Requested by AnnaStark26
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No matter the occasion, Namjoon always seemed to be worried about something. The most recent thing was about bodyguards. Their group was well-known for having several very creepy stalkers. The job of the bodyguards was to keep those stalkers and potential attackers away, far away where none of the members could get hurt.
So why were the bodyguards so lax about everything. They didn't bother doing anything when people mobbed them at the airport. It just looked like they enjoyed the show.
Namjoon had complained many times. This was ridiculous. The members regularly got scrapes and cuts because of those people. What if someone got seriously hurt?
No, Namjoon was not going to tolerate this any longer. He needed everybody to be safe. If that meant getting angry at a few people, it would have to mean that.
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"Namjoon..." Hoseok called. He glanced uneasily out the window of the airport lounge. A crowd had gathered in front. There were no bodyguards in sight and they were going to be heading that way in a few moments. "That looks scary..."
"It's going to be okay," Namjoon said. He felt nervous too. "Keep your eyes on my back. Follow me."
Hoseok nodded. He steeled his jaw.
Namjoon felt his panic rise. His own hands were shaking. How was he supposed to support the others when he was this scared? He shouldn't have to fear for his safety every time he went to the airport.
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By the time they made it into the car, Namjoon was thoroughly shaken. While there were a good chunk of fans who maintained their distance, some people went a bit overboard. A few of the airport security were there for him, but their own bodyguards were too late and too slow. Someone had scraped Jin's face.
Hoseok didn't say anything, but Namjoon could tell that he was near tears.
It was time Namjoon properly filed a complaint. This was ridiculous.
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"I heard you had something to tell me, Namjoon?"
"Yes." Namjoon stood up, walking over to the front. At this company meeting, he had made sure to get a chance to speak. The other members looked expectantly up at him.
"So, for the past few months, there has been a very serious issue. I'm sure I have brought it up before, but absolutely nothing has been done about it. I need this bodyguard situation to be fixed." Namjoon glanced at the injury on Jin's face. "I need something to be done. This is something that is affecting all of us and it is compromising our safety."
Several people nodded.
"What do you say we should do? What should the bodyguards do more of... or less of, if you know what I mean."
"Well, it would be nice if the whole thing was a bit more coordinated. Half the time, people are late or they never show up at all. If they're there, they don't like to interfere. I get it. I don't like shoving people aside either, but it's something that needs to be done when those people are out to hurt us."
"Okay." The manager nodded and gave a thumps up.
"I hope that for the next time, this issue is resolved," Namjoon said. "I don't want to see anybody else getting any more injuries because some people weren't doing their job right."
He went back to his seat. Namjoon was pretty proud of his words. He hoped that the agency would take his words seriously and implement some real changes. They were heading off to Japan in two months. They better be more safe at the airport this time.
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Jin laughed as they left the meeting hall.
"It was just a scrape Namjoon," he said. "No need to be so worried."
"I am still worried," Namjoon said seriously. "What if something worse had happened?"
"True."
"Don't worry." Namjoon squeezed Jin's hand. "I'm sure that things will change for the better now."
"With how scary and intimidating you looked while talking, they would have to be idiots if they didn't do anything," Jimin said. "I'm sure something will change this time around."
"I hope so," Namjoon said.
"Me too," Jin said. "It's not fun being scraped like that."
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The next time they had to go somewhere together, Namjoon was strangely optimistic. He really had hopes that things had changed. He had noticed many people had been having meetings and talks and he had hoped that it was about the issue that he had brought up.
Unfortunately, his hopes crashed faster than Yoongi's energy levels. The bodyguard situation was just as bad as before. Half the time, they weren't there and when they were, they hardly did anything other than stand around and look pretty. The others looked scared. Namjoon was sure he did as well.
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"I'm sorry," Namjoon mumbled as he settled beside Jimin for their flight. They were heading to Tokyo for two days. Namjoon was already dreading landing at the airport. "I thought things were going to be better this time around."
"Oh, don't worry," Jimin said kindly, patting his knee. "It wasn't your fault that they didn't listen. We'll have to hire somebody ourselves or... I don't know, figure something out."
"Did anybody get hurt?"
"I don't think so, no." Jimin shook his head.
Namjoon sighed. He shoved his bag underneath the seat in front of him. Leaning into his seat, he closed his eyes.
"I'll think of something, don't you guys worry. I won't let you guys go through this every time we go-"
"We'll think of something together," Jimin said firmly. "Don't try to take this all onto your shoulders. I can help you."
"Okay."
Jimin grabbed Namjoon's hand and held on tight. Jungkook smirked at them from across the aisle. Jimin smirked back. Namjoon didn't notice. He was tired, exhausted, and embarrassed. Why hadn't anybody listened to him? Didn't they care about safety? Or did they think that he had just been overreacting?
Or had he just been overreacting...? Namjoon couldn't tell. He just wanted to sleep.
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Tokyo went by uneventfully. They landed at the airport, struggled with people, filmed their content, and hopped on a plane back to Korea soon enough. Namjoon was tempted to spend the entire time grumbling, but he kept a straight face for everybody else.
He thought about the trip while sitting in the plane headed for Seoul. Jin was beside him, reading a book. Yoongi and Hoseok were across the aisle. Jungkook, Jimin, and Taehyung were behind.
"Is the book good?" Namjoon asked.
"Yeah, kind of," Jin said. "I don't know what some of these big words mean so I'm having some trouble understanding everything, but you know, I'm managing."
Namjoon forced a laugh. "Such a mood."
Jin sighed, shaking his head. "You sound like my brother."
"Wow, such an honour."
Namjoon took a deep breath. They had one more airport to go through before he could finally have his bed and Ryan plushies back.
"Did that scrape on your face heal?" he asked.
Jin looked up from his book again. "Yeah, pretty much. I forgot that it exists, to tell you the truth."
"Good."
"You worry too much, I'm telling you. Nothing that bad is going to happen."
Namjoon nodded. He hoped Jin was right.
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Namjoon made a mental note: never trust Jin when it came to things like whether or not they were going to get attacked at an airport or not. Because he was always optimistic and wrong.
They had gotten their bags and were heading through the airport to get outside. Hundreds of fans were waiting. And as usual, none of their bodyguards were there. One airport security guard wasn't enough for all seven of them. Namjoon agreed to take up the back while the others went in front. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself if anything bad happened to them.
Unfortunately, he wasn't thinking about himself. There were so many people and they were all going towards him. Namjoon made it three steps through the crowd before people surged forward and he toppled over. Then all hell broke loose. People trampled over him, panicking themselves. People stepped on Namjoon, tripped over him, and fell onto him. Someone stepped on Namjoon's hand, someone on Namjoon's leg, his chest - he heard something crack and then he was in unbearable pain - and it went on. Namjoon tried his best to protect his head.
It lasted a total of five minutes, but it was too late. Namjoon had already passed out by the time the space cleared. He wasn't awake to see help be called, or the members panic and worry in his absence.
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Namjoon ended up breaking two of ribs and his arm. There were numerous scratches all over his body, his clothes were roughed up a bit, but he was lucky that he was relatively alright.
He needed surgery to set his arm right and by the time he was out, night had fallen. Namjoon was too exhausted and loopy to eat anything. He stayed asleep in his bed in a private ward.
At home, none of them knew what to do. Hoseok had headed off to be with Namjoon so if he did wake up in the middle of the night, he wouldn't be lonely. Plus, they were all worried about him. Namjoon had told them many times that such an incident could occur and his worst fears had come true.
But other than worry, the other big thing the members felt was anger. Namjoon had brought up the bodyguard issue many times. Heck, one of them had even gotten injured before. Why hadn't the agency done anything? Would they finally change something now that one of the members had ended up in the hospital?
Jin had wanted to call the agency right away and complain, but Taehyung talked him out of it.
"Don't do that hyung. They know what happened to Namjoon hyung and us complaining about it won't change anything that they do. Let's just wait, cool off and make sure that everything is okay with Namjoon hyung, and then... and then, we can do something about this whole incident."
And that was the end of it. The others went to bed, but none of them could get any sleep that night. It was a sad, sad event and Namjoon was on all of their thoughts.
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"Are you okay?"
Namjoon sighed. He blinked open his eyes to see a sleep-deprived Hoseok sitting next to him, a forced smile on his face.
"Yeah."
"Good." Hoseok relaxed. The smile was replaced with a pensive expression. "We were so worried."
"I knew something like this was going to happen," Namjoon said quietly.
Hoseok nodded. "I heard that the others went to the agency today to talk about it. I know that they're all really mad."
"Who is mad?"
"Everybody."
Namjoon sighed. He still felt tired. "Understandable."
"Yeah."
Namjoon seemed to pause, then looked up at Hoseok. "Were you here the whole night?"
"Mmhm."
"Aren't you tired?"
"That I am," Hoseok said. "Very tired."
"You should get sleep," Namjoon said. "You're going to faint otherwise."
"I'm going to be fine, quit the worrying," Hoseok said, waving his arm. "Namjoon, you're the one who needs to rest."
"Yeah..." Namjoon grinned. "That I do."
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Namjoon's injury seemed to have struck a chord within the organizers. A better bodyguard system was put into place within days. Namjoon was sad that it took something as big as this for a change to happen. They clearly hadn't taken him seriously before, probably thinking that his concerns weren't important enough to put money in.
In the meantime, he tried to focus on himself. Breathing with his cracked ribs was hard. Every hour, he was told that he had to take deep breaths so he wouldn't catch pneumonia. Taking a deep breath caused a chilling pain to radiate around his chest. At first, it was unbearable. But with time, it got a lot easier and Namjoon was able to take it without taking painkillers to help.
The fans were worried about him, the members were worried about him, his family was worried about him, Namjoon couldn't comfort them all. He was alright. He had been shaken up by the incident - public spaces were scarier than they looked - but Namjoon hadn't been critically injured.
With the extra protection that they were given now, hopefully these kinds of incidents would never happen to them again. At least, that's what Yoongi said. Scratch that. That's what they all said, and Namjoon said it right along with them.
He had had enough.
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sorry for all the updates, as you can tell, i really have nothing else to do
requests are closed...
2101 words