly; Tae's eyes shot up to see what was so funny. "What?"

"You have the weirdest smile I've ever seen." Doyun laughed again, but promptly cut himself off when he saw the scowl roll across the younger guy's face. "Wait, no. That came out wrong. Not weird- just unique. It's so… square. I just never noticed before." Tae didn't say anything. He turned his knees towards the window and pulled his arms up to cover his chest. This wasn't something that would normally make him angry; he'd been called weird his entire life and normally let it roll off his back like water. But coming from his hyung, it stung more than he wanted to admit. He suddenly wished he'd never gotten in the car.

"I just meant that you haven't been smiling much lately. At the studio, you're always upset." Doyun shook his head vigorously, his highlighted hair flopping around in his eyes. "This is coming out all wrong. Tae… I love your smile. It's- it's cute, you know? I just wish I got to see it more, that's all."

Despite how insulted he still felt, the eighteen year old could feel an elated smile tugging at his own lips. It was baffling to him. How some of the things Doyun said to him set his heart racing. Maybe it was just a dysfunctional organ; maybe he needed to ask a doctor for a new one. He bit his lip to cover the smile and remained facing the window.

"How do you feel? About the way things are going?" Doyun asked suddenly. Taehyung wasn't surprised by the question. It was one he had been getting a lot lately. But the truth was he had no idea how he felt about his new life. He was determined to keep going, to keep trying his best and improving minutely in the areas he could; yet he felt more alone and unsure of himself than he had ever in his life and it was becoming a harder and harder feeling to ignore.

So he shrugged and watched the people on the sidewalk that were passing quickly by Doyun's steadily creeping car. The hand that reached out and rubbed his thigh lightly almost caused him to shriek it was so unexpected. Tae whipped his head around to look at the older boy, and whatever look he gave him must have been off-putting because Doyun gulped silently and pulled his hand away from his leg.

He hadn't meant to react in such a way. In general he really was fine with being touched casually by others, but this touch had set something off in his chest that he would rather it not have. "I'm sorry," He mumbled to Doyun before turning back to the window and curling in on himself. Now there was an even stronger wish that he had never gotten into the car, but it would be rude to leave now. And as much as pulling away had been a visceral reaction that he hadn't expected or been able to control, he now felt a very mild panic that it would push Doyun away from interacting with him at all. Only then did he realize that that was the last thing he wanted.

But he was too shy to fix it all right now, so he shut his eyes and leaned his head against the cool glass of the window.

They rode in silence until they reached the studio and Taehyung practically ejected himself from the vehicle before it had come to a complete stop. He didn't wait for the older boy, just rushed inside where the others were already stretching. When he received a questioning gaze from Jin, he shook his head and pulled his tennis shoes out of his bag.

Tae could feel that his face was clearly inflamed and it only became more so when Doyun walked into the studio and they shared a brief moment of eye contact. Yet he didn't expect for the older boy to stride directly up to him without any pretense of unfamiliarity before dropping Tae's phone, which he had clearly left in the car, onto his backpack that had been carelessly tossed on the floor of the studio. Taehyung stared down at his phone, where it now lay, trying his best to ignore the way the other members were glancing around at each other in various states of questioning.

He knew how it must look to them. Taehyung, stumbling in ten minutes late, with a red face and panicked demeanor. That in and of itself would be fine; maybe he had simply gotten out of class late and had been forced to run all the way to the studio. But any reasonable doubt flew right out the window when the very cool, very attractive older producer (mind you not that much older) strode into the room and returned a quite personal item straight to Taehyung. It looked way more sketchy than it was and Taehyung felt the sudden urge to turn to the other guys and explain that he had just gotten a really innocent ride to the studio that had been sabotaged by bad traffic. But it hadn't felt innocent, the hand on his thigh that was clearly meant to have been a comforting gesture but had elicited various unintended responses within Taehyung, both good and bad.

He could feel the eyes on him, boring holes into the side and back of his head. But he suddenly knew that he didn't feel like answering any questions, he surprisingly just wanted to practice.

So he was on his feet first when the choreographer strolled into the room and his eyes didn't leave the mirror in front of him for the next several hours.

But that had been a month ago, and many things had changed over those few weeks. And the hand on his leg which had once felt like a monumental, confusing event, now seemed mundane compared to the disconcerting events that had transpired only just a few days ago.

It was Saturday night, already around 8 o'clock surprisingly since it felt to Tae like the day had passed by in a flash. He had spent almost all day in the studio at practice and had returned home to a daunting pile of homework that he had only left abandoned long enough to take a quick shower and microwave some instant ramen. So now he sat at the table in their tiny living room, pouring over the math problems he just couldn't seem to make sense of.

He wished that Namjoon were there to help him, but the older boy had taken off to visit friends outside the city for the rest of the weekend and so he wasn't available. Actually, no one was available at the moment. Yoongi had been called in for the late night shift at his delivery job. Hobi was out with friends and claimed he had no intention of being back before the sun was up. Even Jin and Jungkook had both individually headed home for the weekend; Jungkook, because he had a longer trip, had actually been allowed to leave the night before and skip practice for the day. I wasn't like he needed to be there anyway, he blew almost everyone else out of the water.

They had asked Taehyung what his plans for the semi-free weekend had been, but he realized he didn't have any. There wasn't any money for him to travel home and he didn't even bring up the idea to his mother for fear that she would try to produce said money out of thin air. He had momentarily considered hitting up some of his friends from school, but he really only liked them enough to hang out with them when he was desperate, as awful as that sounds.

So instead, he had settled in for the evening with his sad stack of homework and had promised himself that he would finish all of it before turning on the latest drama he was obsessed with. The kitchy anime currently playing on the television didn't count as a distraction as he had only turned it on in an effort to drown out the deafening silence left behind by the missing other boys.

Taehyung had just decided to give himself a phone break from his work when it buzzed its way across the small, uneven table. He figured it was just an app notification, but anything was a welcome distraction so he lurched forward to see what it was. To his surprise it was a text message. From Doyun. His breathing hitched as he slid his thumb across the screen and opened the messaging app.

Doyun: hey

Doyun: wht r u up 2?

Taehyung thought about not answering. He could wait until the morning to answer, tell the older boy that he had either gone to bed early (which would seem pretty lame but whatever) or that he had just been so busy with friends and partying that he didn't check his phone. The second option seemed even more lame since it wasn't true and he was currently sitting cross legged on a dining room chair in his Charmander pajama pants in an empty apartment.

Another message buzzed in before he could overthink things too much, which was probably a saving grace.

Doyun: im home by myself and im bored

Doyun: thot u might want some panda express?

Doyun: my treat

And that's how Taehyung found himself thirty minutes later, sliding into the passenger seat of Doyun's car once again. He was hit with that same masculine sweet smell that he was getting used to and found himself settling into the seat comfortably. He hadn't had many interactions with Doyun since the car ride to the studio those few weeks ago; mostly just small pleasantries as they passed each other by.

But once again, being trapped in a car with the older boy set Taehyung's nerves off and he found himself wracking his brain for something to break the silence of the car ride. "Oh, are these seats like- warming themselves up?"

It was an embarrassing thing to ask, and would have been especially mortifying if Doyun's answer had been no, but luckily he chuckled to himself and nodded. "Yeah, if it's frying your ass you can turn it down." He motioned to the knob on the dashboard of the car.

Taehyung blushed at the comment and kept his hands far away from the knob. He hadn't meant to, but it now occurred to him that he had essentially let Doyun know he had never been in a car nice enough to have seat warmers. He had never been particularly embarrassed of his family's financial status before, even when Minjun's family was so much more wealthy, but something about being in Seoul made him feel like a small town hick everywhere he went.

One day, when Jin had drug him along to buy groceries for the apartment, Taehyung had openly gawked at the prices displayed on some of the shelves. Jin had looked at him like he was new to the planet rather than new to the city. "These aren't that outrageous, Tae. Where do you guys normally get your groceries at home?" He had mumbled something about producing a lot of their own vegetables and fruit in their garden and their fields before moving the conversation along to something else.

What would it be like to walk into a store and not have the calculator on his phone out just to make sure they didn't overdraw the checking account with this one transaction? What would it be like to have the money to buy a car that had separate seat warmers that were really only necessary one season of the year?

"Your car is really nice." Taehyung blurted out. Word vomit was a disease that he sometimes found himself afflicted by. "I meant to tell you that- the last time I was in here."

He saw Doyun visibly stiffen. The older boy was staring straight ahead despite the slight lull a red light was providing. His eyebrows had pulled down his forehead at the mention of the last time. "Oh, that's okay. Thanks, I guess. It's not really mine. I didn't- like buy it. Not with my salary at Big Hit." He tried to chuckle but it sounded empty and flat. "My parents gave it to me for graduating high school."

Taehyung nodded like this was completely normal, though maybe it was normal to people like Doyun. "Do you-"

"I'm really sorry." Doyun had cut him off in a rush, his eyes flicking to meet Taehyung's once before returning to the road. "For that time I drove you to practice. I shouldn't have touched you. I had no right and I had no idea it'd make you so uncomfortable."

The younger boy didn't say anything for a minute. He picked at the skin of his thumb and gnawed on his bottom lip. Had he been uncomfortable? Yes, although probably not in the way Doyun was implying. What was more embarrassing to admit? That he had overreacted and it meant nothing? Or that it meant so much, shook certain things inside of him so severely, that he had had to react that way. He wasn't sure.

"To be honest, I'm surprised you even answered my texts tonight. I thought you were avoiding being alone with me." Doyun mumbled, mostly to himself.

Taehyung shook his head. "No, I wasn't avoiding you. I just- Didn't know what to say. It was my overreaction. I'm normally not bothered by physical contact. I-" He shook his head again. "Must have just been having a standoffish day or something. It wasn't a big deal."

It had been a big deal. That was obvious to the both of them. But Taehyung hoped that Doyun didn't quite understand why it had been so shocking. He prayed that the older boy couldn't logic out that the thumping of his heart was completely foreign to him and had never been produced by the kind of person it was supposed to: a girl. There was no way he could know, when Tae only allowed himself to fully produce the thought late at night when darkness could hide his shame.

All of a sudden, they were pulling into the Panda Express parking lot and Doyun slid them into a seemingly too small parking spot. They both sat there for a moment, with the car running and the heater blowing until Taehyung saw Doyun put a hand on his door handle to get out.

"I think- it felt different, because it was different. I meant it differently than I probably should have." And then he was gone. Out of the car and almost across the parking lot by the time Tae could even bring himself to unbuckle his seatbelt. He stumbled out of the car, noticing that his sneakers were untied but not willing to stop to tie them.

He found Doyun inside, standing behind a group of college students who were talking and laughing too loudly to have been perfectly sober. Taehyung shoved his hands into his hoodie pocket and slid into line behind the older boy. He tried not to notice how underdressed he was compared to Doyun, who had actually bothered to throw on a leather jacket and skinny jeans for a late night food run. Taehyung had only changed out of the Charmander pajamas at the last moment because they weren't exactly clean.

They stood together in silence, waiting on the group in front of them to order. Neither of them bothered to pull out their phones; it would have all been for show anyway. Finally, the group moved and Doyun slid up to the counter. The girl working the register smiled confidently at Doyun, her eyes raking up and down his body as he looked up at the menu.

"What can I get you, sir?"

"Hmm- I'm not sure. Taehyung," The older boy asked nonchalantly over his shoulder. "What are you getting?"

This spurred the girl to finally glance at Taehyung. He tried not to notice the way her eyes flicked between himself and Doyun as if she was trying to figure out what they were doing together. He knew he didn't look like he belonged anywhere near the older boy. Clearing his throat, Taehyung said, "Probably just Broccoli and Beef and noodles."

"Perfect! Two orders of that please." Doyun was already pulling out his wallet to pay for both of their meals and had shushed Tae before he had even really had an opportunity to complain. The two of them waited for their food before shuffling to find seating in the basically empty restaurant. They found a small, decently secluded booth near a storage closet and as far away from the now loudly disruptive college kids. Taehyung only waited long enough for Doyun to take the first bite before he was tearing into his own food.

"Are you that hungry?" Doyun chuckled at him. Taehyung tried to focus on his food and not on the way the older boy's long fingers held the chopsticks. He had never thought he was one of those cardiovascular freaks, but the veins in Doyun's hands were causing small flutters to erupt in Taehyung's gut.

He pulled his eyes up to Doyun's. "Yeah, I am I guess. I'm sorry." He sat his chopsticks down in an attempt to slow himself down, but the bowl in front of him was already half empty. "All this dancing- it's probably the most active I've been in my entire life. So I eat so much all the time… I feel like Jungkook."

He tried to hide the way mentioning his fellow member soured his mood. The last month had been more of the same ups and downs with Jungkook. One minute they're cordial, if not happy and joking around; but then the stormcloud reappears and the maknae slips back into his turtle shell where he stays for days. The only one really able to pull him out of it is Namjoon, something that Taehyung had been taking way more personally than he probably should. He had fully expected to be friends with Jungkook; wanted desperately to be friends with him, but the other boy just wasn't allowing that to happen.

As if he could sense the tension, Doyun raised an eyebrow. "How are things going with Jungkook? With everyone, I guess, now that you've been here for a few weeks. I know some groups have a harder time connecting with each other."

"Oh. It's been fine actually. I like everyone; we get along and everything." Tae could tell that Doyun had observed some sort of conflict, but refused to elaborate on it. "Mostly I just feel bad that I'm bringing the group down, you know?"

"I don't think you're bringing the group down, Taehyung. I think you just- haven't found your niche yet."

"Well whatever my niche is, it's clearly not dancing." Tae tried to make it a joke but it mostly fell into flat bitterness. "I'm trying to improve, but it's just not getting any better."

Doyun nodded, not necessarily in agreement but as though he understood. It was nice, talking to someone who knew the situation already without having to explain how he was failing at the thing he left home to do. "Just keep going, Tae. Something's gotta give. You've got- something. You deserve to be here."

It seemed to happen in slow motion. Doyun reaching out to find Taehyung's hand that rested on the table in front of them; Doyun's fingers threading through his with an unsettling intimacy that he had never felt before. The action was confident, but the look in the older boy's eyes was questioning, like he was feeling out the situation to determine if he should pull away. Tae found himself squeezing their interlocked fingers without giving himself permission to. And though for most people it would have been a tiny, mundane action, it broke something open inside of Taehyung that he had thought was locked pretty securely away.

And of course, it was at that moment that the girl from behind the counter came sidling up to their booth to let them know the store was about to close. Taehyung yanked his hand away and buried it in his hoodie pocket. But by the slightly bewildered look on her face and the way she lingered at their table for a few seconds too long, he could tell she had seen. And he didn't know how much he had actually minded her seeing.

Doyun had taken him home that night and nothing more of note was really said or done, but Taehyung still felt as if he floated into the apartment. Hell, he pretty much floated around on a cloud until the others returned home the next day.

So now, with his mind back on the handsome man in front of him, Tae tried to mentally stuff the butterflies inside of him back down before they could erupt out of this throat. Doyun was still waiting for his response to the question, "Can we talk?" and for once, Taehyung was genuine when he said, "Sure, hyung."

He thought that Doyun would pull him from the room to find a place more private to talk, but he didn't, instead settling against the wall of mirrors behind them. There weren't many people left in the studio, but the other members were milling around before their walk back to the apartment. He tried to ignore the guilty pang that rocketed through his body when he saw Jungkook watching them from behind his bangs across the room. This didn't seem like a good place to hear Doyun's confession and he opened his mouth to ask if they could go outside when Doyun cut him off.

"I just wanted to warn you about the auditions happening this weekend." That- wasn't exactly what Taehyung had been expecting to hear. He prayed that Doyun couldn't see the shock that crossed his face; he hoped that the disappointment he felt hadn't come bubbling to the surface of his face as well. But the older boy was looking at the ground with his eyebrows pulled together in frustration and didn't seem to notice anything.

"Oh. Okay. Well, thanks hyung. I had heard they were looking for a seventh person so I guess it's good that things are moving along." He tried to smile, but those butterflies from before had turned into moths that were reeking havoc on his lower intestine. He felt stupid for expecting anything more from Doyun, particularly a confession. Maybe he really had read into the situation more than he probably should have. There were no real indications that the producer was gay, so why would that have been the conclusion he jumped to in the first place?

Because he held my hand. But Taehyung shoved that thought down before tears could well up in his eyes for absolutely no reason. It clearly didn't mean what he thought-

"No, Taehyung. They aren't looking for a seventh member." Doyun's brown eyes finally slid up to meet his, pain shining brightly within them. "They're looking for a new sixth one."

Jungkook saw the moment as it happened. He watched Taehyung and Doyun huddled together in some kind of tense conversation. He probably shouldn't have been watching, whatever they were talking about seemed to be private, but he couldn't help it. He had to know what was going on between the two of them, even if it was only speculation based on their body language. In particular, he wasn't super fond of the way Tae was leaning forward like he was eager to hear anything and everything Doyun could possibly say to him.

He was starting to really dislike the producer. But nothing prepared him for the moment when Doyun whispered something to Tae that literally knocked the brunette back a few feet. Jungkook watched as his hyung started shaking his head vigorously; he saw Doyun begin to say something else and reach forward for Tae's hand, but Tae was no longer there. He had turned on his heel and sprinted from the room before anyone had a chance to react.

There were a few beats of silence before Namjoon appeared in the doorway to the studio with a concerned look on his face. "Where did Tae-?" But his voice dropped off as he watched Jungkook cross the room in giant strides that he didn't give his feet permission to take.

He was suddenly in front of Doyun, standing so uncomfortably close that their noses were almost touching. He was taller than the producer, despite the age difference, and the realization caused a wave of stupid satisfaction to roll down his spine. He ignored it and growled beneath his breath, "What the fuck did you say to Taehyung?"

He fully expected to be scolded by the producer, or even his hyungs, who were now crowding around the altercation, but Doyun wasn't even really paying attention to the angry sixteen year old. He looked right past him, which only infuriated Jungkook more, and connected eyes with Namjoon. "I just thought he should know what they've been saying in the meetings. I didn't want him to be blindsided when they sent him home."

Understanding rippled through the group. Namjoon swallowed loudly and nodded his head, "While I appreciate you trying to help, Doyun, you really should have left it-"

Jungkook cut him off once again, not caring how rude and insubordinate he was being. "You fucking idiot." It was all he allowed himself to say, before he stepped back from Doyun, reaching down to grab both his own and Tae's backpacks from their spot against the wall. Tae had forgotten his on his way out the door. He was across the room and almost out the door when he turned back to see Hobi rubbing Doyun's shoulder comfortingly. It sent an even bigger wave of hot rage through his body. This asshole didn't need to be comforted, not after what he had done to Taehyung.

His voice was only loud enough to be heard because of how silent the room was. "Stay the fuck away from him."

"Go away, Kookie." Taehyung hiccuped through his sobs in the hopes that the younger boy would go away. He had caught up with him only a few blocks away from the studio as it was hard to see in the dark with tears filling your eyes. He felt like such an idiot, such a failure, that he couldn't bear the conversation he knew he was going to have to have with the other members right now. "I want to be alone."

Jungkook, who was loping along beside him down the abandoned streets toward the apartment, shook his head definitively. "Not going to happen."

Tae could hear the stubborness in Jungkook's voice and found he just didn't have the energy to argue right now so he just kept walking, trying to keep from stumbling over trash and cracks in the sidewalk. It only took a few near-falls for Jungkook to sigh and grab his hyung's hand, firmly pulling him along. That only increased Tae's sobbing, much to Jungkooks chagrin.

"Tae, come on, it's going to be okay. Please stop crying." To no one's surprise, that didn't help and Jungkook could feel the tears falling from the older boy's face splashing off of their clasped hands. He gulped and twined his fingers even more tightly between the other boy's long, pretty ones, tamping down the strange lump in his throat that arose out of the action. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Suddenly, he was being hugged. Taehyung's soft, fluffy hair was tickling his chin as the older boy, despite them being the same height, had ducked to press his cheek to Jungkook's chest. It probably looked awkward as hell, but there was no one around to see it and Jungkook really couldn't have cared less at that particular moment. He wrapped his arms around the older boy and held him for what probably was less than a minute but felt like an eternity.

One of the things he had learned over the past few months, living with the touchiest people on the planet, was that if someone needs a hug, always let them be the first to pull away. So he did. He waited until Tae's sobs had petered out and he had pulled back to stare so openly into Jungkook's eyes that he found himself immediately both uncomfortable and entranced. Tae wasn't exactly a pretty crier, but the aftereffects, of flushed cheeks and swollen lips that he had been biting to hold back his whimpers, were very pretty. Jungkook could feel himself blushing.

"Thanks for following me, Kookie. I just- I don't know what I'm going to do now. I can't go back home- Not after everything my family had to do to get me here." He sounded like he was going to begin sobbing all over again. Jungkook was desperate to stop that from happening.

"What if I tutored you?" He asked, searching Tae's eyes from some shred of hope left that this would work out. "Nothing is set in stone yet. What if you and I worked on your dancing and we got Namjoon to talk to Hitman Bang. If we convince him to let you stay through the trainee process, even if they bring in another person, we can help you improve in that time and get them to keep you on for debut."

But Taehyung was already shaking his head. "Doyun's told me before that they only wanted six members. They aren't going to go for seven, Kook, even if I magically got better." Silence fell for a few minutes before Taehyung growled under his breath and kicked his foot out to strike an empty coke can someone had left on the sidewalk. "I just don't fucking get it. Why did they bring me here if they didn't think I could do it. I'm no worse at dancing than I was in my audition."

Jungkook gnawed on his lip, uncomfortable with the sudden burst of anger Tae was experiencing. "I don't think your dancing is that bad-" He received a glare for that comment and quickly moved on. "We-we can fix this. I can- help you fix this. If you want me to."

"No."

"No?" Jungkook's eyes flew up to the older boy's face, surprised to find it set in a hard glare aimed at his feet. "What do you mean no?"

Taehyung shook his head slowly, gritting his teeth so hard together that they squeaked shrilly in his mouth. "I think- No, I know, I'm done with this." Bitterness dripped from his mouth like acid and his glare shifted up to meet Jungkook's bewildered gaze. "I don't want to be here anymore. And they don't want me here. I'm done trying."

That seemed rash and a bit melodramatic, but Jungkook could see that there was no hint of laughter in Taehyung's eyes. He was serious. He was giving up.

"But Tae-"

"No, Jungkook. I'm serious. I just don't give a shit anymore. About any of this. About the group. About the fucking producers. About Doyun…" His voice shook at the man's name and Jungkook tried to tamp down the jealousy that spread through his chest at the emotion Tae clearly felt for the older producer.

The sixteen year old could feel himself rising into panic. Tae couldn't be serious about just giving up and leaving. They needed him, even Big HIt didn't appreciate his worth, the members did. He did. He may not have been great at showing it, but he considered Tae to be family. They were all family.

Since the beginning, their particular idol situation had set them apart from other groups. They weren't a big company; actually, for all intents and purposes they were a company on the brink of failure. There was a desperation and a loneliness coursing through everyone involved: producers and members alike. They were family. Family's didn't break up.

"You can't just give up, Tae. We can work through this." Taehyung had begun walking towards the apartment again, but since he was no longer crying, his pace was much faster and harder for Jungkook to keep up with. "You can't just abandon us. And what about your family-"

The older boy swung around, his eyes spearing Jungkook with a venomous hatred. "Don't fucking talk about my family. It's none of your business." It had clearly struck a cord that Jungkook hadn't meant to press. The financial and emotional strain that had been placed on the Kims just to get Taehyung to Seoul had always been in the back of his mind. What had always been his greatest motivating factor was now a thick lump in his throat that he couldn't swallow past.

"Please, Tae." Jungkook whispered, reaching out to twine his fingers between the older boy's long, pretty ones. Taehyung looked down at where they were connected, too angry to be surprised at the odd moment of affection. He pulled his hand away, gently so as to not hurt the boy too badly.

"No, Jungkook. I'm really done. I'll stay until they kick me out. But I'm not going to embarrass myself by begging." With that, he turned and walked off the street and into the apartment building, leaving Jungkook behind in the cold. He hadn't even realized they had arrived home.

"Sir, Namjoon is here to see you."

Hitman Bang sat alone in his tiny, shoebox of an office, flipping through the latest idol news postings online. He glanced up when his assistant broke the silence he had been basking in and nodded his approval for her to send the band member in.

"Rap Monster! To what do I owe this pleasure?" He stood to accept the soft bow the lanky boy sent his way as he stepped into the office. He gestured for them both to sit down in the increasingly uncomfortable, mismatched seats that populated his office. "How is everything going downstairs?"

The boy just on the brink of manhood shifted uncomfortably in his chair, causing the faux leather to make unseemly noises. His eyebrows were pulled together severely across his forehead, a sight that Hitman Bang found only slightly troubling. "Well, sir, everything is- not great, to be honest. I know it's probably not my place to say but-"

"You can say anything to me, son. You're a very valuable asset to the team; keeping us in the loop only contributes to our effectiveness in keeping you boys happy."

"Well that's just it, sir… No one is happy right now because everyone knows you plan on dismissing Taehyung." He wasn't shy about this particular statement. In fact, he was surprisingly secure as he stared firmly into Hitman Bang's eyes. "I understand that it isn't our place to determine who is included during the debut, but morale is extremely low right now. You can't get rid of Taehyung. He belongs here just as much as the rest of us." Namjoon took a deep breath. "Sir."

That was certainly surprising. If he was honest with himself, Hitman Bang hadn't given much thought to how the other members would respond to the news about Taehyung. He had expected to have to explain the reasoning to Taehyung himself, maybe deal with some tears there, but he hadn't expected it to seep into the morale of the others. Regardless, for the good of the group, he needed to cut out the weeds.

"Well… I understand your point of view, son. But, I think we all have seen the progress that some of you are making and the lack of progress for Taehyung. Don't you think it would be cruel to keep him here, away from his family, when he doesn't really have a chance of being in the debut with the rest of you? I'm simply trying to spare him a world of hurt that would come with being even closer to the end when he's let go."

Namjoon was biting his lip, whether to keep himself from arguing or out of nervousness, he couldn't tell. It took a few beats before he was able to bring his thoughts together coherently. "I understand what you're saying."

Hitman Bang nodded and, thinking the conversation was over, began to turn back towards his computer. However, Namjoon was not finished in the slightest.

"But you're the one that brought him here. You saw his potential, which I know is still there, and you brought him to Seoul and inserted him into our lives. And now you can't just rip him out of the group." Namjoon was more sure of himself now; he was more convinced than ever that what he was saying was right. "We aren't like the other idol groups because this isn't like the other companies. The others may not know, but I do. We're your last chance. And whether you like it or not, we should get some sort of say as to how the group is formed.

"We- and I mean no disrespect to you, sir. The six of us are all we have. Our parents aren't here, and some of us are honestly too young to not have parents. If you kicked Taehyung out of the group it would be like putting a sibling up for adoption. I don't think you quite understand how important each one of us is to the unit, even outside of just the band." He took another deep breath and let his eyes rest firmly on Hitman Bang's. "I know this is just a job and just an idol group and just a paycheck to you, sir. But to us… it's our lives. And you would be massively disrupting the lives that we've carved out for ourselves."

In truth, Hitman Bang didn't quite get it. Other idol groups gained and lost members all the time in the pre-debut stage. It's almost exactly the purpose of pre-debut. No fans knew the solidified group list because the list was not solidified. And, as kind as it would be to allow just anyone to coast along in the band in order to spare their feelings, this was ultimately a business decision that was being made. But, he also understood how tenuous this group was to his success. They were his last chance in the business; would pissing them all off really benefit him in the long run?

As if Namjoon could hear his thoughts, he said. "I don't mean to make outrageous statements here, sir. But I don't think you'd be making any friends out of the members for doing this."

And did Hitman Bang really care? Should he care? It was his company, his group. They were employees that were expected to perform regardless of their feelings. That's what they had signed up for. But before he could decide on his own feelings, Namjoon continued on.

"I can tell you one thing for sure, sir. If you send Taehyung home, you won't be getting anything out of Jungkook for a long time."