#takecareJimin

Sweat trickles down Jimin’s brow and into his eyes, causing the dancer to blink rapidly in an attempt to dispel the salty liquid, lips pursed as he tries to focus on what the Japanese MC is saying. He hasn’t been studying the language half as well nor half as long as Namjoon and Seokjin have been - but he knows enough to pick up on the words “game” and competition”. 

“We’re going to play that game where you have to hold your breath, to see who can hold it for the longest.” The quiet murmur from their leader, standing beside him, confirms his own loosely-pieced-together idea.

Jimin smiles lips, curving at the corners and the fans scream, loud shrieks of "キャアアア、大好きいいいい

!” reaching the dancer on stage. The smile quirks up into a smirk and Jimin winks in the general direction of the voice. The incoherent mess of high-pitched noises is his reward.

There’s a flurry of movement onstage and then Namjoon is tugging his sleeve, a silent signal to gather around and ready themselves for the game. 

Jimin takes his position in line, Taehyung on his left and the maknae on his right, eyes challenging him. 

“I’m gonna beat you at the game, hyung~”

He laughs, the sound too low for the mics to pick up, “You wish, Kookie~”

“Ready?” The MC asks into the mic.

Together, they nod. Jimin smiles and Hoseok throws a thumbs up. 

“一、二、三!”

Collectively, they draw in a breath as the MC starts the timer, their cheeks puffing out and eyebrows furrowing in concentration.

Hoseok is the first to breathe, doubling over in laughter at the cross-eyed expression that has made it’s way to Yoongi’s face. Yoongi is second, shooting Hoseok a look of annoyance as though the younger is to blame for his inability to hold his breath. Namjoon and Jin breathe simultaneously, red in the face, and laugh at the timing. Next is Taehyung who, puffing his cheeks out like some sort of blowfish, forget that they are in the middle of a game and unwittingly takes a breath, face falling immediately afterwards. 

The last two left are Jimin and Jungkook who turn to face each other, eyes narrowing. Loud cries of “ジミン・オッパ、頑張って!!!” float towards the stage from the audience and Jimin almost, almost smiles, barely registering the light-headedness that has begun to settle like a haze around his mind. 

The last thing Jimin sees before the lights blur his vision and the stage tilts beneath him is the youngest member’s puffed up cheeks, eyes just registering that something isn’t right with Jimin-hyung.

When he comes to, moments after making contact with the cold timber floor, the audience is quiet - now it’s their turn to hold their breath, silence settling over the crowd of A.R.M.Ys gathered at the event, all eyes trained on the circle the other six members have created, hiding their seventh from view. Gradually, Taehyung’s worried face shifts into focus, although, to Jimin, his best friend’s voice filters through to him as though they are both underwater.

“Jiminie! Jiminie! Can you hear me?”

Violently, Jimin shakes his head a couple of times, trying to clear the fuzziness buzzing around his head. He dimly registers Taehyung’s worried face and opens his mouth to reassure his fellow 95-liner.

“I’m okay Tae…” Surprisingly, his voice doesn’t sound like it’s underwater…and when Jin speaks next - worry lines making the eldest look at least 5 years older - neither does his.

“What happened, Jiminie?”

Jimin tilts his head to the side, thinking back to the seconds before he fell.

“I think I forgot to breathe…”

“What the freak…” 

The barely-there curse is mild, and muttered under the breath but Namjoon still shoots the second-oldest a look as if to say "Hyung, watch your language.”

Yoongi ignores their leader, worry mixing with panic in his mind and turning everything into a red haze.

“How the hell do you forget to breathe?” 

Jimin would’ve flinched under his hyung’s cold tone if is wasn’t for the concern that is so blatantly evident in Yoongi’s eyes.

“Yoongi-hyung”

The rapper tenses, then relaxes as Hoseok’s hand comes down on his shoulder, a reassurance, a silent reminder.

“It’s possible, I very nearly do it during some of the more intense choreography parts.”

Yoongi shrugs off the hand, eyes still clouding with worry even as his lips press into a thin line, and steps off to the side, letting their manager come and take Jimin off-stage. 

Namjoon eyes the remaining six members, their bodies turned towards the stage exit, as though they mean to follow their bandmate. He sighs, one hand running through dyed, light-brown hair and turns himself around to face their expectant fans, a sea of worried faces looking up at him. 

He swallows.

It’s times like this that he really, really hates being the leader. 

"Sorry for making everybody worried...but Jimin should be okay," he grits his teeth ever so slightly, forcing out the words that may or may not end up as a lie. "He's resting backstage now...so what’s left of the fan-meeting will have to be continued without him. Is that okay?"

He asks it out of courtesy, politeness, somehow knowing that their fans would rather Jimin be backstage, resting, than on stage, in danger of losing consciousness again.

A loud, collective “はい!" choruses from the crowd in front of him and he breaks out into a shaky smile, grateful for their fans' understanding.

Resuming his position on stage before the incident, he registers movement in his perephial - the remaining five also moving into their designated places.

The rest of the fan-meet passes without a hitch. Although, at the end, when they say their thankyous and goodbyes, they take a bow as six, instead of their usual seven. 

It's happened before, when Yoongi went through surgery and spent Christmas on a hospital bed instead of on stage with his fellow members, and again, when Jungkook's visa hadn't passed all the requirements and the group had received their year-end award as six. Yet, both of those times, they hadn't felt the fear slowly pooling in the pits of their stomachs or worst-case-scenarios settling in like a blanket around their minds. 

This time is different, this time they don't know if their bandmate is okay and they desperately need to.

The "thankyou for coming"s and goodbyes are cut shorter than usual and Namjoon simultaneously feels apologetic to the fans that came, and confident that they'll understand why the time for the ending ment has been cut in half.

Yoongi is first to leave the stage, waving one final goodbye to the fans before turning 180 and disappearing behind the curtains. Jin is next, Jungkook following closely behind. Both of them wave and bow, furrowed eyebrows replacing the practiced smiles that fall off their faces as they walk towards backstage, two tall figures slipping behind heavy curtains. Taehyung is fourth to leave, sparing one last air-heart and wink to the general direction of fans, locking his smile in place and waving both hands until he's sure he's hidden by the backstage shadows. The smile immediately drops off, the panic he staved off during the ending ment rushing back in full force. 

Hoseok eyes Namjoon worriedly. As leader, it is the younger's responsibility to stay - go first, leave last, handle any slip ups, controversies and so on. He grins at the fans, genuine and reassuring, Jimin will be alright he tries to tell them through the curve of his lips. Bounding up to Namjoon, he slings his arm around the other's shoulders, a deliberate show of playfulness, and leads the younger away, all the while grinning, waving and thanking the fans. It isn't until they are safely backstage that he lets their leader go, hurriedly searching for Jimin and the other four members.

Namjoon finds them first, huddled around a considerably less pale Jimin, near the back exit of the venue.

Yoongi’s looking considerably calmer as he stands off towards the side, letting Hoseok and Namjoon enter the makeshift ring they had formed. Hoseok chances a glance at Jimin. The 95-liner is laughing about some out-of-this world comment Taehyung has just made, looking for the most part, unscathed, save for a slight bruising on the right of his forehead. Hoseok relaxes and beside him, Namjoon does the same.  

Jimin is taken into the hospital for a precautionary checkup while his group members wait inside the van, considerably less worried but still quite shaken. Namjoon calls an impromptu group meeting and in lower murmurs they discuss possible causes for Jimin’s sudden loss of consciousness. 

“Did he not eat enough? or get enough sleep?” Jin is the first to tread near the dangerous waters, knowing it’d have to be addressed eventually.

“He eats as much as Hoseok-hyung and I do,” is the maknae’s quiet, mumbled reply.

“You don’t really eat all that much” Namjoon points out.

“I eat more than Yoongi-hyung.”

Yoongi scowls at the reminder. Diets had always left a bitter taste on his tongue and he never could understand the logic behind them. Still can’t.

Hoseok sighs. “He looked fine before the fan meeting and I know he slept pretty early last night. He slept before me and I slept just after midnight,” he pauses, “So I don’t think exhaustion is the reason….

“He could really have forgotten to breathe…” comes Taehyung’s muffled voice.

Yoongi sighs, one hand ruffling platinum-blonde hair. “How is that even possible?”

“It is hyung,” Hoseok insists beside the older.

The door slides open, none too gently, six heads turning towards the sound. Jimin’s colour has almost completely returned to his face now and he grins at them, wordlessly sliding in next to Taehyung who smiles back. Jin watches the younger through the rearview mirror, acutely aware of his tendency to overwork himself, and vows to pay more attention to how much s are eating, sleeping and resting.

It actually is because he forgot to breathe. As Jimin explains to them in the van, one hand rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, it’s actually not that uncommon people to forget to breathe - just not usually to the point of losing consciousness. Their manager has a more detailed, if slightly more complicated, explanation and Yoongi immediately looks up the medical terminology on his phone. He’s relieved when he finds that the low blood pressure that caused Jimin to faint, triggered by the parasympathetic nerve, isn’t unusual and is even considered healthy compared to high pressure levels. 

They arrive back at the hotel after dinner and sprawl themselves out around the living area - their managers having agreed to let them take the rest of the day off. Namjoon, being leader, would usually have first shower, but today he nudges Jimin to take it, anxious to get the younger washed, and changed, and resting. The 95-liner accepts it gratefully, emerging ten minutes later with damp hair and curling up on the sofa as Namjoon takes his turn, then Jin and Yoongi, after him. Yoongi comes out of the bathroom, stray water droplets still clinging to the side of his neck and immediately crosses the room to stand in front of their leader. Hoseok quietly disappears into the now-vacant bathroom.

“I thought you said you’d stop reading those, Namjoon-ah,”

Namjoon looks up from the comments he’d been scrolling through, frown steadily deepening in the lines of his face.

“They’re saying things like it’s managements fault and “I hope they don’t end up like EXO”…” Namjoon’s eyes are dull. Even after years of negative comments they still sort of hurt. 

Yoongi sighs, shoulders sagging - it had been a long day. “Jiminie is okay, that’s all that matters…”

Hearing his name, the younger looks towards his two hyungs, “I already let the fans know I’m okay,” 

Seokjin, leaning against the sofa between the two 95-liners, gives a small nod of approval. “Good, they must’ve been very worried…”

Jungkook is last to shower, and by the time he joins the other six, hair damp and sleep shirt already damp from the water he didn’t bother drying off his chest, Taehyung’s favourite anime is playing on the hotel’s TV and everybody is curled up either on or against the sofa. 

To nobody’s surprise, Hoseok is the first to see it. He had been absentmindedly scrolling through twitter on his phone, reading through the @BTS_twt mentions when he sees the hashtag, immediately showing it to Jimin, on his right.

Jimin smiles, eyes scanning the name of the person the tweet belonged to, chuckling once he makes the connection. 

“Taetae~ I think she’s your fan~” he teases his best friend, turning the screen around to display the [email protected]_ryne” above the tweet. 

“Ah~” Taehyung quickly scans the message, lips quirking into a smile, “Of course! My fans are the sweetest~” 

After that, it starts building. Namjoon flips open his laptop screen, searching the hashtag before turning the screen to show Jimin. The younger watches all the messages - short lines of concern, encouragement and well-wishes in Korean, English, French, Japanese, Thai and many other languages, steadily building on the screen, all embellished with the hashtag Hoseok had seen. Tears prick at the corner of his eyes and Jimin frantically blinks back the hot liquid, touched by the collective show of concern from their fans, making a silent vow to take better care of himself - so as to not worry the fans so much. 

It doesn’t take long for the tag to trend, backed by hundreds and thousands of determined A.R.M.Ys. Yoongi and Seokjin are first to notice, simultaneously showing Jimin their phones - #takecareJimin placing second on Korea’s popular topics. 

“A.R.M.Ys are amazing,” Taehyung’s voice is hushed, almost reverent.

“Yeah, they are.” Even after debuting for two-and-a-bit years, Jin still can’t help the awe in his voice when faced with proof of their group’s popularity, and their fans willingness to support them. 

“Of course they are,” Jimin turns onto his side, eyes curving into twinkling, half-moon crescents, “They’re my fans and I’m amazing~”

Everyone laughs. 

Jungkook rolls his eyes playfully in Jimin’s general direction. “You wish, hyung~.” 

The anime has long since ended. TV muted, conversation and good company are the only things still keeping the seven boys in the living room, slouched against each other. But it had been a long day, and eventually tired yawns find their way in between mumbled words and muffled laughter. 

As everyone would expect, Yoongi is first to leave, stretching and ruffling Jimin’s hair as he passes by the younger, bidding everyone goodnight before entering the room he’s temporarily sharing with the oldest and youngest. Taehyung and Namjoon retire next, the 95-liner uncurling himself from his best friend’s side and the leader pushing himself off the soft carpet. They exchange casual goodnights - there’s no need for formalities between friends that feel like brothers. 

The final four leave once the cushions have been replaced and the TV switched off. Jin switches off the light and follows Jungkook into the room furthest down the hallway, where Yoongi is already asleep, back pressed against the wall. Hoseok leads Jimin into the room on the right, letting the younger curl up under the covers first before slipping in beside him.

“Night, hyung,” Jimin mumbles into his pillow.

“Night, Jiminie,” Hoseok lets one hand rest on top of the younger’s head, gently the red locks in what he hopes is a soothing motion - and within seconds, Jimin drops off into a dreamless sleep, Hoseok himself falling asleep shortly after.

When he wakes a few hours later, his hand has fallen off to the side and Jimin’s head is almost completely buried under the covers - only his hair is still visible. Hoseok smiles, reaching for his phone and opening the Daum Fancafe application. 

“Jiminie is sleeping,” Hoseok murmurs into the darkness “I am watching over him.” 

He finishes off the video with a single thumbs up in front of the camera, posting the short clip with a quick, one-line message. Rolling onto his side to face the half-hidden Jimin, he closes his eyes, a soft smile ghosting over his lips.

Tonight, Hoseok falls asleep for the second time to a series of thankful thoughts; thankful for their company, their fans and s - his family…and, more than anything, thankful that everybody is okay. 


 

A/N:
キャアアア、大好きいいいい! : Kyaaa~ I love youu!
一、二、三! : one, two, three!
ジミン・オッパ、頑張って!!! : Jimin-oppa, hwaiting!!!

Annnd~ 끝! That's it!~ ^^
I hope you enjoyed reading that as much as I enjoyed writing it! Please let me know what you thought in the comments!!!~ Or even if you just need somewhere to discuss what happened ~ I don't bite hehe~ ^_^ 
Love you all~~~ xx

 

-sugastruck-