Soulmate

Twenty: Jin

August 10, 2019
Seoul, South Korea

"I don't think I can do this anymore," Jungkook says softy.

The many heads around the meeting table turn to look at him. Some faces are shocked, some sympathetic, a few seem displeased.

"What do you mean, Jungkook?" Bang Si-hyuk asks in his high pitched, unsteady voice.

The youngest member sighs and leans his head back. He sweeps his overgrown bangs out of his eyes and stares up at the ceiling. "I'm just tired," he says. "If it's back to the regular schedule in two weeks, I don't think I can handle it."

"Yeah, I have to agree," Yoongi grumbles. "My wedding is in four days. I'm leaving for it on Tuesday, we visit family for a few days, then we have to come back here two days after the wedding. Once we're back here, we'll be moving from the dorm into the apartment. Then we'll be in full swing working on the new album; writing, producing, recording...the first phase will be just starting. I want some time with my wife."

Yoongi's request for an extended break surprises everyone. Usually, he's the last one to suggest something, the last one to disagree with plans and schedules.

"If we were to push this back any more, the comeback would have to be pushed back as well," the round CEO says. "We were aiming for January first, remember? Set up the year with unbeatable records and start the new year off with a bang."

"I know that," Yoongi says. "But right now I don't care about records or trophies. I want my wife to be happy. I want to be happy."

"I wouldn't mind pushing back the comeback," Jimin adds in. "If we're going to break records, it doesn't matter what time the comeback is."

"Unfortunately, it does matter," the company's CFO says. She opens up her laptop and types a few things in, then turns the screen to face the rest of us. "This is the longest we've ever waited in between comebacks," she explains. "If we push it back too far, our stock will start to fall and the company will start losing profit. We can't plan a tour, sell an album, sell fansign tickets, sell new merchandise, go on TV shows, or do anything of the sort until we have a comeback. The only merchandise we would have to gain an income would be the Season's Greetings which never garner as much profit as album sales. The latest we could risk the album release would be late February with an early release announcement to keep fans' interest. The break then wouldn't be able to pass mid September. We would start filming Bon Voyage then."

"Can't we go with that plan, then?" Jungkook asks. "That's plenty of time for Yoongi hyung and Areum noona. Namjoon hyung and Jimin hyung can go on the vacations they've been planning for years, Jin hyung and Min-hee can have some time to work out their problems, Hoseok hyung still has to go to LA, too."

Bang Si-hyuk raises his hand to silence everyone at the table. "We'll look at the possibility of an extended break," he says. "I can't promise anything too long, but we'll do our best. During this break, however, I want all of you to start preparing for the new album. Finish writing your songs, we'll discuss concepts here, the stylists will figure out looks. It's a break from the schedule, but not from work, understand?"

"Sir—" the CFO attempts.

He lifts his hand again. "We can take this risk. The rookies are doing well working on their own comeback. These boys have worked harder than anyone to do well for our company. They deserve some kind of break." His eyes return to us. "To make up for this loss we'll have, I'll need you all to take up advertising deals again."

I try not to groan at that. "Back to Samsung?"

"Yes, back to Samsung."

Jungkook whines. "I don't like Samsung phones anymore."