A/N You guys probably know what hakwon means, right? Just in case there’s someone who doesn’t, it means an educational institute that students in Korea go to after school to learn more about certain subjects. I don’t like using unnecessary Korean words in my fics, especially if there’s an English word that could replace it, but there didn’t seem to be a suitable word for hakwon…   ▶ ◀ ▶ ◀ ▶ ◀   Taehyung walked down the hallway and punched in the passcode at the door of his apartment, but he didn’t get halfway through when he heard yelling come through the thin walls. He sighed and clicked the cancel button.   Spinning on his heels, he ran the way from where he had come, back through the worn hallway and out of the building. Out of habit, his feet headed to the left when he reached the crossway, but he caught himself in time and turned the opposite way.   He rarely came down this street, but he remembered Namjoon’s part-time job would come up if he continued this way, so he pulled his jacket closer around him against the wind and walked faster.     “Taehyung?”   Namjoon was surprised to see his friend walking up to him. Taehyung raised his hand to wave lazily before leaning against a fuel dispenser nearby. Namjoon finished filling up the car in front of him and jogged over after shouting to another part-timer that he was taking his break.   “What are you doing here?” Namjoon wiped his greasy hands on his pants before plopping down on the cement ground.   Taehyung shrugged and followed him in sitting down. He preferred keeping silent about his problems.   Namjoon, thankfully, got the point and didn’t ask any further. Instead, he flopped backward on the ground, his arms spread out on either side of him. “Man, you don’t know how many of those stuck-up rich people come here with their expensive cars. And they think I’m their servant or something, always giving me trash to throw away.” He groaned at the horrible memories, squeezing his eyes shut.   His friend once again followed him in lying down, using Namjoon’s outstretched arm as support for his head. “It’s amazing how you can put up with that when you get angry at your brothers for even looking at your textbooks.” Taehyung chuckled in amusement.   “Hey, that’s because this gets me money. And those squirts should be grateful to me; I’m the one paying for their school materials,” Namjoon retorted, though there was a smile on his face as he talked of his younger brothers.   Though he may talk spitefully of them, Taehyung knew Namjoon would do anything for his four siblings. The whole reason he started working part-time was because his parents couldn’t afford the mandatory books for his brothers’ schoolwork.   They laid there talking about this and that for quite some time before Namjoon heard his boss calling ㅡmore like, cursingㅡ for him to hurry and do his job, and he jumped up immediately to race over to the waiting van. “Go to the employees’ room over there,” he told Taehyung, pointing to a door next to the small convenience store attached to the gas station.   Taehyung stood up and did as his friend said, dragging his feet over to the small room. When he opened the door, it wasn’t all that different to another employees’ room he knew of, and he pushed some chairs together to lie down on.   As he stared up at the dirty ceiling, he let his mind wander over to a certain person who had once placed her jacket over him when he was in this exact position, and he couldn’t prevent himself from wanting to go back to that time.   ~~   Jimin couldn’t concentrate on the teacher at the board. He waited impatiently for the lesson to end, scribbling in his notebook until it was filled with random words.   When the ending bell finally rang, he raced to his locker with his books in his arms and quickly shoved them inside before spinning back around to get to his desk. He had to catch Hoseok before he could leave.   However, when Jimin looked around the room, Hoseok was already gone. Sighing in frustration, he ignored his other friends’ goodbyes and ran out of the room. He weaved in between the swarm of students, craning his head over the mob in search of the familiar black-haired head.   Jimin let out a breath of relief when he spotted Hoseok walking out of the main door. Just after he passed the school gate, Jimin caught up to him and grabbed his arm to deter him from following the flow of leaving students.   “Hey,” Jimin took a second to catch his breath, “I need to talk to you.”   Hoseok was surprised to see him, and his cold gaze wavered. But it was only for a moment, and it hardened before Jimin could notice.   “Let’s go back inside. Me and Nari need to tell you something.” Jimin gently pulled the arm he was holding, but Hoseok wrenched it out of his grip.   “I need to go to my hakwon,” Hoseok responded coldly, brushing off the place where Jimin had grabbed.   Jimin’s mood dampered when he saw that, but nonetheless, he persisted, “Did you get my message about Seokjin hyung?”   Hoseok’s hand stopped mid-air and dropped to his side. Lifting his head, he stared straight at Jimin and replied, “Yeah, what about it?”   Shocked that he could be so calm about it, Jimin asked, “Then why didn’t you reply? Weren’t you worried at all?”   Hoseok’s icy glare was steady as he let out a frustrated breath. “What does that have to do with me?”   Taken aback, Jimin was at a loss for words. When had his friend become this hostile person in front of him?   “Hey!” Nari came jogging up from behind with expectant eyes. “So are you coming with us?” she asked Hoseok as soon as she reached them. A heavy silence greeted her, and she looked at each of the boys in turn. “Did something happen?”   “I’m going to be late,” Hoseok murmured and turned to leave without looking at Nari.   “Wait!”   She grabbed his arm, and Hoseok flung it back to get her hand off but accidentally hit her shoulder instead. She stumbled back from the force, and Jimin hurriedly caught her before she fell.   “You alright?” he asked as he looked down at her worriedly.   Her eyes flitted from Hoseok to Jimin, and she nodded slightly. “Yeah, I’m fine.”   He helped her get back on her feet, and Hoseok felt the need to apologize. However, something held him back.   “Dude, what’s your problem?” Jimin asked Hoseok, getting slightly angry at how he was acting. “Whatever we did wrong to make you mad, don’t you think ignoring us for over a month is enough? At least tell us the reason instead of acting childishly like this.”   At that moment, Hoseok couldn’t contain the anger boiling up inside him. It wasn’t originally caused by his friends nor would it ever be, but Jimin’s words gave him the perfect excuse to let it out.   He turned to face them fully, surprising both of them with his burning eyes. “My problem is that you two can’t take a hint. If a person ignores you for over a month, don’t you think it’s because they don’t want to talk to you? You guys attend this elite school; use your brains for once.” Hoseok knew he shouldn’t be directing his anger at them. His friends were the last people he wanted to yell at, especially these two. However, a part of himself enjoyed letting out the pent up feelings, whether they were directed at the right person or not.   Therefore, he couldn’t stop himself as he spat out, “I don’t want to be friends with you guys anymore, alright? Do I really need to tell you all this myself? It’s honestly tiring to go down to your level every time I hang out with you. Besides, it’s not like you ever wanted to be friends with me in the first place. You just included me in your stupid group because you felt sorry for me. I don’t need your pity.” His eyes hardened as he glared at the two people in front of him.   Shocked, Nari could only stare at Hoseok with big eyes. Was that really what he was thinking this whole time? She didn’t want to believe it, and most of her didn’t. However, the small part that did prevented her from saying anything.   Jimin voiced both of their thoughts for her, “That’s not true, Hoseok. We-“   “Save it. I already said I don’t need your pity. You guys were only a stumbling block to me anyway.” Hoseok shifted the weight of his backpack on his shoulders and turned to leave.   However, Nari couldn’t let him go that easily. “Hoseok. Seokjin oppa’s in a coma. Please, visit him just once.” She stepped forward as if to physically stop him but hesitated.   Hoseok steeled himself against her words and retorted without turning around, “I don’t care, alright? Whether he’s in a coma or dead, I don’t care!”   Suddenly, he was spun around by somebody, and before he could get a grip on what was happening, Jimin’s fist made contact with the side of his face.   “Jimin!” Hoseok heard Nari shout as he stumbled back.   The said boy grabbed him by