Early the next day Jimin woke up feeling oddly rested considering the events of the past week. His eyes lazily roamed around his room and he was confused for a split second because he couldn't quite remember exactly how he had gotten into his bed last night. Until he realized with a warm feeling spreading through his chest that his Hobi must have somehow dragged his sleep-ladened body into bed.

 

A loud snore that was almost as endearing as it was disturbing reverberated from the other end of the room and Jimin snickered into his blankets. It must’ve been earlier than usual if Taehyung hadn’t even woken yet- that ball of endless energy had been one of the few willing earlier risers in their group. As for Jimin, he was right along with Yoongi in his strong belief that you should sleep whenever you got the chance to (and in their tiring profession, those chances were few and far between).

 

Reminding Jimin of the other early riser in their apartment, Jungkook’s soft voice floated throughout the still apartment at that moment. The maknae claimed that early the morning was an unparalleled time to warm up his vocal chords. Every single other member disagreed with his thoughts on this topic. Jimin, however, found it soothing and rather than it being a cacophonous disruptance that insisted on waking him up, to him it was more of a lulling sound that eased him back into sleep.

 

Jimin tiptoed out of his room and lingered in the hall, watching Jungkook’s lean form sway to the rhythm as he practiced his singing in the living room. Jungkook had indisputably one of the most gorgeous voices Jimin had ever heard and without him, Bangtan wouldn’t be the same, there would be gap that only the young boy’s vocals could fill. Often Jimin would find himself taking notes while the maknae was singing, noting his posture, his expressions, how he held the notes for, and the dynamics of his voice itself, anything Jimin thought might help himself improve.

 

“Morning Kookie,” Jimin said quietly while approaching the other boy. Jungkook’s shoulders jumped up and his head whipped around, frightened at the sudden intrusion.

 

“Jimin,” he began,”howcome you didn’t eat dinner with us last night? Did you go out somewhere?” the boy’s voice was soft and clear.

 

“Ah...Something like that, yeah….”

 

Jungkook didn’t even blink at the hesitant answer he received and proceeded to instead continue on singing once again. Together they waited for the other members to wake up and Jimin would even occasionally add in harmonies with his own frustratingly high voice, though he got almost light headed at times. But he brushed it off, assuming it was just because it was early in the morning. For the most part though, their voices melding sweetly together and Jimin was glad. He received flack for his emasculate voice time and again, but Jungkook didn’t even bat an eyelash at it that morning and for that Jimin was thankful. It was nice to get his mind off his many flaws that morning.

 

When Jin started the coffee going and Namjoon began pestering him to help make breakfast, Jungkook flattened his hand over Jimin’s bangs to smooth them over and the older of the two boys felt embarrassed that the maknae, the maknae of all people, continued to treat him like the youngest one.

 

“We should practice together more. Just me and you, I mean,” Jungkook mentioned stiffly, not able to meet his eyes, probably worried the other members would have been able to see him being nice to his short hyung.

 

Jimin offered him an eager nod and Jungkook abruptly turned away and walked over to where Taehyung was tormenting the other members. Chuckling, Jimin spotted Hoseok leaning against a wall, nursing a mug of coffee that was into his hands by whoever it was that took pity on his slouched, exhausted form.

 

Watching Hoseok, Jimin was suddenly hit with a wave of appreciation for his friend. Jimin had been in a funk recently, wallowing over petty things and being so terribly self-centred. And yet, here was a man who cared so much for him, Jimin, that he was up way too late and losing sleep because he was too busy wandering around the streets of Korea to find Jimin to not only him back home, but even to get him into to bed safely. The young boy often questioned his worth but Hoseok seemed to show it to him without even realizing.

 

Without warning Jimin huddled up in front of Hoseok’s unusually aloof form and rested his forehead on the taller boy’s chest. The mug of coffee was jostled from Hoseok’s lax grip and droplets of the caffeinated liquid splattered against the carpeted floor, earning a cacophony of whining from someone in the kitchen.

 

But Jimin didn’t care, he curled his arms around Hoseok tighter and whispered “thank you, hyung.”

 

There was no verbal reaction at all to the quiet words but Jimin felt his friend rest his chin over his tucked head and he forgot the rush of the past week and the hurt that had been building inside of him.

 

“Hey, lovebirds, mind actually getting dressed, a car will be here within the next ten minutes to pick us up…. Also Jin looks like he’ll strangle you if you spill one more drop of his coffee.” Namjoon advised sagely with a hint of a smirk playing at his lips.

 

Pulling back, energy that had been absent one minute ago exuded from the older dancer as he playfully glared the leader down. “Excuse me, he made this coffee for me!” he emphasized and guzzled down the rest of his coffee, burning his mouth on the scalding liquid immediately as a consequence.

 

Coming up and offering a glass of water to Hoseok whilst muttering childish insults under his breathe, Yoongi stared at him, his eyes calculating and fingers tapping on his thigh to a restless rhythm.

 

“So where did you run off to last night?” he asked bluntly.

 

Jimin walked over slowly, eyeing the pair of them curiously.

 

Hoseok’s head turned ever so slightly towards Jimin’s direction, but it hardly showed. Jimin could see a strange emotion flickers in his friend’s deep brown eyes but the boy couldn’t name it.

 

“I mean, you left out of nowhere!: Yoongi continued, annoyance now seeping into his flat voice. “One moment you’re there and the next, boom, you’re gone. Thanks for the heads up.”

 

Shoulder’s stiffening Hoseok opened his mouth, adopting an oddly aggressive stance, but his reply was cut off by a serious looking Namjoon who had been silently watching the exchange from the kitchen.

 

“You are absolutely not allowed to do that again. I’m supposed to keep track of everybody as the leader and that’s impossible when you just disappear with no warning. Manager would kill me if he found out. Not to mention you really worried some of us! Listen, I don’t want to be a hardass, but if you do that again I’m gonna have to start being more strict,” Jin snorted at that from his seat at the kitchen table but Namjoon narrowed his glare on him for a moment before redirecting his attention back at a shaking Hoseok.

 

Was he really that upset, Jimin wondered.  Hoseok rarely strayed from his sunny disposition so seeing him, what, sad, made Jimin feel like the worst kind of monster on the planet.

 

“Namjoon-hyung….” Jimin began.

 

“Where was I? Where was Jimin, huh?” the shaking boy yelled, shocking everyone in the room. The air went still and every person stopped what they were doing to watch the unexpected confrontation.

 

“Jimin was never even on that subway! No one even mentioned him! Did anyone even notice?” Hoseok was absolutely seething and Jimin gingerly placed a hand on his shoulder in hopes of placating him. But hoseok shrugged the gentle hand off immediately. Before Jimin could feel even remotely offended though, the elder boy grabbed his hand harshly in his own and dragged him into Hoseok’s room, the click of the door lock heard in the silence left behind them.

 

“Hyung...hyung?”

 

“Let’s just get dressed Jimin, we gotta go soon.” the words were curt and left Jimin confused. Was he just going to act like nothing happened? Like he didn’t just have a, a what? An outburst, for lack of a better word?

 

“But-”

 

“Jimin, just forget it, okay?” He turned around sharply but his features softened when he noticed the dismayed look on Jimin’s face. He bent down slightly so he was more level with Jimin’s eyes “Look Jiminnie, I just- I’m just- I couldn’t be in there any longer or else I’d really lose it, ya know?” Jimin nodded his head slowly even though, really, he didn’t know. This whole situation was completely foreign to him.

 

“Somebody should have made sure you were with us. How could they have been worried about me when it was you we left? You deserve to be treated better.”

 

Jimin didn’t reply. He didn’t see anything wrong with it really. He understood completely why they didn’t pay too close of attention to him that night and the only thing that upset him was that Hoseok took the brunt of the blow from their group.

 

Some kind of exhausted resignation passed over the elder boy’s face and he pulled Jimin over to sit on his bed.

 

“Anyway, we have to get dressed, the car is supposed to be here really soon, okay?”

 

Hoseok tossed some clothes at his bed and motioned for Jimin to put them on, while he himself removed his pajama shirt and donned a black v-neck that showed his collarbones and elongated his neck. The sleeves clung to his toned arms but were soon covered by a nice looking jacket and Jimin found himself transfixed by the whole scene.

 

“Jimin-ah? You okay?”

 

Oh no, was he staring? He was staring, wasn’t he. Jimin shook his head with vigor to clear the thoughts but then looked at the confused boy across the room and starting nodding his head with that same intensity. Great, now he just looked ridiculous.

 

“I-I’m fine!” he squeaked.

 

He picked up the shirt that was tossed to him earlier and pulled it down over his head, the sleeves of it fell well past where they should and made it so that just the tips of his fingers remained visible and the bottom of the shirt itself stopped mid thigh. He blushed, his height was a sore point for him and the innumerable amount of insoles he shoved into each pair of his shoes was something he desperately tried to avoid talking about at all costs.

 

The pants followed similarly in that he had to eventually just roll up the pant legs multiple times in order for them to not be a complete tripping hazard.

 

Laughter bubbled in the room, Hoseok doubling over with a hand over his stomach and, while Jimin felt extremely self conscious, relief flooded his body at the familiar action.

 

“Sorry Jimin! I really didn’t have anything smaller that would fit you!” Hoseok approached him and straightened the shirt, trying to lift the neckline from where it was threatening to slip down the short boy’s shoulder. “It’s no use, you’re hopeless!” the boy teased.

 

“You know, I could have just walked down the hall and put my own clothes on,” the thoroughly flustered boy noted.

 

“But that’s no fun!” he screeched. Now he was officially back to his old self.

 

Jimin had a feeling that that wasn’t the full truth but he let it go, figuring it probably didn’t matter that much anyway. Besides… He kind of, sort of, may possibly... enjoy wearing Hoseok’s clothes. It was a comfort thing, he reasoned. Being by Hoseok’s side had become his safe place without him even noticing it.

 

A soft knock sounded from the door and the pair’s heads snapped up sharply, the mood dropping. Neither of them responded and they didn’t need to because the door slowly opened and Taehyung’s head appeared slowly from the slightly askew door.

Jimin awkwardly shifted his weight and lowered his head.

 

“Hey, uh, Jimin?” The boy tentatively asked in a gentle remorseful tone. He received no answer.

-

Hoseok placed a hand on the silent boy’s shoulder, his thumb caressing the revealed skin there. “What is it, Taehyung,” his tone was exasperated, but his main focus was on Jimin at the moment.

 

Taehyung approached the bed and kneeled in front of the huddled form of his best friend. Warily he extended a hand and placed it over his friend’s much smaller one and when he wasn’t immediately pushed off he continued.

 

“I-I’m really sorry… I know saying it now doesn’t mean much but...Uh, I just- I feel bad, ya know?”

 

“I know Tae… It’s okay, I don’t mind, really,” Jimin reassured his friend.

 

Relief flooded the abashed young boy’s face. However the oldest in the room looked at the other two in disbelief, his hand tightening its grip slightly on Jimins shoulder to which Jimin placed his own hand on top of to placate.

 

“Hyung really, it's fine. Tae, I know you didn't mean to, I don't think any different of you- any of you! It's over, done. It's been made into way too big of a deal anyways…”

 

At hearing this Taehyung leapt up and hugged his best friend tightly, making exaggerated sobbing noises.  Jimin patted his back and a smile spread over his lips. He sighed in relief, glad he at least had his friend back. Not that he was ever gone! Just… Jimin feared that the others might act a little weird around him after Hobi’s slight outburst.

 

A laugh escaped his friend and Jimin pulled back to find Taehyung pulling at the material of the large shirt that engulfed him.

 

“This isn’t your shirt Jimin-ah”

 

At that Hoseok rejoined the conversation and it was with a cheshire grin. “That’s ‘cause it’s my shirt,” he said almost smugly.

 

Taehyung wriggled his eyebrows and proceeded to poke and prod at Jimin, teasing the short boy. “Jiminnie~, hyung’s clothes are so big on you. Ah, my tiny sweet little Jiminnie~”.

 

Hoseok was cackling behind them and a blush rose to Jimin’s cheeks. But Jimin was glad despite the teasing, his friends really did have ways of distracting him.

 

“Guys we have to go now!” a voice shouted down the hallway, followed by thunderous footsteps- no doubt the other members getting things together last minute. But Jimin knew it was just the older members being overdramatic as today was just practice. And while there was a time set for practice, it definitely didn’t need to be this rushed.

 

As they all managed to shove themselves into their van on time, Jimin huddled himself near the window in the very back, watching Hoseok who was sat near the front of the vehicle, laughing along with Yoongi about something that couldn’t reach Jimin’s ears. But they seemed a little stiff with each other, almost like they were being overtly polite and formal with their speech. Jimin guessed things were still a bit awkward after this morning.

 

Leaning his cheek against the cool window, Jimin just contented himself with twirling his finger in the loose fabric of the shirt he was wearing. He smiled softly and mused that he may have also been so fond of the shirt for the fact that it made him feel small. He hardly ever felt small anymore, height aside, he felt pudgy and squishy in all the wrong ways. But in Hoseok’s shirt, he felt almost lean. Almost.

 

Jimin’s eyes lazily wandered the vehicle, deftly searching for any signs of a change in the member’s behavior. Jungkook was sitting next to Jimin and the youngest member was busy playing away on some app, his fingers a blur as they flew over the tiny screen of the phone. Jin was up front with their leader, bickering about something trivial but Jimin could see the soft smile pulling at the eldest member’s lips while he chided Namjoon. On the other side of Jungkook Taehyung was passed out with his faced squashed against the window, and Jimin laughed at his friend’s ridiculous perpetuance to fall asleep in nearly every single car ride. That left Yoongi and Hoseok who were both now quietly discussing something, probably something to do with musical compositions or rap lines that were in the process of being made. Jimin just hoped it was nothing about him.

 

Jimin felt relieved. Relieved and lonely. At least no one seemed to be walking on glass around him after this morning. Rather, they seemed to be ignoring him altogether, but Jimin could rationalize those actions easily.

Soon they arrived at their practice studio, they were supposed to go over vocals and new choreo today and Jimin was almost looking forward to the singing because he'd been making minor improvements the last few times that he’d been practicing alone. If he could just show the members how much better he’d gotten, perhaps things would stop feeling weird around the dorm. Maybe they’d see that even though he might not be very much fun recently and not as bubbly as s remembered, he was still trying his very hardest.

He was still nervous for dance practice of course, but that was another problem to worry about later.

 

The members all sauntered into the nondescript building and dispersed, many of them throwing themselves bodily onto the furniture in the lounge room. Thankfully there was no recording today, nothing that warranted too strict of a time frame, but eventually Namjoon and Yoongi ushered the members into a long room with fabric seats placed in a loose circle, microphones were lying almost irresponsibly on the floor, the wires netting the floor, creating a nightmare for whoever was in charge of the soundboard and hooking up the appropriate mics. Sheets of paper were thrown around haphazardly, no doubt the resulting carnage of Yoongi’s inevitable frustration that never got cleaned back up. This whole room never really got cleaned after they used it, and Jimin pitied whoever got pinned with the awful job.

 

Jimin quickly sat in his usual seat and waited as the others all sat themselves down and started flipping through pages and fiddling with cords and headphones.

 

Eventually the group began their practice and Jungkook’s voice filled the room along with Jin’s own and when Hoseok began his rap Jimin felt chills race up his spine. Jimin took a breathe and as he opened his mouth to add his high harmonies to the verse, a faint buzzing blocked out the sound of the other voices. Nausea overtaking him he lost his sense of direction, not knowing up from down, and he barely caught himself from falling by bracing his hands against his thighs, squeezing them tight for a good ten seconds until the keen ringing noise finally dissipated and he blinked his eyes, finding himself the subject of six quizzical, staring faces.

 

The first to speak was Jin, but Taehyung and Jungkook were quietly giggling to themselves. “Ah Jimin-ah, did you forget your note?” the eldest boy asked.

 

With much effort Jimin fully sat up and met Jin’s eyes. He felt so ashamed. “N-no…”

 

“Oh… Right, okay, well… Let’s start again!” Jin goaded the others to start, but once more when it came to the part where Jimin joined, he began to sing only to instantly feel sick again. A cold sweat broke out on his back and he could feel sweat bead slightly above his lip as well. This time a faint pain shot through his skull, like a bad migraine but only for a second. Jimin could hear Yoonji groan and the youngest two members were laughing again and this time Jimin realized it was probably at him- at his singing.

 

The music stopped again and Jimin felt frustration bubbling up inside of him. He didn’t understand why he kept messing up, not just in this but in dancing too. And he thought he had been improving! He just wanted to prove himself to s but all he could do was screw up at every opportunity he had. Why did he even bother…

 

Jimin felt tears start to build up from behind his eyes and but he stubbornly refused to let them fall. He would not cry now. Not over something so stupid.

 

“Jimin… Hey you wanna sing with me for a bit? The other members are pairing up for individual practices anyway…” Jin offered, his hand resting on the short boy’s shoulder.

 

Jimin numbly nodded his head but when he stood he stumbled just a bit, his hands flailing slightly to gain balance again. Jin kept walking though, either not noticing or not caring, Jimin didn’t know which was worse but it didn’t seem important anyway.

 

When the two boys sat together and Jin gave some pointers, Jimin tried his best to echo his hyung’s smooth voice but, while he got it right a few times, overall his voice would break off and he’d have to take deep breathes. Jin then switched to teaching good breathing techniques, covering the basics that Jimin had learned in vocal training years ago. He felt humiliated.

 

“He’s not going to get it!” a voice snarled, causing everyone’s heads to snap up. Jungkook was stood with a hip cocked and his arms crossed. “He’s not going to get it, can we just carrying on with practice now?” he grumbled.

 

Jimin felt worse than humiliated. He caused his group to grow impatient and angry with him, he made Jungkook upset, he’d disappointed all of them, he didn’t deserve to be in Bangtan Boys. Jimin wanted to disappear into the floor and never ever reappear.

 

But he couldn’t so he didn’t. And no one had anything to say in response to Jungkook. No critique on his impromptu tantrum, no reprimandment on his bratty behavior like he would usually get from Jin. Instead, they all sat back down together and began going through the song again.

 

Except this time, before Jimin even had a chance to sing his part, Jungkook jumped in and the maknae’s voice hit the high notes that Jimin couldn’t sing, and the youngest hit them perfectly and the song continued on. Jungkook really did have a beautiful, versatile voice. It did such a good job of replacing Jimin’s.