Yoongi waited until Hobi and Jimin came back inside from their daily attempt to persuade the kitten to socialize. Then he looked up as though he hadn't been waiting at all.

"Hey," he said, turning over so he was lying on his back with his arms behind his head. Since they all shared a room, they didn't have desks and chairs, as three beds took up most of the space. But Yoongi wasn't complaining.

"Hi," Jimin said, a hand on the ladder, but he decided to save himself the trouble and sat on Hobi's bed instead, Hobi just smiling before sitting next to him.

"Mission status report: unsuccessful," Hobi declared gravely, nodding to himself. "But one day, she's going to warm up to us."

"How do you know it's a she?" Yoongi asked blandly, not altogether interested in the kitten anyway. He knew that Hobi and Jimin still had childish hopes and dreams, and what little kid hadn't dreamed of taking in a little puppy or kitten? But Yoongi was older. He was the adult because he needed to be one for the three of them. He thought that it was nice enough that they had something to brighten their days, but he knew the kitten would be gone one day when they went to check on it. It was just how life worked.

"B-Because," Jimin said, looking up eagerly.

"Because what?"

"Just b-because."

Yoongi rolled his eyes and let out a sigh before pretending to remember something. "Oh, yeah. Hobi, didn't you have something you wanted to tell us yesterday?"

Hobi sat up abruptly. "Yeah, yeah! I forgot about it! Thanks for reminding me, hyung." He smiled, puffing out his chest. "Are you guys ready to hear my news? You're going to be so proud of your brother."

"T-Tell us already!" Jimin said, smacking Hobi lightly on the shoulder.

"All right, all right," Hobi said, laughing and patting Jimin's shoulder back. "I, Hobi, Kim Hoseok, your favorite brother-"

"Get on with it," Yoongi said, rolling his eyes.

"Okay, okay," Hobi said, laughing once more before smiling simply. "I asked a girl to the dance."

Jimin blinked. "And?!"

"...And she said yes," Hobi finished, grinning, and Jimin gasped. "Although I guess I made that sound a lot better than it was. We were in class a few days ago and she said she'd go with me if I didn't find anyone else, and I figured she wasn't the worst person to go with, so I just asked her in class and she said sure."

"Good j-job," Jimin said, giving Hobi a pat on the back.

"Yeah," Hobi said, grinning. "Looks like I'm officially going to the dance."

"That's great," Yoongi said flatly before turning to face the wall.

"Are you okay, h-hyung?" Jimin asked, concerned.

"I'm fine," Yoongi snapped, and he didn't see it, but he instinctively felt Jimin flinch, and he felt horrible. He wasn't mad at Jimin. He wasn't really mad at Hobi, to be honest. His timing just sucked, and it left an ugly feeling in his gut.

A few seconds later, he felt a hand being pressed against his forehead.

"Jimin-" he began, turning to look, but it wasn't Jimin.

"Are you sick?" Hobi asked, frowning and taking his hand away. "I don't know, I don't think you're running a temperature, but I don't know how hot your forehead is supposed to be anyway. Like, it feels warm, but you're supposed to be sort of warm, right? I don't know, Jimin, come check if he has a temperature."

More little footsteps, another hand on his forehead, more eyes peering at him anxiously.

"He feels a l-little warm m-maybe," Jimin admitted, and Yoongi rolled back over onto his back, ready to tell them to knock it off, that he didn't have a bloody fever, but then he saw the two of them looking at him anxiously, all excitement about the dance broken for the moment.

"Are you ok-kay?" Jimin asked, biting his lip.

"Do you need anything?" Hobi asked.

Yoongi opened his mouth to tell them to just leave him alone, but he sighed instead. "I'm fine," he said, giving them a look. "I'm just grumpy and tired."

"Oh, so you're fine," Hobi said, nodding, and he laughed as he ducked to avoid a finger flick from Yoongi. "I'm going to the bathroom, I'll be right back," he said, backing away before leaving the room.

"D-Did you ask that one girl to the d-dance?" Jimin asked Yoongi after Hobi left, smiling.

"Yeah," Yoongi said.

"And?"

"And she said no," Yoongi said, clenching his jaw.

"W-Why?" Jimin asked, frowning.

"Because she said she's going with Hobi."

"O-Oh..." Jimin furrows his brows. "But he doesn't like her, they're j-just going because they had n-no one else to go with."

"I know," Yoongi said. "But it's too late. Hobi's already excited. And Jeongyeon is already set on going with him. Who knows, maybe she even likes him. It doesn't matter. It's just a dance, Jimin. And she...she's just a girl."

Jimin frowned. "She's not j-just any girl. She's the girl you l-like, right, hyung?"

"Jimin, it's fine," Yoongi said tiredly. "Hobi's happy so I'm happy."

"You don't l-look happy."

"I will be," Yoongi said with a sigh. "I just need a little time, okay? I'm stronger than a few teenage hormones. I only like her because a bunch of chemicals in my body are telling me to." Although Yoongi felt like maybe that last bit was a lie because it felt real to him, not like pheromones and whatever other chemical reactions were occurring inside of him whenever he saw her.

"I know you're s-strong," Jimin said, smiling. "Very strong."

The door opened, and Hobi popped back in. "What are you guys talking about?" he asked with a smile.

"Just that we didn't think you'd ever get a date," Yoongi said, raising his eyebrows. "I guess I owe Jimin some money."

"Hyung!"

***

hey jimin!

🐨

hello?

who is this??

oh sorry I didn't introduce myself

it's Mingyu ^_^

we met at that one business banquet, remember?

Yoongi gave me your number

I just wanted to see how you're doing

🌱

🐨

oh hiiiiii mingyu :)

I am okay

how are you?

🌱

I'm good thanks haha

lowkey wasn't sure that you'd remember me...

🐨

wait

you're the one with the shark fin, right?

🌱

NO THAT'S DINO

HE'S JUST A KID

DON'T HARASS HIM PLZZZZZ

🐨

jkjk

I know who you are XD

🌱

Wait what's the emoji next to my name???

🐨

It's a sprout

Cause you're like a bean sprout

Cause you're tall

🤗

🌱

Lol okay

I guess I'm always fated to just be

"The tall one"

Oh well XD

🐨

Lol it could be worse

I'm just the short one

Or the one with a stutter lol

🌱

Nah you're more than that lol

🐨

Well rn I'm the one with pink hair

Whoooooops

🌱

Oh yeah I heard about that

Your step-dad was mad?

🐨

Yeah lol

He's usually mad at something

That's usually me

Haha

🌱

That's not funny tho?

🐨

Well it's just funny

That he's always mad at us for embarrassing him

But they chose to take custody

Of the three most screwed-up kids in the set lol

Sort of ironic

🌱

You guys aren't screw-ups

😞

🐨

Haha we are trust me

But that's okay

It's just who we are

We're special ✨✨✨

🌱

Lol

I wish you guys went to our high school 😞

Although tbh it's kind of awful cause most of the rich kids are jerks

We need more nice ppl like you and your brothers!!

🐨

Nah I wouldn't look good in your school's uniform haha

Maybe you guys should just join OUR school

We need more nice kids too

🌱

Kids there aren't nice?

Like in general?

Or to you?

🐨

Um both

But mainly to me

But it's all good don't worry

My dad pulled me out of gym class

And I ignore most of them

Plus my triplets are in my grade

And we have some classes together

So

🌱

Wait wait

Triplets?

THERE ARE THREE OF YOU?!

🐨

Lol we're fraternal triplets sorry

🌱

Oh dang lol

I was imagining three identical Jimin's

That's okay tho

What's it like to have triplets?

🐨

It's kind of fun like you'd expect

They're really silly and funny

But it's also kind of hard

Cause you're always sort of fighting for equal attention

But we're pretty close

And we got better at sharing and everything

So it's nice

But it's hard living in separate houses

🌱

Wait

They separated you from your triplets?

That's screwed up

🐨

Yeah I'm not really a fan

But it's already been like this for years

We only have a few years left

Then we'll be adults

Although I don't want to make them think

that we all have to go to the same university or something

But maybe it would be nice

But I don't want to trap them

Idk

🌱

Yeah I hear you

Although I don't have triplets

I don't want to leave my family behind when I graduate

But it's not like we'll be together our whole lives

Or like in the same house at least...

🧐

Hey Jimin!

Let's play a game of questions

🐨

Questions?

🌱

Okay I'll start

What are you doing right now?

🐨

Just sitting in bed lol

All right question for you

How tall are you?

🌱

Lol

180 centimeters

But I'm still growing!

All right how tall are you?

🐨

Evil

174 cm

I'm done growing 😞

New question!!

Do you like cats?

🌱

Lol random

But yeah? I think so?

Lol why ask?

🐨

Because there's a kitten under our house rn lol

New question:

Jimin is typing...

🌱

Wait it's my turn!!

🐨

No you asked me why lol

So, question!!

What's your dad like?

🌱

My dad?

Weird question

But he's nice

He tries to act stern and he tries to scold us and ground us when we do stupid crap

But he always relents or feels too guilty to go through with it lol

But I love him a lot

Okay

I have a question

But

You don't have to answer if you don't want to, okay?

Just I was curious

Is there a reason why you have your stutter?

You don't have to answer if that's too personal okay

Just idk if I'm allowed to know

read

Jimin?

🐨

Um

All right

I'll tell you

***

Jin sighed at the phone in his hands. He'd picked it up thinking it was his because it was the same model, but after leaving practice, he'd quickly realized that he'd grabbed someone else's. He wondered if he was missing out on anything important.

Probably not, he reasoned.

Actually, without his phone, he felt...sort of free.

He opened the door to their room, and Jungkook looked up abruptly.

"Oh, hey hyung," he said, blinking. "Oh, if you're looking for your phone, it's not in-"

"Yeah, I grabbed the wrong one," Jin said before blinking. "Wait, how did you know?"

"Oh, I...um...I tried texting you and, well, someone else answered. So I figured it out pretty quickly."

"How did you know it wasn't me?" Jin asked with a frown.

"Because I got a reply," Jungkook mumbled before adding, "Besides, he told me that he wasn't you."

"Oh? Whose phone is it?" Jin asked, looking down at the phone in his hand.

"Changkyun's? You know him, right? He's on your team."

"Changkyun?" Jin asked, slightly horrified.

"Yeah, Changkyun," Jungkook answered skeptically. "Why? Is there a problem with him?"

Now look, boys. There's a college recruitment scout interested in both of you, but there's only one scholarship available. I don't know who they're leaning towards, but they'll be at the next game, so both of you need to play your best, all right, Seokjin, Changkyun?

"No, he's...he's fine," Jin said, his mind clouded.

Changkyun, his teammate.

Changkyun, his opponent.

Changkyun, the new addition to the team who might be stealing a scholarship away from Jin. The scholarship that was Jin's only hope for going to college because his grades hadn't been great in a long time and Namjoon barely had enough money to keep the house, let alone send six kids to college. The scholarship that he'd been counting on for all of high school until a new transfer student had appeared out of nowhere and attracted attention.

If Jin didn't get that scholarship, he wasn't going to college. The only reason he was being considered for it was because the first- and second-string quarterbacks had already gotten offers early on in their high school career. The scholarship was for a quarterback, and with them out of the way, it would default to Jin.

Only Changkyun had joined the team - as a wide receiver - but after talking to the coach after practice, the coach had informed Jin that Changkyun would be giving quarterback a try since their school already had a decent wide receiver and Changkyun wanted to give QB a try. He had a good arm and had decent accuracy. He wasn't as good as Jin, but it wasn't even his position. If he kept practicing, he could improve much more than Jin, who had done well but had hit a point of stagnation in terms of his performance.

The next game would mean everything. Both Jin and Changkyun would get equal time on the field, and one of them would walk away with a scholarship. One of them would have a free ticket to a university.

And one of them would walk off the field empty-handed.

"Jin?"

Jin blinked. "Sorry, what was that, Kookie?"

Jin didn't really comprehend the look Jungkook gave him, some mix of sadness, confusion, frustration, and something else, resignation maybe. "I just asked if you wanted to hang out, hyung. It's been a while since-"

"I'm really sorry, Kookie," Jin said, his mind still preoccupied by his anxiety. "Is Dad around? I needed to talk to him about something..."

A pause. "Yeah, he is, but maybe you could just wait five minutes? There's a cool new game Tae and I started playing that you might like, and it's two-player, so we could play together and-"

"Another time maybe," Jin said. "Sorry, Kookie."

But Jungkook wasn't finished. "Please, hyung?" He asked, latching onto Jin's wrist. "We could take a walk. Or we could dig through all of Tae's papers in his desk. He has a master plan to ruin my life, maybe he's got one for you too and we could find it and...I don't know what we'd do with it, but-"

"I'm sorry, Kookie, but this is really important," Jin said with a trace of guilt. "I'll play later, okay?" He hurried out the door to find Namjoon so they could talk. He knew that if anyone could make him feel more at ease with everything, it would be him.

Meanwhile, Jungkook sat at his desk, staring at the wood blankly.

I'm sorry, Kookie, but this is really important.

Somewhere out there was Jin's phone, with one of the latest messages:

Oh I'm nobody important

Tae entered the room a few seconds later and collapsed on his bed. "I wish our game would come in already. We ordered it a week ago. They said it was supposed to get here yesterday."

Jungkook nodded.

He'd asked Jin to play a game that they didn't even have yet because he'd known that Jin would say no.

He and Tae were closer to Jin than the others proximity-wise, but he felt like they were losing Jin all the same.