Practice harder. Get better. You’ve the most experience, so you should be the best. Hoseok shook his head slightly and gazed into the reflection in front of him. He was drenched in sweat – his fringe stuck to his forehead, beads of sweat rolling down his neck, his chest heaving as he tried to refill his lungs with oxygen. Stepping toward the mirrored wall, he pressed his palms to the cold glass and just stood there, gazing at the mess he currently was. He could hear the words of the others around him, but Hoseok tried to pay them no mind. Take a break. You’re good enough. He wasn’t, so he wouldn’t.

“Hyung, can you go over this part with us?” Hoseok glanced up to see Jungkook and Taehyung to his side, looking at him with nervous smiles. Why were they asking him? Jungkook had memorized the moves a couple days ago, and Taehyung wasn’t far behind. Hoseok had them down too, but not any better than the rest of them. It felt like they would ask simply because they could sense how he had been feeling lately. They were trying to make him feel better about himself and his dancing. And when he tried to go over the moves with them, but kept making mistake after mistake, he guessed they realized it had been a bad idea to ask.

With a loud sigh, Hoseok stepped away from the others, their eyes still glued to him. He knew what they were about to say – “Hyung, it’s okay! You’re just tired. Get some rest and show us how it’s done later." Rest wasn’t what he needed though. With a soft ‘excuse me,’ Hoseok managed to slip out of the practice room without drawing too much attention. As soon as he had stepped out of the room, he let out a large breath, moving directly toward the bathroom, crouching down in front of one of the cabinets and rummaging through it’s contents.

"There you are..” With a small bottle in hand, Hoseok quickly rose and made his way into one of the stalls. He gently popped the top off the pill bottle and shook a couple capsules into his hand, a small smile on his lips.