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Hoseok tapped his foot impatiently. Jimin had wanted someone to go to the bathroom with him - for some absurd reason - but he had been waiting outside for nearly five minutes now and he had been getting a number of weird looks. They were due on stage in twenty minutes, Jimin didn't have the luxury of spending forever in the bathroom, although he seemed to be under the impression that he did. Glancing at his watch, Hoseok decided that Jimin had two minutes until he barged back into the bathroom and dragged him out. Mind made up, Hoseok leant back against the wall and crossed his arms, counting down the seconds.
By Hoseok's count, Jimin had thirty-one seconds left when the bathroom door opened and Jimin stuck his head out. He looked around uncertainly until he spotted Hoseok.
"Hobi-hyung." He whispered harshly, beckoning him closer. Hoseok stayed where he was, raising an eyebrow.
"We need to get going, Jimin." He said pointedly.
Jimin rolled his eyes, gesturing more aggressively.
Intrigued but cautious at what his dongsaeng may have cooked up, Hoseok steps closer.
"What have you done now, Jimin?"
Jimin glared at him, grabbing his arm as soon as he was in reach and pulling him into the bathroom. Hoseok let out a long-suffering sigh, although he pauses when something makes a weird noise.
Jimin notices his look, stopping his pulling and turning to him, biting his lip. The noise happens again and Hoseok definitely understands why Jimin had pulled him back into the bathroom.
"That is someone throwing up, right hyung?" Jimin whispers uncertainly. Hoseok nods, already moving to walk down the row of cubicles.
Someone gags and there's a quiet whisper right after. Hoseok stops outside the second-to-last stall, his eyebrows furrowed and ears cocked.
"I know, I know. Its alright, calm down." Someone is whispering. Its so quiet its almost impossible to hear it. Hoseok turns back to Jimin, a question on his face.
"We should help." The younger dancer says quietly. Hoseok fully agrees and wastes no time in knocking on the cubicle's door. There's a sudden lack of movement behind the door.
"Hi, we were just wondering if everything was alright in here?" Hoseok says as kindly as he can. There's a bit of shuffling.
"Ah, we're - " Whoever's talking is cut off when the gagging starts again. There's definitely two people in there. Despite his worry, Hoseok wonders how two people can fit in the stall - they're not the biggest of places.
"Do you need any help?" Jimin asks softly.
"Do you think you could open the door?" Hoseok tacks on. There weren't that many boy groups due to perform today and all of them were from younger groups than BTS, Hoseok was pretty sure. Regardless of whether they were an older or younger group, however, Hoseok would want to offer whatever help he could.
There's some more shuffling behind the door and it sounds like somebody's stood up. There's only a second of hesitation before the lock clicks and the door opens. The boy that opened it has to shift awkwardly as the door swings inwards and it only just misses hitting the boy kneeling over the toilet.
"Oh, sunbae-nim." The boy blinks in surprise, quickly dipping into a bow of polite greeting. Hoseok smiles, although his eyes are worriedly trained on the boy behind him.
"Is he alright? Do you need help getting to a medic?" Jimin interrupts, stepping closer. The boy in front of them has got carefully styled, dark brown hair and a very handsome face. He's young - he's can't be much older than twenty. His eyes are dark and worried. He's also familiar and Hoseok wonders which group he's in even as he worries about how to get in contact with their leader or one of their managers.
"Ah, sunbae-nim..." Before the brown-haired boy can continue, the boy who had previously been bent over the toilet levers himself to his feet and turns to face them. He blinks in surprise when he sees them - he obviously hadn't realised which senior group his friend was talking to. This boy is even younger, with blonde hair and a cute face. He's very pale though, obvious even under his make-up. Jimin sends Hoseok a wide-eyed look filled with worry.
"I'm alright, sunbae-nim, thank you." The blonde tries to bow but sways dangerously. Hoseok automatically reaches out to steady him, but the older boy has moved before Hoseok can do anything, wrapping his arm around the blonde's shoulder in a way that is deceptively supportive. The blonde leans into his older friend, closing his eyes as he tries to stop swaying.
"I really think we should get you to a medic." Jimin says gently. The blonde boy begins to pout, even as he shakes his head resolutely. There is a distinctly judgemental tilt to the older boys eyebrows that reminds Hoseok of Yoongi.
"I just need to get back to our wait room." The blonde boy continued to argue.
"Ok." Hoseok said before Jimin could retort back. "How about we help you back?" He asks.
"Sunbae-nim, you don't have to do that. I can get him back." The older boy says this time, slightly shocked at the offer.
"Please, we want to help." Hoseok insists. Its true - he wants to make sure these young idols get somewhere safe. Plus, he doesn't know if he trusts them to get back to their group. They'd spent who knows how long in this bathroom and Hoseok had a feeling that if he left them alone, that's exactly where they'd go back to. The older boy still looks unsure, but the ill blonde is nodding in agreement.
"You're still injured, hyung. You can't carry me all the way back and I don't think I can walk." He murmurs. Hoseok lifts an eyebrow, giving the older boy a quick once-over. There's no obvious injury.
"I can carry you, Jisung." He argues back. The blonde - Jisung, the older boy had called him - gave him a judgemental eyebrow that was eerily similar to the look the older boy had been sporting earlier. One of them must have learnt it from the other, Hoseok thinks absently.
"Yeah?" Jisung challenges. "Then why haven't you already carried me back?"
Hoseok bites his lip to hold a smile. Its a cute argument, despite the circumstances.
"Because you've spent the last fifteen minutes throwing your guts up." The older says pointedly.
"I haven't been the last three."
"It would be rude."
"Oh, sure, hyung."
"Ok, why don't we get going!" Hoseok interrupts before the bickering can get any more petty. "I can carry you - I'm sorry, I can't remember your name?" Hoseok hopes the question isn't too awkward or too offensive, but neither of the boys look upset.
"I'm so sorry, we didn't introduce ourselves." The older boy says sheepishly.
They dip into a shallow, slightly shaky bow. Hoseok watches carefully, ready to jump forward if it looks like they're going to tip over. They don't, although it looks like a close thing.
"I'm Lee Minho and this is Han Jisung of Stray Kids." Minho - the older one - introduces them.
"We're Jung Hoseok and Park Jimin, from BTS." He introduces politely. "Call me Hobi-hyung." He offers. He doesn't bother asking if they're younger than he is - unless they've discovered the fountain of youth, there's no way they could be.
"Just call me Jimin-hyung." Jimin pipes up from behind him.
Hoseok steps forward again, reaching out for Jisung. Minho manoeuvres them so that they're out of the doorway before stopping.
"Maybe it'll be better if he's on your back?" He asks tentatively. Hoseok tilts his head, considering, before nodding.
"Yeah, that's a good point." He turns around, crouching in front of the blonde. He's only waiting a moment before arms are reaching around his neck and a warm body is leaning against his back. He stands up, carefully shifting Jisung up and reaching behind him to support the younger. "Ok, where's your wait room?" He asks, already heading for the door.
There's silence behind him. Jisung and Minho are exchanging unsure looks.
"Um." Jisung coughs awkwardly. "Do you remember where it is, Minho-hyung?" He shamelessly asks. Minho's responding glare burns his back.
"Not really." He grudgingly admits when Jimin tilts an expectant eyebrow at him. Jimin's look turns confused and faintly amused.
"This is why Chan-hyung never lets us wander off by ourselves." Jisung sighs.
"Is Chan-ssi your leader?" Hoseok asks curiously. They've stopped in the hallway outside the bathroom, not sure which way to go. There were wait rooms in both directions.
"Yeah." Jisung nods.
"I don't suppose either of you have your phones?" Jimin asks. Both of them shake their heads. Hoseok sighs. Minho winces apologetically. "Ok, I guess we'll just go look." Jimin says optimistically.
Hoseok smiles in agreement and heads to the right. If they had to double back, they had to double back, but it shouldn't take them too long. Its not the biggest building - some music shows definitely have bigger.
Jimin and Minho are quick to move in front of Hoseok, leading the way down the hallway. From the back, Hoseok can see the injury Jisung had mentioned. Minho was limping slightly, although it wasn't very noticeable.
"You've hurt your ankle?" He asks the younger. Minho glances over his shoulder in surprise and Hoseok gets another flash of recognition.
"Ah, I injured it the other week. Its a lot better now."
Hoseok hums. If he's still limping, its still bothering him in some way. Hoseok understands why the other wouldn't want to acknowledge that - idols so often pushed themselves too far. As a dancer, Hoseok had always tried to be aware of his injuries and take care of himself and that had worn off on his group, too - at least for the most part - and seeing this younger idol ignore his health like that rubbed Hoseok the wrong way. It wasn't his place to say anything, but he could offer advice as a senior group member.
"Channie-hyung says he shouldn't be dancing but nobody can stop Min-hyung." Jisung murmurs before Hoseok can say anything. Hoseok raises an eyebrow at the observation.
"Jisung." Minho warns. Jisung sticks his tongue out in the other's direction.
"Its true." He mutters petulantly.
"I'm not the one performing with the flu." Minho counters.
Jimin sends another wide-eyed glance back at Hoseok, who rolls his own eyes.
They bicker almost as much as Jimin and Taehyung do, even with the age difference between them. Despite the topic of conversation, Hoseok thinks its heartwarming. There have always been horror stories of in-fighting between groups. There had even been a number of tense moments between his members - a fair handful of them between the younger and older members. But the affection between these two is palpable, even with the bickering. They obviously care for each other.
That doesn't mean Hoseok wants to listen to them argue when he could be getting to know them.
Its Jimin who finds a good change of subject.
"Hey, Minho, I'm sorry, but have we met before?" Jimin says, narrowing his eyes at the younger's face questioningly. Hoseok is glad this is the topic Jimin went for. Its been bugging him since he'd first seen Minho, the familiarity. Evidently, Jimin had felt it too.
Jisung snorts at the question. He obviously knows the answer. Minho's ears are going red, Hoseok can see even from behind him.
"Minho" Jisung answers, giggling, before Minho can. "Minho-hyung was one of your back-up dancers."
"Jisung!" Minho hisses, although it goes unheard under the chorus of 'oh's' Jimin and Hoseok let out.
"You were with us a couple years ago, right? Japan?" Hoseok remembers suddenly. Minho wasn't much younger than Jungkook and they'd gotten on fairly well. They all tried to be friendly, if not friends, with their back-up dancers on tour and Hoseok was good at remembering their faces, since he spent more time with them then the other members, going over the routines. He's surprised he hadn't recognised Minho straight away, even though it had been a few years.
"Ah, that's right, sunbae-nim." Minho muttered.
"Its so nice to see someone achieve their dream like this." Jimin enthuses. "Its so rare to see idols who used to be back-up dancers before they were even a trainee."
"Ah, thank you, sunbae-nim." Minho says quietly.
"Wait, wait, remember we said to call us hyung." Jimin responds chidingly.
"Hyung." Minho repeats obediently.
"So when did you debut?" Jimin continues the conversation.
"We debuted early 2018." Jisung responded. He was starting to grow heavier on Hoseok's back and he was almost concerningly warm. Hoseok hoped they found Stray Kids' wait room soon, although they'd had no luck so far. They were lucky that all the rooms were labelled.
"You're not quite rookies anymore, then." Hoseok teased.
"Not anymore." Jisung agreed.
"What's your group like?" Jimin asked, interested. Getting insight into how another group operated was always interesting, especially when they were younger groups. Hoseok always wondered if anything had changed over the years in how groups were pushed to work together.
"Channie-hyung chose all of us to be in his group." Jisung said, cheery despite how tired he obviously was. "So we're really close, cause he made sure we were all friends."
"Your leader picked your line-up?" Hoseok asked, slightly startled. That was definitely unusual.
"JYP tried to interfere." Jisung laughed darkly. Hoseok decided he didn't really want to know.
"So Chan-ssi's your leader. What about the rest of your members?" Hoseok asked instead.
"Chan-hyung's the oldest and the leader and Minho-hyungs the next oldest and our main dancer." Jisung explained cheerfully.
"Changbin's a year younger than me." Minho continues the explanation. "Then Hyunjin, Jisung, Felix and Seungmin are all the same age and then we have our maknae, Jeongin."
"Chan-hyung and Felix are Australian and me, Chan-hyung and Chanbin-hyung are 3RACHA, the producers of most of our discography and our pre-debut rap group." Jisung enthuses.
"Yeah, and then Felix wanted to be called DanceRacha." Minho deadpanned. He noticed Jimin's raised eyebrow and explained: "That's what we call our dance line - Hyunjin, Felix and me. And Innie and Seungmin felt left out, so they call themselves VocalRacha, now."
Hoseok raised an eyebrow. It was cute, if slightly unusual.
"They're cool names." Jisung sniffs defensively. "And Chan-hyung thinks its cute."
Minho sighed and looked like he was going to say something else, but stopped when he realised they'd come to the end of the hallways of wait rooms. They'd have to double back.
"I'm sorry about this, hyungs." He apologised, bowing, as they turned around.
"Don't worry, Minho. Its our pleasure. We couldn't just leave you." Jimin assured, patting the younger man on the shoulder. He bit his lip, his eyes widening in excitement when he realised that Minho was actually shorter than him. Not by much, but enough that he noticed.
"Your shorter than me." He grins.
Minho looks over at him with a slightly judgemental eyebrow.
"My members always tease me about being short." Jimin tries to explain his excitement.
"All our members are short." Jisung announces, sounding weirdly proud.
"Hyunjin's a giant." Minho disagrees. "And Seungmin isn't far off."
"Ok, but they're anomalies." Jisung argues. "You and Innie are the next tallest and you're at least two inches shorter than Seungmin. And Binnie's nearly five inches shorter than Hyunjin."
Hoseok raises an eyebrow. Its not the biggest height difference he's heard of, but it does put their teasing of Jimin in perspective. There is, at most, three inches between Namjoon and Jimin in height.
"Aww, you're a small group." Jimin coos.
"I guess." Minho shrugs indifferently.
"How tall is Hyunjin? Our tallest member is nearly six foot." Jimin complained.
"Ah, Hyunjin's not that tall. I think he wishes he was, though."
"Yeah, so then he would literally tower over Binnie." Jisung snickered. Hoseok can't help but chuckle along with him.
It's only another couple minutes, filled with mindless chatter, when they turn the corner past the bathroom where this had all started. They'd gone a lot quicker back than they had starting off, since they didn't have to stop and peer at all the signs to try and find Stray Kids' wait room.
"Hey, are you sure you're ok, Minho?" Jimin asks suddenly. Hoseok narrows in on the younger dancer, wondering why Jimin asked that so suddenly.
"I'm alright, hyung." Minho assured.
"His ankle hurts." Jisung says quietly. Hoseok blinks.
"How can you tell?" He asks, before Minho can protest.
"Its been hurting him all day but he's walking really straight. He's only doing that cause he'd be limping really bad otherwise." Jisung says. Hoseok's impressed.
"I can't believe you noticed that." Minho muttered, slumping slightly. His gait doesn't change, though.
"I know you better than you know yourself, hyungie." Jisung sing-songs.
Minho snorts.
"We're soulmates." Jisung continues.
"Of course we are, Sungie." He coos back sarcastically. Hoseok chooses to believe Jisung - they really do remind him of Jimin and Taehyung.
"Minho!"
They all start at the shout, looking up as someone rounds the corner, coming towards them. He doesn't stop as he approaches, not until he has his arms thrown around Minho.
"Channie-hyung!" Jisung pouts over Hoseok's shoulder.
"Ah." He says in recognition. This is Minho and Jisung's leader.
"Jisung!" The young man spins around to find Jisung, although he doesn't let go of Minho and the dancer is dragged around in the circle of his leader's arms. "Oh my god, where have you been? I've been looking for you for nearly 30 minutes!" He stresses.
Minho rolls his eyes visibly.
"Calm down, hyung. We're here now." He says nonchalantly. Hoseok winces - if one of his maknae's had told him that, if he had told one of his hyungs that, even, the response wouldn't be the most favourable.
"Don't you tell me to calm down, Lee Minho!" Chan berates. "You've been missing since we got off the stage, you didn't tell anyone where you were going, you don't even have your phones on you. What were you two thinking?!"
Hoseok clears his throat. He doesn't even think the young leader had really registered his or Jimin's presence. That assumption is proven correct when Chan's eyes focused on him and his ears turned red in embarrassment.
"Sunbae-nim." He greeted straight away, bowing. He was still hugging Minho, though, so the dancer was taken down with him, at a much more awkward angle. "I hope they haven't bothered you."
"Not at all, Chan-ssi." Hoseok assured. "We found them having some trouble in the bathroom and offered our help. They couldn't remember where your wait room was, though, so we've had to go looking."
"Trouble?" Chan asked sharply. He gives what he can see of Jisung a searching look and obviously notes the pale, sickly face. "Jisungie..." He sighs. "You said you felt better this morning."
"Minho's ankle still hurts." Jisung immediately throws his older member off the bus. Chan raises an eyebrow, looking at his main dancer, who raises a self-assured eyebrow.
"You're not the boss of me."
Chan sighs immediately. He looks tired, as if he's heard this a thousand times before. Hoseok wants to laugh. He'd never dream of saying that to Namjoon - or Jin, actually - and only Jungkook during his most rebellious teenage years had uttered something similar.
"Minho" Chan sounds tired, too. Jisung snickers.
Before they can say anything else, though, Jimin's phone rings loudly.
"You had your phone the entire time?" Hoseok turns to him incredulously. "We could have called Chan-ssi at the start."
Jimin pushes his fringe back sheepishly. However, Chan shakes his head.
"No, these idiots only memorised each other's number." He sighs again.
Hoseok does chuckle then. At least their adventure hadn't been wasted.
"Ah, Jinnie-hyung." Jimin answers his phone. Hoseok winces. He had forgotten to keep an eye on the time and now they were probably late. "Ah, hyungie, we were just - "
The sound of Jin's frustrated voice could be heard by all of them. Hoseok started to lower Jisung to the ground.
"I'm sorry to just run like this," He starts "But we're meant to be on stage, well, now." He winces again. Chan nods understandingly, even as Jisung and Minho snicker slightly. Jisung slides from his back and immediately staggers over to join Chan and Minho's huddle. "Will you be able to get back to your wait room by yourselves?"
"Chan will carry both of us if he has to." Minho says it with a straight face and somehow Hoseok doesn't think he's joking. Hoseok still looks at the young leader, who nods.
"Alright. I hope you two feel better soon. We should try and meet up again sometime, its been nice to see you again Minho, bye bye." Jimin intervenes, rushing past Hoseok and grabbing his arm to begin dragging him off in the direction of the stage. Hoseok sees the three younger idols staring after them with confused faces and he manages a quick wave before Jimin drags him around a corner. Jin must really be mad. But Hoseok can't regret it. They seemed like good kids, both Minho and Jisung. Hoseok was glad they'd been able to help them.