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BTS were a normal sized group. A lot of groups had seven members. Namjoon had never felt insecure of the fact that BTS was made up of seven people.
As he stared at the frankly massive group of people in front of him, all dressed in similar stage outfits, Namjoon hoped that they were actually just a collaborative stage. The group dynamics betrayed them, though. They acted too close to be from two or three different groups, especially considering the age range. Some of these idols looked terribly young.
Sat in one of the larger waiting rooms provided for artists backstage at the show venue, Namjoon took another sip of water as he contemplated the size of groups. Yoongi was sat next to him, although all his attention was on his phone. Hoseok was somehow managing to catch some sleep, head on Yoongi's lap. Jin was pacing behind them, adrenaline still high from their recent performance. Their maknae line had disappeared not that long ago, ostensibly for the toilet but much more likely for snacks. The only other people in the room was the massive group - it was a fairly large wait room, but they were unlikely to fit another group in here.
"Hyung!"
Nearly every head in the group swivelled towards the door. Namjoon relaxed slightly when he didn't recognise the boy coming through the doorway, but not completely - that call had asked for attention for a reason. Plus, the boy was exactly that - there was no chance he was even eighteen, let alone any older.
"Chenle!" Someone moved out of the group of people - he was of average height and build, with dark brown hair and spoke with what Namjoon was pretty sure was a Chinese accent.
"Gege!" The younger boy threw himself at the older boy. "I can't find Jisung!" He cried.
The background noise that had never really stopped came to a complete halt.
"Chenle!" The young man pushed Chenle away by his shoulders, keeping a tight grip on him. "What do you mean you lost Jisung?" Namjoon admired the determination to stay calm in the young mans voice and wondered if he was the leader of the group; although he hadn't heard anything about a Chinese idol leading a boy-group.
Chenle took a shuddering breathe, but before he could say anything a slender man with a shock of red hair pushed his way through the group towards them. A tall, handsome man with brown hair followed behind him.
"Chenle." His voice was also calm and the restraint was a lot less obvious. Maybe this man was their leader, actually. "What happened?" He stopped behind the first man.
"We-we got lost." Chenle started. Namjoon noticed that Yoongi had looked up from his phone and even Jin was standing still behind them. "You know we're bad at directions, hyung." The boy whined.
"You were with Sicheng and Mark, too, Chenle. What happened to them?" The red haired man asked.
"I think they're with Jisung?" He sounded unsure, however. The faces of the three men next to the boy were starting to look obviously concerned. "I couldn't find them either. I don't even know how we got separated!" He cried again. The first young man, the one with the Chinese accent, pulled him forward into another hug.
"Its not too bad if they're together." The brunet, handsome man murmured, although everyone heard it in the otherwise silent room. There wasn't even any playback of music - whoever was on stage must have a talking segment. The red haired man seemed to bite his lip, looking conflicted.
"But Jisung, Sicheng and Mark..." He trails off. "It couldn't really be a worse combination." He admits. There's a chorus of agreement from the group at large and a couple other people move forward. "Oh god" The red head groans.
"I mean, at least between them they speak three languages fluently, so they can ask literally anyone for directions." The man who speaks also has brown hair and looks very tall from where Namjoon is sitting. His tone is joking, but anyone can hear the worry underlying it.
He gets numerous incredulous stares. Despite his growing concern - Namjoon knows all too well the worry of losing a member or two and it can't be any easier for this group just because there's so many of them - he can't help but find their collective feeling amusing. They really must be a close group, despite their number. Which, Namjoon realises, must be even larger than he thought, if three members are missing from the room. He's pretty sure they are already double the size of BTS.
"Johnny." The handsome man groans this time. "All three of them would sooner wander around lost for hours before talking to a stranger."
Johnny makes a considering face, obviously still trying to lighten the mood a bit.
"Mark talks to people." Is what Johnny replies with.
"Only if someone makes him." The handsome man counters, sounding resigned. "Sicheng and Jisung only feed the shyness."
"Ah." Johnny pauses. "That's true, actually." He murmurs.
"Ok!" The red head man claps his hands suddenly and all attention shifts to him. "We need to go find them. We go on stage in thirty minutes." He sounds particularly stressed.
Namjoon decides he needs to help. Getting up from his seat only gets a reaction from his own members, the other group too busy listening to what Namjoon is now pretty sure is their leader.
"Ah, we can help, if you like." He says as he nears the cluster of people near the door. All heads snap to him at his offer and he rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. He's pretty sure they didn't even realise he was there - deep, deep down, he acknowledges the blow to his ego. "I know how difficult it is to lose a member. Actually, I'm pretty sure I've lost a member or two here before." He admits. Its true - Jungkook and Taehyung had wandered off on their own numerous times, usually together, and he's pretty sure they'd done it at this venue a year or two ago.
"Ah, sunbae-nim." The red haired man still looks startled, but dips into a polite bow in greeting. All the people around him scramble to follow. "I..." He looks conflicted for a moment, but obviously concern wins out against inconveniencing a senior group. "That would be a massive help, thank you so much." He bows again, as does his entire group. Namjoon almost wants to blush.
"Ok." Namjoon smiles, even as his mind races. He's already got a plan. "There's quite a lot of you, so that's a help. Do any of you have your phones?" He remembers earlier in their career, when their managers kept hold of their phones around performances - after they'd been allowed phones at all. Only three of them nod. That's honestly better than he expected. "If one phone stays here and then groups with phones go out to look, that way everyone can stay in communication. And we all have our phones, so that's seven in total." He nods behind him at his members, who have all moved to join them - even Hoseok, who looks distinctly sleep ruffled. "But first, who are we going to be looking for?"
"Oh!" The red haired man seems to realise they hadn't introduced themselves. "I'm Taeyong, leader of NCT 127. Its a pleasure to meet you, sunbae-nim." He bows again. "This is my group, NCT." He waves a hand. "Taeil, Johnny, Yuta, Doyoung, Kun, Ten, Jaehyun, Jungwoo, Lucas, Renjun, Jeno, Jaemin and Chenle." The members bow when their name is said and Namjoon blinks at the influx of information. It isn't something he's likely to remember, no matter how hard he tries, but its polite to introduce everyone. "We're missing Sicheng, Mark and Jisung." Namjoon takes note of Taeyong introducing himself as leader of NCT 127 but as part of NCT; its odd and something he'll definitely have to figure out later. It'll bug at him otherwise.
"Do you have pictures?" Is what he asks, instead of clarification on the group name.
Taeyong nods his head.
"Not any of them with their current hair." He warns. Nonetheless, he gets his phone out. He's quick to bring up what looks like a group picture, although everyone looks at least a year younger. He moves to stand close to Namjoon, pointing at the photo. "That's Jisung. He's a bit younger here." Taeyong looks almost wistful - Namjoon gets it. Sometimes he misses cute little fifteen year old Jungkookie, although mainly when current, twenty-one year old Jungkook is being a nightmare. The boy in the picture is very cute, too, his hairstyle making him look even younger. "That's Mark. He doesn't look too different." The next boy he points too has a truly unfortunate hairstyle and distinct facial features - he should at least be easy to recognise. "And that's Sicheng. Our Winwinie." Taeyong almost coos. The last person he points to is obviously the oldest out of the three and Namjoon can't decide if cute, handsome or pretty is the best way to describe him. Possibly a mixture of all three. Namjoon kind of understands the cooing without needing an explanation - he's the sort of cute, even in a picture, that people want to take care of.
"Winwin?" Jin interjects, peering over their shoulders at the photo.
"Ah, that's his stage name." Taeyong informs them. They all hum in realisation, before Namjoon clears his throat to return attention to his plan.
"Ok, why don't we all split into a few groups and go take a look?" He proposes. "We'll join the groups that don't have a phone."
Namjoon's surprised when it only takes the group a few minutes to organise themselves. His group were rarely able to do that so quickly, even with half the people and especially without a food incentive. Taeyong is quick to move people into groups and Namjoon mourns for the days when his group listened to him with no argument - it was a period that hadn't lasted very long.
"Kun, you and Chenle stay here. If its alright with you, sunbae-nim, can one of you stay here with them, since they don't have a phone?" Namjoon nods, shooting Hoseok a look. The dancer still looks half asleep.
"Yuta and Jungwoo, go and have a look. Again, if its alright with sunbae-nim, they can go with you?" Namjoon nods again, as do the two named.
"Taeil-hyung and Jaemin and Ten and Jaehyun, neither of you have phones." Taeyong mutters. "Doyoung, Jeno, you do have a phone. Johnny and Lucas, so do you. And so do Renjun and I."
It's a quick process and Namjoon watches as the group pair up. He looks helplessly over his shoulder at Jin, who raises an eyebrow in judgement but immediately knows what he needs.
"Hobi should stay here, he's still tired." He murmurs. "I'll go with Yuta-ssi and Jungwoo-ssi. Yoongi, go with Taeil-ssi and Jaemin-ssi. You can go with Ten-ssi and Jaehyun-ssi." He pushes them all in the correct direction.
Namjoon finds himself leaving the wait room with the brunet, handsome man and a short man with black hair. They're already bickering by the time they've turned down the corridor.
"They're bound to go somewhere quiet. Mark's the only one that's even slightly outspoken." Ten's arguing.
"But they're smart - they probably tried to make their way back here. They can't be that far." Jaehyun huffs back.
"There could be quiet places near here." Ten returns sassily.
"Do you think they'd hide in a toilet?" Namjoon asks reasonably. They both shoot him an undecipherable look, but are quick to consider the actual question.
"I mean, as long as they're not gross. Sicheng wouldn't stay in there for long if it was disgusting." Ten reasons. Jaehyun nods in agreement and Namjoon is quick to suggest they start searching for the nearest toilets. He texts their plan to the hastily set-up group chat.
They've looked in on nearing ten bathrooms, startling a number of other idols but not finding the three they were looking for. There have been no texts saying they've been found either and Namjoon can basically feel the increasing waves of concern coming from Ten and Jaehyun. Namjoon had been silently wondering to himself how close they were to the three members that were missing; surely with a group as big as they had, they didn't all get along.
He finally worked up the nerve to ask.
"Are you close to three members we're looking for?"
Ten turns from where he had stuck his head through to scan a wait room, shaking his head and already moving on. It's Jaehyun that answers him, however.
"Yeah, we're all close to them."
Namjoon looks at him curiously. Jaehyun seems to hear the unasked question.
"Jisung's our maknae - he's only sixteen." Jaehyun sighs. "We've known him since he was eleven, we've practically raised him." He chuckles slightly. "And we've known Mark for a bit longer than that, even, although he's three years older." Namjoon raises an eyebrow - they were so young. Eleven years old as a trainee - god, fourteen sounded too young now, after he'd gone through life as a trainee himself. It wasn't something he'd encourage kids so young to do, even if it had let him - and these kids - achieve his dream. Jaehyun seems to know where his thoughts are going, since his smile seems a bit sad.
"Winwin's my age." Jaehyun continues. "But he's the baby of our sub-group, even though the maknae is actually three years younger." He sounds more fond then sad here. Sub-group? Namjoon wonders. "He's from China and although he's gotten a lot better at Korean, he's still not very confident with it."
"And there's just something about his face." Ten interjects cheerfully.
"His face?" Namjoon repeats, although remembering the picture he'd seen, he thinks he understands.
"He's like a baby chick. You just want to take care of him." Ten coos. Jaehyun rolls his eyes, but doesn't disagree. Namjoon can't really understand - he worries about his group but none of them remind him of a baby animal.
Well, he admits to himself, Kookie looks a bit like a bunny.
"Do you think they're alright, though?" He asks, feeling more worried now he knows a bit more about the missing idols.
Ten bites his lip contemplatively.
"We worry a lot about Winwin, but he can take care of himself." It's Jaehyun who answers him, even as he stops to look into the bathroom at the end of the hallway. "And he's good with the Dreamies." Dreamies? "So they're probably fine, just a bit flustered because they're lost. Maybe a bit anxious." Jaehyun admits. Namjoon decided to trust the younger idol, who obviously knows his members very well. Namjoon admires that.
"Hey, can you hear that?" Ten makes them all pause, and they stand in the middle of the hallway for at least a minute, straining their ears. Namjoon can readily admit he can hear nothing but the thumping bass that made up the backing track of the song currently being performed on the stage.
"That's Mark!"
Namjoon seems to be the only one who can't hear anything, however, because Jaehyun is quick to shout out before striding quickly down the hallway. Ten jogs after him and Namjoon is quick to catch up. They have to turn a corner and its not until they check behind the third door that lines the hallway that they hit gold. Namjoon is glad that sound carries so well down these corridors.
It's one of the smaller wait rooms they've checked and four people stand in the middle of the room. Otherwise, its empty. Namjoon guesses its because they're actually pretty close to the stage - he can hear every word of the current groups performance.
"Manager-nim - " One of the boys is saying. Namjoon can't tell who it is from the back.
There were two other people huddled next to him. The tallest was slightly in front of him and his shoulders were squared defiantly. The third person was huddled behind both of them, his fists visibly clenched in the material of the boy who's talking's shirt.
There was a much-older man stood opposite them, his round face red and his hands on his hips angrily. He didn't seem very happy. Namjoon shifted uneasily. He still had bad memories of his managers looking that angry and despite the situation, hesitated to get between another group and their manager.
Luckily, neither Ten or Jaehyun had the same problem.
"Excuse me?" Ten said clearly, striding confidently into the room. "What's going on in here?" He asked. There was carefully concealed anger in his voice.
"Hyung!" What had to be the youngest member - Jisung, Namjoon remembered - twisted around at Ten's voice.
"Jisungie, come over here." Jaehyun coaxes. Jisung is quick to listen, letting go of his other two members to throw himself at Jaehyun, who is quick to tug the maknae snugly into his side. Namjoon can hear the boys hitching breaths from where he stands and he frowns, concerned.
"And who are you?" The older man demands.
"Their hyungs." Ten spits, jerking his head towards the two who are now standing behind him.
Namjoon's brow furrows in confusion. Surely the man should know that?
"And who are you, to be shouting at my members?" Ten challenges.
"Excuse you, I am the manager of a very important group and am keeping this wait room free for when they get off the stage." The man puffs up importantly.
"Oh" Namjoon says to himself quietly. He wasn't NCT's manager. That's why Ten looked so angry. Deciding to do something useful, he pulls his phone out of his pocket and sends a quick text to the others, letting them know that they'd found the missing three and where they were. And then he goes to join Ten in defending his members. The stranger shouldn't have been shouting at another group, especially such young members of one.
"You can't reserve wait rooms here, no matter how important your group is." Not egotistically, he can say this from experience. It was definitely a bit of a free-for-all at this venue.
"My group is..." The man trails off when he catches sight of Namjoon. BTS's fame has a few perks and this sort of recognition is one of them - although its got a terrible side effect of inflating Namjoon's ego. Clearly the man knows better than to argue popularity with the leader of BTS, however, as he doesn't continue his sentence. Namjoon almost wants to hear what he was going to say.
"And what did my members do, anyway?" Ten asks, challenge still obvious in his voice.
"Hyung." One of the boys behind them reaches out to fist the material of Ten's shirt. A quick glance back makes Namjoon pretty sure its Winwin. He'd been right that the third boy's features were distinctive and easily identified him as Mark. "We were waiting in here cause we didn't want to get even more lost and you had to come past here to get to the prep rooms." He's stumbling over his words slightly and Namjoon remembers Jaehyun saying he wasn't very confident in his Korean.
"He came in about five minutes ago and started shouting and complaining." Mark accuses.
"You brats - " The man starts again, although he cuts off with a noise of surprise when Ten surges forward to get in his face. Namjoon is also startled, although he definitely admires Ten's guts.
"You're the brat if you think its okay to shout at people for no reason." The shorter idol spits. The man's face is getting even redder, which Namjoon hadn't thought was possible.
"Hey, Mark, Sichengie, come on." Namjoon hears from behind them. He misses what Ten hisses next as he glances over his shoulder to see Jaehyun pulling the other two away. Namjoon can see the top of Jisung's head from where he's huddled against his hyungs back. Despite the situation, Namjoon finds the sight almost unbearably cute.
"Right, you'll be getting a complaint from our managers."
Namjoon's pulled out his thoughts at Ten's satisfied tone.
"And I'm sure other groups and their managers will express their concern when this gets around." Namjoon raises a brow at the vindictiveness in Ten's tone, although he can't fault it. He admires it, even. The guy has guts.
Which can't be said for the manager, who goes pale apart from the red of embarrassment high on his cheeks and quickly shuffles around the huddle behind Namjoon to escape out the door.
"Whoah." He can't help but vocalise. Ten sends him a satisfied, cat-like smile. "That was brave." A couple years into BTS's debut, he would have hesitated to do something like that, although he believes he would have done similar if it was his members, no matter how early in their career.
"No one shouts at my members like that." He asserts. He continues in a louder, cooing voice, as he moves to wrap his arms around Mark's shoulders. "Especially my babies."
Jaehyun rolls his eyes at the dramatics but before anyone can say anything else, the door bursts open and Taeyong rushes in. He pauses in the doorway, Renjun appearing behind his shoulder, panting.
"Oh thank god." Taeyong breathes, catching Jisung when the youngest launches himself into the leader's arms.
Namjoon smiles at the relief in Taeyong's voice, watching as Renjun makes his way over to Winwin, snuggling into his side and wrapping his arms around the taller's waist, and Jaehyun and Ten sandwich Mark between them tightly. He's still smiling when the room slowly fills with the members of both NCT and BTS, Yoongi having somehow acquired their maknae line over the last fifteen minutes.
The buzz of chatter in the air and the relief is palpable. As he watches over them, not complaining when Taehyung hangs himself off his shoulder, Namjoon thinks they've just made some good friends, and doesn't regret offering their help one bit. Although he’s still pretty confused about what exactly their group is called. He hopes they’ll clear it up soon.