New Dreams, New Company || NamJin

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Jin likes to think of himself as a guy who can roll with the punches. Someone who doesn't let the pressure get to him. He's been in the idol business for almost ten years now, so nothing should take him by surprise anymore, and yet here he is.

He's been out of the army for six months and his first comeback a month ago didn't go according to the plans he'd made with his company. The mini-album they had released had done alright but there had been a significant drop in sales and in the demand generally. He hadn't even done a proper tour.

He's almost thirty and genuinely starting to worry if this is it for him. Would it be all downhill from here?

"Don't worry about it hyung, it's normal to have a slump after going to the army. Two years is a long time after all, but the fans will come back," Taehyung tries to comfort him, as they sit in a private room of a fancy restaurant, finishing a late dinner.

"It's easy for you to say. You still have years until you have to enlist and besides your band is so much more popular than I ever was. You don't really get it," Jin whines and finishes his glass of soju.

Taehyung laughs and lifts his drink in a salute "Cheers to that, but honestly, I think you just need to refocus. Have you talked with your managers and company about what you want to do next? Might be a good idea to concentrate on one thing for now. Which do you like more, acting or singing?"

Jin frowns down into his glass and refills it, even though he's almost at his limit, "I guess acting would make more sense, you can still act even when you get older, but who's going to buy albums from a thirty-year-old pop star."

"That's quitter talk, Hyung, and not what I asked. Which do you feel more passionate about?"

"Honestly, Taehyung, I'm not sure. This is all I have been doing since I was nineteen. Maybe it's just that I don't know when to let go and find something else to do."

Taehyung nodded, "That could be it too. You should think about it. We talk about stuff like that a lot in our company with the members and managers. Our plan for the future and also our plan for when we don't want to do this anymore. I think it's good to have a clear view."

"When did you get so smart? I remember you being a complete airhead when we first met," Jin complains and points a finger at Taehyung accusingly.

"Well in my defense, I was like eighteen when we met the first time," Taehyung says, grinning widely.

After a while Jin feels bad for dragging down the mood, so he changes the subject to mutual acquaintances of theirs and the upcoming tour Taehyung is preparing for.

When Jin gets home he collapses to bed, feeling dizzy and tired from drinking too much. But at least he feels a bit better after talking to Taehyung and the advice he got was smart too.

He takes out his phone to write a message to his manager to set up a meeting at the company but is derailed by a message from Taehyung. It starts with a link to a youtube video and the message following it says:

'When I feel down it sometimes helps to hear some compliments. Take a look at this and a winky face emoji.

Because he's drunk and because he does like compliments, Jin clicks on the link Taehyung had sent and it opens to a video with a Korean-looking guy with purple hair sitting in a studio.

"Huh," Jin mutters and presses play. Most of his fans tend to be girls and women, but Taehyung had said it complimented, so he'll trust his old friend on this one.

The video isn't long, less than ten minutes and the guy talks about Jin's latest single. It's obvious he knows a lot about music and production as his comments are very insightful and almost scarily accurate.

The guy, who introduces himself as Moni, plays the song, pausing frequently to comment on the sound design or something about Jin's voice.

He has a really nice low voice and Jin props his phone next to his pillow and lays down to watch the rest. Jin wonders if people have told Moni to do ASMR videos because he'd listen to those if they were available.

After the song is over Moni pauses for a few seconds, shakes his bangs from his forehead, and hums a bit of the chorus. Jin can't help but smile. He'd come up with the melody for the chorus and it was his favorite part of the song.

"I really like the chorus, it sounds mellow, but there's this hint of sadness or maybe melancholy to it. It stands out because the rest of the song is more upbeat. I like the contrast it creates, it could be too much, but I think the producers mixed it together really well. I looked up the credits and it looks like Jin-ssi got credit for the song. I think you can always tell when he's helped make a song, there's just that special something in those songs. They fit his voice better."

Jin smiles softly, it's nice to hear people can tell the difference.

Moni frowns on the screen and replays a small portion of the pre-chorus, "I wish they hadn't done the autotune so strongly here though. I know it's trendy right now and I've definitely used it on a lot of songs in the past few years but for me, Jin-ssi's voice is best when it's as close to raw as possible. He's gotten so good over the years it seems like a waste to hide his true talent like that."

Moni seems a bit sheepish and makes eye contact with the camera. Jin finds himself charmed despite himself.

"I already know what kind of comments you're going to write, so don't, okay? I'm not a fanboy, I just appreciate talent when I hear it."

Jin grins at that and watches the last minute where Moni talks about upcoming videos before closing the Youtube app.

Taehyung had been right. Hearing some genuine-sounding compliments about a song he was really proud of made him feel better. It's also made him a bit more sure about what to tell his managers when he meets them.