Jimin frowned at the trails of glitter and sequins littering the floor, all getting trampled by hasty feet scrambling around to get ready. Ah, the excitement of a performance. He was ready, but so terrified at the same time and he loved it.

  Anyone would think so - with the way he was bouncing on his feet and tying and retying the red flannel around his waist and trying to figure out which smile didn't make him look like a retard. He walked over to where Jungkook sat, where a teacher from the uni was applying light makeup on him and Taehyung was getting his hair fixed up.

"Oh ho ho, you guys don't look half bad," He mused, "What about me?"

"You look like a turd."

"Yah Jeon Jungkook-"

"ALRIGHT, NEXT GROUP IS UP! ROMEO, WHERE'S ROMEO, GET ON THE STAGE, QUICKLY. LET'S GO LET'S GO, WE'RE ON A SCHEDULE."

Taehyung  stopped laughing. His brown hair was mussed up in the front but fell over his eyes in a cute sort of manner, and he looked like he was swimming in his black hoodie. "When's our turn? I heard it was after Jackson Hyung's group, but I don't know. Yo, Kook, pass me that juice box."

Jungkook took a long sip before handing it to him, but Taehyung looked unfazed as he drained the box until he emitted obnoxious slurping noises. He set the juice box down and muttered 'My name is V my name is V my name is V' over and over again. Jimin sent him a weird look. 

That was the stage name he chose for himself - after running around screaming V, Lex, and Six to see which one sounded better, and decided that V suited him best. Jimin, on the other hand, decided better for himself and kept his real name instead, along with Jungkook. Namjoon took up Rap Monster, Hoseok the Sunshine's name was J-Hope, Seokjin shortened his name to Jin, and of course, Yoongi was all pride for 'Suga'. Jimin found it cute the way he said his name - Shoo - ga, how he'd stare off into the distance and just mutter it under his breath with pouty lips and dazed eyes.

  He had that knack ever since he was younger - saying things under his breath and carefully elaborating everything he did. Jimin tapped his foot restlessly and watched other groups bustle about.

He was going to perform with Min Yoongi. He was going to perform with all of his closest friends now, and he couldn't feel more excited.

"Hey Jimin!"

Jimin whipped his head around to see Namjoon hustling with ease. "You look top notch! Jungkook, Tae, you too, wow, look at my sons. Remember to take it easy, alright? We'll be fine no matter what happens."

Jin appeared next to him out of nowhere and tended to the smudge of makeup near Namjoon eye, fussing over his makeup and saying he'd do it for him.

"Just come here, I'll do it real quick. I know, we have like five minutes."

"Hyung, you look really nice too."

Jin snorted. "Is that anything new? Come on,"

Jimin inwardly smiled. He knew the two had been getting closer as the days passed, and even mentally adopted them as his parents. He found it hard for them to be not dating when five guys were constantly shipping them in the most annoying ways possible, but he expected it to happen sometime. He internally squealed everything he saw them even just standing next to each other. Yoongi would just roll his eyes.

While Taehyung and Jungkook bickered over a bag of cheese doodles, Jimin sought out to find his other hyung. Not the sunshine, but the moon. The dark one. The Mr.I don't give a poop-dee-doop plz go dunk thyself in some bleach.

"HI GIGI HYUNG!"

"Don't call me that."

Jimin plopped himself on the couch next to Yoongi and snuggled up to his side.  "Are you ready? Gonna tear up that stage out there? You ready to rrrrrrumble?"

"Ugh." The elder tossed his phone on the couch and rubbed his cheeks, barely glancing at the other. "I'm so tired, I swear to god. You have any food?"

"I saw Tae and Guk fighting over some cheese doodles."

"Nah, that would be suicide." He turned his head to face Jimin, limiting the space between them but continuing nonetheless. "So munch, are you ready?"

"Munch?"

"Short for munchk-" Yoongi stammered for a second and just waved his hand. "Just get me some soda. Instant sugar."

"But you're Suga."

"So?"

"You know, I would, but we're going on really soon."

Yoongi blinked and stared at a wall for a minute.

"You know, I was just like Joon. I thought I was going to debut as a solo rapper and composer, but who knew that I'd end up in a boy band? Not that I'm complaining, or anything. It just kind of shocks me. I've never really had a proper dream until I was in high school, and I always thought I'd be my own person; alone. Guess it's better it turned out this way."

"Aww," Jimin gushed. "You love us that much, don't ya."

Yoongi grunted.

"ALRIGHT, BANGTAN SONYEONDAN, DO WE HAVE A BANGTAN SONYEONDAN OUT HERE? YOU'RE UP! GO TO LINEUP NOW."

"That's us." Yoongi grinned and squeezed Jimin's arm, who looked at him with wide eyes. "Come on, I got you. Let's break a leg or two, huh?" He pulled Jimin up and secured their hands, tugging them along in his army green hoodie. His freshly dyed black hair looked nice, Jimin thought.

He smiled. "That's not even how you say it."

_______________________

 Jimin's never seen so much light in his life. A blinding spotlight beamed down on the seven as they began with a peppy song they titled Rise of Bangtan; a bouncy tune to introduce themselves as a whole.

 He could see hundreds of people in the crowd - either parents, friends, onlookers, teachers, staff members, or scouts. The scouts. They were the toughies; the stones they had to break down by blowing them away with talent.  He could see them aligned at the front rows; looking stern, skeptical, or mildly impressed by each performance, and he could proudly say he was terrified. But Jimin swallowed it down once he saw the cheery looks on the other guys' faces and found himself loosening  up a bit,  falling into the beat.

  Next came Boyz with Fun. Another fun song that a couple of them plus a few teachers helped to create which introduced themselves further, made with pure honesty, background checks, and a whole lotta screaming. Jimin couldn't help but giggle when Taehyung yelled his parts, and they shared eye smiles which were swept along with their dance. Hours and hours upon dance practice; they had to get it right.

They could already feel the radiating heat after they finished the second song and got into position for their last.

Jimin watched with pride as Namjoon and Jungkook sprung into Converse High, tapping to the rhythm as they swayed. Hitting notes perfectly, Jimin mentally high fived himself and flashed a peace sign to the crowd even once in a while as the others did something likewise.

And once Converse High was over, the seven posed and smiled under the lights as the crowd cheered and Jimin saw a couple of grinning scouts, then felt more butterflies in his stomach. They better have caught at least one person's eye.

"Hey, everyone!" Namjoon motioned for the seven to gather once they were backstage again. "Let's eat out somehwere! We did awesome, I'm so proud of you all."

Hoseok rested an elbow on Taehyung’s shoulder as Jungkook was back hugging Jin like a koala, while Yoongi looked pretty bored to the side. But Jimin could see the happiness in his eyes - the shock of pride that beamed even from the distance.

"I'm so hungry and tired and sleepy. . ."

"Do you want to eat barbecue?"

"Hobi, we're not rich, okay? How about takeout?"

"Takeout?"

"Yeah," Taehyung continued, wiggling his shoulders so Hoseok’s arm wagged up and down, "you guys can come over if you want and we can play video games and have a little sleepover or something. . .Jiminie and Yoongi hyung live upstairs so we can move around if we want. Also I want Chim’s kitty."

"But my kitty is my kitty-"

"You can have Yoongi hyung he's a kitty toooo." Taehyung stuck a tongue out at him knowingly when Jimin pouted. What a meanie.

"I'm not selling myself to anyone, punk. Who do you think you are?"

"YOUR MOST BEAUTIFULLEST NIGHTMARE!"

"Sounds like the dinner Joon cooked up last night," Jin piped up.

"It wasn't that bad!" A stern look. "Okay fine maybe it was."

"Hey! Did you see any cool scouts out there?"

"You know, I think I saw this rapper who's from YG and a female vocal duo from JYP, and I know there were a couple of other companies I could barely recognize. We'll just have to wait and see who will contact us."

"HIYA!"

"Oh, I got scared-"

"You guys were seriously great out there. Seriously. It was like my eyes were burning you were so good,"

"Hey Jackson," Namjoon bro fisted the guy with blond hair and the other pounded his chest.

"It's hyung to you, kid. Not that you'd realize though, since clearly, my face is looking great today. Feel my skin, I used a new face pack last night made of bamboo juice or whatever and it feels like a baby's -"

"Sorry, sorry, I'll uh-" A boy in a bright pink hoodie began to sheepishly drag Jackson away, "I'll take him away now,"

"Mark why you gotta be like this? You have to know when to chillax, aight, see ya Rap Monster and crew!"

With a soldier salute, they were gone.

Namjoon watched him disappear into the distance. "That was weird. He's always been an interesting kid."

"There are plenty of interesting kids here."

Jimin nodded while he recognized a couple of people here and there, like Taemin with four other guys waiting by a corner just screaming scales together, Jooheon and another Hoseok practicing dance moves with bananas in their hands, and he even once spotted Baekhyun dragging Chanyeol (who was holding a guitar) by his arm once. He was scolding the taller, but Jimin could see hearts in his eyes.

On the stage, a band called Vixx began to perform and Jin immediately rose from his seat, shouting stuff like "YASS KEN, BRO YOU SLAY, YES I'M SO PROUD OF YOU GET IT BOY GIT IT OH YEAH THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT" while Namjoon looked mildly annoyed. Go figure though, Jin and Ken were good friends since the beginning. But Jimin would never ever stop shipping Namjin.

Never.

He cheered for the boys alongside the rest of his group mates and he felt extraordinarily happy, like this showcase marked the beginning. It would be a new beginning for all of them - possibly the start of a legacy if they were to be scouted by a good company.

All they could do now was cheer and clap for other schoolmates and friends and pray that they would get accepted by somebody, and he knew that they had a powerful fate coming for them.

  "Hey," Yoongi nudged him from the side. "How'd you think we did?"

"My voice might have cracked a bit here and there but I think we did okay. It's always fun to hear you rap though."

"Thanks. How many scouts do you think we'll get?"

Jimin sunk into his seat like a puddle of slime. "I dunno."

"Are you trying to get away from me?"

Jimin shrugged and made a mocking face until Yoongi pulled her back up, patting his head before his hand froze midway and a light pink dusted his cheeks.

"Keep patting my head it feels nice." He leaned over while puffing his cheeks.

"No."

"Pleease."

"Go away, Munch."

"You can pat my head whenever you want!"

Jimin sat straight in his seat again while subconsciously noting how Yoongi muttered things under his breath with a hand clutching his chest.

"Hyung, do you think we'll be famous?"

"I hope so."

"Do you think we'll get rich?"

"We better."

"Do you think. . .a lot of girls with scream for us?"

"That, I don't really care. As long as someone likes our stuff and I can appreciate them, too."

"So," the younger propped up his elbows on the armrest between both of their seats. "Would you rather have guys screaming your name instead?"

It took a second before Yoongi was smacking his head with an empty water bottle and Jimin was laughing, too content with making fun of his hyung to bother with the fact that he was probably losing brain cells with the way Yoongi was wacking him.

"But Hyung," He began after they settled down again. Vixx was onto their last song and Jimin watched half heartedly with admiration. "Do you think we'll be together for a long time?"

The elder looked over. "I'll make sure that we stay together for the longest time. I promise."

Jimin shifted. "You're not good at making promises."

But before he could say anything else, Yoongi grabbed his pinky with his own slender one and linked them together. Next, he twisted their hands until their thumbs pressed together while pinkies were still linked, and lastly took his own thumb and pressed it to Jimin's forehead.

". . . And stamped. I really promise this time. We might not be together forever as a band, but I promise that we two will be together for long enough that even my old grandpa brain won't forget who you are."

"But you're already a grandpa."

"Jimin-"

"Alright, alright. You better keep your promise. Or I seriously will kill you."

And at that, Yoongi bared a gummy smile. "Okay." He looked up and raised a fist, making his voice louder so the others would hear. "Bangtan Sonyeondan Fighting!"

Author's Note:

:I