"I think you're s-supposed to-"

"I know what I'm doing," Tae snapped, staring intensely at the glass beaker through his lab goggles.

Meanwhile, Jungkook was playing with his latex glove.

"So now you're supposed t-to-"

"I know," Tae interrupted again, mixing chemicals and setting them aside before turning to the Bunsen burner. "Let's turn this bad boy on, shall we?"

"Should have brought marshmallows," Jungkook mumbled regretfully as Tae turned the gas valve knob.

"Is it supposed to be parallel or perpendicular?" Tae asked to no one in particular, and when no one came up with an immediate answer, he shrugged. "Okay, I think it's on. Now...Jimin, where's the flint?"

"Here," Jimin said, handing over the flint to Tae.

"Here goes nothing," Tae said, trying to use the flint to ignite the flame, but nothing happened. He paused and adjusted the knob before rolling his eyes. "Shit, we didn't connect the burner to the valve. Where's the rubber tubing thing?"

Jimin handed over the necessary part, and Tae gave him a look.

"You're supposed to be in charge of the instructions and the equipment, Jimin," Tae scolded as he attached the tubing.

"W-Well, actually, Jungkook was in charge of the equipment b-but he never does anything."

Tae sighed, looking over at their triplet, who had blown up the latex glove by inflating it with his own breath and was trying to tie a knot at the bottom to make a balloon. "Right, so you're on equipment duty now."

"Okay," Jimin agreed as Tae finished connecting the tubing.

"All right, now let's light this baby up." Tae used the flint and, after several unsuccessful tries, a flame appeared atop the burner. "That's what I'm talking about. Now let's put that magnesium whatever it was in the flame."

Jimin handed it over while he was skimming the instructions. "Wait a s-sec, Tae, I need to finish reading this s-step-"

"The instructions are written for unconscious four-year-olds," Tae said. "I'm pretty sure three fourteen-year-olds can handle this. All we're doing it watching the metal's reaction to heat. How hard is that? Do we really need four pages of instructions to tell us how to do it? No."

Jimin's protests fell on deaf ears, and in the end, he gave up. The three of them all stared at the burner as Tae used tongs to suspend the thin strip of metal over the flame.

Everything was fine until it started glowing, a little, then a lot, then-

"My eyes," Jimin mumbled, shutting them.

"Maybe we weren't supposed to look," Jungkook agreed, seeing bright and dark spots in his vision.

Tae's vision was also severely affected. "Well, Jimin was in charge of the instructions, so it's his fault that he didn't inform us."

***

Their teacher found out rather quickly that they'd all failed to read the lab safety warnings about how you were not supposed to look at the magnesium compound when it was reacting because it could temporarily damage your eyesight.

So, the three were sent to the principal's office, both to rest their eyes and as punishment for endangering their safety.

"There's this one spot in my vision," Jungkook said. "It sort of looks like a frog."

"My head h-hurts," Jimin said instead.

Tae paused to think. "Well, we failed the lab but we got out of class so I'd say it's about even."

"What about our eye d-damage?"

"Okay, maybe a little less than even," Tae admitted. "But let's stop talking about the lab and talk about something else instead."

"Yeah, you guys are going to move back in with us," Jungkook said, shifting so he was facing Jimin at an angle, a smile on his lips. "When are you going to move in?"

"Ummm..." Jimin played with his fingers (not that he could see them very well). "Not sure yet..."

"Well, I mean, Yoongi's out of the hospital so there's nothing holding you back," Jungkook continued, tapping his foot on the ground and resting his elbow on his thigh.

"Well, there's Mom," Jimin said, tilting his head slightly and tightening his lips. It wasn't really a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth.

"She can't make you stay," Tae said, frowning uncertainly, but Jimin shook his head, causing the spots in his vision to jump around a bit.

"She's not, it's j-just...it's hard to leave her," Jimin finished, nervous about saying too much, but he knew that if he said too little, they'd never stop with the questions.

"Why?" Jungkook asked with a frown, but it was Tae's question that Jimin responded to.

"What's she like?" Tae asked, his eyes uncertain. It wasn't that he didn't have a slight idea of who she was, but Jin and Jungkook tended to avoid her, so Tae had always stuck with them. He wondered what it would be like to live with her, to be around her all the time. To have a proper relationship with the woman who had brought him into the world instead of trying to pretend she didn't exist.

"She's nice," Jimin began, but he frowned because that sounded too simple, too basic. "She doesn't b-bake us cookies or anything but she probably would i-if we asked. And she's good to t-talk to. A-And she cares a lot about us, all of us, and s-she would sacrifice anything to k-keep us safe." That was close enough to the truth. Maybe too close. "S-So," Jimin began. "Next time I think T-Tae should be in charge of lab safety."

***

Friday night.

Football night.

The two families had decided once again to skip their usual Friday night dinner and instead attend the game together. It would be one of the last games Jin played in, and they wanted to support him. Not just that, it was the big football game the night before the school dance, which meant everybody was there.

Which meant, in turn, that there was a lot of pressure on Jin.

He looked up at the stands and scanned the rows until he found the one holding his family. He smiled at gave them a slight way before turning and grabbing a water club, taking a few sips, and throwing the cup away.

Jin was nervous.

Nervous about what he was going to do.

Nervous about what it would do to him.

He drained another water cup.

"Easy there," a fellow teammate said, and Jin turned to see Changkyun watching him. "Drink too much water and you'll be cramping up on the field." For whatever reason, Changkyun had pronounced the word water differently, as though he were trying to imitate a British accent.

Jin still didn't really understand the kid, not that he'd tried much. "You'll get more time in the game then," Jin replied, looking back at the bleachers.

"Well, yeah, but nobody wants to be put in for someone with an injury. We all want each other to play our best, right?"

"Well, get ready because you're going to be playing longer than expected today," Jin mumbled without an explanation before jogging off toward the bench.

***

When Jin walked onto the field, he was starting to regret drinking all that water.

Not because of cramps, though. Because it made him want to pee. And being nervous made him want to pee even more, so...

Not a great way to start off his big night.

Although thinking about his bladder had certainly distracted him. One second, he was just crossing the sideline, and then next, he was centered on the field on the 45. His ears were ringing, maybe because of how loud the fans were tonight, he wasn't sure. He knew the cheering wasn't for him. He wasn't extremely good at what he did in the first place, and at the end of the day, he was just another uniform and helmet on the field.

Not after tonight.

Why did Jin feel like he was about to die? Was that normal?

"Hey, pretty boy. You gonna play or what?"

Jin blinked and nodded, taking his position after being called out by a lineman on his team. Jin bent his knees and made the calls for the play.

Finally, "Hike!"

The ball was snapped back to him. According to the play he'd called, he was supposed to fall back and (hopefully) complete a pass to the wide receiver down the right sideline. According to the play, the wide receiver would (hopefully) catch it and run it in for a touchdown, and, according to the play, Jin would (hopefully) avoid being sacked, tackled, or on the bottom of a piggy-pile.

According to the play, they'd (hopefully) end up with six points plus one extra for the conversion.

According to what actually happened, they ended up without gaining a single point, instead losing possession, and according to what actually happened, Jin must have looked like the worst high school quarterback in history.

That's if one assumed that what happened on the field was an accident.

It wasn't.

After being snapped the ball, Jin went against the play and instead started running, not necessarily for the endzone, but for a specific player.

A player on his own team.

A player that had started a fight with his brothers.

A player that had ended up causing his brother to have a seizure.

A player that wasn't prepared for a hit from behind.

Jin tackled the kid, and everybody sort of froze for half a second, because what Jin had just done violated all protocol for the sport.

The half-second was over pretty quickly as both teams ignored their insane quarterback and instead dove for the ball. The other team got it, and whistles were blown, but Jin still didn't get up.

"What the hell, man?!" the kid screeched, face down on the turf, trying to roll over to face Jin, but Jin wasn't letting up. "You're supposed to be hitting the other team! The other team, you moron! You're not even a lineman! What the hell are you doing?!"

"You're right," Jin said calmly. "We're supposed to be hitting the other team on the field. Not kids who go to our school and came to support our team who aren't even in the game. Next time I hear about you hitting up on my little brothers, I'm not going to let you off with a little tackle and a warning. And when that time comes - if it comes, if you're stupid enough to ignore my warning - you aren't going to be pulling the dick move of leaving your helmet on, you wimp. Probably better that you did, or Yoongi would have broken that thick skull of yours."

Jin finally got up, but he had one last thing to say. "And if you ever - and I mean ever - make fun of or humiliate Jimin or any of my brothers again, I will hunt you down."

Jin left the kid lying down on the 50 and walked off the field, taking his helmet off.

"What just happened?" Changkyun asked Jin, and Jin shrugged.

"The reason doesn't matter but I can assure you he deserved it. Now you're better get ready because I'm not going back in the game."

"I should think not!" the coach bellowed, jogging over the Jin with a furious expression. "What the hell was that out there, Kim? You-"

"I quit," Jin said, and the words felt like they had removed weights and chains from his body and soul.

"What?" the coach sputtered slightly. "Look, what you did out there was an atrocity, but you're not a bad player, Jin. So you made a mistake. I'm not putting you back in tonight, but there's next week, and-"

"There is no next week," Jin said, feeling more calm and at peace in the moment that he had in the past few years. "I'm done. I'm not playing anymore."

"But, Jin! The scholarship!" the coach cried out. In truth, the coach was furious at Jin for what he'd just done on the field - sacrificing their chance for a touchdown and tackling one of his own teammates - but he'd always appreciated Jin as a hard worker.

Jin winced at the mention of the scholarship but exhaled and shrugged. "I'm done here."

"But you'll forfeit your chances-"

"I know," Jin said. "And that's okay. I have more important things to worry about right now."

The coach opened his mouth to reply, but then he saw the play happening on the field and had to run toward the sideline to yell at his players.

Jin just gave a small smile and patted Changkyun on the shoulder. "Good luck," he said, and then he set his helmet on the ground and left.

***

"I still don't get football," Hobi said, "but that thing you did there was awesome! Everybody was cheering!"

Jin grimaced. The other team's fans had been sharing because he'd pulled a dumb ass move and given them possession, and what he'd done wasn't supposed to ever be done in football.

"Yeah, you wiped that one guy out!" Jungkook said, grinning and pantomiming one player knocking another down with his hands.

"Nice job, hyung," Jimin said quietly, biting his lip and looking away before looking back at Jin with a guilty expression. "About what happened in the h-hospital-"

"It's okay," Jin said, ruffling Jimin's hair, and Jimin was so shocked by the gesture of affection that his mouth fell open. "I needed to hear it. Thanks, Jimin."

Jimin slowly closed his mouth and smiled, leaning his head onto Jin's shoulder and closing his eyes for the car ride back, as they were all spending the night at Namjoon's because the dance was tomorrow.

The dance would be a night for them all to remember.