Slave to the Scale

Chapter 43

listen to dice by onew, right now, go.

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Jin could only stand and watch while things escalated. All the arguments were always about him, he knew they were. Whether or not he should be eating more, eating less, how he should be talked to, when he should be allowed to go into the studio, whether or not the mirror in his bathroom should be covered up, etc. It seemed like everyone had an opinion to share about what should have been his decision.

Public opinion had been turned against Hoseok now. Previously it had been Yoongi, but he had managed to win back favour.

There were some days when Jin could enter the room and feel the tension in the air, hanging like a heavy blanket in the air. Any words that anyone said to Hoseok were tight and clipped. Hoseok was just as rude back to them.

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"Don't you think that you guys are going a bit too far?" Jin asked.

Jimin raised his eyebrows. "What?"

"With Hoseok, I mean."

"Are your ears stuffed with cotton? Did you hear the things he said about you?"

"What?"

"He was basically forcing you to eat and telling you that the solution to this whole problem was to 'just eat'," Jimin said.

Jin squirmed uncomfortably under his gaze. Of course, Hoseok had said that to him. But then again, so had Yoongi. So had Jungkook. So had his parents.

The last one was especially hard for him to believe.

"Well... yeah, but-"

"So?"

Jin shook his head. He wanted to say that it made him feel terrible when they always fought about him because they always acted like he wasn't there. They always talked about him like he was an inanimate object and that it was a chore to interact with him. But all his thoughts overwhelmed him and he sat there in silence.

"Well?"

"I don't like fighting," Jin finally said in a small voice.

"Oh."

Jimin shrugged. "I honestly don't know what to do about this. The thing is, when Yoongi did this, I felt like I could snap back at him and he would listen. With Hoseok... I just don't know what's up with him, like he doesn't even care almost. Why is he like this?"

"Oh."

"Yeah, you see, there's literally nothing we can do."

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Despite everything, his life continued on. He kept seeing Hyungwon, who kept asking him questions. Jin answered them as best he could.

Now, he truly felt like he was on a steady journey, heading absolutely nowhere. He knew that he "had" to get over feeling negatively about his body, especially since it was causing so many discords within the group. It hurt to think about his parents. If he ever wanted anything to get back to normal, he needed to force himself to accept himself. Even with all his flaws.

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A door slammed. Jin jumped. He was lazily sprawled out on his bed. Yoongi was sitting at his table, working on his laptop. He looked up in surprise when the sound echoed through the room.

"What was that?" Jin asked.

Yoongi shrugged. "No clue. At this point, I'm scared to find out."

Jin sighed. Great. Why couldn't people just live peacefully for once? He could feel the familiar pressure of tears behind his eyes. Quickly, he rolled over so Yoongi couldn't see anything. His nose was running.