"Jung Hoseok," someone says, "You're up."
Hoseok looks up from where he's buttoning up his ridiculous sparkly jacket that he was made to wear. He furrows his brows together, confused. "Already?" he asks.
"Yeah, we got a bit of a situation going," the coordinator, whom he remembers being named Adora, sighs. "Basically all the performances have been pushed forward."
He hums. He's basically dressed already and his make up just needs a minor touch up, "I don't mind," he says, straightening out his clothes.
The lady sighs in relief. "Thank you. This whole event is going in a completely different route than how I had it planned."
Hoseok smiles at her warmly. He honestly couldn't imagine the struggle of planning an event this big in the name of the royal family. "I get it," he says, "let's go."
He follows her. There's way too much going on at the moment. People ushering candidates to change quickly, stylists doing hair and make up at bullet speed.
"Um, what exactly happened?" Hoseok dares to ask.
"Two candidates are currently unable to perform. So we had to push the other performances forward." Adora checks her watch. "I currently have Lee Jaesuk and the princess stalling out there but I don't know how long they can keep that up."
Hoseok nods, seeing the monitors as he passes where he has a clear view of the princess and the MC doing a simple overview of the last few performances. "I still need to get my make up redone though."
"I know, your stylist is waiting for you nearby. I'll find a way to make more time."
True to the coordinator's word, Sung-kyung is waiting for him, make up supplies in hand. She works fast, too fast for Hoseok's comfort. What if she made a mistake or something? What if he ended up looking like a clown because she wasn't paying that much attention?
He would ask to see himself in the mirror after almost every dab of make up, he was sure Sung-kyung would get fed up with him after the fifth time, but she would just nod and hand it over to him.
Hoseok knew he was being ridiculous. The stylist's job was to make him look good after all. He was just, worried? He didn't think himself to be very photogenic, the result of having good looking friends.
Seokjin, of course, is tall and beautiful, with broad shoulders that are manly and pretty eyes and full lips that are the exact opposite. His clear skin was to die for and he was just so nice and positive about everything that all of them automatically went to him when needing comfort.
Taehyung was also handsome, rivals Seokjin sometimes to be honest. With strong eyebrows, defined features, big round eyes that were a miracle considering he didn't have monolids, round lips and an air of boyish charm that attracted everyone.
And of course, Jimin. Jimin with his fairy-like features, plump lips, fluffy hair and amazing charisma.
Of course, Hoseok knew that he had good things about himself. Personally, he loved his body. His lean form, his full thighs, flat stomach. He had abs, not as much as Jimin though. His smile was nice. He also liked his ears, although not many people really looked at that.
"Done," Sung-kyung said, giving him one last look over. She smiles smugly, "You look good."
Hoseok gives her a small smile just as Adora pops up from behind. "Ready?"
He nods. "Good," she says, grabbing her walkie talkie. "Follow me."
Ducking his head to avoid hitting his head on any pipes, he followed her. The staff members parted like the Red Sea as Adora walked through.
She stops suddenly. Hoseok stops abruptly behind her. He looks up, sees the King talking to someone, also sees the general right behind him. Adora clears her throat. The three men turn to her, then notice Hoseok right behind her, who just awkwardly waves.
The king and him hadn't really interacted much since their date. The man's presence was calming yes, but he talked a lot and personally Hoseok's brain couldn't keep up with a few of the things he talked about.
Perhaps, he sensed it too? The only thing they really managed to hit it off with was talking about their favorite western rappers. Oh and some comments here and there about Seokjin. But Hoseok didn't feel a click between them.
Even if he did, he couldn't do that to Seokjin.
"This lift will take you up to the stage," the guy next to the king starts to explain, Hoseok never realizing when exactly Adora had left. "Unlike for the others, there will be a second lift on stage, you get on that, music will start and it'll take you up."
Hoseok nods, feeling a bit nervous. Personally, he was afraid of heights, but a performance was a performance. He watches the lift come down, stopping right at his waist. He throws a leg up, ready to push himself up but realizes the darn thing is too high for him to give himself a little push upward.
Someone clears their throat next to him. He turns his head. General Min has his head turned in the other direction but has his hand extended out to Hoseok. The latter raises a brow in question but takes his hand anyway and uses it as leverage to give himself a good push upward, finally getting on the lift.
"Thanks," he says awkwardly to the general who just nods when watches the lift go up.
"What was that about?" Namjoon asks behind him.
Yoongi doesn't comment. Just...shrugs.
"Are you actually being nice to someone, Hyung? Because that's pretty rare to see."
"I'm nice," Yoongi counters, making Namjoon snort.
"Yeah, I know," he says, giving him a look, "but you're not nice to just anyone. And I don't think you know Jung Hoseok well enough for him to be on your friends list."
Once again, the general makes no comment. Namjoon takes this as a sign that he's right. "Min," he asks casually, "have you ever dated?"
"I have," Yoongi answers. "Dated a girl back in middle school."
"Oh? How'd that turn out?"
"I'd rather not talk about it."
"Right," Namjoon adds, nodding with a smug grin, "That's the one you wrote the letter for right? The one you sent to that one radio station? I remember you staying up late writing it."
Yoongi rolls his eyes. "Shouldn't you be running to your man right now?"
The smile fades from Namjoon's face. "I don't know..."
"Go," Yoongi urges, "Its obvious you want to. Besides, you promised the kid you would as soon as you handled things here. Things are handled, so go."
Namjoon debates it a bit longer, but he does go. Yoongi keeps his eyes on him still he can no longer see him. Once he's gone, he sighs.
Everything was a fucking mess.
Yoongi knew a lot of things. Benefits of having his post as general. Knowing what he knew, he felt uneasy.
He hadn't forgotten the attacks they've received since the competition started. The bombing from one of his ex soldiers, the assault from an ex general. He couldn't help but feel that those people weren't done yet.
With the two previous Kings so easily murdered, it made sense as to why the previous general had retired so soon. He was a rebel, probably had something to do with the murders himself, but Yoongi had no proof.
He decided to focus on something else. He was always on alert and he had prepared super tight security for this event, he had checked every point inside to make sure no one could sneak in.
Yeah, everything was fine.
His eyes landed on the monitor before him. He watched as the lights began flashing violently and Hoseok just goes full out, dropping to one knee then kicking his way up and practically floating when he moves his legs.
Yoongi can't look away. Just like before, he's amazed, bewitched by the way the man moves. Entranced, because he can't believe someone can actually have the ability to draw people in by just being there.
Then the lift comes down and Hoseok sets his feet on the stage, back up dancers coming up behind him. Although there are many out there, he's drawn to Hoseok. Only Hoseok.
The song ends with a huge amount of applause, large amounts of confetti suddenly popping out and falling, Hoseok going back to stand on the square of the lift that brings him down, bowing and waving as the lights go off.
The monitor cuts to a commercial break. Yoongi turns his head as the lift is coming down. Jung Hoseok is on his hand and knees as the platform clicks in place.
"Oh my gawd," lets out hoarsely, forcing his limbs to move and then giving up and just holding on to a pillar for support as his legs wobbled. Yoongi moves to his side, hooking an arm around the taller male's waist, the other squirming away when he does so.
"W-what are you doing?"
Yoongi gives him a look. "Helping you down?"
"Oh." He says, looking a bit sheepish and Yoongi suddenly wonders what the guy had actually thought he was going to do with a place full of people around them. Still, he puts those thoughts aside and helps the guy out from under the stage and inside the building.
"I'm actually very afraid of heights," the candidate suddenly confesses, without Yoongi even asking. Their walk had been a rather silent one, Yoongi noticing that it didn't really feel like an awkward one between them. Just plain old comfortable silence. Till now.
"And yet you let them just put you to dance on a huge but narrow ass lift?" the general asked.
"Yeah," the other answers sheepishly. "I'm kind of not good at saying no. Besides, it was a part of the show."
"Well um, you did well," the general mumbles at the end, "despite your fear, I guess."
Hoseok looks at him out of the corner of his eyes and Yoongi just knows that he's being weird but tries to ignore it. "Thanks," Hoseok says quietly, "Um, I think I'm fine now."
Yoongi lets him go, his hand still hover close, in case the guy starts wobbling. He's fine however, the effects of his previous vertigo gone.
"Good," is all Yoongi says as he turns to walk off.
"Hey General?"
Yoongi stops and glances back. Hoseok is awkwardly scratching the back of his neck. "Thanks," he says shyly, "I owe you one."
A grin tempts to leave Yoongi's lip, he manages to keep his frown on, however. "You owe me like three," the general muses.
"Right," Hoseok says, fidgeting a bit. "Well, bye." He squeals quickly, nervously, turning on his heel and walking off.
Yoongi just sort of stands there, catching himself watching the sway of the other's hips as he leaves. Damn, yeah. He had a problem. He was eyeing something that didn't belong to him.
Although at the same time, Yoongi knew that Namjoon wasn't interested in this particular candidate, he couldn't help but feel that he shouldn't approach him with those kind of intentions. Because once the other was out of the competition, Yoongi would never see him again anyway.
Yeah, this was most likely a temporary thing. Just a simple and temporary infatuation.
Someone bumps into him, almost knocking the air out of him. He looks down, ready to completely cuss the other out, but gets hit on the nose by the rim of the other person's hat.
"Ow," the general says, rubbing his nose.
"General Min?" Yoongi knows that voice. It's constantly teasing him and he's managed to learn to avoid it out of the pure instinct that it means trouble.
Park Jimin.
"Where's the coordinator?" the smaller asks. He's completely engulfed in a huge black jacket and black cap, grabbing at the general's shirt a bit too tightly for comfort.
The general scrunches his nose, pulling the kid's hands off of him and taking a step back. "Shouldn't you be resting, Park Jimin?" he asks. The whole reason the event was hectic to begin with was because the of the boy before him. He had heard of the situation. Sore muscles. And knew that he shouldn't be walking around.
"I'm fine," the other says, almost insisting.
"You're fine?" another voice asks suddenly, Adora. She stands a few feet away, clipboard in hand and a sudden wash of relief evident on her face.
"Yeah," Jimin says, removing his jacket and cap, "I'm fine. I'm ready."
"Good. You're on."
Author's note: