Don't Come Inside • Jungkook

v.

"What do you mean, they aren't moving it back?" Hoseok asked, his lips turning down at the edges and his eyes narrowing slightly. "A month and a half isn't nearly enough time-"

"I'm sorry," Namjoon said, grimacing and shaking his head slightly. The four oldest of them - Jin, Yoongi, Namjoon, and Hoseok - were having a hyungs-only meeting in Namjoon's room to discuss the upcoming schedule. Namjoon was sitting on the edge of his bed, with Hoseok standing directly in front of him, Jin sitting off to the side, and Yoongi standing beside the door, propped against the wall. "We don't really have a choice. They want to keep the original date because they already sold pre-sale tickets to our first stage of the comeback, and they don't want to go through the hassle and bad publicity of refunding them all."

"We've never had a prep time this short," Hoseok argued back, the disagreement firm in his eyes. "Two months, maybe, and that's with Jungkook."

"That's the other thing," Namjoon said, wincing preemptively as he thought about the news he had to deliver. "About Jungkook..."

"What about Jungkook?" Yoongi asked, frowning as he crossed his arms.

"Well, he won't be joining us this comeback..."

"Old news," Yoongi said, waving his hand dismissively, but Jin noticed the clench in his jaw and the unsteadiness of his hand.

"Yeah, well, besides adjusting all the previous choreography, they want us to pick up Jungkook's part in the comeback."

"That's impossible," Hoseok argued back immediately. "We've only got a month and a half, not to mention we have our own parts that we have to learn."

"Well, it won't be everyone," Namjoon said, looking down and scratching the back of his neck. It was hard to meet their discouraged eyes, especially when he didn't have any choice but to play messenger. In truth, he'd voiced the same concerns to their manager, who had simply asked Namjoon if he wanted BTS to continue. He'd been caught in an ultimatum and had had no choice but to accept. Still, he didn't want to burden the others with the stress of knowing how close they were to being terminated as a group. "I mean, for the vocal line, Jimin's range is closest to Jungkook's so he can take on Jungkook's lines, and for the choreography, well, that would probably fall on you and Jimin-"

"That's asking a lot," Hoseok said, angry and not just for himself. "Look, Namjoon. We've always worked hard but...this is asking the impossible. There's not enough time, and there's already so much work to do."

Namjoon stared at the lines in the floor. He couldn't tell them that if they refused, they were done. Too much pressure to put on them in an already stressful time. "Let's just try, okay? We just need to...to hold this all together a little longer and then..."

When it became clear that Namjoon didn't have any intention of finishing his sentence, Hoseok scoffed and left the room, leaving just Yoongi and Jin behind.

"If you say we're doing this, then we'll do it," Jin said softly, wanting to reach out and rub Namjoon's shoulder because he could see how much tension Namjoon was holding in his frame, but he felt it best to give Namjoon space. "You know that, right? We all trust your decisions. You got us this far."

"But it's a lot to ask," Yoongi interrupted, not even bothering to look over at Jin, who looked down. "The burden won't be on us as much as the others. We all suck at dancing, or at least more than them. And yeah, Jin's a vocalist too, but it sounded like they were already planning on Jimin taking most of Jungkook's parts. Are you going to be able to just watch as the younger members start crumpling under the pressure? Hoseok and Jimin are going to have it the worst, as if they're not already perfectionists. And Taehyung's pretty much dance line too."