Group: this is a mess

otterjae: is jaebum hyung going to be ok?

flyingmork: he should be. he’s still unconscious now as far as i know but he should come around soon

doubleb: what happened to his ankle?

gyeomthestage: apparently he broke it. another player stood on it accidentally

doubleb: who did he hit into?

otterjae: and who stood on his ankle?

flyingmork: he hit into kim namjoon he’s knocked out too

gyeomthestage: jackson hyung’s friend?

otterjae: yikes

doubleb: what abt his ankle tho?

pepijy: min yoongi

flyingmork: oh hi jinyoung

otterjae: we didn’t think you’d come online

gyeomthestage: who tf is min yoongi?

pepijy: the person who stood on his ankle

otterjae: how do u know?

pepijy: i was with jackson just now he told me

flyingmork: how is he?

pepijy: jackson?

flyingmork: yeah

pepijy: kinda shaken id say since both his best friend and super good friend are unconscious rn as we speak and his bf has a broken ankle

pepijy: he feels bad

gyeomthestage: poor jackson hyung it’s not his fault

doubleb: is jackson hyung with jaebum hyung rn?

otterjae: wait where are they anyway??

pepijy: jb is on his way to the hospital. jackson wasn’t allowed to go

flyingmork: are we allowed to visit him later on?

pepijy: idk about that. how about we visit him tomorrow night at 7?

gyeomthestage: sounds good

doubleb: ye let’s do that

otterjae: im up for it

flyingmork: me too

pepijy: that’s the plan then

gyeomthestage: should we bring cards or anything?

otterjae: i think that’d be nice. we should get a card for jaebum hyung and all sign it

flyingmork: i agree let’s do that

gyeomthestage: i actually meant a deck of cards like uno but yeah that's probably a better idea

otterjae: i’ll buy the card then

thebiggame: what’s all this?

gyeomthestage: jackson hyung!

pepijy: we’re buying a card to sign and we’re going to the hospital at 7 pm tomorrow

thebiggame: for jaebum hyung?

thebiggame: im going to buy a card for namjoon too. just for me to sign though

doubleb: will they be in the hospital for long?

pepijy: depends how serious their conditions are

thebiggame: namjoon probably wont be in for v long but jaebum will be in for another couple of days

thebiggame: then he’ll be in a cast for 6-8 weeks

otterjae: will he still be able to do rehearsals?

thebiggame: yeah he will probably

flyingmork: we’re not performing at anything any time soon either so he’ll be ok for that

doubleb: god this is rough

gyeomthestage: i really hope jaebum hyung will be ok

gyeomthestage: and namjoon hyung

thebiggame: i do too yugyeom

---

“Are you sure you’re okay, hyung? You don’t want your pillows fluffed a bit more?”

“Jackson, I told you, I’m fine.” Jaebum insisted. “Just sit down.”

The younger did so, still eyeing his best friend warily.

“Does it hurt a lot?” Bambam asked.

“It does.” Jaebum sighed. “It makes me miserable. I won’t be able to walk properly for months. And when I finally get this plaster off then I’ll have to be extra careful in soccer so I don’t hurt myself again.”

“You are still continuing with soccer, aren’t you?” Youngjae enquired.

“I am, for the time being. I don’t know how sensible it is at the moment though.” Jaebum replied.

“Don’t worry hyung, this is only a small setback. You’ll be back at the ball before you know it!” Jackson declared.

The elder smiled. “Thanks, Seunie.”

The group laughed and joked together, watching things on the TV in Jaebum’s room, as well as generally chatting to each other. Yugyeom observed Jinyoung throughout the visit. He never missed the way he frowned when Jaebum moved around too much or the concerned way he looked at him whenever he made a noise of discomfort or pain.

He hadn’t really expressed verbally how worried he was about his crush, but his body language said it all. The others seemed to notice this a little. Especially when Jinyoung began to fuss around him, standing up to tuck his blankets in more.

“You don’t want to catch a cold as well while you’re in here!” he insisted as he adjusted the duvet.

“Oh my god you’re such a mom.”

“Jaebum-hyung looks so cosy.”

“Domestic JJP moments.”

He giggled as he saw a faint pink blush on his hyung’s cheeks. Jinyoung sat back down in his seat. “How’s the food here?” he asked, tactically changing the subject. Typical manipulative Jinyoung. Yugyeom didn’t comment on it, going with the flow.

After a while they had to leave as the nurses needed to see to Jaebum. The others agreed to wait in the foyer as he went to the toilet. On his way back however, he overheard something interesting coming from one of the other hospital rooms. He paused outside it, listening into the conversation between the seven boys.

“You’ll still be able to perform, won’t you, Namjoon?”

“Yeah, I will. Don’t worry.”

“We need our leader.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll still do the contest. It’s months away, anyway. I’ll be better by then. I’m feeling better right now, even.”

“Are you sure? You seem like you’re in pain…”

“Don’t worry, Jin-hyung. I’m fine.”

“I’m not worrying!”

“Do you think that JYP one is alright? He’s Jackson-hyung’s friend, isn’t he?”

“Yeah, his name is Jaebum. Jackson introduced me to him. He’s a nice guy.”

“Do JYP have a team in the competition this year?”

“Obviously they do.”

“You’re an idiot, Jungkook.”

“Bite me, Jin-hyung.”

“Do you know who’s on the team?”

“No, I don’t. Jackson’s never mentioned it. Though I think Jaebum is in it.”

That had to be the same competition that the choir club was entered in. The inter-high school singing contest. It couldn’t be a coincidence. He met back up with the group and told them all about it.

“I never knew Namjoon was in that. He never told me.” Jackson said as they walked out the door.

“So you don’t know what song he’s doing?”

“No. Something with rap and singing, probably.”

“So we’ve got rivals?” Bambam asked.

“We have.” Jinyoung confirmed. “We have rivals in BigHit. They’re our soccer rivals and from now on, they’re our singing and rapping rivals as well.”

“So we’ve got to step up our game.” Youngjae said.

“We do.” Jinyoung turned to the group. “Are you guys free on Saturday?”

“Why?” Mark asked.

“Remember that song we told you about for the contest, Never Ever?”

“Yeah?”

“We’re going to finish it. And then we’re going to practise it like crazy. We’re going to win this competition, even if it kills us.”

“You’d probably like if it killed us, though.”

“Shut up, Yugyeom. Jaebum will be back home by then. We’ll all go over to his house and work on the song. From then on it’s just a case of rehearsing until it’s perfect.”

“Do you really think we can do this? Write a song?” Youngjae asked warily.

“I don’t think we can, Youngjae.” Jinyoung said, beginning to grin. “I know we can.”

That was how it went for a while. The group would go over to Jaebum’s or stay behind after school to work on their song Never Ever. It was hard work working with the audio and lyrics, as well as trying to fit the style of every member. The rappers didn’t get as many parts again but they insisted they didn’t mind.

“It’ll be worth it. This is going to be a kick- song, I can feel it.” Jackson declared.

It seemed like they slaved away at it for an age, but after weeks of toil, it was done. Never Ever was complete. All that was left was to perform it for their music teacher for approval. They arranged this one school lunch break. They got everything set up, Jaebum operating everything with his ankle propped up on a chair.

“Ready?” he asked. When he received six nods in response, he played the file. The song started with Yugyeom who was a bit nervous, making a mistake. Jinyoung seemed a bit apprehensive as well. But as the song progressed their confidence all grew until they were singing the song like professionals. By the end they were eagerly awaiting their teacher’s response, dying to know what he thought. The elder paused.

“Wait here for a moment, you seven.” he said before leaving the room. This caused a shot of anxiety amongst them.

“Didn’t he like it?” Youngjae questioned, laughing nervously. The others couldn’t give a real answer.

They were surprised when Mr Han returned with their headteacher, JYP himself. Their music teacher explained the situation to the principal who nodded in understanding. He leaned against a chair, hands resting on the back of it.

“Go on then, you seven. Sing your song.”

This added to their nerves but thankfully their mini performance went off without a hitch. At the end they were even more surprised to hear their headmaster applauding them.

“That was amazing, boys! Did you really write this yourself?”

“We did.” Jackson affirmed. The elder gave them a grin.

“It was wonderful. You will definitely wow the judges with this, I have no doubt. You must say this is self-composed too so you get extra points. Got it?”

“Got it, sir.” they grinned back.

They were in good spirits after that. “This is great. Never Ever was the best choice, definitely.” Yugyeom said happily.

Jaebum agreed, naturally. “It was. Now we just need to work on it, and This Love, and we should be ready.” 

“How’s your ankle, hyung?” Bambam asked.

“It’s alright. Still sore sometimes though. Don’t worry, we’ve got ages until the performance. I’ll be back to normal by then.”

“I certainly hope so.” Jinyoung responded.

“Don’t worry Jinyoungie. I’m fine.” Jaebum said with a slight smirk.

“I’m not worrying!”

Yugyeom once again saw the faint pink blush on his cheeks. He giggled. His parents were cute.