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Finding a Breaking Point

Summary:

With comeback season upon them, the members are under increasing amounts of stress. No one feels this pressure more than Kim Namjoon.

However, as more and more work is piled on him and with no easy way out, Namjoon becomes more and more worn down and no one seems to notice. Increasingly isolated and exhausted Namjoon is struggling.

At what point does it all become too much? How much can one man bear alone?

Notes:

(See the end of the work for notes.)

Work Text:

Comeback season was approaching once again for the members of BTS and the BigHit staff. After the success of their last comeback they were excited to share yet more of their ideas and music with the world and their massive fan base.

The rapline has been testing and developing ideas along with the production team for a number of weeks, and although the work could be tiring and frustrating, the three rappers were in their element. Namjoon and Yoongi in particular enjoyed long hours discussing beats and lyrics, trying hard to develop the album.

Hoseok split his time between the studio and dance practice room, developing new choreography alongside Jimin and Jungkook. The vocal line could be found throughout the day assisting the bighit staff with comeback promotion ideas, photography set up and social media management, as well as attending regular vocal practices.

Needless to say, the seven boys of BTS were busy but excited, carrying on the day to day activities of their lives as artists.

 

At the start of a new week, on a bright Monday morning, Namjoon headed to the BigHit office while all the other members were still asleep. He poured himself coffee from the pot in the kitchen, mussing his hair while thinking over the lyrics he and Yoongi had been fretting over the night before. He dressed quietly so as not to disturb the others and wandered out of the apartment towards the offices. While early mornings were never particularly pleasant at first, Namjoon couldn’t deny the beauty of the rising streets of Seoul. Feeling fairly contented as he walked into the production meeting, Namjoon settled into a chair.

Things started off fairly routinely, with a quick debrief of the major schedule points of the week, and updates from Namjoon and the other producers about song progress. Manager Sejin frowned slightly as he looked over the detailed planner in front of him.

“Namjoon-ah, do you think it would be possible for you to finish the last four songs within the next two weeks instead of three?” Sejin asked, scratching something down onto his notes.

Namjoon hummed to himself, thinking of the long nights he, Yoongi and the other producers had already put in.

“Well, we’ve had a lot of difficult sessions so far, and progress has been a bit slow,” he said, fidgeting a bit, “but we can try I guess.”

The other producers at the meeting shifted a bit but grudgingly seemed to support his words, and Sejin smiled softly at him.

“Thank you Namjoon-ah, I appreciate it,” he replied.

The meeting continued and the team went over a few last points of interest from the social media team and the costumers before a wrap was at last called around ten o’clock. He staff shuffled out, coffee cups now empty and headed to their separate corners of the building. Namjoon was about to follow after Sejin to discuss a couple of concept ideas when the fitness trainer gestured to him with a quick motion.

Namjoon offered a “Good morning, Trainer-ssi,” followed by a quick bow. The muscled man, grinned at the rapper before gesturing for them to sit.

“Hello Namjoon-ah, I hope you are keeping well. I just wanted to discuss a bit about what I wanted to do for your fitness plan leading into this comeback,” the trainer explained, handing Namjoon a stapled packet of information.

“You are doing fine for the most part, but since this comeback emphasizes your cooler traits, we are hoping to have you put on a little bit more muscle.”

The trainer walked Namjoon through the technicalities of what this meant: more protein, weight classes for an hour thrice a week, and a steady cardio routine worked in alongside dance practices. Namjoon nodded along, mentally adding his new regimen to his mental calendar. He had noticed himself gaining a bit more leg muscle recently, and it looked like BigHit wanted to run with the positive feedback.

After going over all the questions Namjoon had he and the trainer parted ways, and Namjoon headed towards his studio, typing his new responsibilities into his phone calendar and mentally preparing himself to bid farewell to carbs for the foreseeable future. As he turned the corner into his hall, he stumbled into a shorter body heading to opposite direction, twisting himself clumsily to try and avoid injuring the other person. Unfortunately, this resulted in him head butting the wall with a sharp yelp.

“Jeez Joon-ah!” Yoongi grumbled, pulling himself up from the knee he had fallen onto, “Give a man a warning or something.”

“Ah, sorry hyung,” Namjoon murmured , rubbing casually at his reddening forehead, “Were you about to pick back up on that song from last night?”

“No, actually I have to tell you about that, one of the producers and I are going to mess with some of the beats for at least the rest of today.” Yoongi said.

“Oh, okay Hyung, maybe I’ll ask Hobi for some help then,” Namjoon replied, “By the way, Manager Sejin told us in the meeting today that he needed the songs done in the next two weeks instead of three.”

Yoongi leaned to one side, frowning slightly at Namjoon’s words.

“We have been moving kind of slow with most of these projects,” he said, seemingly bothered by the change in schedule. But then he shrugged.

“Nothing to be done, I guess. Good luck with the song Joon-ah, hopefully Hobi can help.” With that Yoongi moves around Namjoon and off towards the other wing of production offices.

Namjoon frowned softly to himself as he stepped into his studio at last, placing his diet and workout information on his desk. He had a full schedule today and without Yoongi helping on the song, it would probably take another couple of hours.

He shot a quick text to Hoseok, asking if he was free to help, before sitting at his desk and pulling up his software. His phone beeped a familiar tone.

‘Sorry, Namjoonie, I’m super busy this week :( We are still nailing down the choreography for the first three songs.’ Hoseok had sent, followed by a stream of emojis.

Namjoon put his phone back on the desk with a sigh and pulled himself closer to the keyboard. ‘Well, back to work I guess.’ he thought

 

Two and a half hours later, Namjoon stood up and stretched the kinks out of his neck. While he was happy with the work he had done, it still didn’t feel like quite enough. Unfortunately, he had to head to dance practice with the other members, which would be starting in about fifteen minutes. Namjoon briefly debated whether he had time to chug a coffee, before he decided against it and instead headed towards the changing rooms.

As he pulled open the training room door, he was startled to hear the raised voices of both the oldest and the youngest member.

“Hyung I’m sorry I spilled on the tablet, I’ll take it to get fixed later on!” Jungkook was yelling, facing their oldest hyung with a furrowed brow.

“Kook-ah don’t raise your voice at me! You can’t be irresponsible with our things, and you were just goofing off as usual. I’m thinking you deserve to be on dish duty for the rest of this week,” Seokjin lectured his arms crossed.

“That’s not fair Hyung!” Jungkook angrily cried, before pulling on his shirt and stomping out towards the practice room.

Seokjin sighed, frustrated, before turning towards the silently frozen Namjoon.

“I could’ve used some support there, leader,” he grumbled, brushing against Namjoon on his way through the door. Namjoon gaped after him before sighing. The stress of comeback appeared to be setting in for the members. Namjoon shook himself tiredly, dressing in his workout clothes before entering the practice room himself.

 

Dance practice went slowly, and with each repeated explanation and missed step, it was clear that the choreographer and Hoseok were getting upset. Still, everyone put on a brave face and carried on, working their way through the choreography that had already been approved for one of the title songs. Jimin and Namjoon panted next to each other during a break, trading a water bottle between them.

“Has the trainer talked to you about your routine for this comeback yet hyung?” Jimin asked, “Apparently I’m the cute one again, this time around.”

“You’re always cute Jiminie,” Namjoon smirked, receiving a shoulder slap for his troubles, “but yeah they want me to put on some muscle for this one.”

“Ooo our big, bad leader,” Jimin grinned, getting an eye roll from Namjoon.

“Let me know if the diet plan is too much or if they give you any trouble Jimin-ah,” Namjoon offered, trying to sound somewhat casual.

Jimin’s smile faded slightly, but he squeezed Namjoon’s hand with a quick thank you, so Namjoon was satisfied for the moment. He looked out over all his members quickly, noting postures that slumped slightly.

‘I’ll have to keep an eye on them’ he thought to himself, moving back into starting position at the choreographers call.

After dance practice had finally concluded, the boys gathered their various belongings. The vocal line and Hoseok headed towards the door, Jungkook and Seokjin noticeably separate from each other.

“See you later hyungs!” Taehyung called back to Namjoon and Yoongi, who were both ready to head back to their studios for a couple hours. Yoongi glanced at the retreating group and sighed, before turning on his heel and following after them.

“Heading home hyung?” Namjoon called.

“Yeah, I’m too tired to work more today I think,” Yoongi replied , “Don’t stay too late Joon.”
Namjoon nodded in reply but Yoongi had already turned and strides out the door. The remaining member shrugged his bag onto his shoulder, heart stinging a bit at having been left behind without much fuss. Although it was normal for him to work until dinner, for some reason the solitude he faced in his studio wasn’t quite as comfortable as usual. Namjoon dropped his bag onto the floor and got back to work.

 

 

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Let me know what y’all think. This is mostly a product of boredom so we’ll see where it goes lol.

Notes:

Lemme know if anyone wants to take this story tbh