Bonded

Opinions

==twenty-four==

<<You>>

He didn't reply, and I was sure he was pretending to have already fallen asleep.

I nudged his arm a couple of times, taking the risk of trying to annoy him. He just let out a small, annoyed groan after a few nudges but didn't actually budge.

For how long was he going to avoid things like this? For a sensible, hardworking famous guy in his twenties, his head was running in the complete opposite direction on such a significant matter.

It took me some time to notice that I was still holding onto his arm.

Well, let's try some acting for a change.

I abruptly pulled my hand away, immediately regretting it somewhere in the back of my mind as I started missing the trickle of his warmth that had been coursing through me until now.
He must've felt it too, because he flinched, but still didn't turn to face me.

I just stared at his broad back for a while, trying to think of something to say that would make him listen to me.

"You're going to get any better as an idol if you go on like this. At least it's not like your fans will see you as a great guy who overworks himself to death just to bring in improvement, that too when you write songs about self-love and self-motivation."

I knew it sounded harsh, and maybe even pointless. But if he had any kind of residual ego in him, then me saying things like this was surely going to annoy him.

"What are you even saying?" he grumbled, turning his head a bit, enough for me to notice the annoyed expressions of his face.

"Imagine what people's reaction will be when they hear about your condition right now.

Famous idol Kim Seokjin collapses before world tour because he listened to a bunch of haters and constantly practiced till late night trying to better himself.

Wow, I could even write a news article on that."
I remarked sarcastically, trying to catch his attention.

My words probably didn't even make sense, but if he wasn't willing to listen to us when we were trying to be nice, he needed this. Maybe something about his fans would trigger him.
And honestly, I didn't know what to do.

It wasn't long before he turned to face me, his face laced with confusion and irritation.
"What do you mean?"

I tried to maintain the irritated look on my face too as I stared warily at him.
"All I mean is that you're actually being pathetic right now."

Now that was really harsh.

"And how is that?" I could sense the trace of anger in his voice. He tried to get up again, refusing when I offered to help him with it.

After two attempts, he was now seated upright on the bed with his back being supported by the headboard as he creased his eyebrows.

He looked somewhat intimidating.

"I- Your fans always see you as a person who has struggled to get to his current position and been through a lot in life and they respect you a lot for that.
The fact that you're actually giving in to some toxic fans' and haters' demands will make them question if they should really glorify you that much.

If you cannot accept yourself the way you are, how do you expect them to do it?"

He huffed. "It's not about the haters or toxic fans. I do lack in many areas and I'm just trying to work on that. Why is it affecting all of you so much?"