décalcomanie

1

"how long do i have until i'm just another one of your memories?"

-

It was early morning, and Jungkook had woken up way earlier than he usually did. Practice had ended late, at around four am. He was exhausted, but after tossing and turning for the past three hours, drifting in and out of sleep, he'd concluded that he was suffering from another bout of insomnia. Defeated, he headed to the kitchen to grab a bowl of cereal. He shook the box with all his strength. Didn't Seokjin buy a new box of cereal two days ago? And then he remembered; Namjoon had spilt the cereal yesterday while stumbling out of his studio in a half-asleep daze for breakfast. Jungkook remembered the other members just cleaning up the mess silently, before gently nudging Namjoon in the direction of his bedroom.

Jungkook sighed. Everyone was overworking themselves, but he didn't have any talents to overwork himself with. Everyone was busy writing lyrics, composing beats, choreographing dances and working on collaborations on top of the preparations for their upcoming album. He always felt so bad when he had to heat leftovers for his 형 (Hyung)s* or help them back to their rooms because they'd worked themselves past exhaustion. Jungkook didn't know what to do with himself at all. Playing Overwatch, working out and writing those silly, over-emotional passages on 씀 (Sseum)** were starting to become numbing rather than things that he found interest in. He mindlessly chewed the handful of dry cereal in his bowl.

[*형 (Hyung) - Elder brother (honorific, younger male to older male)
**씀 (Sseum) - A popular writing application in Korea where prompts are provided.]

Jungkook was jolted out of his reverie by the sharp, clear ring of the doorbell piercing through the weighty silence of the apartment. Who could be at the door? Bang PDnim would've called them before visiting them. Their managers were probably still asleep since Bangtan didn't have a schedule today. While they were the biggest boy band in the world, Bangtan didn't have many friends besides themselves. At least, not friends that had time to talk to them beyond SNS*.

[*SNS - Social Networking Services (Social media)]

"Jungkook-ah, I know that you're eating, but could you go open the door? You're twenty-two* already, you don't need your Hyung to do everything for you anymore." Seokjin poked his head out from the bathroom door, toothbrush still in his mouth. He'd been acting more and more like Jin, something that Hoseok jokingly called "Personification". He was worried about his Hyung, in fact, he was worried for all of his Hyungs. They were losing themselves in what they loved, but Jungkook wasn't even sure whether he truly loved the same thing as them. He didn't know his Hyungs as well anymore, and neither did his Hyungs with him. Sometimes, he wished for everything to be back to debut. It had been hard, torturous even, but it was better than now. Anything was better than now.

[*In Korea, everyone is one year old from the day you are born and turn a year older on New Year's Day. Jungkook's Western age is twenty-one, but his Korean age is twenty-two.]

"Okay, Hyung." Jungkook groaned as he lifted himself off the chair. Dancing was so much more painful than most people expected. Ouch, the things he did for his art. Jungkook looked through the peephole, not expecting what was behind it at all.

"Hyung......why is there a guy in a suit and those ear things that security guards wear standing outside? He looks like he's from the CIA or something."

"What?"

"There's a scary-looking dude that looks like he came from a James Bond movie standing outside......with an envelope in his hands? Is this some 사생 (sasaeng)* prank again?"