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The heavy weight of responsibility being the leader and a representative of Korea was not a task that was taken lightly. Jimin was shrugging out of his suit jacket now that he was in the privacy of his hotel room. He took off the choker, and felt the exhaustion come upon him like a tsunami does to an unsuspecting island.
The day had been hectic, busy getting dressed and made up making sure that they all looked perfect and would represent a clean, fresh, and cool look for the countless photographs that would be taken throughout the day and evening. It was a dall filled with language barriers, countless photos, shock over seeing musicians that they all admired, and the pressure of presenting themselves in a way that was respectable to their country.
Jimin knew their beloved leader felt the weight of today more heavily than the rest, seeing as he was the only fluent English speaker and had to answer all of the interview questions, while also translating to them so they didn’t feel left out of an experience that they were all supposed to share together.
Namjoon had looked exhausted when they finally got into the limo to go back to the hotel room.
Jimin shuffled into his bathroom, peeling off the expensive clothing and folding them up on the bathroom counter. He stood in his briefs, turning on the warm water faucet and ran his fingers through his hair to loosen up the hairspray that the stylists noonas sprayed earlier to prevent any mishaps from occurring during their time at the Billboard Awards.
He dipped his hands into the water, and feeling that the temperature was not too hot, he cleansed his face of the make-up that were no doubt clogging his pores and going to leave him with plenty of break-outs after today. The cool air of the room enveloped his body, cooling him down from the hot Nevada weather. He couldn’t believe how hot Las Vegas got, and slightly regretted having to wear the black that the stylist noonas put them in.
Once he finished removing the make-up and washing his face, he applied the toner and moisturizer before gathering up his discarded clothes from the counter and going to his suitcase to pull out his loose gym shorts and oversized hoodie to put on.
He would shower the day away later.
After clothing himself in the comfortable and loose clothing that didn’t make him feel claustrophobic, Jimin grabbed his phone and hotel key card and left his room. He went a couple rooms down and knocked on the door.
He waited, smiling as he heard a mumbled curse before the door opened, revealing his bare faced leader. Jimin watched as Namjoon’s concerned face smoothed into one of relief, “Ah, Jimin, I thought you were the manager. Come in,” he said, opening the door to give Jimin enough room to enter. Jimin took in his leader’s body covered in a bathrobe.
Jimin smelled the distinct scent of Namjoon’s body wash, and knew that his leader had already rinsed the day away as part of his ritual of reducing his stress and anxiety, which was good. Namjoon being productive and proactive meant an emotionally and mentally sound leader.
“Hyung, it’s so hot here,” Jimin said, moving to the perfectly made bed and sitting on it, pushing himself to sit square in the middle it.
“You’re spoiled with good weather,” Namjoon teased, moving to his suitcase to change into his nightly wear. Jimin watched, unashamedly, appreciating his leaders lightly toned back muscles and lean figure.
There was a time when Jimin wouldn’t have been able to make eye contact when Namjoon ws dressing, diverting his eyes and hiding his blush because the leader was so attractive and it left him feeling weird and a little bit insecure of his own looks. Jimin had been grouped up with extremely handsome bandmates, and he paled in comparison.
“Aish, staring again, Jiminnie?” Namjoon teased, letting his t-shirt drape over his shoulders.
He smiled back, “Just like seeing you so relaxed after a big day like today. It’s a nice change, hyung.”
Jimin watched as Namjoon’s features softened considerably, “You’re too observant, Minnie.”
“If I’m not, who will be? Just because you’re our leader doesn’t mean you have to go through this alone. You need someone there to comfort you just like you comfort and take care of us,” Jimin said softly.
Namjoon sat on the edge of the bed, his back facing away from Jimin as he looked at the window. It was an easy distance for him to slightly lean over and gently rub at his back. “We’re all really proud of you, Jooni,” Jimin said, using both hands to gently knead a knot from his leader’s tensed up back muscles.
His leader had a bleeding heart. Namjoon’s motivation to do well was to help take care of them all. He didn’t want anyone of them to go hungry, or to have poor living conditions, or to ever suffer like they did in their trainee and pre-debut days. Namjoon is a person who needed to nurture his members, and to make sure their needs were met. He needed it as much as Jimin needed dance. It was part of his being, wired so deeply into his soul that Namjoon was the perfect leader for them. All their members varied in how they needed to be taken care of, but Namjoon knew innately what each one of them needed and made it so that they always had it.
He had taken on the unofficial role of making sure Namjoon’s needs were met. He never wanted his tender-hearted leader to feel as though he was being neglected, or that he had to suffer alone. They were a team and that meant they all needed to rely on one another.
“Did you have fun today?” Namjoon asked, turning to face him.
Jimin smiled, “Yeah hyung, it was fun. It was different and I always get a little bit homesick, but having you there to help speak for us and translate to include us in the conversation really helped. You did a really good job of representing us and Korea.”
“It was all really overwhelming, but what surprised me most was the amount of ARMY’s that showed up...all for us to just accept an award. It’s just amazing how many fans we have here in the states,” Namjoon said, disbelief and pride clear in the leader’s voice and expression.
“We’re apparently doing something right,” Jimin conceded, smiling at his leader’s joy.
“I hope we can perform here next time, to prove that we deserve our award,” Namjoon confessed.
“We don’t need to prove anything. Our fans gave us that award because they voted without seizing. Don’t minimize our fans hard work just to prove ourselves to musicians who aren’t even our peers,” Jimin said, being stern with his leader. “Their opinion doesn’t matter, Jooni, that’s your pride speaking.”
Namjoon looked at Jimin and nodded, “It would be nice though though to be able to perform live for our international fans just once on a platform where they can feel proud of us.”
“Maybe next year,” Jimin conceded, pulling his hood up over his head and laying down on the bed. Jimin was apprehensive of performing in the states, but if it made his fans happy, he would do so diligently and gratefully.
A weight dipped the bed down, Jimin looked up to see Namjoon moving to lay down beside him, shuffling into place where they could look at each other. Jimin smiled, his eyes growing heavy and blurry from the need to sleep. Namjoon still looked alert, but that could easily change. Jimin was known for his expert cuddling skills to calm any one of his wired members.
Namjoon moved to wrap his arm over his stomach and rest his forehead against the side of his head, breathing softly in contentment.
He rested his own hand over the hand on his belly, maneuvering it so they could interlock their fingers.
No words needed to be said. An ease and comfortability had developed between the two of them and the natural need to have one another close didn’t bother them. They only had each other and the other members to rely on when it came to destressing and handling the burdens of being an idol. They were the only ones who truly understood what it meant to be an idol, and they all trusted each other.
Sleep came easy, pulling them under and gifting them with dreams and a deep rest.
A loud knocking pulled Jimin out of sleeps grip. He blearily looked around, taking in the unfamiliar surroundings. He had rolled onto his side, and there was a heavy warmth behind him, snoring lightly in his ear.
An arm was still draped over him and the memories from the previous night flooded back. He gently moved Namjoon’s arms, and hurried to the door to prevent the nuisance from waking up their exhausted leader.
He opened the door to see Jungkook and Yoongi hyung, “Aish, keep it down, what did you need?”
They both look unsurprised to see him answering the door as Yoongi cleared his throat to speak in sleep-ridden raspy voice, “Wondering if you wanted to join us for breakfast.”
Jimin frowned, “I’d hate to wake up Namjoon hyung, he’s still sleeping...could you possibly bring something back for him?”
“You’re not going to eat, hyung?” Jungkook asked, concerned.
“You can bring me something small if you’d like, Kookie,” Jimin said, leaning over to ruffle his bed-head.
“I’ll be sure to bring you both back something. Let Joon sleep,” Yoongi said.
“Thank you hyung. You guys have fun at breakfast,” Jimin said, gently swatting his maknae on the shoulder.
He turned to close the door quietly, before heading into the bathroom to relieve his bladder. He inspected his face in the mirror, surprised to see that he was break-out free. He washed it with Namjoon’s gentle cleanser, before reapplying toner and moisturizer, before heading back into the room.
Namjoon was still sleeping, but Jimin easily situated himself back into position from earlier, before going on his phone and scrolling through twitter.
Jimin was caught up reading an article about them from the previous night when he felt Namjoon shift and his breathing becoming more shallow, a clear indication that he was about to wake up.
Jimin turned his phone off to look over at his bed partner waking up. Namjoon was incredibly cute waking up, and Jimin always treasured the quiet moments of Namjoon sleepily blinking his eye, his hands moving to rub at them, before he blearily opened them.
He also secretly loved being the first person his leader saw.
Once Namjoon’s eyes had opened, they settled on Jimin, before a warm, small smile pulled his lips upwards. “You’re still here,” Namjon said matter of factly, but a pleased tone obvious in hic voice.
He chuckled at the sweet response from his leader, “Yes,” he replied.
Namjoon quietly looked at Jimin, allowing his body to fully wake up. Jimin unashamedly took in Namjoon’s features, slightly jealous of how easily his leader tanned and the dimples framing his lips, and the always clear and perfect skin.
“You got tan, Jiminnie,” Namjoon stated.
“The fans at home aren’t going to like it,” he replied, a bit sad. He didn’t exactly like looking like a ghost, and actually thought he looked better with his darker skin.
“I think they will, it gives you a healthy glow,” Namjoon murmured.
“We’ll see. The stylist noonas hate covering me up with so much foundation, and I’ve only made their job harder if I have tanned,” he replied.
“It’s because the noonas love your skin, and don’t like covering it up,” his leader spoke softly.
“Why don’t they cover you up?” Jimin asked, curiously.
“They do a little bit, but it’s hard to cover every inch of my skin, so I’m able to get away with my darker skin,” Najoon answered.
“You’re lucky,” he replied, slightly bitter.
Namjoon moved his arm higher up on Jimin’s chest to gently pinch Jimin’s cheek, “Stop it, you know you can stay tan like this. You don’t need to cover up. Our fans will accept it, and if they don’t, then I don’t really think I want them being part of ARMY if they can’t accept you as who you are.”
He turned his head, rolling his eyes, “Hyung,” he groaned, “don’t be so greasy.”
Namjoon laughed, rolling onto his back and sitting up. He combed his hair down before standing up and padding into the bathroom.
Jimin felt comforted knowing his leader was okay. The burden that weighed down from the previous day seemed to have gone away overnight, and his leader looked well-rested and content.
He also, selfishly, felt comforted having these few precious moments with his leader. Namjoon could qualm any fear or insecurity of his with a few gentle and soft-spoken words. Namjoon helped validate and reassure that his place on the team was needed, and Jimin was there to be a sounding board for him when it all became Too Much.
There was also a certain amount of pride in being the leader’s confidante, and Jimin held that role in his team reverently.
Nonetheless, Jimin had done his job, and they would be going home soon. It was going to be a good day.