Jungkook knew that being a popular idol would not be easy. He knew that there would always be people who dislike him or think that he's not good enough. But he never knew that he would let these people get in his head. He never knew that these hurtful comments would be the reason why he's silently sobbing underneath his covers at 4 in the morning. Normally, he would just use this as an opportunity to work even harder and to improve himself, but not this time. This time, he feels it. Jeon Jungkook, Bangtan’s ‘Golden Maknae’, was letting himself get torn apart by hundreds of Internet comments.

Jungkook hadn't been eating or sleeping much ever since that night. His boyfriend, Taehyung, noticed how distant he was being; not only distant from him, but from the rest of the group as well. Sure, he'd make the usual small talk backstage before a show or at practice, but he talked less on stage and in interviews.

So one day, after a busy day filled with schedules, Taehyung decided to confront Jungkook about it.

Jungkook had just gotten out of the shower, ready to sleep as he laid on his top bunk in his shared room with Namjoon. He couldn't stop thinking. The comments kept playing through his mind as he stared up at the blank ceiling. He jumped slightly as he heard the door open, not expecting anybody to come in since Namjoon would get back home late.

“Kookie?” Taehyung called out to the dark room, “are you still awake?”

Part of Jungkook wanted to stay silent, he already knows what Taehyung is gonna say to him. But he can't ignore his boyfriend forever; even though he currently hates himself, Jungkook definitely doesn't hate Taehyung.

“yeah Tae, I'm awake” he replied, still looking up at the ceiling.

Jungkook felt the bed dip beside him as Taehyung snuggled up next to him.

“Is everything okay? You've been acting weird lately and I don't like it…” Taehyung said as he wrapped his arm around Jungkook. “I feel like I never see you anymore even though you're my boyfriend and also in the same group as me! You know you can tell me anything, Jungkook” Taehyung continued.

Jungkook sighed. ‘I can't tell him. He'll make fun of me and then he'll tell Jimin and then I’d really never hear the end of it’ he thought.

“Everything's fine, Tae! I think the schedules are getting to me, that's all” Jungkook said as he patted Taehyung's head and rubbed his cheek with his thumb.

“You promise?” Taehyung asked.

“I promise” Jungkook replied with a smile.

Jungkook leaned in and gave Taehyung a small kiss. Taehyung pulled away first and started rubbing circles on Jungkook's chest with his index finger.

“After dance practice tomorrow, we're gonna go out for dinner. A nice date, just the two of us. I'll even pay too! Sound good?” Taehyung said, a little too excited.

Jungkook grinned, “Sounds good, Tae” Taehyung gave Jungkook another kiss before getting up off of the bed and climbing down the bunk.

“I'm gonna go shower now, goodnight Kookie~” Taehyung sang, drawing out the end of the sentence.

“Goodnight babe” Jungkook replied with a laugh.

Taehyung flashed him his boxy smile and left the room, closing the door behind him. For those last few minutes with Taehyung, Jungkook felt at ease. But now that he was alone with his thoughts again, that feeling was shattered. Why do those people hate me? What have I even done to them? Maybe they're right....

Jungkook finally drifted off to sleep at 6:30 am, only to be woken up 20 minutes later by Namjoon saying something about an early schedule. Jungkook rolled himself out of bed and got dressed, checking his face in the mirror to make sure nobody could notice that he'd been crying all night instead of sleeping. As he walked out to the van, he completely ignored Seokjin’s attempt to make him eat a granola bar for a quick breakfast. He ignored a high-five from Jimin. He only gave Taehyung a small, one-armed hug instead of the long bear hugs he usually gives. Today was going to be a long day.

The schedules were finally over and they were halfway finished with their dance practice when Jungkook started to feel dizzy. He was going through all the steps perfectly like he usually does (although he wouldn't call them perfect), until his vision blurred. He noticed that something was obviously wrong but he kept going, not wanting anybody to worry about him. Not wanting to be an inconvenience. He kept this up for a few more steps but the dizziness took over and he collapsed with the cold wood of the studio floor. The music stopped and he could see all of his band mates gather around him. His vision was still blurry and his ears were ringing but he's pretty sure he heard something about a hospital.

“I-I’m fine” he said in a shaky voice.

Jungkook tried to stand up but failed as he just fell back down, getting caught by someone this time. He glanced over at Taehyung. He was crying. He felt himself be lifted up and taken out of the building. His vision went dark as he heard the van door open.

Jungkook woke up in Taehyung's bed in the dorm. He quickly sat up and looked around the room. Taehyung was sitting in a chair beside the bed looking at his phone. When he looked up and saw Jungkook, he jumped up and wrapped his arms around the younger boy.

“Oh thank god you're awake, you scared the shit out of me!” he said, giving Jungkook a kiss on the cheek.

“What happened?” Jungkook asked.

“I should be asking you the same thing! You passed out during rehearsal and we had to take you to the hospital. They checked you out and everything and they said that you were extremely sleep deprived and that you haven't eaten in days… said to just take you home and get some sleep”

Jungkook didn't know what to say. He looked at his lap instead of facing his boyfriend, who was probably disappointed in him. Just like everybody else.

Taehyung cupped Jungkook's cheek and forced him to look at him.

“Kookie. You can't tell me that this is just because of all the schedules. There's something else. I know you well enough to figure out when something is bothering you. Please tell me?”

Jungkook felt his eyes well up with tears at the thought of telling Taehyung the truth.

He let out a shaky sigh. “These people… they told me that I don't belong in Bangtan…” tears started to fall freely down Jungkook's face now, “they're saying stuff like ‘you can't dance, how are you even an idol?’ ‘honestly jungkook is so ugly why don't they kick him out?’ ‘jungkook is just a worthless maknae, Bangtan would be so much better without him’ I can't fucking take it, Tae! Usually this shit doesn't bother me but it's just too much! Why-why do they hate m-me so much? I'm trying so fucking hard! I just… m-maybe they're right”

Jungkook hugged taehyung and sobbed into his chest, his emotions getting the best of him. The room was completely silent except for Jungkook's muffled sobs. Taehyung rubbed his back and kissed the top of his head.

“Jungkook, look at me” Taehyung said, Jungkook didn't move though.

“Kookie, please look at me?” he tried again.

This time, Jungkook raised his head to lock eyes with Taehyung, some tears still coming out and rolling down his face. Taehyung cupped both of his cheeks with his hands.

“Listen to me, Jungkook. You are not worthless. Those people have absolutely no reason to say those things. You're the strongest person I know- you are so fucking beautiful- and trust me, Bangtan wouldn't be as successful without you. I know it's gonna be hard but you can't let yourself get dragged down like this anymore, it's gonna kill you! If you ever feel like this, please talk to me, or one of the others or something! You can't keep everything bottled up. Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?”

Jungkook looked down at his lap again.

“I didn't wanna tell you… I thought that you'd call me pathetic…”

Taehyung let out a soft chuckle and grabbed Jungkook’s hand, intertwining their fingers.

“We’ve all dealt with this kind of shit before, Kookie, so we know what you’re going through. Never in my life would I ever even think to call you pathetic.”

Jungkook looked up at Taehyung, meeting his stare once again.

“R-really?”

“Yes really! I’ll always be right here with you, so please let me know when you’re feeling upset”

Jungkook nuzzled into Taehyung’s chest, the low sound of the older boy’s heartbeat putting him at ease. This is where Jungkook felt safe; cuddled up against his boyfriend, away from any kind of negativity and hatred.

“Thank you, Tae. I love you” Jungkook said, squeezing Taehyung’s hand tighter.

“I love you too, Jungkook. Always”

Taehyung leaned down to press a kiss to the top of Jungkook’s head. The two stayed there perfectly content in silence for a few minutes, before Taehyung spoke up again.

“Hey, how about we get changed, and we can go on that date I promised you?”

Jungkook smiled and nuzzled closer to Taehyung. This is where he belongs: he’s safe, he’s happy, he’s home, and he’s loved.