Taehyung went into the classroom and sat on the red UFO square on the carpet. He had used to sit on the green dinosaur, but he'd caused enough trouble that his teacher had moved his attendance spot. Not that he really minded. He liked the UFO. But in his old spot, he had gotten to sit halfway between Jungkook and Jimin, and he'd been able to talk to both of them during attendance.

Actually, that was probably why she'd moved him. He was too much of a "disruptive influence."

Whatever that meant.

He listened to her call attendance. He didn't really know the kids in his class that well, mainly because he liked hanging out with Jungkook and Jimin more than kids he'd never met, but also because some of the kids were just plain mean.

"Hyukk?"

"Yeah."

"Please say 'Here' when I call your name. Let's try this again. Hyukk?"

"Here."

Like Hyukk. Taehyung didn't really like Hyukk. He gave off a bad vibe. Like he ripped the wings off ladybugs or something.

And that one kid. Jongup. He played with Hyukk a lot, and the two of them like to mess with Jimin because he was so sensitive. Taehyung didn't like that. It was like bullying.

So, that was why he didn't get along well with some of his class.

Well, and because most of them were scared of him.

When they had to go around in a circle and say what their favorite colors were, Taehyung said, "I don't believe in colors." What he meant was that he didn't believe in picking favorites since he liked all of them and thought that they were all necessary to produce art, but none of the kids understood and instead gave him weird looks.

When asked where they would like to live, most of the kids answered "Busan" or "Seoul." Taehyung said, "I'd like to try out Mars."

And, well, there was the time when he'd sort of accidentally not really accidentally bitten one of them students...Ricky hadn't showed up to class since then.

But he was the one who was bothering me, Tae thought, frowning. Still, the other kids apparently couldn't make the same distinction, and they all gave Tae a wide berth. Nobody else wanted the outline of a incisor on their arm.

But, to be fair, Ricky had deserved every tooth.

He had been making fun of Jungkook for his teeth, and Tae had overheard. Tae didn't really care what other kids thought of himself, but he absolutely would not put up with people messing with his family. He was normally a nice, fun-loving child. But when someone aggravated him, he got serious.

He didn't really mind that people thought he was strange. Just like Hyukk had a mean vibe, Tae had acquired a dangerous, mysterious vibe. Truth be told, he thought it was kind of fun. He liked scaring the other kids.

Especially Hyukk and Jongup.

He looked up from his spot on the carpet where he'd been zoning out to see a pile of blocks around Jimin, who looked upset. Tae frowned as he saw Hyukk and Jongup laughing.

It's okay. Jimin can handle himself. He needs to get stronger so he can stand up for himself in the future, Tae thought, forcing himself to stay still. But I should check on Jungkook too...

Tae turned his head to find Jungkook, who was, unsurprisingly, sitting in a circle with the girls. While kids were afraid to approach Tae, they always wanted to approach Jungkook. The girls were always giggling around Jungkook, and when he wasn't listening, they said gross things like Jungkookie is so cute and Jungkookie is so handsome and I want to marry Jungkookie when I grow up.

Ew.

That was one reason Tae was glad that he didn't have to deal with the other kids.

Tae heard the same sound as earlier and looked back to see the blocks on the floor again with Hyukk and Jongup laughing and Jimin still looking upset.

Should I go help him?

No...

He has to do this by himself.

I have to let him be independent.

But he kept watching as Jimin began building the tower for the third time, and when he saw Hyukk look at Jongup and nod, he got up to intervene.

He saw Hyukk and Jongup push Jimin at the same time, and he quickly caught his brother, being careful not to knock down the blocks.

"Oh, no!" Taehyung said loudly, widening his eyes. It was time to be a little bit of an actor. "Are you okay, Jimin? You almost fell into your tower. Then it would have fallen," he said, looking over at Hyukk and Jongup. "And that would have been horrible, because then I would have been really upset."

Hyukk and Jongup looked scared.

Tae was glad.

"Oh, look, Jimin," Taehyung went on, pointing to the blocks by Hyukk. "There's extra blocks. We can build your tower more." He smiled at Hyukk. "Can I use these blocks?" You better say yes if you know what's good for you. Don't make me bite you.

Hyukk swallowed. "Of course."

Taehyung smiled like a shark. "Thank you so much," he said, making a cutesy expression with his face and hands. Hyukk looked terrified. Then Taehyung gasped. "Oh, look, Jimin. There are even more blocks we can use!" He smiled at Jongup this time.

"D-do you want them?" Jongup asked before adding almost immediately, "They're yours. Take them."

"Aw, you two are just so nice," Taehyung said, grinning. "I'm so glad that two nice kids like yourselves are taking care of Jimin and being so nice to him and sharing with him and playing with him." You had better be nice to my brother, or else I'll bring in Yoongi and have him deal with you two because he's even scarier than I'm pretending to be.

"R-right," Hyukk said before looking at Jongup. "L-let's play something else for right now."

Tae smiled. "Good idea."

As the two ran off, he helped Jimin build his tower up.

Jimin smiled at Tae. "Thank you, Tae-"

Tae smiled. Then he knocked the tower over and watched as Jimin burst into tears.

"Why would you do that, Tae...that's so mean...you're so mean..."

Taehyung smiled. You need to get stronger, Jimin. I'm just helping you. "I'm your brother. Only I get to tease you." He ruffled Jimin's hair. "And besides, you're so cute when you're crying."

Then Tae hugged him, and when Jimin stopped crying, Tae helped him rebuild the tower again.

Jimin hesitated before smiling at Tae, and then Jimin knocked the tower down himself.

When class was finally over, Taehyung had to go over to the circle where Jungkook was sitting and make a scary face, immediately scaring off all the girls, who ran away shrieking. Then Tae grinned at Jungkook as Jimin helped him stand up, and they ran over to Namjoon, grabbing onto his pants and jumping up, making grabby hands so he'd carry them.

He usually alternated who he picked up, and that day, he picked up Jimin, sliding his hand down to Taehyung's, and Taehyung smiled as Namjoon had to bend his knees slightly to keep holding Tae's hand.

Jungkook ran ahead, but Tae stayed and walked with Namjoon.

He'd be the mean, scary triplet if he had to because his family was all that mattered to him. He would protect his brothers, even if it meant that he got a little lonely sometimes.