Hoseok jumped up from his chair at the froyo place, making everyone else turn to look at him.
"Nyumbug?" He gasped, holding the phone tighter to his ear, shocked to hear Namjoon was crying. "What's wrong? Are you okay? Where's Yoongi?"
"What's going on?" Seokjin shot out of his chair too, grabbing Hoseok's arm and looking at him with large, worry filled eyes.
He could hear Namjoon's cries from over the phone and his hand slapped over his mouth.
Namjoon didn't cry unless something seriously horrible happened.
"What is it?" Jungkook stood up, his half-eaten ice cream forgotten.
Jimin looked scared and clung to Jungkook.
"It's okay. You don't have to say anything. Hoseok assured the upset boy. "We're coming back right now. Don't worry, Nammie, whatever happened, we'll fix it."
He hung up, staring at his phone with a slightly dazed expression.
"What happened?" Jungkook insisted.
"That was…Nyum-…Namjoon just called me." Hoseok admitted, still amazed.
"Why? Is Yoongi alright?" Jimin piped up.
"I dunno, he didn't say any-" Hoseok looked down when his phone lit up with a text.
"Oh, he just shared his location. He's not at Yoongi's place anymore."
"Oh my God, no!" Seokjin gasped. "Someone please tell me they didn't have a fight!"
Hoseok quickly loaded the address. "Come on."
They all raced after him into the night.
-
Despite it being late at night, Namjoon was hot.
He paced in front of the bench, his hands messing up his hair as he tried to think.
His feet were dirty and cut in a few places, but he didn't feel the sting with each step he took - too absorbed in his own thoughts.
He couldn't believe he had just run out on Yoongi like that. After all the times he assured and promised the man that he would never leave him, Namjoon literally ran away from him during a time when Yoongi needed him the most.
He groaned, feeling horrible.
But as guilty and sick as he felt, he couldn't force himself to return back there.
It had been too real - seeing Agust's face again like that. On top of him. On the bed. Panic had taken over and all Namjoon could do was freak out, trying to get away from the man.
He had literally shoved his boyfriend aside…
Before he could think himself into a depressive episode, the sound of footsteps pounding on the sidewalk made him jerk his head up.
His classmates ran towards him, tackling him into a forceful group hug.
"Nyummie, are you okay?" Hoseok cupped the younger boy's face worriedly. "You didn't say what happened and so we all came over as fast as we could." He wiped away the tear tracks on the dimpled boy's cheeks.
"What happened? Where's Yoongi and Tae?" Seokjin looked around, confused to see Namjoon was alone in a random place at this time of night.
Namjoon sucked in a deep breath. He knew he should tell them, at least to stop them from worrying, but when he tried to speak, nothing came out.
"It's okay, take your time. You don't have to tell us at all. Cassie is on his way over here; he'll be here soon." Hoseok glanced down.
"Nyamjeun, where are your shoes?"
Jungkook contemplated running to Yoongi's house to try and get info from him on what had happened, but the other part of him didn't want to leave Namjoon.
Jimin hugged the tall boy tightly. "It's okay Joonie. Please, don't be sad."
Namjoon hugged him back. "I…I'm fine, guys. I just…overreacted. Taehyung is with Yoongi now."
"Should we go back there?" Seokjin asked.
Namjoon tensed and Hoseok quickly rushed over. "No, let's all go back to mine. We can just meet up with them before school starts tomorrow."
A sleek black limo pulled up to them, bathing them in its headlights.
"Cassie is here. Come on Num Num." Hoseok ushered Namjoon to the door, holding it open for him.
Namjoon sighed at yet another nickname but slid inside without protest.
The rest of his class filed in behind him, oohing at the limo.
"Cassie, when I said take the first vehicle you see to get here as fast as possible, I didn't mean this one." Hoseok blushed, shutting the door.
"Sorry, young Jung. But I take my orders very literally." Cassie said, driving the long black car down the road.
"Thank God you do; this is so cool!" Jimin said, staring at everything in awe.
Namjoon looked out the window, bouncing his leg nervously.
Seokjin sat beside him. "You okay?" he whispered.
Namjoon nodded, not looking at him.
They passed by Yoongi's house, and Namjoon saw the bedroom light was off.
-
They arrived back at Hoseok's home, and the boy led everyone inside.
Seokjin herded the two youngest ones down to the basement, while Hoseok guided Namjoon to a guest room down the hall from his own bedroom.
"You can spend the night here." Hoseok said. "Everything is clean, Cassie washes everything in this house twice a day. You can borrow some of my pajamas if you want, or if you want to sleep in your own clothes that's fine too."
Namjoon looked around the guest room. It was full of furniture, but yet it was so bare at the same time. So impersonal.
He faced the boy. "Where are you and the others sleeping?"
"Basement. Cassie is bringing down a bunch of mattresses and we're gonna push them all into a super bed." Hoseok smiled.
"I'll sleep with you guys." Namjoon nodded.
Hoseok blinked, still smiling. "Aha, sorry, what?"
"I'll sleep with you guys on the super bed downstairs." Namjoon repeated. "This room is nice, but I don't want to be alone tonight."
Hoseok looked shocked.
"Is that okay with you all?" Namjoon raised an eyebrow.
Hoseok snapped out of it, shaking his head wildly. "What- no! Yeah! Of course, it's okay with - wow are you serious?"
"I'm serious." Namjoon said. "I don't want to be alone tonight."
Hoseok hurried to the door. "Okay, I'll let Cassie know to bring down another mattress and tell the others. Oh my God."
Namjoon watched him disappear into the hallway, but before he could do anything, Hoseok suddenly popped his head back in.
"And by 'sleep with us' you only mean, like actually sleeping, right? Or do you mean sleep with-"
"Hoseok." Namjoon growled.
"Right, right, you have a boyfriend. Right, okay." Hoseok hurried away again.
-
Namjoon came down the steps to the basement, wearing one of Hoseok's sleep shirts and a pair of black shorts.
The rest of his class was sprawled out on a sea of blankets and pillows that rested on top of five mattresses, all pushed together into a giant block.
They had saved the middle one for him.
He sat down gingerly, feeling everyone hold their breath around him. He sighed. "I'm not gonna shatter, you guys don't have to treat me like I'm fragile."
Hoseok jumped up and tackled him in a hug, knocking Namjoon down onto his front with an oof!
"I'm so happy my little Nyumjune is staying with us!" Hoseok screeched. "We can have a redo of that sleepover party I wanted!" He looked at the squished boy beneath him. "What do you think, Nyamcakes?"
"I think you should let him breathe." Seokjin commented and Hoseok pouted but sat up.
Namjoon straightened himself with a huff, fixing his hair.
Hoseok poked him insistently. "C'mon Jewny, what do you say? We can watch movies, bake something, tell stories, play games, listen to music, anything to get your mind off of whatever happened."
"If you want to make him happy, you should let him decide what he wants to do for the night." Jungkook said with a smile.
"Fine.” Hoseok looked to Namjoon. “What do you want to do?"
"I just want to sleep." Namjoon said.
Hoseok nodded. "Alright. Goodnight everyone." He crawled under the covers.
Namjoon was amazed when he looked around and saw everyone doing the same.
They were actually listening to him?
Hoseok clapped his hands and the lights dimmed, before shutting off.
Namjoon smiled to himself, settling into his own bed as well.
Jimin curled against his chest a moment later. "Can I sleep next to you, Joon?" He whispered.
Namjoon sighed but let him. He wrapped an arm around the small boy, feeling better holding someone.
The Seokjin rolled over and laid his head on Namjoon as well, gripping the boy's shirt.
Namjoon huffed but allowed it.
He was about to drift off when he heard the sound of someone shuffling over, and then Jungkook was sleeping against his legs.
Finally, Hoseok rolled over too, and all four boys were cuddling against him.
It was exactly what the stressed boy needed to fall asleep.
-
Hoseok woke up when his alarm blared and quickly fumbled around for his phone, shutting it off before it could wake everyone up.
He sat up, yawning, and looking around the room.
Everyone was sleeping on, or around Namjoon, who had flipped sometime during the night and was resting his head on Seokjin's sweatshirt, the pretty boy's hand tangled in his hair.
Jungkook woke up too, rubbing his eyes.
"Whatime'sit?" he mumbled.
"Seven. We gotta get to school soon." Hoseok said. "The investigation starts today, so we can't be late."
Jungkook nodded, suddenly wide awake. He carefully detached himself from the sleeping limbs and climbed off the super bed.
Meanwhile, Hoseok shook Jimin awake, whispering to him to wake up and get ready. Jimin whined, back hugging Namjoon and not wanting to get up.
"Yoongi needs us today more than ever. Namjoon will be fine here." Hoseok urged him.
Jimin sat up. "You're right, I'll go to school for Yoongi."
Since Namjoon and Seokjin were too entwined to risk waking Namjoon, Hoseok left them and hoped Seokjin would wake up on his own so they wouldn't be late.
After getting ready for school, Jimin and Jungkook hurried back into the limo, but Hoseok went back downstairs.
Seokjin was sitting up now, his hand still petting Namjoon comfortingly.
"Hey, can you get ready in like five minutes?" Hoseok was relieved to see him up.
"Yeah, but should I?" Seokjin whispered. "Namjoon's not going to get to class today, and I think someone should stay with him."
"He's just going to sleep in and get his thoughts together." Hoseok said. "He'll be fine. It's Yoongi who will need us today. All of us."
Seokjin sighed, looking down the sleeping boy’s face. "You're right. Toss me a new shirt and let's go."
He climbed out of the super bed carefully and he and Hoseok hurried up the stairs.
-
Namjoon blinked his eyes open slowly, confused as to why he felt so peaceful.
He sat up, feeling around him. The other boys' spots in bed were cold, meaning they had left a while ago.
What time was it?
Footsteps.
Namjoon whipped his head around and saw Cassie coming down the stairs, silver tray of food in his hands.
"Good morning, Mr. Kim." The butler said, setting the tray down on a small table.
"Uh, hello." Namjoon crawled out of the super bed. "Um, where is everyone?"
"School." The butler held up two different cartons of orange juice. "Pulp or no pulp?"
"I'm good actually. What time is it?" Namjoon patted his pockets for his phone, but then remembered he had left it in the guest bedroom when he changed into Hoseok's clothes.
"Almost ten, sir." Cassie said. "You should eat something before you go."
"Go?" Namjoon blinked.
"To save the day, of course." Cassie said, always calm and unhurried. "Isn't that what everyone else rushed off to do as well?"
"Yeah." Namjoon was still stunned. "How did you know that?"
Cassie just checked his watch. "Better hurry, Mr. Kim."
Namjoon stared at him for a split second before grabbing an apple off the tray and racing up the stairs to change.
-
"It's locked." Jungkook exclaimed in shock when he tried to open the classroom door.
"What do you mean it's locked?" Hoseok pushed him out of the way.
"I mean, an adjective meaning fastened or secured with a lock." Jungkook snapped. "It won't fucking open!"
"Guys!" Taehyung ran down the hallway. "There you are!"
"Tae! What's going on?" Seokjin asked.
"The arraignment is underway." Taehyung said out of breath. "Everyone is in the auditorium now. The school trial is about to begin!"
Jungkook's heart jumped into his throat as they all raced to follow Taehyung down the hall.
They burst into the auditorium a minute later.
It had been slightly renovated, a long desk sat on the stage, and only the first few rows of chairs in the audience were in use.
Barnes, Khan and some other old man were sitting at the table, looking serious as they sorted through some papers. A few average looking adults were sitting off to the side.
The jury.
Yoongi was standing at the front, looking calm and collected as usual. He was dressed in a fancy suit for the occasion. He was talking deeply to a man also dressed in a suit next to him.
"Yoongi!" Jimin yelled, running down to him.
Yoongi looked up at the mention of his name and smiled when he saw Jimin.
"What are you guys doing here?" Yoongi laughed as they all hugged him at once. "You should be at your first class."
"We had to come see you and make sure you’re okay." Seokjin insisted.
"Yeah, there's no way I could pay attention during math when I know all this is going on!" Hoseok added.
Yoongi scanned the room, but Namjoon was nowhere in sight.
He bit back a sigh and forced himself to keep smiling. "I have the best students in the world." He cooed.
"You'll always be our teacher, Yoongi." Jungkook told him, his eyes large with the weight of his emotions. "No matter what happens, we'll always be by your side."
Yoongi ruffled the boy's hair. "I know, Koo."
Bang, bang!
Everyone looked up to see Barnes had slammed a wooden hammer onto the desk a few times to silence the room.
"Attention everyone. The trial of Min Yoongi has now officially begun. Please take your seats so we may begin."
Jungkook and his classmates sat a row behind Yoongi, and the man in the suit who Jungkook assumed was Yoongi's lawyer.
The other unknown man on the stage stood up and took the center spot. "Case 11032, the School Board vs Min, begins." He looked down to Yoongi. "Mr. Min, you have been accused of breaking Korean code of conduct #32.08/7B - engaging in a relationship with a student. How do you plead?"
Yoongi calmly leaned forward, his hands in his lap as he spoke into the small microphone that was sitting on his table.
"Not guilty, your Honor."
"You have also been charged with breaking the school board law, 'Sexual Exploration Terms and Conditions' rule number seven, 'You shall not engage in any class related activities off of school property.' How do you plead?"
"Not guilty, your Honor."
Jungkook's heart raced so fast he felt sick with anxiety. This was so much more serious than he had been imagining. Police officers stood off to the side, but Jungkook wasn't sure if they were here to prevent any violent outburst or to arrest Yoongi.
He was amazed at how Yoongi remained so cool under pressure. He could feel the rest of his classmates worry and stress radiating off them in waves.
He wished Namjoon was here. If even there was time to need his strength and intellect, today was the fucking day.
The judge banged his hammer once more, and the timer on the back wall started counting down, showing they had three hours for today's session.
"Starting with the first charge: engaging in a relationship with your student, Kim Namjoon." The judge lowered his glasses and scanned the room. "Where is he? Is Kim Namjoon here?"
The doors burst open and Namjoon breezed in.
"Right here, your honor." He called confidently.
Yoongi whipped around, his mouth falling open as he watched the boy stride down the small walkway with confidence.
He was dressed in a dark suit as well, his hair freshly washed and slicked back. He was smiling despite the tense atmosphere.
"Go, Numbug!" Hoseok whispered, cheering silently in his seat.
Namjoon stopped in front of the men behind the long table. "Sorry I'm late. I was just reading a book on the walk over here." He held an extremely thick and heavy leather-bound book up with one hand.
"Had to give myself a quick exegesis on the jurisprudence and litigation in this tribunal." He winked.
The judge looked shocked and impressed with the young student's vocabulary and gave him a nod. "Alright, glad you could make it. I will hand the floor over to Mr. Li."
He looked at the man that sat at the table a few feet away from Yoongi and his lawyers.
Jungkook knew he was the man to be hated, as he was paid by the school to argue for Yoongi to be put in jail.
Mr. Li was a tall, intimidating man with blazing blue eyes. Jungkook could tell from one look that he didn't lose cases easily, and he hoped Namjoon could take him on head to head.
He took a deep breath as Mr. Li took the center stage.
It was going to be the most anxiety inducing rollercoaster of emotions Jungkook had ever been on.
Two hours and fifty-seven minutes to go until Min Yoongi was declared either guilty or not guilty.