The King Likes Men

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Two more people till it was Seokjin's turn. 

Naturally he was internally freaking out, doing his best not to show it although his body wouldn't stop trembling. Hoseok and Tae had left to change wardrobe for solo performances. Seokjin was left alone with none other than his newly appointed pianist, Min Yoongi.

He wasn't sure how he felt about this whole sudden change. In fact, his head felt heavy thinking about it. 

Or perhaps that was just a part of his nerves.

With each passing moment his body would get another cold chill. It was damn close to being winter, why didn't anyone turn on the heat in this place?

Next to him General Min whistles, shuffling through the sheet music and eyeing it for about the billionth time. "You really got a lot to say with this, don't you?" he muses.

Seokjin turns away from the curtain to give him a shy grin. "Is it bad?" he asks, leaning against the wall to hold himself up.

"No," the smaller male says, "I'm just surprised is all. Didn't think you'd...you know, be capable of writing this."

The candidate frowns. "Am I supposed to take that as a compliment or what?"

"Take it however you want."

The stadium roared with applause. Seokjin was rather impressed by how loud it was as the candidate got off stage and on of the staff members ushered Jackson Wang forward. 

It was even more impressive, at least to Jin, that for an event such as this the royal family actually booked the Seoul Olympic Stadium. This meant that there were a bit less than 70,000 people out there watching them live. 

And with the cameras everywhere, the rest of South Korea was probably watching live from home. 

Jin couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy. Was it really alright to have such a huge event when there were so many things going on right now in the country? The attacks on the royal family, the war with the north, it seemed like a super inappropriate time to do this.

He guessed they were in a hurry. The sooner a winner was picked, the sooner Namjoon could obtain the sovereign powers from his grandmother and truly rule over the country.

A smile crept his lips. Namjoon would be a great king. Over those long nights when he would accompany Jin in the kitchen they would chat. Sometimes the chat would turn political and Jin would become impressed with how much Joon really knew about his country.

The country was in great hands.

"I'm curious," Min Yoongi speaks up suddenly, making Jin jump, "why combine two songs?" he smirks, "Couldn't pick one?"

If he had to be honest, yes, he had had a hard time picking one.

When he went to his vocal teacher and told her that he wanted to write a song, she had been doubtful at first, but she didn't say no. Seokjin was truly grateful that he even got the chance.

She helped him sort out what he wanted to say, the words that lingered on his tongue but could never express. 

By the time they had written everything and added melody she praised him for writing something so beautiful.

"Many could misinterpret your song," she had said, "but it'll touch the heart of those who needed to hear it."

That was what Seokjin wanted. Even if others could consider his song 'self-absorbed' he wished that the message would get across to one person in particular.

I love you. 

But I have to learn to love myself first.

"I wrote the second song," he says, General Min cocking a brow in response, "I feel that it's something that needed to be said. Self-love. It should be more important, no? This whole competition is about impressing someone. The king, the public, the other candidates. I got really tired of doing things for other people and not myself."