“Hey Tae, are you ready to go?” a voice asked, causing Taehyung to look up and find his brother and his best friend walk into the waiting room.

“I, uh,” Taehyung muttered, looking over at Jin, who was staring at his phone.

“You should go get some sleep,” Jin said, looking up and smiling at Taehyung. “Thank you for being here for my brother.”

“Hey, you’re that new guy at our school!” Taehyung’s brother said, pointing at Jin.

“I am,” Jin said with a smile. “I’m Kim Seok Jin.”

“I’m Kim Namjoon,” the brother said with a smile.

“And I’m Min Yoongi,” Namjoon’s friend said, nodding to Jin.

“It’s nice to meet you guys,” Jin said with a grin. “Your brother’s a great guy. I’m so grateful for everything he’s done for Jungkook. He’s an amazing friend to my brother.”

“I’m glad Taehyung is finally making more friends,” Namjoon said, smiling fondly at his younger brother. “After that incident... with his old friends... He hasn’t been able to make any friends.”

“You can say their names, hyung,” Taehyung said with a sigh. “He knows who Jimin and Hoseok are.”

“You do?” Namjoon asked in surprise, staring at him in shock.

“I do,” Jin said, nodding his head. “Jimin’s parents are mine and Jungkook’s host parents. We live with Jimin.”

“Really?” Namjoon asked in disbelief. “I wouldn’t have guessed.”

“Yeah, they-”

“Hey, we’re back,” Jimin said, walking into the room with his parents.

“You left like three hours ago,” Taehyung said, frowning.

“The doctor called to say Jungkook can come home now,” Jimin replied. “We’re here to pick you guys up.”

“Oh, Namjoon’s here!” Mrs. Park cried, rushing over to Namjoon. “It’s been so long! How are you sweety?”

“I’m good, Mrs. Park,” Namjoon replied as she hugged him. “How have you been?”

“I’m been very well, Namjoon,” Mrs. Park said with a smile. “I’m so sorry for what my son’s done to your brother. I had no idea until now.”

“Mrs. Park,” Taehyung said, stepping up and placing his hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry about it, okay? You don’t have to apologize. What’s in the past is in the past.  We’ll work through this and figure everything out. I’m not mad at him. Sure it’s unforgivable, but I don’t want to spend my whole life dreading on the past. I want to shoot for the future.”

“But-”

“Mrs. Park, this is the decision I am making,” Taehyung told her. “Now, I’m going to go in and get Jungkook.”

“I’ll come too,” Jimin said, following Taehyung into the room. “Nothing’s okay right now, is it?”

“I don’t know,” Taehyung said with a sigh as they made it into Jungkook’s room. “I really don’t know.”

“That makes sense,” Jimin said, nodding his head.

“We’re starting anew, aren’t we?” Jungkook asked from the hospital bed, causing the two to turn on him. “Let’s start anew then.

“Alright, let’s do that,” Taehyung agreed, helping Jungkook out of his bed. “But first let’s get home.

“Yeah, let’s get out of here,” Jungkook agreed, nodding his head. “I don’t really like hospitals.”

...

“So your brother is my brother’s best friend?” Namjoon asked as he, Jin and Yoongi sat down together for lunch the next day.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Jin said, nodding his head. “The second Jungkook joined that school, Taehyung immediately befriended him.

“Aww, that’s sweet,” Namjoon said with a smile. “I’m so glad he made another friend. It’s been a while and he’s just been so lonely and depressed. I really don’t understand what happened to Jimin. He used to be the sweetest guy in the world. He would always smile and laugh and he would bring us gifts. He was so innocent and would never think of hurting a soul. He respected his elders above anything else. Like he and Taehyung were exactly alike.”

“We were?” a voice asked as Taehyung reached over and grabbed a rice cake off his brother’s plate, popping it in his mouth.

“You guys are here already?” Namjoon asked, looking up and Taehyung and Jungkook who were sitting down with them.

“Class ended early, so Jungkook said he wanted to eat with JIn hyung,” Taehyung said, gesturing towards Jin. “I didn’t know you guys were already friends.”

“Well, we decided to eat with him,” Namjoon replied, shrugging his shoulders. “He was eating all alone and we don’t want that to happen. But anyway, how are you feeling Jungkook?”

“Better,” Jungkook replied, taking out his lunch and placing it on the table. “My fever went down.”

“Why’d you go to school?” Yoongi asked with a frown. “You just got out of the hospital! You should let yourself rest.”

“No matter how much you tell him that, he won’t listen to it,” Jin said, shaking his head. “He’s stubborn. I tried having him stay home this morning, but that’s not happening.”

“Hey, can we join you guys?” a voice asked, causing them to look up and find Jimin and Hoseok walking over towards them.

“No,” Jin said sternly, but Jungkook elbowed him hard in the gut.

“Sure,” Jungkook said with a smile. “I’m fine with that, Tae?”

“I have no problem with it,” Taehyung said, shrugging his shoulders and scooting over so the two could sit down between him and Jungkook.

“I don’t want him around my brother,” Jin said, glaring at Jimin who was now sitting next to Jungkook.

“Calm down, hyung, I swear!” Jungkook said with a groan. “Everything’s okay. He won’t do anything. He won’t do anything. Just calm your .”

“Excuse me,” Jin said with a frown, turning on Jungkook.

“What? You think Jimin can’t change?” Jungkook asked with raised eyebrows. “I think this weekend proved enough that he can. And by the way, Hoseok has been civil this WHOLE time.”

“I have faith in Jimin,” Namjoon suddenly said, looking at the younger boy sitting across from him. “I’ve known him forever, and I know he hasn’t gone away. He just needs to be himself again.”

“I think he will change, too,” Yoongi said, nodding his head. “Obviously he’s trying right now.”

“I’m leaving,” Jin said, standing up and gathering his stuff. “I don’t want to be near him.”

“Hyung, you’re being rude,” Jungkook said with a frown, glaring up at his brother. “Give Jimin a chance.”

“No,” Jin said, before walking away.

“Ignore him,” Jungkook said with a sigh, turning on Jimin. “He’ll be better soon. He’s always like this. He’s super protective over me.

“I understand why he hates me,” Jimin said. “And I won’t expect him to like me anytime soon.”

“I guess so,” Jungkook said, before spotting Jin’s phone on the table. “Shoot! Hyung forgot his phone! I’ll be right back!”

He grabbed the phone and then stood up. He told everyone to watch over his stuff before running off for his brother. He knew his brother would freak if he didn’t have his phone. He was running so fast he didn’t even pay attention to where he was going. Just like that, he ran into someone and fell to the ground.

“Oh, sorry,” Jungkook said, standing up and bowing to the person repeatedly. “I wasn’t watching where I was going. I was just looking for my brother and-”

“Hasn’t anyone told you not to run in the hallways?” the boy he ran into asked with an evil sneer. “Who do you think you are?”

“I’m sorry,” Jungkook said nervously, only to get shoved harshly into the lockers.

“I asked who the hell do you think you are?!” the boy asked, Jungkook’s shirt.

“I don’t want trouble,” Jungkook whimpered, covering his face with his hands.

“You’re not answering my question!” the guy shouted, forcefully removing Jungkook’s hands from his face and causing him to drop Jin’s phone to the floor with a loud cracking sound while the guy punched him hard. “Now answer me!”

“Yah! Leave him the hell alone!” a new voice shouted as Jimin came running over to them, being followed by Hoseok, Taehyung and Jin.

“Who are-”

“I said, LEAVE HIM ALONE!” Jimin shouted, shoving him away from Jungkook and punching him repeatedly. “Don’t you DARE lay another hand on him!”

“Jimin, stop,” Jungkook whispered, trying to pull the boy away, but Jimin ignored him and continued to hit the guy.

“How dare you hit a middle schooler!” Jimin shouted, now kicking the guy who was cowering on the floor.

“Jimin, stop,” Hoseok said as he and Taehyung joined Jungkook on pulling him away.

“You’re psycho,” the guy said, staring up at Jimin.

“I’m psycho?!” Jimin shouted, struggling to get out of the others’ hold. “You’re the psycho one!”

“The five of you come with me,” a voice said as the headmaster suddenly popped up. “To my office, now.”

The three calmed down Jimin, but kept a hold on him as they made their way to the office. The bully walked ahead of them, mumbling about how psycho Jimin was. On top of that, Jungkook tried to calm down his racing heart. He didn’t understand why we was attacked. How come he’s an easy target for bullying?

“I’m gonna be sick,” Jungkook suddenly muttered, grabbing his stomach in pain as they went into the office.

“Sit down, all of you,” the headmaster ordered, walking towards his office. “I’ll be with all of you in just a second.”

“Guys, I’m seriously going to be sick,” Jungkook repeated, collapsing into a chair.

“Why didn’t you stay home?” Taehyung asked, feeling his friend’s head. “You still have a fever.”

“Seriously, Jungkook,” Hoseok said, frowning at him. “You just got out of the hospital. Usually you need to stay home after that.”

“I didn’t want to miss school,” Jungkook said, shaking his head.

“No faking, you’re not getting away from this,” the headmaster suddenly said, walking back into the room and glaring at Jungkook who was clunching onto his stomach in pain.

“He’s not faking,” Jimin spoke up, causing everyone to turn on him. “He was sick this weekend and he just got out of the hospital yesterday. He had a fever this morning and he still does.”

“We’ll deal with that later,” the headmaster said, sitting down in front of him. “Right now we need to discuss why the four of you decided to gang up on a classmate.”

“We didn’t gang up on him,” Taehyung muttered, shaking his head. “We were stopping Jimin from killing the bastard because-”

“And why was Jimin beating him to a pulp?” the headmaster asked, turning his glare to Jimin.

“Because he was beating Jungkook for no reason!” Jimin cried, causing everyone to stare at him once again. “What right does a high schooler have to beat up a middle schooler who didn’t even do anything?”

“Why did he beat you?” the headmaster asked, now turning on Jungkook.

“Because I accidently bumped into him,” Jungkook said quietly because he was feeling dizzy, resting his head on Jimin’s shoulder. “I was running to find my brother cause he left his phone behind and I-”

“Dude, you’re on fire!” Jimin cried as Jungkook’s forehead brushed against his exposed neck. “You NEED to get some rest.”

“I’ll rest here,” Jungkook mumbled, feeling too weak to even move his head.

“What’s going on?!” a voice asked as Mrs. Park came barging in, followed by Taehyung’s mom, Hoseok’s mom and a woman who was probably the bully’s mother. “Park Jimin! Jeon Jungkook! What the hell did you do?!”

“I’m gonna... I’m gonna be sick!” Jungkook shouted, jumping up and running to the nearest trashcan, puking into it.

“Mom, we need to get him home,” Jimin pleaded, looking at his mother. “He’s burning up bad!”

“Jungkook!” she cried, rushing over to the poor boy. “Why didn’t you listen to your brother this morning and stay home?”

“I’ll let you all go after I say this,” the headmaster said, making everyone but Jungkook look at him. “Fighting on school grounds for whatever reason is absolutely forbidden! All five of you will be suspended for two weeks.”

“THOSE THREE DIDN’T EVEN DO ANYTHING!” Jimin shouted, jumping up and pointing at Jungkook, Taehyung and Hoseok. “THAT’S SO UNFAIR! JUNGKOOK WAS THE ONE GETTING BEATEN! AND THEY WERE STOPPING ME FROM BEATING THAT GUY!”

“I don’t care what the reason is-”

“Taehyung! Tell him it’s not your guys’ fault!” Jimin cried, turning on the younger boy.

“Just leave it,” Taehyung said with a sigh. “What’s done is done. We were trying to protect Jungkook. I would rather be suspended for helping a friend then for some other reason.”

“Taehyung’s right,” Hoseok said, nodding his head. “Jimin, it’s okay. Just settle down. At least you’re getting suspended for a GOOD cause. Not saying that punching a guy to a bloody pulp is exactly a GOOD thing, but your reasoning is way better than it would have been a week ago. You did it because he hurt Jungkook.”

“You guys are all getting suspended for me,” Jungkook whispered, taking deep breaths. “I don’t like that. I don’t want you guys getting in trouble because I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

“Well we did,” Taehyung said, smiling at his friend. “Get used to it.”

“Let’s get out of here,” Mrs. Park said. “Jungkook needs to get home and rest.”

“Alright, let’s go,” Jimin agreed, walking over and helping Jungkook as they made their way out to the car. “To make up for getting us in trouble, you’re getting some rest.”

“Fine,” Jungkook said with a weak smile, nodding his head. “I want to sleep anyway.”