True to his word Jinyoung did come back to school the next day. Jaebum tried at every opportunity to speak to him but Jinyoung never listened.

“We need to focus on the contest. Not us.” he had told Jaebum coldly.

“Did you read the letter?” the elder asked desperately.

“Jaebum, drop it.” he hissed in such a tone that Jaebum closed his mouth and turned back to the computer.

As they were singing through This Love Mr Han stopped them with a pause of the music.

“Jinyoung, Jaebum, you both sound off today. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong Mr Han.” the elder replied.

“Yeah, we’re fine.” added Jinyoung.

“I understand why you might be off your game, Jinyoung, but Jaebum, you have no excuse.”

Jaebum nodded. “Yes sir.”

“Let’s go again.” he said, pressing the play button.

They both thought their performance would improve. But it didn’t. The others grew affected too in the next few days. Yugyeom was worried about the tension between the two leaders and was growing increasingly nervous about the concert leading to him missing cues and singing too fast. The others also sounded off. Depressed. Mr Han noticed this and called them all out on it.

“Guys, the concert is tomorrow. You can’t be having these problems now. What’s the matter?” he demanded. No one spoke up. The teacher sighed. “Whatever it is you better resolve it now. Your performance is suffering because of it. You want to do good, don’t you? So fix it.”

That was what Jaebum wanted to do. But Jinyoung wasn’t letting him.

---

Group: this is a mess

doubleb: the time has come

gyeomthestage: stfu ur making it worse

flyingmork: it’s here y’all

otterjae: highkey nervous

thebiggame: don’t be youngjae u’ll be great

thebiggame: we’ll all be great

gyeomthestage: u heard mr han. we sound like

defsoul: he never said that

gyeomthestage: he basically did. he thinks we’re going to lose bc of all the jjp drama

pepijy: so it’s all my fault?

gyeomthestage: if u actually manned up and read jaebum hyung’s letter then maybe you’d see how ridiculous ur being

gyeomthestage: then u and hyung could make up and all this would be over

pepijy: oh please ur such a wreck on stage that we’re going to lose anyway

pepijy: you’re the one bringing us down not me

defsoul: JINYOUNG

thebiggame: jinyoung wtf?

flyingmork: dude why are u saying that about yugyeom? he hasn’t done anything

otterjae: he’s a great singer

doubleb: so what if he’s a little nervous? we all are

defsoul: that wasn’t cool jinyoung. not at all

defsoul: apologise to yugyeom when you see him

otterjae: why not now?

defsoul: he has to do it in person or it isn’t sincere

defsoul: and we should all start heading out for the competition now

flyingmork: jaebum’s right. see u guys there

thebiggame: see u hyung

thebiggame: see u guys

otterjae: im going too

doubleb: im out

gyeomthestage: same

gyeomthestage: i wouldn’t want to ruin this groupchat anymore with my presence just like i ruined our performance right jinyoung hyung?

---

Conversation: defsoul, pepijy

defsoul: that wasn’t on jinyoung, not at all

defsoul: i expected better from you even if you are nervous and if i hurt you

defsoul: yugyeom is your friend not your person to take anger out on

defsoul: you had better apologise to him when we get to the hall

defsoul: but he did make one very good point

defsoul: read the letter. please. it will make everything better i swear. you’ll understand then

defsoul: read it then come to the hall. we’ve got a performance to do

---

Jinyoung scoffed at Jaebum’s messages. Read the letter. As if he was going to do that. Jaebum didn’t deserve it.

Did Yugyeom?

He immediately felt a stab of guilt as he thought of the younger. He shouldn’t have lashed out like that. It wasn’t Yugyeom’s fault their quality had dropped - it was his. He was the one affecting the whole team by refusing to talk to Jaebum, creating a bad atmosphere and dragging everyone down in the process. It was his fault everyone was upset.

So it was up to him to fix it. And that started with reading the letter.

He found it still balled up in the dark corners of his bedroom. He unfolded it then began to read through. It was never what he expected.

Dear Jinyoung,

I’m so sorry for everything. But you have to understand that it’s all a misunderstanding. I don’t like Seokjin and he doesn’t like me. We both like two different people. I wasn’t confessing to him when you saw me, I saw roleplaying. We were talking about how we both struggle to confess to our crushes so he said for me to pretend like I was confessing to him. That’s what you saw. It wasn’t real. I like YOU. And Seokjin hyung loves Namjoon. You’re the “Jin” I was talking about. Jinyoung. You’re the one I like.

So please give me another chance. If you’re at school or practise at all this week come and speak to me. I want to talk. And I miss you. I hope you’ll come to the contest too. Yugyeom said you would, that you wouldn’t let the entire team down. And I think he’s right. You wouldn’t avoid the competition just because I’m there. You’re more professional than that. So if I don’t see you in the next few days, I’ll see you then.

I love you Jinyoung.

Jaebum

I love you

These words caused Jinyoung’s heartbeat to speed up to a thousand beats per minute. Not “I like you” or “you mean a lot to me” but “I love you”. Jaebum loved him.

Jinyoung stood up. He was going to make this all better again. It started with apologising to the hurt Yugyeom. Then he’d tackle Jaebum.

When he arrived at the venue he quickly found the group. They all glanced at him except for Yugyeom. He was looking away. Jinyoung opened his mouth to say something to him but Jaebum spoke before he could.

“We need to go and register.” he announced. So they did. They registered as their group: Got7. Only they didn’t really feel much like a group. They were all awkward, filled with tension. It was awful.

They were given a run-down of the competition. How it all worked, how the voting worked, where to be at what time, ect. They were all to watch each other’s performances too. So they were given some time to practise before it started and that was it. They were trapped. That meant Jinyoung had to act fast if he wanted to save his team.

They went to a dressing room which was their rehearsal room for the night. On the door was written their group name and school. He hoped they would live up to their name and they would be lucky that night.

He grabbed Yugyeom, pulling him aside.

“What do you want? To insult me some more?” the younger glared. But it wasn’t filled with anger or malice. He was hurt, trying to be tough to cover it up. And that hurt Jinyoung in return.

“Yugyeom I’m so sorry about earlier. I don’t think you’re dragging the team down or you’re making us lose. I’m the one who’s dragging us down. I’m affecting everyone with this stupid drama between me and JB. This is all my fault, not your’s. You’re a wonderful singer and a great addition to the team. It wouldn’t be the same without you. That’s why we need you tonight. You might just be ‘vocalist’ on the paper but we all know you’re so much more than that. You’re our Yugyeommie, and we love you.”

Jinyoung’s eyes widened when he saw tears well up in Yugyeom’s eyes.

“Are you crying?”

“No.” the younger said immediately. But he couldn’t fool Jinyoung. He wiped his eyes quickly. “Thanks hyung. That means a lot to me. I was really worried you hated me…”

“I could never hate you, idiot.” He put his arms around him. “You’re my friend and my baby. I love you.”

Yugyeom hugged back. “Right, I’m your baby. And Jaebum-hyung is your husband.” he giggled. The elder rolled his eyes but did comment or correct him. “Are you going to fix things with Jaebum-hyung?”

“I am. I’m going to do that right now.” he stated, pulling out of the cuddle. “Wish me luck.”

“Good luck.” he smiled.

Jinyoung flashed a smile back in response. He needed to go to the bathroom before the concert started. Then he noticed Jaebum wasn’t in the room. He was doing vocal warm-ups with Youngjae earlier, where was he now?

“Youngjae, where’s JB?”

“He went to the toilet.” the younger replied.

He stepped out, making his way through the vast building. It was so big and complicated that Jinyoung forgot where the toilets were. He ended up outside another dressing room which was being used for rehearsals. He was about to knock on the door and ask for directions when he saw the sign on the door.

BTS

BigHit Academy

This was the school that Seokjin went to. Jinyoung ducked behind the slightly open door, peering inside. Sure enough there he was, sitting on the sofa. Kim Seokjin himself. He clenched his fist at the sight of him. There was just one other person in the room. Kim Namjoon, the soccer team captain. The one Jin allegedly was in love with. They weren’t dating either.

Jinyoung wished they’d hurry up and get together so Seokjin would stay the hell away from his man. He wanted to see what the pair would talk about while they were alone together if they even spoke at all. Hopefully none of their team members would come back while he was outside or that would be awkward to explain. He pressed his ear against the door and listened in.

“Are you nervous, Jin-hyung?” That was Namjoon’s voice.

“A bit. I haven’t really sung in front of an audience before. And my voice isn’t that good anyway.” That was Seokjin.

“Your voice is great.”

He scoffed. “No it isn’t. That’s why Jungkook gets over double the amount of lines I do in our songs. Because I can’t sing. Even Mr Kyun thinks I’m bad.”

“Jungkook’s had experience. You haven’t. So of course his voice will be more developed than your’s.” Namjoon said immediately. Then he spoke more aggressively. “And don’t believe him. That guy’s an . He just thinks Jungkook and Jimin are the only talented singers because they’ve done this before. You and Taehyung haven’t which is what makes you so great. And that’s why you’re so amazing.”

He could feel Jin blushing. “T-Thank you Namjoon. That’s really sweet.”

“Anything for you hyung.” smiled the younger. 

There was a short pause. Then:

“Can I tell you something?”

“Anything. What’s up?” Namjoon’s tone was casual. It was clear he wasn’t prepared for what came next. Neither was Jinyoung.

“I… I-I love you.”

His eyes widened to the size of saucers. He heard nothing from Namjoon for a moment. He assumed he was in shock. He looked into the room a little. Seokjin was looking down into his lap. Namjoon was staring at him.

“You… love me?”

He looked up. “I do. For about a year I’ve loved you.”

“A year?” he questioned, sounding shocked once again.

“Y-Yeah. A year.” he said. He studied his face. “Why do you look so surprised?”

“Because… God Jin-hyung I thought I was alone in this.” Namjoon said, running a hand through his hair. Jin looked confused.

“Wha-”

“I love you too, Jin-hyung. And I’ve loved you for a year too.”

Jinyoung watched as the pair came talked some more, eventually coming together for a kiss. So now they were finally dating, huh? After a year of pining for each other. He was about to leave but something Namjoon said caught his attention.

“I honestly thought you were dating Jaebum.”

“Im Jaebum? From JYP?” questioned Seokjin.  

“Yeah, him. You went on all those dates with him.” he replied. The elder laughed.

“Firstly, we went out once as friends. The second time was just a coincidence. And secondly, he already loves someone.”

“Who?” he enquired.

“Park Jinyoung.”

Jinyoung clasped a hand over his mouth to stop his gasp from being heard.

“Oh yeah, him. I know who you’re taking about. Has Jaebum said this to you?” Namjoon asked.

“He has. I asked him to pretend to confess to me to help him ask Jinyoung out but… it didn’t go very well. Jinyoung saw it and thought he was in love with me. So he ran away.” Seokjin answered.

“So he loves him back?”

“I guess so. But he won’t listen to what Jaebum says. He won’t believe that Jaebum loves him and not me. So I don’t know what he’s going to do.”

Correction, Kim Seokjin. Jinyoung didn’t believe Jaebum was telling the truth until now. Now he was certain Jaebum wasn’t lying. He loved him. He began walking away from BigHit’s dressing room. He had to find Jaebum before practise time was over.

Because this was it. He was going to confess his love to Im Jaebum.