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"I don't know, am I going overboard? Is this too much?"
It was three in the morning and Seokjin was pretty sure that they had to be up at five to catch their flight to their next overseas concert. He was trying everything in the book to stay awake: rubbing his face, opening his eyes as wide as he could, even chewing on anything edible that he could find (his current victim was a bag of chips he had opened two days ago and tasted beyond stale at this point). Empty water bottles littered the studio's floor from all the times they missed the trash can, one even on top of Yoongi's shelves. However, both were beyond exhausted to make an effort to pick any of the crushed up plastics, arms made of lead and legs no longer solid.
"For the fiftieth time tonight, no." Jin shifted from his position on Yoongi's leather couch, body splayed out like a hopeless starfish that has given up on the adventuring, mobile life. "For goodness sake, Yoongi, we have to wake up in three hours. We're going to look like shit in the airport pictures."
A grunt was sent his way. "You can't even see my face in the pictures."
"Okay, I'm going to look like shit in the airport pictures." He propped his head on his hand, elbow dipping into the cushion as he glared at the rapper.
An amused look graced Yoongi's bastardly face, and never did the singer want to punch someone more than he did at that very moment. However, Jin caught the rapper's face morphing into something along the lines of guilt. "You know, you don't have to stay up with me. You can go home or just sleep here."
Jin's face softened, putting down the emptied bag of chips on the floor. "And, you know that's not what I meant. If I don't stay up with you, who knows how long you're going to stay up working on that mixtape." He reached out for Yoongi's swiveling chair and pulled him in, the wheels scraping against the floor. "Plus, I don't want to deal with a whiny rapper falling asleep everywhere we go because he didn't get enough rest."
Auburn eyes met with his own before they flitted away at his glowing computer screen in the dimmed lit room. "Like you don't whine and fall asleep everywhere, too."
"Yah!" Jin chuckled despite slapping his arm and pushing him back to his previous spot. Instead of retaliating though, Yoongi's lips stretched into a upward curve. "It's your fault I'm like you now, you know."
After a bit of bickering and giggling, they both settled into a silence, staring at the ceiling mindlessly. Jin's eyelids were threatening to droop even lower and fall into a blissful state of unconsciousness when he heard the mumbling.
"Do you-" Yoongi's words seemed to be caught along a net and struggling to come out of his chapped lips, and the visual's eyes shifted back to confused ones. "Should I even put this thing out for so many people to hear? It's so personal and, I don't know, weird to have such a large audience listen to."
The elder blinked. "Why are you saying this all of a sudden?"
Yoongi let out a frustrated sigh full of impatience and anxiety. "I don't know. I'm," Another pause, but this time, the small, fragile man looked at him straight in the eye. "I'm afraid."
"Of what?"
He looked away. "Of people's thoughts - harsh and gritty opinions on something that they really shouldn't judge if they haven't experienced it themselves but will judge because that's how people and life work and I can't do anything to stop myself from looking at it all and making myself feel bad about it even though I know I shouldn't but I know I will anyways and," At this point, Jin was sitting up with his full attention on the ball of insecurity in front of him, his hands clasped together and expression full of empathy, "you know what I mean, right?"
Placing a hand on top of his roommate's (which was gripping at the armrest of his chair so intensely that Jin was afraid it would break), he smiled gently. "Right."
"So," Yoongi's grip on the poor chair loosened, eyes fixed on his monitor, "what do I do?"
"Well, in my opinion, you should release the whole thing without any prior notice. No teasers. No promotions. Just let the hype be all about the album itself, because that's why you worked so hard on it." The rapper turned his head to look at him. His eyes reflected how he was doubtful of his roommate's words, but anticipated every one of them like the moments before his head hit his soft, beautiful pillow. "Don't let your fears stop you from releasing something that you've put every emotion into and have kept under a rock for the sake of others for so long. For once, be selfish. Take the satisfaction of posting that damn thing and let it flow through you."
His thumb started to move along Yoongi's slender fingers, weaving through them and softening the creases of his loose knuckles. "And, hey, if it flops, it'll suck for about a good five days before it drives you to make something better of it. We'll be here for you through every second of it anyways, so you're never alone in this either. Be brave and take that first step. I'll be here for you, stuck in this studio for as long as you need me. I know you have the most courage out of the seven of us to do the craziest and most wonderful things."
For a moment, there was the echoing, harrowing silence that would cause relentless thoughts in both of them in anticipation of what to say or do next in response to the other, but they met eyes again and somehow Jin saw it click for the younger as a small smile replaced his otherwise disguised look of despondency. He understood - they understood - and that's all the either of them needed before they were met with frantic calls from their managers of their whereabouts as dawn quickly approached.
"Okay."