Taehyung and Jeongguk had been waiting for me off stage after that. We didn’t wait around to see the judges reactions, I was already on the verge of tears and I knew this would be the last time I’d get to see them. Once we were in a relatively secluded area, I confessed to them my agreement with my mother and I would have to leave after the first segment results were announced in order to grab my things from the dorm room and make my plane trip. They tried to convince me to stay, oh they tried so hard. They came up with every single possibility they could think of, but it was pointless. My song may have been good, but it wasn’t enough to cinch the spot for the first segment of the audition. Shortly after finishing up the last contestants for the dance portion, they announced the winner of the singing portion, the person who would be the next member of BTS. I was absolutely thrilled when I heard Taehyung’s name. My best friend just became a member of an upcoming group, how could I not be happy? But, knowing how terrible my dance went, there was no way I was winning the second portion. I accepted my defeat with open arms. I would be returning back home to my family with my head held high. I may not have accomplished my dream, but I at least got pretty far.

“Are you sure you want to do this Jimin? It doesn’t have to end this way Jimin.” Jimin let himself remember all the he had went through this past year in one blinding moment of disappointment.

“Maybe not now, but it eventually would have. It’s okay Taehyung. It’s better this way, you go off to bigger and better things, and I’ll be here in little Busan cheering you on from the sidelines. You never know, I could pick up a dance class as a side job? It’s a win win for everyone.” Taehyung scoffed.

“Not for the person who’s losing his best friend. Jimin, I really don’t think…” Jimin shushed him from the other end.

“I’m boarding now. I’ll call you when I land okay?” Taehyung sighed for the thirtieth time that day.

“Okay, I’ll miss you man.” Jimin laughed.

“Miss you too.” Taehyung didn’t set the phone down even after the disconnect sound rang in his ear. He just couldn’t believe that what was supposed to be the best day of his life turned into the tiest. He won the nearly impossible audition as a first year trainee, but he lost his best friend. How can he be happy if he’s losing a part of himself? Taehyung clicked his phone off and shoved it into his pocket. As he was about to turn to leave the lobby, the judges came walking down the hall. Taehyung cursed and jumped back into the lobby. Other than him, there was no one else in the room. Next to a line of vending machines, there was a wall that lead to the restrooms. Taehyung hid behind the wall as the members filed in, talking about something important. Taehyung pressed closer to listen.

“I just don’t think we can take one without taking the other. It’s simple. Both great singers, both great dancers, both with some serious stage presence, well...maybe not both but...you know what I mean.” Hoseok said as he got some canned coffee from the vending machine. Namjoon rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

“They are really similar, however the manager told us to only pick two people. They would be making the final decision about the line-up, but these two would be our suggestions. I don’t think the manager wanted more than two from us. We need to be able to make hard decisions like these, so lets just pick one of them.” He said.

“I don’t know. Contestant number five, what was his name, Jeongguk? He had some tight choreography. I mean perfectly delivered down to pointing his toes.” Yoongi offered. Taehyung fist-pumped silently. Score one for Jeongguk.

“Yeah but that number twenty-six was unbelievable. He literally came out and blew our minds. This kid, this Park Jimin or whatever is something else. And I don’t think a bad first impression should be the deciding factor for this.” Seokjin countered. Hoseok his lips in concentration.

“Why not just pick both? I don’t see why we can’t have three recommendations instead of two?” Yoongi rubbed his eyes and sat down on the lobby couch.

“Because you would have to be the one to tell PD-nim that we picked three instead of two. Could you even handle that?” Hoseok gulped down the rest of his stale coffee and wiped his hands on his jeans.

“Well...I wouldn’t be particularly enthusiastic about it, but if I have to…” Namjoon turned to him in disbelief.

“Are you seriously going to ask him?” Hoseok laughed mirthlessly.

“Unfortunately, I have a very strong death wish.” Hoseok pulled out his phone and pressed his contact number twenty-three, listed under the name “satan”. His phone rang all of two times before a growly voice answered.

“What.” Hoseok had called at a bad time.

“Hello PD-nim! H-how’s your day going?” Bang Sihyuk grunted.

“What do you want Hoseok.” Hoseok sighed. This was going to be painful.

“We were at the auditions today as you know picking our two reps for the line-up, when we encountered an issue.” There was silence on the other end for a solid ten seconds.

“What kind of an issue?” He didn’t sound homicidal. This was a good thing.

“We found these three guys that we really really liked. One of them we’ve already announced as our first pick. It’s the other two we are having trouble with. You see, they both are really talented both in the vocals department and in the dance department. We couldn’t really choose between them because we both saw the Bangtan Boys image in them, and I know that if you were to see their performances, you would agree that-”

“Send me the recordings of their auditions.” Bang Sihyuk ordered before hanging up. Hoseok stood there in amazement. Bang Sihyuk was interested, this was a very good sign. His bandmates looked at him expectantly.

“He said he’ll watch their auditions. He wants me to send a video of their auditions to him.” Namjoon nodded his head.

“That’s pretty good. He must be having a good day then. I have them so I can just text them to him.” Namjoon pulled out his own phone and started looking through his videos. He had personally recorded the entire audition and skimmed until he found both number five’s and number twenty-six’s singing portion, and then found their dancing portion, writing down the times in the text before sending the message. They started to sit down and get comfortable-thinking that he wouldn’t get back with them for at least a half hour. Namjoon, as well as the rest of the group, was very surprised to find his phone ringing in his pocket. He pulled it out and saw that it was PD-nim.

“Hello?” He asked.

“Bring them to the meeting next Monday. I want them at least ten minutes early.” Namjoon laughed in disbelief.

“We can bring all three of them?!!”

“Don’t make me change my mind. I’m busy right now so don’t bother me unless it’s absolutely necessary.” PD-nim hung up, leaving Namjoon to relay the news.

“Looks like we’ve got three new potential members boys.” There was a collective round of cheers, but Taehyung couldn’t join in that excitement. While Jeongguk and he passed the overall audition, there was one person who was on his way to Busan that wouldn’t get to relish in that victory. In fact, any chance Jimin could have gotten at being in Bangtan Boys was destroyed if he told his father. Jimin would never see a day on stage. Taehyung foresaw a very small window of opportunity open up for him. If he was able to get into contact with Jimin in time, he could stop him from telling his family that he was giving up performing. First thing he needed to do was find the earliest plane, train, or bus that would get him to Busan. Then he needed to get Jimin to stall his parents before he got there. Once there, he could attempt to convince his parents that no, Jimin was not a total screw up, yes he does have some semblance of talent, and yes you were wrong for not supporting him all these years.

“.” Taehyung muttered as he leaned back against the wall and knocked his head. Even with his meddling, Jimin’s parents would never believe him. They barely even liked Taehyung. It would take the members coming themselves to convince Jimin’s father that his career choice had been the right one, and that would never happen.

“. . . !” Taehyung cursed, wringing his fingers through his hair. He started kicking the air and punching it in his frustration. Unable to notice the four sets of eyes staring at him, Taehyung continued his thrashing. He only stopped, when someone cleared their throat. Slowly, he turned to face them, and smiled sheepishly when he caught them looking at him like he was a nut case.

“Um...Are you okay?” Yoongi asked. Taehyung laughed and scuffed his foot on the linoleum.

“Well, that’s a subjective question. Am I physically sound, yes. Am I mentally stable-although it may not seem like it-I am. Am I emotionally okay, no not at all.” Hoseok pursed his lips and nodded.

“You’re one of the people we picked aren’t you?” Taehyung laughed awkwardly.

“Yes, uh, trust me I’m not this spastic normally. I just have a really bad situation occurring right now and I’m trying to figure out a way to fix it.” Seokjin nodded slowly.

“And what would that be, if I may ask? Perhaps we could offer some assistance?” Taehyung laughed mirthlessly.

“Technically this does involve you so I might as well tell you anyway. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop on your conversation, but I did overhear the three people you were picking. I hate to inform you of this, but there were some issues with contestant number twenty-six’s dance performance.” Namjoon cocked his head with a disbelieving expression.

“Really?” Taehyung nodded.

“You see, everything you witnessed: the dance, the music, the outfit, it was all...how do I put this...it was all sabotage.” Yoongi raised his eyebrows.

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