UNIVERSE / BTS.

70: can call me artist (can call me idol!) / namseok

"hi everyone!" namjoon waves with a dimpled smile, sat in what looks like a hotel room. he's wearing a shirt with u2's bono on it and a grey hoodie, his recently-dyed gray hair slightly messed up, but no one expects idols to look amazing all the time. hoseok's chest warms at the sight of him, glad to see he's happy and healthy.

"i'm in chicago right now, how are you all doing?" namjoon asks, looking through the chat. "ah, we're at 1000 viewers, do i continue small talking?"

hoseok laughs, propping himself up. it's a thirty minute video, so he wants to get comfortable.

namjoon answers questions about his tour, talks briefly about his album, and does his usual load of music recommendations. when asked about his business partner, min yoongi, he laughs. "agust-hyung is currently working on what he's calling 'min yoongi's eulogy', the sequel to agust d. can't say anything more than that, i'm afraid," he laughs, scanning a chat. "'namjoon-hyungnim, when are you releasing new music?'. well..."

hoseok's heartbeat quickens, because if namjoon's having a comeback anytime soon, it's gonna be big.

"all i can say is yes, i have an album prepared. this album..." namjoon sighs a little, looking at the floor. "it's going to be personal, you know? i've always wanted my music to express something, to express me, to tell a story that you can all relate to. and this one... agust says it's very daring, my title track. that it could cost me. but i want people to connect to it — not everyone will, because it's about a minority, but i hope some can."

hoseok pauses the video, his heartbeat racing. what namjoon's saying — is it referring to sexuality?

hoseok's nearly always known that he's gay. he figured it out at eleven, when he had a crush on a fourteen year old choir boy at his church — of course, church was the problem. now he's twenty, and still not out to his parents; in korea, being gay is still a big stigma, and although hoseok's college and friends are both very liberal — hyuna's in a polyamorous relationship, vernon's got a flaming crush on professor boo —, his parents are not. it would be absolute death to tell them, and hoseok has never bought it up, just saying he's too interested in studies to be dating.

and then there's namjoon. fans theorise about the rapper's sexuality, the korean ones not so much, but the international ones are always open minded. namjoon's hardly ever used gendered pronouns in the songs that he's written about love, and he's always been very open about supporting the LGBTQ+ community, backing agust d up when he came out as bi — which lost him a lot of his south korean fanbase —, adding holland's songs to his playlists when the singer debuted, and it's no secret that he's a fan of troye sivan and other LGBTQ+ artists, like frank ocean and brockhampton (who hoseok, personally, loves).

what he just says on vlive sounds very much like his new album will be 'the coming out album'. hoseok's chest swells, feeling tears prick a his eyes when he presses play.

"...this track, the title track, is about speaking your truth, and being you. i recently read a book called the four agreements, and it very much emphasises the meaning of your word, and how your word is truth, and the truth sets you free. and that's what this track... what this track will do. i hope," namjoon smiles, laughing. "i can't wait for you guys to hear it."

namjoon goes on to talk about his books that he's been reading whilst on holiday in the states, and he's just talking about game of thrones when hoseok's phone buzzes in his sweatpants, the boy fumbling to get it out. he turns it on, seeing a twitter notification.

allfornamjoon just tweeted: RM FIFTH ALBUM 'SPEAK YOURSELF' CONFI...

hoseok nearly drops his phone in excitement, tapping open twitter rapidly and finding the tweet.