Arcadia 11

Forty-Three

After Mark left, the dorm fell into an uncomfortable stillness. Jackson and Jaebum were quietly discussing the eldest's schedule and the possibility of him overworking, yet again. Yugyeom and BamBam were looking at their 97-liner's group chat and discussing the latest, while BamBam occasionally flashed pictures of his time with his family in Thailand. None of them had noticed when Youngjae walked out of the room, too absorbed in their own thoughts and worries.

After two hours and Jackson threatening to call Seunghoon multiple times, Youngjae stormed from Jinyoung's room and stood in front of the others. His face was eerily blank, his movements controlled, when he snapped his fingers all eyes in the room moved to him, immediately widening in fear. An expressionless Youngjae was a dangerous Youngje.

"I need you to listen. Don't speak, listen." He said, his tone flat and as emotionless as his face. Jackson and Jaebum exchanged nervous looks, but were quickly looking back at their dongsaeng when he snapped his fingers once more. "I am appalled with all of you." He let that hang over them, taking the moment to straighten his shoulders and look at each of them. "You blew that conversation out of proportion and attacked someone who needed to get his feelings out." Jaebum was silenced when Youngjae held up his hand, his expression shifting to one of annoyance before falling back to the empty look he'd been wearing. "Don't. " Was all he said before continuing.

Pointing towards the hallway that led to their bedrooms, he said. "That man has been working harder than all of us to keep GOT7 relevant. He went to meetings and interviews, spoke to managers and even put off acting roles if it meant he was too far from us. Our dorm would be a disaster if it weren't for him staying up to clean, we wouldn't have food or groceries if he hadn't taken the time. We wouldn't have even been given vacation time if it weren't for him. He has been stretched to the point of breaking, and then kept going. Did he once complain? Did he once ask us why we were slacking in our responsibilities?" He looked at each of them, but got no response. This seemed to anger him further. "BamBam. Who worked it out so you were given time off and allowed to go home while Mark was in hospital? Who kept the managers from bothering you about appearances and photo shoots in Thailand? Who cleared your schedule and took up all of your commitments as his own allowing you to take the time you needed at home?"

"Hyung did." The younger replied, shrinking into himself as he took the full force of Youngjae's empty expression.

"Yugyeom, when you wanted to take Little Markie to the park who went to the meeting with the choreographer? Were you given any extra practice times for missing steps or was the attention diverted to someone else? When you went MIA, who took responsibility and was given extra work? When you wanted a day with your friends who made sure you got it, and never bothered you about joining any of the meetings where the stage set-ups and choreography were discussed?"

Yugyeom looked down at his fingers, his shoulders slumping. "Jinyoungie-hyung." He responded.

"Jackson," Youngjae said with more aggression than any of them had ever heard, making every head snap to the man who looked on the verge of hyperventilating. "who was it that worked with the collaborating team for your project? Hmm? Who took the blame for you not showing up to the extra dance practices, who told the managers to lay off you when you spent every day with Mark since you got back and again once he was released?"

Jackson's eyes filled with tears, hearing all the work Jinyoung had put in without asking for credit was making him feel like a horrible friend. "Jirongie... Has he re-"

He was cut off by the extremely unimpressed look that over took Youngjae's face. His lips drawing into a tight line. Properly chastising the older man.

"Jaebum." He turned to speak to their leader, his eyes filling with fury. "You're meant to be in charge of producing for several groups and working with management, stylists, directors, and other companies, are you not?" He continued not even letting the man speak. "You are supposed to be the example to those of us who are younger. You're supposed to be the person we go to when we feel overwhelmed or when we just need a sympathetic ear. Do you or do you not pride yourself on the ability to get Jinyoung to laugh and let his worries go, especially since you two had started as a duo.-"

"I-" Jaebum tried only for Youngjae's entire demeanor to change. His fists clenching and eyes burning with fury, his muscles coiling as if preparing to launch himself at the man.

"Did I tell you to speak? Did I give you time to throw an excuse at me? Was there at any point some cue that indicated I was finished? No, then Do. Not. Speak." He seethed.

Taking a deep breath to center himself he closed his eyes. Once the all consuming rage passed Youngjae began speaking once more. "You have pushed your feelings of guilt and inadequacy onto a man who was given no warnings, no explanations, and no consideration. A man, who I might remind you, has worked his ass off the past few months to keep management off all our backs while filming a drama. A man who literally walked into the this new dynamic with no forewarning. He wasn't even given a full story, we just told him that Mark regressed to deal with stress and left it at that. Yes, I am to blame as well, I should have checked in with Hyung and made sure that he was aware of Mark's situation. I could have sat down with him when we were free to see if he had questions or ask his opinion. We all should have tried harder to communicate with him, or even given him time to adjust. It sickens me that you wouldn't allow someone you call your family to speak freely about his thoughts. That you wouldn't let him explain what he meant or even just ask to clarify his point. We are meant to be a group and for that we need to communicate and express our differences in order to avoid career ending conflict." He looked to the two youngest with sympathy as he saw the tears on their cheeks and the regret in their eyes, before his eyes hardened as he looked at his elder brothers. "You are meant to be his best friends. You two have taken the trust he built with you and thrown it into a fire. Good luck." He said, turning on his heel and walking back to Jinyoung. The silence in the dorm overwhelming them.

The four quietly going over the interaction with one Park Jinyoung.

"We have to fix this." Yugyeom said, wiping the tears from his cheeks only for more to fall. "Hyung has been so stressed and has been working so hard for all of us, we shouldn't have spoken to him like that."

They all sat silently once more, thinking of ways they could gain the forgiveness Jinyoung was not required to give them. There was a dark cloud now hanging over the room. Sniffling and silenced sobs the only sounds in the large room.

"We should let Mark-hyung know." BamBam said. His voice hoarse as he wiped tears from his eyes.

That brought Jackson out of his thoughts as he looked at the time. It had been five hours since Mark left, surely he had finished his tasks. Looking at his phone he found a message from their manager that Mark was at the studio.