I hear you calling

Kim Namjoon is president of Armystan, an island in the shape of a perfect trapezium. In his country there are many Army living there. He isn’t ruling alone tho. He has his loyal ministers on his side. The country is in peace and has no enemies.

“So we can start the meeting?” Namjoon asks as he is standing in the front of the room, and at the head of a round table. On his left side is a young guy sitting, brown hair and eyes and a goofy smile. Namjoon turns to him.

“Could you start it off, Minister of internal affairs?” Jungkook scrapes his throat and arranges the papers in front of him. Namjoon takes a seat. “Matters at hand are few but nevertheless important. First let’s start off with the new forest project on the north of our island. Could you brief us about the progress, Minister of Environment?” He looks at the man in front of him. The man has a bit of aloof expression and smiles a box smile. “Things are going smoothly~ We have managed to plant already 3HA of forest and have started cultivation on the east side. The weather is nice too, so we are bound to have a fruitful harvest this year.” Namjoon nods pleased. “Thank you, Taehyung. Next on the agenda is the renovation of the main gallery in the capital. How is this going, minister of Arts and Culture?” Jungkook turns to the person on his left, who is smiling a wide smile and his eyes are closing completely while doing so. “We managed to stay under the budget, we might even save on the cost of the paints, since we plan to let creative Armys decorate the main hall. All in all this is good for our wallet.” Namjoon nods pleased again while crossing his hands. I love how capable everyone is in my country. Jungkook takes the word again. “Thanks for your hard work, Jimin. We noticed a bit of increase of lazy Army lately. This would be not beneficial for our Army’s health. Have you found a solution for this imminent problem, minister of Sports and recreation?” He turns to the person next to Taehyung. The man smiles and jumps up to speak. “Well, things have been progressing in a negative direction, but we have decided on a national dance contest for participants. We are working on making dance workshops, in the hands of professionals to stimulate people to dance. We managed to make them as fun as they can get so the Army won’t even notice they are exercising. And for the contest, we are going to give the first 5 the chance to earn a private session with one of us. First place will get me.” He points to himself and it seems like he radiates. “That’s a marvellous idea, Hoseok! It is a perfect scheme and it won’t cost us much, just a bit of our time.” Namjoon nods. Jimin claps his hands in joy. “Yeay! We can have some Army quality time!” Jungkook coughs and starts speaking again. “Our last point on the agenda is for our minister of Health, Yoongi. Any progress on the Love Yourself project you started since the last meeting?” The guy on the right side of Namjoon sits up straight after hanging in his chair for the whole meeting. “We launched the campaign with succes. But we noticed with the latest release of Map of the Soul:Shadow and Ego, that the number of Army requesting mental counselling has risen. Many experience deep self reflection and start to discover things about themselves that leave them in despair. I did mean for the project to offer some people some insights in their own psyche, and helping them stimulate self help and self care, but it seems my plan has been backfiring slightly. I am very concerned and wondering if we did release this too hastily. Some Army are digging too deep, leaving them in a mental state of chaos. Maybe Shadow should have been handled more carefully. With more counseling and guidance. What is your opinion about this?” Namjoon opens his eyes and loses his relaxed stance. “So, we have put many Army in a position that aggravates their fears and insecurities? They are suffering? I don’t like this, not one bit. I never intend to harm our Army. We need to find a solution to this. This is urgent. This will take priority over all other projects.” He hits his fist on the table. The others jump up slightly and are starting to think. Jungkook is the first to speak. “Maybe for now, we should invest the money we saved from the Art Gallery Project into the mental health care. Make sure Army can go to a psychologist and psychiatrist with a low threshold. Make it cheap, so everyone can have access to mental health care. That would be enough for now, while we figure out a way to cope with this new problem.” The others nod. Namjoon puts his hand on Jungkook’s shoulder. “Good idea. Can I leave that to you, minister of internal affairs and finances?” Jungkook nods. “Okay, meeting adjourned. Thank you for coming. Keep up the good work. Let’s go get a drink.” The others cheer.

They are all sitting in the restaurant, enjoying some grill and beers. Hoseok is having his arm around Taehyung and is singing, already a bit tipsy. Jimin is feeding a wrap to Jungkook. Yoongi is pouring himself and Namjoon another drink. “I am so worried Joonie. I hope the Army will get through this rough patch.” Namjoon drinks the shot. “They will, they are much stronger than we can imagine.” Yoongi drinks too. “Hyung, I know it is hard on you. I think you are amazing for writing Shadow. For baring your weakness to them. You inspire them to do the same. But they all need to find their own answer. You can only nudge them slightly, they have to move on, on their way. It is out of your control now. Don’t take all of the world onto yourself, and personal. You just did a small part. This is all part of the healing process. You know that just as well as I do.” Yoongi pours another one and drinks it. He nods but is still ennerved. Namjoon gets up to go to the bathroom. When he gets up, he gets dizzy. After he finishes his business in the toilet, he washes his hands, still slightly dizzy he splashes some water in his face too. He looks up into the mirror. For a moment, a split second he saw someone else. He blinks his eyes and it is just him staring back at him. Must have drank too much. He joins the others again. He fills his glass with water to sober up a bit. Jimin and Taehyung are with their head on the table, asleep. “Guess we better call it a day too.” He says to Jungkook and Yoongi. They both nod and Yoongi takes his last shot after finishing the last bottle. He and Hoseok grab each a side of Taehyung to lift him. Namjoon and Jungkook take on Jimin. They drive to the purple house and place every sleeping person in their own room. After a brief goodnight wishing the men each retire in their own room too. Namjoon falls smoothly asleep, still slightly drunk.