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Taehyung groaned with each step he took from the practice room. His legs hurt so bad , he was already dreading getting out of bed the next morning. Jimin snickered at his best friend’s pain and Taehyung scowled.
“Don’t laugh,” he all but whined. Jimin smirked.
“It’s your own fault. You should know better than to compete with Kook of all people.”
And yeah, that’s what he got for going to the gym with Jungkook then the practice room with Jimin all in the same day, he supposed.
The gym had been normal at first, Taehyung working on his glutes while Jungkook went off to do his monstrous sets elsewhere. He hadn’t anticipated Jungkook becoming competitive, or himself getting into it. He had needed to brush up on the choreography for ON after, but when he’d become sore halfway through the chorus, he felt regret.
“I’ll never agree to go with him again.” Taehyung groaned, throwing his head back. Jimin hummed disbelievingly and Taehyung shot him a glare. “Seriously, no support at all from you.”
“Am I really supposed to believe that if Jungkook were to come up to you and ask to make gym plans right now, that you wouldn’t pretend to be perfectly fine and agree to go in a few days?” Jimin asked and eyed his best friend. Taehyung scoffed but didn’t respond. “Right, okay.”
“I’m perfectly able to turn down Jungkook!” Taehyung protested. The two men turned down a hallway, nearly having reached the nearest elevators.
“Sure you are.” Jimin teased, earning him an indignant ‘I am!’ “Right, definitely. I believe you, Tae.”
Taehyung was about to tear down Jimin with situations in which he’d totally turned Jungkook down before. Because, come on. He definitely did not let the maknae influence what he did or didn’t do, regardless of his puppy eyes or ripped muscles. At most he’s influenced, but that doesn’t mean he can’t say no. But before he could, he was interrupted by a wretched sob.
Jimin and Taehyung’s eyes met. The two of them silently moved passed the elevators and toward the stairwell. They opened the door to be met by the sounds of muffled cries. After a quick look around, Taehyung could see a small figure curled up in a ball on the floor half a flight up.
Taehyung tapped Jimin and started towards the small figure of a boy. The boy’s head was shoved into his knees, arms hugged tightly around himself as his body shook.
The two men shared a look briefly, unsure whether they should bother the young kid. Jimin crouched down next to the boy.
“Hey there,” he said gently. “What’s going on?”
The sobs stopped and the figure tensed up. Taehyung winced, maybe they should’ve left the kid alone. They didn’t know him, if he was an idol or a trainee. Regardless, neither one of them would feel okay leaving the boy alone.
The boy slowly lifted his head, revealing a slim face and puffy, red rimmed eyes. Taehyung recognized the boy then as Jake from ENHYPEN. His heart clenched seeing tears run down the young idol’s cheeks despite him trying to hold them back.
Jake looked at Taehyung, then Jimin, looking slightly confused. His eyes then widened and his breathing became fast and heavy as he quickly looked to the floor.
“ No no no. ” The boy muttered in English before another sob ripped from his body. He immediately raised a sleeve covered hand to block his mouth, more tears slipping from his eyes.
“Hey, it’s okay. We just want to see what’s going on right now.” Jimin tried to reassure Jake, realising as Taehyung had that having those he looked up to seeing him in this state wasn’t what Jake wanted.
Jake shook his head and shut his eyes tight, shrinking back further into himself. Jimin looked up at Taehyung, unsure what to do. Taehyung knelt down in front of Jake, looking at the boy’s sweats, hoodie and worn out converse.
“Were you practising? Are your members close by?” Taehyung asked. Jake shook his head.
“Please, no,” he begged in Korean. “ No. ” Jake switched back to English and Taehyung’s brows furrowed in concern.
“I don’t have their numbers.” Taehyung said, looking over at Jimin.
“I can probably get Jungwon’s from Soobin,” Jimin said. Taehyung sighed, looking back at Jake.
“We’re gonna get Jungwon for you, okay Jake-ah?” Taehyung tried to sound soothing, wanting the younger one not to cry so badly.
“No. No, please. Jungwon- Please , I don’t want him to see me. Not like this. ” Jake switched between Korean and English, his sobs and accent making it difficult for Taehyung and Jimin to understand him.
“Jake-ah,” Jimin said kindly. “You need to speak Korean to us so that we can help you.”
“ Please, don’t get Jungwon. He wouldn’t- he wouldn’t understand. ” He was speaking entirely in English now, words slurring together through his cries. The only thing they could make out was ‘please, don’t’ and ‘Jungwon.’
“I’m gonna call Namjoon-hyung,” Jimin decided and pulled out his phone. Taehyung nodded, Namjoon was at the company studio. He would be able to communicate better with Jake and would be better able to handle the situation. “Namjoon-hyung? You’re at company right now, right? We’re here with Jake-ssi, in the south stairwell between the 14th and 15th floors. He’s crying and only speaking to us in English. Can you please come here for a moment? Okay, thank you hyung.”
It took a few minutes for Namjoon to reach them, during which time Jake had curled back into himself, still sobbing. The scene broke Taehyung and Jimin’s hearts, Jimin’s hands twitching to give Jake a hug.
Eventually, the door to the 15th floor opened and Namjoon made his way down the stairs.
“He didn’t tell you guys why he was crying?” Namjoon asked. Jimin and Taehyung shook their heads and moved to let Namjoon crouch in front of Jake where Taehyung had been. “ Hey Jake, it’s Namjoon. Can you look up for me? ” Namjoon spoke softly in English.
Jake sobbed harder and clutched tighter around himself. Namjoon frowned and hesitated before resting his hand on Jake’s shoulder.
“ Jake, please, I need you to talk to me. What’s the matter? ” Namjoon looked intently at Jake’s ducked head.
“ You can’t understand. Please- please. ” Jake slurred through his sobs, his accent making Namjoon’s brows knit together as he focused on translating the poor boy’s words.
“What can’t I understand, Jake? Why are you crying?” Namjoon asked, hand gently squeezing Jake’s shoulder. Jake lifted his head to look at Namjoon, expression pained and face red and puffy.
“ All of them- none of my friends- the people back home- there’s no one anymore. ” Jake said through short pants of breath.
“ What do you mean? Did something happen back home? ” Namjoon asked worriedly. Jake shook his head.
“ No, no. I- fuck, I’m so stupid. ” Jake cursed and the BTS members’ eyebrows shot up in sync.
“ Stop that. Don’t talk about yourself that way, ” Namjoon sighed. “ Why would you even say something like that, hm? ”
“I- My friends and I- We used to facetime every day, when I first moved here.” Jake sniffed, trying not to interrupt his sentences with his growing congestion and short breaths. “But, yesterday…it was my birthday. And none of them said anything. We haven’t talked in over a month…I feel like they’ve all forgotten about me. Like I don’t matter to any of them anymore. Can I even say I have friends now, sunbae?”
Namjoon’s heart ached at the lonely admission of the young idol. He thumbed circles into the boy’s shoulder.
“Jake, you’re not stupid, it’s normal to feel lonely when people don’t talk to you. Your friends might have forgotten to talk to you because they haven’t seen you in a while. Out of sight, out of mind. But that doesn’t mean they don’t still love and care about you, or that they don’t still consider you their friend. Besides, you still have friends. You have the ENHYPEN and TXT members, and you have us, too. We’re all your friends. How old are you now, Jake?”
“ Eighteen, ” Jake sniffed as his tears began to slow.
“ Happy eighteenth birthday, Jake. ” Namjoon smiled, his dimples showing. Jake starred at him in awe. “Hey, guys. Jake’s birthday was yesterday, let’s sing him happy birthday to cheer him up.” Namjoon suggested to Taehyung and Jimin, who smiled and started singing to Jake along with their leader. Jake ducked his head to hide his reddening cheeks, but had stopped crying.
“Aww, look he’s so cute,” Jimin cooed, leaning down to stroke Jake’s soft hair.
“ Alright then, let’s get you some water and take you to your team so they know you’re okay .” Namjoon suggested, offering Jake a hand. The younger idol took it, smiling at his seniors’ kindness.
Together, they left the stairwell, Taehyung whining about his sore legs and how they should take the elevator. Maybe Jake did have some friends in Korea after all.