"Dinner!" their mom shouted from the kitchen, and Yoongi groaned before following Hobi out of their room. Jimin, meanwhile, was a bit behind since he had to get down the ladder, and he almost missed a rung on four separate occasions, having been woken up from his nap by Yoongi and Hobi's argument.

Hobi and Yoongi took their seats just as their step-father sat down at the table.

"Where's Jimin?" he asked, glancing at the empty chair, and Yoongi tightened his lips.

"He's coming," he said.

Their step-father just made a disappointed frown before clearing his throat and lacing his fingers in front of him. "There's a meet and greet event hosted by my company tomorrow, and since it's a family event, we'll all be going. The same rules apply as last time, and you'll of course have to be in formal attire."

Yoongi did his best not to scowl, but he wasn't sure if he was successful or not.

Hobi just remained quiet.

"We'll be leaving around-" Their step-father cut off as Jimin slipped into the dining room and sat down in his chair. "What is this?" he asked, staring at Jimin, more notably Jimin's pink hair.

"He dyed it to match his friend," their mom said, taking her seat and giving Jimin a small smile. "Hyungwon. Have you met Hyungwon, dear? He's the tall-"

"You knew about this?" he interrupted, looking over at her, and she paused, blinking as she recollected herself.

"Well, I only found out after, but I don't see what the big deal is. A lot of kids dye their hair these days. And it's just until the school dance so while I'm not thrilled that he didn't ask for permission, it's not permanent, just for another week or so-"

"His hair is pink," he snapped, glaring at Jimin, who sank down in his chair and stared at the edge of the table like he was used to the treatment. "Pink. And the business convention is tomorrow night! I can't bring him looking like that! He's be the laughingstock of the whole assembly! Which means I'll be the laughingstock of the whole assembly! Me! After all the hard work and overtime I've put in to make this company a success!"

"Maybe if you worked a little less overtime, you could spend more time with your family," she suggested carefully, not looking up to meet his eyes as she slowly dished food onto Jimin's plate and passed it down to him. He took the plate but didn't pick up his fork or spoon.

"Excuse me? I slave away to bring home money to support this family and it's a problem?"

She pursed her lips. "I'm just saying that-"

"We'll discuss that later. What are we going to do about his hair?"

"Leave it," she said tiredly, clearly not enjoying their argument. "It's just hair, and Jimin's just a kid. It'll grow out or he'll get it cut or-"

"Do you know how important this convention is?" he said, clenching his jaw. "And do you know how important it is to the other chairmen that we attend with our families to demonstrate our level of investment to the company?" He sighed harshly before shaking his head, muttering unintelligibly under his breath before picking up his fork and knife and adding, "You'll all be going. Jimin will remain behind in his room."

Jimin just sucked in his bottom lip before starting to eat, and Yoongi and Hobi followed a second later.

***

Yoongi pulled at his bow tie. It was his second time wearing it in less than two months, and he wasn't thrilled with it. Not at all. "Why do families even need to be here?" he muttered.

"It's all a show," Hobi said, distracted, looking around for some familiar faces. "The business is made up of businessmen, of people. Other people aren't really investing in the business, they're investing in the people running it. And to make their employees look good, they want people with the full package: a loving spouse, a few cute kids, a nice house, maybe a pool in the backyard, a golden retriever, the whole nine yards."

"So we're getting a pool?"

Hobi just rolled his eyes before grabbing Yoongi's cuff and dragging him across the room. "Hey, guys!"

Joshua looked over with a grin. "Hey!"

Yoongi just sighed and nodded, meeting eyes with Woozi and Wonwoo, passing over Dino because he didn't like dealing with younger kids, and meeting Mingyu's for a second before passing over to Jeonghan. "Are you guys at all of these events?"

Dino pouted slightly and Wonwoo nodded expressionlessly.

"Dad drags us to most of these things. Good for company rep or whatever. But also because it means he doesn't have to cook dinner."

"Dad only comes because there's free alcohol," Jeonghan added. "Which I don't mind much at all."

"Dad comes because he's a good businessman," Joshua argued, rolling his eyes at the others. "The CEO likes him a lot. He might be getting a promotion soon."

They all chatted amongst themselves for a few minutes before Mingyu made his way over to Yoongi and brought him to the side.

"Hey, I heard about Jimin. Sorry to hear that...hope he feels better," Mingyu said, frowning apologetically, and Yoongi blinked.

"What?"

"My dad heard it from your dad. Step-dad, sorry," Mingyu corrected himself with a wince. "About Jimin coming down with something. But he said that they're taking him to the doctor tomorrow, right? So hopefully they'll be able to give him some antibiotics or something. Do you know what he has?"

Yoongi just paused before laughing bitterly and shaking his head, leaving Mingyu confused. "Jimin isn't sick," he finally said, rolling his eyes before crossing his arms. "He's fine."

"Oh...? Why isn't he here with you guys then?" Mingyu asked, frowning. "Is it me? Did he not like me? Is he avoiding me? Did I do something? Tell him I'm sorry, please! I didn't mean to come on too strong, I was just desperate for a friend my age and-"

"It's not you," Yoongi interrupted. He hadn't realized that they were the same age though since they didn't go to the same school.

They probably go to some preppy private school, Yoongi reasoned. That's where we were supposed to go, only the custody agreement kept us with the others at our old high school.

"Then what's wrong with Jimin?" Mingyu asked, hopping from side to side nervously.

"He dyed his hair pink," Yoongi said, rolling his eyes again. "Our step-dad was pissed. Used the you're an embarrassment to our family card again and locked him away at home where none of the important business people would see him and come to the conclusion that our family isn't perfect and whatever."

Mingyu frowned. "Your step-dad did that?"

Yoongi nodded. "He doesn't like Jimin. Any of us, really, but especially not Jimin because he's struggling in school, he's got that stutter, and now his hair is pink. According to our step-dad, that makes him a failure and a humiliation to us all." Yoongi exhaled, massaging his forehead. "What a load of bullshit."

Mingyu had to agree. "Is your step-dad always like that?"

Yoongi shrugged before nodding. "We only live with him because our mom wanted custody and he needed kids to bring to these stupid events to make him look like a family man. He pays for tutoring and stuff like that, but it's always about the money with him, and he wants us to be perfect. Everything we do is some sort of mistake meant to ruin his reputation." Yoongi shook his head, fluttering his eyelashes. "I'm sick of it, but what can you do, you know? We just do our best to get through it. We won't have to deal with him forever anyway."

Mingyu nodded, but his frown remained. He was saddened to hear that his new friends lived in such a judgmental environment, an environment completely opposite his own family, where they were all a bit different and unique and they all made mistakes, but they embraced all of those things. He wanted the best for the Kim siblings, and thinking of Jimin sitting all alone in their house made him sad.

"Look, Yoongi!" Hobi called, and both Yoongi and Mingyu turned around to look at Hobi. "My bow tie is upside down, and nobody else even knows it because it looks the same!"

Yoongi just rolled his eyes before rejoining the group, and Mingyu followed a second later.

***

🐨

i miss you guys

👽

hey bro

I miss you too :D

🍪

you all right Jimin?

:(

🐨

yeah I'm fine

just felt a little lonely is all :(

I will see you guys in school tomorrow?

I know you guys have your own friends

but can we all sit together at lunch? just for one day?

👽

sure thing jimin

see you then :)

🍪

I will pack you an extra cookie Jimin!

ily

👽

oh we're going to be all gross and mushy now?

fine fine luv you bro

🐨

thanks guys

I love you too :)

I miss sharing a room together...

🍪

maybe one day!

👽

yeah we can always hope for the future

🐨

hahaha...

you know what Yoongi says about hope

👽

what's that?

🍪

what's that one quote?

"hope springs eternal"

something like that?

was I right? :D

🐨

nvm

night!

oh and happy Admire Jungkook Day!

🍪

how kind of you to remember!

happy Admire Jungkook Day to you as well :)

👽

gross.