lung bouquet | j.jk + p.jm ✓

chapter three

when jimin steps back into the practice room, he expects for his members to rush around him and drown him in questions. he expects for them to look at him with anxious eyes, and pull him into a hug. he expects for them to force the truth out of him like he's a criminal in an interrogation room and they're the police officer.

it doesn't happen.

they've gone back to practicing like before, the only real difference being that they aren't as energetic and happy as before. the room is bare of words, only the sound of heavy breathing and shoes hitting the floor heard. jimin doesn't know whether to be creeped out or relieved. quite frankly, he's a mix of both.

when the closes the door behind him with a click, they all turn towards him, worried expressions on their faces. jimin feels awkward and out of place. they're looking at him as if he's fragile, a glass object that could shatter at the slightest touch. seokjin speaks up first.

"we want to say something, and we're not going to force to you tell us anything you don't want to, okay?" seokjin says slowly, as if jimin could break down into a fit of sobs right then and there.

jimin nods, his hands growing sweaty. he's trembling slightly, and he hopes they can't see it. if they do, that means they'll only worry more, and that's the last thing he wants to happen. his mind is going a mile a minute, thinking up worst case scenarios back to back.

what if they figured it out? what if everyone knows about his hanahaki? even worse, what if they know he's in love with jeongguk? what if jeongguk doesn't want to speak to him anymore? what if taehyung is disappointed that one of his closest friends has a crush on his boyfriend? what if they make him get surgery and he loses all of his love for jeongguk? what if the fans find out and they hate him? what if his members hate him? what if everyone hates him? he hasn't even come out of the closet to his own group members-

his thoughts are interrupted as seokjin begins to speak again, his voice sprinkled with concern. "we know that with our really tight schedule it's easy to be overwhelmed, and we also know that it isn't good to have a weak mental state right now, but if you're stressed out, we want you to let us know okay?"

"i'm so sorry! i didn't mean for anything to happen. i'm so stupid for thinking-" he stops his instant rambling when his brain begins to register what seokjin said, "wait, what?"

seokjin just sighs and namjoon speaks up before he can. "we don't like to see you stressed out. if everything gets to be too much, we don't want you to keep going on until you drop."

they think i'm stressed, jimin thinks, the misconception bittersweet. he's glad that his secret isn't out, but he's a little disappointed in how they jump to conclusions and are bad at jumping at that. he can't understand how a group of grown men, especially a with a member that has an iq of 148 could be so oblivious. then again, these are his group mates he's talking about.

"o-oh. yeah, sorry. i'll tell you guys whenever i feel overwhelmed next time," jimin says, his hands knees still a little wobbly despite being safe for now.

"don't feel pressured to do anything extra. we know you like for everything to be perfect, but your health is a top priority. even i, who neglects sleeping some nights just to make a song, know how to make up for it," yoongi cuts in, giving him a soft smile. hoseok takes yoongi's hand and squeezes it, a little moment between just the two of them that jimin caught. he's smiling on the inside because of it.

"you push yourself to your limits. we all have them. we just want to see you happy and healthy," jeongguk finishes, and for once, jimin's heart doesn't ache when he looks into the youngest's eyes. there's sincere worry in everyone's face, but jimin can see it clearest in jeongguk's.