The day of the exam.

How had time passed so fast. Jin wished he could have had more time to prepare Taehyung. Sure, this was just one test, they were just starting, but he wanted so badly for him to do well today, to see some results. His stomach grumbled miserably as he abandoned his breakfast. It felt like he was the one that had a test today, his nerves not allowing him to keep a single bite down.

"You have 30 minutes starting now. Do yourselves a favor and don't even think about cheating, I see all!“ Jin warned in a stern voice as he passed out the test sheets. His heart took a tiny little backflip when he handed Taehyung his and he found himself making a wish. Please let him do well. He crossed his fingers under the stack of papers he was holding. He was getting too invested. He always did this whenever he had a pet project. He might have a lot of faults as a teacher, like being too grumpy, impatient and easily annoyed, but he always cared. Always. Or that was at least how he used to be. He had lost his way a bit lately. But he wanted to find his old self again. He wanted to start afresh. He wanted to matter.

Ten minutes into the test he was doing all he could not to let a single giggle out, forcing them to stay put inside his gut where they were wrecking havoc, tickling anything and everything they could get their little hands on. It was damn near impossible, as Taehyung was being hilariously cute, nodding his head and shaking his body in what Jin could only guess was in rhythm with the study song he was mouthing. He was actually using the method he taught him. He was singing to himself. Jin could feel something akin to pride start to well up in his chest. Ah, that little troublemaker, he just needed someone to pay attention to him.

"Pencils down!“ he ordered, scanning the classroom, making sure everyone was following his orders. His eyes met with Taehyung's, who was grinning full circle, giving him an exited thumbs up. Ah, so he did well, he thought gratefully, feeling as a wave of relief washed over him. Muscles he hadn't realized were tense unclenched and it became much more comfortable to breathe.

That night he sat down with a bottle of red, Taehyung's test sheet somehow finding its way to the top of the pile. He was like a kid at Christmas, he couldn't wait to open that package and see what was inside.

~~

He tried to ignore Taehyung‘s dispirited, sad eyes as he scolded the class for their poor performance on the test, describing just how disappointed in them he was while hoping Taehyung wouldn't take it to heart. He was sitting there like a puppy that had just finished destroying the living room sofa and was now getting scolded for it, with his head held low. It was driving Jin crazy. He couldn't wait for the class to be over, finding it increasingly hard to concentrate as he went through the exam questions with the students, wishing he had made a shorter exam.

"Taehyung, stay after class.“ he instructed sternly. He could see the other students gawking at Taehyung, some sending him faces, making fun of the fact that he was done for, like people who enjoyed witnessing executions. Did he really have such rotten apples in his class?

The moment the last student disappeared out the door, he went over to him.

"I knew it was useless.“ Taehyung said in a broken voice, not daring to make eye contact with him. "I'm sorry you wasted your time, I'm just stu...“.

"Hey, hey, hey!! What did I tell you about using that word?!“ he cut him off before he could actually say it.

"I'm sorry I let you down.“ Taehyung pouted, a world of hurt in his eyes.

"Give me your hand.“ He said dryly and sighed.

Taehyung lifted his hand as if he was giving it up as a sacrifice, turning his head away and closing his eyes tight like he was waiting for him to give it a few hard slaps with the pointer. Jin's heart sank as he imagined what that kid had been through.

Using one hand to hold Taehyung's hand in position, he could feel how Taehyung's arm muscles tightened, bracing for impact. Instead of hitting it, he firmly stamped the back of his hand with a stamp he had dug up from a box from his old first grade teaching days. He hadn't opened it since the move. He hadn't even opened the closet it was in, sometimes going out of his way not to have to walk past it. It had become a sort of blackhole of memories and he was afraid that if he opened it he would get back in. He blew softly on the bright red letters that spelled out 'Great job' to make sure the ink dried and returned his hand in one piece.

Surprised, Taehyung opened his eyes, staring at his hand with an incredulous expression. "But.. but.. I failed!“ he said, not able to hide his amazement, a smile breaking free.

"In two days you went up two whole points!! You barely even failed! You did REALLY well! You should be very proud of yourself.“ He beamed with pride, and then couldn't help but shyly adding "I definitely am.“.

For a short moment there was silence while Taehyung just stared at him stupified, his smile nowhere to be found. But then, out of the blue, he jumped up from his chair and threw himself into his arms, knocking the air out of his lungs as he gave him a huge bearhug.

"Ehm.. this isn't exactly appropriate.“ He mumbled when Taehyung showed no sign of letting go, tapping his shoulder to get him to release him. Meanwhile, his heart was entertaining itself by pretending he was running a marathon, beating relentlessly.

"Oh he he..“ Taehyung grinned widely as he released him from his brutally tight clutches.

“Uhm... thank you.” he added softly as he marveled at the stamp on his hand, as if it was the most intriguing thing he had ever seen.

“It was all you, you earned it.” Jin told him.

“And now you have to keep going... you can do anything you set your mind to, if you just keep working at it and don't give up. Remember that.”.