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sevenpabosandabunchoffans · 6 years

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The Meaning of Family | Chapter 15 (Final)

Characters: Kim Seokjin, Kim Namjoon, Min Yoongi, Jung Hoseok, Jeon Jungkook, Kim Taehyung, Park Jimin, Original Characters, Kim Yugyeom, Jennie Kim

Words: 10,803

Genre: Foster Dad!Jin, Preschool Teacher!Jin, Social Worker!Namjoon, Little Kid!Yoongi, Little Kid!Hoseok, Little Kid!Jimin, Little Kid!Taehyung, Little Kid!Jungkook, America!au, namjin but it’s more of a side thing

Warnings: recovery from an eating disorder, one character pressures another to have sex but nothing happens, mentions of past sexual abuse towards a child, mentions of child abuse (teenager), mentions of alcoholism, mentions of past child neglect, one character is basically just a cunt and says so many offensive things that it would take forever to type them all out, mild sexual harassment, jin is an emotional wreck

Summary: Jin is a preschool teacher at a small center and has an absolute adoration for younger children. During his time as a teacher, he sees an unfortunate percentage of his students placed in the foster system, so he decides to become a foster parent himself, forming an attachment with five children that get placed with him and their case worker.

A/N: The final chapter is here! Thank you to everyone that has followed this series. If you’ll stay after the chapter, there will be a detailed explanation of the surprise I mentioned at the end of this post.

Previous Chapter

“What are your thoughts on sex?” Hoseok was at his quarterly appointment with Dr. Pruitt to check up on his medication and coping strategies. As he did at the end of every meeting, the man had asked Hoseok if there was anything else he would like to talk about, and for once, Hoseok actually did have something.

“Well,” Dr. Pruitt pushed his glasses further up his face before clasping his hands together. “That is a very broad question, Hoseok. Do you mind elaborating a little?”

“It’s just…” Hoseok paused as he figured out how to word his question. “I know that a lot of people are against sex before marriage, or at least sex in high school, but I know a lot of people my age are having sex, and the media shows it as a normal thing for 16-year olds, so I was just wondering…should I be having sex already?”

“I can tell you that a lot of your peers are probably lying about having sex just to seem cool.” Dr. Pruitt answered. “But it does seem that you have some reservations about sex, and that is absolutely okay.” Hoseok bit his lip nervously, not sure how far the therapist would be attempting to dive into Hoseok’s problems. “This could be due to your parents’ views on sex, have you talked to them about it?”

Hoseok scoffed lightly. “My dad literally bought my older brother a box of condoms as part of his school supplies, I don’t think they’re too against sex.”

“Okay, so that’s not it.” Dr. Pruitt closed his notebook, signifying that their meeting was coming to an end. “I think you’re having an inner conflict because you have all these signs around you sending mixed signals about whether or not sex is okay at your age, and I believe you might have some repressed feelings towards sex. If you can figure out whatever it is that you are subconsciously feeling, it might be a little easier for you to navigate those mixed signals and figure out what you believe is best.”

At the soccer fields, Taehyung was getting in some summer practice before the school year, and the season, started. Taehyung kicked the ball towards the goal, just barely missing it. “If you shift to the right just half an inch, it’ll go in.”

Taehyung whirled around to see Kortni approaching him, her soccer bag over her shoulder. “What are you doing here, it’s off-season.”

“Then why are you here?” Kortni shot back as he retrieved his ball. “Mind if I join you?” Taehyung shrugged, and Kortni immediately set her own ball on the field and kicked it towards the goal.

Taehyung was just about to get back to practicing when he saw Hoseok’s car pull into the parking lot, meaning his appointment was over and it was time for the two of them to go home. “I gotta go, my brother’s here.” Kortni nodded and was about to kick again when Taehyung stopped her. “If you twist your core just a little more, your kick will be more powerful.”

Kortni turned to see him already halfway to Hoseok’s car. “Thanks!” She called after him, and he waved his hand in response as he opened the passenger door.

“Who’s that?” Hoseok asked as Taehyung put his seatbelt on.

The 14-year-old shrugged. “Just someone from the girls’ league.”

When they walked in their front door, they were greeted by a serious conversation between their older brother and their parents. “Yoongi, we told you that you don’t have to get a job, we just want you to focus on your schoolwork and preparing for college.”

“But I want to work.” Yoongi insisted, bending over to pick Holly up when she began pawing at his legs. “I wouldn’t have applied to work at the music store if I didn’t.”

Jin sighed. “And you think you’ll be okay? You won’t get overly stressed and anxious?”

“I’ll be fine, Dad.” Yoongi insisted.

“Yoongi got a job?” Taehyung asked, setting his bag on the couch.

“That’s not where that goes.” Namjoon stated, not even looking up from his laptop.

Taehyung picked his bag back up as Yoongi answered him. “I start working at Jack’s Music on Monday after school.”

“Congratulations~” Taehyung said before heading to his room. Yoongi left shortly after him, cuddling Holly close to his chest as he walked to his room.

“Wait, Yoongi, I gotta ask you something.” Hoseok chased after him, leaving Namjoon and Jin alone in the living room.

“What are you working so diligently on?” Jin asked as he opened his binder up to continue lesson planning for the coming week.

“A new case~” Namjoon started off vaguely, hitting send on his email before finishing his thought. “We have a girl in Greenbrier that just went into protective services, so I’m coordinating appointments for both her and her family. It’s not looking too good, though.”

“I hope everything works out okay.” Jin commented, and Namjoon nodded.

“Me too~” He said quietly before shutting his laptop, deciding he needed a little break from his depressing work. “What are you working on?”

“Community helpers week is coming up soon, so I’m trying to come up with various activities and decide who to call to come talk to the kids.” Jin answered, filling out part of his weekly lesson plan. “I’m going to call the fire department tomorrow to see if they can bring a truck over for the kids to look at, that’s always a favorite of the kids’.”

“Don’t let Jungkook know.” Namjoon teased. “You remember how much he loved that when he was in preschool.”

“Oh my god, I thought we would never get him out of the truck.” Jin thought back to the day that their youngest son bawled his eyes out at the thought of having to exit a firetruck. “Speaking of Jungkook, it’s probably time for me to go get him and Jimin.” Jungkook had joined the 7th grade football team and had morning summer practices starting at the end of July that coincided with Jimin’s dance camp.

“I’ll hold down the fort here.” Namjoon stated as Jin stood up from the couch, setting his binder on the coffee table. He leaned down to press a quick kiss to his husband’s lips before going to the kitchen to grab the snacks he had prepared for the two boys.

Jimin entered the car, skin glistening with sweat from his hard work that morning. “Hey, I brought you some peanut butter crackers.”

“But I ate all of my breakfast today.” Jimin commented as he put his seatbelt on.

“You did, and I am very proud of you, but your doctor said you’re still underweight and that you still need to have snacks between meals.” Jimin sighed and grabbed one of the packages from the cupholder between him and his dad. “You don’t have to finish it, just have at least two of the crackers and that’ll be fine.”

Jimin ate his snack in silence as Jin drove to the middle school to pick up Jungkook, finishing half the package before putting it away (which was only one more cracker than Jin had asked him to eat, but Jin was extremely proud of him anyway). Jungkook entered the car, much sweatier than Jimin was. “Hey, Kookie, I brought you a snack too in case you were hungry.”

“Thanks~” Jungkook reached up and grabbed the unopened package of crackers. “Yugyeom asked if it was okay if he could come over Friday after we get our schedules.” Jungkook was thankful that his face was already red from practice so that his heated cheeks wouldn’t raise any questions. “We want to get our school stuff together and make plans.”

“That’s fine~” Jin approved. “As long as his mom says it’s okay.”

They entered their house to see Hoseok on the couch next to Namjoon with an annoyed look on his face. “What’s up, Hobi?” Jin asked as Jungkook and Jimin started racing each other to the bathroom to shower. “One of you just use ours~” Jin called to them before turning back to Hoseok.

“Yoongi and Sophia kicked me out.” Hoseok grumbled, harshly hitting the guide button on the TV remote to see what was on.

“They did not kick you out, you chose to come in here.” Namjoon shared his input. “Sophia came over so she and Yoongi could start looking at college applications.”

“Oh, is that what they’re doing?” Hoseok muttered, crossing his arms over his chest as he finally decided on The Avengers.

“Leave them alone,” Jin softly scolded the 16-year-old. “Think about if it were you and Izzy.” Hoseok just turned the volume on the TV up slightly. “Alright, any ideas for what you want for lunch?” Jin asked as Taehyung entered the room, and Hoseok shook his head.

“I’m in the mood for a ham and cheese sandwich.” Taehyung supplied, rolling over the back of the loveseat to land on the cushion.

“I’m sure you’re capable of making that yourself, Taehyung.”

Taehyung dramatically pouted. “But it doesn’t taste as good as when you make it.”

“Dude, you just slap a slice of ham and a slice of cheese between two slices of bread.” Hoseok rolled his eyes.

“I don’t know what it is, but Dad just makes it better!” Taehyung insisted.

“Alright, come on,” Jin gestured for Taehyung to follow him into the kitchen. “I’ll show you how I make it.”

Soon enough, the family of seven, plus Sophia, were sitting down to dinner. “Jimin, you need some chicken on your plate.” Namjoon said when he noticed the 14-year-old trying to get by with a just a helping of side salad.

Since Jimin had eaten all of his breakfast that morning, an entire sandwich as opposed to half of one at lunch, and the two snacks Jin had him eat, he knew that it would be difficult for him to eat a substantial amount at dinner. He picked out the smallest grilled chicken breast and cut that in half, placing that amount on his plate. After seeing a slight nod from his dad saying that that was a good amount for that night, he began to take small bites of his salad.

“Is the preschool hiring?” Sophia suddenly asked.

“Oh, you’re looking for a job, too?” Jin inquired, and the 17-year-old girl nodded. “Well, unfortunately, you have to be 18 to work there…” Sophia’s face fell as she took a bite of chicken. “But if you’re still looking for a job in April after your birthday, then I can put in a good word for you with the director.”

She gave the man a small smile. “Thanks, Jin.” Underneath the table, Yoongi squeezed her hand before picking up his glass of coke.

“So, we have Math, Health, and Study Hall together this year.” Yugyeom commented after comparing his and Jungkook’s schedules. “This is gonna be awesome!”

“Yeah, awesome~” Jungkook agreed, trying to will his heart to slow down.

Yugyeom looked up from the paper and smiled at his best friend. “What class are you most excited about?” He asked as he handed Jungkook his schedule back, grabbing his backpack from the floor that he had packed with his school supplies, so they could get their binders together.

“I’m really excited about art this year.” Jungkook stated honestly.

“I can’t wait to see some of your projects!” Yugyeom exclaimed, making Jungkook pray to all the gods that he wouldn’t turn red at that moment. “I’m excited about health. I heard from some of the eighth-grade football players that we’ll get to watch a lot of movies.”

“That sounds fun…” Jungkook trailed off as he was mesmerized by Yugyeom’s fingers moving as he set his paper inside his binder. When he realized he had been staring, he quickly shook himself out of his trance and busied himself with his own school supplies.

“What’s your schedule look like?” Jimin asked Taehyung as he entered their room after taking a shower, flopping on his bed and grabbing his laptop.

“Why do I have to like girls?” Taehyung was obviously in his own world as he cuddled Soonshim to his chest, looking up at the ceiling.

“You could try liking both.” Jimin responded. “Both is fun.”

Taehyung ignored him as he continued his rambling. “I’ve only seen her twice and I’m in love.”

Jimin looked up from his laptop. “Why am I just now hearing about a girl in your life?”

Taehyung rolled onto his side. “I don’t like this feeling. Distract me.”

Jimin rolled his eyes as Lily jumped onto his lap. “Are you gonna tell me your schedule or not?”

“Oh, right!” Taehyung sat up, and Soonshim shot out of the room due to her newfound freedom. “What lunch do you have? I have second this year.”

“I have second, too. Dad’s gonna be extremely happy about that.”

“You’re doing good, Jimin.” Taehyung stated seriously. “We’re all just worried about a relapse.”

Jimin sighed. “I know, I am too.”

“Let’s not talk about this now.” Taehyung crossed the room to join Jimin on his bed. “Let’s see if we have any classes together.”

“I don’t get why you’re taking all of these computer classes still.” Izzy said from where she was lounging on Hoseok’s bed, Hoseok at his desk as he messed with some computer parts he managed to get from a garage sale.

“Because I like computers, you know this.”

“Yeah, but it’s like you don’t want us to have any classes together.”

Hoseok turned around in his desk chair to look at her. “You know that’s not true.” He got up to move to lay on his bed next to her. “I just want to take classes that I’m interested in.”

Izzy sighed. “At least we have oral com together.” She nuzzled into Hoseok’s chest before looking up at him. “Let’s do it now.”

Hoseok nearly choked on air. “Izzy, you know we can’t.”

Izzy scooted away from him and rolled her eyes. “It’s not like your dads don’t know that Yoongi and the cheerleader are fucking, I don’t get why they’re so strict about stuff like leaving your door open.”

“They haven’t given Jungkook the whole sex talk yet, and they said that they’ll change the rules once they have.”

“Great, so we’ll have to wait another year or two.” Izzy crossed her arms.

“Doesn’t waiting make it better?” Hoseok asked, but Izzy didn’t respond. He didn’t care, as he was happy to have put it off anyway.

Yoongi stood in Abuela Martinez’s kitchen, spooning some soup into a bowl for the elderly woman. He caught part of her and Sophia’s conversation as he carried the dish into the living room. “Yes, Abuela, I am okay with going to a community college.” Sophia had decided on going to the community college in Morrilton, which was 20 minutes away from where they lived now.

“Here you go, Abuela,” Yoongi handed her the bowl of soup.

“Thank you, Yoongi, you’ve always been such a nice boy.” Yoongi smiled at her as he moved to sit on the floor next to Sophia, where they had already begun filling out college applications in hopes of early acceptance. “Don’t you want to go to school with your boyfriend? Can’t you get that preschool degree at UCA?’’

“Yeah, but it’ll be way more expensive.” Sophia explained. “Plus, it’s not like I’ll never see Yoongi again. The school is only 20 minutes away, so I can still live in Conway and drive down there for class.”

“As long as you’re sure.” The older lady set her soup on the side table before slowly pushing herself up from her chair. “If you’ll excuse me, I have to go to the ladies’ room.”

Once the woman was out of sight and earshot, Yoongi looked at Sophia. “Have you told her or your mom yet?”

“No, have you told your dads yet?”

Yoongi shook his head. “If I had, they probably would have been even more against me getting a job.”

Sophia moved to sit on Yoongi’s lap, wrapping her arms around his neck as he wrapped his around her waist. “We have all school year to tell them. Until then, we can ease them into the idea.” Yoongi nodded and lightly pressed his lips to hers before turning his attention back to his laptop where the application for UCA was pulled up.

Taehyung sat in the desk he claimed as his for French class, scribbling on a random piece of paper out of boredom until a bag dropping onto the desk in front of him caught his attention. “Fancy seeing you here, stranger.”

“Kortni?” Taehyung asked, not fully believing the blonde girl that had been invading his thoughts was actually there.

“Wouldn’t expect some macho soccer player to be taking French.” Kortni sat in the seat, staying turned around to face him. “I would have pegged you as the type to take German or something.”

“A-actually I’m the type to take-take the same language as my genius brother so that I can, uh, I can copy his homework.” Taehyung was only partially joking, too busy cursing himself for allowing his stutter to slip out right then.

Kortni must have found it cute, though, because she giggled lightly at him. “Well, you’ve just made it that much easier for me.” Taehyung furrowed his eyebrows, and Kortni picked up on his confusion. “I hope you don’t think I kept seeking you out on the practice field in an attempt to form a friendship.” He tilted his head slightly, even more confused. “I was setting you up to obliterate you on the field. But then I saw you sitting in here and I decided why not obliterate you in the classroom? It’ll probably be much easier, because you actually are fairly skilled with a soccer ball.” Taehyung was at a loss for words as the bell rang, making Kortni turn to face the front.

Taehyung ran up to Jimin as he was walking into the cafeteria. “I was wrong, I am most certainly not in love!”

“Wait what?” Jimin asked as they walked up to the lunch line.

“Kortni! The girl I told you about the other day.” Jimin nodded in understanding as Taehyung handed him a tray. “I’m not in love with her. It turns out she’s actually my arch nemesis. I have to destroy her!” Taehyung took it upon himself to fill Jimin’s tray with a slice of pizza, a cup of pears, and a cup of baked beans.

“O…kay.” Jimin reached out to grab a bottle of water, but Taehyung smacked his hand out of the way and grabbed a milk.

“Meal plan says milk until you get your weight up.” Jimin rolled his eyes as he accepted the milk carton from his brother.

“Why don’t you start from the beginning with this Kortni girl?” Jimin asked as they sat down at a table together.

“Gladly~”

“My mom’s not home.” Izzy said as Hoseok began to pull out of the parking lot. “You wanna come over and have some fun?”

Hoseok’s grip on the steering wheel tightened. “Can’t~ I have to go pick Jimin up from school and take him to his ballet class.”

“I thought that was Yoongi’s job.” Izzy asked, obviously annoyed that her advances had been shot down again.

Hoseok shook his head as he approached the Jr. High. “Yoongi works at the music store now, so chauffeuring Jimin is my responsibility now.”

“Alright, well how about after you drop him off?” Izzy asked, reaching over to rest her hand on Hoseok’s thigh.

“I, uh, promised Jungkook I would help him with his homework today.” He hadn’t, as Yugyeom came over after school everyday after their football practice to help. Izzy removed her hand, and Hoseok let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding.

That Saturday night, Yoongi was out on a date with Sophia while Hoseok’s other three brothers had already holed themselves up in their rooms. Hoseok knocked on his dads’ bedroom door, waiting for them to say he could come in.

“What’s up, Hobi?” Jin looked up from his laptop, where he was downloading some activity sheets to print out for the following week, his glasses perched on his nose. Namjoon was sitting next to him on the phone, speaking quietly about a court meeting that was coming up.

“Can I ask you guys something?” Jin set his laptop to the side and Namjoon finished his call, letting both of their attentions be on their second oldest. “What do you think is the right age to be having sex?”

The question caught both of them off guard. “Well, Hobi,” Namjoon began, “I don’t really think it’s a matter of age so much as it is a matter of maturity.”

“What do you mean?” Hoseok asked as he sat on the foot of their bed.

“There’s a lot of stress that can come from being sexually active.” Jin explained. “From the possibility of getting a girl pregnant, to the risk of STDs, and even the emotional connections that can be formed from having sex with someone. And a person shouldn’t consider being sexually active until they are mature enough to handle any consequence that can come from having sex.”

“And you think Yoongi is mature enough for that?” Hoseok knew he was stalling now.

“Your brother’s sex life is not something we want to discuss with you, Hobi.” Namjoon said. “But we have already discussed this with him too.”

“What is this about?” Jin asked. “Are you wanting to have sex with Izzy? You don’t have to ask our permission, Hobi.”

“No, actually~” Hoseok took a deep breath. “Izzy has been talking about the possibility of us having sex, but I don’t particularly want to, and I was just wondering if that was weird for me to not want to have sex at 16.”

“It’s not weird.” Namjoon said. “I wasn’t interested in having sex when I was 16. There’s a lot of different reasons as to why one wouldn’t want to have sex.” Hoseok nodded, and Namjoon took that as a chance to ask his next question. “Are you thinking you might be asexual? It’s okay if you are.”

“No, I don’t think so.” Hoseok stayed quiet for a few seconds as he gathered his thoughts. “I mean, I know I want to have sex one day, preferably with Izzy, but whenever it comes up, it scares me. Like, I’m actually terrified.” Saying it out loud made Hoseok realize that Carter was the reason behind his reluctance.

“That’s completely understandable.” Jin said, willing away the tears he felt coming on. “You experienced something horrible as a child, and the repercussions of that are going to carry on through to adulthood. It’s completely normal for you to be scared to have sex, because you associate it with what you went through. No one can blame you for that.”

Hoseok wasn’t sure when the tears began to pour out of his eyes. He just knew that he needed his dads’ reassurance and love at that moment. He moved to lie between them, welcoming the both of their arms around him. “Will I ever be okay?”

“One day, Hobi.” Namjoon whispered into his hair.

“Have I ever mentioned how much I love breakfast for dinner?” Taehyung asked rhetorically as he loaded his plate up with hash browns. “Because I really do.”

Jimin had been struggling with eating properly over the past few weeks, which he and his dads agreed was probably due to football season starting and worrying about all of the people in the bleachers looking at and judging him (even though they wouldn’t be). Due to this, Jin had gone back to fixing Jimin’s plate up for him to make sure he had all the proper components on it while Jimin focused on eating at least five bites of each item on his plate (he was usually able to eat at least half of each item, sometimes more depending on what it was). After fixing Jimin’s plate up with a pancake, a piece of sausage, and a scoop of eggs, he sat down at his own spot and fixed himself a plate. “Tomorrow’s Sunday, meaning grocery day, so everyone needs to think about what they want or need from the store.” The boys all mumbled in acknowledgement, too busy enjoying the food in front of them. “Yoongi, do you need any more condoms?”

Yoongi dropped his fork on his plate and hid his face in his hands as he groaned in annoyance. “Dad, if I need condoms, I am perfectly capable of buying them myself.”

“I’m just making sure-“

“Yes, I know, thank you.” Yoongi waited until he was sure the conversation was over before picking his fork back up.

Jungkook snickered at the exchange until his phone began to ring. He pulled it out of his pocket but froze when Jin scolded him. “Jungkook, you know no phones allowed during mealtimes.” Jungkook had just received the phone as a gift for his 13th birthday two weeks prior and was still struggling a bit with the rules that came with it.

“But it’s Yugyeom!” Jungkook insisted.

“And you can call him back after dinner.” Jungkook whined, but put his phone up anyway, picking his fork back up as Namjoon’s phone began to ring. “How come dad can have his phone?”

“Because he needs it for work.” Jin explained as Namjoon answered the phone. Namjoon only stayed on the phone for a few seconds before hanging up and standing up from his chair. “What is it?”

“I gotta go, a case in Greenbrier. I’m not sure when I’ll be back.” He gave Jin a quick kiss before waving goodbye to their sons.

Namjoon arrived at the house at the same time as the police did, and they could hear glass breaking and muffled shouting from outside. As they approached the door, the yelling became clearer. “You little bitch!”

“Mom, stop!”

Entering the house was a blur to Namjoon, as all he was focused on was making sure the girl was safe. He registered the girl was huddled against the wall, protecting her head from the plates and glasses her mom was throwing in her direction. When the police restrained the intoxicated mother, the girl finally looked up and realized what was happening. “Jennie, we’re going to-“ Namjoon couldn’t finish the sentence before the girl was running after her mother, who was being escorted by the police to the squad car.

“That’s my mom!” Namjoon went after her, encasing her in his arms, not letting go no matter how much she struggled. “Let me go! They’re taking my mom away!”

“Jennie, calm down.” Namjoon guided her towards his car, at which point she started scratching at his arms to try to get away from him. He set the 14-year-old girl in the passenger seat of his car and crouched down to be eye level with her. “Can you calm down for me?” The girl just glared at him. “Jennie-“

“Are you happy, you bastard?” Namjoon stayed silent, allowing her to get her anger out. “You fucking ripped my family apart!”

“Jennie~” He said quietly, pausing to see if she was going to say anything else. “I didn’t want to take you away from your mom. That’s why you were under protective services because we wanted to keep you together.” Namjoon tried to make eye contact with her, but she just stared forward. “But tonight showed that you are not safe with your mother right now. So, I’m going to take you to a nice family who will take care of you while your mom gets the help she needs.”

Jennie stayed silent for a few seconds before turning her head to look at him. “Save your shitty fairytale for someone who’s gullible enough to believe it.”

Jimin and Taehyung exited their English class. “I have a quiz in French today and I am determined to finish it before Kortni.” Jimin rolled his eyes at his brother. “Wish me luck.”

“No~” Taehyung didn’t catch Jimin’s response as he was already walking towards the stairs to head to the second floor.

Jimin walked outside to cross over to the other building where his Health class was located. When he entered the building, he stopped at the sight of his dad speaking with one of the school counselors, his counselor. “Hi, Dad~” Namjoon looked up at Jimin’s voice. “Hi, Mrs. Duncan. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, Minnie, nothing you need to concern yourself with.” Namjoon assured him. “Just go on to class and I’ll see you at home.”

Jimin nodded and turned to walk down the hall. As he was turning, he caught a glimpse of long, dark brown hair in Mrs. Duncan’s office, but thought nothing of it as he entered his Health class. He ignored the boys behind him that were snickering over the fact that they were about to start the sex ed chapter (Jimin already knew what they would not be learning in class thanks to his dad and older brothers), instead opting to get a head start on the reading he had just been assigned in English. He was distracted from the words on the page when the boys behind them switched their attention to ‘that hot girl that just walked in’. He looked up to see a girl with slightly puffy eyes walking briskly across the room and sitting in the first seat she could find, using her hair to shield her face from the rest of the room. He looked over to the classroom door and saw his dad out in the hallway with Mrs. Duncan and Coach Worlow, the Health teacher, and he suddenly understood the puffiness of the girl’s eyes.

The teacher stayed out in the hallway for a few minutes still talking before she finally walked back in. “Alright, class, we have a new student with us today.” She gestured to where the girl was sitting. “Jennie, would you like to tell us a little about yourself.”

Jennie looked up and looked around the room. “Do I seem like I want to talk about myself? You were standing out their talking for a really fucking long time, did you ignore them or are you just a fucking idiot?” The new girl, Jennie, had shocked everyone in the classroom, but what shocked the class even more was the teacher’s response.

Coach Worlow sighed. “Jennie, I understand-”

Jennie scoffed, “Clearly~”

“We do not accept this sort of behavior or language at Conway Jr. High. Due to the circumstances, though, I will let you off with a warning this time.”

“What a blessing~” Jennie smiled sarcastically at the teacher, who turned to her computer to begin taking roll.

Jimin saw Jennie again that afternoon in his Biology class. Mrs. Duncan had, once again, escorted her to the class, but his father was nowhere to be seen. The class went without any episodes, completely uneventful until the bell rang to dismiss class. “Jimin, Jennie, can I speak to you two for a second?” Jimin was confused as to why Mr. Hill was asking him to stay behind, but still went up to the man’s desk. “Now, Jennie, I have no doubts that you will do well in our class here, however, after speaking with your teachers in Greenbrier, it seems that your class was slightly behind where our class stands now.” He gestured to Jimin. “Jimin here is the top student in the class, so I am pairing the two of you together as Biology Buddies, just to make sure that you stay on track with our class.”

Jennie glanced over at the 14-year-old before rolling her eyes. “Great~” She grabbed her backpack from her desk on her way out of the room to meet Mrs. Duncan who was waiting for her.

“You’re okay with this, right?” Jimin tore his gaze from the door Jennie had walked out of to look at his teacher.

“Of course, Mr. Hill. I’m happy to help.”

The next day, Jimin walked out of the lunch line with Taehyung after paying for their meals, gaze immediately falling on Jennie. She was sitting alone, pulling apart the bun from her pulled pork sandwich. “I’ll see you later~” Before Taehyung could ask any questions, Jimin was already walking in the girl’s direction. She looked up as he set his tray down on the table, raising her eyebrows when she saw who it was. “Hi, I’m Jimin~” He greeted cheerfully.

“I know.” She said, waiting for him to explain what he was doing there.

“I thought we could talk about times to get together to work on Biology.”

“Thanks, but no thanks. I got it.” Jennie flashed him a fake smile before going back to tearing her bun apart.

“Look,” Jimin said, smile gone from his face. “I know what you’re going through right now is hard, but it will get easier.”

Jennie looked back up at him. “Listen here, Jimin,” the way she said his name full of scorn, “I know all about you. Perfect family, perfect grades, first boy to make it onto the dance team, highly attractive, and nice to everyone.” Jimin just stared at her as she continued on. “Of course, you would say it’ll get better. What could you and your perfect life possibly know about what I’m going through?”

Jimin clenched his jaw as he reached into his pocket for the slip of paper he had put in there during health, slamming it on the table in front of her. “Here’s my number. Text me when you decide to stop being a bitch to people that are just trying to be nice.” He threw his backpack over his shoulder and picked up his tray, walking over to his and Taehyung’s normal table.

“Thank you, come again~” Yoongi said with fake enthusiasm as the customer walked out of the store. Sophia came in shortly after with her laptop.

“Look at this!” She opened her laptop and put in her password, setting the computer on the counter in front of Yoongi to show him what she had been looking at. “Nice, huh? And since I got that job at Purple Cow, the two of us should be able to afford it by the end of next summer! Just in time for college!”

“It’s perfect~” Yoongi commented, pushing the laptop back towards Sophia. “Now for the hard part of telling our parents.”

Sophia closed her laptop and placed it in her bag. “It’s only October, we still have a while.”

“Izzy~” Hoseok had agreed to go to Izzy’s house after school but was suddenly regretting it as she continued to trail kisses along his neck, her hand creeping ever higher. When her hand finally came in contact with his crotch, he pushed her away. “I can’t~”

“What do you mean you can’t? You’re not gay, are you?’

“No,” Hoseok assured her, pulling his legs into his chest as he subconsciously tried to protect himself. “I just can’t.”

“Well, why not?” Izzy sat up.

Hoseok took a deep breath. “You’re the first person outside of my family that I’m telling this to.” Izzy stared at him, waiting for him to continue. “As you know, I was three when I was placed with my dad.” She nodded, and he went on. “Well, when I was there, there was another guy there, named Carter. Carter used to…come into my room at night and…” he trailed off, knowing he would cry if he finished the sentence, but he’d said enough for Izzy to understand.

“Oh~” was all she said. “Well…” The two of them fell into an awkward silence until Hoseok’s phone buzzed.

“It’s my dad.” He said after looking at the text. “I need to get home for dinner.”

Izzy nodded. “Okay, yeah, go.” Hoseok went in to kiss her goodbye, but she pulled back slightly.

Yugyeom ran up to Jungkook as they walked to the football field for practice. “I’ve been meaning to ask,” is Yugyeom’s greeting. “Where do you go every day during Study Hall?”

“Uh, my art teacher writes passes for me to come and help her in her room since I get so bored in study hall.” Jungkook said, mentally patting himself on the back for being able to come up with an excuse so quickly.

“Even on the very first day of school?” Instead of coming up with another elaborate excuse, Jungkook decided it was time to come clean to his best friend.

“Alright, the truth is…” Jungkook pulled Yugyeom off to the side, away from where the other football players were congregating before practice. “I have a learning disorder, so I have to meet with a tutor during study hall.” Jungkook mentally braced himself for the teasing that never came.

“So that’s why you struggle with math so much. You could have just told me.” Yugyeom pat him on the shoulder before turning back towards the field. “You ready to go?” Jungkook took a second to calm his fluttering heart before following his best friend to practice.

“I just can’t believe it!” Jimin continued to hum as if he were paying attention to Taehyung’s ranting as they waited for Hoseok to pick them up from school. He wasn’t. “There I was, just about to set my test down on the table when her hand shoots out and sets her test paper down first! I can’t stand her!”

“Yep, that sucks.” Jimin said, turning a page in his book. Jimin felt a shadow fall over him, so he looked up.

“Hi, Jimin,” Jennie said shyly. It had been about a month since that day in the cafeteria. “I was gonna talk to you after Health, but you got checked out, and then I thought I lost my chance, but you were back in Biology, and you’re here now, so I’m having a lot of trouble with this photosynthesis stuff, and I don’t know if it’s because our student teacher sucks at teaching or what, but do you mind-“

“You don’t have to tell a whole novel’s worth of stories.” Jimin cut her off. “I’m happy to help.”

Taehyung silently watched their exchange, already plotting out his next embarrassing of his brother. “Do you mind if we do it today?” Jennie asked sheepishly. “The people I’m staying with work late on Fridays and then have date night, so…”

Jimin spotted Hoseok’s car pulling up. “Lucky for you, Fridays are the only afternoons I have completely free.” He stood up and shouldered his backpack, picking up his violin case. “Come on~” He gestured to the car with his head.

“Shouldn’t you ask-“ Taehyung was cut off by Jimin.

“Dad will be fine with it.” He looked at Hoseok’s car, noticing for the first time that Izzy wasn’t there. “Where’s Izzy?”

“Don’t know, don’t care, shotgun!” Taehyung practically dove into the passenger seat as Jimin opened the back door.

Jin arrived home between 5:30 and 6:00 with Jungkook, as he had walked to the preschool after his football practice, seeing Hoseok and Taehyung playing a video game in the living room. “What’s up, guys?”

“Jimin brought a girl home.” Taehyung’s words made Jin stop his path to the laundry room to throw his jacket in the wash due to having been drooled on by one of the new babies.

“Do what now?”

“Yeah~” Hoseok agreed, aggressively pressing buttons on his controller. “They’re in his and Tae’s room.”

Jin went straight to the hallway, grateful that the door was at least open. He paused in the doorway and saw Jimin sitting on the floor next to a girl, both of them with a textbook open across their lap. “Hey, Dad, I didn’t know you were home.”

“I just got here~” Jin answered. “Hi, I’m Jimin’s dad, you can call me Jin.” He greeted the girl.

“I’m Jennie~”

“Will you be joining us for dinner?”

Jennie looked over at Jimin. “If it’s okay. She’s not getting picked up until 9:00.”

“Okay, I’ll call your dad to let him know to pick up an extra pizza just in case.”

When Jin walked out of the room, Jennie spoke up. “So, you have two dads? That’s cool~”

“I thought you knew all about me~” Jimin said, not looking up from the homework sheet, and Jennie knew that he was still upset over their previous interaction.

Namjoon arrived home at the same time Yoongi had from work, Sophia with him. Yoongi and Sophia offered to carry the pizza boxes in for him, which he was very grateful for. “We’re home~” He called out, carrying his briefcase to his and Jin’s room. When he came back out, he was met by Jimin exiting his bedroom with a very familiar face. “Jennie?”

“Oh, hi, Namjoon~” Jennie obviously didn’t know how to react to realizing she was in her case worker’s house.

“Dad, our biology teacher asked me to help Jennie stay caught up in our class, so is it okay if she comes over on Fridays?”

“Yeah, that’s fine~” Namjoon said, gradually getting over his shock. “Jennie, if you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.” The 14-year-old nodded before following Jimin into the living room where everyone was settling down for pizza and a movie.

Jin entered the room with a makeshift tray of drinks in his hands. “Alright, claim your drinks.” He took the glass of whole milk off the tray and handed it to Jimin before it could be spilled by all the grabbing hands. “Here’s your milk, Jimin. You can have a soda once you’ve drunk it all.” Jimin nodded and immediately took a sip before putting a slice of pizza on a plate.

After the movie, Jimin and Jennie went back to his room, Taehyung going into Jungkook’s room to help him with his math homework as he had offered during dinner. Since they had already finished their homework, they just sat on his bed in silence as they waited for her foster parents to come by to pick her up. Lily came into the room and jumped into Jimin’s lap, who immediately began scratching the top of her head. “Cute cat~” Jennie said.

“Thanks~” Jimin said, picking Lily up and nuzzling his nose into her fur.

“I’m sorry~” Jimin looked up at Jennie’s sudden apology. “I shouldn’t have judged you when I first met you, especially when you were just trying to be nice. I honestly know nothing about you.”

“You’re right, you don’t.” Jimin responded. “But what brought this on?”

“The milk~” Jimin tilted his head in curiosity. “I have a friend back in Greenbrier who’s recovering from an eating disorder and has to drink two glasses of whole milk with each meal as advised by her doctor.” Jennie confessed. “And now I know that your life isn’t perfect, so I’m sorry.”

Jimin stayed silent for a bit, watching Jennie stare down at her lap. After debating with himself, he finally decided to speak up. “I was three when I went into the system.” Jennie looked up at him in shock. “My dad was my case worker at the time. The only thing I remember from my old house is rummaging through discarded pizza boxes and McDonald’s bags trying to find even the smallest scrap of food.” He subconsciously cuddled Lily closer to him. “And I was extremely angry all the time, just like you are. But trust me when I say that it will get better. Whether it be from your parents putting themselves together or from you finding a better home with someone else.”

“Do you think my mom will get better?” Jennie asked, tears glistening in her eyes. “She blames me for my dad leaving her. Most of the time she’s okay, it’s just when she gets drunk that she’s not.” Jennie felt a sudden lightness to her chest about finally venting to someone. “Your dad started to come twice a week to check on us as what he called protective services, and she was doing better. And then she got drunk, started throwing things, and the police came with your dad and that’s when he took me away and left me with some random family.” She took a shaky breath. “And I just want my mom back.”

“He wouldn’t have taken you away if he didn’t feel that it was absolutely necessary.” Jimin told her. “We can always tell when it’s a day that he’s had to remove a child from their family. In fact, I remember the night he picked you up, he left in the middle of dinner.” Jimin sat up and scooted a little closer to the girl who was trying not to cry. “He hates taking kids from their families and only does it if the child is in danger in their own home.” Jimin waited for her to respond. When she didn’t, he continued. “As for your mom, I don’t know her personally. Maybe having you removed will knock some sense into her, maybe it won’t. All I know is that my dad will do everything he can to make sure you’re safe and taken care of, like he did for me and my brothers.”

“So, all of you were in the system?” Jimin nodded. “And Namjoon took all of you in when it turned out that you couldn’t go back to your families?”

“First of all, this is our family.” Jimin said, smiling lightly. “Second of all, it’s actually a cute story. My other dad, Jin, he was our foster parent, then he and dad started to fall for each other, so dad requested that our cases be transferred to a different worker so that his judgment on how well we were being taken care of wouldn’t be influenced by his feelings. They got together after Hoseok and Yoongi were officially adopted.”

Jennie gave Jimin a sad smile. “Well, I’m glad it worked out for you guys.”

Jimin reached out, hesitating slightly before taking hold of her hand. “It’ll work out for you, too.”

“Izzy!” Hoseok walked up to the girl standing at her locker. “You’ve been ignoring my texts.”

“Listen, Hoseok…I need time.”

“You need time?” Hoseok asked, confused as to what Izzy was talking about.

“Yeah, I just found out that you’ve been with a guy! I need time to process that!”

“Been with…you make it sound like it was willingly.”

Izzy shrugged. “Wasn’t it?”

Hoseok’s heart stopped as he finally began to realize the kind of person his girlfriend was. “Are you implying that, at the age of three, I asked for someone to come into my room almost every night and violate me?”

“What would you call it?”

Hoseok lowered his voice. “I and everyone that knows what happened call it rape.”

“You’re a guy, Hoseok!” Izzy exclaimed. “You can’t be raped.” Hoseok scoffed and turned to walk away. “And I thought you were the normal one of your family.”

“What do you mean ‘normal’ one?”

“I mean, one of your dads is a manwhore who will sleep with anyone, including your other dad, I mean, people say that’s the only reason Jin was able to adopt you guys in the first place-“

“Izzy-“

“And Yoongi is a depressed freak who will probably shoot up the school any day now-“

“Izzy-“

“Jimin is so queer, like, what guy would actually willingly want to be on a school dance team, and did anyone ever teach Taehyung how to speak properly, what is up with him-“

“Izzy-“

“Jungkook is a total retard-“

“Isabella!” Izzy was shocked into silence at Hoseok using her real name. “That’s my family you’re talking about!”

“Oh, Hobi, they’re not your family!” Izzy exclaimed. “They’re some freaks that you got stuck with because your mom abandoned you!”

Hoseok shook his head. “I’m done, I’m not doing this anymore!”

Izzy’s mouth dropped open in shock. “Are you breaking up with me?”

“I want my hoodies back~” was all Hoseok said before leaving.

Yoongi got home from work that night and immediately went to the kitchen to see what was for dinner. “Ooh, we’re having biscuits tonight.”

“Yes~’ Jin replied, standing up from where he had been bent over in front of the oven and giving Yoongi a hug. “How was work?”

“Good, my boss said I can have all of Thanksgiving Break off since I’ve been working so hard.”

“Well, that’s nice of him~” Jin turned to cut up some chicken to throw into the salad he was preparing. “Would you mind checking on Hoseok? He hasn’t come out of y’all’s room.”

Yoongi nodded, stealing a piece of chicken. He popped the grilled meat in his mouth as he walked back to his room, stopping when he saw Hoseok curled up in his bed facing the wall. “Hobi? Are you okay?”

“You were right~” Hoseok said quietly, but it was enough for Yoongi to be able to tell that he was crying, or at least had been.

“About what?” He took his shoes off before moving to sit on the edge of Hoseok’s bed.

“About Izzy~” Hoseok rolled over, and Yoongi could see his red eyes, tear stains on his face.

“I’m guessing you broke up?”

Hoseok nodded. “Why does it hurt so much? I broke up with her, so I shouldn’t be feeling like this.”

Yoongi sighed. “Because you loved her. And I’m guessing this wasn’t a planned break up, that it came seemingly out of nowhere.” Hoseok nodded again, and Yoongi ran his fingers through his younger brother’s hair. “It’ll be okay.” He stayed quiet for a few seconds before deciding to lighten the mood. “Are we too old for brother cuddles or…” Hoseok silently lifted his blanket up for Yoongi to climb under with him.

Jungkook glanced up periodically to see if Yugyeom had arrived for math class yet. The boy finally did, but Jungkook felt his heart drop when he saw him walking with a girl. He watched as the two laughed together and felt a pang in his chest when Yugyeom kissed the girl on the cheek before walking into the classroom. “Hey, Kookie,” Yugyeom greeted as he took his seat next to the other 13-year-old.

“Hi…who was that?” Jungkook asked, hoping that Yugyeom would deny his assumptions.

“Emily, my girlfriend. I asked her out this morning.”

Jungkook swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. “Oh…congratulations~” He bent his head down and made it look like he was busy working on the beginning of class problems, but really, he was trying not to cry.

He managed to do so until he arrived at the preschool, at which point he collapsed into Jin’s arms and let all of his feelings out. “Oh, Kookie, what happened?” His mind was jumping to the worst-case scenario: kids at school had found out about his disability and were now bullying him. It wasn’t until they went home, and he got Jungkook into his room that he realized how far off he was.

“Dad, I like boys,” Jungkook said once all of his tears were out.

“Well, Jungkook, that’s okay. I like boys, your dad likes boys, Minnie likes boys-“

“But I like a certain boy,” Jin suddenly realized where this was going. “And he doesn’t like me. He has a girlfriend.”

Jin wrapped his arm around the 13-year old’s shoulders and pulled him into his chest. “Well, sometimes you’re gonna like people who don’t or won’t like you back, and it’ll be okay. Because when you finally meet someone that does like you back, it’ll be that much better.”

“Like you and dad?” Jungkook inquired, looking up at Jin.

“Exactly like me and dad.” Jin assured him. “You know…I was gonna wait to give all five of you your valentine’s present after dinner tonight, but I think I’ll give you yours now.” Jin left the room for a few minutes, coming back with a framed picture. When he handed it to Jungkook, the boy could see that it was a picture of them at Universal Studios during Namjoon and Jin’s wedding. “I thought that since Yoongi is graduating in a few months that you guys might like a picture of the moment we truly became a family.”

Jungkook threw his arms around Jin’s neck in a bone-crushing hug. “Thanks, Dad.”

“My dad’s been extremely emotional.” Jimin spoke up as he and Jennie ate their lunch. After their heart to heart, they had become fairly close friends, meaning she started to come over more often, and not just for homework. Taehyung hadn’t joined them that day because he felt the need to mess with Kortni during lunch.

“Your brother’s graduating this weekend.” Jennie responded. “I don’t blame him.”

“Yeah, but he’s going to college in town, he’s probably going to be living at home, it’s not that big of a deal.”

Jennie observed him. “Is someone getting upset over their older brother graduating?”

“Shut up, I am not!”

“What is this? Jimin has a girlfriend?”

Jimin glared up at the boy that had just approached them. “Go away, Michael.”

“I’m surprised someone out of your family turned out normal and likes a nice pair of tits.”

“Excuse me?” Jennie moved to stand up, but Jimin did before she could.

“I already asked you once, go away, Michael.”

“Or maybe you’re just a slut like your father, going for anything and everything that’s breathing.”

“Shut the fuck up!” Jimin could feel himself getting angry, and he wasn’t sure how much longer he could hold on.

“Why? Am I wrong? Is that pretty little thing next to you the slut?” The laugh had barely left Michael’s mouth when Jimin tackled him to the floor.

Taehyung and Kortni looked over when they heard the chants of “FIGHT, FIGHT” and saw a group of people had swarmed to a certain area of the cafeteria. “What’s going on?” Kortni asked just as a teacher went over to break up whatever fight was going on, but he was unable to get through the crowd of people.

“Let’s go see.” Taehyung said, moving quickly across the cafeteria to the group of people. Unlike the teacher, Taehyung and Kortni were able to push their way through the crowd of students with their phones out, capturing the brawl to put on YouTube. As soon as they made their way to the front of the crowd, Taehyung jumped into action to break the fight apart. “Jimin, stop!” He pulled his brother off of the other guy just as the teacher finally made his way through the crowd.

“You two, come with me!” He grabbed Jimin and Michael both by the arm and tugged them off to the principal’s office.

“What happened?” Taehyung asked Jennie as the crowd began to disperse.

“I don’t know! It all happened so fast!” Jennie said, still shocked at seeing this new side of Jimin. “One second the dude was harassing us, and the next Jimin had him pinned on the ground and was throwing punches!”

An hour later, Jin was speaking with the principal. “Believe me, Jimin will be punished as soon as we get home, but don’t suspend him. He’s a good boy, and this will be a one-time thing!” Jin assured the principal.

“Don’t worry, Mr. Kim, we have witnesses stating that it was an act of self-defense.” The principal stated. “And since Jimin is a top student and has had no problems before, we will only be giving him a warning and sending him home for today. However, his coach might take other actions.” Jin nodded in understanding.

Jimin had his phone taken away for the weekend as punishment, so he was definitely shocked the next day when Jennie walked into his room. “Jennie? What are you doing here?” Jimin asked as he jumped up from his bed, disturbing Lily who was napping.

“You weren’t answering any of my texts.”

“Yeah, my dads took my phone away for the weekend.” He hissed as Jennie brushed her finger along the light bruise on his cheek.

“Michael looks much worse.” Jennie commented.

“As he should.” Jimin joked. “It’s not the first time I’ve kicked his ass.”

“Really?” Jennie asked. “Jimin Kim has a bad boy side to him?”

Jimin snorted out a laugh. “No, in kindergarten he was saying a lot of hateful things about my dads that he learned from his mom, so I took it upon myself to teach him a lesson.”

“Well, he apparently didn’t learn.” Jennie said. “And neither did his mom, she came up yesterday afternoon demanding that you be expelled.”

Jimin rolled his eyes. “Not the first time she’s done that.” Jimin cleared his throat. “So, did we have homework in Biology yesterday? Is that why you came here?”

Jennie’s eyes widened, “Oh, no, not at all! In fact, my foster parents are waiting outside in the car to take me to the mall. I asked them if we could run by here first.” Jimin furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “Michael was saying a lot of things about me, and you defended me, so I wanted to say thank you.”

“Oh, no problem.” Jimin waved off her thanks. “It was my pleasure.” They stood there in an awkward silence. “I guess if-“ Jimin was cut off by Jennie pressing her lips to his for a total of two seconds. They stared at each other wide-eyed until the clearing of a throat by the door caught their attention.

“Dad wants to know if you’re staying for dinner, Jennie.”

“Oh, no, my foster parents are waiting outside.” Jennie rushed out of the room but paused in the doorway. “Bye, Jimin,” she smiled shyly before leaving for good.

When she was gone, Taehyung waggled his eyebrows at Jimin. “Shut up~” Jimin flopped back on his bed, grabbing the book he was reading when Jennie had arrived.

When the seven of them sat down to dinner, they were all shocked by what Jin had prepared. “We’re having chicken nuggets and peas?” Jungkook asked, not fully believing it.

Jin nodded as he sat in his chair. “It was the first meal Yoongi and I had together when he was first placed with me.”

“Oh my god, Dad, if you start crying-“

“I won’t if you be quiet and eat this food I slaved over a hot oven to prepare for you.” The boys all rolled their eyes but laughed as they dug into their simple but meaningful meal.

Taehyung felt the table was too silent, so he decided to do what he did best: embarrass Jimin. “Dad, did you know that Jimin has a girlfriend?”

Jimin dropped his fork. “She’s not my girlfriend!”

“Well that sounds familiar.” Hoseok commented, shooting Yoongi a look.

“But she’s not!” Jimin insisted.

“She kissed you!” Taehyung shot back, at which point Namjoon dropped his own fork.

“Jimin, you had your first kiss?”

It was at this moment that Jimin decided to deploy the weapon he had been holding onto since the first day of the school year. “Tae, how’s Kortni?”

Jin looked up from his plate. “Who’s Kortni? Taehyung, do you have a girlfriend you didn’t tell us about?”

“She’s my sworn enemy!” Taehyung exclaimed as Jimin smiled smugly to himself, taking a bite of chicken nugget.

Jin rinsed his toothbrush and placed it back in the holder, leaning close to the mirror to make sure there were no stray remnants of his face mask stuck to his skin. He turned off the bathroom light, pausing in the doorway to his connected bedroom and chuckling at the sight of his husband sleeping while partially sitting up, his laptop still on his lap and a file open next to him. Jin quietly approached the man, closing the laptop and gathering up the papers into the file, taking care not to look at it in order to keep confidentiality. After setting them off to the side, he carefully removed his husband’s reading glasses, smiling as his eyes opened slightly. “What-“

“Shh,” Jin helped guide him to lay down under the comforter. “Go to sleep, Namjoon.” He lightly pressed his lips against Namjoon’s before leaving him to make his nightly rounds of checking on the children.

He passed the rooms closest to his bedroom, wanting to check on the oldest first. He slowly opened the door and smiled softly at Yoongi and Hoseok sleeping. Yoongi was lying in his bed peacefully with earbuds in, probably playing Mozart or Beethoven or some other composer that he found relaxing. Hoseok, on the other hand, was fairly restless, constantly tossing and turning as if trying to get comfortable. Jin tiptoed into the room, taking care not to step on any of the creaky floorboards on his way to Hoseok. Upon reaching him, he gently placed his hand on the boy’s head, softly combing his fingers through his hair until he calmed down and was still.

Next, he checked on who they referred to as the “twins”. He couldn’t help the warm feeling that filled his heart as he opened the door and saw that Taehyung had climbed into bed with Jimin, alerting Jin to the fact that his nightmares were back, but he pushed that thought to the side in order to enjoy the precious moment between his sons. He indulged himself a little longer before backing out of the room and closing the door, making a mental note to have a talk with Taehyung the next day.

He finally came back to the room right next to his and Namjoon’s room. He almost expected to find Jungkook to be sleeping on his stomach, his rear end sticking up in the air as his knees were propped under him, the way he did when he was a toddler, but instead found him sleeping curled in on himself, his blankets having been kicked fully off the bed at some point during the night. Jin smiled to himself as he entered the room and picked up the blanket, laying it over his baby and making sure he was covered properly, even making sure to tuck the blanket around his feet, so his toes wouldn’t be subjected to the cold air he knew the room would provide. He brushed Jungkook’s hair out of his eyes, taking the time to appreciate the innocence on his face as he slept before going back to his own room.

He climbed into bed next to Namjoon, reaching out to turn the lamp on his bedside table off. He jumped in shock as soon as the room was doused in darkness as Namjoon’s voice reached his ears. “They okay?”

Jin scooted closer to his husband, resting his head in the crook of his neck. “Just as perfect as they’ve always been.” He murmured into the tan skin, falling into a deep slumber.

The next afternoon, Jin took an excess of photos of Yoongi before the ceremony, Yoongi sitting during the ceremony, Yoongi walking across the stage, and of Yoongi and Sophia after the ceremony was over. After the graduation ceremony, the two families made their way back to the Kim house for a celebratory dinner. It was when everyone had finished eating and was sitting around the living room that Yoongi and Sophia stood up in front of their families. “There’s something we’d like to tell you.”

Both families stared up at them in confusion and curiosity. Sophia took the lead. “As you all know, we both got jobs this school year, and we’ve been saving up our money…and we’ve been looking at apartments.”

“We picked one out,” Yoongi picked up, “and at the end of the summer, we’re going to move in together.”

Jin put his hand to his chest. “My baby’s moving out…my heart…”

“Dad, don’t-“

Abuela broke through the sentimental moment, making laughter flow through everyone. “There better not be a baby until there’s a ring on that finger.”

Namjoon and Jin stood up as everyone laughed and walked up to Yoongi. Sophia moved over to her family to let them talk. “We are very proud of you for making this decision on your own and working to get there.” Namjoon told him as the two parents pulled him into a hug, which the rest of the family soon joined.

“Does this mean I get my own room?!” Hoseok suddenly asked, which made everyone start talking about what stuff of Yoongi’s they would get.

“I’m moving out, not dying!” Yoongi exclaimed as Jimin tried to claim his keyboard.

Jin watched on as his sons play argued with each other, sad that one was moving on, but glad to see how far all of them had come.

Okay, so I have actually planned out their entire life stories, ranging from Jin and Namjoon’s childhoods to years after this fic ends. Because of this, I will open requests for very special drabbles/short stories. Basically, if there’s a moment from this fic that you would like to see, for example if you would like to see the time where Jungkook didn’t want to get out of the firetruck, or if you want to see something from Namjoon’s past, or even if you’re just like “hey, I want an update on how Hoseok is doing”, then just shoot me an ask and I’ll add it to an already growing list. I’ve already written and posted a few to AO3, which will be posted on here very soon, so don’t be shy to request whatever you would like to see!!

Thank you for following the boys on this journey :)

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