"This time I'm really going to kill you, you psycho!" Namjoon exclaimed. "I warned you though! I should have known that I couldn't leave Jin alone with you for a year!"
"Stop lying," Taehyung replied with a wry smile, "you knew perfectly well what was going to happen after your departure and you have done nothing to stop me from doing what I wanted with him. You may take me for an idiot, but I know that you still have influence in this school and that you could have stopped me. But you didn't, so stop and take a look in a mirror before you judge me for that."
Namjoon and Taehyung were in the hallway of the hospital, in the grip of yet another argument. The eldest had arrived at the hospital during the night as soon as he learned what had happened, not hesitating to flee his high school dorm. Even though visits were forbidden at night and he was a minor on top of that, he had no trouble convincing the staff of the private clinic where Seokjin had been taken to let him join the room where the two youngers were already sleeping.
It was only to preserve Seokjin's rest that he hadn't immediately snatched him from Taehyung's embrace to settle accounts with his little brother and since the single room had only one bed, he had slept on the big plush armchair next to it.
Early the next morning, after the passage of a very discreet nurse who had checked Seokjin's constants, the doctor in charge of ensuring that Seokjin was ready to leave the hospital had come to see him and his presence had not failed to wake up the trio. Taehyung and Seokjin were surprised by Namjoon's presence much more than the doctor's and after jumping up to hug Seokjin and make sure he was okay, Namjoon had dragged his brother down the hall while Seokjin was being auscultated.
He had grown a lot since he started high school and even though Taehyung was not far from catching up with him, Namjoon was now much taller and stronger than him. He had no difficulty pressing his brother against the wall of the deserted hallway.
"You weren't supposed to go this far in your stupid middleschooler revenge!" Namjoon said coldly.
"What are you talking about? I did nothing, Jin had an asthma attack during his football match," Taehyung said.
"Why can't I believe you're a stranger to this?" Namjoon shot back.
"Yet it is! This time, it's not me. He was facing Jungkook, he is responsible if you are looking for someone to hit."
"Jungkook?" Namjoon wondered, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, that bastard has become a little football star as he decided on a whim a short time ago that he wanted to learn how to play. It was his team that faced Jin in the final."
"I bet you knew perfectly that he was Jin's opponent and you jumped at the chance," Namjoon said. "You know very well that he hates losing and that he would do anything to win, even if it means crushing Jin in the process!"
"And it's me you call psychopath?" Taehyung sneered, "Your brain blows you Machiavellian scenarios in half a second, you're scary!"
"And you, you remained the same baby who is afraid to be alone. You must have been so afraid that Jin would leave you to enter Whimoon High School that you tried to sabotage his chances!"
"So you were aware that he had to go to a sports high school and not to Eunma with us?!" Taehyung asked Namjoon aggressively.
"Obviously! Even father knew about it, you were the only one who didn't know about it," his brother replied. "And I understand why Jin didn't want to tell you, I would have done the same in his place. He knew you would try to stop him."
Taehyung looked dagger at him and Namjoon replied with a grin before saying :
"By the way, if you tell me that, it's because he had a favorable response to his application for admission there, right ? He didn't get a chance to tell me. He must be happy."
"He's more than happy, he's over the moon! " Taehyung exclaimed, "happy as ever to know that he won't go to Eunma with us! And you're okay with that?!"
"I don't really like it, I'm not going to lie, but since that's what he wants and what makes him happy then I'm okay with that and happy for him."
"I refuse to believe you're going to let this happen, you're way too vicious for that. You helped me get his friend Seung to leave to stay with us two years ago," Taehyung reminded him. "I am sure that you have the power to convince Jin and that you will help me, this time again!"
Namjoon gave his brother an amused look.
"I have grown since, little brother, and you should have done the same: I will not steal from him what makes him happy. That's probably why I'm the brother he loves and not the one he hates. Do you think I'm going to risk Seokjin hating me like he hates you?"
"He doesn't hate me," Taehyung growled, "we made up yesterday, which means that your efforts to harm me have been in vain, I hope that pisses you off!"
"You've always played with his limits and he doesn't hate you yet? Impressive. His heart is too good for a scoundrel like you. He must still be a little attached to you, although I don't understand why," Namjoon said.
"Jealous ?"
"You wish. I wonder when will you realize that I don't need to make an effort to harm you : you're doing this to yourself, idiot. Now, take the last thing Jin adores from him and you will have managed without my help to make him hate you forever. Want to keep him with you even if he does not want? Well, I'm sure you'll find a solution on your own since you're still the same little monster playing with his life. Too bad you don't have more brains than before. Either way, I'm gonna watch this from afar and when you've hurt him beyond repair, and he needs a real friend to support him and dry his tears, I'll be there, the place you could have been if you weren't some jerk with anger and jealousy issues."
Enraged, Taehyung threw his fist in the direction of his brother's face and, having seen him coming, Namjoon threw his own fist in the direction of Taehyung's stomach.
"No!" shouted Seokjin who opened the door for the doctor at the same time, and rushed between the two.
The other two, surprised to see him appear, didn't have time to interrupt their gesture Seokjin, Taehyung's punch in the jaw and Namjoon's in the back. Taehyung's punch was the most painful and he found himself thrown against Namjoon who rushed to catch him.
The two brothers, horrified, exclaimed simultaneously:
"Jinnie!"
"Jin!"
Seokjin sat up, stretched his aching jaw, and massaged his lower back as he stepped back to face them.
"You haven't seen each other in a long time and the first thing you do is hit each other? That's insane," he grumbled.
Taehyung did not answer him but glared at the doctor who was looking at them with a scandalized look, ordering him to leave immediately before being fired. Then, he glared at his brother who was definitely not missing any opportunity to be the good brother in Seokjin's eyes.
"Jinnie, I'm so sorry!" Namjoon apologized, "Are you okay?"
He grabbed his chin to look at the redness that appeared where Taehyung had hit him but Seokjin pulled away.
"I'm fine, I am tough, no need to worry. But I don't want you to fight."
"Of course, I have to worry!" Namjoon replied, outraged. "And Taehyung deserves me to punch him for what he did to you! It's his fault you're in the hospital!"
"No, it's not his fault Namjoon, I had an asthma attack because the match was too intense, that's all," Seokjin explained.
"But-" Namjoon started as Taehyung put on a triumphant look that annoyed him.
"Please Namjoon, I don't have time to argue now," Seokjin cut him off urgently, looking at the clock in the hallway. "My mom has to come and pay the hospital bills for me to go to school, can you lend me your phone please?"
"Sure, come with me, it's in your room."
"Speaking of hospital bills, why am I in a private room? And in a clinic too? It's going to cost way too much..." Seokjin regretted, scanning the hallway with its impeccably polished floor.
"You can ask Taehyung," Namjoon quipped as he returned to the bedroom where he had left his phone.
Seokjin raised his puzzled eyes to Taehyung.
"I was with you in the ambulance," Taehyung said to him.
"You were?" Seokjin wondered.
"Yeah, I was the one who guide them to this clinic, it's the one my mom goes to, so I knew I would be fine here."
"Eh? But you're not even the one who was sick!"
"I sleep with you, remember?" Taehyung said with a shrug. "I wasn't going to sleep in a place as unhealthy as a public hospital, much less share the room with an unknown guy full of germs. Plus, I heard that the beds in these hospitals were infested with bed bugs and were particularly uncomfortable, can you imagine me sleeping in there?"
Given Taehyung's effort to defend his choice, Seokjin couldn't believe it. Moreover, if Taehyung was able to sacrifice the comfort of his own amazing bed in his bedroom to sleep with him in a futon on the floor, he would have been able to sleep anywhere with him.
"Taehyung, you don't have to pretend it was for you. I understood that you did it for me, and I'm grateful to you, really, but Taehyung, clinics are for rich people, you have no idea how much it costs and neither do I to be honest, I just know it's very very expensive!" Seokjin told him, unwittingly implying that the right to life was first reserved for rich people, thinking that either way, Taehyung would agree with him since he was the first to always remind him the difference between them.
"So I should have let them take you to a public hospital for ordinary people where you received poor care?" Taehyung retorted.
"Yes Taehyung, because I am an ordinary person!" Seokjin reminded him, smiling at his concern to do well, "I am the son of your parents' maid, remember?"
"No, you are more than that for me," Taehyung replied without thinking. But facing Seokjin's beaming face, he hurriedly said, "I mean... you belong to me so I'm responsible for your health and the quality of care you receive. It would be a disgrace to me otherwise and I care about my reputation, remember?"
Seokjin's change in expression was immediate. From the grateful smile of Taehyung's affection towards him, he put on a sulky look that made Taehyung laugh inwardly and, annoyed, he exclaimed:
"I don't belong to you!"
"We already had this debate yesterday and it was me who won, remember?"
"No, that's not-"
"Well now I'm hungry, aren't you? Taehyung cut him, "I'll go to a nurse to bring us breakfast, but of course, I won't ask anything for Namjoon."
He walked away and Seokjin wondered if he should stay mad at him until he returned. Undecided, he ends up going back to the room and closing the door. Seeing Namjoon busy tapping on his phone, he asked:
"I'm sorry to bother you but please, can I call my mom now, Namjoon?"
"It's useless, I just called her for you," Namjoon replied, vaguely waving his phone, "she wanted to come but since she's busy, I preferred to spare her the bus trip here. Soo will pick us up in his car and he will bring you some change. You'll call her later when we're in the car. For the payment of medical expenses, your mom can come and do it later when she can, there is no hurry, and as it is a big unexpected expense, I understand that she does not have the means to pay right away. I'll go tell the receptionist. In the meantime, settle down, I'll ask them to bring you your breakfast, you have time to eat before Soo arrives."
Amazed at how well Namjoon had taken matters into his own hands and made sure to save his mother from getting into an other difficult situation, Seokjin realized that he didn't deserve so much kindness, not when he had been so unpleasant with Namjoon for months, trying somehow to stay away from him as much as possible. So he did something he had never done: he bowed to Namjoon and thanked him vehemently:
"Thank you, Namjoon, thank you very much!"
It was Namjoon's turn to be stunned. Admittedly, their relationship had suffered from their estrangement since he entered high school and Taehyung was left alone with him. But he had tried to keep a friendly relationship with him, wanting to prove to him that he was different from the rest of his family. In his eyes, Seokjin had remained the same nice boy he loved so much and seeing him bow to him, as if they were strangers to each other, made his heart ache.
Putting his phone in his pocket, he hastily approached Seokjin to force him to straighten up
"Hey Jinnie, none of that between us! I will do anything for you because I genuinely care about you, don't you know that? I expect no thanks from you and certainly not that you bow to me!"
"But I don't deserve your kindness!" Seokjin exclaimed with tears in his eyes, "I pushed you away, I was mean to you!"
"That's not being mean my Jinnie. Being mean is what Taehyung did and put you through. Yeah, even if you stopped talking to me and confiding in me, I suspect that he hasn't stopped being... him. I left you to fend for yourself and I'm sorry. And I know it's partly because of me if he was unfair to you ; so you wanted to get away from me hoping that Taehyung would leave you alone. I understand, okay?"
"No, I don't want you to feel responsible, you're not! I'm the one who-"
"I don't blame you at all, okay?" Namjoon cut him, halting the flood of guilt flowing through Seokjin. "So stop blaming yourself."
Touched by Namjoon's friendship for him, which had endured despite everything, Seokjin couldn't help but cry and Namjoon hugged him to comfort him.
"I-I'm so sorry," he stammered.
"Don't apologize and cry no more for that, okay?"
"I-I haven't cried in a long time and since yesterday, my tears won't stop flowing, I feel stupid."
"It happens, it's okay," Namjoon reassured him. "I'd rather it be tears of joy than sadness though. By the way, speaking of joy, I haven't had a chance to tell you yet but... congratulations on your admission to Whimoon, Jinnie!" he said, stroking his head affectionately, as before, even though Seokjin was almost as tall as him and that he was not a child.
But he seemed to be one when, smiling with all his teeth, he broke away from Namjoon and hastened to wipe away his tears before giving way to the flood of words that he used to let escape everytime he spoke excitedly:
"You already know about that?! How ?! Ah Taehyung must have told you... YES, I succeeded Namjoon, I really succeeded, I'm going to the school of my dreams, I'm going to Whimoon, can you believe that?! All I have to do now is pass my exams but I know I won't fail it's impossible now. Oh Namjoon, I'm soooo happy, you don't know how much!"
"I think I have some idea," Namjoon said amusedly. "But you know, I never doubted about your success because you never gave up and you worked hard. I'm very happy to see you so happy."
"Thank you, you are kind," Seokjin thanked him warmly, "you are really a good friend to me and I wish Taehyung reacted like you. Unlike you, he wasn't happy for me."
"Of course I'm not like him. How can he not be happy for you if he's your friend?"
"Well, let's say it's complicated," Seokjin said, "I think he just wants to stay with me and that the idea that I'm leaving makes him sad."
"Is that why you forgave him for what he did to you? Because he was sad?
"I didn't say I forgave him but I think he really cares about me despite what he did and he proved it to me."
"How?"
"Well, at first I thought he was going to try to stop me from going to Wimoon for revenge but then when I got mad at him, saying that I will never be his friend anymore he did so he said he wouldn't stop me."
"He did?" Namjoon asked, stunned. "And you believe him?"
"I do," Seokjin nodded before saying darkly : "because right after that, he said he was going to come with me to Whimoon because all he wanted was to stay with me. I have my dream high school, but I have to bring Taehyung with me."
Namjoon looked really surprised. Taehyung wasn't the type to accept what he didn't want, he was more the type to impose his decisions no matter what. So earlier, he had asked him to act to stop Seokjin from going to Whimoon because he himself had no intention of doing anything? Interesting change, Namjoon thought. That was why Seokjin suddenly didn't seem so distant with him.
"Are you okay with him going to Whimoon with you?" he asked.
"Of course not ! He said that without giving me a choice but I will try to talk to your dad about it, I think he won't let Taehyung come to Whimoon and I hope he will force him to go to Eunma."
Realizing that he had just said aloud what he had promised to keep to himself, Seokjin hurriedly clapped a hand over his mouth. Then he said in a low voice, as if he was afraid that Taehyung was behind the door listening to him.
"I didn't want to tell anyone this, I'm afraid Taehyung will resent me. Please can you keep this a secret? I just became friends with Taehyung again I don't want him to know this, he'll think I betrayed him and if he feels betrayed..." Seokjin trailed off, letting a shiver of dread run through him at the thought of reliving the Taehyung's revenge but worse.
"It is a betrayal Jinnie, he wouldn't be wrong to think so," Namjoon pointed out.
Uncomfortable to hear this truth from Namjoon, Seokjin asked :
"You think I shouldn't do this?"
"I did not say that," Namjoon smiled, "However, even though I think Taehyung deserves you to betray him – I know you disagree with that, I get it," he added seeing Seokjin open his mouth in protest, "it would be better if I was the one to go talk to my father, don't you think? It could be a really tense discussion between you two if he finds you responsible for Taehyung's decision."
Seokjin shook his head.
"No, thank you, but it better be me." It was his responsibility. Besides, he no longer wanted to put himself in a situation where the two brothers hated each other because of him. "I would wait until we graduated then I'll go see your dad. Your dad will probably be more willing to listen to me then."
"Okay, it's up to you, but if you change your mind, don't hesitate to let me know, okay?"
"Okay, thank you, Namjoon," Seokjin thanked him, relieved.
"Namjoon... repeated Namjoon thoughtfully. "I was thinking about it since earlier, and I don't like it."
"What, your name?"
"Yeah... now that everything is fine between us again, have I regained the right to be called Joonie by you?" Namjoon asked in a very serious tone.
Seokjin laughed at this incongruous request.
"If it makes you happy," he said.
"It makes me happy," the other said immediately.
"Okay, Joonie!" Seokjin nodded, not knowing why Namjoon cared so much about it because it seemed childish but being willing to do that for him.
"Oh you are so cute! I had missed it so much!" Namjoon exclaimed as he jumped up to hug him again.
But it was then that Taehyung chose to forcefully slide the door by startling them. He was accompanied by a breathless delivery man whom he had obviously pressed to come after some well-formulated threats by telephone and who was holding in his hands two bags full of food from very starred restaurants.
"You like to interrupt me at the best time, don't you?" Namjoon sighed in displeasure.