It was 11 pm in the morning when a sleek luxury car, which goes by the name of some French company, rolled in gracefully at the tarmac covered road, before stopping in front of a huge building.

As in que, a few people dressed in tight all black uniforms climbed out first and arranged themselves around the rear passengers seat, one of them reaching for the door handle and pulling on it with his head lowered in respectful greeting.

Soon all the trained heads began to bow one after another, a short nod or so to follow as a figure stepped out of the car, his shiny embezzled brown boot hitting the pavement with a sophisticated tap.

"Mr. Kim," one of the bodyguards greeted, looking up at the young idol fashionista who emerged from the hood of the car and stood up, with a straight face," Good morning."

The idol hummed, bringing up a heavily ringed hand to fix the white mask covering more than half of his face. The other half was covered by a pair of sunglasses which looked quite like underwater googles but no one questioned it.

Ofcourse, no one would dare to question Kim Taehyung about his choice of dressing. Not after he had won the title of "Most influential fashion icons of Kpop" 2019, and several others to count with.

Intact, truth be told, maybe it wasn't Taehyung's clothes that defined him, but vice versa. The Taehyung they knew as a child artist and Taehyung as the young adult idol had one thing in common, the art of being comfortable in his skin. So it wasn't the clothes or the style that mattered as much as the fact Taehyung was the one wearing them.

Therefore right now, as the boy was dressed in a pair of black slacks and plaid grey sweater vest, topped by a long leopard printed overcoat which was the right definition of flashy, the boy couldn't have felt more in his element. He had also chosen a bright red hat, a beret to be precise to complete his look for the day.

"Good morning Minhyuk-ssi," Taehyung greeted from behind his mask, as the other man began to lead his way into the company building.

As soon as they got in, a few reporters loitering around the lobby were quick to present themselves next to Taehyung, only separated by a layer of tough bodyguards and held out their mics for Taehyung to respond.

"Kim Taehyung, V! We are from the sub unit of the national press of Korea. We wanted to ask you some questions, please! Taehyung--ssi!!" But the idol turned them all a blind eye and continued to walk further inside the building, towards the administrative section.

The idol clicked his tongue, annoyed at the fact that unlike other media persons the ones working for National press were allowed free entry to almost every place in the expanse of the country. But that also meant that these people were responsible for covering the more relevant issues of the nation. Was Taehyung's hookup a national issue? Well if yes then good for him he guessed. It made him feel smug for some reason.

The idol and his surrounding troupe soon reached the elevator at the far end and piled in, taking them straight to the 27th floor, the office of the CEO of BigHit.

The floor had an only one room, designed in the form of a penthouse but was just a huge ass office. When the doors slid open, Taehyung was greeted by the sight of 4-6 men sitting around the conference table on the side, seemingly hot in some discussion.

"Oh there he is," A voice called out just as Taehyung stepped out of the elevator, leaving his bodyguards behind. It was Mr. Bang PD, the CEO of BigHit and Taehyung's favorite man in the world. The boy stopped when he felt all eight eyes on him but then shrugged and continued walking until he reached his own chair, one among the board of directors.

"Good morning gentlemen," Taehyung exclaimed brightly, pulling his mask down to reveal a soft rectangular smile," i hope im not too late?"

"Oh no not at all Taehyung. You're just twenty minutes late. Its better than last week when you didnt even show up." Namjoon commented with a sarcastic smile that turned Taehyung's bright one to a bit sheepish.

"Ah-- a-about that--"

"We don't need your explanations for now Taehyung-ssi, if you may, can we please proceed with the meeting now?" One of the other members of the group butted in coldly, making the boy huff and pout internally.

He wasn't even that late. Just... last night had been exceptionally long. Specially after he lost his sleep to all the crying he had done on his pillow. All because of that coward bog-shit!

"Yes sir, let's continue. We were speaking about the recent update on the social and television media platforms... about Taehyung's accident last day," Namjoon said carefully, eyeing Taehyung who suddenly became nervous," and we have some important decisions to make."

Mr. Bang nodded his head, smiling a little as usual. He was always smiling, or so he appeared atleast with how his wrinkly cheek bones were always raised and his lips hadn't seen a downturn once in their sixty years of existence. Mr. Bang could be sold as a living embodiment of the laughing Buddha.

"Decisions? W-what decisions?" Taehyung asked meekly, as his form squirmed a little on his seat. His eyes flitted between the people in the room and then fixated on Namjoon, who finally dropped the bomb.

"We're going to have to postpone the Singularly tour, Tae."

Taehyung felt his heart drop, eyes splaying wide behind the glasses which he suddenly remembers he shouldn't be wearing in a room with all elders because it was disrespectful. The now blonde removed the eyewear and slowly stood up, voice converting into a screech.

"We are-- what now?"

"Tae, sit down."

"No--NO, are you guys seriously canceling my world tour?? The one I've been practicing for more than over a year??" Taehyung let out, voice an exasperated mix of hurt and incredulity.

"Taehyung--"

"Namjoon-ssi, its okay. Let him talk, let him get it out of him if he needs to." Mr Bang replied sympathetically, before looking up at the boy who was already on the verge of bursting into tears.

"I-i-- need my m-manager, where's my manager?" Taehyung questioned, looking around the room as tears left his eyes. He blinked and in the very next second a tall man appeared on his side, a hand around Taehyung's shoulder and a gush of motherly pheromones released in the air to calm the boy down.

"Jinnie hyung!!!" Taehyung wailed, throwing himself in his managers arms who held him properly, and ran a worried gaze upon his form to make sure he was okay."T-they said my t-tour isn't happening!!

Seokjin, although having prior knowledge of the board's decision, still  looked up and glared at the men sitting around the table, especially at Namjoon who looked away before meeting his eyes.

So much for not wanting to hurt Taehyung?

"We didn't say it wasn't happening, it's just postponed." Namjoon informed, still not meeting the older man's eyes while Taehyung wailed harder, clutching on Seokjin's shirt.

"But w-why?"

"Because of the stunt you pulled on the parking lot yesterday?" The same rude man from earlier, Woojin, bit back making Mr. Bang frown at him.

"Yah, be nice to Taetae. Can't you see how easy it is to hurt his feelings?" The old man reprimanded his subordinate, who only rolled his eyes in response. He then turning to the crying boy with a kind smile." Taehyung-ah, you know the rules of the country right? You can't be involved in a dating scandal and have a concert in the middle of that. It comes out as being indifferent to your fan's needs. Do you understand?"

Taehyung sniffled, letting go of Seokjin and facing his boss with a sad yet endearing pout. "But im not dating Bogum."

"That's still how it looks right now, Taehyung." Chanyeol, the fourth member of the board, said while looking a little bummed himself,"especially when you yelled at that reporter back then for spying on you."

"Now, that was only because she had stepped on my new shoes in the crowd, they're from Balenciaga!" Taehyung gasped, mouth twisting when he remembered the woman's disgusting face when she said sorry after purposely destroying his new shoes. What a cat snitch!

The board broke into little snickers and Mr Bang smiled too, but Namjoon remained expressionless, still eyeing Taehyung with a hard stare.

"Taehyung, you need to understand a few things clearly. First, you're not a child anymore you're a grown up now, twenty four infact so please act like it. Second, you're not some normal college or uni going kid who is allowed to go on dates and kiss people around, you're an idol for God's sake. There is a difference and you know it, have known it before you signed up for this type of career, did you not?" Namjoon spoke each and every word clearly all the while looking directly into Taehyung's wet eyes.

For a second, he felt bad about the way he was speaking but he knew Taehyung also needed someone who didn't pamper him too much, which clearly wasn't the case with everyone else he knew. So that someone had to be him. Unfortunately.

"And third, Tae... just remember, this is Korea. I mean yeah we're developed and all but still... our society looks down upon homosexuals. We-- especially you-- aren't allowed to be gay or have a love life because you're an influencer. You're not only responsible for your own actions but also of the others who follow behind your footsteps. You understand what I'm saying?"

Taehyung had his gaze lowered, fixed at a random dot on the floor but he still nodded. He understood.

Everything came at a cost. His life, lavishness, popularity, everything. And Taehyung had somehow learnt to deal with that through all his child and teenhood. Although the same couldn't be said about his adult life. Call it hormones or just the need to not feel so lonely in a crowd full of people who loved him to death, Taehyung's heart started wandering, flying off its golden cage and find someone. Have it all.

But no. One couldn't have it all. Taehyung understood. He wasn't allowed to leave the gold laden cage. It was gold, afterall. And fed him well. Bought him love and appreciation in exchange for some show of talent. Taehyung couldn't let all of that into waste just to wander about without any destination or recognition. It was better that way.

"Tae," Namjoon sighed, feeling very less energized at the moment,"I am sorry if i sound too harsh. You know it's just been too stressful."

Taehyung nodded again, mechanically so but the message was clear that he understood. His bad reputation would not be harmful for him alone, but also his label fellow colleagues and staff as well. No he had to be more careful.

The blonde felt a small squeeze on his shoulder and looked up to find Seokjin flashing him a cute reassuring smile, telling him everything was going to turn out just fine. Taehyung relaxed and once again looked ahead when the board started discussing the new dates and locations of the tour.

It was soon decided that the concert would take place six months later, well into the half of next year because it was November already, and would include some of the new songs of the upcoming album as a compensation for his fans. Overall Taehyung was content with the new arrangement but his heart still hurt thinking about the fans who missed the chance to meet him because of his own stupidity.

Now it felt really useless, hanging out and getting caught with Bogum who even dropped him the first chance he got. Although Taehyung wouldn't blame him completely. Bogum had just started his career and getting involved into a dating scandal with a veteran celebrity wasn't going to work in his favor. Not in Korea atleast.

"Okay then that's it for today, gentlemen you may all have your leave." Mr. Bang dismissed the meeting with a kind smile before turning on his seat to work on some files.

Taehyung went to leave as well, Seokjin towing behind him when a voice stopped both of them on their tracks. It was Namjoon.

"What's it Mr. Managing Director?" Seokjin rolled his eyes as the taller man approached the two with hesitant steps.

"Um, can we speak?... outside?" He asked, pointing a thumb towards the huge terrace balcony next to the office.

It was clear the sentence was meant for Taehyung but Seokjin accepted the invitation as well because duh, he couldn't leave this man alone with Taehyung only for the latter to be hurt later.

The blonde hesitated but complied as he made his way towards the balcony and Seokjin tried to follow him but stopped when a hand came his way and blocked his path.

"Alone. I need to speak with him alone." Namjoon accoladed and Seokjin shot him a sharp glare. He did not trust him.

"Please? I'll be better. I promise." Namjoon seemed to read his mind and began pleading, peering back to find Taehyung waiting for him on the balcony.

Reluctantly so but Seokjin nodded, stepping away but not before shooting the taller.

Once he stepped on it, he made sure to close the glass door behind him before slowly walking up to Taehyung, who was standing by the edge and overlooking the busy city in awe.

"Uhum."

The blonde turned his head in the direction of the taller man, eyes narrowing in an attempt to understand what to make out of the awkward cough greeting.

"I heard about Bogum." Namjoon started, looking awkward as he peered out the edge of the balcony, down to the miniscule looking vehicles on the tarmac,"I am sorry he did that to you."

Taehyung sighed and looked away, a lazy shrug creeping up his shoulders.
"Yeah... no sweat. Doesn't make much of a difference anyway."

"No, no actually it does Tae." Namjoon said quickly, looking over at Taehyung with a big eyes," i know i said all that inside but i really didn't mean you shouldn't have a love life at all. I just meant... not now. Now isn't the right time, because you just hit the peak of your career. So many people appreciate you but a lot envy you too... and are looking to pull you down any instance they get. So maybe later? When you're in your 30s, handsome and mature as ever with a stable going career? Maybe then you'll find better men to hang out or even settle with? Good men... who deserve to be with you?"

Taehyung felt his lips twitch at the gentle, kind words coming from his second boss and very good friend.

Someone who deserved to be with him?

Doesn't sound too bad...

But what if he found someone tomorrow and not after he is 30?

Does life even work like that? So systematically planned?

Taehyung shrugged off the thought for now and focussed on the way the soft breeze pushed his hair back. He breathed in a lungful of the fresh Hannam air and exhaled slowly, loving the freshness that filled him to the core.
He then turned to Namjoon who was already starting at him, a small dimpled smile on his lips.

"Joon hyung?" The blonde frowned, tilting his head like a curious child,
"Can i ask you something?"

"Sure bub go on." Namjoon encouraged him.

"You're in your thirties right?"

"Uh... yeah? Thirty four."

"Then why haven't you called Jimin back? After... you know 'that night'?" Taehyung asked innocently, but the mischief sparkling in his almond eyes and the small twitch of his lip indicated his real intentions all too well.

And it only grew in size when Namjoon looked alarmed at his question, like someone planted a bomb in his pants.

"W-what a-are you talking a-about?" The older asked nervously.

Taehyung frowned but couldn't stop smiling either, making him look kind of funny as he began backing away towards the door.

"The night of the VIP music launch. Jimin told me everything. How you both..."

"Tae! Don't say it here!" Namjoon looked mortified as a certain memory resurfaced in his head. The exact one Taehyung was about to expose.

".... how you both... got too drunk and  fucked in the basement of the yacht!" Taehyung ended up yelling out the last part of the sentence, just as he ran away towards the entrance.

He heard Namjoon curse behind him and follow after so he ran faster, barking out a gleeful laugh as he pranced through the office like a golden panther, leaving everyone on his path smiling and laughing along with his playfulness.

________________________________________

A/n: A short glimpse into Taehyung's life.

You could already guess this is going to be a slightly satirical work aiming the lives of idols and media intrusion-- including ourselves, the fans. Yet this book won't disrespect anyone in anyway so don't worry and sit back. It will get interesting real soon. ;)

Also... does JK show more than his shoes in the next chapter? Let's wait and watch!

PS: And yes mini-moni in this one. OTP 🥑🥑