Practice is out oft he question after Taehyung's outburst. He's still kneeling on the floor, all his anger and fear dissolving into tears that get soaked up in the fabric of Jungkook's t-shirt, when Namjoon, Jin and Jimin return to the dance studio. It's chaos when they arrive, Yoongi and Hoseok bombarding them with questions as Taehyung still clings to Jungkook for dear life, while the youngest member repeatedly promises him that he's fine, Jimin's fine, nothing happened to any of them.
"It's all a bit more complex than we expected," Namjoon says as he tries to calm down Hoseok and Yoongi and explain the situation. Jimin stands behind him, looking drained, and leans against Jin's shoulder in exhaustion, the oldest member wrapping an arm around him to provide support, both physically and mentally.
"So you're essentially a spy?" Yoongi asks when Namjoon has given them a quick run-down of what's going on.
"A ninja," Hoseok chimes in, and Yoongi elbows him in the ribs while fixing him with a glare that is meant to tell him to stay serious.
"I guess," Jimin answers timidly. "I didn't mean to hide it. I just- PD-nim didn't allow me to tell anyone."
"You told Jungkook though," Yoongi points out, and now Hoseok gently nudges him, a silent reminder to focus on the bigger picture and not get hung up on details.
"The important thing is," Namjoon raises his voice to steer this conversation away from turning into a discussion of who told whom what, "that all of us are really on the same page now."
Everyone agrees quietly. Taehyung can feel Jungkook relax against him, and he wonders just how difficult it was for Jungkook to be caught in the middle of all of this, harbouring so many secrets that he had to hide from everyone. But now all the secrets are out, or at least that's what Taehyung hopes, and they can finally move forward as a unit.
Their dance teacher chooses this moment to enter the room again, and freezes as he takes them all in. Jimin's eyes are puffy from crying, and Taehyung is still on the floor and his face pressed against Jungkook's shoulder, body trembling from the leftovers of adrenaline.
"Come back tomorrow," he tells them with a sigh as Namjoon tries to explain what happened without actually giving away what happened and flounders.
It's only the early afternoon, and half their lunch is still originally sealed in its plastic boxes, and because the sun is shining outside they decide that the best thing to do now is pack everything up and drive to the Han river. Because it's so early in the year, the sun isn't strong enough yet to lounge around in a t-shirt, but with a jacket and a beanie Taehyung feels comfortably warm as he lies on the grass. The birds are chirping on the branches of the trees, and he occasionally picks up pieces of the conversations that the other members are having.
Maybe he should engage in these conversations as well, but he's too tired to care. He knows they're talking in more detail about Jimin and Eun-Ji. They're telling Jungkook that instead of keeping things to himself, it's better to share them with the people concerned immediately to clear up possible confusions. They talk in hushed and serious voices, but over time the knot of tension seems to unravel and Taehyung can hear them giggle, Jin's laugh being the easiest of them all to identify.
Taehyung takes a deep breath. His jeans are damp because the earth beneath him is still moist from past gloomy days, and he's very aware of the rise and fall of his chest. He has his arms above his head, fingers linked to rest the back of his head on them, and a blade of grass tickles the skin on the side of his left hand.
So much has happened in the span of just twenty-four hours and there's so much new information to process that Taehyung feels a headache coming on from just thinking about it. And then he remembers that it's March, and that his deal with Mr. Kim has come to an end, and it feels like there's a stone lodged in his throat all of a sudden, making it hard to breathe.
"Hyung," Taehyung wheezes, because that imaginary stone makes it just as hard to speak as it does to breathe, and he scrambles up from his lying position, trying to take in deep breaths of air and just calm the fuck down.
Immediately the others are crowding around him in worry. Taehyung chokes on his spit as he's trying to talk, and starts coughing instead. Someone is patting his back for support.
"What's wrong?" Namjoon asks, and his eyes scan their surroundings as if there was immediate danger.
Taehyung shakes his head, tears stinging his eyes from the coughing fit and he quickly blinks them away. Just this morning he had planned to not tell any of them about how the deal with Mr. Kim has ended, but now that the tables have turned, that Jimin is involved in some kind of sneaky ninja plan to save Taehyung's honour and this band's debut, maybe it's a good time for Taehyung to stop holding back important information from them as well.
"I just remembered," Taehyung presses out the words, clears his throat because his voice comes out scratchy, "that Mr. Kim's deal comes to an end in March. He's going to want me announced as official member soon, probably."
"What deal?" Hoseok asks, as Yoongi's eyes flash with suspicion. Taehyung knows that he suspects what must have happened in order for Mr. Kim to pull back his original demand, and Taehyung turns his head away from his hyung in shame.
"Mr. Kim demanded that Taehyung be officially announced as a member in January," Namjoon explains slowly. "If he's officially announced, Mr. Kim will have more power over us than now. After all, we could just kick Tae out and he'd have nothing on us."
Taehyung winces and Namjoon smiles apologetically. "You know we wouldn't do that. You're as much a part of this band as anyone else. Anyway, an arrangement was made that had Mr. Kim agree to delay his demand until March. Now he's most likely going to be back with a new video of Taehyung that he can dangle over our heads to get what he wants."
It's a relief that Namjoon leaves out the details of said arrangement.
"Why do we have to hide hyung?" Jungkook asks. "We're already working on collecting evidence against Mr. Kim to help Taehyung be free. What if we just announce Taehyung?"
"Kook-ah," Jin says and shakes his head. "Once Taehyung is officially introduced as a part of the band, Mr. Kim will have power over all of us and not only Taehyung anymore. He can demand anything of us. If those videos come out, it's not only going to be the end of Taehyung's career, but of ours as well as we're associated with him."
"I don't want him to have power over any of you," Taehyung murmurs and starts picking at the blades of grass, ripping out one after another as his thoughts drift between Mr. Kim and his members and a possible solution to their problem.
"What if," Hoseok starts, before stopping and chewing on his bottom lip, looking at Taehyung guiltily. "It's only a suggestion, and it's not actually going to happen, but what if we pretend that Taehyung has left the group?"
Taehyung inhales sharply.
"He wouldn't believe that Taehyung left the biggest chance of his life behind on his own terms," Namjoon says.
"So he got kicked out?" Jimin suggests, and Taehyung's hand clenches into a fist around the blade of grass he's currently holding.
Namjoon ponders it. Taehyung has trouble breathing. Yoongi must notice the conflict raging within him at that suggestion, as he scoots over and places his hand over Taehyung's fist reassuringly.
"You know we would never actually kick you out," he says and ducks his head a bit to make sure that he catches Taehyung's eyes, who's head is lowered in self-doubt. "But that way we wouldn't have to worry about that asshole blackmailing us. If we make him believe that you're not a part of Bangtan anymore, he'll have nothing to hold against us."
"We'd be free," Namjoon says. Yoongi glares at him, and the leader quickly backtracks. "I mean free to find a way to destroy Mr. Kim without him constantly lurking somewhere waiting to attack."
Taehyung doesn't say anything. He just sniffles, that familiar burning sensation at the back of his throat that's a tell-tale sign of tears threatening to well up in his eyes having returned once again.
"How do you want to pull that off though?" Jin asks sceptically. "Mr. Kim isn't stupid. We can't just say that Taehyung left and continue like before. He lives and trains with us. We'd also have to tell all the other sponsors, or else it wouldn't be believable."
"Do you have a better idea right now?" Namjoon asks, slightly irritated. "This is first and foremost about Taehyung's safety, and if pretending that he's not a part of the band anymore is what it takes to get Mr. Kim off our backs, it's worth the hassle. We will have to include management in this though. This isn't something we can pull off on our own."
They're all quiet, trying to wrap their minds around that new plan they've just formed.
"I don't like it," Jungkook says meekly.
"It's not about what we like, it's about what we need to do," Namjoon replies.
"This will be a ton of work. We have to rearrange the songs we've recorded to only be sung by the six of us. Adjust the choreography too, or there'll be an obvious hole," Yoongi sighs.
Taehyung can't help it when the tears start rolling down his cheeks. He's not really crying, not ugly sobbing and gasping for breath. His insides feel as if they've been tossed by a hurricane, all knotted up and painful, but on the outside it's only silent tears that give away the agony he feels over their decision.
"Hey," Yoongi says as he notices the tears and squeezes the fist he's still holding on to. "This isn't us kicking you out. Instead, it's us making sure that one day; hopefully sooner than later; you'll be able to debut with us without the fear of someone revealing your biggest secret to the world."
Taehyung nods. He understands that. He understands that they're not actually kicking him out, but it feels as if and he can't help that it makes him emotional. He doesn't look at the others, instead glaring at his knees while trying to will the tears away, so he doesn't notice Jungkook crawling over until the youngest member has his arms wrapped around Taehyung's chest to pull him in for a hug.
"Not letting you leave," Jungkook murmurs quietly enough to have no one but Taehyung hear his words, "just making sure that you're protected."
For a moment, Taehyung is taken aback by Jungkook's forwardness and the sudden offer of comfort that the younger teen so readily provides Taehyung with. Jungkook is shy, and he's never the first to offer skinship for comfort like Jin does, or subtle touches to help Taehyung ground himself the way Yoongi provides them. To have Jungkook hug him twice within only a few hours feels odd, but it makes Taehyung's heart flutter. The more he thinks about it though, the more Taehyung realizes that maybe this sudden willingness to lend support so openly stems from the fact that up until now, Jungkook didn't have the chance to be there for him.
Taehyung nods and pulls away a bit, wiping away the remaining wetness from his cheeks as he tries to compose himself and blushes as he realizes that all six members are staring at him.
"Are you okay with that plan, Taehyung? If you say no, we won't go with it. It's your decision," Namjoon offers, and Taehyung sniffles once more and swallows harshly.
They're not kicking you out, he reminds himself. They're your friends and all they want is to help you.
Taehyung's never really had friends when he was younger. Maybe in kindergarten, when life wasn't all too cruel to him yet, there were some children his age that he hung out with, and sometimes at school he'd talk to others, but first and foremost Taehyung was always too occupied with keeping himself safe to actually take the time and make friends. His closest friend had been his grandma, but after her death it's only been him and Soonshim against his world. Now that he looks at the six boys in front of him who so obviously care about him – who go to great lengths to protect him when they could just take the easy way out and discard him to find success in the music industry – his heart fills with warms.
"Yes," Taehyung says, voice still a bit wobbly. "Let's trick this motherfucker and stab him in the back."
There's a beat of silence and then everyone starts cheering, and before Taehyung can realize it they tackle him to the ground, piling on top of him one after the other in excitement. Taehyung is taken aback for a second in surprise, but then he starts laughing and wheezes that he can't breathe anymore, which only prompts Hoseok – the last one to join the pile – to jump on Jin with more force than would have been necessary, prompting collective groans from all others beneath him. It's the first time that the weight of bodies on top of Taehyung doesn't feel threatening or repulse him, but makes him feel protected and safe instead.