Before the date that he was most certainly not looking forward to, Hoseok decided to check on Jimin. There was a funny feeling at the pit of his stomach about all this and he probably wouldn't have peace till he straightened everything out.

He stopped at Jimin's door and knocked a few times. No answer. After a few minutes he just punched in the key code and peeked inside. "Jiminie?"

There was a lump under the covers, there was no doubt that the lump was no other than his dear friend, possibly moping. 

Scratch that, he was most definitely moping.

"Hoseokie," he heard Jimin mutter under the blankets, "He's mad, isn't he?" he asks, shuffling under the covers till Hoseok is able to see a lump of brown hair pop out,  "He hates me, right?"

The elder of the two sighs, sits on the bed and pats the spot where he believed Jimin's booty resides. "Jimin, maybe you should go talk to him."

"Talk to him?!" the smaller boy shouts. The blankets shift, Jimin pulls them away from his face to stare at his hyung with a look of disbelief. "Are you crazy?!" 

Hoseok just stares at the younger, eyes unreadable, "You at least owe him an explanation, Jiminie," he says softly.

"You don't get it, Hobi-hyung," Jimin sobs into the pillow, "I honestly don't know what came over me. I know that Jin-hyung likes the king, I was rooting for them. I don't know what happened. I'm not the type of person to kiss a stranger when drunk, you know that!"

Hoseok frowns. Jimin did have a point there. If anything, Jimin was the cute type of drunk who just wanted attention and simple cuddles. The drunk Jimin that he saw on TV was a whole other aspect that Hoseok had never seen before. Or was the drunk version of Jimin that he knew just a part of him that he showed him, Tae and Jin? "Regardless of that, Jimin, you need two need to talk. Right now Jin-hyung is," he pauses, trying to find the proper wording to describe how the eldest was at the moment. "He seems okay, but you can never really tell with him, you know?"

Jimin remains silent for a few minutes. After a few moments he nods, understanding. "I'll find a chance," he says softly, "eventually."

Well, that was a start. But then again, Hoseok was here not only to mend things between Jimin and Jin. He had a certain suspicion. "Jimin," he called out firmly, grabbing the other's attention, "You know you've taken Jin-hyung's spot, right?"

Jimin raises his head from the pillow, confused. "What spot?"

"As the public favorite." Jimin looks aghast. "It was on the news earlier this morning. A lot of people switched to you after your episode on The Reveal aired. You're winning by a landslide."

The smaller male blinks at that, finding it hard to believe. He stares down at his hands, a blush creeping on his face. "You mean...they really see me with the king?"

Hoseok cocks a brow at that. His suspicion rising. "Jimin," he begins, a bit worried of the answer he might receive, "what do you think about the king?"

His worry grows when he sees that the brunet actually blushes harder at the question. Jimin doesn't look at him as he speaks, "I mean, he's nice," he says slowly, "and he is good looking." His eyes lit up, he sat straight on the bed and leaned in to Hoseok, "Do people really think we look good together? What do you think?" 

The elder stares at him for a bit. Taking in Jimin's expressions, his actions, the tone in which he speaks. That weird feeling in his stomach is creeping up. Jimin looks up at him, tilts his head and asks if something's wrong, Hoseok shakes his head, "Never mind," he says. He stands from the bed, "I have to go now, but Jimin, please. Please talk to Jin-hyung, okay?"

He left before the smaller male had a chance to say okay. Normally he would feel bad for leaving so rushed but the had to get out of there fast, the atmosphere was creeping him out and he suddenly felt a chill that he hadn't felt in a long time. 

He remembered several scenes from this morning's episode. Jimin had been too open, too touchy, not to mention he had been exposing himself a lot. He spoke of his father, of his struggles, of his friends. He said all the right things for the grand public to shift their attention to him.

Did he know what he was doing?

Hoseok recalled several moments in high school where Jimin did strange things. He didn't know if Jin had ever caught on, but Hoseok did. Taehyung was pretty popular, had always been, so it was normal for him to get confession from classmate or from anyone at school. This wasn't weird, of course, it was rather normal when you had a face like Tae's.

But after each confession, Hoseok had noticed Jimin getting suddenly friendly with the person who had confessed, be it boy or girl. Until said person would eventually shift to have feelings for Jimin.

Taehyung never noticed, always being his adorable aloof self, but it had caught Hoseok's attention when something similar happened to his Noona, Da-won. Hoseok would always joke around that out of his small group of friends, he thought that his elder sister would look best with Jimin, but of course it was always said with light humor.

One day, his sister came home with a boyfriend, a fellow coworker. They had all been hanging out at Hoseok's house when the guy came and presented himself. Tae and Jin had been accepting, Hoseok thought the guy was nice too, Jimin made no comment. He would silently glance at the new couple every once in a while.

Jimin started coming over a lot after that. Almost everyday. He would speak to the guy like normal, start small talk, laugh at his jokes. One day they agreed to watch a movie at the house. Hoseok and Da-won went to go buy snacks. When they got back, they saw the guy assaulting Jimin. Da-won broke up with him on the spot. Jimin cried in her arms all night. But the next day he acted as if nothing happened.

Having known Jimin the longest, Hoseok had been able to deduce a lot about Jimin. Jimin's had a tendency to be clingy. He needed love, he needed attention, something that he never received when he was at home. Due to a sorry excuse for a father that he had. Jimin always craved for a real family, and the four of them (Hoseok, Taehyung, Seokjin and Da-won) fit the bill. Jimin didn't like feeling neglected, it reminded him too much of home. 

Had he felt that Jin-hyung was neglecting him because of the king? Or had he felt all of them had because of the competition and got tired of feeling ignored? Making out with the king would not only bring their attention back to him, but also the attention of the whole country.

Hoseok shuttered. He really hoped he was wrong about all of this, hoped that all of this was just a part of his usual paranoia and that things would just be right again.

For now, he had to take advantage of this date and fix things between the king and Jin.

Seokjin blinked as he opened the door to his room to leave and saw the last person he expected to be on the other side pacing.

Said person froze as soon as he was caught, then he blushed and nervously scratched the back of his neck, "Um, hi," he said before he actually raised his head to look up at the elder male, his eyes widening, "Oh. You changed your hair."

Seokjin raised a brow at him, "Jungkook. What brings you to our room?" he asked, ignoring his last comment.

"I wanted to talk," he says softly, "C-can I come in?" the young prince asks, looking back down at the floor rather than at Jin.

"I'm pretty sure its against the rules for you to enter our room without supervision," he said drolly, remembering the whole issue with Taehyung before.

A head peeks in the door from the side, Seokjin hadn't notice the princess being present there. "Hi, that's why I'm here. I'm the supervision."

The elder pressed his lips together, he was reluctant but gave in anyway. He opened the door wider so the two could come in. Tae was sitting on the bed reading and just frowns when he sees the two royal siblings come in. He looks at Seokjin who just shrugs.

He serves them tea, having them sit on the couches in the room. Seokjin and Tae sit across from them, waiting for one of the two to speak up.

Jungkook is the one to do so. "Um, I'm sure you've already heard about what happened?"

"How wouldn't we?" Tae says, "Its on every TV in the country."

The two siblings look at each other sheepishly, Jungkook clears his throat, blushing, "Look, what happened yesterday was a mistake-"

Tae snorts. "Nah, really?"

"Hyung really likes you, Jin-hyung," Jungkook continues, his ears burning red, "He wanted to come to you immediately-"

"Then why hasn't he?"

"Tae," Seokjin says lightly, patting the younger's thigh, "Enough. Let them speak." He signals the royal siblings to continue.

Geong-min continues, "You have to understand, Jin-Oppa. He's the king, but it's just a title right now. He has no power, Halmeoni does. But the advisers are on her case regarding Oppa receiving sovereign powers because they aren't happy with what's happened so far. The whole thing with you and him, you two disappearing during your date, the thing with Jimin. The problem is, they've managed to keep the whole thing with you under the radar because General Min has been on top of things regarding you two but yesterday...we never thought that there was a possibility that...it never occurred to us that..."

"So he doesn't seem indecisive, the advisers told Hyung to stay away from you," Jungkook adds in softly. "All of Korea right now thinks Hyung likes Park Jimin and if it word gets out that its you he likes it'll make him seem like-"

"A man whore," Taehyung says curtly. Seokjin glares at him from the corner of his eye.

"It's bad enough that the public doesn't trust him because he's gay," Geong-min says, "but its even worse if they see him kiss one guy one day and then declare his love to another the next. Not to mention that suddenly Park Jimin is a crowd favorite but we know that Oppa loves you so this is all a really big dilemma."

"So what you're saying is," Seokjin finally says, "that I need to leave."

"No!" Jungkook shouts, making all of them jump, "We just need to make it so that the public loves you again. We need to brainstorm how you can win over the public and do something amazing so that it seems that Hyung is taking an interest in you again and-"

"You want me to do some stunt." Seokjin sighs, "No. I appreciate what you two are suggesting, but I'm done."

The silence at the moment is uncomfortable. Seokjin watches their expressions carefully. They seem confused, unsure, as if they were expecting him to agree instantly. 

Seokjin notices the younger's eyes getting glassy. "You're done? Done with Hyung?"

"I never said that," Seokjin clarifies, "I'm done with trying to prove myself to people who shouldn't have a say in a relationship. I'm done being someone I'm not so that people can deem me worthy of being with your brother when all that should matter is the fact that I love him."

In the grand scheme of things, the only thing that should matter in a relationship is love. And if Seokjin's love wasn't more important than the love of the people of Korea, then this wasn't a relationship worth being in.

"After yesterday, I've learned not to expect anything from this competition," Seokjin says. "My feelings mean nothing to anyone here and I'm no longer going to make an attempt to impress anyone."

He pauses, takes a breath. The siblings' eyes are wide, even Taehyung was staring at him with his mouth wide open. Good, let them be shocked. He was tired of all their nonsense.

"Tell His Royal Highness, that the tables have turned. Now he's the one that has something to prove to me."