【 Jungkook 】

Whether you liked to admit it or not, as more and more days went by you automatically found yourself slowly but surely forming a more healthy habit of drinking chamomile tea when you happened to be working late

And while you still stood by your preference for coffee and stubborn dislike for any other kind of tea, you couldn't help but fall weak to this certain kind after Taehyung had made you a cup that one night

That same cup then slowly ended up spiraling into your now newfound habit of no longer drinking coffee past a certain evening hour, and instead switching out your caffeinated drink to the comforting warmth of the tea

Though you never quite managed to make it taste just as good as he had, nonetheless, it was close enough to suit your supposed 'picky palette' and also soothe your urge to drink coffee whenever you stayed up late to get some work done

In an odd way, the comforting warmth the drink provided you with also reminded you of the male who introduced you to it, possibly due to the similarity of how he overall brought a newfound sense of joy and warmth to the team with his bubbly personality

The thought made a soft smile paint your lips as you brushstroke after brushstroke worked on the newest episode that was to be published fairly soon, currently being in the midst of drawing one of the very first magical dueling scenes on the character's journey

Your concentration was soon interrupted however, as Jimin abruptly stood up from his seat and huffed out loud before rushing over to your desk, so a soft hum left your lips to signal you were listening even though your eyes remained focused on your tablet

Jimin: Gguk, have you seen the articles?

Another soft hum left your lips as you shrugged, continuing to draw as your gaze remained on the screen whilst speaking in a calm manner

Jungkook: Jimin-ah there's a lot of articles out there, and look whatever it is we can discuss it in a little bit, I just need to finish up this and then-

Jimin: Gguk this shouldn't wait, it's important

A breathy giggle now left your lips as you shook your head slightly, knowing this might just be yet another rumor circling about, possibly regarding your love life— which by the way, actually is very nonexistent, or then another rumored collaboration or so on as usual

After all, false articles were nothing new by now, and while they of course needed correction, it's nothing that couldn't wait at least another few hours or so

Jungkook: Even if it's important we're really busy right now, our preferred deadline is coming up so we should really-

He swiftly shook his head as he put down his tablet onto your desk, his tone was filled with worry and hesitation as he cut you off once again before you could finish what you were saying

Jimin: Jungkook they're accusing you of plagiarism, it's all over the forums right now...

As soon as those unexpected words left his lips, your hand which previously had been busy drawing instantly halted its actions as your gaze swiftly tore itself off of the monitor and over to your friend's worried expression, disbelief and confusion lingering in your voice as you spoke up

Jungkook: –I'm sorry, come again?

This instantly caught the attention of the rest of your teammates, who got equally as shocked by the newfound knowledge of those articles as you, meanwhile, Jimin gestured towards the mentioned articles displayed on the tablet that he had put down on your desk moments before

Yoongi: W-what? That's absurd–

Jimin: It is, but it's spreading like wildfire right now. Someone posted an article closely comparing both of your comics 'Mono' and 'Anodyne' to comics made by another creator, the similarities in both storylines and certain details are actually undeniable which makes it all the more fucked up, the webcomics were posted by someone under the pen name Xhian?

Hoseok frowned as he thought for a moment before swiftly typing something onto his computer, huffing as he actively scrolled through the creator's page whilst cutting into the conversation

Hoseok: No wonder the name sounded familiar, they're the newly signed artist under Starlight Studios that's quickly climbed onto the top 3 board with their comics. I'm looking at their work right now and this is just-... How could this be?

Another huff of anger and disbelief left your lips as you scrolled through all the articles popping up, all highlighting the same points ranging from the nearly identical art styles to the horrifyingly similar storylines, heck upon closer inspection the list of differences was shorter than the list of similarities

Jimin: There are too many similarities, and as I already said its spreading like wildfire right now due to the popularity you both hold, its only a matter of time before the media gets ahold of this, and then-

Almost perfectly on cue and in some twisted comical way, the blaring sounds of the office phones one by one began to ring and echo within the studio, your teammates all scurrying to answer them— only to hang up almost just as quickly as the multitude of reporters calling barely let them utter out the denial for the plagiarisation accusations.

The string of never-ending phone calls with factless accusations left you frozen from disbelief, and due to the overwhelming chaos that suddenly erupted, you found yourself spiraling into a panic attack whilst desperately trying to filter out the loud sounds

Yet to no avail, and Taehyung eventually slammed the phone down before reaching under his desk to swiftly unplug the phone, swiftly encouraging for everyone else to do the same whilst he hurried over to you and unplugged your own phone, finally making the deafening sounds come to halt only leaving the now anxious silence to fill the room

Though that unfortunately didn't rid of the overwhelming panic attack you currently found yourself in the mids of, shaky breaths left your lips while your dull gaze remained onto your own clenched fists laying in your lap, no words managing to leave your lips even though millions of thoughts surged through your brain

To break the tense silence, your hyungs briefly glanced at each other before turning their gazes back to you, Jimin eventually speaking up in a hesitant manner as he made an attempt to comfort you

Jimin: Jungkook-ah... There's no way you would plagiarize anyone so-

Jungkook: Well they don't know that, now do they?!

The tone of your response accidentally ended up coming out far louder and harsher than you actually intended for it to, making both him and yourself flinch in surprise and regret as you widened your eyes slightly before lowering your head once again in shame, a very soft ''S-sorry— I didn't m-mean to yell...''  leaving your lips as you fidgeted with your hands

He shook his head softly signaling it was okay, whilst they all flashed you looks of pity, however, you couldn't help but worry whether they had any doubts about you, so a shaky sigh left your lips as you spoke up once again, only this time your voice barely came out as a whisper, fearing your panicked state would accidentally make you yell at your friends again if you raised the volume any further

Jungkook: I-... I really didn't copy anyone, I promise... I d-don't know who– or why this is happening, I'll try to figure it out so just— go home and get some rest for today...

Yoongi: Gguk no, we'll help you out-

You instantly shook your head as you momentarily raised your head to flash them a very faint reassuring smile

Jungkook: Hyung no, thank you but this is my mess to clean up... I just– want to be left alone right now...

That last part almost came out as a plea, so they all once again shared worried glances between each other, before finally nodding in defeat as they headed back over to their desks to save their work and shut off the monitors

Hoseok: Call us if there's anything Gguk, okay?

A mere hum left your lips as you nodded before gently waving as they one by one left the office, Taehyung being the last one left as he halted his steps and turned back to look in your direction

Taehyung: Will you be okay Jungkook-sshi?

You looked over at him and paused for a moment, only to dodge the question as you forced another faint smile his way when you spoke up, almost making an attempt to both lighten the tense mood— not that it was successful

Jungkook: I'm sorry about this mess, I'll try my best to figure out how to solve this, but just know I completely understand if you choose to take a step back from all of this Taehyung-sshi

The look on his face was frankly unreadable, and he just looked at you for a little while more before eventually nodding, uttering out a barely audible ''Goodnight Jungkook-sshi'' as he turned around and quietly left the office

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