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[POV of an ARMY]

"ARMY . . . This is very difficult for me to say, and it will probably be difficult for you to hear as well."

I sat in my bed, gazing at the laptop screen, finally getting my hands on the English subbed version of this Bangtan Bomb. I knew that something big was revealed, but I refused to connect myself with the internet just so I could find out through the original source and not have to find out anywhere else. I dragged my fingers gently down my thighs as I felt the anticipation bubble in the pit of my stomach. What is happening right now?

Rap Monster was staring back at me, with tired eyes, messy hair, and a foreboding tone in his exhausted voice. He was sitting in what seems to be one of those bright lit rooms where BTS usually get their make-up and hair done. However, it was empty. There was silence coming from Rap Monster's background and I wasn't sure how to feel about that. I was so used to seeing the rest of the members hovering about and hearing bustling going around as everyone on that side of the screen kept busy. It felt odd.

I knew that they had finished their comeback and had some time off. That maybe the reason why it's so silent. But, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong.

Really . . . What was happening right now? 

"As the leader of BTS, I felt it was my role to relay this message to you and I hope you all stay part of ARMY after you watch this video. BTS and BigHit completely understands if this ends badly."

Wait . . . What? I held my breath. I watched as he took a deep breath.

"This certain thing I wish to speak about is related to one of the members and I will not say who, for their own sake. I will just tell the story. I know that seems dumb, but they agreed to let me say what happened on the condition that I do not say who is involved. You can try and guess who it is as much as you'd like, but I don't think that is what important right now. Anyway, this is what happened."

***

[POV of BTS]

(The events that occurred before the video was uploaded)

The boys were nervously glancing at each other in silence, knowing what was about to be discussed as they heard Bang PD call them into his office. They were standing outside. 

Rap Monster started to speak, eyeing the members. "You don't think this is about--"

"It's definitely about that." Suga sombrely said, looking at his feet.

"That's not good." Jin says. "What are we gonna do?" He frustratedly runs his hand through his hair. 

"Hyungs, maybe it's not going to be that bad." Jimin tries to cheer them up, his smile wavering under the weight of his obvious lie.

They stayed quiet after that, reluctantly entering the less than welcoming office, because deep down they knew things were going to be anything but hopeful.

***

Bang PD seemed to be as high strung as the boys. They could tell from his furrowed eyebrows and the dead set frown on his face. His fingers were tightly laced together tightly on top of the desk, where a computer screen was facing Bangtan's paling faces, their jaws tensing. 

"What is this picture you see on this computer screen?"

The boys gulped. They did not know if they should tell the truth. They were only capable of staring at the glowing screen.

Bang PD only sighed and unraveled his fingers to fold his arms, leaning more towards the desk, towards the members. 

He finally spoke after a heavy silence. 

"This has been all over social media."

Bang PD pauses and takes a deep breath. "I said I was okay with this relationship being secret, but this has gone too far."

Bangtan couldn't do anything but stay dead quiet, not even daring to breath as they looked at that picture. It was a picture of one of the band members (the picture was not clear enough to show which member) kissing one of the men that are part of the production crew while the rest of BTS nonchalantly hovers around the couple. It seemed like a cute picture of friends having a good time with that one couple who's always making out in their presence. However, that cute picture was enough to destroy their whole career. 

"I told you." Bang PD's voice stresses. "I told you to be careful. Now, look what has happened. The public is outraged. Korea will never fully accept a homoual idol. You know that. Now, that poor boy who's dream is to be a producer can't leave the house, because his face is shown in that picture. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Rap Monster sits up and tries to take his role as a leader and say something. "Sir, we're terribly sorry—"

Bang PD slams his fist on the desk, making the boys jump. "Sorry is not enough. Not enough at all. This will cost the company so much, but most of all, it will cost you a whole lot. Your safety, your reputation and your privacy is more at stake than ever."

Rap Monsters leans back again and swallows, glancing at the other members who could only look down at their feet. 

"Now," Bang PD said after calming down a bit. "I've seen comments claiming that it's photoshop. We can go off of that and rectify this situation."

Some of the boys were expecting that, frowning, while the others were just glaring at the ground because they felt it was unfair and insulting to that particular member and to themselves. That member was probably hurt beyond measure, worrying about their boyfriend and the future of BTS, feeling the suffocation this conundrum was bringing. They all knew that picture leaking was a bad omen.

"But, boys . . ." Bang PD softly said, coaxing them to lift their bowed heads to look him in the eyes. "That's not what I want to do."

BTS all sat up in surprise.

"What do you mean?" Jin asked. 

"I'm leaving the solution of this problem up to you. Do what you think is best for you."

***

[POV of an ARMY]

My jaw went slack. 

"So, yeah . . ." Rap Monster sighed. "That's what happened and we decided we wanted to tell you the truth, no matter the consequences, and, also, because the member dating that man in the picture thought this revelation would help him come out in the near future after seeing the aftermath of this announcement. If you have any questions you can comment below. Goodnight, ARMY."

And that was it.

Personally, I was shocked to hear that they would admit to this because many people in Korea were quite homophobic. It would mean they would get so much hate. But, I felt proud. So proud to name myself an ARMY. 

I immediately jumped on Twitter in the heat of my excitement, and I slowly felt my grin crumble. I had expected this, but seeing it before my eyes made it so real. I found that their number of followers dropped from 1.9 M to 700k in one hour. 

I frantically clicked on random comments in Hangul and Google translated them.

"Who's the of the group then?"

"Such a coward."

"I'm unfollowing."

"Ew."

But, then there were the comments that gave me hope.

"It's okay! I still love you!"

"BTS hwaiting!"

"Congratulations on sort of coming out, whoever it is. >.<"

"Stay strong, Bangtan"

I gradually began to smile again as my eyes went from the screen to something else sitting on my bed. My camera.

Maybe there is something I can do about this.

***

[POV of BTS]

It was a week after the video was uploaded. Things were quite eventful as reporters tried to get interviews while camping outside the company building. The boys were ordered to not leave their dorms until the situation was deemed safe. It frustrated them to no end. 

None of their parents were answering their phones. It brought so much burden on the seven's shoulders. All they could rely on were Bang PD, their friends . . . and ARMY, or what's left of them. 

BTS was surprised their followers section didn't say 0 yet. But, they weren't surprised by the comments though. Every single hate comment was like a knife being driven into their hearts. They tried to protect the member these comments were targeted at by stopping him from seeing them, but their efforts were for nothing. He had seen. And he never left his room after that. The boys' smiles were fading.

Until . . . these comments.

"BTS, you have to see this video! *LINK TO URL*"

"THIS IS AMAZING *LINK TO URL*"

"*LINK TO URL*"

There were a thousand more comments referring to the same YouTube video. Jungkook was the first to watch it.