Music was blaring loud and hard at BigHit studios. Inside, the decibels made one lose their hold on time. With no windows, glaring white lights, and no one bothering you, it was all too easy. Which is why Jungkook was at the studios at 2:00 in the morning for nearly 12 hours and counting. His hair was slick with sweat and his breaths were short and choppy. He had been going over the choreography for BTS's newest song, Fire, a few hundred times. 

It was frustrating for him to not immediately get into the choreography, being part of the band's dance team, but he just couldn't seem to move his body fast enough with the tempo and was eventually off beat. The music was fast paced and the movements were very uniform and rigid; not that the choreography was bad, it was just unlike the slow, fluid movements that he was used to. Maybe this was why Rap Mon and Jin had gotten the dancing down as fast as they did, because they're more comfortable with this specific style of dance. Regardless, it was upsetting for the Golden Maknae to watch as his so called left footed hyungs slowly surpass him in technique. He wasn't called the Golden Maknae for nothing and he was determined to master this choreo, even if it took him all night. 

Being the Golden Maknae was both a blessing and a curse. 'On one hand' Jungkook though as he ran the movements for the 2nd chorus again with the music still blaring incredibly loud. 'I have Hobaes and even Sunbaenims praising me on my versatility and abilities.'  Jungkook aced a move that he was stumped on for the past few hours and did an inward cheer, moving on to the bridge. 'On the other hand,' Jungkook said to himself as he tripped up on another part of the choreography, 'I'm scared of losing that title. Golden Maknae. I worked hard to get it. What if I get sloppy? What if the fans notice? What if  my hyungs notice too? What if someone else better comes along and I'm forgotten?' All these thoughts swirled around the Maknae as he danced and danced and danced. 

Finally, the song came to a close and Jungkook relaxed his shoulders. He tried to calm down his breathing as he walked towards his bag for only the second time that night and took a slow, but ravenous, gulp of his half empty water bottle. He continued to take long, deep breaths and looked at himself in the mirror.

His hair was disheveled and dripping with sweat, his body was visibly shaking, and his eyes, oh God his eyes, were circled with dark bags that were prominent regardless of the light concealer that Jungkook had applied in the morning. 

'I should go back home soon.' He thought. 'Besides, my Hyungs are probably worried about me. I don't want them losing sleep because of me.' 

He started back towards his bag a few feet away, but the very last mistake at the bridge was taunting Jungkook and he eventually gave in. 

'Just one more time,' he said to himself, coughing a bit, 'this time, I'll get it this time for sure,'

Back at the dorms Jin was getting ready to go to bed. His other dongsangs had already gone to or was in the process of going to bed as well. Even Suga was snoring away on his bed. But something felt wrong. Something missing and Jin was certain that this was important, he just couldn't think of it at that moment. He walked the entirety of the dorm, trying to jog his memory. Was it a last minute schedule? An appointment with Bangtang PD-nim? He just couldn't remember. 'Besides,' Jin thought, 'if it was any of those things, Manager-Hyung would probably have called me asking where we were.' He resolved firmly that he should just get some sleep and deal with it tomorrow, so he started towards the other members' rooms.

As the "mom" of the group, Jin was naturally inclined to check on each of the members before he went to sleep. He usually just brushed by the door frame noting the large lumps on the bed as a sign of a sleeping member. When he got to Jungkook and V's shared room, however, it was obvious to note the lack of a certain Maknae in his bed. And then it hit him...

"!" Jin cussed and slapped his hand over his mouth, slightly embarrassed. He'd completely forgotten that Jungkook was going to stay at the studio for a few more "minutes" while the others headed home first. He quickly woke the other members to go pick up their Kookie. He started with the lump on the top bunk.

"V." Jin called to the second youngest, shaking him awake. "Wake up." The alien woke sleepily, shaking his head and rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Jin? Why? What's going on?"

"I'll explain later," the eldest promised. "Right now, can you please wake the others and bring them to the living room?" V looked at him incredulously. "What? Why do I have to?" He whined. "Because I'm waking up Suga." He replied "would you rather wake him up instead?"

A moment passed. "Nope! Nope! I can do it! Don't worry Jin-hyung! See you in the living room!" V quickly rushed out of his room, leaving Jin to deal with the sleep addict. 

Jin found Suga fast asleep in his studio. His head was nestled on his folded arms which were spread atop lyric sheets, compositions, and other papers. 

"Suga." Jin said as he poked his dongsang 's side. "Suga." 

When he didn't move, Jin went to his last resort. Hey, he was worried about his youngest "Son" and had to make sure he was alright as soon as possible. "Yah! Min Yoongi wake up now!"

Suga mumbled and blinked his eyes awake. "What is it?" He asked. "I'll explain to everyone soon. Just meet us in the living room. " Jin replied. "Alright,"Suga grumbled "whatever the princess wants" he muttered under his breath.

"So what are we here for?" The leader asked his hyung. The members had gathered in no less than 10 minutes and we're all looking tired and easy to fall back asleep where they stood. "Yeah," chimed J-Hope. "And where's my Jeon Jungkookie~?" He added. 

"You mean my Jungkook. " corrected Jimin.

"No," J-Hope replied cheekily. "My Kookie."

"Mine. "

"No, mine."

"You mean mine."

"No, I mean-"

"Quiet!" Jin shouted. Everyone settled down. He may be known as the Princess hyung who loves pink, but he could be scary when he wanted to. "This is why I wanted everyone here. " everyone's heads perked up at that. Something concerning their precious little Maknae concerned them as well. It was an unspoken fact. "I think that he's still at the studio-"

 "What?!" Exclaimed Suga, surprisingly. "It's what? 2:30 in the morning and he's still practicing that damn song? Even I haven't stayed there that late. Is he crazy?" Huffing, Suga brushed pasted them and went to the entryway.

"And just where do you think you're going?" Asked Jin. "I don't need another one of my dongsangs missing."

"Then don't worry about it." Suga replied hotly. "I'm going to the studio and dragging his stupid back here so he can sleep properly."

"I'm going too" added the rest of the maknae line. "Same with us" said J-Hope and Rap Mon. 

"Good." Said Jin as he grabbed Manager-nim's keys to the band's van. "Let's go."

It was nearing 3:00 when Jungkook noticed that something was definitely wrong. His breathing wasn't just hard, it was labored. It wasn't just mussle spasms from adrenaline, it was uncontrollable shaking. It wasn't just clearing his throat, it was full on hacking coughs. Music was still bouncing off the walls at full strength, and Jungkook wasn't sure how many times he'd done the song choreography. He was sure of one thing, though, he was getting worse. His movements  were sloppy and haphazard: flailing arms instead of crisp swings. It was annoying him to no end, but he couldn't find the strength in him to do another round. The last note echoed out and Jungkook's stamina gave out. His knees buckled, his throat constricted, and he collapsed on the floor, coughing.  

'Oh, God.' He thought to himself as hue realize just how dizzy he was and he tried to focus on three light fixtures where he knew for a fact that there was only one, 'I really need help.'

He brought himself up to his knees and crawled over to the mirror to steady himself. Then, using both the floor and the mirror, he pulled his body over to his bag that was sitting in the corner. He brought out his water bottle and took large, ravenous gulps hoping to alleviate the tightness and soreness in his throat. It didn't work and Jungkook just coughed some more, making his throat even more dry and sore. Everything felt hot. His arms, legs, and forehead were hot and suddenly, the nice cold floor seemed like a perfectly acceptable place to sleep for the night. 'Or the rest of the morning.' Jungkook thought pitifully as he laid his head on the lionium floor, pressing his burning forehead towards the only conceivable "ice pack" within reach. The maknae soon relaxed his body as his exhaustion finally gave in, and he slowly lost consciousness.