IDOLIZE (park jimin)

Debut

Your phone is buzzing in your pocket as you not-so-smoothly move up the stairs to your apartment, hands full of grocery bags. You groan as you hear something slipping out of the left bag and tumbling down all the way downstairs. 

Who needs apples anyways?

Finally having reached the top, you place the bags on the floor in front of your door, trying to get your keys out of your back pocket while picking up your buzzing phone at the same time. 

"What is it?" You greet your brother, your phone jammed inbetween your cheek and shoulder. 

"Wow, that's almost too nice of a greeting, really." The voice cheered sarcastically which resulted in you rolling your eyes. "You know you could at least just pretend like you missed me and are excited to hear my voice. That would soothe my heart a little bit." 

"I'm sorry, Jin, but I literally just walked into my door and my hands are a bit full at the moment. I hope it's something important, I dropped an apple because of you." You sigh as you plant yourself on my couch, leaving the grocery bags on the counter top in the kitchen. "What's up?"

"We are debuting tonight." The voice on the other side of the phone almost screamed in excitement. "You said you would come to watch the performance. Please do, you are my good luck charm."

"Man, I can't wait until you finally find a girlfriend so I don't have to do the job of the good luck charm anymore." You sigh, though your lips still curl into a small smile. As annoying as your brother had been, you were still pretty close in comparison to other siblings. You talked on the phone nearly every single day, especially ever since Jin had been a trainee at Big Hit Entertainment. "Of course I'm attending. I promised. I'll be in the very front row cheering on all of you. I haven't seen the others in like-- how long? One and a half years? It's time to catch up a little." You had never been exceptionally close with any of the other members-- to you, they were your brother's friends, his bandmates. Nothing significant to your own life.

"Yeah, some of their families are coming, too. We reserved some seats for you guys, they will seat all of you together so you won't feel as awkward and alone during the show." Jin reassured you, a small chuckle escaping his lips. "I haven't seen you in months either, but I'm so glad you moved to Seoul now. We'll be able to see each other a lot more than when you were studying in Busan." 

A painful smile is painted across your face. Sure, it was nice to be closer to your brother, but the fact that you dropped out of university still makes you feel like a failure deep inside. Even despite everyone saying it was not a big deal and that you would find something that suited you and your future plans .. it was hard, nonetheless. "I better get going then. I still have to unpack all of the groceries, take a shower, get dressed.. it is a fancy event after all, I better look good on my big brother's big day." You exclaim, standing up from the couch, getting ready to walk over to the kitchen. "I'll be there on time, I promise. Love you, bye." 

-----

Events like these were never something you aspired to attend. It is .. just .. strange. How everybody seems to attend the event just to be seen, how everybody seems to know one another. Stumbling through the big event hall, suddenly a fairly familiar voice startles you. 

"It's been so long, Sana." 

As soon as you lift your gaze, you are suddenly faced with a young looking girl who seems oddly familiar. As if she is able to read your mind, she introduces herself.

"It's okay if you don't remember me, we only met like once a few years ago. I'm Chaeyoung, Jimin's older sister." Her long brown hair only enhanced her soft facial features. She looks as if she is radiating pure sunlight.

"Oh, of course I remember you. I'm so sorry, today was just a bit hectic." You try to excuse yourself, though the entire situation is still a tad bit uncomfortable. There you were, wearing a fancy dress in a fancy place, having small talk with the sister of your brother's friend. This certainly is not how you would have imagined your Saturday night, but it could have been much, much worse.

The conversation is disrupted by the beginning of the show, forcing you and Chaeyoung to sit down in your reserved seats which were pretty far in front. You never knew much about K-Pop, in fact you don't even know what this performance today even meant. Did the agency even reveal that they were working on a new boy group? Was everybody just finding out today? Or did they already have people anticipating their debut? 

There is no time for any more thoughts to form inside of your mind. The stage is opened and before you can even fully comprehend what was going on, there they were in their full glory.

Six somewhat familiar faces and one very familiar one. You shoot your brother a reassuring smile, even though you know there is no way he can spot you in the huge crowd with the lights shining directly at him and his group members. Carefully, you scan every figure on stage, being amazed at how much they changed over the pretty short period of time in which you haven't seen them. Everyone seemed .. older. In a good way though. Namjoon had grown a couple of inches and Yoongi lost most of his baby face. Taehyung changed his hair style, as well as Hoseok and, well ... everybody else. They all looked different, but still recognizable. It doesn't feel like you are watching strangers on stage. 

"That's my little one!" Chaeyoung suddenly muses next to you, pointing at Jimin dancing on stage. You wonder how you didn't notice him first. He had always been good-looking, as has every other member of the group, but now he is barely recognizable. Having dropped a solid amount of  weight, his cheeks lost all the baby fat and his legs are stick thin. While his sister is obviously enjoying the performance, you can't lift your gaze from his skinny frame. Had he always looked that way? Maybe you just never paid any attention to the way he looked? 

As the performance is coming to a close, you had managed to think less and enjoy your night, a bright proud smile painted across your face. Clapping and cheering, you and Chaeyoung are practically beaming with pride as the group bows and thanks the crowd for watching them perform. 

That is when your gaze lands on Jimin once again, this time seeing his face in the direct spotlight. He doesn't look good. At all.

As the seven members begin walking off stage, Jimin suddenly turns even more pale and before you can say anything to his sister sitting right next to you, the man falls to the ground.

The crowd couldn't even react to the incident before Jin and Namjoon come to help Jimin get back on his feet, obviously not wanting to cause any scene on the day of their debut.

"We need to get back there." 

Suddenly, Chaeyoung looks concerned. Her beautifully shaped eyebrows are expressing a frown on her face as she looks at you and takes your hand, guiding you away from the seats. Your face probably looks the same as hers as you wonder what the hell is going on in the first place. 

---

"This is probably not the best timing-" Yoongi mutters as soon as you arrive backstage. He radiates nervous energy, despite you remembering him to be pretty laid back during all times. 

Your eyes dart to the silver-haired man sitting on a chair where your brother encourages him to drink some water.

"Are you okay?" His sister wondered. The two of you are still standing in the doorway.

He does not look okay. 

Suddenly, Jin notices the concerned and frightened look on your face. "Don't worry, this happens sometimes. It's just the stress of being an idol, I guess." He tries to joke but somehow it doesn't feel genuine. Jimin's pale face turns into your direction as Chaeyoung starts walking towards him, seemingly scolding him for overworking his body. 

All you can see is a boy, not a man. A shy smile escapes his lips as your gazes meet.

"I think this is a bad time for our paths to cross, Sana."

The entire room suddenly directs their eyes towards you, making you the center of attention.

"I missed you."