Chapter Text
“Describe Hobi-hyung in one word?” Namjoon quirked an eyebrow upwards at the instruction, before squinting at the ceiling in thought. “Hmm, I think ‘professional’ would be most fitting.”
Hoseok blushed as Namjoon smiled at him “I’ve never known someone as professional as Jung Hoseok. He’s sensible and dedicated, and he always does what’s best for us all.”
Hoseok made a tutting noise in embarrassment, but on the inside, he was basking with pride. Because to him, “professional” was the greatest compliment. While J-Hope’s on-screen persona was loud, silly, and playful, as soon as the band were behind closed doors it was Jung Hoseok who became the responsible one of the group. It was a reputation he had spent the last decade cultivating, so to hear Namjoon describe him that way (and to hear the murmurs of agreement from the rest of the members) meant everything to Hoseok.
Like the 6 boys he worked with, Jung Hoseok’s life had been turned upside-down upon becoming a trainee. He’d left his family, who had been a safe and predictable group of people, behind, and had had to quickly adapt to the different living setting and lifestyles of the other trainees. It had come as a shock to Hoseok, the way other people could just live so freely, so haphazardly, as if they didn’t think about the consequences of say, staying up until 5am to play video games the day before a dance assessment, or not washing the sweat off their skin before going to bed. So maybe it was a way to cope. To cope with becoming “just another trainee”, to cope with being separated from his family, and to cope with sharing a dorm with a bunch of smelly, careless boys who somehow shared his dream to debut – to cope with all of this, Jung Hoseok had found security in routine, discipline, and not making the same mistakes that the other teenagers he lived with were making.
This was all something the boy considered as they arrived home after the interview, making a beeline straight for the shower. It made sense to shower now, before dinner, so he’d be free afterwards to go to bed and get the optimum amount of sleep. As he washed himself, he followed his set routine of rinse, hair, rinse, body, rinse. It made sense to shower with a routine, because then he knew he’d be clean while not spending any longer than he needed to doing the activity. Drying himself meticulously afterwards made sense because he did not want to experience the foot fungus that a few of his bandmates had had recently, no thank you!
Next came dinner, and Hoseok smiled at the simple yet delicious meal that Seokjin had prepared for them all. Except, Jungkook wouldn’t be eating it, the boy angrily chomping on celery sticks as he took the seat next to Hoseok. Ah yes, Jungkook was on a diet, and Hoseok took pride in the fact that he himself never had to do the same. He took a sensible portion at dinner, the perfect amount to leave him just satisfied. Afterwards, he helped clear up, declining the offer from Namjoon and Jimin to go get ice cream (those two had just finished their diets and were taking every opportunity to fit as many calories into their bodies as they could before they had to start the next one). Hoseok would rather feel safe knowing that he’d never have to experience this yoyo-ing, because he was always sensible. Besides, it was time for him to go to bed now.
In the morning, the boy was the first to respond to Seokjin’s wake-up call, having no difficulty getting out of bed (his roommate, Jimin, seemed to be having less success at doing anything other than role-playing as a burrito). He got dressed, had a sensible breakfast, and double checked he had everything he needed before waiting in the kitchen for the others to be ready. As their car pulled up outside, he was the first to leave the chaotic dorm while the rest of the members were frantically getting ready and forgetting things last minute.
During practice, Hoseok was the one paying the most attention as they were shown a new choreography. He was the one copying the moves, and taking the time to commit them to memory in their breaks. Although he laughed along with the other members’ jokes, he knew he was at work and so ensuring the new routine was burned into his brain was his main priority. Besides, if he didn’t do it now he’d either have to re-learn it tomorrow or stay up late reviewing it tonight, and neither of those were an option. So he’d leave the fooling around to the rest of them.
Their schedule that day ended with a workout. Yoongi and Namjoon skipped it, preferring to use the time to finish a track they had been stuck on for the past week. Taehyung and Jimin started with good intentions, but were soon slacking off when Jimin remembered a funny video on his phone that he wanted to show, and Taehyung relished at the excuse to miss a couple of sets of exercises. Seokjin and Jungkook worked out hard, but became overly competitive with one another and did too many reps, which Hoseok internally scolded them for because they risked injury. The rapper was the only one to complete the exact workout they had been given, trusting in the company that he would be in the optimum condition for the next comeback if he did what he was told.
So all in all, Namjoon had been accurate when he chose the word “professional” to describe Jung Hoseok. The boy was willing to be cautious and make sacrifices in the short term, knowing it would pay off in the end. He did things now so that he wouldn’t have to do them later. He put the work in consistently, day-by-day, so that he wouldn’t fall behind or have to over-work himself and risk getting sick in the future. He took care of his health (save for his one bad habit of nail-biting) and his image because that was the best thing he could do for BTS.
Everything Jung Hoseok did was controlled. But sometimes, for some people, having too much control can be a bad thing. And when you’ll do anything for the illusion of having control, ironically, those very things you thought you had control over may start to control you.