Namjoon wasn't sure if he'd done the right thing in telling them. Sure, Tae and Jin had figured it out, but what about the others? Was it his right to ruin the perfect family image for them?

Although he wasn't the one who had ruined it in the first place.

But especially seeing Yoongi struggle to accept what their mother had done hit him, hard. He'd tried to pretend like he didn't care, but Namjoon wasn't the least bit fooled. Yoongi was hurting. And because Yoongi was the one in trouble the most, he probably felt a little bit guilty. Namjoon hated that.

Hobi, too, always so bright and energetic, now mute and lost. He lost all reason whenever Hobi cried, it hurt him so much. He just wanted it to stop, to see Hobi's smile again.

Jimin's sadness, of course, always broke his heart, with his big eyes and trembling lips.

Jungkook, sweet innocent little Jungkook, shy but curious, determined to make friends wherever he went...now insecure, unsure as to why they had lost a family member, unsure as to what they were going to do.

And Jin, who had stepped up, who wanted to protect all of his brothers. As much as Namjoon loved that side of him, he was worried that Jin wouldn't save time to be a child for himself. Not to mention that Jin was apparently struggling socially in school.

Namjoon still couldn't believe that Jin had been lying all this time to him, to his face, smiling and laughing and telling Namjoon how much fun he was having and how many friends he had and how everyone liked him.

How much of that was lie, and how much was truth?

Any of it?

Why hadn't Jin told him earlier?

And how stupid were these kids not to want to be friends with his precious oldest son?

Was it really his backpack that prevented him from making friends?

Because Namjoon was tempted to burn it and buy another one in a neutral color. But then he realized that Jin loved his backpack, and if kids avoided him because of something he liked, then they weren't real friends.

Gosh, was it this hard to make friends when I was in school? Namjoon wondered, trying to think back. Did I really have any friends? He couldn't remember. He remembered dating the woman who was now his ex-wife, but he couldn't remember much about other friendships.

Namjoon shook his head, attempting to focus.

If Jin, as wonderful as he is, is struggling in school, which other of my sons are?

I already know that Yoongi's been causing trouble because his teacher's called me in, but at least I don't have to guess about it.

Tae takes pretty good care of Jimin and Jungkook, so I'm not too worried about them.

But...

Hobi's by himself...

Jin and Yoongi are separated, but at least they're in the same school.

But Hobi...

Namjoon frowned, his brow creased. Hobi's fine, right?

Right?

But why am I so worried?

Hobi would tell me if something was wrong, wouldn't he? I mean, he almost never shuts his mouth...

Is it possible that he's lying to me, too?

Which raises the question of why all of my children are lying so much? Is it because I wasn't truthful about their mom leaving? Am I the reason why they're unhappy?

Namjoon frowned, forcing himself to take a deep breath. He knew that he was doing his best, and that had to be enough for the time being. Nobody was grading him on his performance of being a father. There wasn't a trophy or even a participation ribbon. He just had to make sure that they all grew up safely.

But was it so much to want them to be happy?

They are happy, right?

But he wasn't sure anymore.

Suddenly, he felt that he needed to see them, to make sure that they were still there, that they were okay.

He opened the door to the triplets' room and smiled when he saw them all cuddled together in Jimin's bed, their bodies hidden in a mass of blankets but all of their heads tilted together.

He shut the door and opened the door to the older kids' room.

Yoongi's bed was empty.

Hobi's bed was empty.

He felt his heart beat faster, and he opened his mouth - he wasn't sure why; to shout? to scream? to ask why? - but then his eyes tracked to the window and noticed that Jin looked rather large in the moonlight.

Or rather, he looked fine as he was cuddling Hobi on one side while Yoongi cuddled Hobi from the other.

Namjoon smiled softly. He knew that if he asked them about it the next morning, Yoongi would strongly deny it, but they would all know the truth.

Namjoon tip-toed out, closing the door behind him, and went back into the living room, the smiling staying on his face.

I think they'll be okay, he decided. Not because they'd managed to fall asleep, but because they'd fallen asleep together. They'll help each other and take care of each other. At this point, that's all I can hope for.

Namjoon smiled for the last time before going to his own room. He envied his children a bit. He had no one to cuddle him, to tell him that it was all right, to hold him until he woke up in the morning.

He sighed. He went to turn off the lamp but accidentally knocked it the table, and it hit the ground with a loud bang.

Shit...

Five minutes later, his door pushed open gently, and Jimin came in. "Daddy? There was a scary noise and I couldn't go back to sleep..."

Namjoon sighed. "Sorry, baby, that was my fault...Come here."

Jimin walked over to Namjoon's bed, and Namjoon scooped him up in his arms just as Jungkook climbed in as well, Tae following behind them.

"We woke up too," Jungkook said, rubbing his eyes. "I was scared."

Namjoon was about to tell them that he'd just knocked the lamp over when the door opened a little wider and three more children came in.

"There was a loud sound," Jin said since Hobi seemed resigned to silence and Yoongi was still half asleep.

Namjoon hesitated before smiling and beckoning them over. "How about we all sleep in here tonight?"

Jin grinned. "Okay!" He jumped up on the bed before sliding back off and taking Hobi's hand, leading him up and letting Yoongi follow.

Namjoon quickly put the lamp back on the table as they all got settled in, and then he laid down in the middle, three kids on either side, and as he shut off the lamp, he closed his eyes.

He didn't feel so cold anymore.