Chapter 28: Disbanding

*Time skip to early May 2023*

    In the past couple months, Jungkook managed to find his soulmate. His name was Lorenzo and his special talent was baking. Everyone loved that that was the talent switch because Jungkook had to bake so many clues to find Lorenzo. Jungkook traveled to Spain to meet Lorenzo and Lorenzo temporarily moved to Korea so they could fall in love and control their switch. They were still working on it.

    On the other hand, their 10th anniversary as a group was approaching and tensions began to rise as they originally had planned to disband or continue making solo work while still being "together." All of that changed when their soulmates were revealed because their main reason for disbandment was to keep their soulmates a secret, but now, they didn't know what to do. However, Namjoon called a meeting and all the members gathered in the living room to have their chat.

"Alright guys, we know our anniversary is coming up and how we've all been iffy about our next move as a group," Namjoon began.

    Everyone else nodded in agreement.

"Hoseok has some news that might help us determine what we plan on doing."

    All eyes instantly went to J-Hope.

"Well guys, it seems that my soulmate is pregnant," J-Hope shared with them.

"I'm gonna be an uncle!" Jungkook exclaimed.

    Everyone chuckled.

"That is very true Jungkook but that also means, I might want to settle down."

    The room's atmosphere became tense again.

"Now that that has been exposed, I have news too," Jin said.

    All eyes went to Jin.

"My soulmate and I decided to adopt since she can't have kids. We had a meet up with the child we want to adopt and we're moving forward with the process. He should be part of our family by the time July rolls around."

"Double uncle!" Jungkook exclaimed again.

    Everyone laughed once more and some of the tension was released.

"So...is this it?" Taehyung asked.

"It doesn't have to be. Our soulmates aren't secrets anymore so I don't see why we can't continue as BTS," Jimin said.

"Do we really want to continue touring and having our busy schedules while also starting families?" Jin asked.

"I don't see why we couldn't do that but I also see how that might get in the way of experiencing our family's development," Namjoon commented.

They all sat in silence for a few seconds as they thought of what to do. Jimin broke the silence.

"What if we took a poll and asked ARMY?" he suggested.

"Take a poll? What do you mean by that?" Yoongi asked.

"We should ask ARMY what they want us to do. Obviously we're conflicted about what to do ourselves and how that'll impact our fanbase, so why not just ask them?"

"But this isn't about what they want and what's best for them, it's about what we want to do in regards to starting families." Namjoon pointed out.

"Even though it's not about them, they can help us decide," Jimin insisted.

"I like the idea of a poll but we shouldn't open it up to ARMY. I have a different suggestion. Why don't we do an anonymous poll amongst each other and whatever we vote for is what we choose to do, no arguments. The voting is final," Yoongi suggested.

Everyone looked and nodded at one another.

"We need someone to handle the votes for us though. Someone not in our group."

The bell rang and Jungkook opened it up. It was Ji-Hoon.

"Hi hyung, sorry for coming out of the blue but one of you left this jacket in a practice room and I wanted to bring it back," Ji-Hoon said.

"Oh, that's mine," J-Hope commented, "Thanks for bringing it over."

"Would you mind helping us with something now that you're here?" Jin asked.

"Sure hyung, whatever you need."

They explained the situation they were in and Ji-Hoon suggested making a box with a slit, three different colored post it notes, and then he'd count them together. By eliminating hand writing, nobody would know who chose what option. Ji-Hoon set himself up in the kitchen with a box and three post it notes. The yellow post meant no more activities and totally disbanding, blue meant staying together but only doing solo work, and the pink stood for not changing anything.

One by one, the members entered the kitchen and selected a post it color to put in the box that Ji-Hoon was holding. He swore never to tell any of the members who picked what option. After they all put in a piece of paper, he came out to the living room to count up the votes.

"Three of you picked blue, three of you picked pink, and one of you picked yellow. So there's a tie," Ji-Hoon informed them.

They all revoted on the tied option like they had done before. Ji-Hoon took out the papers one by one in front of them.

"Alright, one pink, one blue, one pink, another pink, another blue, one more blue, and lastly...one blue."

Everyone exchanged worried looks.

"That settles it guys. Looks like you'll be doing solo work from now on without disbanding as BTS."

"But..." said Jin.

"We agreed on no arguing or discussions about it," Namjoon reminded him.

"I know, this isn't about that. Well it is but I'm not against what we agreed upon. I just want to know how we are going to go about this. Will we tell everyone about only doing solo work or are we going to remain as is and pretend nothing changed? Because I'm sure ARMY will notice if we stop making music as a group."

"Jin makes a good point," Yoongi added, "And what if we wanted to perform solo and go on tours solo? I've been wanting to make an Agust D tour forever."

Author's note: I am well aware that by the time I am writing this, an Agust D tour has been made and completed along with everyone else's solo albums. However, remember that the timeline in this story is not accurate since I removed their need to attend the military for purposes of my plot.

"We can discuss logistics later, I'm sure we will work something out," Namjoon replied.

All the members reluctantly agreed to put the conversation aside. Ji-Hoon requested Jin to accompany him to do some shopping.

"Why me?" Jin asked him.

"You have the sense of fashion I need for this event I am attending so I wanted your opinion. We can go in my car," Ji-Hoon told him with a smile.

"Ok. Let's go then."

    Jin and Ji-Hoon went to his car and when they got in, Ji-Hoon didn't start the engine. Instead he turned to face Jin.

"Hyung, why did you pick the yellow post-it note?" Ji-Hoon questioned him.

"Are we going shopping?" Jin asked him, confused.

"No. I made that up. I want to know why you wanted to disband. You were the only one to pick that option. None of the others even thought about picking the yellow paper."

    Jin sighed in frustration and avoided eye contact with him.

"We said we wouldn't discuss this."

"You guys agreed not to discuss it among each other but nobody said anything against me asking you questions individually."

"Why are you asking me this anyway? What does it matter to you?"

"Well, someday I might be put in your position when my group gets older and finds their soulmates so I wanted to know your reasoning behind it. Also because I can imagine that you must be annoyed nobody else agreed with you and maybe you're frustrated about it. I'm just trying to be a good friend."

Jin softened his expression and began to confide in Ji-Hoon. He explained that his reason for wanting to disband was probably because he's the oldest member in the group and the most serious about settling down. Even though J-Hope is going to have a baby, J-Hope is more active than Jin and with his dance skills, he has the energy to keep up with the group and a family. Jin on the other hand, considered himself to be less agile than the others and felt like his time as an idol was running out. Not only that, but he was never meant to be an idol to begin with. He wanted to focus on acting and being in BTS limited his ability to do so even if they were doing solo work.

"Doesn't acting count as solo work?" Ji-Hoon asked him.

"Musical solo work is what we agreed on. But I want to act! I went to school for it for god's sake! I've done very little acting in my time in BTS and I want to explore that side of myself that I love deeply. With the schedule we have now, being in a k-drama or a movie is nearly impossible. Even though Taehyung was in a drama, it was during our slow activities and he was a side character. I'd prefer to be the main character. If we disbanded, then at least we could all do whatever we wanted to at our own pace without having to worry if it interferes with our families or our own schedules. You heard Yoongi. He wants an Agust D tour! How is he supposed to have that if he's still in BTS?"

"Maybe you guys should have a discussion about the decision you made. I know that you made it anonymous to avoid any disagreements but if you feel so strongly about it, you should say something! Especially since this impacts everyone and the others might not have thought about it in the way you have."

"I know but Namjoon said..."

"With all due respect, f*ck what Namjoon says. He might be the leader but it doesn't mean he can make the decisions for all of you because you're each your own individual people. Of course you're going to have an opinion about such a big decision!"   

Jin stopped to think in silence for a bit. Ji-Hoon gave him all the time he wanted. After a while, Jin simply opened the door and walked out of the car.