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“Hyung?”
Yoongi turned slowly onto his side, facing the owner of the voice interrupting his very important sleep schedule.
“Nnnrggh,” Yoongi mumbled in reply.
“I’m really sorry to wake you, hyung, but…we have a team meeting. Right now. It’s very important,” Yoongi recognized the voice as Taehyung who genuinely sounded apologetic and anxious.
“Wha…it’s 5:30 in the morning,” Yoongi grumbled groggily, his voice heavy with sleep.
Taehyung gave a furtive nod.
“I know, hyung, and it’s a off day but…please. Get up.”
Yoongi was officially concerned about what was happening, so he pulled himself out of bed quicker than he usually would have.
“Aight,” he said, sliding on some shoes. “Let’s go,”
Taehyung and him walked down the hall of the dorms to a conference room on the lower level. They opened the door and found all the other members were already seated, all bleary eyed and nervous.
“Right then,” one of their managers was seated at the head of the table, laptop open in front of him. “Everyone’s here so I’m going to get started,”
Yoongi shifted in his seat, sitting next to Hoseok.
“There has been a privacy leak for two of you,” the manager began, and the group held a collective breath. “It seems that someone has retained images of Yoongi and Hoseok kissing and posted it to the internet.”
Yoongi’s heart stopped. Him and Hoseok? Fuck. He felt Hoseok tense next to him.
“The image was posted and then deleted by the original source, but obviously it was too late. We think the source deleted it with the intention of erasing their finger prints, not the image. With that, HYBE is going to have to do some damage control,”
The other members passed glances over to Hoseok and Yoongi, neither of whom were paying any attention to the stares.
Someone found out.
Someone found out and told the world.
The world knew.
Yoongis head was spinning, his thoughts compiling themselves into one question.
How?
He and Hoseok had been dating for a year. They’d kept everything very private, only telling the other members six months ago (they had figured it out on their own anyway). They never showed any physical affection in front of media or fans, not even on vlive or near windows. They knew better.
Still, someone had found out.
Neither of them could wrap their heads around it.
“At the moment, there’s nothing any of you can do, so we suggest going back to your dorms,” the manager continued calmly, as if he hadn’t flipped the universe upside-down. “Yoongi and Hoseok will be needed later today in a few meetings to discuss protocol, but we will inform you when it’s time. That’s all.” The manager closed his laptop and quickly left the room. Per usual, even before six in the morning, the managers were all business.
The group sat in silence for at least five minutes before Seokjin broke the silence.
“You guys…I’m so sorry. I don’t even know how they would get that…”
It seemed everyone was at a loss for words.
“Why don’t we give them some space?” Namjoon asked, but it clearly wasn’t up for debate. The other members pushed in their chairs, each filing out of the conference room, muttering shocked apologies as they left.
Yoongi and Hoseok sat in stunned silence for a moment.
“I…” Yoongis voice died in his throat. He didn’t even know how to begin.
Hoseok said nothing, his lips pressed into a thin line.
“I just don’t get it,” he said finally, his voice rough and quiet.
All Yoongi could do was nod.
“I don’t know how they would get a picture…”
The two racked their brains for a moment a picture could have been taken. Finally, Yoongi pulled out his phone and checked Twitter for the picture.
Sure enough, there it was. The picture was unmistakably of the them, taken with a surprisingly clear quality despite how zoomed in it was.
It wasn’t even a real kiss, just a peck on the lips, but Hoseok gasped when he saw it.
“Oh my god. That’s Vegas. We-we must have forgotten to close a shade or we…we did something because…” he trailed off, eyes wide.
Yoongi suddenly realized what he was talking about. It had to have been right after a permission to dance concert, because it was dark except in the hotel room.
“Who would have been waiting that late at our hotel? And how did they know the room?” Hoseok asked, his eyebrows furrowed.
There were so many unanswerable questions, so many concerns and fears running through their brains.
Silence settled between them once again.
Yoongi was lost in thought about his family when he heard a small sob escape Hoseok.
“Oh Seok,” he said softly, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend. “I know. I know, baby, I know. But it’ll be ok. We’re going to be ok,” he mumbled into his hair, stroking the back of his head. Hoseoks body shook, tears soaking his face.
“What if they hate us? What if we ruined the band? What if…” Hoseok began to ramble, his sentences becoming muddled with sobs.
“I know. It’s ok to be scared. But don’t worry. You and I are going to get through this together, ok? Everything will be ok, I’ll make sure of it,” Yoongi had no idea how he would make that happen, but he did know one thing. His boyfriend needed to know he would be ok, and goddamnit Yoongi would ensure he was.
They decided they should go back to the dorm and wait for further instructions. They knew sleep wasn’t going to happen, so they just sat and voiced any thoughts they had aloud.
“What do you think the fans will say?” Hoseok asked. Neither of them wanted to check their feeds, plus it was probably best to wait until after their meetings. No one knew what the future held.
“I mean, they already ship us…” Yoongi said with a small smile, recalling the few nights him and Hoseok would stay up and read some of the fan fictions they found. Hoseok smiled back.
“All the yoonmin shippers are gonna be devastated,” Hoseok said with a weak laugh.
Yoongi chuckled.
“Well they’re just gonna have to deal with it,”
Hoseok rested his head on Yoongis shoulder with a sigh.
“It all happened so fast,” he whispered.
Yoongi nodded.
“Yeah,” he agreed in a small voice. “It really did,”
“Have you heard from your parents?”
Yoongi nodded.
“Yeah. They aren’t thrilled that everyone knows…” he sighed. “I guess you can’t win them all,”
Hoseok nodded.
“My mom called me. She says hi.”
Yoongi paused.
“Does that mean she’s ok? With…all this?”
Hoseok shrugged.
“Like you said. She’s not thrilled about everyone knowing but I think it’s more fear based,”
Yoongi hummed in response.
His parents weren’t un-supportive, per se, they just didn’t want anyone to know about his sexuality. Which sounds un-supportive, but…it was complicated.
Members stopped by the room every once in a while to check in.
“We’re ok,” was always the response.
Yoongi was extremely concerned about Hoseok. He knew how anxious he got over the media and the bands perception, as they all did, but Hoseok especially. Yoongi wished he could snap his fingers and make it all go away. Then Hoseok would be ok. But he couldn’t do that, all he could do was try and stay calm, try and help him in any way possible. Because even when Yoongi was stressed, he would always put Hoseok before himself. Always.
Finally, they were asked to go to a series of meetings with difference managers, Media Manager, Band Manager, Company Manager, Relations Manager, the list goes on and on.
The questions were the same.
“Do you want to confirm the speculation?”
Hoseok and Yoongi had discussed this and decided it was best to confirm. No use hiding it when the evidence was pretty solid, even though HYBE swore they could pin it all on AI. Plus, they were planning to go public with their relationship at some point. They just wished it had been their choice.
At the end of the day, HYBE released a statement.
“The privacy leak that occurred as of 3:47 AM this morning has not only violated the privacy of the members, but of the company. We take the safety of our members very seriously, and will be holding a press conference to further discuss tomorrow.”
The response was short and straight to the point. Classic HYBE. It was then that Yoongi started to look through the internet responses. Articles, tweets, all of it.
“i knew it. i knew it. oh my god.”
“New details emerge about the alleged romantic relationship between K-POP idols of BTS, SUGA and J-HOPE.”
“I AM SO HAPPY FOR THEM THEY ARE THE EPITOME OF GRUMPY X SUNSHINE DHHDHSJSJDJ IM CRYING
“SUGA and J-HOPE’s relationship: can you balance love and fame?”
“um what? they’re dating…each other?“
Yoongi shut off his phone. The responses had been what he expected: generally positive from the fans, a few homophobic or disapproving. The media made it into something it’s not. Expected.
Still, Yoongi was exhausted. He and Hoseok had been in meetings all day, and the discussion about their relationship with managers was uncomfortable. They were private because they weren’t ready to tell the world. Now they had no choice.
“When did you start dating?”
“How long term do you think this will be?”
“What do you want to say to the media about your relationship?”
It was not fun.
That night, Yoongi and Hoseok drafted their response for the press conference the next day. They scripted their own parts for the speech, deciding it was better they both say something rather than only one of them talking.
Normally they would have been too anxious to sleep under the circumstances, but the exhaustion from the day crashed down on them quickly. They set an alarm for the next day, got ready for bed, and finally settled into bed.
“It’s gonna be ok,” Hoseok said quietly. Yoongi couldn’t tell if he was reassuring himself or him, but he figured it was a little of both.
“Yeah,” he replied softly. “Yeah, it will,”
“I love you,” Hoseok added, yawning.
Yoongi smiled.
“I love you more, Seok,”
“Mmmm, you really don’t,” Hoseok hummed.
Yoongi started to respond, but noticed his boyfriend had his eyes closed, his chest rising and falling gently.
“Good night, love,” he whispered, closing his eyes as well.
•••
The next day, Hoseok woke up with knots in his stomach. Squinting his eyes, he peered at the small electronic clock on the nightstand. 5:23.
Turning his head, he peaked over at his sleeping boyfriend. He looked so peaceful asleep, his mouth parted slightly, hair tousled somehow perfectly on his head. The sight made Hoseok fall in love all over again.
He remembered when he fell in love with Yoongi. It had been a long time ago, and yet he remembered it perfectly.
New Year’s Eve.
Yoongi came back to the dorm with chicken so Hoseok wouldn’t be alone.
There was no going back for Hoseok after that. Years of feelings pent up, growing stronger by the second, until the day that he finally burst.
“God, Yoongi, I don’t know how to tell you this but it’s eating me alive so here it goes: I am so in love with you it’s like-like I can’t do anything without thinking about you. Every breath I take, every time I close my eyes, whenever I write music it’s always tied to you. I’m sorry if you don’t feel the same or if this makes things weird but- you needed to know. I’ve loved you all this time, ever since new years when you came back for me, and I knew that I would love you for the rest of my life because- fuck- you’re everything to me-“
“Hoseok-“
“No, I know you probably don’t feel the same but-“
“Seok-“
“Please don’t let this change anything between us, because if I lost you I wouldn’t-“
“Jung Hoseok please listen to me for five goddamn seconds.”
Hoseok did. Well, there wasn’t much to listen to as much as it was Yoongi pressing his lips against his and beginning the wonderful thing that was their relationship.
Hoseok tried to remember all the important stuff. He remembered anniversaries and pet peeves, date nights and priceless moments.
But what he really wanted to remember was moments like this. Big occasions or small, however important or supposedly unimportant. Just moments where he felt himself falling all over again, moments where he thought to himself ‘I am the luckiest man alive’. Because he was.
Hoseoks adoring gaze was interrupted by Yoongi waking up.
“Nnnnnnnssghh,” Yoongi mumbled intelligibly.
“Good morning, baby,” Hoseok said softly.
Yoongi squinted up at him.
“Morning, sunshine,” he replied, his mouth stretching into a smile as he leaned his head onto Hoseoks lap. His eyes shut for a second before looking back up.
“Why’re you looking at me like that?” He asked.
Hoseok just smiled.
“I just love you so damn much,” he replied simply.
Yoongis smile widened as he hummed with contentment.
“I love you so much as well,”
Hoseoks heart soared. It had been a year and yet those words never got old.
He decided to enjoy this moment before they had to endure the stress of the day. He checked the clock again. 5:47.
“D’you wanna start getting dressed?” Yoongi asked, also noticing the time. Their alarm was set to go off in three minutes.
“Mmm, no,” Hoseok replied, pulling Yoongi closer to him. “Let’s enjoy these three minutes,”
Yoongi smiled at him.
“I’m always down for that,”
Eventually they did get dressed, got in the car, went into the press building to get their hair and makeup done before the press conference. The other members came to check in, and they’d be there for moral support.
“We love you guys,” Jimin said before he left the room. “And no matter what happens…we’ll help you through it,”
Hoseok and Yoongi were grateful for the support. The members had been their most faithful supporters, despite how many jokes they made about how long it took for them to get together.
“For gods sake, Yoongis eyes were practically cartoon hearts all this time,” Seokjin had joked, causing Yoongi to flush with embarrassment. Hoseok quite enjoyed the jokes, because it reminded him that Yoongi had been just as big as a simp as he had. Honestly, he still was a huge simp.
By the time they were all ready to go, 10 minutes till they were due live, it all hit Hoseok.
They were confirming it.
They were officially telling the world.
It’s not that Hoseok didn’t want to tell the world. Most of all day every day he wished he could scream “YES I PULLED THIS MAN WHERE IS MY APPLAUSE” for everyone to hear. Because he loved being Yoongis boyfriend. He loved Yoongi more than anything.
He was just so angry. Angry that they were being forced to share their relationship as supposed to it being their choice. Angry at the media for exploiting them for interesting stories, angry at them for violating their privacy as the media does all the time. Sometimes he wished he wasn’t an idol.
But it would be worth it, in the end. Because he would always have Yoongi. And that would always be enough.
“It’s time,” a staff member said as they poked their head into the room before quickly disappearing.
Yoongi took a deep breath.
“You ok?”
Hoseok nodded, curling and uncurling his hands into fists.
“Yeah. Are you?”
Yoongi nodded.
“I’m great, I’m with you,”
Hoseok smiled, reaching over and holding a Yoongis hand.
“Alright, let’s do this,”
They walked out into the press room, immediately flooded by flashing cameras and spotlights. They made their way to the table on stage, unable to see the crowd through the glare of the lights. The media fell to hushed silence when they sat down.
“Good morning,” Hoseok began, forcing his voice not to shake. His leg bounced under the table nervously, his throat dry as he began to read his part of the statement.
“Yesterday we lost something very important to us. Something everyone has a right to have and retain. Yesterday, we lost our right to privacy, and the right to choice. Yoongi and I are in a romantic relationship. But that information was not yours to find out until we were ready. Sadly, we were denied that choice.”
“Hoseok and I’s relationship may be known to the world, but it doesn’t change anything about our lives or the band. We are still who we are. We are still going to teach the same lessons, make new music, use our platform for good. Our relationship being known does not limit our stance, rather it empowers us to serve as role models for those who need us.”
“We will not be taking questions. Thank you.”
Hoseok stood, gripping Yoongis hand tightly as they exited the stage, the media yelling questions after them. Once they were back in the safety of the prep room, they could finally breathe.
“So,” Hoseok started, crashing onto a couch, Yoongi sitting next to him. “Thoughts?”
“You were amazing,” Yoongi said with a smile, leaning his head on Hoseoks shoulder. “I’m so proud of you,”
Hoseok kissed the top of his head.
“And I am so proud of you,” he replied, resting his head on top of his. “How do you think they’ll take it?”
He felt Yoongi shrug.
“I think it’ll be what we expect. Positive, negative, rumors. The usual.”
Hoseok nodded.
“Mmm..” he hummed in thought.
Yoongi moved his head, angling his chin up so he could look Hoseok in the eye.
“What’re you thinking?” He asked.
Hoseok didn’t respond for a moment.
“It’s so weird…I know most of the fans will be supportive and everything but…I can’t shake the feeling that they’re all going to hate us,” he finished softly.
Yoongi nodded, holding Hoseoks hand.
“I know, it’s scary, not really knowing what the future holds. But Seok? No matter what, we’re going to be ok. You’re going to be safe. I’ll makes sure of it. I’ll always keep you safe,”
Yoongi had a glint of determination in his eye that Hoseok had seen before. But to see it when he was talking about protecting him…let’s just say he really really loved his boyfriend.
Leaning down, Hoseok pulled him into a kiss that he hoped convey how much he loved him.
“Love you too,” Yoongi mumbled, his face flushed. Hoseok was proud he got the message across.
After the media cleared out, Yoongi and Hoseok got in a car and went back to the dorm with the other members.
“Hyungs, you were great,” Jungkook reassured them with pride. “So ‘eloquent’,”
Yoongi raised an eyebrow.
“‘Eloquent’?”
Jungkook smiled.
“I’ve been practicing difficult English words,”
Namjoon patted his shoulder.
“Very good, JK,”
Jungkook practically glowed from the praise.
Everyone got back to the dorms and went back to whatever they wanted to do. Yoongi and Hoseok decided to take the day off to recuperate from the emotional and mental stress the last two days had brought on.
Hoseok hadn’t planned on checking his social media, he didn’t think he’d want to see, but his curiosity got the best of him.
Tentatively, he opened Twitter.
“Wow. I’m speechless. As an ARMY in the LGBTQIA+ community, hearing them talk about that…I have no words. I don’t know what to say but thank you.”
“God I love these men, look at them. continuing to speak out for what they believe in and supporting the queer community. amazing.”
“YO WHY DID THEY PHRASE THAT SO WELL?? I COULD NEVER??? THANK YOU FOR THE REPRESENTATION IM CRYING😭”
Hoseok smiled down at his phone, continuing to scroll through the tweets and comments. Out of over two hundred comments, he saw maybe twenty negative responses. A few responses made Hoseok well up, reading how important their words were to people. It was really moving.
“Watcha doin?” Yoongi asked. He’d changed out of his suit and into blue flannel pants and a grey t-shirt. He looked absurdly adorable. And yet hot at the same time? He never failed to astound Hoseok in terms of his duality.
“I’m reading comments and stuff…” he trailed off as he read another.
Yoongis eyebrows creased with worry.
“Is it bad?” He asked with a hint concern. He had been so strong, so reassuring throughout this whole thing, Hoseok almost forgot he must have been just as anxious.
“I…” He struggled to put it into words. “It’s amazing,” was all he could come up with.
Yoongi lay next to him in the bed, reading comments over his boyfriends shoulder.
“Wow,” he remarked breathlessly after a few scrolls.
“Yeah,” Hoseok replied.
“Sometimes…” Yoongi paused in thought as Hoseok looked up from the screen. “Sometimes I wonder if everything’s worth it. The work, the privacy breaches, the lack of normalcy. But then I remember how much we mean to everyone, how much we can do with our position…” Yoongi shook his head in disbelief. “It still shocks me,”
Hoseok nodded.
“I know what you mean,” he agreed, shutting off his phone. “Sometimes I wish you and I were just regular guys in the world. We’d get an apartment together and do normal people things and it’d be great but…this is so much more important, you know?”
It was Yoongis turn to nod.
“Yeah. I wouldn’t have it any other way,”
Hoseok smiled, kissing his forehead.
“Neither would I.”