In These Woods

Bitter

"Namjoon-ah!"

Namjoon flinched in his seat. A chorus of laughter arose from the table. If his eyes could take residence in the back of his head, they would've done so years ago. A little over seven years,  to be exact 

"Sorry, Namjoon. You know we can't resist picking on you" Jin teased, judging him with his shoulder.

"It's a wonder you haven't given him a heart attack yet" Yoongi grumbled.

"Nah! Namjoon was built for the abuse we put him through" Jimin replied. 

"Tell me again why I agreed to be the leader of this group?" Namjoon asked, raising a brow. 

"Because you love us, hyung" Jungkook pipped up from the opposite end of the table.

Namjoon lowered his head in hopes of hiding the smile subtly growing on his face. He couldn't stay mad at the youngest. Or any of them for that matter. They were his brothers. He'd be nothing and nobody without them. On his own, his was just RM. With them, he was Kim Namjoon. He had value outside of the personsa that had been meticulously crafted for millions of fans across the globe. A polished, beautified, perfected image for people to practically worship. Envy. Love. Hate. All of it was really nothing at the end of the day. At least it would be if he didn't have his family to support him. 

"You're lucky you're cute, Jungkook-ah" Namjoon replied, sipping his beer. 

"Yah! And I'm not!?" Jin exclaimed. Despite being considered "World Wide Handsome" he couldn't go one day without someone complimenting him. Especially since he was the oldest and it burned him to see the youngest get praised while he didn't. 

"Of course you are, Jin hyung! And handsome!" Hoseok exclaimed. 

"Butt kisser..." Taehyung joked. Hoseok shot Tae the dirtiest look he could muster. Causing the younger the shrink under his gaze. Giving the best puppies eyes possible to deflect Hoseok's wrath. 

The members carried on in casual conversation over their dinner. It was so rare that they all found time to collectively eat together. Hence why moments like this were so precious. Unfortunately their crazy schedules limited time where they could even consider relaxing. The instant they felt like they could breathe again, they were yanked back into reality. The never ending work days, the board meetings, the trips cross country, the dance practices, the concert preparations, so on and so forth. It never ended. Despite their exhaustion, though, they found strength in not each other.

"Namjoon?" A foreign voice asked. 

The table got quiet as Namjoon turned to face the owner of the voice. His personal agent stood in the doorway of the break room. He motioned for Namjoon to come with him.

As quickly as the enjoyable time with his brothers had came, so it went. Back to it. 

Namjoon rose from his seat with a tired sigh. Before he could leave, though, Jin grabbed his arm gently. "Keep us informed, won't you?"