January 11th 2015

Sometimes, a break from the idol life was needed, especially in times of tragedy and suffering. So when Namjoon and CEO Lee told the 11 members of Acid Teochii that they were allowed to go home for a few days to try and get themselves together after Hyo’s death, almost all of them jumped on the opportunity.

Yue and Marco had gotten on the next available plane to China, although Marco obviously wasn’t happy about sharing the same airspace as the 16 year old girl. Jin had turned down the opportunity, due to the fact it hadn’t been long since he’d last been home.

Jin wasn’t the only person to turn down going home either… Myung had also decided to stay in the dorm.

He’d explained that he was staying in Korea for several reasons, one of them being his boyfriend, Yoongi. However, his main explanation was that his parents were currently touring around Europe, so there was no-one back home in England to welcome him back anyway. Jin had been planning on going back home to begin with, that was until he heard that Myung was potentially going to be in a huge dorm by himself and his self destructive thoughts, and the thought just didn’t sit right with Jin.

After all, he knew Myung’s tendencies, he’d seen how down the young leader had been on himself since they’d heard the news, and Jin didn’t want to risk anything happening to the boy while no-one was there to prevent it.

Sherlock had gone to Japan for a while, while Hanni and Cho had gone to their various homes for a few days, excited to spend some time with their families, not without a few tears shared between Cho and Sherlock however. Ae-Cha had taken Yuuki to meet her adoptive parents, a fact in which Yuuki was both ecstatic and terrified over.

Hope had explained that he was going to go on a trip for a few days, nowhere out of Korea, but to just get on a train and go wherever it took him. It wasn’t a secret among Hope and the members that he didn’t have a great relationship with his father following his mother’s death, and they didn’t really blame him for not wanting to go back into that type of environment just after his mother’s death.

Vann was still around the area. He wasn’t staying at the dorm, but he’d told Jin and Myung that he wasn’t leaving Busan, where their dorm was placed. Jin had felt some major relief from this fact, knowing that the only member who was older than him was right around the corner if they needed him. Vann always had been a source of strength in the dorm, and he needed to know that the wall of support was around to feel comfortable with staying with Myung when he was feeling so terrible.

So when Myung had told Jin that Yoongi was on his way around to visit, for the first time since Hyo’s death, Jin had given the young leader a smile and told him that he’d be on his way then to give the couple some room.

After all, if Myung was inviting his boyfriend around, it must have been a sign that he was at least feeling a little better, feeling a little more human.

Jin couldn’t deny he felt a little bit of jealousy towards tall, blonde and handsome though. He had been trying for almost a week to cheer Myung up, to make him stop beating himself up, make him stop believing that he’d failed all the members of Acid Teochii, and nothing appeared to have worked. He just wanted to make Myung feel better, and as it seemed Yoongi was able to do that without being in the same room as him… Jin felt a little bit of resentment towards him.

However, the jealousy was soon squashed by an iron fist of guilt. He was meant to be Myung’s friend and support his relationship, he should have wanted Myung to be happy no matter who was the cause of it. Being upset over the fact Yoongi was making Myung feel better was selfish of him.

After all, if Yoongi made Myung feel so much better, he couldn’t be too bad of a guy, right?

Jin sighed slightly to himself at the thought as he walked into the café down the road from their dorm, thankful as, once again, Busan wasn’t quite as big and celebrity-central as Seoul was. It made being disguised that slightest bit easier as he secured the sunglasses on his face, pulling his cap down so the shadow of the brim hid as many of his facial features as possible without looking ridiculous. He decided he was going to get a bubble tea, preferably a chocolate flavoured one, and sit in the corner with it until a large enough amount of time had passed until it was safe for him to go and check on Myung. Ordering his drink, Jin found a corner booth to sit it while he waited for it to be made, pulling out his phone to check his messages.

Seeing a missed text, he frowned a little, opening the message.

To: Jin
From: Mei
Message: Brother! Call me if you ever need to talk, okay? Don’t close yourself away, we’re here if you need us. Mom is worried about you. P.s, you better come visit us soon!

Jin smiled a little at the message. Mei rarely texted him, knowing he was often busy and since they were in different countries, the price could often be costly. They hadn’t actually spoken since the news of Hyo dropped. He knew she must have known, it would have been as widely covered in China as it had been in South Korea… but what he loved about his older sister was that she hadn’t messaged him. She hadn’t bombarded him with messages of support and worry, she’d left him to have his space and contact her first.

Of course, she’d just broken that by sending him the text, but even the short message wasn’t overpowering or pushy. It was supportive, but not in the way that he was being forced to talk about it… and Jin loved that. He regretted the fact that he and his sister had fought so much when they were young.

To: Mei
From: Jin
Message: Thank you, Mei. Don’t worry, I’ll be around in the next few days for the funeral, I’ll come visit you all for a little bit then. Thank you!

He slipped his phone into his pocket once the text sent, giving the waitress a smile as she placed his bubble tea on the table.

“Thank you,” he said, pulling the straw to his lips and practically inhaling the chocolatey goodness.

“Excuse me for asking,” The waitress trailed off, seeming to look everywhere apart from at Jin. The idol frowned a little in worry.

“Yes?” He prompted after swallowing his mouthful of tea.

“Um…are you Jin from Acid Teochii?”

Jin let out a small sigh, taking off his sun glasses and wiping at his eyes. He was hoping to not be recognised after all, but he couldn’t be rude. Looking up at her, he gave her his best charming smile. “That would be me,” he told her. “But if you wouldn’t mind, could we keep it on the down-low that I’m here? I don’t really want to be recognised too much right now, we’re trying to stay out of the public eye.”

She gave a small nod to show her understanding. “Thank you for being honest,” she grinned, slipping an extra napkin over towards his tea. “If you wouldn’t mind, could I get a signature? I know it isn’t much, but my daughter is a huge fan of you all… I’d understand if you don’t, I know you’re all going through an awful time right now.” She bowed low to Jin. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

Jin smiled weakly, nodding at the woman. “Of course, I’ll give it to you on the way out. Thank you for being understanding.” The waitress nodded before going back to the counter as Jin placed his sun glasses back on, trying to look discrete behind the shades.

His heart felt heavy again, they’d all been so worked up that he’d forgotten that the fans had been suffering with Hyo’s loss as well. They’d been so supportive of all the group in the past week, but none of them had really told the fans how much they meant to them recently.

Pulling out his phone again, Jin took a picture of his bubble tea before posting it on his instagram. He’d had one since debut, but rarely used it. It just wasn’t his thing to post selcas constantly like it was for some people.

‘Hello there everyone,’ Jin started on the caption. ‘None of us have really been around much for the past week, I apologise profusely for this.’ Jin frowned slightly, trying to find his words. Writing in Hangul had never been his strong point. He could talk and read the language nearly fluently, but writing it was a whole different matter, he was much happier while writing in Chinese, but he knew most of Acid Teochii’s fans at that point of time wouldn’t understand the Chinese language. ‘This is a hard time for us all, both for myself and the other members… I can’t forget Hyo’s family or our fans either. I’m so sorry you’ve had to go through so much with us since debut began.’

Jin sighed weakly, wiping at his eyes. He could feel people staring at him, but at that moment he didn’t really care too much.

‘Between our debut and now, we’ve had a member been attacked and hospitalised, a member leave the group and now a member died, I’m so sorry you all have to go through so much pain with us. But please, don’t give up on us. 2014 wasn’t a very good year for everyone, and this year hasn’t started out brilliantly either, but I promise, it will get better, and we will reward you all for sticking with us.

Acid Teochii fighting.’

He pushed the post button, heart jumping into his throat when he saw it had gone up. He knew all the news sites would be talking about this, going into it in detail and trying to pick his heartfelt message apart, maybe trying to find a scandal within it all, but really… Jin just wanted to make sure that their fans knew how much they meant to them all.

Checking his phone, he saw that Mei still hadn’t replied and he’d been sat in the coffee shop for almost 2 hours now.. he didn’t understand where the time had flown away to, but as he slurped the last of his tea through the thick straw, he decided it was about time he got back to his dorm to check on Myung. Going through his bag, Jin pulled out a small Polaroid. Namjoon had made all of them take several polaroids every now and again to keep with them, on the off chance that they’d run into fans when they were unprepared, just so the said fan got something personal and one-of-a-kind. It was meant to be a sign of good will, to put them in a good light and to make their fans happy.

Pulling out a sharpie, Jin quickly signed the back of the selca, before standing and walking over to the counter. “Hey,” he quietly said, grabbing the waitress’s attention. She jumped, looking over at him with a smile. Her eyes widened as he handed her the signed Polaroid. “Here you go,” he smiled. “Thank you so much for understanding, I hope your daughter likes it.” He bowed low to the waitress. “Thank you for supporting us, I wish you the best of luck in life.”

With that said, Jin left the coffee shop, making his way back to the dorm. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Jin had a worrying feeling that he couldn’t place a finger on. He hoped it wasn’t because he was about to walk in on his friend and their partner having on the couch or something, he wouldn’t really appreciate going through such a thing.

As much as he liked and respected their leader, he really didn’t need to see him partaking in something like that on the living room couch.

Approaching the door to their dorm, Jin froze with a frown, hearing raised voices behind the door.

“Yoonhyun, please, don’t,” That was Myung, and he sounded terrified.

“Come on, Myung-ah,” Yoongi, that sounded like. “My brother here won’t hurt you too bad as long as you speak up. Why have you been ignoring me recently?”

“I-I haven’t been ignoring you!” Myung stuttered out, making Jin’s heart ache from the fear in his voice. “I’ve been distracted, please Yoongi, you promised to stop this. You promised that when people picked up on the black eye that you wouldn’t get people to hurt me anymore! Yoongi-hyung, I love you but this isn’t right!”

Jin flinched as he heard Myung grunt in pain, Yoongi’s voice hissing at him. “You shut up. You think you’re amazing with the fact you’re an idol, you’re just as normal as the rest of us so get off your high horse.”

“I-I don’t… I’m sorry, Yoongi-hyung.” Jin heard Yoongi sigh slightly.

“I’m sorry, Myung, I don’t mean to get so angry with you. Yoonhyun, would you go and make some tea for us please?” Jin frowned as he heard a shuffle of feet leave towards the kitchen area, pressing his ear against the door to try and hear what was going on inside. “I’m sorry, Myung-ah,” He heard Yoongi soothe. “You know I love you, I don’t mean to get so angry, you just…you drive me so crazy sometimes. So many people out there would love to date you, I just get jealous.”

Myung sniffed slightly in response and Jin’s heart almost broke at the pain in his friend’s voice. “I know, I’m sorry… but you have to stop, please stop hitting me when you get mad, people are beginning to notice.”

Yoongi’s voice rose again, anger beginning to creep into the tone. “Are you telling me what to do now? What did I tell you about that high horse?”

“N-No! Hyung, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to, I-” At the sound of Myung getting hit, Jin couldn’t take it anymore, shoving the door open as hard as he could and running over to where he saw Myung cowering on the floor, Yoongi towering over the terrified leader.

“Get the hell away from him!” Jin snapped, hurrying over to stand in front of the younger boy. “Get the hell out of here! You’re not welcome here anymore, ever. If you don’t take your brother and leave right now, I’ll call the police.”

Yoongi scoffed slightly, rubbing his knuckles that most probably ached from hitting Myung. “You wouldn’t call the police. Don’t your group have enough scandals right now without you being the cause of another one? The rest of the group would never forgive you for it.”

Jin growled dangerously at Yoongi, still standing protectively over Myung. “Get out.” He ordered. “Right now.”

Yoongi threw his head back, laughing. “Fine, fine, whatever you say short stack. I don’t really want to be here either way, after all, I’ve already won the bet.”

The blue haired boy behind him paled. “Bet?” He asked, his voice small and pained.

“Of course, Yoonhyun-hyung bet me that I couldn’t date an idol and get them into my bed in the space of six months… you didn’t even take two. Just a little , aren’t you? Ugh, you made me so angry with your talk of love, it was sickening. Who would ever love a stupid foreigner like yourself?”

“Leave, Yoongi.” Jin warned again, his hands beginning to shake from anger. “Leave or you’ll regret it.”

“Regret it? What could you possibly do that woul-” Yoongi didn’t get chance to finish his sentence, Jin’s fist connecting with the taller man’s jaw cutting him off as he put all of his strength behind the punch. Yoongi fell to the floor, his blonde hair falling into his eyes. He quickly scrambled to his feet, eyes wide with fear. Jin guessed that no-one had ever hit him before. His knuckles ached and stung, but Jin refused to let that be known as he watched Yoongi call out for his older brother before running out of the dorm with his tail between his legs.

Jin, calming his racing heart, slowly turned, kneeling down to where Myung was on the floor, carefully leaning forward and checking the younger’s face. “Are you okay?” He asked, pulling out a tissue from his pocket and gently pressing it against Myung’s bleeding lip. Myung looked up at him, eyes shimmering with unshed tears, before nodding slightly. “How long has he been treating you like that?”

“Treating me like what?” Myung whispered around the tissue in his mouth.

“Don’t play dumb with me, Myung-ah, please. How long has he been abusing you and making you feel like the victim?”

Myung avoided his gaze, trying to find an interesting spot of carpet to stare at. “You’ll laugh.” Myung told him, voice trembling a little.

“I wouldn’t laugh, Myung-ah. I could never laugh at you over something like this. Please?”

The blue haired boy sighed slightly, before looking over at Jin. “Since we got together. He was so lovely and sweet when we first started talking, and then as soon as we made it official… he got jealous and possessive, it just started escalating… he’s only hit me once before today, I swear! He doesn’t mean it, he just gets angry…”

“Myung… this isn’t okay, don’t defend him. Why did you stay with him after he hit you the first time? That should have been a warning sign…”

Myung sniffed, wiping at swollen eyes. “He was so apologetic and sweet afterwards, so was so upset that he’d lost control like that… but he stopped hitting me.”

“That isn’t what I just heard.”

“I swear, he stopped hitting me… Yoonhyun started after that though, I tried to fight back but if I did, Yoongi would get angry. I just… he was always so sweet and apologetic afterwards. It was my fault, I was doing stuff to make him jealous and angry, it was my fault…”

“Myung, stop it. Him abusing you wasn’t your fault.”

“It wasn’t abuse, hyung..”

“It was. He was abusing you. Come on, let’s clean you up.” Jin gently took hold of Myung’s upper arm, pulling him to his feet and leading him to the bathroom. Wetting a towel, Jin tried to stop his own tears forming. Their leader just couldn’t catch a break… but what Yoongi had said was true, they couldn’t afford any more scandals, it would be terrible for them… which meant that Yoongi couldn’t be punished for what he’d done to the sweet British boy.

“Jin-hyung…are you okay?”

“Hm?” Jin asked, looking up from his daze.

“You spaced out.”

“Oh, yeah, sorry. I was just thinking…” Jin walked over, placing the towel on Myung’s lip and putting pressure on it.

They just couldn’t catch a break.

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Hmm...is this a start of a new ship, or am I just teasing you? You'll have to wait and see!

I promise that things will start getting better for AT soon! They're just going through a rough patch... on the upside, I have up to chapter 30 written already!