"Taehyung! How was your break?" Taehyung heard his friend, Kunpimook, yell from the other side of the room as soon as he had entered. The other's stomping was almost obnoxiously loud as the other ran across the classroom, jumping over desks so that he could pull Taehyung into a hug, arms wrapping around him like a vice grip. The other's hold was so strong around his torso, it had almost made Taehyung's ribs scream in protest. Despite how strong his body was from archery, Taehyung could only take the sudden assault as best as he could, especially since Kunpimook didn't always know his own grip.

Quickly putting a smile on his face and trying not to get angry at the fact that the other was wrinkling his clothes, destroying all the work that he had put into ironing and making them look nice, he almost sighed in relief when the other had let him go a moment later. The other finally giving him enough space to breathe, Taehyung gave a small, yet simple response as he fiddle with his shirt, "It was fine, same old, same old, you know? Nothing too extraordinary, unless you count me getting a new Prada bag, but that's beside the point."

"Ooh! You'll have to show me," The other gave, giving him his full attention for a couple of seconds, only to be distracted a moment later to say hello to another friend of theirs. Leaving Taehyung behind in the process, something of which Taehyung was quite used to since Kunpimook was the type of guy that had way too much energy and wasn't patient enough to have long conversations, the other was more than a bit scatterbrained when it came to Taehyung and others. Unless it was Sungjong that is, because for some odd reason, the other senior was able to connect with Kunpimook a lot easier than most people. A fact that Taehyung had tried not to take too personally, despite the two of them having been friends for over two years now, but it was hard to see others - his friends, be the way they were. 

But not wanting to think like that, especially since Taehyung couldn't really afford to not have any friends, Taehyung let the other's behavior go as he took a back seat and let the younger boy excitedly talk to Sungjong. While Sungjong could only roll his eyes at the other boy before he was giving Taehyung a 'This dude, can you believe it' type of stare, Taehyung couldn't help but find it a bit cute.

Shrugging in response, it wasn't long before Yooa was stepping through the door, a smile on her face. The other's uniform skirt was much shorter than it was allowed, but the other didn't care and Taehyung kind of liked that about her. Even if the skirt had gotten her in trouble more than she had liked to admit. 

Waving her over, only to see the other quickly move to where Sungjong and Kunpimook were, the other barely giving him a hello or more than a quick glance, Taehyung could only ignore the pangs in his chest. Because as much as Taehyung had been able to get somewhat close to Kunpimook and Sungjong, Yooa was still a little icy to him. The girl being someone that supposedly didn't trust easily, but if Taehyung really thought about it, she was a lot more shallow than the other two. Even if the other two could be just as bad on a variety of occasions. But not wanting to pull any more attention towards what was going on, especially since it was only a matter of time until Taehyung had truly won her and the other two over, he had decided to give them the benefit of the doubt. 

"Hey Yooa, Sungjong, how was your guys' break? Do any shopping or something cool with your boyfriends?"

Ignoring the stare that Yooa was quick to give him, the other taking in his perfectly pressed uniform and windsor knotted tie - the latter being something she liked, the girl finally softened the look she had on her face to answer his question. While Sungjong and Kunpimook could only do the same, the other finally realizing that he hadn't shared that information with Taehyung just yet either, despite the other having asked him about his break already. Nodding as all three were quick to explain what they did, Taehyung couldn't help but feel a little better about himself. 

Because as shallow as the other three were and how he was subconsciously starting to match that shallowness, Taehyung was just glad he had friends. Especially since he didn't have any in grade school, unless you counted his ex that is, and Taehyung didn't want to think of the other in the least. So even if the other three weren't the best friends that he could have, they were better than nothing. Never mind the fact that the rest of the school didn't see him as a laughing stock or picked on him like some of his grade school peers had done, Taehyung counted it as a win. Sure, the rest of the school only cared about him because he was friends with the other three, but that was better than being treated than a social pariah. At least, that's what he told himself. 

It was the lesser of two evils, even if, Taehyung still felt as lonely as he did as a child. 

Shaking those thoughts away, Taehyung could only give Sungjong and Kunpimook smiles as they explained their breaks, only to let out a loud laugh a minute later as Yooa talked about her boyfriend, Baekhyun. Letting the others continue to talk, Taehyung occasionally chipping in with his own thoughts as well, Taehyung could only bask in the attention of his friends. Even if there were times where he could only stay silent or agree with them, despite having the opposite of thoughts, Taehyung could only keep his thoughts to himself. The teen not wanting to anger them or somehow get on their bad side, because as much as it pained him to be someone that he wasn't at times, it was better to be fake than be hurt. 

And if the three so happened to give a cute girl named Yein a hard time about the state of her appearance and how much attention she was getting from the guys that were in the room, the three more than a bit jealous at the fact that Plain Jane Yein could attract the male gaze without doing much or the fact that some guys were more than willing to wait hand and foot for her for being pretty, despite being a bit poor, Taehyung could only ignore the stares and sneers that her friends were giving the other girl. Because if Taehyung had really thought about it, thinking about everything that he had sacrificed and given up to fit in, Yein had actually brought all of that negative attention upon herself. 

Just like he had brought all that negative attention to himself all those years ago as well.

------

"Jungkook-ah, you excited for your first day at Junhwan High?" Seokjin softly asked as he turned his head to look at his brother in the passenger seat. The younger boy silently looking out the window, eyes blank and face void of emotion. The younger boy looking positively lifeless as he had stared outside, most likely taking none of the sights in. This action being something that Seokjin had somewhat gotten used to seeing within the past couple of years, but was still quite worried about, despite not seeing the other smile in what had felt like an eternity. 

Gone was the sweet little brother that had used to follow him around the house and tell him how much he had wanted to be like him, and in its place was a callous teenager that had wanted nothing more than for the world to ignore his existence. Almost as if Jungkook was a ghost instead of an actual person, wanting nothing more than to be the former, rather than the latter. Because being a ghost that most people couldn't see or touch was much better than being the center of attention for everything. Even if, the