Chapter Text
An office worker, a doctor, a military officer, a detective, a bellboy, a rally driver and a police officer. All seven of them were getting ready. They had to look perfect, not a strand of hair was allowed to be in wrong place.
One of their Noonas was helping Hobi with his leather jacket. The zipper was a bit stuck. Jimin was getting his hair done while Taehyung was trying to ignore how two of their makeup artists were discussing how to easiest hide the faint bruises on his calves. It wasn’t a big deal, with some makeup, the cameras weren’t going to be able to catch it.
Soon they were on set, dancing and doing great. They’d been practicing for this for so long and they were all determined to end this day successfully. Their director was praising them. Everything was going great. Each member could feel how their confidence were back.
“Good job!” they told each other. “Super!”
They were doing everything so quickly and smoothly, it was a director’s dream.
“Okay, time for a break”, he said when the time had passed twelve o’clock. “Let’s have some lunch, some of the staff members have been very generous and went to buy burgers and fries for as all.”
They grabbed one each, and some drinks, before heading back to their changing room.
“We’re doing great, guys!” Namjoon applauded his team when they finally were alone in the room. “Taehyung-ah, you’ll be doing your solo in that cage later, how do you feel?”
“I’m fine”, he muttered and took a bite of his hamburger.
“Be careful, don’t mess up your costume”, Jin said to Jimin who almost dropped ketchup on his shirt. “Don’t be so sloppy and put it in your mouth!”
Jimin groaned. He wasn’t eating any of his food, just playing around with it. The fries were too oily and the hamburger was too big. He wasn’t feeling for stuffing himself full of any of it.
“I’m done with my scenes and besides, there are more shirts over there”, he muttered and pointed at a rack where a lot of white shirts were hanging.
“Don’t act spoiled now and start eat!” Jin scolded, but he couldn’t stop himself from smiling. He was in a good mood. They were working faster than they’d ever been before and it felt good. Really good.
Jimin kept playing with his food, but no one had the energy to fight with him. Not today. Today they all just wanted to enjoy the good day.
They talked and joked between each other, feeling happier and more relaxed than they had in weeks.
Many laughs. It felt nice to smile again.
Their smiles disappeared though, the same moment they were back on set. They weren’t expecting to see their manager here today, but still, here he was. He wasn’t alone though, curiously enough, he was holding a little girl’s hand. None of the members had ever met her but they suspected who she was. She’d grown so big. They’d seen a picture once, but she had only been a baby. This little girl was no baby anymore.
They came up to their manager and greeted him.
“Jimin-Oppa!” the little girl squeaked with rosy cheeks and hurried up to Jimin. She wasn’t shy in the slightest.
“Oh, hello”, Jimin said and crouched down, giving her a big smile. He liked children, they were so cute and funny.
“My daughter has become an Army recently”, their manager said. He was sounding softer than they’d ever heard him before.
“We are honoured”, Namjoon said with a slight bow. None of them could hide their confusion and surprise, except Jimin who was too occupied with the little girl. She was wearing a cute red dress with ribbons and a lot of tulle.
“What’s your name?” he asked.
“I’m soon fooour!” she said and showed him four fingers. Her tiny little nails were painted red too.
“Wow”, Jimin pretended to be impressed. “You’re a big girl then.”
“I’m Iseul!” she said and patted herself on her head. She was wearing a little red ribbon in her hair. He wondered if red was her favourite colour.
“Ah, what a beautiful name”, Jimin praised her. “May I call you Iseulie?”
Iseul shined up like a sun when she heard that. “Yeees!”
“Your director said that some of you are done for today”, their manager spoke and Namjoon answered him with a yes. “Those of you who are, perhaps could take my daughter back to the changing room. She would really like to play a game or two with her favourite idols.”
“Of course, Hyungnim”, Hobi said with an eager smile. He too liked children, and little Iseul reminded him of his cousin whom he hadn’t met in over three years now.
“Good”, their manager put his hand on his daughter’s head. “Be nice to your Oppas now.”
“Appa! I’m be nice” Iseul giggled. She was so very happy and she seemed to have a hard time standing still. “I go be good! See!”
Their manager didn’t give her any answer and instead let her go with Yoongi, Hobi and Jimin. He then took a seat, while the rest of them got ready to start. None of them had been nervous, not until now.
“It’s okay, just relax”, Namjoon whispered to Taehyung, Jin and Jungkook who nodded. They had only their solos to do, it shouldn’t take too long, hopefully. There was Namjoon and Jungkook’s scene, which was going to be at the beginning of the music video, and then the other twos’ scenes that would come a bit later in in the song. It is alright, Namjoon told himself and tried his best to ignore his racing heart. He was eyeing Taehyung but his dongsaeng looked calm and collected. He hoped he wasn’t wrong about that.
“Okay, everybody, listen up!”, their director spoke, and they turned their attention to him. “V-ssi, I hope we won’t have any issues again like last time. The cage has no doors so don’t worry.”
The four idols froze where they were standing and horror could be seen in their eyes. Namjoon’s heart had dropped to his stomach and he hardly dared to look in the direction of their manager.
Both Jin and Jungkook couldn’t prevent themselves from looking. They had to know if their manager had caught it. The man was still sitting in his chair, but he looked a bit thoughtful, but not angry.
“V-ssi? Did you hear me?”
“Y-yes, yes, yes”, he hurried to answer the man and swallowed thickly. He had to calm down, get into character. He had to become V who was so much happier, braver, stronger and better than himself.
The space where he was supposed to take a seat was free from blood today. Free from cracks and feathers. It looked perfectly fine.
Taehyung took a deep breath and put on his glasses. It was showtime…
It was showtime in the changing room too. Iseul had decided that she wanted to become an idol when she grew up, and she was showing off her talent to the rest of them.
She performed what they believed was ‘Spine Breaker’ and one that definitely was ‘War of Hormones’. She also performed a song by Red Velvet.
They cheered and applauded for her. She spun around and around.
“Be careful, Iseulie, so you don’t fall”, Jimin said a bit worried for her. She was like a whirlwind.
“I’m not fall. See!” she said but tripped the next second over her own feet. Hobi was quick and managed to catch her before she touched the floor.
“You see, Iseulie, you almost fell”, he scolded her lightly. “You have to listen to your Oppa when he tells you to be careful.”
“I’m listen”, she said and wrinkled her nose when she seemed to see something in the rapper’s face.
“What is it?” he asked a bit concerned and she started giggling.
“Oppa?” she asked and started dancing again. “I want to dance with you and you and you.” One by one she pointed at them all.
“Let’s have a disco!” Jimin suggested and soon all four of them were up dancing to the music on Yoongi’s mobile phone. Jumping around, singing and laughing. They had a lot of fun, but Iseul suddenly had tired feet.
“Do you want something to drink?” Hobi asked and went to the bag where he had both banana milk and apple juice. Jimin’s heart started to beat hard in nervosity and he checked the time on the wall. It was still one hour and thirty-four minutes until it was snack-time for him. He hoped his Hyung didn’t expect him to drink anything too. It was way too early for that!
“I want that!” Iseul pointed at the box with red apples. “What that?”
“It’s apple juice.”
“I want that!” Iseul squeaked eagerly. “Please, please, please.”
“Yes, of course”, Hoseok helped her with the straw before giving the juice to her. “Jiminie?”
“No”, Jimin said loud and clear. Neither of his Hyung argued with him.
They rested for a while, while Iseul told some stories her mother usually read for her. It was these typical children’s stories they all knew. They were on the sofa in the corner of the room. So very cozy. After half an hour of constant chatter from the little girl, she fell asleep. Jimin felt how his own eye lids felt heavy and he almost fell asleep as well.
“I wonder how it’s going for them out there”, Hobi whispered, not to wake the little girl up. She was lying with her head on Jimin’s lap.
“I hope Taehyung is doing okay”, Jimin murmured and let out a big yawn. Hobi just hummed in response and turned to Yoongi who had his eyes closed. It was hard to tell if he was asleep or not. His make-up looked even blacker around his eyes when he had them shut.
They sat quiet for a long while, until Hobi started to get restless. “Should I go check on them?” he asked. “Just to make sure they are alright.”
Jimin nodded. He would like to know too.
“Good, I’ll be back soon”, the rapper said and got up from the sofa. He grabbed his hoodie before he left. He was only wearing a tank top and he felt very naked on his arms.
He hurried back to the studio. His team members seemed to have everything under control. Their director was talking to them. It was a relief for Hobi to see the satisfied expression on the man’s face. They must be doing great. Their manager was still sitting in his chair. He was busy scrolling through his phone, which usually was a good sign.
Hobi took a seat on a forgotten wooden box. He rested his elbows on his thighs and his head in his hands while watching the shooting. Another hour passed quickly and soon they were done.
Big applauds and people cheering. Hobi was one of them. He was proud of them all! He was proud of himself too.
He saw how Jin and Jungkook did a high five, and how their director patted Namjoon’s back. Everyone was happy.
At the same moment their manager left his chair, Hobi turned around and hurried back to the changing room. He wasn’t too surprised to see them all fast asleep.
“Hey, wake up!” he shook Jimin, the vibration made Iseul awaken. She looked a little disorientated at first, Jimin did too. He rubbed his eyes and then turned his attention to his Hyung.
“What happened? Are they doing okay out there?” he asked and Hobi gave him the brightest of smiles.
“They are done! We all did great!” he answered and Jimin smiled too.
“Are we going to celebrate this?” he asked and Hobi nodded. They have to. This was going to be their big hit! He could feel it very strongly!
“You are great!” Iseul said and giggled merrily.
“Yeah, and you are great too, Iseulie”, Jimin told her. “Your appa will be very proud of you for being so good.”
“I’m be good. See!” she said and jumped away from the sofa and started spinning around the room again.
The others were soon back together with their manager and some staff members. None of them knew Hobi had been there watching them so they had a lot to tell.
“Appa!” Iseul said with glee and ran up to her father.
“Don’t run in here”, he said, still with a softness in his voice that wasn’t familiar to the seven members. “Behave now.”
“I behave!”
The man didn’t answer that and instead turned to Namjoon. “You have two days off now, if you want to leave the city, you may.”
“Thank you, Hyungnim”, he answered and looked at Jin who was giving him an expectant smile. This was going exactly as planned. The two of them and Yoongi hadn’t said anything to the others, but they had been planning for a couple of days now to go for a day trip tomorrow. They hoped they all were going to like the idea…