They were on the bus. None of them particularly liked the experience, but since both their parents worked, they didn't have much choice but to board the yellow atrocity. Since the rule was two to a seat and they'd never leave Jimin by himself, Hobi slid in after him, and Yoongi took the seat behind them for himself.

The rule was two to a seat, sure, but rules bend for Kim Yoongi.

Hobi looked back every now and then as though to confirm that Yoongi hadn't jumped out the window, and the two made rude faces at each other before Hobi turned back to Jimin. "So, you're going to come to dance club, right?"

Jimin nodded. "Y-yeah," he mumbled, looking down at his phone, and Hobi craned his neck to try to see the screen.

"Who are you texting there, Jimin?"

"K-kookie," Jimin said, and Hobi watched as a notification popped up.

Jimin stared at the message before going back to his messages with Jungkook.

"Aren't you going to reply?" Hobi asked, trying to sound light, but Jimin shook his head.

"N-no reason t-to," he said, pushing his lips forward in a pout.

Hobi sighed but realized that it would be pointless to intervene.

They'll make up eventually, right? They have to.

It had been different, before. Small fights and arguments would be confronted face-to-face and resolved quickly, simply because they couldn't exist without not seeing each other. Then there would be hugs or affectionate punches, physical signs that they cared.

But that wasn't how it worked anymore. Yoongi had ignored Jungkook for a month because Jungkook had posted a photoshopped picture of Yoongi's face superimposed on a turtle shell on his social media.

It wasn't even that big of a deal.

But it was hard to keep up with each other sometimes when they only really saw each other in passing at school or during Friday night dinners, which were torture enough, and it was remarkably easy to not say a single word to the other for long periods of time.

Hoseok remembered when they'd shared a room together, when they'd all sat around the kitchen table together.

Sure, there had been a few times when confrontation had turned bad, but they'd been efficient, at least.

Hobi wasn't sure how long this was going to last, but it had already been going on for a few weeks, which was an awfully long time for Jimin to not talk to Taehyung, especially considering that they shared a class together. Honestly, though, Hobi didn't even remember what the inciting incident was, but he was 99% sure that it was probably Taehyung's fault and that it had to do with one of three things, as there were only several topics that set Jimin off:

1) His speech

2) His mistake

3) His friends

His speech as in his stuttering impediment, obviously. Just because he'd developed a stutter didn't mean that he was any less intelligent for it, but people treated him like a brainless idiot sometimes and it really pissed him off.

His mistake in that he'd inadvertently handed his mother an entire filing cabinet of reasons suitable for filing for custody. Jimin still felt horrible about it, but they didn't bring it up. Mainly because they couldn't or didn't want to blame him. He had barely remembered who their mom even was. How was he supposed to know that she would use that information against Namjoon, that she'd recently had a miscarriage, that she'd been wanting custody for a long time?

His friends as in the people he associated with, people that some of Jimin's brothers didn't necessarily approve of. Brothers, namely Jungkook and Taehyung. Hobi didn't really have a problem with it. Jimin could hang out with whoever he wanted.

Unless, of course, his friends were encouraging him to drink alcohol while underaged or do drugs or anything that could hurt his little brother. Then Hobi would be pissed.

But from what Hobi had seen, the two just liked to read books or listen to music together or whatever.

"H-hyung," Jimin said, poking Hobi's shoulder, and he blinked, realizing the bus had stopped and that students were clamoring to get out of their seats.

Yoongi stood behind them, waiting for them to leave first, and he was holding up the rest of the bus, ignoring yells from behind him to move faster.

Hobi got up and hurried off the bus, turning to make sure Jimin was following him, which he was, clutching his backpack straps. Yoongi brought up the rear, and when he got off, they started walking towards the school.

Hobi watched as Jimin's friend jogged over, waving. "Annyeonghaseyo, annyeonghaseyo," he said twice, bowing lightly toward Hobi and Yoongi before nodding at Jimin.

"J-J-Jong-gup," Jimin said, smiling. "Good morning."

"Morning," he replied, walking in step with them. "Are you ready to go to class?"

Jimin bobbed his head before looking over at his hyungs. "B-bye, Y-Yoongi-hyung, Hobi-hyung."

His little fingers curled in a wave before he let Jongup pull him away, and the two disappeared in the crowd.

Hobi laughed, about to say something to Yoongi, but his laughter died when he spotted Tae in the crowd, watching Jimin walk ahead without him. Instead, Hobi sighed and shook his head. "They need to make up already," he said, and Yoongi shrugged.

"They'll do what they want. Let's get to class."

"Who are you and where did you put Yoongi's dead body?" Hobi asked, mystified.

"Shut up, wiseass."

"The Kim Yoongi? Getting to class early?"

"There's some asshole I need to talk to."

"Ah, that explains it."

Yoongi just shook his head and left Hobi behind, walking ahead briskly to deal with whoever it was.

Hobi looked back over to Tae to see Jungkook coming up behind him and slapping him on the back before draping an arm across his shoulders and dragging him into the building.

High school, Hobi thought, exhaling before he followed them. When is it going to be over?