It Ain't Just Fame || BTS #BangtanAwards2018 #Wattys2018

V

I was watching my favourite episode of Digimon adventure for the twelfth time when Suga hyung barked at me, "You addict, Taehyung-ah." He snatched the laptop from me muttering something about 'no charge left' and 'Tooniverse sucks' while I just blankly blinked at him. Exactly after seven seconds, all my hyungs were jammed into our room. Having no place to even stand, Jiminie and me hopped onto my upper bunk bed. Noticing that I had not a single clue about what's going on Jiminni offered, "We are checking out on how people are reacting for our MV. You know, it's about a day since we released it and Joon hyung is sure that the netizens would have commented about it." I simply nodded at him but my mind was getting flooded with the same excitement when I was officially revealed as the hidden member of the group a few days ago.

We three were sitting in the waiting lounge at PD Nim's office. Jin hyung and Namjoon hyung were deeply engrossed in a conversation about our debut. My nails were bitten to flesh in the past 5 minutes. With each second ticking away, the anxiety engulfing me grew stronger and stronger...

Why me? I was not even worth it. Jin hyung was the visual of the group. He should have been the hidden member. Aish...Then why me? How do they think can a poor farm boy without a perfect profile or a good voice serve as the surprise element? I heaved a huge sigh and prepared myself to face anything as PD Nim walked towards us.

But on contrary to my expectations, he clapped my shoulders and said, "Well, it seems that your name really did justice for you. V for Victory, eh?". I gave him a tiny nod. "Of course it is. You're currently a sensation in the K-pop industry boy. You're golden, Taehyung", he boomed with laughter. I barely had time to understand things and bring a smile on my face when both my hyungs hugged me and wished me and patted my head all at once. It was just 'daebak'. PD Nim also added, "And Taehyung, it seems there are five personal fansites opened for you. It's just a couple of hours since you were revealed and this is something fantastic. Keep it up! Work hard.", PD Nim patted me and went into his cabin. We all bowed to him and Joon hyung turned to me with his face brightly lit, "Kim Taehyung, oh wait... V, officially a member of Bangtan Sonyeondan. Wow!"

The screen flashed with the low battery warning.

Jin hyung hugged me tightly spreading warmth throughout my numbed out body. I've never been this happy in days.

But no, the air was heavy and frozen. I could listen to every breath of my hyungs.

The room was eerily silent. I could no more hear my hyungs' laughs. It was no more PD Nim's office. It was our dorm. I joined Jimin and peeped down from my upper bunk and saw my hyungs looking at the laptop. Suga hyung was scrolling through some netizen critic page. I read some of those comments about is, no they were criticisms.

'Just a bunch of untalented teens.'

'A cheap, fake version of Bigbang.'

'No one will watch such crap.'

'They are not going to last.'

My mind just went blank. This is not we had expected. It turns out that the number of haters we have is more than the number of people we could call as our fans. My appa's words echoed in my head, 'Name and fame does not last long.' We were doomed even before we could debut.

Suddenly the screen shut down and we were all rooted for a moment. Quickly, Jin hyung snatched the laptop instructing everyone to go to bed. Everything seemed to be fuzzy. Suga hyung just gave a loud groan and stormed out of the room. Jin hyung muttered something about Jungkook, grabbed Hoseok hyung and walked away. As Jiminie was climbing down the bunk, Joon hyung said, "Make sure Jungkookie does not know about this.". It was the first time I realized that Kookie was not here. Lucky him! Jimin gave him an okayish look and trotted behind Hoseok hyung.

Dead silence and total blackness surrounded the dorm as I laid back on my bed. I didn't have the strength to close my eyes. I was afraid that the darkest of my nightmares will visit me if I sleep. I wondered if I ever will sleep peacefully again. Maybe I was not meant to be here. Maybe I should return back to Daegu. Maybe, maybe we were going to end up as failures... It turns out that I am not really Bulletproof. This bitter reality is not easy to bear. It's not easy to accept that all our work is futile.

I tossed and turned on my bed until Joon hyung spoke into the night, "Don't lose your sleep, Taehyung-ah. People will talk whatever they want. Our hardwork and resistance is all that matters. Sleep tight. We have things to do. Tomorrow will be better."

All I could do was hope it does.

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Hello there!😊

How are you guys today? Mine was really, really awesome since I got to publish this chappie. I'm so so happy that I got to write about Tae oppa, my bias. Hope you enjoyed reading it. To be honest, my mind was just blank when I penned this. My friend's advice was to deeply get into Tae oppa's character. Unfortunately, he's also Blank Tae...😂 But I think it has turned out pretty good at last. If you think so too, go on vote for us and leave your opinions in the comments.

Always remember guys, at the end, everything will be alright because nothing worth-having comes easy.

Happie Kookie day!

Purple you lots!💜

Author: AkshitaMani