Out of the Loop

Failure

July 2nd 2018

"Jungkook, this is the fifth time you've messed us all up! We're going to be here all day if you don't get your act together!" Hoseok seethed, eyeing Jungkook who had found himself on the floor yet again today.

The other members groaned, tired of having to redo the same song over and over again. Even the dance instructor, who was in the room, had a displeased look on his face. Jungkook shakily stood up, feeling a bit lightheaded after skipping breakfast—not to mention barely touching his dinner last night. Maybe it was Manager Beomyun, but Jungkook just didn't feel like eating. He didn't need to glance at the mirrors on the wall to see the glares his hyungs were sending him—he could feel them piercing through his skull.

"Jungkook," the dance instructor began in a light tone. "Why don't you go head on back home, you can catch up on the choreo later."

"Okay," the maknae sighed tiredly, shuffling to his backpack. He was too scared to look back at his hyungs as he left the room. Too scared to know what they thought of him.

As he trudged down the hall, he felt a sharp pain in his abdomen. His stomach cried once again, begging for a meal, and Jungkook was starting to get irritated. Maybe he should just get a snack from the vending machine, that shouldn't hurt his physique too badly. He knew that there was a machine around the corner; but what he didn't know was that a certain person would be there too.

"Well would ya look who it is," Beomyun scoffed, as per usual. Oh yeah, Beomyun picked on him now. From spilling water "accidentally" onto the maknae, to having him stay extra late during practices, or assigning Jungkook more work for no reason, Beomyun was dedicated to making Jungkook feel like utter shit. What scared him the most about Beomyun though, was the power he had. He was convinced that the old man was certainly making bad comments about him behind his back—it felt like at any moment he could lose his job, his spot as BTS's beloved maknae. Jungkook was shoved out of his stream of consciousness when he was harshly shoved back. He collided with the hard wall behind him—his backpack not doing him much help— letting out a grunt as a sharp pain spread throughout his back. "Are you listening now?" Beomyun snapped.

"Ah- aghh my back," Jungkook squeaked in pain. His eyes watered—his back ached from the blow.

"Jeez, you're pathetic," the evil man sneered. "I said, why aren't you at practice?"

"I-" Jungkook couldn't find his voice; fear and anxiety blocked his airways. The suffocating tension was killing him.

"What? Are you gonna cry?" Jungkook felt small, his body slid down the wall, landing on the floor ungracefully. He wasn't even sure if he was breathing right now with how tense he felt—he's trapped, locked into place.

But a thought echoed in the back of his mind about his hyungs... he shouldn't be letting some old stuck-up manager boss him around like that! He was strong, he had to be for the littles and everyone else. "Why are you being so mean to me?!" The maknae yowled with every remaining ounce of power he had left.

"Mean? You think I'm mean?" The older one wheezed, stepping on Jungkook's shoe harshly. Jungkook winced, the crushing of his toes distracting him from his everlasting back pain. "Son, I pity you.

"You think you can just sing and dance all cutesy and expect everyone to fall on their knees for you? That everyone will love you? Let me tell you something— that way of thinking will get you nowhere outside of your perfect idol world."

What the hell was this guy talking about? Jungkook felt himself shaking, either from adrenaline or terror. He was trapped, with his foot crushed under the manager's weight. This man couldn't speak to him like that—he was Jeon Jungkook, the Golden Maknae of BTS—which is one of the most popular groups!. He had more talent in his pinkie than this guy had in his whole body. There had to be something he could use against this guy...