Bruised and Broken {KTH sickfics/hurtfics}

Fractured Perfection [Overworked]

Requested by Ina on AO3

It had been about half a month since Taehyung's Hwarang shooting began, and the boy was not having a great time balancing his idol life and acting in a K-drama, it was not a piece of cake, he was stressed, he had to memorize the script, memorize the choreography, memorize the lyrics for their new songs, and then he had to act well, dance well and sing well, he couldn't afford to disappoint anyone right now, after all, he had convinced everyone that he could handle both the things.

He might have jumped too far ahead though, he might have taken a lot more than he could eat on his plate.

Keyword, might, in the perfectionist mindset of Kim Taehyung, he could balance out both his jobs if he cut off some hours of his sleep, and get rid of his lunch and dinner breaks altogether.

So here he was, looking like a drunk zombie, running on a total of 4 hours of sleep in a whole week and the last meal he had was probably half a waffle three days ago when his Seokjin hyung forced him to sit down and eat breakfast with them.

He was so tired, he was exhausted, and he just wanted a break, but he couldn't, he pushed himself to keep going.

'Come on Taehyung-ah, you can do it, go through the script once more, just once more, for the last time.'

'Run through this choreography just one more time.'

'Just once more, you have to make your hyungs and director-nim proud.'

'You have to perfect it for them, you can't go around performing like this.'

That's what he kept telling himself, not realizing that he was completely neglecting himself in the process.

He failed to notice that he was basically like a walking-talking skeleton, he was as pale as paper, and the amount of times he 'almost' fell asleep, during practice or in the car while going to the set.

-

"Not like this, Tae, you have to turn a bit faster and then the hand movements are quicker than what you are doing." Hoseok pointed out as calmly as he could, he and the other members were trying to be as considerate about Taehyung as they could, because they knew that out of all of them, Taehyung was probably getting more exhausted than them due to acting in Hwarang as well as their idol schedules. But it was getting harder and harder for Hoseok to remain patient, Taehyung's mistakes were gradually increasing as the days went on.

The second youngest just nodded, and hung his head low, staring at the floor.

Their choreographer started the music again.

"TAEHYUNG!" Hoseok yelled as the younger made the same mistake for the third time in a row.

"I-I'm s-sorry, I-I jus-"

"I don't want excuses, either you get these steps down or else you can sit out during the performances of this song." Hoseok said.

Taehyung's eyes widened as tiny tears began building up in the corners of his eyes.

"Hobi, that was rude to say, don't be like this, Taehyung is tired, can't you see." Seokjin sided with his second youngest dongsaeng.

"Hyung, I know he is tired, but so are we, he needs to get the steps perfect or else it won't look good." Hoseok reasoned.

"Well, he will, I know he will get the steps right, he always does, but scolding him won't do any good, leave him be for a while, once the stress from Hwarang tones down a bit, he will perform well, right Taehyung-ah?" Seokjin asked as he slowly went towards the second youngest and enveloped him in a hug. "Aigoo, my little bear is working so hard, hyungs are proud of you, but don't forget to take care of yourself, yeah?" He said while patting the younger's back.