“In that case, we’ll just have to wait and see who he’s gonna pick between us two.”

After Jane said that to him the other day, Taehyung couldn’t just stay still. Knowing that someone also wanted Jungkook’s attention, he was restless. This was different from the fangirls that they met at their concerts or other schedules. This particular girl actually had a chance with the youngest, unlike the girls out there who could only fantasize.

From there on, he paid extra attention to any kind of interaction between Jane and Jungkook. Ugh, even their names have similar initials. He went from liking Jane to feel annoyed with her whenever she was with Jungkook. She was being extra clingy to Jungkook especially when he himself was around.

It was maybe his mind playing games with him, but he noticed that Jungkook didn’t even resist the skinship offered by the girl at all. He let her tugged at his arm; he even wrinkled his nose when she playfully ruffled his hair (not that Taehyung squealed at how cute he is, no). The maknae didn’t even let Jimin hug him nowadays so why was he okay with Jane’s doings?

All this made he thought about why he’d even like the other male. Yeah sure, Jungkook was the epitome of perfection. He was cute the first time Taehyung had laid eyes on him 5 years ago. His big, round eyes goes well with his jet black hair when they first met at the dorm. Whenever he smiled, his bunny teeth will show and his nose will have those little wrinkles which complemented his chubby cheeks.

That doesn’t mean that Jungkook was not cute after all these years. In fact, he became hotter after all those workouts he’d done. He also became taller and his shoulders became broader, catching up with Seokjin’s. However, despite his perfect physique, Taehyung liked Jungkook’s sweet voice the most. The first time they sang together, he’d even surprised himself on how their voices harmonized so well together.

It was during their preparations for the second album that Taehyung realized his own feelings to the other. They were shooting their trailer music video that fell on Jungkook’s birthday. They pranked him and lastly the maknae cried of relief. At that time Taehyung didn’t know the reason of why his heart was beating so fast at the sight of Jungkook crying.

Starting from there, all he could see was the maknae. Everything else just became a blurry background behind him. It was as if there was a spotlight that followed him everywhere and just shone on him. And being the second youngest, Taehyung will usually spending time with Jungkook playing video games, watching animes and even doing pranks to their hyungs. More time spent with the younger made Taehyung fell for him harder.

Up until today, he made every second spent with the younger filled with their laughter but since Jane came into the picture, he couldn’t even watch movies with him. Moreover, Jungkook got a bedroom to himself making it difficult for Taehyung to sneak into the youngest bed when he couldn’t sleep. He thought it was the worst thing that their manager could suggest; giving no roommate to Jungkook as he needed to focus on his study. Please, does the kid even study?

When Jungkook was watching TV alone, he wanted to sit beside him but Jane beat him to it. She gave Taehyung a little smirk that meant ‘see that?’ and raised her eyebrows at him. He swore if Jane wasn’t a girl he could push her out of the way.

And what irritated Taehyung the most was that no matter how much he was annoyed with Jane, he couldn’t resist her cooking when it comes to meals. There he was, grumbling under his breath with his mouth full of Jane’s cooking, mumbling how he will hate her cooking but for now his hungry stomach needed to be fed.

Jane just chuckled lightly knowing what Taehyung felt. Her little ‘war’ with him was just about to begin. She scanned the members one by one to watch they ate her cooking deliciously when she realized that there were only 6 people at the table.

“Where’s Jimin?”

All members present stopped eating altogether. They eyed each other and stayed silent. Their expression dropped and they chewed whatever in their mouths slowly. Jane frowned when nobody answered her. Everyone was avoiding any eye contact with her. Now that she remembered, Jimin was also absent from yesterday’s dinner. And lunch too.

“He’s…on a diet.”

“But he’s skipping too many meals! Does he even have any energy left when you guys go to schedules?”

Some of them sighed while the others just stayed silent again. Decided not to pry further from the members, she walked towards Jimin’s room but was stopped by a grip on her wrist. She looked at the hand’s owner which was Jungkook but the latter didn’t look at her, his gaze on his bowl on the table.

“Don’t noona. He’s always like that during any comeback preparation. We know him. He’ll live.”

“But it’s not healthy and you know that! He’s–”

Her sentence stopped when Jungkook looked up to meet her eyes. His eyes glistened a bit maybe from the tears he was holding. She knew how much he cared for Jimin. Being in the ‘maknae line’, Jimin, Jungkook and Taehyung played very well together. Of course it hurt him to see the elder was starving himself to meet the fans’ expectations.

She looked at the others which had the same look as the youngest. It showed that they were also suffering, suffering from the pain Jimin had inflicted on himself. Jane sighed and nodded. She gave Jungkook’s hand a light squeeze and sat at Jimin’s chair at the table, which was beside Taehyung. The latter could’ve felt jealousy in his heart but that was not the right time. Now they were discussing about Jimin, his same-age best friend.

Breakfast went on slowly and some of them lost their appetite from their small discussion just now. All of them went into their room with their mind full of Jimin. After a while, Yoongi went to Jimin’s room, only to find the younger was curling under the sheets on his bed. When he called out the latter’s name, he saw his head peeked from under the sheets. Dark circles were evident under his eyes.

“Hyung, what is it?”

Yoongi’s heart ache when he heard Jimins sweet voice turned into something that was hoarse, as if he didn’t drink any drop of water for the past few weeks. The rapper sat on the side of the bed and reached out to Jimin’s cheeks. The same cheeks that were a little bit chubby a few days ago but now nothing was left.

“You should eat something, Jimin-ah. You’ll have no energy for the day.”

Jimin smiled weakly to his hyung and shook his head. He mumbled under the sheets something like ‘I’m on a diet, remember’ but Yoongi caught that sentence loud and clear. He sighed, knowing that nothing could break Jimin’s aim to lose weight, especially when he had set his mind on it.

“If you need anything, or feel tired, just tell me okay?”

Jimin nodded and told him that he’s okay. Yoongi kissed his forehead lightly before heading out of the 95-liners room. He went straight to the kitchen and opened the fridge. He took a can of beer, opened it and took a huge gulp.

“It’s a little bit early for a drink, don’t you think?”

He was startled by the voice as he thought he was alone. Jane was sitting at the dining table looking at him across the counter. He gave her a weak smile and went to sit with her with another can when she asked for it. They clanked their cans together and drank. She broke the silence when she spoke.

“Jimin?” He sighed and nodded weakly. His mind was clouded on the younger’s action. It was always like this at every comeback where Jimin would starve himself and exercised until he exceeded his own limits.

“It became worse when there were fans that made fun of his chubby cheeks. There were also harsh comments about his appearance on Twitter. I told him not to mind all that but…”

He sighed again, only louder. He hung his head low, trying to stop the tear that was threatening to escape his eyes. Yoongi was not the type to cry easily but he couldn’t stand the sight of his loved one hurting himself.

“You know what? I’ll see what I can do with his diet. Don’t worry; I won’t force him or anything. I know you guys love him. Although I’m not as close to him as you guys, I’ll try my best.”

He looked up and met Jane’s eyes.

“Thanks, friend.”

“No problem.”

They clanked their beer cans again and drank up.