It didn't really surprise Yoongi much anymore to see the brat warming up alongside his friends on Thursday. It didn't really surprise him much also to see Jimin easily blend in, filling the spot right between Jungkook and Hoseok (this time it was Taehyung's turn to sit on the bench) on their three on three game. But somehow it still surprised him when the other invited Jimim for dinner at Seokjin's place.

Yoongi thought the boy would refuse but then again here they were, walking down the school's gate, laughing and sweating from their earlier game. The sky was pretty much the same as it always was on every Thursday evening. This for Yoongi was his favorite moment of all.

The dinner went on with loud conversation and heavy laughter. Taehyung poked constantly at Jimin. Hoseok kept on asking questions with Jungkook adding a few these and that, prying the boy with stories about likes and dislikes. Seokjin was busy filling everyone's bowl with his mom's home-cooked ramyun. It was only Yoongi that ended up glaring at Jimin from the edge of the table.

"Does having Jimin around bother you that much?" asked Namjoon who was sitting next to him. The other wouldn't certainly hear this conversation for now they were occupied by the very performance of Taehyung and Hoseok, trying to recreate a walrus's fight with chopsticks sticking out from their mouth.

Yoongi raised his eyebrow before quickly diverted his gaze on his bowl instead.

"Even you're not this-, annoyed when Jungkook came around," the younger boy added. Of all the other kids, Namjoon read him the easiest.

Yoongi sighed. "I don't know. The boy got on my nerve," he said.

"Taehyung got on your nerve once."

That would entirely true since he spent a few months disliking the boy at first. But with Jimin it was different. He was just-, itched to wipe that - sorry look from his face. It somehow made the boy looked so pathetic and he loathed that.

"He's just-, weird. Looking all sad like that all the time. It made me sick somehow," Yoongi said.

Not to mention the cry he witnessed once. He meant, what would be the boy's problem that he looked such like a lost puppy, begging to be rescued?

"Ooh, Min Yoongi, don't tell me you actually care for someone," teased Namjoon.

With that Yoongi flicked his finger at his junior's forehead.

"That's ridiculous."

"Yeah, yeah, Min Yoongi doesn't do feelings or so he said," mocked Namjoon, elbowing him on the waist.

+.-.+

The sky was completely dark the moment they finally left Seokjin's house with stomach full and jaws aching. Taehyung and Hoseok had made an exceptional joke it left the other laughing so hard they got tears in their eyes. One by one the other took different turns until Yoongi found himself once again walking alone through the quiet path. No, he wasn't actually alone. Turning his head slightly, Yoongi could see Park Jimin, whose existence didn't really surprise him anymore. He caught the boy looking at him and quickly diverted his gaze as he realized the object of his admiration had taken acknowledge of him.

Shrugging his shoulder, Yoongi just kept on walking down the path he knew too well. At night the sparse street light served as very little illumination to their small town. But it too gave Yoongi the feeling of melancholy he always loved, for when he raised his head to see the sky, his eyes would be greeted by the hundreds of lights, twinkling at the far distance. His minds would race for every bit of metaphors and sappy imagination as what those stars would represent. As a proud lyricist (or so he thought himself to be), beautiful words wouldn’t come easily without a few look at the sky he loved the most. Too bad he’d taken dusk as his favorite moment of all. The night sky would be a close competition.

“Bet you don’t have that in Seoul,” Yoongi said, addressing Jimin who’d been walking behind him. He kept on retracing his steps back to his house, hands behind his neck with chin lifted, savoring the view of the sky.

He knew it was his dream to go to Seoul. But those sky he loved the most, it would be something he have to give in return.

“All that pollution and dull sky. At least there’s one thing about this place you’ll like,” he said again, mumbling the words more towards himself than to Jimin.

He took another five or more steps before turning his head, only to find the dark and quiet path behind him. Jimin took a turn at that alley a few meters back or he had probably entered one of the house along the path. Either way, it was Yoongi who felt like a complete idiot now for erecting a conversation with nothing but the night air.

This was undoubtedly beyond stupid he felt like hiding his own face in his palm in embarrassment.

Good thing was having no one to witness the idiocy he just committed.

The moment Yoongi came home, he was greeted by his mother’s usual words of wisdom about future and wasting his time as a third grader with basketball and rap. There would always be talk about studying harder and preparing himself for suneung. Not wanting to create anymore disturbance with his raising tone, Yoongi opted to swallow down the comeback he already had at the tip of his tongue and hardening his fist before slamming his bedroom’s door shut behind him. That night he blasted Tupac and wrote another line about how ty parents could be and the price of freedom before he always found himself having something else to write about Jimin at the end of each day.

The brat ’ s an official member now.

Yoongi sighed. He didn’t know why he hated Jimin so much. Yeah. If hate was writing about him almost every day in his journal, than he truly despised the existence of Park Jimin.

+.-.+

“Initiation on Sunday night?” suggested Seokjin the next day on recess without the existence of Park Jimin around.

“This is making him official, you know that, right?” said Yoongi.

This year they had their last regional basketball competition to win. Last year they only got to third place. With Jimin, they were confident that the winning trophy would be a thing Taehyung finally got the chance to do.

“Well, I think Jimin fit in perfectly. We need him to win the competition, don’t we hyung?” asked Jungkook, somehow sounding more like a statement.

Namjoon gave him a slight meaningful look at Yoongi and he knew exactly what his best friend telephathically tried to say to him.

“Yeah we do,” said Yoongi with a shrug.

He didn’t actually have any other legit reason to oppose that idea. They do need Jimin. Namjoon was actually horrible to their standard. His very participation within their team was purely nepotism, sometimes Yoongi had to admit. Yoongi himself had to fill the huge gap that Namjoon was. Having Jimin around meant they would make actual progress.

But then again he was kind of having a hard time accepting the boy just like that for reason completely oblivious even to him. The other seemed to easily accept Jimin and here he was thinking how he should control his remaining glare for the rest of the year.

“Settle it then. Sunday night on the hill. We’ll do some training on the evening first,” said Hoseok.

“You’re really sure about the initiation, hyung?” asked Jungkook wearily.

The last time they did this ‘initiation’ it left their youngest member with a nearly broken ribs and bruises on his entire limbs. Thinking about it again, it surely was too cruel and stupid of them for injuring their star member at the beginning of their training day, but then again, they are indeed a bunch of stupid teenagers. Stupid was the word that held them together.

“It won’t be an initiation without the roll, the fall, the bruise and a few scratches,” grinned Namjoon.

Yoongi grinned alongside Namjoon. Seeing Park Jimin suffered a little bit. He thought he could handle that, at least.

+.-.+

So it was Sunday evening when Namjoon (as the appointed captain of their basketball team – and this was clearly an ironic joke) called for the team to gather at the school’s gym for another practice. Jimin of course, as the poor soon-to-be victim was there and Yoongi could only glare at him as he always did the entire game. He purposely went harder for Jimin, not letting the boy pried the ball from him and trying his best to pry the ball from Jimin at any moment possible instead.

“Don’t be too hard on the boy,” Namjoon whispered in the middle of the game. Yoongi sighed, because between that and glaring, playing hard was the better option.

The sun had set and the sky was dark when they left the school gym. The other exchanged a thoughtful look and smirked as they slowly walked out the school gate. Seokjin had pretended another invitation for his mother’s much desired hot stew. What Jimin would think as a normal stroll turned downhill as Namjoon screamed a “now!!” Taehyung leaped forward and put a sack on top of Jimin’s head. Hoseok quickly bound the boy’s hands behind his back.

“What are you-,”

“Shut up!” Namjoon yelled.

Namjoon was the better actor amongst them all and for him yelling like that clearly got Jimin shivering. The kid did shiver but he was one hell of a fighter. When his hands were rendered useless, he started to trash and kick with his feet. It became a nice scene to see as the boy kicked on the not-so-fortunate-Namjoon on the stomach. Hoseok and Taehyung laughed immediately before realizing that they should keep their mouth shut as well. Seokjin just crossed his arm and shook his head. Meanwhile Yoongi put on a huge smile across his face. This part was funny.

“This isn’t funny guys,” he said.

“Who said that this will be funny huh, Park Jimin?!” it was Yoongi who yelled and Jimin was seemingly taken aback by that. “Now stop thrashing or we’re going to do something much worse to you.”

Yoongi himself had to bite back his tongue after that to stop himself from laughing. Jimin suddenly went silent and he could see his other five friends trying their hard to swallow their own laugh as well. Jimin followed obediently after that as Hoseok and Taehyung directed him to the hill. The hill was 15 minutes hike away, passing the Auraji Bridge and straight into the dense trees overlooking their small town at the foot of the mountain with the Songcheon river right below it. Taehyung was the first one to come up with a recreational use of the hill, finding this one part that was not so steep and led right to the river underneath it. It was a perfect spot for hanging out and since then they’d been spending times there during the night, especially in summer.

“Are we there yet?” asked Jimin, having the nerve to finally ask. The walk wasn’t one to be called ‘entirely wrapped in silence’. Hoseok and Taehyung in particular had been giggling and whispering each other to shut up, it probably gave away the impression of terror that the five of them wanted to convey. So much for acting. Those two ruined it.

“Not yet,” giggled Taehyung, carefully directing each step that Jimin took. “I-i mean, shut your mouth and stop asking!”

Yoongi followed silently at the far back, constantly shaking his head.

“You guys aren’t really messing with me, are you?” Jimin’s words sounded a bit cautious.

“Yes we are. We’re going to leave you in the middle of the woods, snow white,” mocked Yoongi.

“Don’t listen to Yoongi. He got a terrible sense of humor,” Hoseok said, smirking. “Wait. No. I mean, we’re going to do something real terrible to you, brat. You hear that?”

So much for acting.

“I got the best sense of humor amongst you guys. If you think pushing down a helpless boy from the top of the hill is funny, than you guys aren’t one to talk,” smirked Yoongi.

“You guys are going to do what?”

“You’re ruining the surprise!”

“Hyung, you’re no fun at all.”

“Seriously, Yoongi?”

The other groaned in protest, turning their heads towards Yoongi who just kept on smirking. Jimin, on the other hand, was fidgeting and asking questions (something alongside ‘are you guys serious?’‘this is a terrible joke, right?’ or the most ridiculous ‘if this is your attempt of bullying I’m really sorry for everything that I’ve done’)

Hoseok and Taehyung would only just laugh to the few remaining minutes of their hike until they arrived to the spot. It was a small clearing at the edge of the hill, not quite the highest point, but from here Yoongi could already see the small light of the houses in the small town of his. Up there the stars were decorating his favorite night sky until it disappeared on the horizon, being replaced by shadowy figures of other hills beyond.

Taehyung took off Jimin’s sack and the five of them stood encircling the boy with the edge of the hill right behind him. It wasn’t actually steep. That plus the rainy season, this particular spot of the hill had turned into a slide. With the river down there, it was certainly far from the word harmful (but then again it depended on your definition of ‘harmful’). The thing was how Jimin wouldn’t be able to see the path behind him, thus thinking how really steep it actually was. That was the real surprise.

“You’re not really going to throw me down the hill, are you?” Jimin asked.

Underneath the starry sky and the full moon tonight, they could look at each other in the darkness without any form of illumination just fine. Jimin looked at each one of them with an expression of half scared, a quarter curious and a quarter amused. Either way the others at acting, scaring the boy off wasn’t an option any longer. Yoongi rolled his eyes.

“You think we’re joking huh, Park Jimin?” Yoongi said. Unlike Hoseok and Taehyung, he could pull out the act of a bully almost too easily. The 1^stgrader feared him for a reason, though. Jimin was probably going to answer a yes, before Yoongi gave out an order, calm and demeaning.

“Turn around you brat.”

“What? You clearly didn’t mean to-,”

“Turn around Park Jimin!”

Solely because it was Yoongi who screamed, the Yoongi who seemed to not like him very much, did Park Jimin finally wiped that amused expression off his face and started taking this seriously as he should have. Jimin slowly turned around, facing the night sky. Yes, at least this way Jimin wouldn’t be able to see Hoseok and Taehyung who’d been trying desperately to hide their laugh.

“Do you know what you’ve done?” this time Yoongi said.

“Yeah, you’ve done some terrible , Jimin. You better know that!” Taehyung added in with such fiery comments, one that sounded way too forced, which made Yoongi rolled his eyes.

“I didn’t do anything, I swear,” the boy answered back. “Just please don’t shove me down,” Jimin said, almost pleadingly.

“Then do as I told you to!”

Jimin went silent and it was Yoongi turned to smile as wide as he wanted to. From then on it was easy for them. They started with Namjoon telling the boy to “scream his off”. He did, screaming like a stupid person that he was being right now, old deaf Jung would probably be hearing for the first time down there. It was in the middle of the scream as well that Jimin ended up startling an owl perching at a nearby tree it sent him into a shriek. Yoongi regretted not bringing a video camera then to enshrine this humiliating and hilarious moment.

They ended up barking orders, something along kissing the ground to dancing stupid stuff. It wasn’t until Yoongi yelled at him to take his shirt off did Jimin finally shudder. The Park stuttered, saying a lot of ‘what’ and mumbled questions. In the end Jimin did, taking off his shirt, revealing his back and bare shoulder. The boy had some muscle, he got to admit that.

Yoongi smirked. He wouldn’t stop there, of course. He ordered the boy to take off his pants as well. Jimin hesitated for a moment, letting out a huge sigh, before finally gave in to the ridiculous order. Up to this point, Yoongi didn’t know whether they had done such a nice job in acting (which was hardly the case), or Park Jimin was indeed a complete idiot. The said boy took off his pants, revealing his (thank god) white trunk (because Park Jimin would be the laughing stock of the century if he wore briefs).

(Even Namjoon beside him blurted out a laugh and whispered a “Are you sure this is not going overboard” through his giggle)

“Now close your eyes and turn around.”

The boy did and Yoongi kind of regretted for ordering so. He had to witness how a boy with plump face, chubby cheeks and such an annoying pouting face was gifted with an almost godly-like, sculpted abs. Okay, Yoongi was probably being hyperbolic for the description. Jimin was standing in front of them all with nothing but underwear and face boiling red. The scene was certainly hilarious.

“Cover your eyes with your hands.”

“You guys aren’t trying to me, are you?”

“Not until we ask you to drop your trunks down, at least,” Yoongi joked.

Right when Jimin finally did so, Jungkook stepped forward with a bundle of cloth they’d prepared. The rest of them walked closer, huddling around Jimin. Funny was how seeing Jimin shuddering, feeling them getting closer towards them and probably thinking what they were going to do to him afterwards. Taehyung got around Jimin, placing his own hand on top of the boy’s and motioned him towards the edge of the hill. At that point Jimin was practically pleading, his feet skidded on the ground, trying to resist.

He was literally on the very edge of the hill, a simple push away when Taehyung whispered on his ear.

“Now I want you-,”

He paused, giving in to the thrill. Too bad the boy wasn’t sobbing, Yoongi thought. That would be the only cry he would enjoy to witness.

“-to open your eyes and change into these.”

Taehyung pried his hands off and Jimin cracked his eyes open slowly, right when Jungkook rolled the cloth open as well in front of him, holding it above his head so Jimin could see it hanging on the air.

“Welcome to the team, Jimin,” said Jungkook.

Jimin stood there dumbfounded, still having his back against them, staring at the cloth, probably realizing that it was a t-shirt. He grabbed it by the hand and scanned the shirt before he turned around slowly, finally facing them all.

“That’s-,”

“-your uniform for the team, Jimin. You’re officially in the team now,” Namjoon said, sporting a grin.

Jimin’s name was printed on the back of it. On top of it was the very-much-tacky name of their group, one whose existence always Yoongi tried to deny. It was of course Namjoon that came up with such a name, too flashy and weird for his liking. The boy stared at it, disbelief still painted on his eyes.

“Bulletproof boys?” he asked, raising his head to give each one of them a proper look.

“And you’re one of it now,” Taehyung said, walking towards Jimin and buried him in a hug, nearly knocking him off his legs and right off the cliff.

Jimin looked dazed, blinking a couple of times before he finally got to process the whole situation. And up to that point Yoongi could only cringe as he saw his friends one by one taking a step forward, burying Jimin in a hug.

“This is so lame!” Jimin exclaimed, as he finally put the uniform on top of his head and retrieved his pants again. “You guys are so lame!” he screamed again, finally smiling wide.

Last year Jungkook burst into tears right after they put off their façade. The youngest had to withstand each one of them telling Jungkook all the wrong he committed and practically just crushing the boy’s confidence down. He burst right into tears as they finally gave Jungkook his uniform, realizing that it was all just a joke.

“Why do I have to take off my pants as well?” Jimin protested.

“Yoongi-hyung’s idea, blame him,” said Hoseok, punching Jimin in the shoulder. "Probably his own way to jump on you as well."

"Hey shut up," Yoongi said, glaring.

The others patted Jimin then, congratulating the boy and practically making fun of him, telling him how ridiculous his face looked when he was scared. Yoongi oddly ended up like always, staring. He stood the farthest from his friends with both hand in his pockets, watching the scene. It was weird to see Park Jimin smiling widely and being happy. Happy. That was right. He shouldn't be happy right now as easily as that since this hadn't ended, had it?

"Oi Yoongi, congratulate Jimin, will you? You're the one who told him to take off his pants," said Namjoon, pulling him towards Jimin.

There was this cautiousness that dawned upon Jimin as Yoongi stepped forward, as if the boy had tensed up again and thought that the elder would yell at him again. Yoongi clicked his tongue.

"And you should have seen your own face," said Yoongi, smirking.

Jimin blushed instead and it got him cringing again.

“You know what-,” Yoongi said, his chin. “This isn’t over, Park Jimin.”

The boy’s eyes turned wide and that was the que for Taehyung to scream a “now!” for the second time that day. At that moment the six of them quickly grabbed Jimin by his legs and body, lifting him off the ground. The boy was kicking and thrashing, swearing even, saying that it wasn’t funny at all. Actually it was, and the six of them were laughing when they did it.

“On three!” Taehyung screamed.

“One-,”

“Put me down, guys! This is not funny. You’re not really going to-,”

“Two-,”

“I swear to god I’m going to sue you all for abuse and-,”

“Three!”

And Jimin flew. He literally did, the six of them throwing him off the cliff in the count of three. What happened next was the never-ending scream of Jimin as he hit the wet soft ground underneath him, cracking a few twigs and branches, heading straight towards some bushes and rolled down of it. The others watched him from atop the hill as the boy finally hit the river underneath with a loud splash. They took a good ten seconds to laugh, commenting on how stupid of a face Jimin had when they threw him until Seokjin reminded them that they couldn’t hear any of Jimin’s voice down there afterwards.

“Oh my god don’t tell me we really did kill him!” said Taehyung, panicking. He walked towards the edge of the hill, trying to get a view of Jimin down there when he suddenly slipped instead and fell, tumbling down the hill very much like Jimin did as well.

That was the exact moment when they laughed again, at this point Yoongi’s stomach had already ached.

“Hey, he’s not dead!” Taehyung screamed later. “Come down, guys!”

At that Yoongi should have known that it would turn sour. He should have run away because to that scream, all the other’s eyes turned towards him. They perfectly knew that Yoongi wouldn’t want to come down the hill on his own and risk doing anything stupid, thus reminding them that the task was left entirely in their hands.

“No, don’t you dare, don’t you ing-,”

Hoseok didn’t let Yoongi finish his sentence before grabbing his legs very much like they’d done with Jimin. Namjoon, Seokjin and Jungkook helped, lifting them easily off the ground. Yoongi tried his best to thrash and pry free but instead he found himself flying in the air the next second before gravity pulled him hard. His body bumped into the ground and he practically went down tumbling and rolling, cutting his hands a little here and there until the cold water hit his face.

It took him a few moments to gather his balance, remembering once again how to stand and overcome the shock. He felt like throwing up but managed to stand, body drenched and filthy. Taking a deep breath, he turned towards his friends, still atop of the hill and pointed his fingers.

“You guys are so ing dead!”

That was the last thing he said before everything turned into an all-out war.

The only thing that Yoongi remembered that night was laughter. They laughed way too much. The others were thrown or at least voluntarily climbed down the hill. Namjoon was thrown off, at least, because as soon as the boy hit the water, Yoongi had made sure he found the thickest mud to throw him with. They laughed and practically acted like little children, splashing waters and throwing mud towards one another in the middle of the night in freezing April.

He remembered the seven of them coming home with body cold and freezing, clothes sticking to their skin, still laughing, even as they rubbed their skin and fidgeted during the walk. He remembered the six of them getting sick (with the exception of Jungkook because god knew why he was always the best amongst them all in everything, this time immune system finally being a ranking as well). Namjoon entered school actually as well before going to the nurse’s office at the 3^rd period.

But most of all he remembered how he turned around at the right time in the middle of their stupid game of mud-throwing, water-splashing and wrestling to see Jimin standing on the shallow river, laughing and wiping his already filthy face with the back of his right palm. He was smiling wide, body drenched and face smeared with dirt like the rest of them. Yet even though he was smiling, Yoongi remembered seeing the tears rolling down the boy’s face, glistening and being prominent underneath the night sky.

He remembered vividly the scene. He remembered seeing Jimin cried from happiness for the first time.

The brat cried again during initiation. He was laughing when he did.

What a weird brat.