"Math was easy today," Jin said while munching on his sandwich. "It used to be really hard for me, but I've been studying a lot while you weren't here. You'd be so proud of me! I'm not the smartest in my class, but I actually understand most of what we're learning, which is cool. Tae's way better than me at math, though. Sometimes, I ask him for help with my homework. He's really good at explaining stuff and figuring it out. Of course, he has to read my notes first, but he usually manages to understand most of it and then explain it to me." Jin giggled before taking a sip of juice, gesturing vaguely with his hands. "I never used to ask for help. I didn't want to feel stupid." He quieted. "I still don't want to feel stupid. But Tae doesn't make me feel stupid, he's patient and nice. Not like Yoongi," Jin said, sticking out his tongue. "I asked Yoongi how to do something and he was just like you put this here and do this and you get this and then that's how you do that and here's your answer. He just did the whole problem for me and didn't explain any of it. I don't ask him for help anymore. I would ask Dad but he's too busy right now taking care of you and working, but that's okay." Jin picked up the apple, rolling it between his right hand and left hand. "Maybe I'll-"
"Hey," a boy said, standing in the doorway. "Who are you talking to?"
Jin cut off abruptly. He looked at the boy before looking back down at his desk and taking a bite of the apple he'd been holding.
"Hey," the boy said again, taking a few steps inside. "I asked you a question."
Jin just swallowed the bite he'd taken and took a sip of juice.
The boy came over to stand right in front of him, putting his hands on Jin's desk. "Hey, kid. Who were you talking to?"
Jin looked up, sinking down in his seat. "Just- myself. I was talking to myself."
The kid stared at him strangely. "Why?"
Jin shrugged.
"Well, what were you discussing with yourself?" the kid asked, and Jin frowned, pulling his food closer to himself.
"Nothing," Jin mumbled. "Just stuff."
"He was talking to his dead baby brother," a different boy said, laughing darkly as he walked into the classroom, and the boy in front of Jin's desk looked over at the newcomer with a blank face.
"He's not dead," Jin denied automatically. "He's home now. We found him. He's safe."
The boy in front of Jin looked back at him, frowning. "What?"
"His little brother was abducted like, 5 years ago. It was all over the news. Posters were everywhere. That kind of thing." The other kid draped himself over the quiet boy's shoulder, but the boy pushed him off, looking back at Jin, who was staring down at his desk, glaring at the wooden surface, wishing that they'd just go away.
"Is that true?" the first boy asked, and Jin clenched his jaw.
Go away go away go away go aw-
"Hey, I asked you if it's true," the boy said, tapping Jin's shoulder, and he flinched, pushing his chair back, and the metal legs screeched in protest against the tile floor.
The room fell into silence.
"Yes," Jin finally said, mainly in the hopes that they would hurry up and leave him alone. He still had so much to tell Jimin - it had become a habit to him - and the lunch hour was running short. "But we found him. He's home now. He's not missing. Not anymore."
"See? Told you," the second boy said, grinning at the first boy, who still had no readable expression. "But this kid was a freak before that. He just got freakier after."
What would Yoongi do? Punch him, probably. Or stab him with something and wind up in the principal's office. And then Dad would get a phone call and he'd have to leave work early to come in and-
What would Hobi do? Probably just laugh it off. He's good-natured like that. As long as everybody else is happy, he's happy.
What would Jimin do? ... Cry, probably. I don't want to cry. My sandwich will get all soggy and gross.
What would Tae do? Probably scare him somehow or threaten him.
What would Jungkook do? Probably make friends with him, somehow.
But I'm none of them.
I'm Jin.
I'm me.
And I don't pick fights or make trouble or cry or make friends or any of that.
I just sit here quietly, and I take it.
That's what Jin decided to do - to sit there, keep eating his lunch, and ignore the two boys.
But then something unexpected happened.
"Hey, man. Lay off. What's wrong with you?" the first boy asked, turning to the second with a frown. "You're messed up, seriously."
"Me? Messed up? This kid talks to a freaking ghost!"
"Not a ghost," Jin interrupted quietly, still staring down at the desk with unbroken intensity. "Jimin is alive. He's alive," Jin repeated. He felt like if he said it enough, eventually it would really sink in.
It was just hard to accept, after being told it for 5 years. Not in so many words. The adults didn't say stuff like that in front of the kids. But he'd seen the looks they'd given each other and Namjoon. He knew what they thought.
But they were wrong.
Jimin is alive.
"Just leave the kid alone. He's had it rough, okay?"
"Whatever, man. You're lame," the second boy said with finality, glaring at the first boy before pushing Jin's desk slightly. Jin felt the vibrations travel through his elbows and up his arms. Then the boy left.
"Hey," the first boy said again after the room had returned to silence. "Hey. I'm talking to you."
Jin finally looked up to see the boy leaning over his desk, watching him. Jin couldn't read his emotion because he didn't really have any on his face.
Is this funny to him?
Is there a big joke that I'm not in on?
Why is he still here?
"What's your name?" the kid asked, and Jin wanted to look back down at his desk, but something about the boy's eyes held him.
"Jin." I'm Jin. I'm me. And I don't pick fights or make trouble or cry or make friends or any of that.
There was a long moment of silence before the kid's face lit up in an extremely out-of-place, cutesy smile. "Want to be my friend?" he asked in a high-pitched voice, completely different from his previous rough tone.
Jin blinked and blinked some more. "Um...I don't really...what are you doing?" he trailed off, distracted by the boy's aegyo.
The boy's cute smile drifted into a devious smirk and he gave Jin a light punch on his left shoulder. "I'm Jooheon. We're friends now." He looked over at the clock. "Ah, I have to go. Finish your conversation with yourself or your brother or whatever. See ya."
And then the boy was gone, and Jin was alone.
Jin shook his head slowly, shocked but containing his surprise with a mask of indifference. "Jimin? I think I have a friend."
just a heads up - wattpad has stopped letting me view comment notifications so if you asked me something and i haven't replied, that's why. if you need to contact me in the meantime, try dropping me a message on my conversation board or commenting on this chapter (since this is the only one i'll be manually checking)