Paving The Way

ᴘʀᴏʟᴏɢᴜᴇ

"And how excited are you for the next EP?"

"Very!" Jin smiled professionally. "Obviously I am very excited. It's amazing being able to make music again. Not such an army man but I am an ARMY man you know?" he chuckled dryly, pointing out to the dad joke he made. His expression was far from genuine though.

"Good one!" the interviewer laughed respectfully,

"I am sure your fans are very happy to see you getting back from your military service although it took way less than it should have didn't it?"

"Perks of being a cultural ambassador I guess. I thank the officials once again for letting me do my service in six months."

"Caused a contradiction between the country though."

Jin chuckled a little,
"That's what BTS do. We LOVE causing scenes, but I am back that's what matters isn't it?"

"Surely! Are you happy to be back with the band?"

The smile he has on his face was again mechanic,
" Beyond happy. We are reunited now."

"Well... Thank you. This was Kim Seokjin on one-on-one. We will be back with Kim Taehyung in five minutes."

" That means I am out of here as soon as possible" said Jin taking his earphone out of his ear as he murmured to himself.
The girl from his team was content that the interviewer did not hear this. Jin however, did not care. He was normal, calm, collected but he also did not have filter anymore. He thought he did not owe anything to anyone. Not anymore.

As he greeted the interviewer he started walking back to his individual backstage room. He had a blank face and a fast pace. One of the managers barely caught up with him,
"What was that, Seokjin?"

"What was what?"

"THAT? Your reactions? You weren't exactly..."

"Stupid? Idiot? Your ideal goofy clown?"

"I was gonna say... You."

"Well this is the 'new me' now" he said smiling but the smile was far from his eyes,
"Nice to meet you, see you around!"

Just after saying that, Jin left the girl out of the door as he closed it. His face turned into a completely 'normal' state. He was not miserable, he was not happy either. He was just 'not having it'. He had a hectic schedule and he was ready to give his everything to fulfill it. But other than that, the 'Kim Seokjin' that makes everyone glue to each other with a weird statement or a burst of occasional laughter was not there to be seen. Jin was Jin. But Jin was not Kim Seokjin for a long while now.

"The dumbasses thinks they can drag me out because my IQ is barely above 100, but I don't think so" he talked to himself ironically. Sitting down to the chair he faced the mirror. Nowadays he had to face so many people that were pretty hard to see. His 'bandmates' especially. However this face was by far the toughest one.
The one on the mirror. Staring at him with his irritatingly normal features.

Jin rolled his eyes, trying to calm his nerves for the group interview later this day,
'Do they wanna see something funny and stupid?' he thought to himself as he was frowning,
'They're bound to check the mirror, bunch of miseries.'