Jimin ended up sleeping with Hobi in Tae's bed that night, giving up his (Jungkook's) bed for Hyungwon and letting Jooheon sleep on the couch.
Yoongi kept Jin's bed to himself, but he waited for the others to fall asleep before he crept out of the bedroom and poked at the figure lying down on the couch.
"I'm not asleep," Jooheon mumbled. "You don't have to jab me so hard."
Yoongi just shrugged and sat down on the floor in front of him. "What were you talking about with Jimin for so long?"
Jooheon squinted at Yoongi. "Relax, it wasn't anything bad."
"Yeah, well, Jimin's my brother and I want to know. Why are you even friends with him? You're not even in the same grade."
Jooheon sighed before sitting up, rubbing his head. "He's in the same grade as Hyungwon so I'd see him sometimes when I was picking Wonnie up from school."
Yoongi tried to read for any dishonesty in Jooheon's face, but he couldn't find any. "If you have some sick idea of fun that involves tormenting my brother-"
"Yoongi. Relax. I don't," Jooheon said, blinking wearily. "I swear. I'm friends with Jimin because he's a sweet kid and he happens to be friends with Hyungwon and coincidentally happened to be Jin's younger brother. I'm not going to tease him or bully him or make fun of him, okay?"
Yoongi stared at Jooheon for a few more seconds before nodding slowly. "Fine. All right. But if I hear anything-"
"Then it's a lie, because I wouldn't do something like that, not to Jimin, not to anyone."
Yoongi nodded before getting back up and retreating to his bedroom, but Jooheon's words stopped him.
"Why are you so concerned?"
Yoongi turned slightly to stare at Jooheon. "Because it's happened before. And the older Jimin gets, the better he gets at bottling his emotions inside. And it's not like we really have Dad anymore. I'm the oldest of the three of us, so I'm in charge of making sure the other two are safe and happy. If you were friends with Hobi, I'd probably interrogate you all the same. I'm serious, Jooheon. If you mess with Jimin or Hobi, I'll hurt you."
"Save your punches for someone else then," Jooheon said, laying back down. "I'm on your side."
Yoongi nodded before going back to bed and staring at the ceiling. It was a lot of responsibility, being the oldest. He kind of knew what Jin had felt growing up. Although he probably wasn't doing as good of a job as Jin because he knew that Jimin and Hobi were still going through a lot of shit, but it was his job to try to regulate that.
He sighed before closing his eyes.
He wondered if he'd ever have someone to watch out for him.
***
Namjoon and Lisa had returned an hour after the kids had fallen asleep, and when the doorbell rang at 9:00 AM, Namjoon groaned before going to answer it.
"Hey, Minhyuk," Namjoon said, rubbing his eyes.
"Namjoon," Minhyuk said with a nod, smiling. "Just came to pick up my sons."
"Ah, one second," Namjoon said before turning back to the living room. I really hope they're still here... "Hyungwon? Jooheon? Your dad's here," he called out, and a few seconds later, he saw Hyungwon coming out of the kids' bedroom, Jimin following closely behind him and slipping Hyungwon's backpack over Hyungwon's shoulders.
Jooheon got up from the couch, having packed everything the previous night.
Yoongi came out of the bedroom to watch them go, and he locked eyes with Jooheon for a second before Jooheon nodded at him without smiling, acknowledge the promise they kept to keep the others safe. Then Jooheon went behind Hyungwon and messed up his hair before giving him a gentle push toward the door.
"C'mon, Wonnie," he said, but Hyungwon was still half asleep, and Jooheon had to lead him to their dad.
"My sons!" Minhyuk cried out joyfully, holding Jooheon's face for a second until Jooheon pulled his head away from his dad.
"We were gone for one night," Jooheon said, rolling his eyes.
"But one night without my sons is a night of misery," Minhyuk said dramatically. Well, in his normal voice really.
Jooheon just rolled his eyes and said thanks to Namjoon for having them before waving at Jimin and dragging Hyungwon out with them.
As Namjoon shut the door, Yoongi couldn't help but think about Minhyuk's words.
One night without my sons is a night of misery.
What if he had half his sons? Would he still be miserable?
What if it wasn't one night but five years of nights? 1825 nights?
He'd be sad, right?
Yoongi thought back to words he'd written a long time ago. At one point in his life, he'd felt like one of the 99 sheep abandoned by the shepherd in his search for the one lost sheep, but now, he felt like a lost sheep, only the shepherd knew where he was, and he wasn't coming to get him.
Yoongi was starting to hate sheep.
***
"So, the thing I wanted to tell you..." Namjoon began nervously, Yoongi, Hobi, and Jimin sitting on the couch in front of him. "Well, it might not affect you that much, but it's still a big decision..."
"Say it already," Yoongi spoke up, and Namjoon exhaled.
"I'm thinking about selling the house."
There was a long moment of silence.
"But, why?" Hobi asked, trying not to sound pained. It was just that the house was full of memories, fond memories of their childhood together. Better than the memories that had followed.
"It's a pretty big house," Namjoon said. "And it costs a lot of money to keep with taxes and everything."
"But we've always had this house," Hobi said, the only one of the three who felt like saying something.
"Yes, but there's an extra room now," Namjoon said gently. "And it would cost a lot less money if we looked for a smaller house."
Yoongi knew what Namjoon was trying to avoid saying outright.
You three don't live here anymore.
We can't afford to keep paying for the empty space you used to fill.
He knew what else it meant.
That Namjoon didn't expect to get custody back.
That he's giving up on us.
That he's giving up on finding us, the three lost sheep, and bringing us home.
He's satisfied with the sheep he already has.
"Sell it then," Yoongi said, standing up abruptly and pulling up Jimin and Hobi with him. "I hope you're happy with your sheep."
***
Namjoon was at a loss for words after Yoongi took the others back to the room they were borrowing. "Lisa?"
"Yes, Joon?"
"What sheep? Did Taehyung find my credit card and buy something off the Internet again? Because last time was bad enough-"
Lisa just pressed a kiss to his forehead. "I think they're just taking the news a little hard, okay? Just give them some time and maybe bring it up on the car ride back, okay?"
Namjoon nodded, but his mind was clouded. Of course he didn't want to sell their home. It was full of happy memories for him, too. The wall that had all their heights still marked on it, the kitchen table that Jin had set his birthday cake on even though it hadn't been his birthday, the dent in the wall by the TV (okay, maybe not all happy memories)...
They said money couldn't buy happiness, but it seemed as though a lack of money had a pretty easy time at purchasing sadness.
filler chapter sort of
i'm updating a lot because i'm bored and don't feel great *shrugs*
also, yoongi's diary spinoff is out, so add it to your library if you want to read :) the only chapters in it thus far are the ones read aloud in the previous chapter but there will be more to come