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Taehyung
Their maknae was almost painfully shy, that much was obvious to Taehyung.
Of course, they’d known each other for a while, they’d been training together before they’d been selected for the group and put in the dorm together. But living together was a different experience for all of them, and it wasn’t the easiest thing to adapt to. Taehyung understood this, so he wasn’t going to try and push Jeongguk to talk and open up to them, not yet at least.
Well, that had been his plan at least. But the day they’d all moved in to the dorm, started unpacking and talking amongst each other with excitement, it didn’t escape his notice how… uncomfortable Jeongguk looked.
The raven was sat by himself, body tense as he scrolled through something on his phone. He didn’t look up at the others as they spoke to each other, he didn’t try to insert himself into their conversations, and it made Taehyung a little sad.
Maybe he’d talk to him, after all, they were the closest in age. Jeongguk would hopefully not be quite as tense around him.
Deciding it was worth a shot at least, Taehyung got up from where he’d parked himself on the couch and walked over to Jeongguk’s form in the corner, throwing himself onto the arm of the chair with a grin.
“Hey, Ggukkie.” He said, snapping the attention of the raven. “What’re you doing over here?”
Jeongguk looked like he was a deer caught in headlights as he looked up at the older. “H-Hyung, I-I’m just…”
Taehyung just smiled, grabbing hold of Jeongguk’s arm and pulling him to his feet as he stood up himself. “Come on, let’s do something, yeah?”
“Like what?”
“Like… I brought my old Wii from home. I have Mariokart! Let’s play it!”
Jeongguk didn’t confirm the plan, but he didn’t deny it as he was pulled along by Taehyung to the tv and was pushed to sit in front of it. Taehyung immediately disappeared from view then, coming back a few minutes later holding the device and a bundle of wires. “It’s a little tangled but I’m sure it still works!”
“Do you have enough controllers for everyone…?”
“Nah, I only have two, so they can suffer. Me and you will play!”
Jeongguk frowned a little, but didn’t say anything while he watched Taehyung set up the console.
He hadn’t had to do it in a long time, and Taehyung had almost forgotten what got plugged into where. But after 10 minutes and a little help from Hoseok, Taehyung had the console set up and was popping the controllers into a plastic wheel, handing Jeongguk one before sitting next to him and setting the game up.
The maknae was still quiet, but Taehyung could tell he was starting to relax, at least a little bit. His posture loosened up, he leaned back a little more and relaxed his face into a smile as they started the first race.
They raced for far too long.
Seokjin tried to get them to turn the game off after a few hours, trying to make them come to the table for something to eat. Jeongguk had almost relented, but Taehyung had argued that they were having fun and Seokjin, seeing how relaxed Jeongguk had gotten, let them eat their dinner in front of the TV.
“Only for today, it won’t happen again” The oldest had warned the two younger, but he’d been smiling as he said it so Taehyung knew they weren’t really in trouble. Seokjin was probably just as happy as he was to see Jeongguk starting to relax a little bit.
Before the night had drawn to a close, Jeongguk was laughing, smiling and joking along with Taehyung, hurling good-natured insults at his hyung as he was destroyed in first place by a blue shell. They both had tears in their eyes, Jeongguk from laughter, stomach aching as he tried to control them.
Taehyung was much the same, although he knew there was another reason for the tears in his eyes. Jeongguk was opening up to him, and he was happy.
Jimin
Two days after Jeongguk had spent all afternoon and evening playing Mariokart with Taehyung, Jimin couldn’t help but feel… a little jealous. Since then, Jeongguk seemed to be a lot more open with the other, the ice had been broken between them and Jeongguk was no longer acting like he was always walking on glass around them. At least, if Taehyung was around that was.
But Jimin couldn’t help the jealousy that bit the bottom of his heart. He was happy that Jeongguk was feeling more comfortable with at least one of them, but he wanted to make friends with the youngest too. Jeongguk just seemed to… not really care. Well, less that he didn’t care, and more that he just wasn’t really open to talking to Jimin. He’d tried a few times, tried to hold a conversation with their maknae, but Jeongguk appeared to not really be into that all that much.
“Hey, Gguk.” Jimin sighed with a smile, sitting next to where the youngest had his head buried in some book Jimin didn’t know. “How’re you doing?”
“I’m fine, hyung. Thank you. You?”
“I’m fine.”
Jeongguk gave a soft smile, before looking back down to his book, conversation seemingly over.
Jimin tried to not get annoyed, it wasn’t Jeongguk’s fault they hadn’t really bonded yet. Jimin just had to… find the right way to find that connection they’d one day have. Why couldn’t they get past the awkward small talk? They were similar, despite the fact Jeongguk was very obviously introverted and he was extroverted.
“Do… do you want to do something today?” Jimin questioned, not moving from where he’d sat next to the younger. Jeongguk looked up from his book again, not really looking disinterested, more confused than anything.
“Like what, Jimin-hyung?”
“Like…” Jimin hesitated, he hadn’t really expected to get this far if he was being honest with himself. He probably should have thought of something to do before he’d brought it up. “You like dancing, right? Let’s put some music on and have fun! We can have a dance battle! Girl group songs tend to be the way to go for that.” He smiled brightly at the youngest, trying to reassure him that it would be fun, even if Jeongguk looked a little worried at the words.
He watched as the raven grew a few shades paler, looking around at where the other five members sat around doing their own things, before he shook his head. “N-no thank you, hyung, I’m okay. Sorry.”
Jimin frowned for a moment, looking over at the others as well, before it clicked in his mind. Jeongguk was embarrassed. He didn’t want to dance to girl group songs in front of people he wasn’t overly comfortable with yet. Jimin’s heart fluttered a little at the thought, although he felt bad at possibly embarrassing Jeongguk, he couldn’t deny how embarrassed the younger had gotten was adorable.
Without saying anything, Jimin got to his feet and walked over to Jin, leaning close so he could be quiet and the oldest would still hear him.
“Hyung, I want to hang out with Jeongguk for a bit, alone, but he’s a little embarrassed with everyone being here…”
“Do you want me to take everyone else out for a few hours?”
Jimin grinned and nodded, to which Jin gave a soft smile in return before nodding back.
Within only 5 minutes, the dorm was cleared apart from just Jeongguk and Jimin, Jin claiming he was taking the others out to the park for a bit. Jeongguk didn’t question why he and Jimin weren’t included in this plan, but if he was offended by it, he didn’t show it.
“So…about that dance party?” Jimin said, unable to wipe the smile from his face.
Jeongguk gave a soft smile again, letting out a sigh before nodding and placing the book down beside him, a book mark holding his space.
“Alright, hyung. If you really want to.”
Hurrying over to their bluetooth speaker, Jimin pulled up his phone and had connected it in seconds, hooking up his girl group playlist. Wonder Girls’ ‘Like This’ was blasting through the speakers in moments, and Jimin wasted no time grabbing Jeongguk’s hands and pulling him to his feet.
It took a few songs before Jeongguk started getting more comfortable and loosening up. His movements started off pretty wooden, unlike how powerful his movements usually were, but once he seemed to start realising Jimin wasn’t judging him, that the older wasn’t taking himself too seriously either as they went through the choreography, he began to laugh more, became more wild and overexcited in his dancing.
Jimin was starting to tire long before Jeongguk was, doubled over with his hands on his knees as he watched Jeongguk laugh and glide through the movements to f(x)’s ‘Electric Shock’. When the youngest misstepped a jump and ended up flat on his ass, Jimin panicked for a second, thinking it was going to make him stop and retreat back into his shell. Instead, Jeongguk burst into uncontrolled laughter, doubling over to hold his stomach as it ached and tears streamed from his eyes.
That’s how the others came back and found them, Jimin lying on his back on the floor, gasping for breath with a red face through his laughs, and Jeongguk in a similar position, tears streaming as he struggled to control his laughter.
Namjoon
Practice was taking a toll on all of them.
Despite their years of training, at least for most of them, the intensity of which they were trying to perfect their debut song’s choreography wasn’t something they’d ever really experienced before. They were used to long days of lots of practice, but this was something new entirely. The early starts, the short breaks to eat and rest before finishing late for days on end.
They were all exhausted, but Namjoon couldn’t help but feel bad for Jeongguk slightly more than the rest of them.
The youngest had been putting so much pressure on himself. He wasn’t the only one having to deal with school along side training and preparation for their debut, but he was the one who was putting such an intense amount of pressure on himself. Everyone else was taking it as easy as they could around their practises, but Jeongguk was getting home late at night and throwing himself straight into his homework and studying until the early hours of the morning, only getting a couple hours of sleep before he was having to get up and do the whole thing all over again.
They’d just gotten home from one of their incredibly long practises, and all of them were ready to just drop into bed and sleep for as long as possible. But they couldn’t yet, showers and winding down had to happen before any of them could sleep.
Taehyung had jumped into the shower first, Yoongi complaining from the doorway, asking him to hurry up. Jeongguk had laughed a little at the interaction before starting to head towards his room. The bags under the youngest’s eyes were so prominent, and Namjoon didn’t know how long it had been since Jeongguk had more than two hours of sleep in one go.
“I need to get my homework done, hyung, goodnight.” He called towards the room as he walked towards the room, and Namjoon wasted no time getting to his feet and hurrying over to Jeongguk, grabbing hold of his arm. Jeongguk’s hand trembled from exhaustion under his grip, and Namjoon felt his heartstrings tug. He couldn’t let this go on, as Jeongguk’s leader, and as his friend.
“No, Jeongguk, you’ve studied enough. Come on, you need to relax for a bit.” He tried, but Jeongguk gave a small smile and shook his head.
“I can’t fall behind, hyung. That will just make things worse. I promise I’m okay.”
“Don’t make promises like that when I know you’re lying. Come on.”
Namjoon’s tone wasn’t nasty, but it definitely left no room for arguing as he pulled Jeongguk towards the couch and sat down on it, forcing the youngest to sit next to him as he switched the TV on to a random channel. Both of them weren’t smelling the freshest, they could both do with a shower and a change of clothes, but Namjoon found that to be pretty low on his priorities list.
Jeongguk struggled a little next to Namjoon, muttering light frustrations about how he didn’t have time to relax, about how he had too much to do, but Namjoon made an active decision to ignore the complaints. Jeongguk didn’t have a choice in this matter.
Thankfully, it only took a few moments before Jeongguk relaxed next to him, melting back into the couch as the exhaustion caught up to him. The maknae went boneless, letting out a sigh as he leaned back. Namjoon let out a small smile at that, pulling Jeongguk a little closer towards him so the maknae was leaning against his shoulder and the leader’s arm was wrapped around him.
“You need to look after yourself, Jeongguk.” Namjoon mumbled, rubbing his hand up and down Jeongguk’s arm as soothingly as he could. “You’re going to push yourself until you break. We don’t need you to break yourself, we need you to look after yourself and do your best, okay? If your grades slip a little, that’s okay. If you’re too tired to practice and you need a break, that’s okay. If you need to break down, that’s okay. You don’t need to impress us. You don’t need to prove anything. You’ve already proven yourself long before we even moved in together. We love you, all of us love you, and now we need you to love yourself a little more. If you put too much pressure on yourself, you’ll shatter. How would you feel if one of us were doing this to ourselves, hm? You’d worry, right? You’d tell them to take it easy? Well that’s what we need to do for you now. It won’t ruin your life to take it easy, it won’t break what you’ve built to look after yourself. Just relax, take it easy, let yourself rest.”
Jeongguk stayed quiet for a moment, before leaning closer to Namjoon, and resting his head down on the older’s shoulder. He could feel Jeongguk trembling under his hand, and he knew it wasn’t just exhaustion anymore. The youngest was crying, just a little, and Namjoon couldn’t help but smile fondly as he pulled him towards him, holding him reassuringly.
“It’s okay to take it easy, it’s okay to look after yourself, it’s okay to not be perfect for one day. We love you regardless.”
Hoseok
Hoseok could see Jeongguk was getting frustrated.
It wasn’t really anything he was doing wrong either. The youngest seemed to be struggling to get through the routine without messing it up. A dodgy foot placement here, a stiff arm movement there, mistakes that the raven didn’t usually make.
And Hoseok could see the frustration blooming hard.
He wasn’t really close with their maknae yet. They talked of course, they lived together, but their relationship was little more than coworkers. Maybe it could be stretched to distant cousins, but they definitely weren’t the brothers that Jeongguk had grown to be with the other members of the maknae line.
But Hoseok’s heart couldn’t help but ache a little as Jeongguk once again finished a rotation and ended up out of place, throwing off the sync of the routine. He watched as he huffed in annoyance, kicking at the floor and walking away towards the wall of their practice room, leaning his warm forehead against the brick and taking deep breaths.
Hoseok didn’t know if the frustration was with the dance, or with himself. But knowing what he’d learnt about Jeongguk so far, he doubted it was the dance he was annoyed with.
The main dancer watched as Taehyung hurried over to his friend, stopping him from hitting his head against the wall in frustration and muttering reassurances to him, before he then decided he may as well step in. Even if they weren’t the closest, he could at least try to help Jeongguk.
Walking over with a smile, Hoseok got to the two youngest’s sides quickly, telling Taehyung he had this and he could go back to the others. Taehyung hesitated, but nodded and left, going back to the other side of the room as Hoseok leaned against the wall next to Jeongguk.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” He started, hoping to at least figure out what he was dealing with first.
“I just… I just can’t do it today. I can’t get it down. I don’t know what it is. I’m normally not this bad and I don’t know what’s wrong and it’s not fair. I’m meant to be a good dancer, and now I’m proving to everyone that me joining this group was a mistake! Why can’t I do it today?” Jeongguk’s voice raised a little, his voice thick with tears that were yet to fall as he turned and slid down the wall, sitting on the floor with his head bowed.
Hoseok hesitated for a moment, maybe he was out of his element here. Jeongguk was obviously having a bad day, maybe he would have been better to leave it to one of the members who knew him better. But regardless, Hoseok slid down the wall next to the youngest, parking himself in a seated position.
“Sometimes we just have bad days, Jeongguk. That’s okay, you know? It doesn’t make you a bad dancer. In fact, you’re really good, okay? You pick things up quickly and you look good while doing it. You’re still young, you’re stressed and tired, of course you’re going to have bad days, but that doesn’t mean you’re bad at what you do. You’re a dancer at heart, and today is just a day.”
Jeongguk looked up at Hoseok, dark eyes still teary despite none of them having fallen yet. “Really…?”
“Really, honestly, you’re really good. A bad day doesn’t make us think any less of you. If you want, I can work on this with you today? One-on-one? We’re not really doing much but running through it over and over anyway, I’m sure the others don’t mind if we do it one-on-one for a while.”
“B-but…”
“But?”
“You shouldn’t have to help me, I should be able to do this myself.”
“Jeongguk, you’re 15, you’re our maknae. I’m happy to help you, okay? You’re a good dancer, and I just want to help you see that.”
Jeongguk looked up at the older, dislodging a few tears down his cheeks as he blinked and smiled despite the tremble in his lips.
“O-Okay, hyung. Thank you.”
Hoseok then got to his feet, holding his hand out to Jeongguk and pulling the younger up to his feet.
“Then let’s go.”
Yoongi
Yoongi didn’t understand why Jeongguk paled and clammed up whenever the oldest rapper tried to talk to him.
Really, it was a little endearing at first. He was so shy and the reaction to the second oldest talking to him was more adorable than insulting. But it grew old pretty damn fast as it didn’t seem to be getting any better. Jeongguk didn’t seem to be getting used to him in the slightest, and the fondness that he held was starting to morph into an uncomfortable pit in his stomach.
So, he confronted the younger about it.
They had a day off, and none of them really had any plans at all. They hadn’t had to practice all day, Jeongguk had gone to school, but due to not having to go to a schedule afterwards like he normally did, he’d gotten back to the dorm pretty early.
Jeongguk had only been back through the door a few minutes before Yoongi walked up to him.
“Jeongguk, can we talk?”
Jeongguk looked up at him with scared doe eyes, but with a small nod he agreed and waited for the older to continue.
“Why do you look so scared of me? Am I really that scary?”
The maknae gulped a little, looking away while trying to find his words. He was still looking at the floor as he mumbled out his reply, looking just as uncomfortable with the conversation as Yoongi felt.
“It’s… it’s not that you’re scary hyung, I just find you a little… intimidating? That’s all, it’s nothing bad you’re just a little…” Jeongguk trailed off, unable to find whatever words he wanted to say.
Yoongi stayed silent for a moment, before laughing. “Is that really it? You’re just intimidated by me? I didn’t do anything wrong?”
“N-no, hyung, you didn’t do anything wrong…”
“Well, we’re going to fix that right now. You can’t find my intimidating forever. Go get changed, we’re going out.”
Jeongguk looked up quickly, opening his mouth to argue before deciding against it and nodding, disappearing back to his room without another word.
After confirming with the others that he was taking Jeongguk out so they didn’t worry, Yoongi waited by the door to their dorm, smiling as Jeongguk approached him.
“Where are we going, hyung?”
“You’ll see.”
Yoongi grabbed the maknae’s hand without hesitation, pulling him gently out of the dorm and down the hallway before they were out in the cool late afternoon air. It was probably a little early for dinner, but it didn’t really matter too much.
They walked in silence for a while, Yoongi not once letting go of Jeongguk’s hand, before they went down a small alley to a hidden restaurant.
“Hyung?”
“We’re getting lamb skewers, okay? They’re good, I promise.”
Pulling Jeongguk inside the restaurant, Yoongi got them a table and ordered the skewers along with a variety of sides, never once letting his smile drop. He wanted to bond with the youngest after all, and he couldn’t do that if he was still scaring the shit out of the baby of the group.
“Why are you doing this, hyung?”
“Because I want us to be friends. I’m your hyung, and your team mate, I need you to be able to feel like you can come to me if you need anything. I need to show you I’m not really that scary, yeah? I’m a softy really, just don’t tell anyone, I have an image to uphold.”
Jeongguk laughed a little at the words, starting to eat once their food had arrived. Yoongi couldn’t help but grin at the laugh. It was a start, he was getting somewhere.
“I’m sorry if I upset you, hyung.”
The words from the youngest stopped Yoongi mid-chew of his lamb, looking up to make eye contact. “Huh?”
“By being quiet with you, I’m sorry if I upset you. It was never my intention.”
“Jeongguk, I was never upset with you. I was just worried it was something I did, I didn’t realise it was just my resting bitch face doing it.”
Jeongguk laughed again, shaking his head. “I wouldn’t go that far.”
“Nah, it’s okay, I know my resting face is a bit harsh. But I never want you to be scared of me. I’m the second oldest after all, I need to look out for all you younger ones.
“Thank you, hyung.”
“It’s okay.”
“Can we be friends?”
“Of course.”
Seokjin
Seokjin knew Jeongguk was having a rough day.
He’d opened up to all of them over the past few months. He was still shy, still pretty introverted even around them, but it wasn’t quite as bad as it used to be. He was less closed off, more ready to laugh and joke with them when the occasion arose. But today was different. He’d gotten home from school and immediately gone to his room. Of course, he’d exchanged pleasantries with everyone, as was expected of him to show respect to the older members, but there had been no other conversations held as he’d made his escape to privacy.
Seokjin didn’t want to take that privacy away from the younger, but he knew he had to at least make sure Jeongguk was okay. So giving him half an hour to get settled and calm down, the oldest made his way to the room, knocking lightly before making his way in.
“Jeongguk? Are you alright?”
The maknae looked up from where he was sat on his bed. He was expecting to see text books and homework spread around the youngest, but there was nothing like that in sight. Instead, Jeongguk was sat with his knees pulled up to his chest, eyes red and tears streaming down his cheeks.
“Oh Jeongguk,” Seokjin said before walking over to him, sitting down on the bed and pulling Jeongguk into a hug before the raven had chance to object, threading his fingers through his hair. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
“I-I’m fine, hyung. Promise, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologise. What’s gotten you so upset?”
Jeongguk took a shaking breath in Seokjin’s arms, sniffling against the sobs threatening to escape. He’d expected Jeongguk to reject the physical affection, to try and pull away, but instead Jeongguk just clung to him. “I miss home.”
Oh.
“You’re feeling homesick?”
Jeongguk nodded a little, lifting his hand to rub at his running nose. “Yeah.”
“Do you want to call your parents? Your brother?”
“I-I just got off the phone with them, it helped a little, kinda, but now I miss them more. Hearing their voices hurt more.”
Seokjin’s heart broke for Jeongguk. It was easy to forget with how much they worked just how young he was. Of course, they’d all had to grow up fast, they’d all left their families long before they were ready to, and Jeongguk tended to act older than his years.
But it was moments like this that reminded Seokjin that he was still really just a baby. That it was hard for him to away from his family while he was so stressed.
“I just want my mom’s cookies.”
“Hm?”
“My mom used to make chocolate chip cookies for me and Junghyun-hyung when we were sad. She always gave them to us when they were still warm and melting.”
“Jeongguk, give me your phone.” Seokjin’s tone held no room for arguments as Jeongguk gave a small, confused frown but handed his phone over regardless and watched as Seokjin messaged someone through it. Moments later, the maknae’s phone was chiming with an incoming text, and Seokjin looked up with a bright smile. “Come with me.”
He didn’t wait for the younger to question it before he was getting up, heading out of the room with the still teary Jeongguk following behind, leading him straight to the kitchen as he began to get ingredients out of the cupboards.
“What’s going on?”
“I just got your mom to send me the recipe. We’re making the cookies.”
“Hyung?”
“I can’t stop you missing your parents, I can’t help with that. But what I can do is bring your home comforts here. Okay? Now help me.”
Jeongguk gave a choked laugh before doing what he was told, grabbing the rest of the ingredients they needed while Seokjin grabbed mixing bowls.
Before too long, the counter was covered in flour and sugar, the remains of a melted chocolate chip smeared on Jeongguk’s cheek and cookies were baking away in the oven.
“Thank you.”
“For what, Jeongguk?”
“Making me feel better.”
“Baking makes everyone feel better, and I know you’re struggling. It’s the least I could do.”
“Still, thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Ggukkie.”