Faltering Steps • J-Hope

xxi.

All of the members woke up the next day and tried to pretend things had gone back to normal.

Of course, Hobi's bad leg still dragged along the floor when he went to get a glass of water, but everything else was fairly ordinary.

And of course, Taehyung's knuckles were bruised, but that was looked over as well.

After breakfast, Namjoon stood up. "All right, time for rehearsal. Hobi, you can stay here and-"

Hobi looked up. "Oh, I'm coming with," he said, and Namjoon just nodded.

"All right."

***

They all got to the practice room, and Yoongi took Hobi somewhere. Then Yoongi came back and they got to work.

After a few hours, Yoongi left and came back with Hobi, who looked somewhat excited about something, like he had a secret and he wasn't about to share it.

A week of this went on before Namjoon couldn't restrain himself any longer. "Hobi, what are you always busy with when we're practicing?"

Hobi hesitated before looking over at Yoongi, who nodded and crossed his arms. Hobi looked back at Namjoon with a smile. "My mixtape."

"Wait, seriously?"

Hobi rolled his eyes. "Yeah. I figured, if I can't dance, I can work on improving my rapping."

"You figured?" Yoongi asked pointedly, and Hobi rolled his eyes.

"Okay, so it was more Yoongi's idea than mine, but I'm working hard! There's a new track I'm putting together and it's going to be fire. Even better than Agust D's." Then Hobi started rapping a sample. "H to the O to the S to the E O K. I'm Hope boy because I'm so happy," he rapped, grinning and finishing off with his classic "I'm your hope, I'm your angel, J-Hope!"

He took a boy and Taehyung started cheering dramatically, clapping and bowing. "Such genius!!"

Yoongi just rolled his eyes and scrunched his nose before giving a slight smile.

"Nah, but seriously, I'm working on some cool stuff," Hobi said, grinning.

"Do you still miss dancing though?" Jungkook asked quietly, and Hobi's grin faltered.

"Yeah, of course," Hobi said, looking down. "But it's not going to happen."

***

Sehun bowed low. "Sir, it was my fault. Isn't there anything you can do?"

His producer shook his head. "The negative publicity alone would damage our image to the extreme. It's not a risk I'm willing to take."

Sehun held his bow. "Please, sir! If you have to keep EXO out of the news, that's fine, but please at least allow BigHit to release a brief statement."

"...You're sure that you want this?"

"Yes."

"You realize the possible consequences? If somebody connects the dots and identifies the driver? Your career would be over. Not just at S.M. Entertainment. Everywhere. BTS fans will send you hate mail every day. You'll be accused of trying to sabotage the idol competition. You'll be slandered."

Sehun was shaking. He was scared. He'd already considered all of the possible outcomes his producer had stated. "I know," he said weakly, "but I can't give him his leg back. This is all I can do."

His producer waited a long moment.

And then he nodded.

either one or two more chapters
then the q&a reveal :)
also: new book out - "sticks and stones" • park jimin