The room was dead silent, with heavy tension all throughout. Jin was glaring at Junseo, anger a stark contrast on his features compared to his usual look of disconnection. His eyes, usually so doe-like, wide and innocent, now sent chills down the therapist’s spine, goosebumps rising on his arms. Yoongi was sitting in the chair farthest from Junseo, with Jin sitting on one side of him, hovering over him like a protective mother hen. Namjoon was sitting on the floor on his other side, with Jimin and Hoseok sitting in chairs they had set up behind Yoongi. Jungkook was sitting at Seokjin’s feet, his hand wrapped around the arm of Yoongi’s chair, and Taehyung was set up right at Yoongi’s feet, one arm wrapped around a front chair leg. When they were all settled, they ended up a few feet away from Junseo, and it seemed like none of them were planning on moving an inch.

             On their faces were matching glares, all of them directed at Junseo, save for Yoongi, who seemed content in staring at the wall. Junseo himself was still sitting in the middle of the room, hands on his head, forlornly staring down at his shoes. Nothing was turning out like he wanted. His father, getting remarried- he didn’t even know who the person was! He claimed he still loved his mother, and yet here he was, getting married to someone new, someone he hadn’t even bothered to introduce to his only surviving child. Here he was, 37, single, in a room surrounded by people who hated him because he was an who couldn’t separate personal problems from work. For the first time in 14 years, he truly regretted having this job. For the first time in 14 years, he had absolutely no idea what he was doing.

             He decided that maybe it was for the best. He abruptly stood up with a maniacal look in his eyes. “I can’t do this anymore! I’m sorry, but this isn’t working! I really screwed this up, you guys. Badly. Really badly. Why don’t we just start over?” Junseo began laughing, sounding hysterical. He sounded close to tears, as well, so it shouldn’t have been surprising when he broke down into body wrenching sobs. The 7 others in the room still jolted in surprise because therapists didn’t break down. They comforted you when you broke down. What was going down in that room wasn’t normal. Therapists, especially one Lee Junseo, were not supposed to cry in front of their patients.

              Jin, despite his anger, still went over to wrap his arms around the older man and comfort him. Junseo couldn’t stop crying no matter how hard he tried, because all that was going through his mind were memories of his past. He was embarrassed, but the tears seemed to have a mind of their own, flowing down his face like a waterfall. The boys were now surrounding him, murmuring words of comfort. His tears eventually dried up, and by the end of it, he had just collapsed somewhere in the middle of the pile of 6 boys that had wrapped him in their arms. Yoongi stood to the side, hunched over the slightest bit. The rest of the session was mostly silent. In the middle of the floor was a mass of 7 bodies, quietly whispering comforting phrases to each other. In a chair by the window sat the 8th boy, staring out. No one noticed him. They didn't notice the lighter he was flicking on and off, the thin flame flickering, hard to see in the bright light of the sun. They wouldn’t notice until the signs were impossible to ignore, and there wasn't anything they could do about it.

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            The sessions were getting better. At least, they seemed to be getting better. Junseo supposed it would almost be perfect if he could get Yoongi to participate, maybe smile a little. There was no sign of excitement in the other’s eyes, no emotions at all. Junseo was so drunk on the feeling of success that he didn't even take the time to look. At the same time that Namjoon was opening up and speaking about how he wanted to be a rapper, Yoongi was speaking less and less. While Jimin and Taehyung began planning a dance performance for the others, Yoongi was barely moving to get up from his chair. When Jin brought in something the ladies in the kitchen had let him bake, no one noticed that Yoongi didn’t eat any of it (he didn’t eat anything anymore). As Jungkook went running in, showcasing his improved grade in English, no one bothered to check if Yoongi was even going to his classes (he wasn’t).

               No one even really noticed Yoongi was there, preferring to watch J- Hope ridiculously dance to girl group dances. No one noticed he was there until he wasn’t. He had stopped going to sessions, and although his presence usually wasn’t acknowledged to begin with, they could still tell when someone was missing. Jimin was the first to say something, interrupting Taehyung in the middle of the story he was telling to ask, “hey, where’s Yoongi hyung?” All noises ceased throughout the room  before burst up from his chair with a muttered ‘’. He took long strides to the door and belatedly asked the 6 boys still seated in the room if they knew where Yoongi’s room was located. He cursed louder when he was met with 6 shaking heads.

              He marched over to the files on his desk and fumbled through them, a few falling out onto the floor. He took off, almost running, as soon as he knew, closely followed by the others. Junseo couldn’t believe what he had let happen on his watch. Thinking back on the last few days, he realized that he had barely even taken the time to talk to Yoongi. In all honesty, he had somewhat been avoiding the younger boy. He was afraid of being rejected. Of being told what he did wrong, although he knew very well what he did. He didn’t want to have to face the consequences, to look his problem in the eyes. He knew that the first thing he should’ve done was make sure Yoongi was okay, but he was weak. He was focused on himself. It was like a mantra in his head. Selfish Junseo, Selfish Junseo.

              Those thoughts were twirling in his head as he came to a stop in front of Yoongi’s door. The therapist took a few deep breaths before deciding to open the door. He was afraid at what he would find when the door swung on it’s hinges to unveil the room hidden behind it. At the urges of the rest of the group behind him, he took one last deep breath and opened the door without warning. The sight that met him was worse than he could’ve imagined, worse than he ever thought. The younger didn’t even look surprised when the door softly hit the wall, simply saying,”oh, you noticed.” Junseo never knew that three words could hurt him so much,and as his eyes roamed over the younger, he found himself choking back a sob. He heard a gasp as the others when they walked in the room and saw him. His arms, and what they could see of his legs , were covered in burns. Junseo had a feeling that if the boy wasn’t wearing a shirt, his ribs would be visible.

              Junseo found himself standing in the middle of the room, watching as Jin walked and picked up the younger, beginning to walk back to the meeting room. He listened as Jimin whispered kind, encouraging words to the other. Junseo stood by himself in silence for a moment, before slowly walking back. If he thought what he had done before was bad, that didn’t even compare. He needed to make this right, bring back everyone’s trust. He wanted those 7 boys to be happy. It looked like his attempt to start over failed, and now he had more people he had let down. There was no starting over, there was only trying as hard as he could to make things right. He couldn’t mess up again. He couldn’t afford to.