When their manager announces that they have two days off after their concert in Chicago before they have to leave for another show, Jimin and Jungkook decide to take advantage of that fact and take a little mini vacation. They know they won’t be able to go out together in Chicago without running into fans, so they book a short flight up to a small town in northern Michigan. Their hope is that it is a small enough town that they will be able to escape notice, that any fans they may have there would be in Chicago for the concert. It worked out surprisingly well at first, no one paid them much attention as they wandered through the town they picked, eventually settling down at a small cafe for lunch. They order their food, taking a cue from Tae and saying “Stuart Semple,” who Tae had told them all about a few days ago when asked what name to call when their food is ready. After ordering they find a small booth in the back where they will be concealed from any windows and even from most of the patrons of the cafe.
It isn’t until they’ve been waiting for a few minutes that they notice anything strange. It isn’t anything big at first, just a small but sharp intake of breath from behind them, but that could mean any number of things. Jungkook raises his eyebrows slightly at Jimin, wondering if that could possibly be a fan, but in the end, they decide to ignore it and go back to waiting, talking quietly in Korean. A few minutes later, however, Jungkook’s suspicions are confirmed when, from behind them, they hear a quiet voice talking in English. That shouldn’t be a surprise, they are in America after all. And Jimin really has absolutely no idea what the voice is saying. But he heard his name, and Jungkookies, he’s sure of it. But the voice hadn’t been talking to him, he doesn’t think. So maybe he had made a mistake? But then, a moment later, he’s sure he hears the same voice say BTS.
“Did you hear that?” He asks Kookie, who nods. “Do you know what she’s saying?”
“I can’t quite make it all out, she’s talking really fast, but she’s definitely talking about us. Namjoon-hyung would know more.”
“Yeah, probably, but you’re still doing better than me.” Jimin laughs. “Should we talk to her? Offer an autograph or something?”
“Good idea.”
So Jimin turns around and offers the girl a smile when she meets his eyes with a squeak.
“Hi!” He says in English, “I’m Jimin!”
“A-August” The girl replies, clearly surprised that he had talked to her. Jungkook introduces himself as well, and the girl says something in English that Jimin doesn’t understand. But Jungkook nods, clearly having caught at least some of it, before turning back to Jimin.
“She has a friend who knows some Korean, so she was just going to wait for her to get here before saying anything, to make it easier on us. She said something else too, but I didn’t quite catch it. Maybe I should call Namjoon-hyung? I don’t think I know enough English to be able to talk to her until her friend gets here.”
Jimin nods and Kookie pulls his phone to call Namjoon. He answers quickly, immediately firing off questions, apparently concerned that they were hurt or something, but it just makes Jimin burst out laughing, which does seem to comfort his hyung, and soon Jungkook is explaining the situation.
Jimin glances over August, who probably hadn’t understood any of what was going on, but seems perfectly happy to just stare at them with her mouth slightly open. He smiles at her, and her mouth drops open a bit farther. He wishes he could talk to her, but Namjoon is soon talking to her, and even though he can’t really speak English he can tell that most of her speech is stuttering and a bit hesitant. She’s clearly nervous, and to be honest it’s pretty cute. Namjoon tells them that she’s even younger than Kookie, only 19 by international standards. She’s still just a kid, probably still lives with her parents. The four of them do their best to have a conversation for a little bit, but it’s pretty chaotic, with the mix of languages and one of them being on the phone.
Things calm down a bit once August’s friend Taylor gets there and happily introduces herself to them in Korean.
“RM-ssi, thank you so much for helping, I’m sorry if we bothered you. If you and the rest of the band want to go back to your rest day I can translate long enough for me and August to say hi and get an autograph. Then I promise we’ll leave Jungkook-ssi and Jimin-ssi alone. And we won’t tell anyone we saw them, we don’t want to ruin their vacation.”
Jimin tunes out from the rest of her conversation with his hyung. Something about her bothers him, but he can’t seem to put his finger on it. Plus, he’s impressed with her grasp of Korean, and how polite and respectful she was to Namjoon. Regardless, by the time he tunes back in she is saying a polite goodbye to the rest of the band before turning to him and Kookie, who both offer the girls autographs.
“Jimin-ssi, Jungkook-ssi, it’s so nice to meet you.” She wraps her hand around her opposite arm as she talks, her fingers overlapping, seemingly nervous, and that’s when it clicks for Jimin. Though she continues talking, Jimin doesn’t pay much attention, choosing instead to carefully look the girl over. “August was so excited when she called me. We really love your music. August and I are sorry that we interrupted you, we know you must have come here to escape fans. Thank you so much for being willing to speak to us for so long.” The girls bow to them and Jimin nearly panics when he realizes that they mean to walk away. Quickly, he reaches out and grabs her arm. He sends an apologetic glance to Kookie for what he is about to do, but he still does it.
“Please don’t leave. Maybe the two of you could show us around here a bit? After lunch, of course, we haven’t eaten yet. Would you like to join us?” Taylor’s eyes widen as she stutters something out in English. Jimin knows she must have translated his request from the way August’s hands fly up to cover her mouth and she nods excitedly for a moment before suddenly frowning and turning back to Taylor. She speaks to her for a moment, and Taylor nods, turning back to the two singers.
“Are you sure?” She asks, “Because we would love too, but we don’t want to impose. You clearly came all the way up here to get away from fans.”
Jimin just shrugs, “Yeah, originally, we did. But to be entirely honest we’ve been having a bit of trouble getting around without RM. Kookie here can order food, and maybe make some small talk, but not much else.” He ignores the affronted “Hey!” from across the table in favor of smiling at Taylor’s giggles. “And I’m entirely useless, so if you two would be willing to help us get around for a bit, we’d really appreciate it.” As he finishes he sends a glance across the table to Kookie, willing him to agree, because he can’t let this girl go without talking to her. She just reminds him far too much of himself, and not in a good way. To his relief, Jungkook nods, having seen Jimin’s desperate look.
“Yeah, you guys should stay.” He agrees. Jimin let out a breath of relief and pulled out his phone to send Kookie a quick text explaining.
‘She looks like I did during Wings.’ It says, ‘I think she’s doing something similar. I can’t let her leave, I have to try to help.’
Jimin watches Jungkook take out his phone when he feels it buzz, and sees the surprise on his face when he sees the text is from Jimin. He can also see the exact moment Jungkook finishes reading his text, as his eyes shoot first to Jimin, who nods, before going to carefully look the girl over, just as Jimin did minutes earlier. He sees the recognition in Jungkook’s eyes, the slightest hint of pain before his media training takes over. He glances quickly at Jimin and gives him a small nod before the two of them turn their attention back to the two fans standing in front of them with mouths hanging open.
Jimin’s suspicions are confirmed when he and Kookie offer to buy the girl’s lunch. August happily accepts for both of them, but Taylor looks uncomfortable with the idea. But, when they insist, she reluctantly orders a salad. He knows Kookie sees the way she eats too, pushing her food around and distracting from the fact that she barely eats anything, as he sends concerned glances at her every few minutes. And she’s suspiciously quiet through the whole meal, only translating for the other three, rarely putting her own thoughts into the conversation. He learns a lot about August, and how the two girls became friends, but not much about Taylor. It’s clear that she’s a fan, and it’s fun to watch August tease her, trying to get her to talk more, but she firmly refuses to tell them who her bias is, no matter how many times they ask. August had happily informed Jungkook that he was her bias, but Taylor kept firmly quiet on the matter until finally, August leaned over to whisper into Jungkook’s ear conspiratorially. He laughed and turned to Jimin.
“She says Taylor’s bias is Hobi-hyung, but you and Yoongi-hyung are her bias wreckers.” He explained, causing Jimin to chuckle, and Taylor to splutter as her face turned red. She turned to her friend and started scolding her in English, but it clearly did nothing as August just started laughing. He wasn’t sure what the two said, but he heard August call Taylor Unnie in a clearly joking voice, and immediately burst out laughing. It was clear that the two of them had been fans long enough to understand that aspect of Korean culture, and had likely joked about this before, comparing the two cultures and how different their relationship might be if they were Korean.
Once he’s finished eating Jimin turns to see that about half of Taylor’s salad is gone, though the other half is shredded into tiny pieces, making it seem like less than it is. He can tell though. He used to do the same thing, whenever his hyungs had forced him to eat. He allows himself a small frown as he pulls out his phone, crafting a message to send to the group chat.
‘Joonie-hyung, Kookie might call you again in a few minutes, there’s something wrong with one of the girls we met, the one who speaks Korean, she looks like I did a few years ago, so we invited them to have lunch with us and she eats like I did too. I’m going to try to talk to her alone, but Kookie won’t be able to talk to the other one on his own.’ It says. It only takes a minute for concerned messages to start coming from the other members, mostly worried that the girl might have unintentionally triggered Jimin, but Jungkook assures them that Jimin had eaten his lunch without trouble, and soon Namjoon is agreeing to help Kookie talk to August, and also let her say hi to the rest of the band if she wants. Once they’re done talking, Jimin turns to Taylor again.
“Would you like to go for a walk with me?” He asks, “Show me around a bit? We were just texting the rest of the band and Kookie wants dessert but I’m full. Your friend can stay with him, and Joonie-hyung agreed to play translator again.” He sees her immediately perk up at the idea of a walk, likely wanting to burn off some or all of her lunch, but she seems a bit uneasy leaving August and Jungkook without a way to easily communicate. However, the idea of getting some exercise, and likely of getting away without anyone asking if she wants dessert seems to win in the end.
“If you’re sure RM-ssi wouldn’t mind…” She says slowly. He nods encouragingly, and she turns to August and explains in English. The only words he catches are Jimin-ssi, Jungkook-ssi, and RM-ssi. Once August has nodded, and Jungkook has pulled his phone out to call Namjoon, he and Taylor leave from the back door.
As they walk, he turns to her and says, “You don’t have to call us all -ssi, you know. Most of our younger fans call us Oppa.”
To his amusement, she blushes bright red. “I know. But as well as we all feel like we know you, we don’t, not really. And you certainly don’t know all of us personally. It feels disrespectful.”
Jimin laughs a bit at that, “That’s very sweet of you, but we really don’t mind. You can call us Oppa.”
Taylor blushes again, but nods. “If you’re sure Jimin-oppa.”
“I am. Now, where are you taking me?”
“Well, there’s a waterfall not far from here, and there’s a little trail that leads up to the top. I like to go there to read sometimes. I thought you might like it too.” He nods in agreement, and they’re quiet for a few minutes as they walk. Jimin can’t resist a grin as he hears her humming something familiar, which he quickly places to be Seoul, from Joonie-hyung’s mixtape. She doesn’t seem to even realize she’s humming though, and would surely be embarrassed if he pointed it out, so he keeps quiet.
Soon, they arrive at the waterfall, and Jimin lets Taylor show him the somewhat hidden trail to the top. They start climbing, and it’s short, but very steep. They have to grab onto trees a few times to keep from slipping back, and Jimin is a little concerned for Taylor, as he’s fairly certain that the half a salad she’s had for lunch had been all she had eaten all day, possibly longer, but to his relief, they make it to the top without incident.
Once they get there they sit down on some rocks and Jimin lets Taylor catch her breath before he starts talking. He’s also not entirely sure how to broach the subject, but figures he may as well just say it.
“I didn’t ask you guys to stay just because we were having trouble getting around,” he begins, but he’s interrupted before he can continue.
“I know. I saw the way you and Jungkook-oppa were looking at me during lunch and I was ARMY during Wings and I’ve seen pictures and the first thing I thought when I saw them was that you looked like me so it makes sense that you saw it.” She says all of this is one breath, but seems to run out of steam afterward, as she falls quiet and looks away from him to the waterfall tumbling down next to them.
“Oh. So I guess you know what I was going to say. But, look, I want to help you. So does Jungkookie, and the rest of the band will too, if they ever meet you. Will you let us help?”
He sees Taylor’s eyes widen as she slowly turns to look at him. “Please, don’t.” She whisperers. “Don’t say that. I know you feel bad for me, but I’m okay. I’m good at this. I know how to do it safely. So you don’t have to worry. Besides, it’s not like I’ll ever see you again. Not in real life. August and I can’t afford to go to your concerts, we can barely afford our apartment. And even if we could, we might see you, but you won’t see us. You’re Park Jimin! I’m just one of many ARMYs.”
Jimin blinks, and takes a moment to process everything she said. The things about being good at this are definitely concerning. So is the bit about barely being able to afford her apartment, even when she and her friend are splitting the rent. And, as much as he hates to admit it, she’s right, that he probably wouldn’t recognize her, even if she did come to a concert. He does have an idea, but it might take some help. In the meantime, he knew what he had to do though. “Can you take me and Kookie back to your apartment?” He asks, “I want to get to know you better before we have to leave.” Immediately her head snaps up.
“I...don’t know if that’s a great idea. It’s pretty small. We….it’s just us, you know? Has been for a while now. Our parents, they don’t help out. They disowned us a while ago. For being….ahh, I don’t know the Korean word. Umm, do you know the English word gay?”
The last word was said in English, but he recognized it. Namjoon has translated it for them ages ago, when it started showing up on their Twitter a lot. Jimin nodded quickly, and then told her the Korean equivalent. “Your parents did that?” He asked, “I thought people in America didn’t care about that.” Taylor shrugs.
“It’s better than a lot of places. But it’s not perfect. A lot of people still have a problem with it.”
“I’m sorry. But I really don’t care about what your apartment looks like. All seven of us shared one bedroom back before debut. We won’t judge.”
She sighs but nods. “Sure. If you guys really want to you can come over.” Jimin smiles at her as he stands, and offers a hand to pull her up. She takes it with a small smile and doesn’t seem all that surprised when he doesn’t let go as they climb back down the hill, making sure she’s okay during the climb.
*****
Jungkook can tell that August is a little confused about why Jimin had whisked her friend away, but she seemed happy enough to go with the flow. As the other two walk out the back door, Jungkook is pulling out his phone to video chat Namjoon. Joonie picks up quickly, and Kookie is glad that Jimin had warned him about what’s going on. Jungkook did feel a little bad though, both of them had been so focused on Taylor that he felt like they hadn’t paid as much attention to August. He suspected that she probably wouldn’t mind if she knew they were trying to help her friend, but he was also just as sure that Taylor would be furious if she thought they were ignoring her friend, regardless of who they were and why they were doing it. So he did his best to pull his thoughts away from Jimin and Taylor and smiled as Joonie-hyung greeted August.
*****
When Namjoon got a call from Jungkook, he was immediately worried. Anything could have happened to him and Jimin, they could have gotten hurt, or sick, and why on earth did he let them go alone? Without even a manager? So, when he was greeted with Kookie’s smiling face when he picked up, he was relieved. But he still immediately started firing off questions, only stopping when he heard Jimin’s laugh from off-screen. He sighed a bit, glad to know that they were both safe.
“What’s going on?” He asked.
“We met a fan.” Kookie explained, “She was going to wait to talk to us because she has a friend who speaks Korean, but we figured out she was a fan and talked to her, so now we’re waiting for her friend, but we need a translator until she gets here.” He finished, looking a bit sheepish. Of course, Namjoon thought, laughing a bit, of course, these two would end up needing a translator to talk to a fan during their vacation. He bit back more laughter and introduced himself to the fan.
The conversation didn’t last long, and soon enough there was another girl introducing herself to him in decent, if careful, Korean. She assured him that they wouldn’t bother his dongsaengs for long, and wouldn’t tell anyone where they were. She seemed sincere, and Namjoon was willing to trust Jimin and Jungkook’s judgment, so he hung up.
“What was that Namjoon-ah?” Yoongi asked.
“Jimin and Kookie met a fan and needed a translator until her friend who speaks Korean got there.” He explained with a laugh.
“Aish, those two!” Jin exclaimed, “Only they would get spotted in a town as remote as that!”
“I know. But the girls seemed very polite and promised not to tell anyone they saw them, so it all turned out okay.” After that, the rest of the band goes back to what they had been doing, though Tae had been down at the pool the whole time and therefore had no idea what was going on. Then, about forty-five minutes later Namjoon’s phone buzzes again, but this time it was a text from Jimin. Apparently he was concerned about one of the girls, but frankly, Namjoon cared more about whether this girl might have triggered Jimin.
‘What about you though Minnie? Are you okay? Did you eat your lunch?’ He texted back, amidst many other texts of a similar tone from the rest of the band, even from Tae, who must have heard his phone buzz while he was swimming. Waiting for a response, Namjoon exchanges a worried look with Seokjin, and he can see Yoongi and Hobi doing the same. But before they can get too worried, Jungkook sends in a text that Jimin had eaten just fine, he had made sure of it. A simultaneous sigh of relief comes from all of them, making Hobi break out into relieved giggles. Jimin then sends in another text asking again if it would be okay for Kookie to call him again. And Namjoon isn’t doing anything right now, and he can tell this is important to Jimin, so he agrees. And five minutes later his phone is ringing again. This time he has Hobi, Jin, and Yoongi clustered around him, all of them wanting to say hi to one of the two fans that seem to have caught their dongsaengs attention.
*****
August would happily admit that her head has been spinning for the past hour, ever since she spotted Park Jimin and Jeon Jungkook sitting in the back of her favorite coffee shop. She honestly has no idea how this had happened. First, she had spotted two of her idols just sitting in her favorite coffee in the tiny town she lived in. Then she called her best friend, because BTS was here and Taylor needed to know that. Plus, Tay spoke Korean, which would be very helpful. But then Jimin and Jungkook were talking to her. And then to each other, and then to someone on the phone, and so she just sat and stared at them, hardly able to believe that this was happening.
Then Kim Namjoon was talking to her from Jungkook's phone. He explained that he was going to translate until Taylor could get there, and though she apologized about a thousand times for pulling him away from his rest day he just smiled and said he didn’t mind. Then, finally, Taylor was there. She spoke with Namjoon in Korean for a minute, then to Jimin and Jungkook, who hand them both autographs. August guesses she’s thanking them for the autographs and for talking to them. Finally, Taylor stops talking and nudges her in the ribs before bowing, and August is quick to follow her lead. And that’s it, she thinks. But it’s not. Because suddenly Jimin, Park freaking Jimin, is grabbing her best friend by the arm and apparently asking them to stay and help them get around.
The two of them accept, because of course they do. Who in their right mind would say no to BTS? Then the two boys are offering to buy them lunch, which she accepts for both of them. And finally, Jimin is asking Taylor to go for a walk with him while she and Jungkook get dessert and talk to the rest of the band.
And so, here she is. Eating a brownie with Jeon Jungkook, while she talks to Kim Seokjin, Min Yoongi, Jung Hoseok, and Kim Namjoon on the phone. Taehyung, she was told, was at the pool, but might be up later. And while she had been pretty comfortable during lunch, she’s definitely more nervous without Taylor with her. The two of them have been together for so long, really only apart for classes, and occasionally a few other things, that trying to talk to new people, especially her favorite band, alone, is pretty intimidating.
“So how long have you and your friend been fans?” Namjoon is asking her.
“Uh, um, pretty much since the beginning for me. I got Taylor into your music when we met about a year after your debut.”
Yoongi says something to Namjoon in Korean, and he nods before turning to her. “You’ve really been watching us for a long time. Suga-hyung is wondering if you guys have ever been to a concert?”
August laughs, and shakes her head. “No. We could never afford to. And even if we could afford tickets, we couldn’t afford a hotel, and gas to get downstate. We’ve been saving for years, but we have to pay for school and our apartment. Plus food and clothes, so we’ve had to dip into our concert fund a couple of times.” She explains, not noticing the way all their faces fall when Namjoon translates.
“You’re paying for school and your apartment on your own?” He asks.
“Well, yeah. It’s just been me and Taylor since high school.” This time she does see their faces fall, and winces. She didn’t mean to upset them. “It’s really okay. We have each other, we don’t need anything else. And, as silly as it might sound, we have you guys too. Your music, all your YouTube videos, vlives, Run BTS, and whatever extra content we might be able to afford at the time. It makes us happy. You guys can always make us smile after a bad day.” She trails off a bit, seeing Namjoons face. He looks sad. His mouth is open, but he’s not saying anything. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.” She says quietly.
“No, I’m not upset. Just, I didn’t realize I guess. We know people like us, but to hear that, to hear that we helped you so much, it’s….I’m not even really sure. But it’s definitely something.”
“Oh,” August replies, listening as he translates for the rest of the band, and then suddenly Jungkook is hugging her.
“Love you.” He tells her in English. “And thank you.”
August blushes and hides her face in her hands, making Jungkook coo at her. When she looks up, all of them are giving her fond smiles.
After that, August steers the conversation to a safer topic. Something more like they might talk about during a fan meet. A few minutes later, Taehyung walks in. He’s only wearing his swim trunks, apparently unaware that his hyungs are video chatting with a fan. Immediately, August lets out a squeak and turns bright red. The others notice her reaction before they notice Taehyung himself. Taehyung notices her at about the same as she notices him, and also turns red. He immediately moves out of view and starts complaining. The only words August can catch are the other members' names and hyung. Next to her, Jungkook is laughing his head off. The hyungs are also laughing, and send Tae off to change, then rejoin them. He does so, and with the majority of the band there, the atmosphere quickly becomes playful, and it stays that way until Jimin and Taylor show back up after maybe forty-five minutes.
*****
Jimin’s mind is racing as they walk back to the cafe. He has to find a way to help Taylor. But he could tell she didn’t really want his help. And unfortunately, it’s very hard to help someone who doesn’t want to get better. He himself had passed out during dance practice so many times before he had let his members help him. But even if he can’t help her just yet, he wants to be there. To give her someone who understands. But he’s not sure how to do that. He’s an idol. He travels almost constantly, and once he leaves he might very well never see her again. Asking to go back to her and August’s apartment had been an impulse decision. He wants to see where they live, see what the rest of their lives are like. He still remembers when they were all living in a tiny dorm, unsure if they would ever make it, but even then, most of them had had their parents to fall back onto. And if it had come down to it, Jin would have taken Yoongi home with him. Yoongi didn’t know it, but when they found out he was pretty much cut off from his parents the rest of the band had sat down to talk about what would happen if they disbanded. In the end, it was decided that Jin would insist on taking him home, at least until he could figure something else out. They might not have been as close back then, but there was no one they would ever let one of their own end up on the streets.
It doesn’t seem like Taylor and August have that though. Taylor said that they were disowned, and from the sound of it, the two girls don’t really have any other friends who could do for them what Jin would have done for Yoongi.
So yeah, Jimin wants to see their apartment. Something in him aches at the idea of just leaving these girls alone again. Of going back to his tour and never talking to them again. He may not know them well, but he feels like he should. The same way he did when he met his members. He’s learned since meeting them he should follow his gut with these things. It’s what tells him when Kookie is sick but trying to hide it, when Yoongi needs to be dragged out of his studio before he does something he’ll regret. So he decides to do the same here. He’ll go to their apartment, see what it’s like, what their lives are like, and then decide what he’s going to do.
When he and Taylor arrive back to the cafe, he sees that August and Jungkook are on the phone with literally the entire band. Namjoon is doing most of the talking, but the others chime in with what English they know every now and then. The poor girl looks overwhelmed, her face bright red and words stuttering as she replies quietly to Namjoon. When she sees the two of them though, her face lights up, and she jumps to her feet, latching onto Taylor immediately. She starts talking in rapid-fire English that Jimin is sure even Namjoon might have a hard time understanding. He sees Taylor relax too, and watches her laugh in response to something August says. It’s obvious that these two have a bit of separation anxiety going on, but he decides not to mention it. He barely knows anything about them, but what he does know is certainly grounds for anxiety.
While the two of them finish talking, he turns to Kookie, and to the rest of his members on the phone. He sees the looks on their faces, and knows that they see it. How tiny Taylor is, the way that she and August cling to each other, as if worried the other will disappear.
“She said we can come over to their apartment for a little bit.” He tells them quietly, “I want to help them hyungs. From what she told me, they have even less than we did before debut, and they don’t even have their parents to fall back on. Or someone like Jin-hyung to help them.” The others' faces fall, though Yoongi-hyung looks a little confused.
“Alright.” Namjoon-hyung sighs, “See what their apartment is like, and then we’ll see what we can do. But Jimin, I’m not really sure we can do anything. You guys are coming back tomorrow, and in all likelihood, we’ll never see them again.”
“I know. But I want to try. Maybe they can come work for us or something, I don’t know. But I don’t want to leave them on their own.”
“I know you don’t.” Jin-hyung says, “I’ll talk to the company, see what I can do. For now, just try and enjoy your vacation okay?”
Jimin and Jungkook sigh and nod as Taylor and August finally separate from their hug and stop whispering to each other.
*****
A short Uber ride later, Jimin finds himself in front of an old apartment complex. He can tell just from the outside that this place isn’t as nice as their first dorm. The dorm may have been small, but it had been of decent quality, with nice, if slightly strange, neighbors. They probably aren’t that lucky, this area seems kind of seedy, definitely not the kind of place two young girls should be living on their own. Jimin can feel his heart sinking yet again as he realizes that this is the best they can afford. Taylor and August, however, don’t seem fazed by any of this. The two of them easily lead Jimin and Jungkook up a set of stairs and pause before a door, Taylor pulling out a set of keys.
As she opens the door, both girls' faces turn a bit red, and Jimin can see why. There’s a poster of them hanging up over the couch in the tiny living room, but Jimin doesn’t mind. In fact, he thinks it’s kind of nice. That in some way, he’ll always be here, in this apartment, watching over them. He chooses not to mention the poster, not wanting to embarrass them even more, and instead looks around. The living room and kitchen are essentially the same room, with the same ugly tiles ruining through the whole area. There’s an old rug on the floor of the living area, ratty and obviously second hand, as is pretty much everything else. However, as he takes it in, he sees that there does seem to be one new thing. In one corner is what seems to be a producing setup, and, though it’s significantly smaller than his hyungs, he can still recognize the midi board, keyboard, guitar, mic, and PC sitting on what might have once been their dining table. There are two folding chairs pulled up by it, so Jimin can only assume the two of them share it.
“Do you guys make music?” Jungkookie asks them, and he sees Taylor blush yet again.
“We try. We aren’t great, but we enjoy it. I’ve even got a couple of songs in Korean, just because I wanted to challenge myself to write in a language other than English.” She admits.
“Really? Could we hear one?” Immediately, she blushes bright red again.
“Why would you want to? We’re nowhere near as good as your hyungs. My Korean is probably off, too. Writing music in another language is harder than speaking it.” Jimin sighs at the self-deprecation, knowing just how harmful that mindset can be, but he doesn’t say anything about it, knowing it’ll just make her more uncomfortable.
“I guess I’m just curious. I’d love to see what one of our fans came up with, and you’re right, writing music in another language is hard, so it would be really interesting to see what you did.”
“I’ll show you one of them. But just one!” Her face is adorably adamant as she says this, possibly expecting them to insist on hearing more than one, and it makes Jimin want to coo at her. Her cheeks and ears are red as she goes over to her computer, August quickly following her and pointing at the screen, maybe trying to suggest her favorite.
“Okay here, you can listen to this one. It doesn’t have a name yet, and it’s not really done, but I like it.” She admits before hitting play. The first thing they hear is a guitar, and then Taylor is singing. And wow. She’s good. The song is good, and her voice is good too. There is a bit of English throughout, mostly in the chorus, but she’s singing almost entirely in Korean. And there are a few things that could be tweaked or don’t really make sense, but still. With a bit of work, Jimin could almost see them using this song. It’s sad, but a little hopeful too. He looks over at Jungkook and he can see his thoughts reflected there. They can use this, these girls' talent, with the company so they can bring them with them.
After a few minutes, the song ends.
“That was good. It’s unpolished, and the lyrics could use some tweaking, but with a bit of work, it could really be something.” Jungkook tells them. Immediately, Taylor’s face turns red once again.
“Th-thank you.” She stutters. “But I probably won’t work too much more on it. After all, no one else is ever going to hear it. We don’t post our music, we’re a little too nervous, you know? We never had any formal training, just YouTube videos and experimenting really.”
Her explanation just impresses Jimin even more. He’s had all the formal training he could want from his hyungs, but he would have had a hard time making something this good by himself. And though he’s a little sad that they lack the confidence to post what they make, he’s not all that surprised. Hopefully, that’s another thing he can help with.
They spend the next few hours getting to know the girls and seeing the rest of their little apartment. To his surprise, Jimin discovers that the two of them share one twin bed, and when he asks about it, they explain that the bed had come with the apartment, as it was really only meant for one person, and they hadn’t been able to afford to get a bigger one.
Eventually, Jimin and Jungkook head back to their hotel to report back and see if Jin-hyung and Joon-hyung have had any success with the company. Before they leave they make sure to get the girls’ emails though.
As soon as they settle in, they facetime the rest of the band for the third time that day.
“How’d it go?” Hobi-hyung asks as soon as he sees them.
“They live in a dump, hyung. It’s so clearly not safe for them there, but they didn’t seem to even notice. It was so much worse than I expected. They share a twin bed and everything looks like it was picked up from the side of the road. Except for their production set up.”
That gets Yoongi-hyungs attention.
“They produce?”
“Yeah. Really well too. Even though they learned entirely from YouTube. And Taylor showed us a song in Korean too. The lyrics needed a little work, but it was good, hyungs!”
Jin-hyung grins at that. “That’s perfect! Joon and I got the company to agree to hire them if we could find something for them to do. It might take a little time to figure it out though, so you’ll have to leave before you can tell them. The company will contact them once they know how it’s going to work.” He promises.
Jimin wishes he could tell the girls, but he also understands that no one wants to get their hopes up just in case something falls through.
The band talks for a little bit longer before Jungkook starts falling asleep on Jimin’s shoulder and they decide to call it a night.
The two of them fall asleep cuddled together, whispering about what they hope the future may bring.